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I just got the Mudcrab Merchant back to my house with the Command Animal spell, now im gonna sit back and watch this with him

One of my favourite Oblivion-isms is when your opponent gets interrupted or dies partway through yelling and it's just "I'VE FOUGHT MUDCRABS". Yeah man, we all have.

It works in Morrowind because the raw power displayed by enemies and magic in the lore/setting makes it totally possible for a sentient mudcrab to exist and not feel silly. If I found an identical character in The Outer Worlds, for instance, I'd just roll my eyes and sell him stuff. Morrowind keeps you guessing and it feels like nothing is impossible after that first NPC plummets to death in front of you with insane boots. There's a dangerous realism to Morrowind's magic, with enough consequences to make it believable.

Fun fact due to what's in Old Salty's inventory he is either I direct reference to or possibly the same mudcrab

This guy always reminds me of the pet crabs I had as a kid. Joe and Josephine, who cleverly escaped their confinement, pinched the cat, and hid behind a dresser, only to be recaptured and placed back where they belonged. RIP to those friendos.

I like the implication that the crab has lived a life prior to its crustacean continuance, perhaps as a human or mer

Hey, this is (to my knowledge) your first sponsored vid. I know you used to take much pride in not having any sponsors, but really I’m glad you’ve decided to do it. I hope this channel can grant you a more stable livelihood and that you can put out even more content ❤

YES YES FINALLY THE MOST IMPORTANT NPC IN THE ELDER SCROLLS LORE

On of my favorite mudcrab merchant memories is using command creature + water walking to bring him to my house in solsthiem. It was a long trip but it was worth it to have live in the raven rock house with M'Aiq, Fargoth, the Mudcrab Mercant, and that one Nord erotic dancer from Suran.

Oh man, hearing Dagoth Ur saying just the most common things like "Hey man, i just wanna talk." never gets old. This is why AI is great. But i'm going off into the wrong direction with this topic, just wanted to share these thoughts.

I don't know why but the "come hither crab" segment made me laugh so hard.

"I'm gettin' CRUSTACIOUS with it" I cannot😭

I’ve waited for this video ever since M’aiq.

Obligatory mention of the Mithail Monster series of mods and their recreation of the Mudcrab Merchant for Solstiem in Skyrim. They even gave him his own little tent to chill in, how sweet of em.

I also think he's so special because the game doesn't point him out. It's so easy to kill him and miss him forever until possibly learning about it decades later in a KZfaq video. Games now want you to see all the content, they don't want to risk having you missing out on anything. It makes them lose a bit of their magic.

Ghostcharm really the embodiment of that SpongeBob meme where you have other youtubers pumping out sub-par content then you've got Ghosttaking his time and slappin down those perfect little patties.

“I’m gon get crustaceous with it” truly a masterpiece

"Cliffracers drive you criminally insane." How little this narrows it down...

after i heard about the merchant - and before i knew where he was - i quit hunting mudcrabs for sport and waited to see if they were hostile or not you hit the nail on the head w/ the y2k more analog vibe. subscribed

During my main playthrough, as soon as I found this guy I marked his location for the recall spell and made my playwr home his island. All my loot, collectables, and junk were left either in his inventory or on the ground around him including most of the 36 lessons and daedric artifacts

Crab homie is the realest dude in all of Tamriel

Finally, the recognition he deserves

God that 8-bit pokemon sounding elder scrolls tracks...you touched my inner nostalgia so deep my guy. that alone I applaud. Thanks for the videos. I really dig your style. Wanted to throw in that I think the Mudcrab merchant could be possibly a Mudcrab that was somehow able to retain a more sophisticated intelligence, rather than becoming a basic crab. Since Mudcrabs are said to exist in the last Kalpa, and after that time period devolved sotospeak into what we see ingame. But this guy...somehow he has retention of intelligence. And I think the alcoholism is due to the very struggle of being possibly the only member of its species to hold any significant intelligence. Just imagine...being the only human among thousands of primates around the world. All your brethren are simple, animalistic, devoid of any notable sentience. And then there is you. All the same at face value yet you are capable of high intelligence, complex thinking and in depth emotional understanding. The only one to understand anything beyond survival, watching your kin hunted as animals to feed the dominant races, while you drink your lonely sentience away, peddling wares as a low key circus attraction in a lonely desolate corner of a desolate land. The story has *so much* more potential to be had and I really hope they continue it with the next major release somehow. Elder Scrolls lore really is a one of a kind gem.

