Warning: this entry contains spoilers for the game Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

About

"Fus Ro Dah" are the words used in a dragon shout that summons a powerful force from the speaker's throat in the video game Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. (See also: Shoop Da Whoop, Force Push)

Origin

"Fus Ro Dah" are the words for the "unrelenting force"^[2] thu'um shout in the game Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. After reaching the first town of Whiterun, the player must defeat a dragon that poses a threat to the town. Once the dragon has been killed, the player absorbs its soul and discovers he is a rare chosen hero known as a "Dragon-Born" who is blessed with the ability to perform various powerful shouts. "Fus" is the first shout the player learns of the 24 that can be discovered in the game. It fires a shock-wave of force energy that stuns and pushes enemies. After visiting the Gray Beards at High Hrothgar, the player learns the more powerful shout "Fus Ro Dah" that can be translated as "force balance push."

An Urban Dictionary^[8] definition was created on August 23rd, 2011. The earliest known parody video was uploaded to YouTube by user atatadadada on September 15th, 2011, nearly one month prior to release of the game. It used footage from the official trailer paired with a FAIL video of a woman falling off a chair.

Spread

A video showing gameplay footage of a player using the shout to push their companion off a cliff was uploaded to YouTube by user SparkyXX on November 11th, 2011, the same day the game was released. A compilation of Fus Ro Dah videos was posted to FAILblog^[6] on November 16th.

A "Fus Ro DAH" button on InstantButton.me^[5] plays a shout clip from the game trailer. Derivatives can be found on Tumblr^[4], FunnyJunk.^[3] A Meme Generator^[1] page has 37 submissions and a Facebook^[7] fan page has 155 likes as of November 16th, 2011.

Notable Examples

Search

Search queries for "fus ro dah" rose dramatically in November of 2011, the same month Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was released.

External References