Sven has been with me for ages... I always like to play that if a follower dies he is dead. After many fights with dragons, trolls, and surprisingly tough bears I thought my little buddy was invulnerable. However I just found out... he was not. :*(. Now I am off to inform Camilla that Sven died heroically while I was bumbling around like some two bit side kick. Below is the story of the death of Sven. The most heroic bard I have had the pleasure of meeting.

Have you lost a faithful companion? I would enjoy reading about it.

Traveling north to put an end to a rampaging bear two faithful companions happened upon a ruins. As a Lark Sven suggested that there could be untold treasure within those ruins. Thus the two entered what would be known as Dead Men's Respite. Stealthily the two followed a ghost further, and further into the ruins until finally they where standing in what had the be the final room. With a steady hand Sven's friend slowly picked off all the surrounding undead, and all seemed well.

Deciding to toss caution to the wind they stood up, and sprinted to the final sarcophagus where the treasure was surly hidden. As each man stood to one side, and slid the lid. As it clattered to the floor a large armored zombie jumped to his feet shouting " I am King Olaf". "Was is more like it." would be the last words my friend Sven would ever say.

As the monster stood he turned on me, and knocked my weapons from my hands. Such an act had never happened to me, and sent me scrambling to find them in the dark. As I did the beast turned upon Sven. Having finally found my weapons I turned, and focused my dragon soul ability, and sprinted at my foe with all the speed I could muster. Unfortunately I miss judged, and over shot my target. I turned around in time to slam my axe, and mace into his skull. With a satisfied smirk I stated "That was a close one." However when no one had replied I started to get worried. After a little searching I found my friend down on his knees. He had died fighting... He had died stalling the fiend while I gathered my equipment.

I had kept Sven around to tell about my daring deeds. After all what good if heroics is there is no one to tell of them. It seems as if fate had different ideas...

As an archer with melee followers, this has happened a lot. I think it's the hitbox that can be very deceptive when NPCs get low health and fall down on their knees.

This is the main reason I don't like followers - I can't help but feel badly when they die. :\

I end up hitting them myself quite a bit and that doesn't help.

I won't spoil it for you here, but there's a way to get a 'hero' class follower via exploit if you want to know. XD

Lost my first follower last night whilst fighting draugrs (may have accidentally been my flames that finished him off). He was just a drunk though, I feel I enriched his life by getting him out of the silver-blood inn, where he was drinking his life away and taking him on an epic journey. We battled bears, wolves, bandits and wiped out a band of hired thugs. I gave him free mead and wine and we collected many herbs which we smoked and enjoyed together. Ate really but my RP for this char is very silly. 'Rastapvssy' the Khajiit psychonaut, he'll take any ingredient or potions just for the experience and collects a wardrobe full of nirnroots. I also try to listen to as much reggae while playing as possible. We even had to kill Balbus after he caught me pickpocketing his daedra heart.

In typical un-employed drunk style though he got his revenge, by the time I cleared the dungeon, fast travelled back to town to offload loot and came back with a new follower, his corpse and ~600 weight of gear that he was carrying for me were gone. Now I know next time one dies, and there WILL be a next time, to take all the stuff and stash it in a chest or just throw it on the ground or something as the stuff I chucked on the floor was still there but no corpses..

Can this happen? All followers I have had has been essentials for enemy hits so they are not dying even they have lost all of their health. Anyway they can die by my hand and I have killed a couple in battles because they have come between enemy and my hit.

I have traveled extensively with Aela, and have even taken Argis, Lydia, Iona and Jordis on outings, getting them geared up and some worldly experience. Recently, on a stop-over at Windhelm to unload my bags after a lengthy sojourn in Blackreach, I was reminded that Calder has never been out of the house. Indeed, he seems to have trouble recognizing me. His usual greetings are, "I hope you aren't looking to start any trouble," or more simply, "You lost?"

After I dumped my ingredients into the barrel by the door, and reviewing my journal for any unfinished business, I walked over to him. He seemed out of sorts, more surly than drunk. It took him a while to focus on me and say, "What do you want, my thane?" With the journal fresh in my mind, I suddenly had a brainwave! I turned to Aela, told her we were moving here for a short time, and dismissed her.

I told Calder I needed his help with a rather distasteful project just outside of Windhelm that, quite frankly, I had been avoiding. "Let's get moving," he said. I thought briefly of the various weapons and bits of armor in the house that he might profit by, but if things went as planned, his basic kit would more than suffice.

