The admirer in Starfield loves watching you kill him

The Adoring Fan was introduced in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, an immortal stalker who relentlessly pursues you after you conquer the Arena in Cyrodiil. You can throw him off a cliff, burn him to death, or simply slice him into pieces with an Ebony Greatsword - it doesn't matter. He always comes back and adores the ground you walk on.

It became a meme to sadistically mutilate and murder the Adoring Fan in creatively cruel ways, but as it turned out, the voice behind our favorite stalker loves this reception.

"[Bethesda] was absolutely right that people would take joy in hating the character," actor Craig Sechler told TheGamer. "The various ways of bidding farewell to the sidekick became a sort of ritual, and websites were created. I was just happy about the recognition. I thought it was great. Even today, I still receive things like, 'What do you think of this?' They bid farewell to their old buddy in very creative ways. And that amuses me immensely because I crack up when I see it, they do it so well."

When the Adoring Fan was brought back for Starfield as a starting attribute, allowing players to recruit him as a companion and crew member from the beginning, it reignited the spark. Fans jumped with joy at the opportunity to mutilate and massacre this poor, overzealous fan in entirely new ways, now even in space. Kicking him off a cliff was already commonplace, but kicking him off a cliff on a zero-gravity planet? Now things are getting interesting.

"There are many people who have written to me and said, 'I can't wait to get rid of you,'" Sechler says. "And I've said, 'Well then, go ahead, buddy. Whatever makes you happy. That's what I'm here for. And I'll still adore the ground you walk on.'"

Sechler had a sense that fans would hate the character, and that was something Bethesda had planned. Completing the Arena questline in Oblivion would reward players with an annoying fan who would constantly be on their heels - the true celebrity experience. Naturally, people would despise him. As expected, he quickly became an icon of the Elder Scrolls.

"[The admirer] sounded like the dumbest idea I had ever heard," says Craig Sechler. He gives credit to the sound director Mark Lampert for contributing to the eccentricity of the role. "He pushed me to go even further and said, 'Take this character to a point that is practically ridiculous.' And I did that, and he said, 'Yes! That's it! Exactly!' And I said, 'Mark, I don't understand. If we do this and I do it the way you want, people will hate this character.' And he replied, 'Now you get it.'"

17 years later, gamers still love to hate the admirer and use him as a willing punching bag to test all their different weapons and abilities. But not only does the admirer himself not mind, the voice behind him is just as enthusiastic.