this gives me the idea of creating a mudcrab race of people that bring materials and trade from the ocean and get into a market war with the khajiit

bethesda should have put him in every game as a merchant and expanded more on what he says each game to continue his legend and show him getting a shop and then a bigger and better shop next game etc., giant missed opportunity.

I can't believe I just sat through a 20 minute video about a video game Crab, and I can't believe I loved it

The opening dialogue of the Mudcrab Merchant, "How dry I am, how dry I am. Nobody knows how dry I am." is actually lyrics from an old song called "The Near Future" by Irving Berlin. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Near_Future and the lyrics took on a life of their own as they spread out across the culture of the early 1900s. The song is also very notably featured on The Twilight Zone in the episode titled "Mr.Denton on Doomsday" (it's a fantastic episode, but be prepared for being sad as hell if you watch the clip) kzfaq.info/get/bejne/i8xoaK-I19PXmmg.html

Just want to make sure everyone clapped for Matt.

Alongside the 3 other Mudcrabs in Skyrim, there is a GIANT Spectral Mudcrab at the end of the fishing creation, included in Anniversary Edition!

I like to think that the mud crab merchant was a travelling trader who complained to whichever god was listening how hard it was to traverse the wet and rocky terrain. I also like to think it was Sheogorath who answered

Just another piece of general mudcrab lore. One of the Morrowind books on necromancy (specifically Corpse Preparation Vol. 3: The Fresh Corpse) has a note on the usefulness of mud crabs to necromancers. As the anonymous author points out, such scavengers are useful when you have a fresh corpse and wants to make a skeletal servant: “Animals are the Necromancer's greatest allies when it comes to stripping the flesh from a corpse. The ravenous mudcrabs of Morrowind can strip a corpse down to its bones in a matter of days. Lesser crabs in other provinces can do the same in a matter of weeks.”

I can't believe how hard I laughed at the "oh shit I think he got stuck on this tree" bit

I love the fact that you cover TES lore for us fellow loyal TESsies even in the now near 12 year interum... or uh *interegnum* between mainline games. Thanks for sticking with us

NO FUCKING WAY... I have been playing Morrowind since I was just a little Scrib, and I never thought of taking The Cash-God to my Scrib-Crib, let alone to safety...

My theory is that the Mudcrab Merchant is a servant of Clavicus Vile, the Daedric God of power, trickery, wishes, serenity, and bargains. It would explain the Mudcrab Merchant's ability speak and his wealth. A different Clavicus Vile servant, Barbas, appears as a talking dog and in Oblivion suggests that he was also Creeper, the Scamp merchant with $5,000.

Mess with the Crabbo you get the stabbo.

Crab Gaming 🦀

I feel like an appropriate lore explanation could be that the effects of alcohol cause Mudcrabs to gain sentience, but it's not known as nobody wants to share their booze with something like a Mudcrab.

Man, please, never stop covering small NPCs in games, it's really a delight to watch your videos

This like “pushing the strangeness envelope” is exactly how i feel about mothership zeta or maybe even old world blues. Different setting of course but the pushing of the suspension of disbelief just another notch to get a laugh is something i think beth rpgs basically always try to do

The Man, The Crab, The Merchant

If you ever do anymore Villainpedia episodes, I recommend doing "comparison" episodes in which you compare two villains with similar backstories. Here are two who I think give you a headstart. Those being Dr. Two Brains/Steven Boxleitner (WordGirl) and The Ice King/Simon Petrikov (Adventure Time). They're both crazy, goofy, and downright hilarious lunatics with an unhealthy obsession, (Cheese for Two Brains (because he's half mouse and cheese is the mouse's stereotypical favorite food) and Princesses for Ice King) but when you look at their backstories, you can't help but feel sad. Also, they're both voiced by Tom Kenny, so there's that.

