Why does Ancano get so little credit as a villain

[DragonbornVet]

The more I replay the College of Winterhold questline, the more I think Ancano is genuinely one of the better antagonists in the game. Like, he's not Mercer Frey levels of memorable, but he's way more interesting than people give him credit for.

Think about it. He shows up as this smug Thalmor agent and immediately starts messing with you. He's not trying to seduce you or manipulate you into some elaborate scheme - he's just there to antagonize you and steal the Eye of Magnus. He's arrogant enough to think he can waltz into the College, ignore the Arch-Mage, and nobody can stop him. And honestly that kind of works because the College is in the middle of nowhere and half the mages there are useless.

The thing that gets me is how he actually succeeds for a while. He sabotages you, he gets you kicked out, and then he just... takes the Eye. Most Skyrim villains monologue or wait around. Ancano actually moves on his goals. Then when you come back he's already absorbed its power and is genuinely dangerous for like thirty seconds before you kill him.

I think the reason people sleep on him is because the College questline itself is kind of a snoozefest and the final fight is short. But the character work is there if you actually pay attention to his dialogue and what he's doing.

 

[TamrielTactician]

I'd push back a bit on the "character work" angle, but yeah, Ancano's actually competent in a way that stands out. The thing that makes him work is exactly what you said - he doesn't wait around. He actively sabotages the College, gets results, and when you finally confront him he's not monologuing about his master plan, he's just... there with the Eye, confident he can take you. That's refreshing compared to a lot of Skyrim villains who seem to assume the player will show up eventually.

That said, I don't think the issue is people sleeping on his character so much as the College questline itself being forgettable. Like, you're right that the dialogue is there, but it's easy to miss because you're grinding through a dungeon crawl or dealing with the weird politics of the College that don't really matter. Mercer works better because the Thieves Guild questline actually makes you care about the people around him before he betrays them. With Ancano you're mostly just annoyed at this smug guy, which is fine, but it doesn't stick.

The thirty seconds thing is kind of the real problem though. He absorbs the Eye, he's dangerous for like one fight, then he dies and the questline ends. It's hard to be a memorable villain when you're only threatening for like two minutes of actual gameplay. Still, you're not wrong that he's underrated - he's doing more than just existing, which puts him ahead of a lot of the College's other antagonists.