Hi, I'm here with another Argonian question. In game and in some lore the word 'Hatchling' is used to describe an Argonian child. My question is ''Do Argonians lay eggs or give birth to live young?''

Thanks in advance. ^_^

I think I remember reading that they were ovoviviparous, though I can't find the source at the moment. Either that or oviparous, the words are rather similar.

hhmmm. Ovoviviparity could work, I suppose it would allow the mother and hatchling to have a more...human connection. Oviparity gives the impression that the mother and hatchling have a more animalistic connection. Thanks for answering the main egg or no egg question so quickly Lady Nerevar, now I will trawl TES lore sites with the question of 'Ovovivparity or Oviparity'. :read:

I can't remember if it's an inference we made or not, but knocking around somewhere in my brain was the impression that Blackmarsh Argonians are ovoviparous, but Argonians in colder climates are viviparous due to re-purposing from the Hist.

"I see you have been speaking with Teinaava. What he says is true. All our lives we have lived together in the shadows. We are egg mates. Twins...."

Curtosy of Ocheeva from Oblivion :goodjob:

How intriguing, thanks. ^_^

No problemo!

That would certainly seem to indicate that they lay eggs, I think, still, I don't recall ever reading anything clear on the subject one way or another, but certainly, the term "hatchling" would seem to indicate hatching from eggs, although it could just be Bethesda playing around with the whole reptilian theme when writing the dialog, I see little logic to using that term if no hatching is involved.

Though Mehrunes Dagon's theory would also seem potentially plausible, at the very least, it would seem like a practical setup, but I don't recall ever seeing anything in the lore to indicate it, I guess that just shows how little information we have on Argonian reproduction.

Reptiles are either ovoviviparous, which means that the eggs hatch inside the mother, or oviparous, which means they hatch outside her. Eggs are still involved in both processes, so "egg mates" doesn't really mean much. I don't think the switching depending on geography has any backing in lore, but I do think its a plausible adaptation.

Presents on Hatching Day! Selfish Big Head, Shellfish Big Head!

Bumping this because I finally found my sources.

Pete Hines, in an email to LadyLuck, on September 6th 2003:


And Mark Nelson (BlueDev) in a thread around the same time:


Both these and more will shortly be available in a brand spanking new section of TIL

A "wtf is up with the argonians" section?

nah, an http://www.imperial-library.info/content/forum-archives. Though a "wtf is up with argonians" section is in the works too :ninja: