Summary: The first thing that should be established is that dragons in Skyrim are somewhat different compared to dragons in other series and traditional tales. They are still giant winged lizards, and breathing fire is in their skillset. In Skyrim, they just happen to refer to themselves as 'dovah'. However, where some stories treat dragons as nothing but mindless animals and where others treat them as sentient beings who can choose their path, the entire dovah race is very much set in their natural urges. Paarthurnax explains this very clearly to the player character at some point in the main quest. In them, every dragon has an urge to dominate and destroy. History has proven this quite true, as dov were once the ruling race of all sentient creatures. Even Paarthurnax himself is not exempt from this and has only gained such calm from thousands of years of meditation. Dov are perhaps not quite unique in their conditional immortality (death coming to them only through Dragonrend and their souls being absorbed), but they are unique in their powers. Instead of just breathing fire, dov cause damage and change the weather by using their own language. Because of this, the language of dovah is very important to them and they have their own concept of honor. This is shown in how two dragons meet one another for the first time where they demonstrate the strength of their Voice, their Thu'um, by using it on one another.
Knowing such facts about the dov, it should be no surprise that they considered almost every single other race to be vastly inferior. Aeons ago, they took this thought to the extreme and made themselves rulers over human, elf, Khajit, and Argonian lands. They did this as a united group, lead under a fearsome and extremely powerful dovah who would one day be known as the World Eater- Alduin. It should be noted that to Paarthurnax, Alduin was not only his leader. Paarthurnax was one of Alduin's trusted lieutenants and, even more importantly, his brother. They cared for one another, or at least this is what can be deduced from conversations held with Paarthurnax in the future where he seems regretful of what things have come to.
It started when Alduin began to become too intoxicated with his power. He began to proclaim himself a god: the first-born of Akatosh, the mightiest of the gods. Some of the other dov seemed as though they believed such claims, or perhaps they simply feared Alduin's strength. Some sources say that the god Kyne sent Paarthurnax down to the earth to help the mortals, but the voah himself says otherwise. Such claims disconcerted him and made him turn against his brother before things could get much worse. It was around this time that those races the dov had enslaved started to desire rebellion and freedom. With that in mind, Paarthurnax and a select few others decided to side with the humans. In the beginning, it seemed as though Paarthurnax was simply doing what was practical.
In time, however, he began to actually care for a few of these humans and called them his true friends: Gormlaith Golden-Hilt, Hakon One-Eye, and Felldir the Old. These rebel dov began to teach the humans how to use their language with dragon shouts, the Thu'um. Paarthurnax, however, went one step further and helped his friends craft a new Thu'um. It was something he could not speak himself: Joor Zah Frul. Dragonrend. As immortal beings, dragons could not understand the concept of mortality, of true death. Dragonrend would change that, forcing them to understand, tearing at their soul and breaking their concentration so they could no longer keep themselves in the air. Encouraging those who he had done such wrong against was not wise. However, Paarthurnax cared so deeply and trusted these humans so much that he assisted them with this anyway. His truth and friendship was rewarded, and his human friends used this new Thu'um to help take down Alduin.
With Paarthurnax and a few other dragons sided with the humans, the Dragon War happened. Atop the tallest point in Skyrim, the Throat of the World, the humans confronted Alduin. They forced him down to the snow where he would have to face them head on. They sacrificed their lives in fighting against him, and succeeded in using a powerful artifact known as an Elder Scroll. This forced Alduin through time so that he would not be seen on the mortal plane for many years. By the time he reappeared, a hero would have been born that could face him. Paarthurnax knew his brother would appear once more. He knew where it would happen. However, he did not know when, so he decided that it would be a part of his atonement for all the crimes he did against mortalkind.
