We already have an Orc in a screenshot (from the back, though). It's in the Game Informer pics, a pic of some stealth guy stabbing somebody through the back--on page 3 besides "weapons of choice". The skin color is clearly blue-green. (Its got to be an orc, it doesnt look like a dark elf). Anyways ,the skin looks more pasty (but realistic).



I cant post the link obviously, but you can go google it if you want.

I am fairly certain that is a dunmer. I think it's the one from the gameplay story described in the article. I have no real basis for this, but hey.

The screenshots seem to indicate so. I mean there hasn't been any dark elf or orc stuff yet, but the flesh tones for the average Nord or Imperial or whatever is in the shot seems cool. And you can see small details like veins in the arms, scarring and muscle mass. I think the faces are gonna look awesome to the max.

i just wanted to say that judging from the way Von Sydow was speaking his lines, he was an orc or just plain drunk and slurring his words.
[edit] esbern is an orc..i think

The Orcs are exceptionally strong... for being Elves. It is a relative thing I guess.

EDIT: that morrowind concept art looks almost like WoW orcs... I like the warcraft orcs alot.

Is it just me, or does the portrait of the Orc in the background of the image to the right side of the screen hinted that they're no longer snub-nosed anymore, now with a longer and downward pointed nose in its place? It actually reminds me a little bit of the "Oni" demons from the Japanese folkore.

And if it actually to be the case, then what we have in the picture on left side of the screen is possibly the current depiction of the Pariah folk in Skyrim. To be honest, I hope it really is, because that would be just plain BADASS and somewhat different enough from the super beefed-up look of the Orcs found on most other franchises.

Orcs should look a bit darker green and grittier, but I don't think they should just completely abandon their unique elder scrolls style to look like one of the 'less ugly' ones. They're SUPPOSED to be ugly. If you want an attractive character, don't play an orc. They're not designed for that. Elder Scrolls orcs are not Tolkien orcs, warcraft orcs or whatever.

No, I would not want my orcs to look like that, they're a playable race, not monsters. Certainly, orcs aren't supposed to be pretty, but I don't want my Elder Scrolls orcs to look like something I'd expect to be fighting in a dungeon, as opposed to playing as.



I'd hate that, these are orcs we're talking about here, not super models. They're not supposed to be pretty by human standards. I want my orcs to be orcs, not green she-elves.



While I like the Dark Messiah design for orcs, I don't think it would fit the Elder Scrolls, if nothing else, they'd need to be green, orcs always have been in the Elder Scrolls, and I expect them to stay that way.



I agree, I want the Elder Scrolls orcs to have their own identity, while still being identifiable as orcs. Now, yes, they should be improved over past games, but all races should be, but rather than just ripping off other orc designs, I want Bethesda to take the concept for orcs they already have, and think about how they can make it better. In the pod cast, Todd Howard said that all the races will look great and unique, I hope that, when we actually see the various races, I'll be able to say that what he said was true.

Well, I dislike green orcs in all video games such as Warcraft and Warhammer. I don't like the humour.

I have never played with an Orc in Morrowind or Oblivion. To be honest, it's never crossed my mind. They look a bit foul tempered, like Klingons perhaps.

Anybody got any experience of playing as an Orc, is it good? Not sure they 'feel' right with the dragonborn background, but who knows...

I can't see it. Warcraft orcs look as though they take vast quantities of steroids, while the females look like muscular women

Pardon the self-quote.

I'm still hoping that this screenshot from the GI's Skyrim Art Direction video was actually a glimpse on their idea for an Orc's appearance in Skyrim:
http://i56.tinypic.com/2ypllpf.png

Though to be fair, for all we know it might be an art of a Dunmer instead (you can make out what looks like a black mohawk somehow in the picture). Or perhaps it's Molag Bal, since there's something that looks like a horn near its head as well. Or some kind of a beast that is native of Skyrim. I dunno.

That doesn't look like an orc. That looks like the Green Goblin from the movies.

http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/5000000/Green-Goblin-movie-icon-spider-man-5088187-200-197.jpg

Well, you're right. It could very well be just a rendition of a goblin or something. But what I really meant from my post was to have the appearance of the Orcs to be handled like the way they did to the Dwemer (they got the beards just like fantasy dwarven race in the most common depiction of them in popular culture, they build underground, they're fond of all things metal but markedly different on the other departments, most noticeably on the average height department).

But to have the Orc race to had a more eastern looks to it (Oni), like what have always been implied by their ornate armors in Morrowind and Oblivion, and still having a faint semblance to the Mer folk, would be a step to the right direction, in my opinion. Or maybe the art team would just revert their design back to what we found on Daggerfall, or something in between. Heh.

I agree with Hellmouth, they are a strong race but not the strongest.

You must also consider that they used to be elves, the http://www.freakygaming.com/gallery/game_art/warhammer:_mark_of_chaos/orc_warb.jpg look to beast-like, and doesn't have the right body typer for a TES Orc.

either pale green or dark green- no extreme green like warhammer/wow/whatever you guys play. i wouldent mind a lotr's colour scheme but it wouldent be lore friendly.

also-no insane muscles. and i think it would be nice if they had leathery skin and had elderly skin even at youth.

