Hi everyone, I'm new on these forums. I was wondering if samurai were lore-friendly. I highly value lore-friendliness and immersion so I like to make sure my character and his actions fit the world.

We have the blades who seem to be inspired by the samurai. There's also speculation about the men of akavir being samurai-based. But they're all dead. So far there have not been any other races that represent the samurai. So it makes me think that a samurai in skyrim makes no sense, and he sticks out.

Could a samurai fit into Skyrim? And how?

The Tzaesci would still use such weapon and armor (samurai-themed).

Thanks for the reply, although aren't the tsaeci vampiric snake demons? I would prefer a human race.

Well, maybe your guy is inspired by them or whatever. Or you can pick an Argonian which kind of looks alike.

The Akaviri Dragonguard, the closest anologue to samurai we've got (along with their successors, the Blades) seem to have been bipedal and humanoid. I'm not denying that the Tsaesci were snakemen, but there definitely were armored humanoid swordsmen in the Akaviri ranks.

Some more information: in TESO, one of the classes, Dragonknight, is effectively a practitioner of the Dragonguards' combat arts. Information http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Legacy_of_the_Dragonguard.

Racially, you're probably best off being an Imperial, since they had the most interaction with the Akaviri and even supposedly interbred with some of them.

@ Eno Hlaalu

Oh I didn't think of it like that. Perhaps a Nord equivalent of a weaboo? But in all seriousness using those weapons and aspiring to have a unique code of honor could be a great backstory for a unique warrior instead of the usual sword and boarder.

@ Crimson Paladin

Thanks a lot for the info. Based on what you linked, it seems like there was definitely a surviving element of the men of akavir. At first I thought they're all dead so they couldn't survive to the time Skyrim takes place. In fact, in Legacy of the Dragonguard, it seems like there could even be a surviving line of the men of akavir in Tamriel. There is so much info here.

Orcs had http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Orcish in Morrowind. It's noted to be based on High Elven designs, so who knows if it's more Altmerish or Orsimerish Orcish.

The Redguards have a samurai-like code, too.

I've considered making altmer or orcish samurai but I just don't like the look overall. I kind of want a human (bonus if he could resemble an Asian) samurai. But yeah, especially after seeing a picture of an Altmer in a kimono holding a katana I thought the altmer could have been some sort of representation of a samurai.

If I were to go with a human, I'd go with a Redguard with a light complexion. I think Bretons would also be good fit for a Japanese look, given their cheekbones. They also seem to make up a huge portion of the Blades back when they were useful if in-game representation is anything to go by (Lady Brisenia, her brother the Great Knight, Jauffre, the Blade NPCs in Oblivion, Delphine). Nords and Imperials have features that are too angular, IMO. At least for the typical Japanese look.

There are elements that resemble the samurai as mentioned above, but actually calling him/her a "samurai" wouldn't be lore-friendly.