History Characters / TheElderScrollsTheRacesOfMer

* TheTower: The Dwemer attempted to use the Heart of Lorkhan to construct their own Tower, as well as to become a new god -- Anumidium (or "Walk-Brass"). They intended to use it to transcend mortality, but something went awry, causing the entire Dwemer race to disappear from all known planes of existence in a single instant. The Dunmeri Tribunal would then claim the machine, now know as Numidium, and would later trade it to the Emperor Tiber Septim in exchange for special privileges when Morrowind joined Septim's Empire as a VoluntaryVassal. Septim would then use it to complete his conquest of all of Tamriel. However, as a result of the events of ''Daggerfall'', the Numidium would be destroyed along with its makeshift Stone, the Mantella (an immensely powerful soul gem said to contain the soul of a Shezarrine).

** A number of Lefthanded Elves who managed to flee Yokuda ended up taking over the Systre Archipelago, only for most of them to die in the eruption of Mt. Firesong. While they still managed to hang on to the islands, the survivors were ultimately genocided by the Ra Gada warrior wave on their way to Tamriel after Yokuda's sinking.
** Direnni dispatches of the 1st Era mention entering combat with "ships of western flag" in the Iliac Bay, who are considered to be possibly surving remants of Lefthanded Elves, but their exact nature remains unclear to the vagaries of surviving sources.

* MasterArcher:
** The Bosmer are hailed as the best archers in all of Tamriel, with some sources stating that they are the inventors of the bow. By the age of 14, all Bosmer children are expected to be proficient enough with a bow to join hunting parties. Their very best archers are known as "Jaqspurs," able to snatch an arrow, draw their bow, and fire in one continuous motion. They are also known to make composite horn bows which are said to be some of the best in Tamriel. Both the Aldmeri Dominion and the Septim Empire have employed the Bosmer as specialist archer troops. Guides for the games recommend the Bosmer as the ideal race for those seeking to play as archer characters.
** The tendency of the Bosmer to be free-spirited and independent, much like the archetype, also means that they don't do well with formal martial arts training. Their preference is to learn through instinct and experience, making many Bosmer self-taught. Altmer fencing instructors generally refuse to try to teach Bosmer their methods because Bosmer don't have the mindset to use the complex and rote techniques of High Elf swordsmanship.

* ArcherArchetype:
** The Bosmer are hailed as the best archers in Tamriel. By the age of 14, all Bosmer children are expected to be proficient enough with a bow to join hunting parties. Their very best archers are known as "Jaqspurs," able to snatch an arrow, draw their bow, and fire in one continuous motion. Both the Aldmeri Dominion and the Septim Empire have employed the Bosmer as specialist archer troops.
** The tendency of the Bosmer to be free-spirited and independent, much like the archetype, also means that they don't do well with formal martial arts training. Their preference is to learn through instinct and experience, making many Bosmer self-taught. Altmer fencing instructors generally refuse to try to teach Bosmer their methods because Bosmer don't have the mindset to use the complex and rote techniques of High Elf swordsmanship.

* ArchEnemy: To the Yokudans, who rendered them extinct.

* ShroudedInMyth: All we know about them is that they were left-handed, probably connected to the Orichalc Tower of Yokuda, and that the Yokudans managed to render them extinct through war.

** IronButtMonkey: They do take all their trials in stride, though, as Malacath teaches "strength through adversity". Indeed, part of their beliefs in their WarriorHeaven of the Ashen Forge involves an Orc who dies passing through a ritual in which the grudges, losses, betrayals, and broken promises they have suffered are melted out of them and reforged into the next generation of Orcs.

* OurGodsAreDifferent: Orc religion is unique among the playable races in ''Elder Scrolls'' in that it's essentially monotheistic, centering pretty much entirely around their patron, the Daedric Prince Malacath, or as they more commonly call him, Mauloch. It's not so much that they don't think the other gods exist as it is that they don't really factor into the culture of the Orcish people on the whole. Individual Orcs may pray to different gods or pantheons, but on a cultural level, it begins and ends with the God of Curses. The biggest religious divide in Orcish society is actually between Malacath traditionalists, and Trinimac resurgents, who believe that rather than Malacath being a transformed Trinimac, they are two separate beings, and the common story is a trick played by the demon Mauloch to usurp worship of the Orcs.

* InsufferableGenius: Altmer are naturally more inclined towards magical ability than other races, even other mer. Plenty of them are [[{{Jerkass}} Jerkasses]] about it, particularly Thalmor officials.

** In Tamriel’s version of Christmas, most of the races celebrate by doing some sort of entertainment, partying, or performing traditional challenges. What do the Altmer do? They spend their time donating and helping out the less fortunate by performing charities all across Tamriel.

* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: While the Altmer are already long-lived, there are said to be "Mage Lords" in the Summerset Isles in excess of 4000 years old. They've almost certainly enhanced their lives with magic but normal Altmer can easily live to be 1000, greater than most other races..

* InsufferableGenius: Altmer are naturally more inclined towards magical ability than other races, even other mer. Plenty of them are [[Jerkass Jerkasses]] about it, particularly Thalmor officials.

* ASinisterClue: Their entire race was said to be left-handed. Certainly from the perspective of the Yokudans, since they warred with them and were mostly if not entirely left-handed.

* CulturalPosturing: They take the cake as the haughtiest culture in Tamriel. They are indeed responsible for much of Tamriel's art, science, philosophy, language and religion, and ([[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch while there are exceptions]]) they have no issue letting the other races know just how superior they believe they are. They are the direct descendants of the Aldmer and consider the other races of Mer as a result of "degeneration" over the ages. (And don't even bother trying to bring up the races of Men...) Their religious beliefs state that they are the true descendants of the Aedra, and the 4th Era ascension of [[ANaziByAnyOtherName the Thalmor]] into positions of Altmeri leadership has only exacerbated their posturing.

* ProudScholarRace: They best fit the "mystical" side of the trope, being the most naturally magically gifted race with nearly all of Tamriel's science, philosophy, and religion being based off of theirs. Altmer scholars are frequently among the greatest experts in their fields and benefit greatly from [[LongLived longer lifespans]] which allow more time to study.

* VillainousRescue: From their perspective, this was the case in the 3rd Era's War of the Isle. Maormer forces were overrunning the Summerset Isles, forcing the Altmer to request aid from the hated Empire.

* ThunderboltIron: Their Ayleid Wells, which (though an unknown means) channel magicka from the stars and can restore it to mages, were said to be crafted from [[MagicMeteor meteorite iron]].

* TransformationHorror: The Wild Hunt is a one-way transformation into "nightmarish" monsters used only as a last resort in defense of their homeland. Most recently, it was used to end the Five-Year War against the Khajiit who were raiding deep into Valenwood. It brought a very swift end to the war before the Mer-turned-monsters turned on each other in a "cannibalistic orgy".

* AncestorVeneration: This is a major part of their religious beliefs. While the deities worshiped by the Dunmer have changed over the course of history, the veneration of their ancestors has always been a major practice. They will seek guidance from their ancestors, as well as more directly summon their spirits and reanimate their bodies for protection. (An act they consider holy, which is a major reason why blasphemous {{necromancy}} is so reviled.) The [[FictionalDocument in-game book]] ''[[http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Ancestors_and_the_Dunmer Ancestors and the Dunmer]]'' provides a highly detailed account of these practices.

* ColonyDrop: Sheogorath attempted this by hurling the rogue moon Baar Dau at Vivec City. Vivec, the Tribunal deity, froze it in place above the city. It would later be hollowed out for use by the Tribunal Temple as the Ministry of Truth. Vivec tells his followers that it is held in place by his people's love for him, and that should they stop loving him, it would fall. [[spoiler:As a result of the Nerevarine's actions, Vivec disappears following the events of the game. The stop-gap measure implemented by the Temple to keep it in orbit is destroyed, so the moon resumes its fall as though it had never stopped. Vivec (the city) is destroyed, Red Mountain erupts, the mainland of Morrowind is devastated by tsunamis, and, even some 200 years later, the crater/bay that lies where Vivec used to be, is now known as Scathing Bay and still has its waters boiling]].

* GutturalGrowler: Most Dunmer tend to sound like they smoke ten packs of cigarettes daily, whether male or female. Male Dunmer in ''Morrowind'' all speak in a very low and gravelly voice, courtesy of Jeff Baker, and Creator/KeithSzarabajka provided a similiarly gravelly voice with somewhat of a British accent in ''Skyrim''. Slightly zig-zagged in ''Oblivion'', as owing to the limited voice cast, all male Dunmer share the same high-pitched voice of Craig Sechler, though the women actually sounded like they should.

* AGodAmI: Of a sort. They were {{Naytheist}}s who did not believe that the known divine entities were truly "gods". In fact, it was "unfashionable" amongst the Dwemer to view their own "golden spirits" as anything less than those of the "divine".

* TheWorfEffect: Despite their technology and knowledge of the laws of the natural world, they suffered numerous initial defeats at the hands of the Thu'um-using Nords before allying with the Chimer. Later, their Red Mountain stronghold was infiltrated by Nerevar and the Chimer. While the rest of the details of that event [[TheRashomon vary between the numerous versions]], some state that the rest of the Chimer army was able to pin down Dwemer reinforcements outside.

* ElaborateUndergroundBase: While they've taken over many Dwemer ruins, they've also been shown to be capable of constructing elaborate networks of suspended bridges and platforms.