Of course, Paarthurnax's reputation preceded him. He knew that no mortal would truly trust someone like him who had done the kinds of things he had done against their various races. He decided he would spend his time in isolation upon the Throat of the World, meditating on just what his language truly meant and what it should truly be used for. He began to focus on a creed created by a mortal man named Jurgen Windcaller, who stated that the Thu'um was only to be used for the praise and glory of the gods instead of personal gain and pride. Meditating on such teachings also helped Paarthurnax learn how to control his inner destructive nature. It never truly left him, but he would no longer be a slave to his own base desires. By constantly meditating on these teachings, he eventually became to be the grandmaster of the Greybeards, a group of mortal men who used the Thu'um in accordance with Windcaller's teachings. He did this while mostly remaining on the Throat of the World... The place he also knew where his brother would inevitably return to, whenever he finally made his appearance on the earth once more. Occasionally, he leaves his place to spread his wings, eat, and perhaps interact very rarely (more and more as centuries pass) with other dov. He even spoke with the enslaved dovah Numinex, who could no longer remember his own name and whose entrapment hurt Paarthurnax to see. Eventually, however, he always returned back to the Throat of the World to meditate, repent, and wait.
Eventually, his patience pays off. Alduin indeed returns, but his presence is not the only thing of important news. There is one born of mortal flesh with the soul of a dragon within her who makes her appearance in Skyrim and realizes just what she is. The Greybeards call her, have her prove her worth, and soon she makes her way up to the Throat of the World past blizzards and cliffs so that she may speak with the Grandmaster of their order. Paarthurnax awaits her, and deals with her surprise patiently. In fact, on some level, he is relieved to see her. The physical shell may be that of a mortal Dunmer woman, but she has the soul of a dragon inside of her. She is dovahkin, and she is the most he has seen in thousands of years. They speak for some time, with him asking her philosophical inquiries so that she may look at her reasons and choices more deeply. Eventually, she asks him the location of the Elder Scroll, and he tells her what she needs to know. It is more than that simple knowledge he gives her. Paarthurnax also helps her meditate on the language she now wields, lets her truly understand the words which make up parts of the Thu'um so that they may affect her and her outlook.
Soon, she left again to continue her quest. In what seemed like such a short time, she returned once again with the Elder Scroll in her possession. Using it drew Alduin back to the very place where he was once fought against so long ago. Just like that time, Paarthurnax once against fought against his brother so that the Dragonborn could finish him. Alduin escaped, however, and Paarthurnax was left to wait while the Dragonborn tried to locate the World Eater's hiding place. His place waiting ensured that he could hear word spread amongst the dov. After all, they had their own ideas of honor, and to run away from a battle when you were supposed to stay with it to the end... He could tell where the winds were turning, and they were not in his brother's favor.
A part of him was not surprised when the Dragonborn soon visited him again, and told him of the Blades. He knew them, of course, those who used to be infamous as dov slayers and who would surely remember his centuries old crimes against the mortal races. It was not surprising that they would not trust him, and he informed the Dragonborn of this. He explained how innate the desire to conquer and destroy was in a dragon, and how it had never left him even after so many years, after so many experiences. The only thing keeping him in check was his own will and meditating every day. It would not have been strange for the Dragonborn to fulfill her duty and kill him right there. He would have understood, and exposed his heart for her arrows. However, she did not end his life. Instead, she traveled to find his brother, and ended his.
Somehow, she returned to them all atop the Throat of the World, returned from a place that no other dovah would probably ever see. It was not just himself that waited for her, however. All of his other kin awaited as well. After all, the Dragonborn had bested the strongest amongst them all. She had more than shown the strength of her Thu'um. He spoke with her for a short while, of his feelings of loss for his foolish and sad brother before apologizing. They all acknowledge her strength and soon take off. Paarthurnax explains how he wishes to convince the other dov to take up the Way of the Voice, and flies off. However, whenever she wished to meet him, he could always be found on the Throat of the World, willing to meditate and talk.
His entire history, from his realization that he needed to stop his brother to wishing that other dov would listen to his talk of peace, should give a pretty decent idea of what kind of individual Paarthurnax is. Driving it home further is this quote, given when he speaks to the Dragonborn of the Blades wanting him dead:
"What is better? To be born good, or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?"
