His brother wasn't, he just happened to get lucky to be related. Even then, his brother was never emperor, it was his children, children's children, and so on. Also, Tiber gained it, he didn't just get born of it like Reman.

So his son picked up the Amulet and said, "Hey, Akatosh, I know I'm not registered with the Metaphysical Badasses Guild, but you really dig this Empire I'm ruling, so how's about mythically binding my soul into this jewel with your spirit in it and letting me light this bonfire so I can roast hotdogs and exert inexorable magical control over the whole of creation? And it would be nice if you would let my brats do the same thing after I'm dead, so long as they're not too decadent and contemptible."

I'd say so. Guess being related warrants a "eh, close enough" response.

Tiber wasn't born a Dragonborn. He earned it. His parents were nothing. He became the Dragon Ysmir and the deity Tiber Septim.

And Profound Magical Awesomness isn't retroactive, so his brother was just a shmuck. But Akatosh looked over Cyrodiil's political stability. That was the deal.

And we know this how?

Good theory he could have earned it, but I'm guessing he was also anoited as Dragonborn by the gods, but for reasons we don't know yet... I mean as far as we know we didn't earn Dragonborn in Skyrim considering we start in a prison scenery =D

Maybe the gods looked into the future and saw the most well fit person to be Dragonborn and figured Tiber Septim fit the role, but again there's no way telling he earned Dragonborn and aside from the fact it does say "born" makes me think this position started at birth, but a phoenix can be reborn so maybe it's something in death we achieve.. Lots and lots of possibilitieshere I love TES for this. They somewhat let us think up our own way of things happening

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Maybe the gods looked into the future and saw the most well fit person to be Dragonborn and figured Tiber Septim fit the role, but again there's no way telling he earned Dragonborn and aside from the fact it does say "born" makes me think this position started at birth.
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Maybe...but then again.

Is the player a direct heir? i doubt it, with the amount of different races and potential backgrounds, setting something like that in stone seems like a monumentally stupid decision to me. For example, I've already worked out a backstory for one of my potential characters which does not fit this at all. Now, when it comes to backstories I will normally tailor it around the lore as much as possible and if something changes then i will adapt it, but forcing a heritage like that on the player seems like a bad idea to me.

the dovahkiin are dragon hunters not the decendent of some pompous imperial

Not completely true. Dovahkiin is Draconic for Dragonborn.

Dragonborn are exceptionally gifted individuals. The Septims WERE a Dragonborn line, which is why they were able to light the Dragonfires and hold back Oblivion. It also appears that their presence was able to prevent Alduin's return... though that's only speculation, and we have yet to see why the Dragons really are returning.

That said, all Septims were (apparently) Dragonborn, but not all Dragonborn are Septims. It's all up to the Gods.

Saying Dragonborn are Dragonhunters is a bit of a misnomer propagated by GI. They ARE the most effective Dragonhunters, but they are more than that, much more.

Deleted by Rhanyan, totally wrong post.

Moderators you can clear this.

The Septim line ends and two hundred years later Alduin returns? That's some tortured causation right there.


*sigh*
People, Dragonborn isn't a new thing. There is already lore on this stuff. A lot of it.

We already know what Tiber Septim is and how he became it. He was born a nobody and fought and tricked his way into divinity. That's the whole point of the Talos story. He was the greatest of self-made men, not just another dynastic shmuck.

Yeah i've done the same. I could work out another one, of course, but it would get tricky when i started to create more than one character and i had to be limited by this.

"...all Septims were (apparently) Dragonborn, but not all Dragonborn are Septims. It's all up to the Gods."

This is my understanding. Although bloodlines can be important (e.g., Martin), according to the GI article, Dragonborn can be annointed by the gods. This concept allows all player characters to be viably Dragonborn, regardless of race or gender.

I do not believe we currently know the full family history of all the Dragonborn. However, If someone can fill me in, I will most definitely listen.

Exactly, I'm leaning more and more towards doing an Orsimer on the first go if they turn out awesome, having an Orc in the imperial bloodline would certainly raise some interesting questions.

Don't forget we're dealing with immortals here. 200 years isn't very long to such a being.

We're working with what we know. Alduin did not awake during the previous Interregnums. Something fundamental must have changed. Whether it was what Martin did (possibly breaking off the Covenant), perhaps the fact that previous Interregnums still had Dragonborn walking around, or some other fact. All we know is that the Dragonborn have possibly died out, and then we come on the scene.

Then why not go back 220 years or 300. A lot of similarly serious [censored] has hit the fan in that timescale. We are too clueless to make good guesses. And Alduin really doesn't need a reason at all. Time's up.