Seriously.... I never had any use for a Imperial Because Each time I would pick either a mage I would go for high elf. For thief I would go wood elf and Warrior Would be nord. I never made a Imperial because I had no use of it. Does anyone have a character? And want to tell me why The Imperial is a good character?

I used the imperial to make an assassin, he wasn't good for the first couple of levels but after a while he was just as good as my other stealth charcters

Imperials are great characters. I had an Imperial illusionist who had extremely high speechcraft. He was designed to be a charismatic and manipulative character. Can fool people's minds with illusions and talk his way out of anything. Cheap prices, can get information from npcs easily, everyone liked him, and focused on getting npcs to kill each other off with a mixture between both command and frenzy. Calm spells also worked wonders as well. Best thing is none of these spells cost a lot of magicka so it's not really necessary to have the character be a Breton or Altmer. If things got ugly he wasn't too bad with a blade either which is also typically how he handled a lone opponent. Paralyze + Blade was also a cheap way to effectively handle a fight.

Imperials are average race wise not as strong as Nords or Redguards nor are the Imperials good at magic like the Bretons and the High Elves. The one good thing about the Imperials is they are average meaning most of their stats start out at 40. Also Imperials get a starting bonus in Heavy Armor which isn't a bad thing. I've played as an Imperial before they aren't bad but they aren't great either. One of my best characters was an imperial warrior who mastered in Illusion magic and Restoration magic man that character was fun to play, you could turn invisible, get behind the enemy, get into Sneak mode then attack.

Great minds think alike Terror.

I always pick race based only on the looks and image I am going for. The game is easy enough that starting stats, special powers and skill perks can be very easily overcome/balanced. So what's left to me, is looks and image.

Imperials lend themselves to nobility and the Legion within Cyrodiil. The other humans originate from other provinces and carry some form of racial baggage with them, be it a talent for combat, magic, cold weather, sea-faring, not to mention size and coloring considerations. I can certainly see why certain types of roleplay characters would be well-suited to Imperials.

I have not played one.

I had an Imperial Assassin. I did that specifically because I wanted my Assassin character to completely blend in. He was very average looking - for example balding as many Imperials are, and not very "handsome" but not very "ugly" or "mean" looking either. Had a modest house in Bravil. etc. Walked around in normal middle class clothes, unless "on assignment"

I also had an Imperial, mostly vampire/shaman slayer.

I have played two sort-of Imperials. I was not thrilled with the vanilla race, so I created a mod that adds two Imperial sub-races: Colovians and Nibeneans. Colovians are rugged hill folk, so have a higher endurance and strength, weapon skills, and alchemy (since they are frontier folk, picking plants and using them for magic comes natural for them). The Nibeneans on the other hand are cosmopolitan city folk. They have higher agility and personality, are make for stealthy rogues who are good with a bow. My assassin http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v90/subrosa_florens/oblivion/Oblivion471.jpg was a Nibenean, and my knight http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v90/subrosa_florens/oblivion/Oblivion483.jpg a Colovian.

All my Oblivion characters have been Imperials.

same i dont know why

My first character was an imperial. It seem to me like they're supposed to be the average race. Good for everything but not great for anything. (Except maybe speechcraft.)

Most of the other races give up something in order to gain elsewhere. The Imperials don't have any significant weakness or lack, making them a good "try the game out" character. You can make a mage, thief or fighter out of an Imperial without too much effort. That's why the default race is Imperial.

If a good all-rounder suits your style, you may stick with Imperials. If you like an extreme specialist, you'll pick a different race for your second character, and that choice may be in line with, or counter to, the racial characteristics depending on how much of a challenge you want to set yourself.

this

Trivial starting bonuses are of little importance to me. I just like the Imperials as a race and I love their history, so I always play as an Imperial in Oblivion. The males of the race have powerful voices, as well.

I don't think I've ever had an Imperial character.

Most of my characters are Dunmer, or Breton (my first proper character with which I completed everything with was a Breton). I have had a few Argonians and Khajiits but they haven't lasted long, though I would still count them as proper characters. Same with Bosmers. I had a Nord which I RP'ed for a while.

I've made a couple of Orcs while testing character creation (Red Orc, Blue Orc etc.) and an Albino Redguard which never made it past character creation either. I have never even touched an Imperial or an Altmer, though I'm not sure why.

So out of all ten races I've played six, with two races making up probably more than half of those I have ever made. Now that I've noticed this though I may have to give the other races some love

Hell Yeah...my best looking female char.
Became a blade...and finished the MQ...

Got speechcraft to 75 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I made an imperial thief. The best thief i ever made.

I chose Imperial the very first time I played since the game takes place in their home province and it made sense from an RP perspective.

I found their naturally high Personality and bartering abilities to be very handy.

I was a Battlemage.

Unfortunately Brutonius' career came to a premature end when I accidentally made him eat a deadly poison apple and saved afterwards, not knowing of the true horror of what I'd done. No spell or potion could cure him and he died. Tragic. I sort of miss him as he was a fun character.

I've never really liked Imperials very much. I prefer Bretons myself; they look better (in my opinion) and they have a useful magic resistance.

I always go for magick and play an elf or breton

I agree with the comments that the racial differences aren't a big deal anyway, but I would say that would mostly apply to experienced players and those who know some tricks to character creation and development. They can be problematic if you give them a certain build and try to force them into a certain role and don't plan it all well....

I have a had a lot of them. I get an idea for character and it springs out of my head with a backstory and I generally picture them as a certain race and then just make the character. I have had male and female Breton and Altmer stock Barbarians as well as Orc Archers and they have been just fine....

edit, actually, i have never had an Imperial Barbarian before, hmm......

Imperials are far too civilized to be a Barbarian B)

You're probably going to complain about my Dunmer Nun, too! :whistling:

I've only played as an Imperial once.

My very first character was an Imperial named "Canis Humanis" (I'm into studying the relationships between dogs and humans, so that's where that name comes from). Canis was one of only two female characters I've ever played since I usually play male Bretons.

Sadly, Canis was accidentally hit with some vampire blood during a battle and couldn't deal with living the rest of her life as a vampire, or remaining ugly even after the cure.

RIP Canis...

Ive had a bunch of them, and the reason is addition by subtraction. I always have a hard time picking what I want my character to be. I rarely play a straight up mage thief or warrior. The Imperials are undirected. They arent super great or super bad at anything so they make good hybrids.

I had a beguiling Imperial Vampire, who is/was always the life of the party. Kind of like a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lestat type.