I believe this says a lot about Paarthurnax's character, what's at the core of him. From the very beginning, it is very clear that he is a philosophical person. Along with the above quote, he also asks the Dragonborn about why the world should be saved and makes them think about the choices they make, the bigger picture of things. He does not do this unkindly, as though to make them doubt themself. He simply wishes for the Dragonborn to think, on their reasons and actions. Know yourself before all else. For someone who has nothing but time to think on himself and his actions, it is only logical that Paarthurnax would see the value in such knowledge. He seems like he wishes to help as much as he can, telling the Dragonborn about the mortal made Dragonrend shout and where he could possibly find the Elder Scroll. He even helps the Dragonborn meditate on the Shouts, something which gives special effects to their body. Such patience and goodwill make it hard to believe that Paarthunax once did truly horrible deeds and that he has to make a true effort every day not to do them once more.
This shows two other very important parts of him. For one thing, Paarthurnax is in possession of an extremely powerful will. When he dedicates himself to something, he does it. He disagrees with the path his brother is taking, so he helps the humans start a rebellion even though it could eventually end his life as well. He no longer wishes to destroy, so he isolates him self and becomes so involved with a creed preaching peace that he ends up the grandmaster of a temple of monks. Another side of him that is shown is how kind he can truly be. Certainly he admits that all dragons are destroyers in their true nature... But even as someone who believe himself to be that at his core, Paarthurnax still shows great sadness that his brother's life had to be taken away, and he still considers those humans from aeons ago to be some of his truest friends.
Basically, Paarthurnax is a very old dragon who has learned a lot in his many years of living. He has inspected his own actions and meditated on the most important aspect of his people. He wishes for his wisdom to be passed on, so that none might share the fate of his brother and his friends. For a creature that claims his kind are at their base destructive and vicious, Paarthurnax is capable of quiet acts of good.
Re: Paarthurnax // Skyrim // OU
The first thing that should be established is that dragons in Skyrim are somewhat different compared to dragons in other series and traditional tales. They are still giant winged lizards, and breathing fire is in their skillset. In Skyrim, they just happen to refer to themselves as 'dovah'. However, where some stories treat dragons as nothing but mindless animals and where others treat them as sentient beings who can choose their path, the entire dovah race is very much set in their natural urges. Paarthurnax explains this very clearly to the player character at some point in the main quest. In them, every dragon has an urge to dominate and destroy. History has proven this quite true, as dov were once the ruling race of all sentient creatures. Even Paarthurnax himself is not exempt from this and has only gained such calm from thousands of years of meditation. Dov are perhaps not quite unique in their conditional immortality (death coming to them only through Dragonrend and their souls being absorbed), but they are unique in their powers. Instead of just breathing fire, dov cause damage and change the weather by using their own language. Because of this, the language of dovah is very important to them and they have their own concept of honor. This is shown in how two dragons meet one another for the first time where they demonstrate the strength of their Voice, their Thu'um, by using it on one another.
Knowing such facts about the dov, it should be no surprise that they considered almost every single other race to be vastly inferior. Aeons ago, they took this thought to the extreme and made themselves rulers over human, elf, Khajit, and Argonian lands. They did this as a united group, lead under a fearsome and extremely powerful dovah who would one day be known as the World Eater- Alduin. It should be noted that to Paarthurnax, Alduin was not only his leader. Paarthurnax was one of Alduin's trusted lieutenants and, even more importantly, his brother. They cared for one another, or at least this is what can be deduced from conversations held with Paarthurnax in the future where he seems regretful of what things have come to.
