Skyrim Players Are Massacring Butterflies With Their Screams
Where were you during the great butterfly massacre of 2021? We were sat at our desks, writing about The Elder Scrolls and not knowing we were on the cusp of an ecological extinction like Tamriel had never seen before. Like any good open-world RPG, hunting is an integral part of Skyrim. However, players have found a new way to upset the ecosystem.
While the upcoming Skyrim Anniversary Edition will lead to our rivers and oceans being plundered thanks to the addition of fishing, the existing game (and its many ports) are seeing butterflies dropping "like flies" from the skies. What's worse, players have a pretty macabre way of doing it.
Why are Skyrim players killing butterflies?
Unlike Patrick and SpongeBob happily running around with nets to catch jellyfish, nabbing butterflies in Skyrim can be a sometimes frustrating venture. If madly dashing with your arms waving isn't for you, one clever redditor has pointed out a handy hack that'll save some serious hours.
On the official r/Skyrim, u/PsychoWrecker titled their post, "Did you know screaming at a Butterfly drops the ingredients". Critics were quick to point out you're technically shouting, but still, the post took off on the subreddit.
In the short clip, a quick blast of "Fus Ro Dah" knocks butterflies from the sky and allows you to easily collect their ingredients. All in all, it reminds a bit of Banshee from X-Men: First Class.
Should you be killing butterflies in Skyrim?
At the end of the day, it's your game, and you can do what you want. Unlike many of the ghosts and ghouls in Skyrim, butterflies are a completely harmless addition to the game. It might seem cruel to blast them from the sky using your lungs, but is it really any different to harvesting them for ingredients?
Commenting on the OP, one player wrote, "Omg now I just imagine the Dragonborn going all EAAAAARRRRRGHHHHHHHH at the poor butterflies instead of Fus Ro Dah", while another added, "This also works with salmon. Itβs the best way I know to get salmon roe."
Others shared their own morbid methods of dispatch. Another said, "My arrow can clip the wings off a butterfly, but I would much rather hop around spamming X like a lunatic". A final butterfly murder concluded, "I prefer flames, the wings just fall straight down." Our favourite comment was the person that wrote, "Thanks for the tip I'm going to go outside and scream at a butterfly now brb."
We recently covered how villainous dragonflies can kidnap NPCs, so next time you come across a flying foe in Skyrim, try screaming - sorry, shouting - it to pieces.
