Where would you find ESO races in todays world ? maybe something like this ? ...

Elsonso

Altmer definitely need to take the place of Dunmer, but Dunmer don't belong down under. Japan would be a good start, I guess, but Dunmer are split. Ashlanders are probably not from the same place. For that, I think Mongolia/Nepal. Maybe China+ would better fit.

emilyhyoyeon

madeeh91rwb17_ESO wrote: »

Breton region should also include England AND Australia etc.

Dunmer/Dark elves belong in South Asia.
They have various aspects from that area in their art etc.
And even Vivec itself is a Hindu name,

Its all often very mixed.
Like Khajit have some south asia themes.

And even red guards in Alik'r name their water ponds: Johad; An Indian word.
Sudan, Nigeria region (Sahel) is also very redguardish.

I agree. A LOT of khajiit names are also Hindi/khajiit names are inspired by it. and I don't know why altmer would be Australia. They feel like a mix of Tolkien and China/Japan to me.

Peekachu99

Samadhi wrote: »

Apherius wrote: »

Chilly-McFreeze wrote: »

In b4 "assigning fictional races to real life people promotes racism".

I always considered Bretons to be an equivalent of the old brits lore wise. But france maybe fit as well.

We are really called " Breton " in " Bretagne " (Bretagne [french] Brittain [English] ), it's not a joke, west of france is inhabited by " des bretons "

Personally relate to Bretons as 'similar' to Métis
Métis refers to a unique group of people in Canada,
descended from a mixture of Indigenous tribes and (predominately) French colonists

considered to be culturally and politically distinct from the other First Nations tribes, as well as from colonial citizens

more drawing on how Bretons are uniquely a mixture Men and Mer through an imbalanced social structure tho

This isn’t quite correct, and refers to the culture at the time of colonization, not in modern regards. My partner is Métis, works for an Indigenous organization and he/ they are very much involved in their culture and heritage. Bloodism is a thing, though that applies to all indigenous peoples, not just Métis. You’ll see it manifest in biased opinions about certain tribes—Cherokee are universally *** upon for reasons I’m not quite clear on.

I think the biggest issue with this thread is that we’re looking at this from our own cultural perspectives and social constructs and not as denizens of Tamriel, where there are myriad racial, religious and historical contexts to consider. In the absence of all that information we’re left with ‘equating’ peoples and not always aware of our insidious and ingrained biases. It’s pretty tame right now, but some of you should really consider your responses.

Enslaved

Breton is any irl human I dislike.

Samadhi

Peekachu99 wrote: »

Samadhi wrote: »

Apherius wrote: »

Chilly-McFreeze wrote: »

In b4 "assigning fictional races to real life people promotes racism".

I always considered Bretons to be an equivalent of the old brits lore wise. But france maybe fit as well.

We are really called " Breton " in " Bretagne " (Bretagne [french] Brittain [English] ), it's not a joke, west of france is inhabited by " des bretons "

Personally relate to Bretons as 'similar' to Métis
Métis refers to a unique group of people in Canada,
descended from a mixture of Indigenous tribes and (predominately) French colonists

considered to be culturally and politically distinct from the other First Nations tribes, as well as from colonial citizens

more drawing on how Bretons are uniquely a mixture Men and Mer through an imbalanced social structure tho

This isn’t quite correct, and refers to the culture at the time of colonization, not in modern regards. My partner is Métis, works for an Indigenous organization and he/ they are very much involved in their culture and heritage. Bloodism is a thing, though that applies to all indigenous peoples, not just Métis. You’ll see it manifest in biased opinions about certain tribes—Cherokee are universally *** upon for reasons I’m not quite clear on.
...