It started when Alduin began to become too intoxicated with his power. He began to proclaim himself a god: the first-born of Akatosh, the mightiest of the gods. Some of the other dov seemed as though they believed such claims, or perhaps they simply feared Alduin's strength. Some sources say that the god Kyne sent Paarthurnax down to the earth to help the mortals, but the voah himself says otherwise. Such claims disconcerted him and made him turn against his brother before things could get much worse. It was around this time that those races the dov had enslaved started to desire rebellion and freedom. With that in mind, Paarthurnax and a select few others decided to side with the humans. In the beginning, it seemed as though Paarthurnax was simply doing what was practical.
In time, however, he began to actually care for a few of these humans and called them his true friends: Gormlaith Golden-Hilt, Hakon One-Eye, and Felldir the Old. These rebel dov began to teach the humans how to use their language with dragon shouts, the Thu'um. Paarthurnax, however, went one step further and helped his friends craft a new Thu'um. It was something he could not speak himself: Joor Zah Frul. Dragonrend. As immortal beings, dragons could not understand the concept of mortality, of true death. Dragonrend would change that, forcing them to understand, tearing at their soul and breaking their concentration so they could no longer keep themselves in the air. Encouraging those who he had done such wrong against was not wise. However, Paarthurnax cared so deeply and trusted these humans so much that he assisted them with this anyway. His truth and friendship was rewarded, and his human friends used this new Thu'um to help take down Alduin.
With Paarthurnax and a few other dragons sided with the humans, the Dragon War happened. Atop the tallest point in Skyrim, the Throat of the World, the humans confronted Alduin. They forced him down to the snow where he would have to face them head on. They sacrificed their lives in fighting against him, and succeeded in using a powerful artifact known as an Elder Scroll. This forced Alduin through time so that he would not be seen on the mortal plane for many years. By the time he reappeared, a hero would have been born that could face him. Paarthurnax knew his brother would appear once more. He knew where it would happen. However, he did not know when, so he decided that it would be a part of his atonement for all the crimes he did against mortalkind.
Of course, Paarthurnax's reputation preceded him. He knew that no mortal would truly trust someone like him who had done the kinds of things he had done against their various races. He decided he would spend his time in isolation upon the Throat of the World, meditating on just what his language truly meant and what it should truly be used for. He began to focus on a creed created by a mortal man named Jurgen Windcaller, who stated that the Thu'um was only to be used for the praise and glory of the gods instead of personal gain and pride. Meditating on such teachings also helped Paarthurnax learn how to control his inner destructive nature. It never truly left him, but he would no longer be a slave to his own base desires. By constantly meditating on these teachings, he eventually became to be the grandmaster of the Greybeards, a group of mortal men who used the Thu'um in accordance with Windcaller's teachings. He did this while mostly remaining on the Throat of the World... The place he also knew where his brother would inevitably return to, whenever he finally made his appearance on the earth once more. Occasionally, he leaves his place to spread his wings, eat, and perhaps interact very rarely (more and more as centuries pass) with other dov. He even spoke with the enslaved dovah Numinex, who could no longer remember his own name and whose entrapment hurt Paarthurnax to see. Eventually, however, he always returned back to the Throat of the World to meditate, repent, and wait.
Eventually, his patience pays off. Alduin indeed returns, but his presence is not the only thing of important news. There is one born of mortal flesh with the soul of a dragon within her who makes her appearance in Skyrim and realizes just what she is. The Greybeards call her, have her prove her worth, and soon she makes her way up to the Throat of the World past blizzards and cliffs so that she may speak with the Grandmaster of their order. Paarthurnax awaits her, and deals with her surprise patiently. In fact, on some level, he is relieved to see her. The physical shell may be that of a mortal Dunmer woman, but she has the soul of a dragon inside of her. She is dovahkin, and she is the most he has seen in thousands of years. They speak for some time, with him asking her philosophical inquiries so that she may look at her reasons and choices more deeply. Eventually, she asks him the location of the Elder Scroll, and he tells her what she needs to know. It is more than that simple knowledge he gives her. Paarthurnax also helps her meditate on the language she now wields, lets her truly understand the words which make up parts of the Thu'um so that they may affect her and her outlook.
