History Characters / TheElderScrollsTheRacesOfMen

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation : In-universe with Sep, the Yokudan version of Lorkhan. Unlike the other races of Men who typically view Lorkhan (aka Shezarr or Shor) as a great champion god of mankind, the Redguards view him as a "crazy merchant god" who convinced the other gods to create the mortal world to make it easier for more spirits to survive Satakal's inevitable onslaught. Except it didn't make it easier; rather, the mortal plane acts as a trap which makes [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence apotheosis]] even harder. In this way, the Redguard view of creation has more in common with the Aldmeri tradition than that of other Men, who view the mortal plane as a blessing.

** Historically, to their Yokudan ancestors, it was the Sinistral Mer (Left-Handed Elves) of Yokuda. The two races fought a devastating war which left the Sinistral Mer extinct, and even to this day, the Redguards refuse to speak about them.

** In Tamriel the Redguards would end up genociding the Corelanya Clan, a tribe of Altmer Daedra worshippers.

* PointedEars: Some elite noble Breton families still have a slight point to their ears, hinting at their Mer ancestry. In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsOnline'' this is applied to every Breton to better showcase their Elven ancestry.

* PointedEars: Some elite noble Breton families still have a slight point to their ears, hinting at their Mer ancestry.

* TheOrder: Most of High Rock's city states have their own knightly orders. For example, Daggerfall has the Knights of the Dragon, while Wayrest has the Knights of the Rose.

* CulturalPosturing: They are prone to espousing the virtues of their various glorious empires to those they've subjugated. As they conquer new lands, they have traditionally enforced their rather liberal Imperial values, including a heavy focus on mercantilism and trade as well as significant religious tolerance, believing them to be superior to the "barbaric" cultures they are replacing and leading to plenty of CultureClash.

* SlaveLiberation: Against the Ayleids under Alessia, with the support of the Divines and the Nordic Empire. They went on to found the first empire of men out of Cyrodiil, the Alessian.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Jarls and Thanes are ''expected'' to be this, but how many actually ''are'' varies as realistically as it would in any other Tamrielic culture. Nords also have a tradition that if a their High King is challenged in combat and slain, the victorious warrior would be crowned King. This is an old tradition, however, and centuries of Imperial culture slowly filtering into Skyrim has somewhat caused it to be forgotten among the Western portion of Skyrim (where the Empire has most of its influence), to the point that actually ''invoking'' it is highly contentious by the 4th Era. (As Ulfric Stormcloak and his supporters found out when he invoked it and slew High King Torygg, kickstarting the Skyrim Civil War.)

* CatchPhrase: The Nords have quite a few cultural ones, including "By Shor's bones..." and "By Ysmir's beard..."

* LightningBruiser: Nords are the ''physical'' Lightning Bruiser race of Tamriel. Throughout the series, they get some of the best skill bonuses for two-handed weaponry (including [[{{BFS}} Claymores]], Battle Axes, and [[DropTheHammer Warhammers]]), which allows them to hit very hard. They also get skill bonuses toward Light Armor (fur, leather, light chainmail, etc.) which offers them protection while allowing them to move quickly around the battlefield. Finally, their natural physical endurance is among the best of any of the races. The only thing keeping them from being overpowered (and preserving a semblance of balance among the playable races) is that they are least ''magically'' inclined race in Tamriel and even have a [[DoesNotLikeMagic cultural aversion]] to it.
* MakeMeWannaShout: In the ancient past, the Dragons and their Dragon Cults took over much of Skyrim. Seeking a way to defeat the Dragons and their Cults, the ancient Nords prayed to the Divines for aid. Their prayers were answered and they were taught how to use the LanguageOfMagic of the Dragons, which they called the Thu'um (or the "Voice"). Led by the Tongues, masters of the Thu'um, the ancient Nord armies vanquished the Dragons and their Cults, then forged an Empire that covered nearly all of north Tamriel. A succession crisis would eventually tear it apart, and then the use of the Thu'um as a weapon of war dropped dramatically after their defeat at the Battle of Red Mountain, following which one of those Tongues (Jurgen Windcaller) [[HeelFaithTurn founded the "Way of the Voice" to use the Thu'um only honor the gods]]. As of the 4th Era, only the Greybeards of High Hrothgar still practice the Thu'um, following Windcaller's "Way of the Voice".

* TheParagon: [[DeityOfHumanOrigin Talos]], [[FounderOfTheKingdom Ysgramor]], and [[PhysicalGod the Dragonborn]] are often held up as the ultimate examples of what a Nord should aspire to be.