The single most powerful and mysterious character in the entirety of TES

I have a suggestion for you. Most young people have probably never heard of the Wumpus, and you'll find references to the Wumpus in everything from MULE (where you can hunt it in a sort of minigame if you know about it) to Cory Doctorow's fiction.

Maaaaaan every time this guy got killed by a scrib/scamp/kagouti and I had to reload! Also when I killed old salty in Skyrim and saw that he dropped a tankard I actually got upset and lost an hour reloading a save because I thought this guy had retired to Skyrim and I’d killed him!

Thanks Matt for voicing the crab It was one of the funniest things I heard today.

Matt is the best voice actor ever

I barter with crabs all the time, at the beach in the fishmongers. and they call me a schizo.

I always drop lamps and candles all over the island to make easily visible at night.

It's a shame the Mudcrab Merchant didn't get the same treatment as M'aiq. I would've loved a silly NPC like that in Oblivion or Skyrim.

Matt nailed the Mudcrab. Edit; nailed the Mudcrab’s voice. Just to be clear.

The weekend gets ten times better when I see a new Ghost video get released

HE UPLOADED. IT ISN'T EVEN MY BIRTHDAY. HELL YESSSSSSSSS By the way I do notice the change in your editing styles. Little feedback: I do like the touch of hyper-activeness but your signature calm and monotone voice walking through mountains of lore is just the best and the reason I watch you so much. But still love the video though, keep up the good work!

No joke, for the first 30 seconds, I was in the other room when the video started and thought an ad for Albion was playing.

Headcanon: He wasn't always a mudcrab. Ran into Sheogorath, tried to haggle a bit too much or told an unfunny joke or Sheo woke up that day and Sheo decided he'd like him better as a mudcrab. But also made sure he'd stay insanely rich, even though he can't do anything with the money. Except buy alcohol. Mudcrab drinks to forget the pain. Hangs out on a rock to blend in with the mudcrabs, hide from Sheogorath. And obviously, can't go home to his wife. Maybe hopes someone will accidentally kill him instead of trying to buy his wares. Kinda tired of having to explain the whole "talking mudcrab merchant" thing, so he doesn't bother with his embarrassing sob story. There are holes, no doubt. But it's fun to make stuff up.

Just what I needed to get me through this slow, dull shift. A hearty helping of creb, presented by my favourite silky-smooth voiced host.

1:03 I still can't believe that's real and not a mod.

I swear to god, this channel is so damn unterrated. These videos are pure gold!

Someone should make a mod that makes the mudcrab Merchant sound like mr. Krabs

Gotta love how Skyrim's Dragonborn DLC referenced the guy.. well, crab.

Decades later, and I finally see a a Morrowind video that has laid out a perfect Mud Crab Merchant extraction mission.

Nearly a year of me using "I'm gettin' crustaceas with it" in normal life and i can say my quality of life has improved 10000%

Congrats on the sweet sponsorship Spectral Smoothie! Your friend Matt did a good job! I've got a brother named Matt, but he ain't do voices. Heh, never knew about this Mudcrab. Too busy pissing off guards in Balmora. As far as joke characters like this go... Hmm... Well it's less a character and more a monster. There was a crab monster in Final Fantasy XI, yes the first MMO one, and his name was Bubbly Bernie. He was an NM associate with a short quest recovering a clock, or something like that, for a townsperson in the city of Bastok. You trade a certain early game fish to this ??? spot at the lighthouse, and out comes Bubblie Bernie to do battle with you. Now, he's not much of a force to be reckoned with in reality, but through some sort of cultural joke, people in game always used to talk about him like he was one of the unbeatable Notorious Monsters from the endgame. I was in a Linkshell(Guild) once where for an event one week we dragged an entire alliance out there and equipped really low level gear/jobs, popped Bubbly Bernie, and fought it as if it were King Behemoth. To this day, the wiki page says, "An alliance(18 players) can defeat Bubbly Bernie at level 1." If you ever need multiple voices for any little old thing and Matt and you and your other talented crew can't cover'em all, I'd totally love to be an extra!