Would you be able to clarify what is off exactly?
My Métis lineage is further back, and do not hold to any particular 'branch'(?) due to having moved around Canada too frequently to make close ties
would like to learn more about that aspect of my history, but am estranged from my father
so learning what is possible from my 92 year old gramma, tho she faces health issues and onset of dementia

To my comprehension Métis still do not receive treaty rights/face a number of difficulties regarding Indigenous rights to hunting and fishing
but only 'dodge' the racial prejudices if the First Nations' side is not readily visible

Cously

Ilithyania wrote: »

This is my take:

Argonians - Their buildings and attires suggest they are based off the Mayans. I come from South America however and whenever I play in Shadowfen I have this feeling like being at home, I swear I even feel the mosquitos bite me! I'd say they made it to include all the ancestors from Mexico to Chile, giving an Inca feeling as well.

Bosmer - Spot on, they were made to be the ancestors who didn't rely on building so much, these tribes in the vast majority of cases don't even have writing. Much like the cultures in Amazon which I saw for myself when serving there. They are as old as anyone can remember but flat out ignore land expansions and the materialistic lifestyle of a civilization. They are truly happy to just live with what they need.

Breton - Although the name refers to a population in France, this race was clearly made to represent western culture in the middle ages. The ranks, the castles, the intrigues, the armors and so on. I don't think it's really related to any country in particular but all of them that took part in that period in Europe.

Dunmer - Tough pick. Their buildings are very oriental, you can tell by the roofs. Some Dunmer attires also remind me of things worn by the Chinese dynasties. Other aspects in the culture of Dunmer are vast predominant in Chinese culture, which I won't delve into much because the forum is politically correct.

Nords - Also Europeans but from a different prism, considered barbarians, clearly viking culture. All those people in the north who used to be strong warriors and conquerors.

Imperial - Roman legion rip off, you don't need much thought to notice it is the civilized persons of the Mediterran culture, including the Greeks.

Redguard - Their buildings are the likes you would find in the tales of the 1001 nights. Very middle eastern, the vibrant colors in their decorations. The curved swords!

Khajiit - Another intriguing race, to be more exact it screams Persia. Trading is very big for them, have you ever heard people talk about how you can never win against a Persian merchant? The desert aspect of North Africa with the lushy jungles coming right below it matches Elsweyr. Yes, I know the Persian empire didn't come even close to those places but the tales of their merchants roaming the world is legendary.

Orc - When I think of Orcs, the first name in my mind is Genghis Khan. However, one thing Orcs don't seem to be is nomad, they take pride in their stone masonry and cities. As far as we know, they only moved due expulsion. The Code of Malacath reminds me of the ten commandments slightly. Also the patriarchal nature of the society. I'd place them as Hebrews, thinking deeper, they remind me of the stories we hear about Moses and David.

Altmer - THE ENGLISH. I mean, look at them, they are the English people who will defend the friggin' island against anything...well the english of the past. Also they are eccentric and very proper. When I saw Eldafire in Seyda Neen, Morrowind, wow that was an english woman right there. The Aussies are also a spawn of the English, on an island, again! So your placement is not entirely wrong in my view.

FakeFox

Altmer: Japan
Dunmer: China
Bosmer: Indonesia
Ork: Canada
Khajiit: India
Imperials: Italy
Bretons: France
Nord: Scandinavia
Redguards: North Africa
Argonians: South America

However most races are quite obviously influenced by multiple real world cultures. For example Orcs have clear native American influences in their culture and art, however a lot of their clothing seems to be inspired by eastern European cultures, while their armour and weapons take influences from both medieval Europe and feudal Japan.

USTTech

Bretons from england, and altmer from france..... not saying all french are uppity and superior acting.....

Varana

This is mostly a futile endeavour.

There are some more obvious parallels, mostly in the Men cultures, but also things like Argonian architecture.

But that's always only parts and certain aspects. Redguards, visually, span mostly subsaharan Africa, and probably the Indian subcontinent. Maybe the Middle East, if you choose one of the very light skin tones. In terms of architecture, they're Middle Eastern (or more precisely, cliché 1001-Nights and Sinbad with a bit of actual Middle East thrown in). Culturally, they're ... something? Certainly neither African nor Middle Eastern.

It mostly breaks down with the Mer cultures. "Dunmer are Australians" is, sorry for being offensive, ridiculous. "Dunmer are the British", equally so. Dunmer have various traits borrowed from all over the world, put in a blender with some heavy fantasy elements, and then smoked with generous amounts of weed.

