The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a pretty bland game, to be brutally honest, but there are some things that even Bethesda won't let fly in their big releases. While they're pretty cool now, it was recently revealed that the game's werewolves were on the verge of being cut from the game entirely due to how awful they were, but were saved by the hard work of a couple of developers.
One of those developers is Dennis Mejillones, who has worked as a character artist for Bethesda on games like Skyrim, Fallout 4 and Starfield. In an interview with YouTube channel Kiwi Talkz, Mejillones recalls the story of how he and another developer worked in secret in an effort to stop werewolves from being scrapped.
Skyrim Dev worked in secret to stop werewolves from being scrapped
Mejillones begins by explaining that the way Bethesda had originally implemented werewolves was “really bad”, as they were essentially just humans with a dog's head. Kind of like Khajit and Argonians, but with human bodies, which is very upsetting to think about. You can also now see why Bethesda came close to cutting the idea entirely.
But, unable to let go of a cool idea, and inspired by movies like Underworld, Mejillones began working with fellow Bethesda developers and best friend Jeremy Bryant to save the werewolves. At first, Mejillones recognized that werewolves shouldn't be regular guys and should actually be monsters, as they are portrayed in literally every other medium, so he and Bryant began working on a demo in private.
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“So basically I created a big, brutal werewolf, and Jeremy and I worked on bringing this thing together in the game, and pushing it in, and it was just me and him. We'd spend the night, all kinds of things to get it to where we had a playable demo. I remember we kept it really, really low.”
Eventually, Mejillones contacted Todd Howard directly with the demo, who immediately fell in love with the mechanic and wanted it in Skyrim's full release. He apparently even brushed aside concerns from other developers about how the system would work, so the next time you're enjoying another round of werewolf slaughter in Whiterun, spare a thought for Mejillones and Bryant, who made it all possible.
One of the all-time greats, The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim redefined the concept of the Western RPG. With countless awards under its belt and releases on almost every platform imaginable, you will be immersed in a colossal open world in your role as Dragonborn. You must face your destiny and save the land from a formidable enemy.
