zawizard wrote: »

I was thinking Redguard for the skin color, but their culture isn't excatly the same or resembles much of it.

Yeah, skin color has nothing to do with a people and their culture. Redguard are meant to resemble a Middle Eastern people, perhaps Persians maybe.

The closest people would be Argonians, as they're modeled after the ancient Central American civilizations. But native North Americans of the 1600s-ish? I dunno, maybe the Reachmen, maybe the Kothringi?

Trying to compare real world to fantasy can be a slippery slope, I know trying to lump all the vastly different Native Tribes together is not something they would appreciate. There is just as Much if not more separating the Inuits culturally from The Seminoles as there is separating the English from the Italians, so this kind of broad grouping can result in some stereotyping that is bound to offend someone. But that being said I'm not implying your intentions are filled with malice and I imagine you want to do this in a respectful way, so you have to ask what it is you are trying to emulate first and then go from there.Then we can help narrow it down.

The Argonian temples are clearly influenced by the tribes of South America, so there is a starting point as ArchMikem pointed out.

ArchMikem wrote: »

zawizard wrote: »

I was thinking Redguard for the skin color, but their culture isn't excatly the same or resembles much of it.

Yeah, skin color has nothing to do with a people and their culture. Redguard are meant to resemble a Middle Eastern people, perhaps Persians maybe.

The closest people would be Argonians, as they're modeled after the ancient Central American civilizations. But native North Americans of the 1600s-ish? I dunno, maybe the Reachmen, maybe the Kothringi?

^This

zawizard wrote: »

Nightfall12 wrote: »

Trying to compare real world to fantasy can be a slippery slope, I know trying to lump all the vastly different Native Tribes together is not something they would appreciate. There is just as Much if not more separating the Inuits culturally from The Seminoles as there is separating the English from the Italians, so this kind of broad grouping can result in some stereotyping that is bound to offend someone. But that being said I'm not implying your intentions are filled with malice and I imagine you want to do this in a respectful way, so you have to ask what it is you are trying to emulate first and then go from there.Then we can help narrow it down.

The Argonian temples are clearly influenced by the tribes of South America, so there is a starting point as ArchMikem pointed out.

I can see were your coming from, and I can see how some people can be offended. As a native american myself, I would to represent my culture for RP purposes. Argonian is a great place to start, maybe Wood Elf I can see.

Yeah, Argonians certainly resemble some Native tribes (especially in their architecture, as was already pointed out), as do the Bosmer in their own way. I'm no expert on Argonian culture (nor am I on Native culture), but I can certainly say that the Bosmeri hunter-gatherer lifestyle, coupled with their ritual markings, is at least indicative of Native influence.

On a side note, I usually find the most fun in playing the role of someone far from what I am IRL. For example, having German and Germanic heritage (which shares an ancestry with the Nordic peoples, originally having the same gods and all), I should play a Nord. Contrary to this, I main an ash-skinned Dunmer whose values are opposed to my own. Why? I am always myself IRL. Here, I don't have to be. I can look through unfamiliar eyes.

On another a side note, I find it funny when someone takes the time to be offended for a group without taking into consideration that the person they are offended by is a member of that group.

As it's been said, the Argonians are the closest to Native Americans. Mostly Mayans and Aztec, as seen by their temples.

Imperials are the Romans.
Nords are of based off real Nords.
Khajiit are Indians, at least how I view them with their Buddhist/Hindu style of religion.
Redguards are Persians, as said above.
I read Bosmer were based off Asians, like Mongolians (don't quote me)
Bretons I think were what the British were once called.
Altmer... I don't know what culture they're based off of, if any. Same with Orcs. I knew what Dunmer were but I forget.

The ancient Yokudan temples are very much inspired by Persepolis in Iran:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persepolis#/media/File:Tachara,_Persepolis.jpg
So yeah, they're a wild mixture of North/Northeast Africa and the Middle East.

Argonian architecture is very much Mayan, i.e. Central America. As for Native North Americans, I don't think there's an obvious parallel.

elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:Kidtragic/Elder_Scrolls_Races_and_Cultures_Compared_to_Real_Life.

