The Scarlet Judge, an NPC from The Elder Scrolls Online's Morrowind expansion, introduces players to a lengthy questline that sounds eerily similar to Batman. The Elder Scrolls Online has released a bounty of content since its initial release in 2014, and the Morrowind expansion introduced the isle of Vvardenfell originally included in The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind. It is there, in the town of Suran, that the Scarlet Judge awaits an arriving Vestige.
According to Elder Scrolls lore, the Scarlet Judge in ESO lived on the continent of Tamriel about 800 years before the events of Morrowind. ESO's Morrowind content introduced the Daedric War storyline and contains some of the most important lore in The Elder Scrolls Online. The Scarlet Judge, however, is merely an entertaining side quest that rewards players with a new costume and necklace bearing its owner's namesake. Following along the quest reveals a masked vigilante who upholds justice in Suran and defends the weak according to their own code.
The Scarlet Judge might as well be ESO's own Batman character. The Scarlet Judge's quest invites players to discover evidence of corruption in Suran's local government, akin to Batman's roots as the World's Greatest Detective. From there, players bring evidence of the corruption to Ules Manor, where the Scarlet Judge leads them to his Batcave (a lair hidden behind a bookcase).
The Scarlet Judge Is Basically Elder Scrolls' Batman
As the quest continues, the Scarlet Judge is captured and tortured at Suran Prison, a location only available in the Scarlet Judge quest in The Elder Scrolls Online. Players must rescue them and discover their true identity, a dark elf named Melar Sadus, who insists that players take up the cowl (literally) of the Scarlet Judge and continue to protect the downtrodden and oppressed of Suran. From there, players must don the eponymous regalia and take down the corrupt landowners and their leader, Marshal Hlaren, bringing justice to the falsely imprisoned slaves of the town's plantations.
Essentially, the Scarlet Judge is a vigilante with a secret identity who protects justice and the innocent from the shadows, according to their own creed and assignment ed down through generations. Like many Batmen who came before, the Scarlet Judge is an ace detective that dolls out justice from a secret hideout. Melar Sadus retires his role as the Scarlet Judge at the end of the quest, but his glory lives on in the quest's rewards: the Regalia of the Scarlet Judge in Elder Scrolls Online.