Elderly skin really, and i don't think that the Warhammer orcs are crazy green.

I agree with Hellmouth also. I've been a fan of Games Workshop's settings and artists for most of my life, but Warhammer Fantasy's modern orc designs are wholly inappropriate for TES, I think. In TES they're ultimately descended from the same source as the high elves. A more wiry, but still bestial appearance would be perfect; that Morrowind concept art seems a good place to start.

Perhaps it's just a matter of changing art styles, but I also remember WFB and WH40k's respective orcs and orks looking rather different a decade or two ago than they do now; less cartoony muscular bulk, and more like monstrous or corrupt men than bulging beasts. They surely didn't tower over space marines. (I'd link to some examples, but my Rogue Trader/2nd ed. scans are only on backup discs right now, and the moderators might not appreciate scans, even from a 20 year-old source.)

LOL I am having a blast seeing that people didn't get the slight sarcasm and are giving massively flak. :rofl: :lmao: I just nicked it from some other post here.
Still it's the most "interesting" representation of an orc - or something that should look like it - I've ever seen. :hubbahubba:
I like how they are usually designed in concept art. A bit brutal, while not taking away they are as sentient as other races.
Cheers, chaps.

The orc concept art from Oblivion is actually really good, basing it on that would go a long way towards making them look good. The Orcs in Oblivion were obviously an attempt, but it didn't work out well with the facegen system in place at the time, this time though that might be different.

Even if the majority of orcs are not as big and strong as Nords though, I'd like to have the option for the sake of variety. I'd like to play a very big and strong Orc who's a monster in combat but a fairly intelligent and calculating guy otherwise, someone who frightens his enemies to death but is loved by his friends.

Build-wise, I'd like to see them more as sturdy elves than anything monstrous. For the faces, I prefer the longer, square/rectangular faces. My big problem with the Orcs in Oblivion wasn't the pig-noses - it was the round, bulbous heads with pig noses. If they had more angular features to them - square jaw and chin, longer face over wider, less chubs to their cheeks and more muscle definition. I get such mixed signals - they're tall and muscular, yet their faces are just as baby-fat-faced as some of the Bretons. Definitely keep the green, but more of a hazel-olive-green maybe? More gritty, less green-green?

One thing I think someone brought up was they thought the blue-green figure in one of the GameInformer pics was an orc - I wouldn't necessarily enjoy that for the orcs overall, but being in a colder climate with less sun, it might make sense for Skyrim-native Orcs to be a little paler, just as Nords are paler. So it'd be nice to see some regional diversity for them, but not for the Orcs overall.

Orcs are a playable race in all the versions they take from that setting.

But since TES has gone more toward the civilized, tea-drinking Orc, I agree that it's probably too far.

Fearless Hero- They used to be a bit more squat, with protruding lower lips. They've gone in a far better direction now, but it's mainly because of the art style changing across RPGs and miniatures games in general over the past 30 years.

I want my orc to look like http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/images/shrek_face.jpg

i want orcs to look more disposable, like in KuF

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://xboxmedia.ign.com/xbox/image/article/526/526092/kingdom-under-fire-the-crusaders-20040624104229779.jpg&imgrefurl=http://xbox.ign.com/articles/526/526092p1.html&usg=__Bpk8mel1EWa6r1BRyXggBSnwAaE=&h=229&w=173&sz=10&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=f5EsU3qwiFegJM:&tbnh=148&tbnw=109&ei=aXRNTYfhGIexhAezoZWuDg&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dkingdom%2Bunder%2Bfire%2Borc%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26rlz%3D1I7SUNC_en%26biw%3D1419%26bih%3D716%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=142&vpy=88&dur=1310&hovh=183&hovw=138&tx=100&ty=78&oei=aXRNTYfhGIexhAezoZWuDg&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=29&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0

and

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://xboxmedia.ign.com/xbox/image/article/526/526092/kingdom-under-fire-the-crusaders-20040624104229372.jpg&imgrefurl=http://xbox.ign.com/articles/526/526092p1.html&usg=__gItf1FaFtGixYYOT72L2rxVvCU4=&h=221&w=190&sz=14&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=Rx-IfJfDP7ZmFM:&tbnh=148&tbnw=125&ei=aXRNTYfhGIexhAezoZWuDg&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dkingdom%2Bunder%2Bfire%2Borc%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26rlz%3D1I7SUNC_en%26biw%3D1419%26bih%3D716%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=359&oei=aXRNTYfhGIexhAezoZWuDg&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=29&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0&tx=53&ty=90

I almost exclusively play Orcs. I like the fact that they are often considered a "lesser race", and I like playing "odd" characters. My favourite build is a Spellsword type character. It's not technically strong, but I find it extremely fun to play. If you like character builds to "make sense" Orcs really aren't that great, but for players like me they're great.

As for the aesthetics, I liked how they were in Morrowind and Oblivion. I don't want LotR, WoW, or any other style Orcs. I want TES Orsimer, just with more detail.