This wasn't a sight-seeing tour, so without delay we traveled to our destination: the Sacellum of Boethiah. At first I thought the place was deserted, but we went up the flight of stairs to find the priestess and the cultists. I brought Calder over to the shrine and said to him, "Go ahead, touch it."

And so Calder served his thane!

Think followers can be killed by traps, this might explain how they dies away from you, they are fighting some enemies, are knocked down, one enemy trigger an trap who do damage to follower.
Yes this is rare but might happen, I would want Aela to take the light step perk as she is expert trigging traps.

Lydia died on me last night. Well to be more precise I killed her, but it wasn't my fault.

We had been together since the early days and she was always a faithful companion when I went adventuring in dungeons and ruins (because of her moral sensibilities I left her behind when I was out thieving or assassinating). A brave and doughty fighter, she covered my back on occasions too numerous to mention. Sadly it was her courage that led to her tragic death.

On a mission to clear out a nest of nasty, murdering pirates, we had reached, undetected, a point about a hundred yards from the final stronghold, which had a garrison of of about seven well armed men plus the evil argonian scrote who led them - a lizard whose throat I was determined to slit, slowly. I decided that we should do best by thinning out the opposition before advancing further, so we settled down into the shadows and I got out my trusty bow. I slotted the first target and he was dead before he hit the ground, a perfect silent kill that raised no fuss. The second was a pirate chopping wood. I lined up carefully but at the moment I released my arrow he moved and I missed. This time the garrison was alerted and they came out in full force and hot temper and heading in our direction. However, we were still nicely tucked up in shadow and perfectly hidden. So I dropped one the pirates with another arrow and then another one. By now they were about thirty yards away and I was lining up on my third target, Got him nicely in the cross-hairs with just the right amount of lead, release breath and loose. At that very moment Lydia decided to draw her sword and charge them. She ran straight in front of me at the moment I let the arrow fly. It hit her right between the shoulder blades and she went down, killed instantly.

We will never know why the silly cow thought it was good idea to go rushing from a hidden position into a melee against superior numbers when she had perfectly good bow of her own. Perhaps her noble sense of justice and determination to wipe out the pirate scum overcame any thoughts of self-preservation. Perhaps she thought I was in real danger rather than, as I was, comfortably snuggled down and enjoying myself. Perhaps she really was a thick as two short-planks and couldn't count, or been secretly on the bottle. As I say, we shall never know. I will miss her terribly and shall never, ever, forget her.

Anyone know of a suitable companion for a sneaky Khajiit tea-leaf with a penchant for throat-slitting and paid assassination. The successful candidate will have low morals but high common sense, high sneak ability essential. Applicants should apply to Breezhome, Whiterun or email Enquiries@TheftandDeath.co.sk.

I lost Lydia yesterday at a dragon shout wall. We were on our way to Winterhold when I decided to check out the shrine on the way there just a short excursion to complete a slay quest for the Jarl. After an intense, but short, battle with the frost dragon I went to claim the shout. I was overencumbered from the dragon loot but I didn't care, the battle was over. As I approached the wall, a dragon priest burst through a coffin. Oh, $&@€! I've never fought one (level 40). I start equipping and summoned a flame atronarch. The priest had a staff of fireball and used a ward spell. Lydia was brave and marched right in his face. I watched in horror as he quickly dispatched her. Followers can die if the last shot that hits them is a power shot, but I think the atronarch I summoned hit her as she knelt in defeat. I continued the battle until victory was mine. I claimed my rewards and carried Lydia's body to the coffin that once held the priest. I placed her now naked body in the coffin and said my final words of thanks. I was upset. She's died on me before, I simply would reload, but this time I was carrying some valuable random loot. I decided to go home to Whitrun after that. Long overencumbered lonley walk home.

Never had that happen because I don't attack my own followers, my friend who plays a destruction mage has his followers die all the damned time because he accidentally roasts them on a daily basis. I play an archer and I simply time my shots or sneak kill my foes before my follower can get in the way.

Followers who are not flagged as "essential" can die from enemy attacks. It happened to my wife a lot (with Sven) early on, because she didn't know you could give followers better armor / weapons than the ones the came with.

So far I've found Derkeethus, Cicero, Mjoll, and the two Dark Brotherhood initiates can't be killed. I'd like to know if there's anyone else.

I've lost J'zargo before, I posted a big story about it in another thread somewhere.

I've been with Lydia for around 250 hrs now. Good follower, and good wife. Yeah, she can die if you're not careful. I got her suited up in the finest Daedric armor, best weaponry, etc.

