so, I quite like the TES universe. Despite being very high-magic and fillied with cosmic world-ending events and several pantheons of Gods, I still find the world to be remarkably well-written and handles a lot of my quibbles about high-fantasy far better than say, The Forgotten Realms.

One thing I've never liked though is how Bethesda has never really attempted to justify a player character who wasn't a member of the native race of each TES game.

I'm playing through Morrowind again, gradually, and I found myself really triyng to figure out why a Breton would be chosen as the Nerevarine, or why a Breton would even WANT to be the savior of the Dunmer race. Imagine how much weirder it must be justifying it if you're playing as an Argonian, or a Nord (races with extremely hostile relations with the Dunmer)

the way I rationalize is is that my character isn't the Nerevarine, nor does he take the prophecy seriously...He's a power-hungry wizard and a proud scholar of the equally power-hungry Septim Empire. The key here is that at one point in the Main Quest your character is told by one of the ashlander shamans that he is not the Nerevarine...

but that doesn't mean he can't become the Nerevarine. This detail, for me, is the justification for a non-Dunmer Nerevarine.

And so my Breton mage, Rohen Phalin, plays along with this Dunmer superstition, because if the real Nerevarine isn't gonna show up, he might as well be the one to show the balls and grasp for power.

in a monty-python esque bit of humor, I figured that the quest where you cast down a false nerevarine is, in fact, the real Nerevarine, but my character's ambitions outstripped the imposter's. Azura, being a Deadric Prince who's proven to appreciate a degree of irony, simply chuckles and says, "okay, fine, I guess you'll do."

but I pose the same question to players who don't play, or didn't play a Dunmer in Morrowind, how did you justify that race being the Nerevarine (assuming you tried, for instance, in the past I just never thought about it, copping it up to game mechanics and nothing more)

I also extend this to players of other TES games: after all, how can you have an Altmer Dragonborn?

I think you answered your own question. As for me, I've played as an Argonian Telvanni male Nerevarine and as an Imperial legionnaire female Nord Nerevarine. The Argonian was played as a big FU to House Telvanni and all of Vvardenfell in general. As for my Nord I can't remember why. But those two have been the only non Dunmer Nerevarine, everytime after has been male Dunmer.

The great thing about this game unlike Skyrim, is that you can choose not to be THE Nerevarine as one of the dialogue choices with Dagoth Ur. So your Breton rp makes sense. I've played as a power hungry Telvanni Dunmer who did the MQ to get Dagoth Ur out of the way. If anyone is going to rule Vvardenfell is going to be me.

Well the thing is that, in both Morrowind and Skyrim, it really comes down to saving Tamriel as a whole. In Morrowind you're freed by the Emperor to be his agent, and like it's already been said you can take the whole "hero of the Dunmer" thing any way you want. You can embrace it or you can reject it and do it for your own personal gain. My Breton Nerevarine did the whole thing for the fame and because he was a lame thief and he's already been shown mercy by being released from jail. He doesn't want to do anything to piss off the Empire or the Blades.

Same goes for the Dragonborn. You can choose whether or not you want to take part in the Civil War. You don't have to get involved with the petty fight between the Nords--you can just focus on being an awesome superhero or doing whatever it is your character came to Skyrim to do (or trying to make the best of being stuck in the frozen rear-end of Tamriel, whatever works). My Khajiit Dragonborn came to Skyrim to study in the College of Winterhold and for a long time that's what he did, Nord traditions and the Greybeards be damned. It wasn't until curiosity for this new power set in that he decided to play along.

I think Morrowind does it better in that the whole "chosen one" thing is more ambiguous and you actually have to prove yourself first before you're accepted. Aside from that, IIRC there ARE a few lines of dialogue that comment on your race or gender being the Nerevarine.

1.Doing my Job as a Blade.

2.Just going with the whole thing while not giving a [censored] about the prophecy?(Hey you can even tell him)

3.Doing it for my own advantage.

4.And in a rare heroic game I played:Thinking it is the right thing and save Morrowind.

Hmm?

Arena no Race specific MQ

Daggerfall:Same

Morrowind:True being a Dunmer makes sense.

Oblivion:No reason why you need to be a Imperial

Skyrim:Any human Race makes sense.

There's no need to "justify" anything when the games themselves allow for the choice in the lore itself. Arena, Daggerfall, Battlespire and Oblivion have no bearing, obviously, so i'll bring up the two being discussed

Morrowind specifically states in dialogue about the Ashlander prophecies that the Nerevarine could very well end up being one of the foreign outlanders he's supposed to drive out, context of the dialogue is wondering if those prophesies account for that possibility. Granted, the known previous Incarnates were Dunmer, but one could just as easily point out "well hey, maybe that's a good reason to change the strategy, see if a non-Dunmer Nerevarine has any luck, since the current plan sure aint working so far". Yes, the "soft-canon" Nerevarine is probably Dunmer, but we're talking more about the possibility of a non-Dunmer Neravarine, which is entirely possible by nature of the choice being made available to you in the first place.

As for Skyrim, being Dragonborn is a gift from Akatosh, either inherited in blood or given at his discretion. While the "soft-canon" DB is probably the default male Nord, it's not a Nord-specific blessing in any way, shape or form. Akatosh isn't going to give a damn if you're a Nord or an Altmer or a Khajiit, he gives a damn that you're going to be in a position to take down Alduin.

Concerning the Dragonborn, I like to think that Akatosh decided that, for all their bravado, the Nords were ill-equipped for challenging Alduin.

Well that question doesn't even make sense.If you want to play as a female kha'jitt Nerevarine,but you don't want to screw the lore then don't do it!Yet the elder scrolls series gives you the opportunity to do whatever you want and doesn't stuck on details.So yeah,if you want to play as a khajjit Nerevarine just do it.There isn't anything that will prevent you from doing so!

I believe there is some disagreement over what it means to be the Nerevarine.

Didn't some say it wasn't so much a "reincarnation" as it was a successful fulfillment of a pattern? Don't remember if it was a source or MK or what. My understanding is that the prior "false Nerevarines" were false only because they failed to complete the pattern. If they'd succeeded they would have been the Nerveraine.

If that's the case, there's no worry about why the soul of the Dunmer hero reincarnates as an Outlander. You could simply be hunting fame and treasure and care less about the spiritual mumbo jumbo. The pattern is incidental to your actual goals.

Then again, Almalexia recognizing you maybe contradicts that...?

Even if it is a literal "soul reincarnation" it's probably more up to Azura which body the Nerevarine returns as. And your motives don't matter so much, just the actions. So as long as you have an RP reason for each action you take, the sum of those actions don't need a grand overarching motive.

Perhaps you're a Redguard pirate. You were released from Prison and you're trying to do your best not to end up there again. You realize that by taking these actions, working with the blades, getting recognition from the Great Houses, and ultimately defeating Ur, you'll have fame and riches the legal way.

Or perhaps you're an Imperial. You ended up in prison because of a single out of character indiscretion. You decide that the only way to regain your honor and reputation is to follow the will of the Emperor by walking the path he's place you on to it's ultimate conclusion.

That's kind of how I interpret all heroes of prophecy. You're the Last Dragonborn because you beat Alduin. If you didn't someone else would have appeared and done the job, making you the Penultimate Dragonborn. Less you being the destined hero because Destiny said you were and more you being the destined hero because you managed to do the things Destiny said the destined hero would do.