I know Imperials are based on Romans, Nords are typically "Scandinavian" and Redguards are supposed to be black, but I couldn't find any other cultures the other ones were based off of. Anyone got those details or know where I can look?

kahjiit- mexicans

high elf- japanese

wood elf- english

dunmer- nomadic tibetan

argonian- north korea

Mexico and North Korea? More like Africa and South American.

um north korea? they seem not at all communists lol. I'd say more Veitnamese<----oh wait....

bretons-french

@Redguards: Because all black cultures are the same.

@thread: why do they all need to be based 1:1 on real-life cultures?

They aren't "based" on any real life cultures.

They have design inspirations from real life and fictional cultures.

I don't think any races were 'based' off of another culture, but if you're asking what cultures they remind me most of


Nords - Scandanavians

A lot of RPGs have a 'Nordic' race, this one is generally a given

Imperials - Romans

Debatle but largely agreed upon

Khajiit - Saracens

First thing that came to mind. Desert settlers, secular

Bretons - Franks

If I remember right Brettony is a French province

Orcs - Mongolians (under the Khans)

Savage, warlike, largely unsettled. Also the lamellar designs of their armour kind of remind me of them

High Elves - Feudal Japanese

Proud, haughty, honerable, close knit... Bushido anyone? Also their homeland is an island cut off from anywhere else

Argonians - Native Americans

Tribal, highly respect their homeland and it's nature


I can't really think for the other races. For the Dunmer the Varangians came to mind, although I'm not sure why

Well, I know for sure the Nords are scandinavian. And I bet Kajiits are like desert nomads, considering their homeland and distict features.

Nords- Scandinavian (obviously)

Redguards- North African

Imperials- Mediterranean

Bretons- Anglo-Saxon (Arena and Daggerfall) French (Morrowind and Oblivion)

The elves and beast races are more difficult to place so I only bothered with humans, however I do agree with the Orc- Mongolian relationship stated above. Argonians are more Central American almost Aztec.

You mean Breton French or Paris French?
And don't tell me French people are all the same.

As a culturally ignorant American I do not know the difference, whichever one better fits the Western Stereotype.

The Dunmer Ashlanders seem to be a mix of Native Americans and Mongolians. The Mongolian influence comes from their names and homes (The tribe leaders are called Ashkhans, their tents are called Yurts.)

This is one of the few things I can fully agree with. The other being Nord and viking/scandinavian influences. I think I've said it before, but I'll say it again. "Influenced" is better than "based on", since the developers didn't just say "Hey, let's throw in some but with cat bodies!" (Or, maybe they did. It's possible before the lore was fleshed out, but it's gone far beyond simple "vikings in Tamriel" etc).

Nords - Nordic Culture
Imperial - Romanic Culture
Bretons - England Culture or Greek Culture
High Elves - Japanese Culture

In my opinion:
Breton - Western Europe
Imperial - Roman, with a little bit of Chinese
Nord - Scandinavian and Celtic
Redguard - Middle East
Altmer - Ancient Greece
Bosmer - Central Africa
Dunmer - Mongolian and Assyria
Orsimer - Japan
Argonian - South America
Khajiit - North Africa

Imperials - "The classical antiguity" Greco-Roman influence. Cyrodiil has always struck me as, Colovia = Roman influence, Nibenay = Greek influence.
Bretons - French Celts
Redguards - Always struck me of being Moorish inspired.

It's not just a question of where, but also when. The Nords aren't based on modern-day Scandinavians, but the Vikings' descendents of a specific era. Those people settled in a lot of places other than their homelands, and changed the cultures of their new homes. The TES race resembles the n-th generation settlers more than the original raiders in longships.

But Nords are the exception. Most of the races strike me as the answers to "what do you get if you cross a ... with a ... ?" as they have influences from real-world cultures that didn't have the chance to mix in the period depicted. Imperials are Classical Roman crossed with Arthurian legend (which itself was a hybrid of Norman French from one period and Celtic from another). Redguards have Feudal Japanese and Moorish aspects, and so on.

The number of "source" cultures is much higher than the number of races they're spread across.