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| “ | He he he... Crazy? Cicero? He he he he! That's... madness... | „ |
| ~ One of Cicero's idle quotes. |
Cicero is the secondary antagonist of the Dark Brotherhood questline in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
He is voiced by Andy Morris, who has also voiced Emperor Tachyon in the Ratchet & Clank franchise.
History[]
Past[]
According to his journals, Cicero has been a part of the Dark Brotherhood for at least fifteen years and completed his first contract on a baroness in Cyrodiil one year into his servitude to Sithis. For whatever reason, every sanctuary Cicero joined fell apart, forcing him to join other sanctuaries while he gradually lost grip of his sanity until he killed a Jester and decided to take up the mantle as one.
After becoming the keeper of the Night Mother, Cicero endlessly searched for The Listener while more and more members of the Dark Brotherhood died around him until he had no choice but to join the last known active Sanctuaries he knew of, the Falkreath hold in Skyrim. Meanwhile, Cicero would make another sanctuary in Dawnstar his home, surrounded by the ghosts of yet more deceased members of the Dark Brotherhood.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim[]
Upon entering Skyrim on his wagon carrying the Night Mother, one of Cicero's wheels breaks off in front of the house of a farmer named Loreius, who refuses to help him due to being so odd. Eventually, Cicero meets The Last Dragonborn who can either ignore Cicero, help him, or report him to a passing city guard. Either way, Cicero eventually makes it to the Sanctuary.
Cicero repeatedly locks himself in a room alone with the Night Mother and speaks to her in hopes of finding out who The Listener could possibly be, making Astrid suspicious of him and believing he's talking to an unknown person and possibly exposing their chapter to an authority figure. To find out what Cicero is doing, Astrid tells the Dragonborn to enter the Night Mother's coffin where she unexpectedly reveals that the Dragonborn is The Listener themselves, elating Cicero.
Once the Dragonborn returns to the hold after killing Gaius Maro, they are told that Cicero snapped when he heard Astrid disrespecting the Night Mother and attempted to kill her. Another member of the Dark Brotherhood, Veezara, attempted to intervene and was wounded in the process, forcing Cicero to flee with Astrid's husband Arnbjorn chasing after him in a rage.
Following Cicero to the abandoned chapter of the Dark Brotherhood near Dawnstar, the Dragonborn eventually corners Cicero and either finally puts down the raving madman or spares his life to later become a potential follower after the destruction of the Falkreath hold.
Personality[]
Cicero's most apparent personality trait above all others is his homicidal insanity, however he was not always the mad jester he's shown to be in Skyrim. In his earliest journals, Cicero was once just as sane as any other relatively regular person in Tamriel and even after joining the Dark Brotherhood, he didn't immediately enjoy murder. Due to a combination of the constant murders he was set out to commit, his friends and organization either dying around him or deserting him to avoid being killed themselves, and the solitude while searching non-stop for The Listener whittled down his sanity over the course of nearly two decades. It's unknown what made Cicero finally snap but when he did, Cicero turned into the maniacal, dancing and singing, and overly excitable and paranoid butcher the player always sees him as.
Another notable trait of Cicero is his undying loyalty to the Night Mother, as he's shown several times that he's fully willing to murder other Dark Brotherhood members that he believes have betrayed or insulted the Night Mother or the Dark Brotherhood itself, such as the time he convinced Garnag to murder Rasha when the latter claimed to be The Listener but was proven to be a liar when he couldn't remember the phrase she uses to let other Dark Brotherhood members know who The Listener actually is, that being "Darkness rises when silence dies".
Quotes[]
Idle Quotes in Holds[]
| “ | Oooh! Cicero wants some Skyforge steel! Sharp sharp, for easy stabbing! | „ |
| ~ Cicero in Whiterun. |
| “ | Riften. Cicero likes Riften. Cheats and ruffians and cutthroats abound. Finally, some fun. | „ |
| ~ Cicero in Riften. |
| “ | Oooh! Cicero's heard about The Butcher! Interesting knifework. Just... Stab, stab, stab, stab, stab! And then... Stab, stab, stab, stab, stab! | „ |
| ~ Cicero in Windhelm. |
| “ | The High King's court needs a Jester... but not me. No, not Cicero. The Fool of Hearts is busy enough, thank you very much. | „ |
| ~ Cicero in Solitude. |
| “ | I saw a Dwarf! I did! I did! Cicero saw a dwarf! There- ...oh. No, sorry. No Dwarf. | „ |
| ~ Cicero in Markarth. |
Other Quotes[]
| “ | Ha ha! Behold the final trick of the Fool of Hearts! You think me near death? Think again! | „ |
| ~ If Cicero is attacked but not immediately killed during "The Cure for Madness". |
| “ | Coming... Mother... | „ |
| ~ Cicero's last words if The Dragonborn kills him. |
Trivia[]
- In one of Cicero's journals, he mentions posing as an "Adoring Fan" to the grand champion of the Arena in Cyrodiil before slashing his throat in the woods and leaving his body to be eaten by bears. This is a reference to the much fan-hated character of the same name in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. However, seeing how Oblivion takes place 232 years before the events of Skyrim, it's unlikely Cicero and the Adoring Fan are one in the same, he did not kill the Hero of Kvatch, and not to mention being an Imperial whereas the Adoring Fan was a Bosmer.
- At the Dark Brotherhood sanctuary in Dawnstar, the player can find the skulls of at least 40 people that Cicero has murdered, Cicero himself mentions having killed six people in journals, and he kills both Vantus and Curwe Loreius at their farm if the Dragonborn refuses to help him. In total, cicero is responsible for at least 48 murders, though it's likely he's committed far more.
External Link[]
- Cicero - The Elder Scrolls Wiki
