Mankar Camoran is the secondary antagonist in The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion – he is the Head of the Mythic Dawn, a cult of Daedra followers attempting to bring Mehrunes Dagon to Nirn in exchange for staging an assassination of the Emperor. But there’s much more to this elf than his evil deeds.
He is A dada figure rose with them his own pocket of oblivionand a productive notorious author. To put it lightly, he’s made a name for himself and is steeped in mystery, controversy, and out-of-game debate among Elder Scrolls detectives.
We introduce him through his books long before we find him indoctrinating would-be cultists in his crumbling lair of a cave. We later face him directly in paradise and cut him down. But that doesn’t stop Mehrunes Dagon, who we know breaks straight into Nirn and invades the Imperial City in the explosive finale of Oblivion’s main quest line. However, there is more to Camoran than just being a demon pawn.
Is Mankar Camoran Altmer or Bosmer?
Camoran’s race is an interesting topic – although he’s rumored to be a Bosmer in-game he is an Altmer. But both of his parents are Bosmer, so that doesn’t make much sense. You could assume he might be adopted, or maybe it was a mistake on Bethesda’s part, but there are a few other intriguing theories as to his Altmer appearance.
Camoran may have used Mehrune’s razor to alter his own nymic – a nymic, for reference, is someone’s evocative name. You can summon Daedra using her true name, while Mehrune Dagon herself was banished from an ambition using her Nymic in The Elder Scrolls Online. Nymics are also an important part of Bosmer culture as priests, called name spinners, weave them out to alter a person’s physical form, usually to add antlers or horns.
There are possible clues in Camoran’s comments on the Xarxes mystery that he was a Bosmer and went a step further in understanding this cultural power they had assumed. With Mehrune’s razor blade, he may have altered his own nymics, altering his entire people in the process. Then again, it’s also rumored that he just wasn’t his father’s biological son – take your poison.
Who are Mankar Camoran’s parents?
In The Refugees, an in-game book, it is mentioned that Mankar is the son of the Camoran usurper and his Bosmer mistress.
“Haymon Camoran, the usurper of Camoran, Haymon Hart-King, they’re all the same, boy. He’s a complicated guy and needs more than one name.”
Haymon began as an advisor and sorcerer to Camoran Kaltos before taking over most of eastern Valenwood. But the two quarreled and disagreed over Haymon’s actions, resulting in Haymon overthrowing and usurping Kaltos and becoming king himself – hence the title “Usurper”. It was later felled at Dwynnen by a Highmaul Alliance.
There is much speculation about Haymon’s own parentage, with rumors that he is the son of Molag Bal, the Daedric god of intrigue.
Who are the children of Mankar Camoran?
Camoran had two children – Ruma and Raven. The two, like their father, are Altmer and both help run the Mythic Dawn cult, although it is unknown who their mother is. Ruma serves as an adept while Raven as an assassin helps onboard new members. We find him prowling the Imperial City sewers, bringing wannabe cultists into the herd and giving away the Fourth Commentaries.
Interestingly, although little is known about either, Raven’s name can be found on the Waterfront Tax Recordswhich may give us a glimpse of where he lives or lived before paradise.
Is Nirn a realm of oblivion?
Something Mankar Camoran says is that Nirn – or more specifically Tamriel, but that would mean Nirn in a broader sense – is a realm of oblivion. However, this controversial line has a strange history. Many fans understood that Camoran slipped in his final moments, as he also says that Coldharbour belongs to Meridia while, as we know from The Elder Scrolls Online, Molag Bal’s realm.
Slipping is a headshot, though – the dialogue in question shouldn’t have been in the game’s final cut. Bethesda consulted with Morrowind writer Michael Kirkbride, who in many ways was the series’ loremaster before Oblivion, Skyrim and ESO. The dialogue was sent in an internal email to define Camoran’s character, which is not intended for in-game use. Kirkbride was actually surprised to find that Bethesda had used it, meaning it hadn’t been proofread or double checked.
But as for the claim itself, there is little ground for it. Mundus (the universe in which Nirn resides) came into being due to the sacrifice of the Aedra, the gods who literally build the world from themselves. Meanwhile, Oblivion realms are an extension of a Daedric prince’s mind, existing only because they do. The gods of Mundus sacrificed themselves to create the world, and Mundus did not fall while Oblivion would collapse if a Daedric prince did the same.
Is Mankar Camoran Dragonborn?
To wear the Amulet of Kings, one must be a Dragonborn, much like the Septim dynasty that ruled Tamriel for centuries. Mankar Camoran carries the amulet in Oblivion, but how he became dragonborn – if you accept that – is another question entirely. Some believe he became a Dragonborn while reshaping his identity to become Altmer, while others speculate that he found a way to wear the amulet without even having to be a Dragonborn.
But there is also the method of Dracochrysalis, a vague concept about which we have very little information. Essentially, Altmer use elder magic to ascend into a cocoon of what some speculate is a cocoon of time, possibly blossoming into a dragon or dragonborn.
It’s a vague term that wasn’t explored much in The Elder Scrolls, but the theory goes that Camoran used Dracochrysalis after transforming into an Altmer, only to then take it a step further and become Dragonborn. Whatever the case, he can wear the amulet – which apparently suggests yes, since he’s a dragonborn.
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