Is hermaeus mora evil or neutral?

[=CrimsoN=]

Daerdic prince of knowledge and fate. according to the wikia he "is neither good nor evil" yet his methods just seem very dark to me...not to mention he creeps me the hell out and seeks to control you regardless of your choice at free will.

[christopherbailey1967]

Aren't all the Princes evil, just some less so then others??

[=CrimsoN=]

Meridia isn't evil. She is the "prince" of life and energy. Azura also isn't evil as she is the "prince" of dusk and dawn.

[Sneaky-Ninja-Man]

No not really, all of them have done evil things but they are pretty much all neutral

[Sneaky-Ninja-Man]

And Hermaeus is really creepy lol

[ZephyrLuxx]

My read on it is that Daedric princes generally just operate outside of the realm of human morality. It's hard to call one like Hermaeus Mora good or evil, or even neutral. He just plays by his own rules and is driven by a set of morals that's nothing like ours.

[pedantic_roc]

Hermy Mora at least rewards you with useful stuff for becoming his champion. Half the others i'd like to tell them where to shove it. i.e. someplace dark, where a monkey keeps his nuts :D

Oops - I feel the same as Zeph, he's just doing his thing :-)

[Visi]

Originally posted by ZephyrLuxx:

My read on it is that Daedric princes generally just operate outside of the realm of human morality. It's hard to call one like Hermaeus Mora good or evil, or even neutral. He just plays by his own rules and is driven by a set of morals that's nothing like ours.

I agree with this. HM's sole interest seems to be the gathering of knowledge. So long as he gets his oily tentacles on it the method by which he acquires that knowledge doesn't seem to matter.

[Hare+Guu!]

I don't see them making your head spin 360 and make you puke buckets, so they can't be that bad.

[Malvastor]

Originally posted by Visi:

Originally posted by ZephyrLuxx:

My read on it is that Daedric princes generally just operate outside of the realm of human morality. It's hard to call one like Hermaeus Mora good or evil, or even neutral. He just plays by his own rules and is driven by a set of morals that's nothing like ours.

I agree with this. HM's sole interest seems to be the gathering of knowledge. So long as he gets his oily tentacles on it the method by which he acquires that knowledge doesn't seem to matter.

Not to get too philosophical, but wouldn't we call a human of that description (willing to do anything regardless of morals or ethics to get what he wants) evil?

[Zenogias]

Any daedra can be good or evil it's just depend on your judgement but in fact we are just a toy or pawn for them to be moved as they wish.

If you have done some quest of them you would understand that they see mortal as a plaything of fate.
The best way to not be their toy is to leave the quest that way and don't get involve with them.

[dunbaratu]

I disliked Hermasue Mora because he utterly fails to understand that a god of knowledge should LIKE it when knowledge is spread, but he's actively seeking to suppress knowledge when he tries to selfishly take it all and keep it to himself.

You'd assume that a god of X, for any X, likes it the more X there is in the world.

A prince of violence would like it if there's more violence around, rather than say "Everyone except me should be peaceful."
A prince of betrayal should like it more people are betraying each other, rather than saying "Everyone except me should be trustworthy and loyal."
And yet here we have a supposed prince of knowledge who wants everyone other than him to be ignorant, by the fact that he wants to hoard knowledge away from the world.

This particular Daedric Prince, in addition to being a bit underhanded, is also outright lying about what his interests are, and acting in completely the reverse of what he claims.

[jconsort]

"Honor is a tool for the weak"

[Visi]

Originally posted by Malvastor:

Originally posted by Visi:

I agree with this. HM's sole interest seems to be the gathering of knowledge. So long as he gets his oily tentacles on it the method by which he acquires that knowledge doesn't seem to matter.

Not to get too philosophical, but wouldn't we call a human of that description (willing to do anything regardless of morals or ethics to get what he wants) evil?

Perhaps. You can certainly view him as evil if you want. It's hard to impose mortal morality upon such beings. Like an ant dictating to you what's right and wrong. He's certainly a merciless creature, though.

Originally posted by madings:

I disliked Hermasue Mora because he utterly fails to understand that a god of knowledge should LIKE it when knowledge is spread, but he's actively seeking to suppress knowledge when he tries to selfishly take it all and keep it to himself.

You'd assume that a god of X, for any X, likes it the more X there is in the world.

A prince of violence would like it if there's more violence around, rather than say "Everyone except me should be peaceful."
A prince of betrayal should like it more people are betraying each other, rather than saying "Everyone except me should be trustworthy and loyal."
And yet here we have a supposed prince of knowledge who wants everyone other than him to be ignorant, by the fact that he wants to hoard knowledge away from the world.

This particular Daedric Prince, in addition to being a bit underhanded, is also outright lying about what his interests are, and acting in completely the reverse of what he claims.

I disagree with your assessment. Simply because that's what you believe a god of knowledge should be doesn't make it so. He's the Daedric Prince of fate, knowledge, and memory. Portraying such a being as a hoarder of knowledge, or IMO a merchant of knowledge, is just as valid as portraying him as you suggest.

[Delta 1038]

He's Pineapple. No really. The Daedra don't operate on our standards of good and evil. Hell, even the more benevolent Daedra such as Meridia and Azura have done some pretty questionable things and even they themselves admit that you shouldn't call them "good" in mortal terms.

[Eat3n]

Originally posted by ZephyrLuxx:

My read on it is that Daedric princes generally just operate outside of the realm of human morality. It's hard to call one like Hermaeus Mora good or evil, or even neutral. He just plays by his own rules and is driven by a set of morals that's nothing like ours.

Good job Zephyr, i couldn't have said it any better myself!

Originally posted by Malvastor:

Originally posted by Visi:

I agree with this. HM's sole interest seems to be the gathering of knowledge. So long as he gets his oily tentacles on it the method by which he acquires that knowledge doesn't seem to matter.

Not to get too philosophical, but wouldn't we call a human of that description (willing to do anything regardless of morals or ethics to get what he wants) evil?

True, but Hermaeous Mora isn't human so we humans can't judge him by our human standards.

Originally posted by madings:

I disliked Hermasue Mora because he utterly fails to understand that a god of knowledge should LIKE it when knowledge is spread, but he's actively seeking to suppress knowledge when he tries to selfishly take it all and keep it to himself.

Aside from the fact that i reject everything else you said, your original premise is wrong: 1) Why should a god of knowledge "like" when knowledge is spread? You didn't say why spreading knowledge is good, therefore you can't judge Hermaeous as "bad" because he doesn't live up to it. 2) Just because you have something doesn't mean you should or want to spread it. People with STDs...shouldn't spread it. Apple has all kinds of knowledge, schematics, blueprints, etc...that doesn't mean they are going to open the doors and let everyone have the tech. Hermaeous Mora isn't trying to suppress knowledge, if he was why give out the Ogham Infinium? No, he's trying to get as much as he can. Why? Knowledge is power. If i know something you don't, i have power over you.