Soon, she left again to continue her quest. In what seemed like such a short time, she returned once again with the Elder Scroll in her possession. Using it drew Alduin back to the very place where he was once fought against so long ago. Just like that time, Paarthurnax once against fought against his brother so that the Dragonborn could finish him. Alduin escaped, however, and Paarthurnax was left to wait while the Dragonborn tried to locate the World Eater's hiding place. His place waiting ensured that he could hear word spread amongst the dov. After all, they had their own ideas of honor, and to run away from a battle when you were supposed to stay with it to the end... He could tell where the winds were turning, and they were not in his brother's favor.
A part of him was not surprised when the Dragonborn soon visited him again, and told him of the Blades. He knew them, of course, those who used to be infamous as dov slayers and who would surely remember his centuries old crimes against the mortal races. It was not surprising that they would not trust him, and he informed the Dragonborn of this. He explained how innate the desire to conquer and destroy was in a dragon, and how it had never left him even after so many years, after so many experiences. The only thing keeping him in check was his own will and meditating every day. It would not have been strange for the Dragonborn to fulfill her duty and kill him right there. He would have understood, and exposed his heart for her arrows. However, she did not end his life. Instead, she traveled to find his brother, and ended his.
Somehow, she returned to them all atop the Throat of the World, returned from a place that no other dovah would probably ever see. It was not just himself that waited for her, however. All of his other kin awaited as well. After all, the Dragonborn had bested the strongest amongst them all. She had more than shown the strength of her Thu'um. He spoke with her for a short while, of his feelings of loss for his foolish and sad brother before apologizing. They all acknowledge her strength and soon take off. Paarthurnax explains how he wishes to convince the other dov to take up the Way of the Voice, and flies off. However, whenever she wished to meet him, he could always be found on the Throat of the World, willing to meditate and talk.
His entire history, from his realization that he needed to stop his brother to wishing that other dov would listen to his talk of peace, should give a pretty decent idea of what kind of individual Paarthurnax is. Driving it home further is this quote, given when he speaks to the Dragonborn of the Blades wanting him dead:
"What is better? To be born good, or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?"
I believe this says a lot about Paarthurnax's character, what's at the core of him. From the very beginning, it is very clear that he is a philosophical person. Along with the above quote, he also asks the Dragonborn about why the world should be saved and makes them think about the choices they make, the bigger picture of things. He does not do this unkindly, as though to make them doubt themself. He simply wishes for the Dragonborn to think, on their reasons and actions. Know yourself before all else. For someone who has nothing but time to think on himself and his actions, it is only logical that Paarthurnax would see the value in such knowledge. He seems like he wishes to help as much as he can, telling the Dragonborn about the mortal made Dragonrend shout and where he could possibly find the Elder Scroll. He even helps the Dragonborn meditate on the Shouts, something which gives special effects to their body. Such patience and goodwill make it hard to believe that Paarthunax once did truly horrible deeds and that he has to make a true effort every day not to do them once more.
This shows two other very important parts of him. For one thing, Paarthurnax is in possession of an extremely powerful will. When he dedicates himself to something, he does it. He disagrees with the path his brother is taking, so he helps the humans start a rebellion even though it could eventually end his life as well. He no longer wishes to destroy, so he isolates him self and becomes so involved with a creed preaching peace that he ends up the grandmaster of a temple of monks. Another side of him that is shown is how kind he can truly be. Certainly he admits that all dragons are destroyers in their true nature... But even as someone who believe himself to be that at his core, Paarthurnax still shows great sadness that his brother's life had to be taken away, and he still considers those humans from aeons ago to be some of his truest friends.
Basically, Paarthurnax is a very old dragon who has learned a lot in his many years of living. He has inspected his own actions and meditated on the most important aspect of his people. He wishes for his wisdom to be passed on, so that none might share the fate of his brother and his friends. For a creature that claims his kind are at their base destructive and vicious, Paarthurnax is capable of quiet acts of good.