Is there something I'm not getting here?

All lore sources seem to indicate the Camoran Dynasty are a powerful family from Valenwood. Furthermore The Refugees explicitly describe the mother of Mankar and the concubine of Haymon to be a Bosmer.

Even if his father were mostly Ayleid as many powerful Valenwood rulers are, shouldn't he take on more of the physical characteristics of the mother?

I know a lot has been said about his ability to wear the Amulet of Kings over the years but that's not the most bizarre part about his genealogy to me. Judging from everything we're told about mixed race children and about the Camoran family, the main villain of TES IV should have been a short little Wood Elf.

Do you think Bethesda chose to ignore this lore because it would seem silly to make the character who is for all intents and purposes the final real boss of one of their games be from the same race as Fargoth or the Adoring Fan, or is there some deeper reason that escapes me?

Barenziah, despite being explicitly identified as a Dark Elf TES II, does not have dark skin. (Helseth also lacks dark skin in TES II but has a normal Dunmer tone in TES III.) I'd guess this was simply an oversight, maybe the lore was changed after the artwork was done, and it's possible something similar happened to Mankar.

Would you really take a Bosmer seriously in a role like that? Probably not. Plus, when talking Ayleid, its all pretty mixed up anyways, could be that more of his fathers physical traits were expressed :shrug:

Mankar Camoran is actually two bosmer, one standing on the others shoulders. Illusion magic hid the other guy from sight upon the top-half's death. True story.

<3

I think I can agree that it would be hard to take the main villain as the game seriously if he were a Bosmer. At this point, it's become rather hard to take Bosmer seriously at all. Considering how many of the characters that people love to hate have been Bosmer, and even if it weren't for this, I think their small stature and general appearance would somewhat kind of diminish their ability to pull off the "Big Bad Evil Guy" thing. I just don't think I could look at the mastermind behind whatever crisis is at the center of the game's main story the same way once I realized he was a little guy with a squeaky voice. So that might be why Mankar Camoran isn't a Bosmer, of course, there could be a lore reason for it too, but even if there isn't, I can accept the way he is in the game, because this isn't like Manimarco or whatever his name is where making him a generic Altmer makes him more boring and less intimidating, in this case, making him a Bosmer just wouldn't really work, I'd say.

So he's tall for a Bosmer. Nothing wrong with that. He gets racial characteristics of Nord, Altmer and Breton combined, according to wiki, as well as stuff of his own.

One thing to remember is that you're mainly encountering him in his "own" realm where things may not be as they appear. Maybe he is a runt that skillfully uses Alteration to appear taller?

"On Racial Phylogeny": Generally the offspring bear the racial traits of the mother...
I think there are may be exceptions from this rule, and Usurper had very unique heredity (including magical), leading to unusual case.

Well, maybe Willy the Bitten...

You don't always take on your mothers race. you just do more than half the time. I hate that this lore is always misconstrued. Read "Notes on Racial Physiology" yourself.

Maybe Notes on Racial Phylogeny is an act of misconstruing lore. I mean, mixed races - let alone races and classifications, to begin with - are boring. (I believe everyone should be an orc, and just send this elf/man stuff to hell.)

The mer was obsessed with returning to the Dawn Era and (by extension) Aldmeris. Using various methods (most notably, a pact with a certain and quite handsome Daedra Lord), he could've purified himself, getting rid of the elements that deviated from his Aldmeri blood and accenting those that didn't, making him look more Ayleid.

Or it could just be that the Camoran blood-line is quite aggressive in its expression.

A possible explanation of the description of the mother as a Bosmer could be it was a case of mistaken race, and that she was infact an Ayleid (which given interbreeding over thousands of years with the Bosmer, and that Ayleids are very rarely seen outside of Valenwood, makes this seem likely).

It should be noted here that it is always foolish to think of whole races sharing like minds.

The Camoran Dynasty, ruling the Bosmer, not sharing their blood or world view, may not look like Bosmer or strive to. These are the masters, not the dregs.

It should be noted here that all races share a like mind.

He's beyond the Convention and talking about a Tamriel distracted by myth and symbols.

Mythically speaking, yes. But certainly, Jagar Tharn does not represent every... what race was he?

He's got a little of everything in him. I think he's part Schnauzer.

I believe he's 25% Dark Elf and 50% Bosmer, but I'm unsure of the last part. It's in The Real Barenziah series, but the UESP doesn't seem to be working right now and I... um, don't use the Imperial Library (don't kill me ) .

The Imperial Library consists mainly of books from the actual games with only a handful of articles from other sources, some of which are speculation and not official, so if you've read many of the in game books you probably know about as much as anyone. In Arena he seems to have the red eyes of a Dunmer and the skin tone of a well tanned Imperial or perhaps an Altmer. He has the wavy locks of a Breton . His genealogy seems to be all over the place judging from looks alone. Apparently according to The Real Barenziah he was part Wood Elf.

http://www.imperial-library.info/content/jagar-tharn, which corresponds to his picture in Arena.

Anyways, my point stands, even if we don't quite know exactly what Tharn was trying to accomplish, it certainly wasn't the same as every bosmer or dunmer.

I just don't trust that mongrel Elf. Part Dark Elf, part High Elf, and part the gods only know what. All the worst qualities of all his combined bloods, I'll warrant." He snorted. "No one knows much about him. Claims he was born in southern Valenwood, of a Wood Elven mother. Seems to have been everywhere since -- "

-The Real Barenziah series




So, he's got a bit of Altmer in him, as well, plus perhaps a bit of an unknown race.

but he's all mer.

“Dark Elf in part, perhaps,” said Barenziah, “but part human too, I think, in disguise. Else would I not have come so quickly to fertility.”

“Part Dark Elf, for sure, and of ancient Ra'athim lineage at that, else he would not have been able to free the Staff,” Symmachus reasoned.

http://www.imperial-library.info/content/morrowind-real-barenziah-part-4