What really saves her butt, is I began to add high powered health potions to her inventory--she will take them if she has them. I was farting around in the hold of a shipwreck when I heard a heck of a rucus up on deck. Got up there to see 5 dead Marauders, and Lydia standing there with that "Is that all you got" look. As I approached her, I noticed her health bar was filling real fast--checked her inventory, and she had used two more health potions.

Can't speak to other followers as Lydia's been my only one, but giving her potions of her own has been a lifesaver (mainly hers). It's been awhile since I've seen her on her knees looking half dead during a battle too.

They only die if you kill them. Enemies can bring them to their knees, but it takes a killing blow from you to finish them off. Be careful, or set them as essential in the PC console if its important to you.

Yes, "supposedly" followers can only die by your hand. Enemies can take them down but once combat is over they will get back up as long as the killing blow did not come from your weapon or spell...However, There have been a few times where my follower has died permenantly during a fight and i can not for the life of me figure out how i could have damaged them.

All the manuals and game guides say die by your hand only but my experience has been that this element is buggy at best. This is why i gave up on taking followers. More work than they are worth.

I don't believe that's true that only you can kill a companion. I've seen too many die when I was totally removed from their fight using no ranged weapons. I think they can die from an enemy's hands under unusual circumstances. The enemy just won't keep attacking them when they go to one knee. Like if they get hit from an enemy's ranged weapon at the same time they go to a knee.

I don't "believe" it either but that is exactly what the official strategy guide says ( and i believe the little book that comes with the game as well) . And not just going to a knee and getting back up. I have had Lydia go down and out, flat on her back, and after i kill the last enemy, about two second later, boing....back on her feet.

But as i said, ive been in battles where i dont think there is any way i could have hurt her and she has stayed down. So again, I think it is supposed to be by your hand only but i down think it is a mechanic of the game that is functioning properly atm

i have really enjoyed the stories that yal have put up here, i would add some my next playthru right my 2 charectors im playing a DE assassin and a Nord Berserker are pretty much trying to carve a name out for themselves so i havent been using followers, that will change my next playthru though.

From the USEP site:

"When your follower would die due to an enemy attack or a trap, they will be incapacitated for some time and begin to recover their http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Health, just like essential NPCs; enemies will stop attacking or targeting them during this time. However, if they lose all their health again during this period, they will die for good. Thus, you should try to move the fight away from them, so that they are not hit by a stray arrow or area-effect spell. They can also die if hit with a damage-over-time poison that is stronger than their health recovery. They can also die from enemy power-attacks, as well as your own "friendly fire" attacks".

Not for the first time I fear the strategy guide is just plain wrong.

It's not true that only you can kill them. J'zargo was turned into an ash pile and my fists can't do that.

once they go down to their knees enemeis won't attack em however i've killed some of my followers accidentally with spells, but if they die i just reload, i''m not gonna leave em dead, any more than if i die, i don't start a new game, so i always have extra saves but i have several followers i like way too much to let em stay dead. but they are pretty tough and rarely die.

I know that but ninety nine percent of the time that doesn't happen, when a follower is injured they drop to their knees and all enemies ignore them until they're fit enough to fight again. Nearly every time I've seen a follower die in battle has been due to the player accidentally attacking them when they're weak or setting them on fire so they continue to take damage after they're downed, causing them to die.

Followers can be killed by enemies after they have collapsed and enter the downed/recovery state. When that happens, followers do not become immune to enemies but enemies will not target them. However, as a few people have mentioned, they can still be killed by residual poisons and crossfire (arrows, spells, etc.) if an enemy is shooting at you and it hits the follower. I imagine it could happen with melee attacks too, but it'd be rare. I'm not sure about area effect damage. And of course you can kill them if you hit them.

I stopped using melee followers because of how frequently I'd be swinging at an enemy, and the follower would be next to it (or even BEHIND it from my perspective) and I'm taking chunks out of my follower's face. I don't know if it's something strange with hitboxes, targeting, or both.

As http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Uthgerd_the_Unbroken and i were going through the red eagle questline we came up to the forsworn briarheart. I was aiming up a headshot with my new ebony bow of paralyzing. She started charging for it with wuuthrad high in the air. The briarheart decapitated her within a second. I made her a nice burial on the road nearby. A couple of days later i was getting married to Aela. She was at the wedding. Headless but very much alive. Now i have the only headless companion in the game

No, it apears to be right. As other have noted, followers can die when nowhere near you. I really powerful mage with a spell like fire can do it, because they go to low health, go down on one knee, but are still affected by the spell. I've got in a fight with some vampires, pulled back to stealth snipe, and watched Lydia get surrounded and killed. The easiest way to kill a follower is by accidentally doing it yourself, but it's by no means the only way.