If you came to Skyrim via some of the older Elder Scrolls games, you were probably used to being able to see your character when you opened the inventory screen. It let you know what you’d look like as you tried out each new piece of equipment (a mismatched dweeb), and if you were one of those strict first-person-only players it was one of the few times you got to see your outfit
While a mod for vanilla Skyrim called Oblivion Style Inventory Character View (opens in new tab) offered the chance to gawp at yourself in each new set of armor you looted from dead bandits, a bug would sometimes leave the camera stuck that way. Now, an updated version that’s compatible with Skyrim Special Edition and Anniversary Edition called Show Player in Menus (opens in new tab) is out, and after a quick test on a couple of saves it seems to be working just fine.
There are various options that can be tweaked, including one to turn off the camera movement during combat if you open your inventory to choke down a potion and three grilled leeks. If you still want to see any armor piece you select floating in the air that’s an option too. Plus, while inspecting yourself like a dress-up doll, you can spin the player model on the spot with a right-click of the mouse or the right-stick on a gamepad.
Show Player in Menus is compatible with any UI replacement mod you may have, as well as several other mods that mess with the perspective like SmoothCam (opens in new tab)Customizable Camera (opens in new tab)ImprovedCameraSE (opens in new tab)and more drastic overhauls like True Directional Movement – Modernized Third Person Gameplay (opens in new tab) and Skyrim Souls RE (opens in new tab).
There’s a little bit of homework to get it running if you don’t already have the full suite of mods that help other mods installed. You’ll first have to make sure you’ve got SKSE (opens in new tab)Address Library for SKSE Plugins (opens in new tab)and MCM Helper (opens in new tab) installed, as well as our favorite interface replacer SkyUI (opens in new tab). Then download Show Player in Menus from Nexus Mods (opens in new tab).
Our list of the best Skyrim Special Edition mods includes plenty of other recommendations if you’re looking for quality-of-life improvements. And if you’re a Skyrim VR player who wants to enjoy this as a discombobulating out-of-body experience, try an alternative called View Yourself VR (opens in new tab).