Does anyone else feel there is a lack of NPC's that are hyped throughout the game as being a powerful and strong opponent? I remember in New Vegas you would always hear on the radio about Legate Lanius "The Monster of the East" and how he was supposedly impossible to defeat in battle. Or in Oblivion with the Grey Prince although that was just with the arena. It's sort of disappointing at the lack of NPC's that you could hear about. When I finally took over Solitude for the Stormcloaks I was disappointed to find that Tulius second-in-command was just some weak looking woman instead of a significant enemy. Just in general it seems that the game is completely focused around your character instead of creating interesting "boss" NPC's that you can hear stories about until you finally meet them face-to-face.

Although I havent fought him what about Alduin?

Well that's the primary boss of the entire game, you would expect that. But I'm talking more about side characters. Think about in New Vegas all of the side characters that you would hear about. The game wasn't just focused around you and Ceaser (or whoever the enemy for the side you chose was) it had a broad range of NPC's that all had their own legend. You felt more like a regular citizen in a world of already established people. I sort of feel that is missing in Skyrim and that your character and Alduin are the only two that are worth mentioning.

Ulfric is hyped up.

He might be from the Imperial perspective, I'm not sure as I've only sided with the Stormcloaks.

I agree, why wasn't she in her kitchen? jk Alduin is pretty hyped up and so are most of the dragons.

Gulum-Ei is a hyped badass monster.

This is a problem of a lack of foreshadowing in general with Skyrim. A lack of foreshadowing and, oftentimes, a failure to deliver at the end resulting in anti-climactic battles, or anti-climactic conclusions to stories.

In New Vegas you hear about Lanius from various sources, and when you finally meet him, he seems like a badass and sure as hell fights like one. His dialog is interesting, his statements are interesting and in battle he's definitely unique in his fighting style, easily able to hit the player as hard as a deathclaw, knock him on his feet, outrun him and heal fast as hell.
You hear about Joshua Graham and if you play Honest Hearts, again you meet a man who's interesting to talk to, kind of a badass, and if you choose to fight him, he's again difficult and very unique in his fighting style, with a defense that's practically impenetrable while delivering heavy damage with his insane firing speed.
You hear about Ulysses constantly, and if you play Lonesome Road, well....the entire DLC practically revolves around him. When you fight him, you find an opponent who can adapt to whichever fighting style you so choose, and he can utilize practically anything you can while making sure his health is kept in good shape through the use of machinery.

In Oblivion it's the Gray Fox. Not an enemy, but nevertheless he's a case of good foreshadowing and delivering the climix properly. You hear about him and hear that he's a legendary thief, but never meet him. You have to work hard in order to meet him, and when you do, you slowly gain more info about him and what makes him tick, with some surprising twists and turns that are tied up quite well.

Skyrim? You've got Alduin, Tullius and Ulfric. All three aren't really foreshadowed beyond the basic "you'll fight this person someday," none of them have a unique or special fighting style (Alduin I suppose does if you count the meteor thingies, but sometimes those fail to even pose a challenge), and tbh all three are kind of pushovers. Tullius and Ulfric aren't any stronger than the normal human, Alduin feels just like another dragon, but "20% cooler."

There are no other notable bosses or characters, really, and again there's nothing really unique or special about the fights with the above-mentioned.

It would've been nice if they played up the drama of some enemies (perhaps the keepers of Mehrunes' Razor) and gave them some unique and memorable attributes in and out of combat, sure....but they didn't, so what can you do? :/ Hopefully they'll take on this habit once again for FO4 and TES 6, while come to think of it, FO3 kinda failed in the foreshadowing and climactic enemy department, too...

As much as I love fallout Autumn was a 1 shot kill "boss" notice the " "