This is the closest thing I have found but as usual everything is up for speculation.

Kierro wrote: »

As it's been said, the Argonians are the closest to Native Americans. Mostly Mayans and Aztec, as seen by their temples.

Imperials are the Romans.
Nords are of based off real Nords.
Khajiit are Indians, at least how I view them with their Buddhist/Hindu style of religion.
Redguards are Persians, as said above.
I read Bosmer were based off Asians, like Mongolians (don't quote me)
Bretons I think were what the British were once called.
Altmer... I don't know what culture they're based off of, if any. Same with Orcs. I knew what Dunmer were but I forget.

An important thing to keep in mind is that no TES race directly parallels any real life culture. Another thing to think about is that the races mostly have a late Medieval twist on the cultures they draw from.

For example, the ‘Roman’ Imperials have full plate armor, as do the Norse-inspired Nords. Neither of these real-life inspirations had such armor. The Romans had Lorica Segmentata, a segmented armor that left the arms and legs exposed, although this was largely countered wth the Scutum shield. They of course also wore Lorica Hamata, which was a sort of mail tunic.

The Norsemen would wear nasal or spectacle helmets and mail byrnies, but the games give the Nords full plate armor. Why? This is probably to keep them technologically up to par with their knightly Breton cousins. Speaking of Bretons, they were actually Celts who settled in modern-day France. This was also long before the rise of plate armor, so their name is only loosely attached to their in-game aesthetic.

Redguards can’t only be likened to Persians. They have influences from many Middle Eastern and North African cultures, as was previously mentioned. They also have some Japanese names sprinkled in.

Mer are the hardest to categorize. They can’t be directly likened to real life cultures as they are so alien, but you can still see inspiration. The Bosmer, as I detailed in a previous post, are similar to Native Americans, but you are right to also compare Argonians to the Natives.

Altmer nationalism resembles Chinese nationalism, although their emphasis on naval superiority reminds me of the British.

The Orsimer are drawn from many eastern cultures, and they remind me of the Mongols, at least aesthetically. This is of course a loose comparison.

Dunmer culture is perhaps the most difficult to pin down. The Ashlanders remind me of Middle Eastern tribes of old, and the Great Houses are unique spins on traditional archetypes. It’s also worth mentioning that Vivec was inspired by the Hindu god Ardhanarishvara.

My knowledge on Khajiit culture is limited, so I won’t draw any connections there.

Keep in mind these conclusions are based solely on my understanding of real-world cultures, so there is certainly room for error.

I also saw someone mention that khajiit house architecture is very similar to indonesian:


to me khajiit seem more inspired by south and southeast asian cultures rather than ancient egyptian or persian, although khajiit culture seems to include all of them. Khajiit names are often the same as or inspired by indian/hindi names also

The parallel between Orcs and Mongols quickly breaks down once we consider how much the Mongols were steppe nomads with horses and herds playing a huge role in their culture while the Orc homeland is mostly mountainous, echateres aren't really a sufficient replacement for yaks, only some of them are kind of nomadic, and their lives centre around strongholds that don't move around (and in Orsinium, are built of stone).

It's always only parts that are similar, never the whole thing, and most often, even rather peripheral or random parallels.

As for Amerindians, we shouldn't forget the huge variety of what Amerindian cultures were. Mesoamerican cultures like the Maya and Aztec are quite different from Amazonian tribes; what we see as classical North American natives like the Iroquois or Sioux, are quite distinct from each other, and in many aspects a result of the Europeans coming to the Americas; and that's not mentioning the militaristic bureaucracy of the Incas or the natives of Alaska or northern Canada, and so on.

Bosmer might be a parallel to some cliché aspects of Amerindians but isn't really fitting for Hopi or other Pueblo peoples, and so on. So when looking for a representation in the ES universe, it very much depends on what aspects you want to have represented.

The Dunmer Ashlanders resemble their culture most closely.

Korah_Eaglecry wrote: »

Kierro wrote: »

As it's been said, the Argonians are the closest to Native Americans. Mostly Mayans and Aztec, as seen by their temples.

