The Adoring Fan is a pretty popular character from the older Elder Scrolls title, but for all the wrong reasons. Most players think he’s a nuisance, while others just pity his very existence. Whatever the case, it’s interesting to see Bethesda making a callback to him in Starfield.
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The Adoring Fan of Oblivion
The Adoring Fan is an optional companion that becomes available to the player after they become the Grand Champion of the Arena. Upon completing the quest line and exiting the Imperial City Arena, the Adoring Fan will be waiting right by the entrance, a young Bosmer in The Elder Scrolls with bright blond hair, often with a torch in hand. He’ll express his admiration for the player and ask if he can follow them around, to which the player can let him or turn him away.
As a follower, the Adoring Fan is an uninteresting character and useless in combat. For one, he doesn’t have a name, just the title the “Adoring Fan,” which is pretty much his entire personality. He doesn’t have any interesting, underlying backstory, and neither does he contribute to any hostile encounters. When the player enters combat with the Adoring Fan in tow, he just runs and hides. That explains why so many players either shun him or kill him. But even then, he’s undeniably one of the most memorable NPCs in Oblivion.
The Adoring Fan Makes a Comeback in Starfield
It seems the Adoring Fan – or at least someone like him – is returning to Bethesda’s newest IP Starfield. In a recent Q&A video, Todd Howard revealed more about Starfield’s dialogue system and spaceship mechanics. One of the video’s gameplay clips showcased some new optional traits in the character creation screen, with one in particular sticking out – “Hero Worshipped”.
The character creation process requires players to select from a wide variety of background characteristics and optional traits unique to Starfield. Interesting to note here is that “Hero Worshipped” doesn’t appear in the old gameplay reveal video, so it’s likely a new addition to the list. According to the description, the “Hero Worshipped” trait earns the player the attention of an annoying “Adoring Fan.”
Unlike Oblivion’s favorite Bosmer, however, the Adoring Fan of Starfield doesn’t tag along as a companion. Instead, they’ll show up at random and reportedly jabber at the player incessantly. Though, on the bright side, he may sometimes arrive with gifts. What these gifts are and how helpful they’ll be remains to be seen. It’s also worth asking how often this Adoring Fan will be showing up to bother the player.
All in all, it’s amusing to see Bethesda call back to one of the older Elder Scrolls games. It’s even more amusing that the company decided to reference such an annoying (yet weirdly beloved) character. It’ll be interesting to see how this new version of the Adoring Fan will appear in Starfield. He’s part of an optional trait, after all, and those are known for presenting players with hefty tradeoffs. Thankfully, the community won’t have to wait too long to find out. They might even find some more nods to Elder Scrolls lore in the new IP.
Starfield will launch in 2023 for PC and Xbox Series X.
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