Turns out, it’s a lot damn funnier when an actual human being does the same things with some panache and commitment to the role. This guy on TikTok (also on YouTube if you’re an Old like me) has a whole series of “Skyrim IRL” videos where he replicates the ridiculous habits of Skyrim’s less-sentient inhabitants. I first found JinnKid late last year from his second Skyrim NPC video—the one that apparently blew up and kicked the series off proper. Now I’m told it’s news? You’re telling me I could have been shitposting this entire time? I have so much to make up for. Anyway, here’s the first one I saw and probably the first one worth watching. He has one prior but gives up the gag by not being fully prepared to deadpan his exit (still funny though). JinnKid does the full Skyrim routine: offering a weird and unsolicited opinion to the POV character and then standing up, walking directly into his chair, glitching on top of it, and finally moonwalking away to the opposite wall. Some combination of the actual Skyrim tavern music in the background and JinnKid’s fully serious face sells it and I honestly keep laughing out loud. By now, a few months later, JinnKid’s really got the act nailed. He’s got the Nord accent down. He does the slightly stilted and uncanny walk cycles. There are silly outfits. Ah yes, and this one’s a joke about sticking a pot on an NPC’s head to obscure their vision. Classic move, dragonborn. If this is your jam, you can find the rest of JinnKid’s Skyrim IRL videos in this YouTube playlist. There are plenty more NPCs to flex on, from Cicero the goofy Dark Brotherhood jester to the classic arrow to the knee guard. Skyrim memes never die, they just grow up. You can also find his videos on TikTok at @jinnkid I suppose, but I don’t know a thing about that so you’re on your own.