* FantasticNamingConvention: Typically have a single Celtic sounding name, in line with their counterpart culture.

The human inhabitants of Skyrim, Tamriel's frigid and untamed northernmost territory, the Nords are a tall, fair, and hardy people known for their inborn resistance to natural and magical frost as well as for being fierce warriors, unruly mercenaries, and great sailors. This only tells half the story, however, as the Nords are far more than the bloodthirsty barbarians the rest of Tamriel (especially the Elves) claim them to be. The Nords are lovers of battle, true, but they are also lovers of music and mead, fine weaponsmiths and armorers, and are a deeply spiritual and traditional people with a strong sense of honor. Modern Nords are believed to be the descendants of the ancient Atmorans interbreeding with Tamriel's native Nedes. Nords possess some of the strongest physiques of the races of Tamriel along with exceptional natural ability to utilize a variety of weapon types, making them some of the greatest pure warriors in all of Tamriel.

** Their ancient practice of embalming their dead, probably lifted from the Atmorans, is reminiscent of the famous practices of Egyptian mummification.

* HumansAreAverage: They fit this trope moreso than the other races of men, being neither prodigious mages like the Bretons, or warriors on the level of the Nords and Redguards, but being fairly competent at whatever role they're given. Played with a bit, in that Colovians lean more towards HumansAreWarriors, while the Nibenese leans more towards HumansAreDiplomats.

* HumanityIsSuperior: Something the races of Men obviously believe, and given their successes in dominating the continent, this claim has some validity. Humans have conquered large portions (and in one case, ''all'') of Tamriel ''four'' times throughout history (once by the Nordic Empire and thrice by the Imperials) despite their inherent disadvantages in terms of natural magical ability and shorter lifespans compared to the races of Mer.

* HumanityIsSuperior: Something the races of Men obviously believe, and given their successes in dominating the continent, this claim has some validity. Humans have conquered large portions (and in one case, ''all'') of Tamriel ''four'' times throughout history (once by the Nordic Empire and thrice by the Imperials) despite their inherent disadvantages in terms of natural magical ability and shorter lifespans compared to the races of Mer. Three times, in fact, a race of Men has driven a race of Mer to [[FinalSolution virtual extinction]]. (The Atmorans/Nords to the Falmer, the Nedes/Imperials to the Ayleids, and the Yokudans/Redguard to the Sinistral Mer/Left-handed Elves.)

* FinalSolution: Against the Falmer with great success. The few survivors fled to the "protection" of the Dwemer or survived at a single remote chantry deep in the mountains.

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* IcyBlueEyes: Despite their tendency towards darker skin than other men, it is not unusual for Reguards to also have piercing blue or grey eyes.

* LostColony: The Silverhoof Horsemen are a subgroup of Reguards hailing from northern Akos Kasaz in Yokuda, who left for Tamriel around two centuries before the more famous Ra Gada warrior wave of the 1st Era. Upon arriving in High Rock during the fall of the Direnni Hegemony and the rise of the Breton kingdoms, they carved a niche for themselves as [[BornOnTheSaddle master horsemen]] and incorporated parts of Bretonnic culture into their own, though they are still recognizable as Yokudan.

* ScaryBlackMan: As a race, they are viewed as this by the other races of Tamriel. Dark-skinned with wiry-hair and athletic builds, they are one of Tamriel's {{Proud Warrior Race}}s with a particular cultural affinity to swords and swordsmanship. After their ancient homeland of Yokuda sunk beneath the sea, the survivors sailed to Tamriel and chose to settle in the deserts of Hammerfell, one of Tamriel's most inhospitable environments. After only a few brutal months, Hammerfell was cleansed of any Men, Mer, or beast to make it safe for settlement. This even included [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Orcs]] and giant goblins. It took being weakened during a brutal CivilWar for [[FounderOfTheKingdom Tiber Septim]] to claim Hammerfell for his RisingEmpire, and a Redguard uprising was considered one of the greatest threats to the Septim Empire for centuries after. Later, in the 4th Era, as part of the White-Gold Concordat to end the Great War between the [[VestigialEmpire Vestigial Third Empire]] and the [[AntiHumanAlliance Aldmeri Dominion]], the Empire ceded vast tracks of land in Hammerfell to the Dominion. The Redguards refused to abandon the land and declared independence from the Empire. Despite standing completely on their own, the Redguards of Hammerfell successfully repulsed the Dominion. Now, they are considered one of the only groups who could stand up to a another full-blown Dominion assault.