Reducing them to only one real-world analogy is not only hugely simplifying and stereotyping from a real-world perspective, but also doesn't take into account that TES cultures are quite diverse and non-stereotypical.
And if you want to reduce them, using fantasy tropes would get you much further than actual peoples. Bretons are the pseudo-medieval (western Europe) Knights-in-shining-armour, Redguards are the land of Aladdin and Sheherazade, Argonians are a wild mix of jungle people with some Aztec stuff thrown in because in fantasy-land, there's no difference between them and the Maya, anyway, and so on.

But even those things are specious at best.

Bigevilpeter

Snow Elves would be the Native Americans since they were hunted and enslaved to extinction, dwemer would be the ancient Egyptians since they had really high technology and left many landmarks but are kinda extinct now.

Altmers are N a z i Germans
Reguards are Arabs obviosly
Dark Elves are Chinese
Bretons and British
Imperials are italian
USA are the Deadra trying to invade all the other lands and bring chaos.
Khajihts are Indians
Argonians are the Africans
Nords Scandanavia no debate there
Orcs Russians
Wood Elves are the Japanese

WIZZARD2K

https://reddit.com/r/teslore/comments/2476ih/saw_this_on_the_front_page_of_rgaming_looks/

Judas Helviaryn

People confusing race for culture. -_-

This thread ain't a big deal. No worries.

Ratzkifal

I mean, ZOS was giving away travels to the places that inspired them for the different locations in Tamriel.

Altmer: New Zealand
Nord: Switzerland
Redguard: Morocco
Argonian: Amazonas rainforest & Machu Pichu
Khajiit: Kenya

I would put the Bosmer into rainforst of south-east asia
Orcs: Russia, Mongolia, Himalaya
Imperials: around the mediterranean sea
I would put Dunmer on volcanic isles closer to the equator than Iceland
Bretons: clearly France and only France

Varana

But that is locations, not people.
So it would be more precise to list it as:
Auridon - New Zealand, Skyrim - Switzerland, Alik'r - Morocco, and so on.
People and location often draw from different real-world inspirations (if at all).

Faulgor

Altmer pride themselves being the oldest race. Accordingly they should be put in East-Africa.

Argonians are really good swimmers and not really like any other species. They should be put on the island of Flores, like *** Floresiensis.

Bosmer are wild and free forest people. Like one of the last uncontacted hunter-gatherer tribes, they belong on the North Sentinel Island.

Bretons are a mixed race with similarities to French. So the best fit is obviously Mauritius for this creole people.

Dunmer are color-changed people that live around a volcano after an exodus from the Altmer homeland (Africa). They are obviously Italian.

Imperials are former slaves that built a great Empire in the jungle. If that doesn't make them Brazilian I don't know what does.

Khajiit come in many shapes and colors, with an intricate religious and occult history. They would feel right at home in India.

Orcs are pariah folk that have long fought for their own homeland. Thank the Akaviri Potentate for their state of Israel!

Redguard come from a sunk continent lost to the sea. They hail from Doggerland in the North Sea.

Nords are conquerers from abroad that slaughtered a whole native people. They are American.

How did I do?

Moloch1514

You forgot the Aedra in USA!

WildRaptorX

Bretons - England
Imperials - America
Nords - Russia
Redgaurds - Jamaica
High Elf - Japan
Khajit - Africa/Australia
Orc - Switzerland
Argonian - India
Dark Elf - Korea
Wood Elf - China

emilyhyoyeon

Keylun wrote: »

Bretons - England
Imperials - America
Nords - Russia
Redgaurds - Jamaica
High Elf - Japan
Khajit - Africa/Australia
Orc - Switzerland
Argonian - India
Dark Elf - Korea
Wood Elf - China

your choices aren't in terms of culture, right?

logarifmik

Isn't it another so-called racist thread? Jokes aside, you do realize, folks, that this discussion is absolutely pointless, because you trying to compare two qualitatively different sets of things, right? You'll have better luck trying to figure out from which mythological stories some particular lore plots came from. Far more entertaining, but needs some knowledge on both lore and world mythology, not only prejudices and superficial knowledge on foreign lands.