* FormerlySapientSpecies: The Falmer have degenerated from graceful Snow Elves with a culture rivaling the Altmer into a race of blind, subterranean Morlock-like beasts with a primitive, xenophobic tribal culture, whose [[OurSoulsAreDifferent souls]] don't even register as humanoid anymore. The Dwemer, who took the surviving Falmer in after their annihilation by the Nords, forced the Falmer to blind themselves with poisonous mushrooms in exchange. The Dwemer used them as servants and slaves, and may have performed experiments on them that caused them to further mutate into their present form. However, there is evidence that they are beginning to re-evolve their sapience - they have developed forms of agriculture and have even learned a sort of alchemy to brew poisons with. [[spoiler:The last sapient Snow Elf]] believes they're on the path to becoming sapient again, though it will take centuries before that day comes.

* TheMorlocks: Formerly a graceful and advanced race of Mer, they were nearly exterminated and most of the survivors were forced to be blinded and corrupted by the Dwemer in exchange for their shelter. They now live as creatures little better than goblins beneath the earth, attacking any surface dwellers on sight. They also are known to torture their captives, and feed them to their pet Chaurus, judging by the number of human remains in Chaurus pens. If Alftand is anything to go by, they also skin surface dwellers and make leather from them. About the only Morlock trait they don't have confirmed is [[ImAHumanitarian eating the surface dwellers]]...but sometimes, when you kill one, you find 'Human Flesh' in its inventory... and human remains in their refuse heaps...
* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: [[spoiler:In ''Dawnguard'', there is ''one'' still uncorrupted Falmer. He pities the Falmer (referring to them as "the Betrayed") and uses the above InsistentTerminology to distinguish himself from them.]]

* OrganicTechnology: Almost everything they create is made from Chaurus chitin, the hard shells of the giant insectoid Chaurus creatures they farm.

* SlaveLiberation: The Falmer eventually rebelled against the Dwemer in Skyrim, resulting in the War of the Crag, which went on for several decades underground, while the Nords above remained blissfully unaware. The war only ended with the Dwemer's mysterious disappearance, which sort of left the Falmer as the winners by default.

* MeaningfulName: As the Sinistral Mer. "Sinistra" is Latin for "left."

* TheBerserker: Orcs are natural berserkers, with an innate ability to trigger an UnstoppableRage that significantly increases their abilities in melee combat.

* FormerlySapientSpecies: The Falmer have degenerated from graceful Snow Elves with a culture rivaling the Altmer into a race of blind, subterranean Morlock-like beasts with a primitive, xenophobic tribal culture, whose [[OurSoulsAreDifferent souls]] don't even register as humanoid anymore. The Dwemer, who took the surviving Falmer in after their annihilation by the Nords, forced the Falmer to blind themselves with poisonous mushrooms in exchange. The Dwemer used them as servants and slaves, and may have performed experiments on them that caused them to further mutate into their present form.

* ProudIndustriousRace: To the point when it is difficult to say for sure whether they were more proud or industrious. [[https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Dwemer The Elder Scrolls wiki page]] about them states that they were known for their skills in, among other fields, engineering, crafting methods, metalwork, stonework, architecture, and city-planning. And indeed - they possessed the best features of both variations of the trope, producing with a quality unseen anywhere else in Tamriel and, when necessary, on an industrial scale, as automation was not something out of the ordinary for the high-tech Dwemer civilization.

* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Certain colors are traditionally associated with the Great Houses of Morrowind, with blue for Indoril, yellow for Hlaalu, grey for Dres, and red for Redoran. The Telvanni don't seem to have an "official" color, per se, though many of their heraldry and costumes are generally greenish-blue in appearance. Additionally, the {{Unperson}}ed House Dagoth's official color scheme is [[RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver red and black]].

* GenerationalMagicDecline: At the heart of their religious beliefs, going hand-in-hand with OurAncestorsAreSuperheroes. To them, the [[CreationMyth creation of the mortal world]] was a cruel trick which forced their divine ancestors to experience mortal suffering and death. They believe that the other "lesser" races of Mer are the result of "degeneration" over the ages, with each generation being weaker than the last as they are one more removed from their divine [[OurGodsAreDifferent Aedric]][=/=][[{{Precursors}} Ehlnofey]] ancestors. The Altmer actively try to [[KissingCousins breed]] [[CategoryTraitor themselves]] back into their ideal (including, according to some sources, the culling of undesirable progeny), to maintain a perceived level of "purity".

