A small number of you may be aware that our character in Skyrim is a dragonborn. If you're a dragonborn, do you have to be a descendant of a dragonborn? ...or are you chosen randomly by some random guy? This all just really confuses me, can someone explain this to me?

Well I believe Tiber Septim was the last known Dragonborn, and the Septim Bloodline ended with Martin, so i'd bet it's something beyond blood (i.e. chosen by the gods)

"A small number" everyone knows,No they are chosen from the aedra they do not have to be a descedant of one as the last were the septim blood line and if you can play a argonian...........you see the flaw there?

I would have said differently until you brought up being an argonian. What if there was some drunk party way in your families past and BOOM! An Argonian Dragonborn.

i really don't like your signature, i think its the other way around =(
on that other matter... what he said

This is similar to what I thought about this topic in another thread:

I do not believe we have a complete history, or geneological tree type structure of all the possible bloodlines.

We know that a bloodline connection may, indeed, be possible, as it was with Martin, in Oblivion.

However, when I look on the first page of the GI Skyrim article (pg. 46), it is indicated that the gods can anoint individuals to be the Dragonborn.

"...Tamriel needs the Dragonborn. Those rare individuials anointed by the gods to strike down this ancient threat..."

I think this makes it possible for an individual of any gender, or race, to be the Dragonborn in Skyrim. at the will of the gods.

Further, the article indicates that there is only one dragonborn.

TES lets us create our own background stories, and as such, some of us may opt to have living parents and siblings. These can not be dragonborn, if there is only one left.

If our character is the Dragongorn, the only one left, then I see the following possibilities for being the Dragonborn:

1. At some point, the gods anointed our character.

2. The characteristic of being the Dragonborn is an inherited geneological trait that does not maniftst itself in all individuals of that lineage.

3. Some combination of the above.


This is only a theory and it is possible I missed something, so, if you can show me why this is not correct, please do so.

Thanks.

From what we have seen, seems to me that it is hereditary... tough someone can probably become a Dragonborn and his blood then transfer to his children.
However, most of them never find out about it and must be trained in order to fully use Dragonborn powers (like we will have to be trained in Skyrim)... and killing Dragons presumably makes you stronger.

I get the sense, from reading other forums and articles, that we will be one of at most 20 other "Dragonborn" people walking around in Skyrim. With the idea that a few of these are trying to ascertain the power of the dragons as well.

Think about it for a sec, as the King has been assigninated (what a surpirse) and now Skyrim needs a new ruler. I think the story is going to be other dragonborn looking to claim the thron throne as there own with their newly found powers.

Well we know Tiber Septim had one bastard son, why not another

Ah, Tiber Septim and that Lusty Argonian maid of his are the predecessors of Argonian Dovakhiin in Skyrim

Argonians can't breed with the other races as far as we know so no, there's no boom.

Anyway, the dragonborn does not have to be a descendant of the septim line.

Tiber Septim is dragon born im sure if he puts his mind to it, he can make anything pregnant including men.

Just my two cents: Dunmer players such as myself are descended from the septims, as i believe one of the mos popular queens of the empire was a Dunmer. And so, the line continues. :hubbahubba:

I'm thinking it's random, THEN bloodline, but if thats broken/ends, the gods randomly pick a guy again. So it was each emperer, but then Tiber and Martin and them all died, so the gods have chosen you now. So if you were to have kids, I think they would be dragonborn too. But if you keeled over dead, the gods would pick someone else.

Here you go: The dragons of Nirn are different from other beings in their ability to use a special language in order to bend powerful mystical forces to their needs. Legends and rumors tell that over the millenia there have been cases of men and mer having the exact same ability. These rare individuals are collectively called "Dragonborn", though this isn't meant as a depiction of lineage, but rather a title given for a talent. The Greybeards of High Hrothgar exist to find such cases and ponder the circumstances surrounding them, and are themselves Dragonborn. The name comes from a prophecy that when the dragons finally return to Nirn, a hero with the aforementioned talent will stop them. In the original version of the prophecy, the hero's name is Dovahkiin, which translates from dragon tongue as "Dragonborn". Since when it occurs that a mortal has the ability of a dragon there is no way of telling for sure whether it's just by chance or in fact by prophecy, every such mortal is called Dragonborn for the sheer sake of differentiating them from the crowd. According to documented history, there have been three cases of Dragonborn assuming the role of kings in Tamriel. They were the saint Alessa, Reman Cyrodiil and Tiber Septim, all of which, coincidentally, ended up being Cyrodiilic emperors. Because of this, any descendants of their lineages were called Dragonborn as well, even though they did not display any ability with the dragon tongue at all. And in Cyrodiil, this use of the term is much more popular, since it was historically the heart of all three empires, and the doctrine of the Imperial Temple holds that saint Allessa had the blood of the dragon god Akatosh running through her veins (though with Alduin and Akatosh turning out to be one and the same, this is up for debate).

TES usually lets you make your own character history. So basically as far as we know up to this point, you can either be chosen by Talos or it could be in your blood. Its really up to you.

from what i read there were some dragonborn's in the ancient times and their children are also dragonborn. Tiber Septim was one dragonborn and so his familiy with Martin the last septim died but that doesn't count for other lines (families). But now - Skyrims timeline - the only left dragonborn is you. Your parents must be dead by that though you weren't the last one.

Don't know thats my opinion on the dragonborn.

I do not think it has to do with the gods as much as it does the bloodline. It was probably kept a secret to protect the family, and that's why it is not revealed to the PC until later in the game.

Why do people like to connect Dragonborn with Divines? To begin with, Nine Divines themselves are just Imperial propaganda and a religion created by men in first era for political reasons... and made of Aedra who, as far as we know, cheer for Alduin (hell, Alduin is Akatosh's other aspect) and have more then few reasons to hate men. Also, Dragonborn are probably older then the Cult of Divines.

Yes, that is the case. According to the book "Shezzar and the gods" it happened right after Allessa liberated men from Ayleid slavery with the help of the Nords. The problem was that by that time, the slaves were too accustomed to Ayleid beliefs, and the so called "slave queen" Allessa was faced with potential full-blown religious war between them and the Nords. To prevent this, Allessa concocted a new pantheon of (then) 8 divines, one of which was the Ayleid dragon god Akatosh.

Is this from another thread?

Might be random genetical mutation which can be inherited. Evolution, really.