Unbeknownst even to himself, Martin was the bastard son of Uriel Septim VII, and the last heir to the Ruby Throne. He alone could use the Amulet of Kings to light the Dragonfires that wards the barrier between Tamriel and Oblivion, and save the world from the Mythic Dawn plot. —The Oblivion Crisis

Martin Septim was the illegitimate son of Uriel Septim VII, who became the twenty-second ruler of the Third Empire and the last member of the Septim Dynasty. Raised in isolation and unaware of his royal heritage his entire life, Martin was unknowingly poised to play a prominent role in the fate of the entire world. In 3E 433 after the murders of his father and half-brothers by assassins of the Mythic Dawn, the Dragonfires were snuffed and the barrier protecting Mundus weakened, opening Tamriel to the threat of Daedric invasion at the hands of Mehrunes Dagon. Aided by the Hero of Kvatch and the Blades, Martin sought to embody the legacy he never knew belonged to him and end the Oblivion Crisis. He appears as a central character in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.