* OurGodsAreDifferent: Orc religion is unique among the playable races in ''Elder Scrolls'' in that it's essentially monotheistic, centering pretty much entirely around their patron, the daedric prince Malacath, or as they more commonly call him, Mauloch. It's not so much that they don't think the other gods exist as it is that they don't really factor into the culture of the Orcish people on the whole. Individual Orcs may pray to different gods or pantheons, but on a cultural level, it begins and ends with the God of Curses. The biggest religious divide in Orcish society is actually between Malacath traditionalists, and Trinimac resurgents, who believe that rather than Malacath being a transformed Trinimac, they are two separate beings, and the common story is a trick played by the demon Mauloch to usurp worship of the Orcs.

* OurGodsAreDifferent: Orc religion is unique among the playable races in ''Elder Scrolls'' in that it's essentially monotheistic, centering pretty much entirely around their patron, the daedric prince Malacath, or as they more commonly call him, Mauloch. It's not so much that they don't think the other gods exist as it is that they don't really factor into the cutlure of the orcish people on the whole. Individual orcs may pray to different gods or pantheons, but on a cultural level, it begins & ends with the God of Curses. The biggest religious divide in orcish society is actually between Malacath traditionalists, and Trinimac resugents, who believe that rather than Malacath being a transformed Trinimac, they are two separate beings, and the common story is a trick played by the demon Mauloch to usurp worship of the orcs.

* WrittenByTheWinners: They are losers to Ysgramor and the Nords. As part of destroying all traces of the Falmer culture in Skyrim that he could find, he also destroyed any evidence of anything that happened other than what ''his'' official histories record. For instance, he claims that the Falmer attack on Saarthal was unprovoked. However, surviving records of the Elves claim that the attack was in response to repeated "provocations and blasphemies" committed by the early Nords. In ''Skyrim'', it is implied that the attack might have had something to do with [[spoiler:the Eye of Magnus, a massively powerful magical artifact kept in Saarthal]].

* AGodAmI: Of a sort. They were {{Naytheist}}s who did not believe that the known divine entities were truly "gods". In fact, it was "unfashionable" amongst the Dwemer to view their own "golden spirits" as anything less than the those of the "divine".

* OlderIsBetter: Despite its age, their weapons and armor are still better than the majority of modern equivalents. Justified given the RagnarokProofing and [[RealityWarper Reality Warping]] that went into the items' creation.

* AntiMagic: They have an innate resistance to fire and fire-based magic.

* WrittenByTheWinners: They are losers to Ysgramor and the Nords. As part of destroying all traces of the Falmer culture in Skyrim that he could find, he also destroyed any evidence of anything that happened other than what ''his'' official histories record. For instance, he claims that the Falmer attack on Saarthal was unprovoked. However, surviving records of the Elves claim that the attack was in response to repeated "provocations and blasphemies" committed by the early Nords.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Despite being shown to create armor and clothing, very few Falmer are seen wearing anything on their feet. Possibly justified, as it is speculated that, due to their blindness, the Falmer use other means of detecting threats. This may include feeling vibrations in the ground with their feet.

** As of the 4th Era, their government draws heavily from Nazi Germany (fascistic leaders who came into power riding a wave of populist support in the wake of a continent-spanning crisis with barely concealed racism and religious intolerance) as well as the Spanish Inquisition (roving groups of religious prosecutors given carte blanche to arrest or outright execute those of specific relgious affiliations).

** Ancient Greece: Architecturally as well as in the cultural value they place on research. Additionally, their culture (a direct descendent of the Aldmeri precursor culture) has largely been co-opted by the various Cyrodiilic Empires in a way very reminiscent of how the Ancient Romans adopted Ancient Greek culture.

** As of the 4th Era, their government draws heavily from Nazi Germany (facistic leaders who came into power riding a wave of populist support in the wake of a continent-spanning crisis with barely concealed racism and religious intolerance) as well as the Spanish Inquisition (roving groups of religious prosecutors given carte blanche to arrest or outright execute those of specific relgious affiliations).

* GeniusBruiser: The most technologically advanced race known to have ever walked Tamriel. It's said that even the dullest of their kind was still a genius compared to a clever man, and that even a Dwemer child was capable of building a mechanical golem. The only military force in history that really challenged them was a [[ProudWarriorRace Nord army]] led by masters of the [[MakeMeWannaShout Thu'um]], and even then, the Dwemer crushed them after [[EnemyMine joining forces]] with the Chimer.

The Deep Elves whose civilization ("Dwemereth") was centered around modern-day Morrowind, where the epicenter of their culture was built in and around Red Mountain, and expanded across all of northern Tamriel including Hammerfell, High Rock, and Skyrim. When referring to them, Elves and learned men mostly use the term "Dwemer", which translates to "Deep-Elves" or "Deep Folk", while others mostly tend to use the term "Dwarves", though the latter term is a result of a common scholarly misconception.

* ASinisterClue: Their entire race was said to be left-handed. Certainly from the perspective of the Yokudans, since they warred with them and were mostly if not entirely left-handed.