Imperials are the Romans.
Nords are of based off real Nords.
Khajiit are Indians, at least how I view them with their Buddhist/Hindu style of religion.
Redguards are Persians, as said above.
I read Bosmer were based off Asians, like Mongolians (don't quote me)
Bretons I think were what the British were once called.
Altmer... I don't know what culture they're based off of, if any. Same with Orcs. I knew what Dunmer were but I forget.

Khajiit have quite a bit of inspiration being pulled from South Eastern Asian cultures. Their ruins and temples resemble temples youll find through out countries like Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia.

Bosmer are closer to the uncontacted Amazonian tribes. The stories of cannabalism and extreme xenophobia resembling closely the stories of people making contact with tribes that have been out of contact with the rest of the world.

Redguards are closer to North African civilizations like the Moors. Though as the poster above pointed out. There is also a weird Japanese tie in there.

Bretons are a mix of a few western european cultures including the English and the French. The city states clashing could be references to the English, the Welsh, Scots and Irish clashing.

Altmer are probably the most traditional of high fantasy. Most of their inspirations dont seem to have any ties to things in the real world.

Orcs are based on the Mongolians. Very much the real world horde.

Dunmer seem to be a deep cross of of arabic and asian influences. Those twisted spirals on the rooves of their houses, Ive seen it somewhere before but I cant place it.

Argonians are definitely a mix of Mayan and Aztec influences.

2018 Summerset Isle DLC Update: Aldmer architecture on Summerset Isle is UNIQUELY DIFFERENT than what you see in Auridon. The architecture in Summerset is a LOT more like a fantasy version of King's Landing in Games of Thrones.

But in offshore islands like Vulkhen Gauard, the architecture has strong eastern/Asiatic & Islamic influences. The soaring towers in places like Vulkhel Guard are very similar to Islamic minarets. And overall, Aldmeri architectural design is appears to be a bizarre mix of Khajit and Dunmer (who used to be Chimer before Azura transformed them) architecture.

Culturally, and religiously, Altmer (in both upcoming Summerset Isle and current ESO) are most like N.A.Z.I Germany in their xenophobia and cultural purity mindset TBH. Or a WWII Japan or modern day N. Korea. They're obsessed with keeping their culture pure AND believe they are racially and genetically superior to all the other races (including other Mer). This is because of their (single player TES and ESO) belief that they are the only direct descendants of the Elphony Old Bones. Hence their fanatic belief in the Eight (v. Nine) Divines.

Which is why Aldmeri society is always at odds with the rest of the races in Tamriel. And why the White-Gold Concordant happened after Oblivion, with Hammerfell's succession from the Empire. And the reason for the rise of the 2nd Aldmeri Dominion. And the reason for all the racial and religious strife in modern day Skyrim.

Seriously, what's with the PC? Are HISTORIC and Webber's Dictionary words like N.A.Z.I censored on this forum??? SERIOUSLY?

Someone made a laughably bad racial comparison a while back. Nothing but assumptive stereotypes. Skin, and form, has nothing to do with culture. Check the uesp for each race and you can get an idea of cultures amd their real world inspiration.

One example: Imperials are distinctly Roman. As old Rome no longer exists. The modern close Comparison is USA. A cosmopolitan people that still holds their own cultural values in high regard. They do not ban practices native to immigrant cultures so long as it does not violate then norms of the dominant society. A good example, there is no ban on practicing Islam, but an immigrant cannot come here and marry a minor.

Luigi_Vampa wrote: »

Like people have said, Argonians are Mayan, Aztec in influence. While the Bosmer are hunters and close to nature, they don't really have much in common. If I had to lump North American Native Americans together, I'd say the Dunmer Ashlanders probably have the most similar society. Some ancestor worship, living off the land, being outsiders to an oppressive government (the great houses). They are also nomadic to a certain extent.

Ashlanders is more of a comparison on actions against them than their own culture here. Nomadic lifestyle is the only good comparison to native Americans but many ancient, sometimes Primitive, cultures were nomadic.