‘Starfield’ Direct shows the return of ‘Oblivion”s unsettling Adoring Fan

While today’s Starfield Direct (June 11) treated sci-fi fans to its sparkly settings, customisable spaceships and character creation, it also saw the return of one of The Elder Scrolls’ most aggravating characters.

Traits, which are an optional aspect, alter how the game reacts to the player’s character. For example, the Freestar Collective Settler trait allies the player with that faction and will allow for greater faction rewards, however, crime bounties towards other factions are significantly increased.

However, Hero Worshiped means that a blond citizen will appear randomly and fawn over the character — seemingly never tiring, requiring food or water, or running out of things to say.

You can see it in action through the timestamped video below.

As spotted in the footage, there’s no doubting it: that NPC is another iteration of the Adoring Fan that appeared in The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. The character was one of the game’s most notorious fixtures when it launched in 2006, as players soon learned that even death couldn’t stop their irritating fan — he’d just return unscathed, several days after dying.

This time though, Starfield players will at least be given gifts by the NPC, who will be hireable as a member of your crew. However, as the above Direct suggests, players will still be able to kill the fan — though whether that’s a permanent death will remain to be seen when Starfield launches on September 6.

While fans were treated to a deep dive of Starfield, Fable showed off a fly on the wall trailer of what it’s really like to live in a fantasy world filled with destructive, disruptive heroes.

In other gaming news, today’s Xbox Games Showcase also saw Keanu Reeves make an appearance to confirm a release date for Cyberpunk 2077‘s Phantom Liberty expansion.