You just won. You’re the Grand Champion of the Arena. The crowd is screaming, the Gray Prince is dead on the blood-soaked sands of the Imperial City, and you’re feeling like the biggest deal in Cyrodiil. Then you walk out those heavy iron doors.
"By Azura! By Azura! By Azura!"
There he is. Yellow hair shaped like a radioactive onion. Huge, vacant eyes. A blue tunic that somehow radiates desperation. The Adoring Fan in Oblivion isn't just a character; he is a core memory for anyone who played Bethesda’s 2006 masterpiece. He’s the physical embodiment of "be careful what you wish for." You wanted fame? Well, fame comes with a stalker who wants to shine your boots and follow you into the literal pits of hell just to watch you breathe.
What Actually Triggers the Adoring Fan?
Honestly, it’s simpler than people remember. You don't need a high fame score or a specific level. You just have to finish the Arena questline. Once you defeat the Grand Champion—whether you did it honorably or by doing that sad quest to make him give up—this Bosmer lad spawns outside the Arena bloodworks.
He offers to follow you around, carry your weapons, or give you backrubs. Fun fact: he can't actually carry your weapons. He doesn't have a follower inventory like the companions in Skyrim. He’s basically a walking, breathing cosmetic item that talks too much. If you say yes, he follows. If you say no, he stays there, waiting. Forever.
Most players say yes once. Just once. Then they realize he doesn't fight. When a Daedroth starts charging at you in an Oblivion Gate, the Adoring Fan doesn't draw a sword. He just screams and runs away. He’ll hide behind a rock until the music stops, then trot back over like nothing happened. "Golly, you're the best!"
It’s infuriating.
The Mechanics of a Persistent Nuisance
Let’s talk about why he’s a technical marvel of annoyance. He is one of the few NPCs in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion with a "respawn" tag. This is crucial. It means if you get tired of his voice and decide to push him off the top of Dive Rock—the highest peak in the game—he isn't gone for good.
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Three days.
That’s all the peace you get. After three in-game days, he respawns back at the Arena and tracks you down again. He is an inevitable force of nature. You can’t outrun him, and you certainly can’t kill him permanently without using console commands or specific mods.
Why Bethesda Made Him This Way
The developers at Bethesda, specifically the designers like Emil Pagliarulo, knew exactly what they were doing. The Adoring Fan in Oblivion is a parody. He’s a satirical take on the "hero worship" trope in RPGs. In most games, being the hero feels great. In Oblivion, it feels like having a younger sibling who won't leave your room.
He’s also a callback. Hardcore fans know he’s a spiritual successor to the annoying fans or persistent NPCs in older CRPGs. But Bethesda turned the dial to eleven. They gave him that specific voice—voiced by Craig Sechler—that hits a frequency somewhere between a flute and a dental drill.
The Most Creative Ways Players "Handle" Him
Since you can't get rid of him through normal means, the community got... creative. This is where the Adoring Fan in Oblivion transitioned from a character into a meme that has lasted two decades.
The Dive Rock Sacrifice: This is the classic. You take him to the edge of the cliff near the Jerall Mountains. You wait for him to start a sentence. You use the "grab" key or a high-level destruction spell. Watching that yellow hair disappear into the clouds is a rite of passage.
The Daedric Bait: Some players use him as a distraction. While he’s running in circles screaming from a Dremora Valkynaz, you have about five seconds of free shots with your bow. It’s cold. It’s cynical. It works.
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The Permanent Guard: If you tell him to "Wait here," he stays. People have left him in some of the most desolate, terrifying places in the game just to see if he’ll survive. Put him in a basement in Skingrad. Leave him in a swamp in Blackwood. He’ll be there, staring at the wall, waiting for his idol.
The Essential Item Storage: While he doesn't have a trade menu, players found out you can reverse-pickpocket zero-weight items onto him. He’s not a pack mule, but he’s a decent living locker for your enchanted rings if you're out of inventory space.
Fact-Checking the Myths
There’s a lot of nonsense floating around on old forums about this guy. No, he is not a secret Daedric Prince. There was a popular fan theory that he was Cicero from Skyrim (the jester from the Dark Brotherhood). While Skyrim does have a journal entry by Cicero mentioning he once posed as a fan to kill a Grand Champion, the timelines don't actually match up perfectly. Oblivion takes place in 3E 433, and Skyrim is 200 years later. Unless he’s a very well-preserved Wood Elf, it’s just a clever Easter egg, not the same person.
Another myth: he can be turned into a vampire. He can! If you’re a vampire and you use your "Vampiric Seduction" ability, you can feed on him. He’s actually the most convenient "blood bank" in the game because he never reports you for a crime and he’s always nearby.
Why He Matters in 2026
You might wonder why we’re still talking about a character from 2006. It’s because modern games are too "safe." Most modern companions are written to be likeable, romanceable, or helpful. They have complex backstories and approval ratings.
The Adoring Fan in Oblivion doesn't care if you're a mass murderer or a saint. He doesn't have a loyalty mission. He just likes you. There’s something strangely pure—and deeply unsettling—about that. He represents an era of game design where developers weren't afraid to annoy the player for the sake of world-building.
He even made a comeback in Starfield. Bethesda knew the meme was so powerful that they recreated him as the "Hero Worshipped" trait. Same hair. Same voice actor. Same terrifying devotion. It proves that the "Fan" is more than a character; he’s a brand of psychological warfare.
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How to Get Rid of Him (For Real)
If you’ve reached your breaking point and the "By Azura!" is ringing in your ears while you sleep, you have three real options.
First, the "Wait" command. Tell him to wait in a house you own. Close the door. Never go back. He counts as a follower, so you can't pick up certain other quest-specific followers while he's "active," but for most of the game, this solves the problem.
Second, the "Lava Bath." Take him to an Oblivion Gate. Find a nice pool of molten MAGMA. Command him to stand in it. Because he respawns at the Arena, he won't come back to you in the wasteland. He'll just hang out in the Imperial City until you go back there.
Third, if you’re on PC, open the console with the tilde key (~), click on him, and type disable. He will vanish from existence. No respawn. No screaming. Just silence.
Expert Advice for New Players
If you are playing Oblivion for the first time on a modern rig or via backwards compatibility, do yourself a favor: don't kill him immediately. Let him follow you for at least one dungeon crawl. Experience the sheer absurdity of trying to sneak through a ruin while a golden-haired teenager brightly whispers about how great you are. It is a foundational part of the Elder Scrolls experience.
Once you’ve had your fill of the "Grand Champion" life, then you can find a high cliff. It’s what he would have wanted. Probably.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Playthrough:
- Trigger the Spawn: Finish the Arena questline early to get him out of the way.
- The Blood Bank Strategy: If playing as a vampire, keep him in your primary house (like Benirus Manor) as an easy source of food.
- The Dive Rock Pilgrimage: Visit Dive Rock north of Cheydinhal for the "intended" way to dismiss him.
- Check the Easter Eggs: If you play Starfield, look for the "Hero Worshipped" trait during character creation to see how the legacy continues in the settled systems.
The Adoring Fan is a reminder that sometimes the most memorable parts of a game aren't the epic boss fights or the beautiful vistas—they're the small, annoying people who think we're better than we actually are.