Wreuntzylla

Shadowfen perhaps Tikal in Guatemala?

"The topography of the site consists of a series of parallel limestone ridges rising above swampy lowlands. The major architecture of the site is clustered upon areas of higher ground and linked by raised causeways spanning the swamps."

"It is also believed by archaeologists that a moat existed at both the north and south ends of the city."

"Then, mysteriously, sometime before 900 AD, the city would collapse for reasons still not completely understood. However, over population, disease, war, and drought all probably contributed to its demise."

"[A]mphibians such as as the alligator, caiman, and meat eating American crocodile are abundant near the ruins site."

"By reading inscriptions we know that there was conflict with neighbors both near and far."

And one of the structures looks like this:

CyborgPlatypus

MakoFore wrote: »

redguards not african but actually more egyptian and arab in its inspirations.

Egypt is in Africa. As are arabs.

Korah_Eaglecry

Ilithyania wrote: »

Well this map is absolutely a mess.

Bosmer- are closer to Brazil and the Amazon as their culture is more akin to the reclusive tribes that have never made human contact with the modern world. As well as maybe the island tribes in the pacific that were always portrayed as cannibals in early TV and movies.

Argonians- seem to be a mixture numerous South American and Central American civilizations. The Mayans, Incas, Aztecs and the Moche. The deep marshy jungles of Black Marsh and the pyramids of the ancient Argonians are very reflective of this.

Orcs - Are not Russian by a long shot. They are more akin to Mongolian nomads. Living in isolated tribes that have very little to do with each other except when one Chieftain becomes powerful enough to influence the rest of them.

Khajiit - would be more like South Eastern Asian cultures with their temples and ancient buildings being reflective of the cultures in that region. They also seem to have quite a bit of Gypsy like qualities to them. Gypsies originated in northern India if I remember correctly so they would still be rather close to countries like Cambodia and Thailand where such temples are prominent.

Redguards - Seem to be numerous cultures that rose and fell through out Northern Africa and the Middle East as well into Western Asia. From the Moors to the Turkic peoples.

Bretons - Are definitely a mixture of Western European cultures predominantly the British Isles and Northern France.

Imperials - more than just Romans they also have quite a bit of Greek culture thrown in there for good measure. You could probably argue their are numerous mediterranean cultures from antiquity up to the fall of the Roman empire that has influence there.

The Nords - have more than just viking influences. Vikings were Norse peoples who were Germanic peoples. So theres quite a bit more there than just horn helmeted barbarians.

Dwemer - seem to be influenced deeply by the Sumerians.

Reachman - The Picts and other various tribes that existed through out the British Isles during the time of Roman expansion.


The two cultures I cant really pinpoint is the Altmer and Dunmer though they both seem to have overlapping influences from both Asia and the Middle East. I know I have seen the typical Indoril architecture with the spiral rods somewhere before but cant recall now. Its something Ive been casually googling for a while now trying to find where Ive seen it before.

Mic1007

Redguards (Hammerfell) - Northern Africa
Imperials (Cyrodiil) - Southern Europe, mainly Italy and Greece
Nords (Skyrim) - Sweden, Norway, Etc
Bretons (High Rock) - Southern British Isles and France
Dunmer (Morrowind) - Australia and New Zealand
Altmer (Summerset) - Northern British Isles and Ireland
Argonian (Black Marsh) - Central America, Below Mexico
Bosmer (Valenwood) - South America, Amazon Rainforest
Khajiit (Elsweyr) - Middle East
Orsimer (Wrothgar) - Denmark? German Kingdoms before unification?

Other Races:
Akaviri - Far East, Japan
Atmoran - Iceland and Greenland, Arctic Circle
Maormer - Coasts along the Indian Ocean

notimetocare

Some f this is assigned racially rather than culturally. US is the current best fit for the US.