* BanOnMagic: While the Redguards have a cultural dislike of magic in general, it generally stops short of an outright ban, and war mages were a thing in ancient Yokudan armies, if rare. Their attitude towards magic is more of it being a weakness that is frowned upon in a culture with such a strong marital inclination, rather than as TheDarkArts. The one form of magic that is unanimously abhorred and forbidden is necromancy, due to the Redguard reverence for their ancestors, which also forbids their warriors from raising arms against the honored dead. They do have a specialized order known as Ash'abah dedicated to fighting the undead, but they are shunned despite the necessity of their role and mostly wander the Alik'r desert as exiles until needed.

* FantasticRacism: The Crowns, a conservative sociopolitical group of Redguards descended from ancient Yokudan nobility, hold Yokudan tradition in high regard and hate all foreigners. The resist, often violently, any outside cultural influences on Redguard culture.
* FinalSolution: Against the Sinistral Mer (Left-Handed Elves). They actually accomplished complete extermination of the Sinistral Mer, and have even attempted to {{Unperson}} them in the ages since by refusing to speak of them.

The human inhabitants of Cyrodiil, sometimes referred to as "Cyrodiils" or "Cyrodilics". The Imperials are split into two distinct sub-groups, the Colovians and the Nibenese. The Colovians (aka "Cyro-Nords") mainly occupy western and northern Cyrodiil and are a hearty, martial highland folk who may have more in common culturally with Nords than with the Nibenese. The Nibenese are cosmopolitan heartlanders who live mainly in central and southern Cyrodiil, including the Imperial City, around the Niben River system, and are the closest living race to the ancient Nedes. Imperials are renowned across the continent as diplomats, statesmen, and traders. While they don't have the same raw physical strength or pure prowess in combat as their Nord or Redguard relatives, they still make for highly disciplined and reliable soldiers. Indeed, their legions have forged no fewer than three empires spanning most or all of Tamriel at different points in history.

The Men of Akavir (also known as the Akaviri) were a race of mysterious humans who lived in Akavir. They died out millennia ago, but what happened to them is a mystery (theories that they intermingled with other men, were eaten by the Tsaesci, or may have been the ancestors of the Tsaesci).

* FrontlineGeneral: This is the ''expectation'' for Nord leaders. Usually justified, given the typically [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority badass nature of Nord leaders]]. Many great Nord leaders, including Ysgramor, Wulfharth, and Talos, gained great renown as both warriors and generals.

Also known as "Witchmen", Reachmen inhabit the area along the border of High Rock and Skyrim known as "the Reach". Though primarily Breton in in terms of race, they do not consider themselves culturally Breton and their bloodlines are intermixed with both Nord and Nedic[=/=]Imperial peoples. They are a primitive and tribal people, led by shamans, who practice elements of nature and Daedra worship, primarily Hircine. They also revere Hagravens as "matrons". From the time of the Alessian Empire to the 4th Era, they've maintained an insurgency, warring against any outside conquerors attempting to claim the Reach for themselves. Their greatest success came during the 2nd Era Interregnum, when the Reachmen were actually able to capture the Ruby Throne of Cyrodiil. These rulers became known as the "Longhouse Emperors" and ruled the remnants of the Second Cyrodiilic Empire for several decades until they were overthrown. In the 4th Era, following the decline of the Third Empire, the Reachmen successfully captured the Nord city of Markarth in the Reach and held it for two years until a Nord militia forced them out. The survivors of this group fled into the wilds of the Reach and have become known as the "Forsworn", continuing to wage their war.

'''Note:''' ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' lore is generally not clear-cut. Reasons for this range from [[UnreliableNarrator biased]] in-universe sources intentionally giving you only one side of a story, to sources [[CriticalResearchFailure lacking critical information]] or working from [[BlatantLies false information]], to the implication that AllMythsAreTrue, despite the contradictions, or that at least all myths are MetaphoricallyTrue. [[WordOfGod Out-of-game developer supplemental texts]] (frequently referred to as "Obscure Texts" by the lore community) are more trustworthy, but are frequently left [[LooseCanon unofficial]] and sometimes later contradicted. Because of this, it is entirely possible for two contradictory statements in the below examples to ''both'' be true. (And due to frequent events in-universe that [[TimeCrash alter the timeline]], both may ''literally'' be true in-universe.)