If I remember correctly, someone in Morrowind is talking about Mudcrabs taking over Pelagiad. And that town is in the same region as the Mudcrab merchant, I think.

Terry pratchett is goated read the entire series like 6 times

DRUNK CRAB DRUNK CRAB DRUNK CRAB

The one even Dagoth Ur is too scared to speak of. .😳

i only to into TES in Skyrim, so a lot of times i have no idea who the characters are in these series, but i really do appreciate how in thorough you are in these videos. you're doing such a good job on these videos!

Finally, a deep dive in to the lore the people have been craving.

Finally, the deep lore about the only good TES character there is

"I've f**ked mudcrabs more fearsome than you!"

After 2 playthroughs, i still havnt found this guy. the creeper at suran is the real one. Atleast he stays at a place easily approachable, unlike this crustacean who god knows lives on which rock

I’m generally curious if the Ebony Warrior counts as an “anti hero” or an “NPC” or something of the like.

"I'm gon' be gettin crustaceous with it all day, every day" 😂😂😂😂😂

Who knew you could talk about a very silly easter egg character with 5 lines of dialogue but an absurd amount of gold for 19 minutes.

Nice to see Morrowboomers come to a scientific consensus. I came up with the same plan over a decade ago! Unfortunately I ran into a bit of snag with my choice of location, it's really hard to navigate a Mudcrab into the basement of Tel Uvirith. The Telvanni don't believe in handicapped/n'wah accessible buildings.

I absolutely love your videos, but specifically the NPCpedia series. There's something so calming listening to the lore of these characters, especially M'aiq. Thank you for such a cool idea, and keep up the good work !

It's a drip or drown world and this little guy is swimming.

14:25 Yeah, but those are all the things you love about it in the end

I always imagine the mudcrab merchant to have a British accent, a Swinderly merchant.

This crab helped me become the WEALTHIEST man in Vvardenfell!

nice one matt i loved your mudcrab impression

Just found your channel last night and since then I've watched just about the majority of your videos, you do some really good work and are very quickly becoming one of my favorite creators!

FUCK YEA MORE MORROWIND

You gotta do an npcidia on Theresa from fable! These videos are my favourite thing on KZfaq too 🤙

Damn Matt killing it with that voice acting! The portrait of him was a little outdated though. Looks like that pic was taken 2 years ago

I like to think that he's some sort of Daedra stuck in a mudcrab

I really like your channel man. All videos, even this little ones, always have an amazing production quality, it's an awesome thing for a lover of games like me to see and even discover things i didn't know. Keep up the good work, you surely deserves a lot more subscribers. And i now want to play Morrowind.

4:33 HAHAHAHA

yeah i clapped for Matt, but Jared from school/work that told us about the crab back in 2002 is the real MVP

Mudcrab be ballin

Mudcrabs in TES 3 resemble rock crabs from oars in relleka, in fact I think it’s kind of an Easter egg on osrs’s part

Father has returned

The hardest part of morrowind for me was getting the gold to make my first cheat spells

I fully thought the VO during the transport bit were all voice clips from an actual different video game until the "oh shit he ran into a tree"

Morrowind: the only Elder Scrolls game where you can become a literal GOD and destroy everything _with the power of magic, drugs, and GREED._

the mudchad

Absolutely amazing video dude! Had me laughing and reminiscing about my love of elder scrolls and crabs.

We need a Mr. House villainpedia