Imperials are cosmopolitan. Accepting of all races and ways of life while barring culturally incompatible action and ideology. Not by truly banning cultural practices and belief systems but by molding them with the culture and morals of the dominant, native culture. Much like the inspiration for Imperials, the Romans

Argonians would fit better in South America, not Central, with older similar cultures as most modern cultures arent a good fit.

I wont bother with the other racially stereotypical placements for my own sanity

Varana

Wreuntzylla wrote: »

Shadowfen perhaps Tikal in Guatemala?

It's a wild mix of everything that looks vaguely cool in Mesoamerican civilisations - mostly Maya, some Aztec, and the various other peoples of the region (Mixtec, Zapotec, etc.)

Tikal is only one of many cities that feature similar architecture - Palenque, Uxmal, Copán, or most famously, Chichén Itzá. Or cities that are not in Maya territory - Teotihuacán, Cholula, Monte Albán.

Shadowfen is not one thing, it's a combination of several inspirations.

mb10

Guess part of my ethnic background is Khajiit!

Enslaved

Saxhleel - Aztec / Mayan / Inka
Bosmer - Amazon, Aboriginal, Maor
Khajiit - Roma, Gypsy, India
Redguard - Arab
Orsimer - Turkish, Mongol
Dunmer - China, Indonesia
Imperial - Roman Empire
Nord - Scandinavia
Altmer - UK, Ireland
breton - if I write it down I will be banned and marked as racist.

NikellasGR

Redguards - Northern Africa
Imperials - Italy and Hellas(Greece)
Nords - Sweden, Norway, Etc
Bretons - British and France
Dunmer - Australia and New Zealand
Altmer - Central America
Argonian - Mexico
Bosmer - South America, Amazon Rainforest
Khajiit - Middle East
Orsimer - Denmark and German
Akaviri - Below Mexico
Atmoran - Iceland and Greenland, Arctic Circle
Maormer - Coasts along the Indian Ocean

Kodrac

MakoFore wrote: »

redguards not african but actually more egyptian and arab in its inspirations.

I agree with your post except I'd like to point out that Egypt is in Africa. North Africa, and so the rest of Africa is used too. But yes, their architecture and cultural motifs are borrowed mostly from Arab nations, of which North Africa is considered a part of.

Jade1986

MakoFore wrote: »

argonians are clearly modelled off of early aztec and mayan civilisations.

khajit borrow heavily from south asian influences, architecture, although i find the constant references to skooma addiction a little racially insensitive and reminiscent of the yellow fever- white china propaganda of the past.

breton is from gaelic and anglo saxon obviously - the hinting of an elvish background inspired by the saxon and nordic part of their ancestry.

Nords obvious. well not exactly obvious- but vikings- in the 800A-100AD era. not the scandi chic 2018 ikea era.

Imperials are ancient romans- probably the most direct correlation - from facial features "the roman noses", olive skin, to the roman gladiator clothing, drapery, garb, etc- even the politics and ethos of the time- that romans were the chosen race, etc. or should we say- the dlc race.

Orcs in eso heavily borrow from mongol , eastern european, northern asian cultures, countries. especially in the 1100 AD era.
For example their tapestries are a straight take from mongol wall tapestries, kazakh wall tapestries. Chechnya, Dagestan, Iran - the entire caucasus regions. Also alot from other indigenous civilisations such as native americans and australian aboriginals with their ornaments etc.

redguards not african but actually more egyptian and arab in its inspirations.

bosmer , wood elves borrow heavily in part form amazonian cultures and other indigenous cultures- but as with the other elves- they just borrow from elvish culture in itself- which after 80 years of fantasy writing- is pretty dense .

dunmer from northern asian Altmer from japan also - architecturally- but culturally more nordic races- as elven cultures have often done in fantasy, these two races are probably the least correlative to known races- and more in line with fantasy lore since tolkein times, although tolkein himself did base elves off of his nordic allies in the war. the inspirations for these two races are far more diverse , original and complex than to just say- "they are like this race" - as we can with argonians for example.

not uncommon a writing device to take what is familiar and re-arrange it with some imagination and re-ordering. what are jedi but sci fi samurai for example.

North Africa is exactly what the redguards are modeled after.