Earlier I asked about how people in Tamriel (well, at least some people) came to decide that Tiber Septim was a god. The responses mostly were along the line of "some folk started a cult that claimed he was." (Register on Tamriel.net and get lots of likes.) This got me to thinking, though, how can we know whether they were right? What evidence is there that he did become a god? I can think of two pieces of evidence that Talos really is divine.

1) During the Oblivion crisis Martin determines that to open a portal to Mankor Camoran's paradise, he needs the blood of a divine and asks the player to get a piece of Tiber Septim's armor. Every other item he asks for (Grand Weykland stone, Daedric artifact, and Great Sigil stone) is verified as being "really" what they are. Therefore, since Martin IS able to open a portal to paradise using Tiber Septim's armor, that seems to confirm that it really is a divine artifact.

2) The second piece of evidence is rather indirect, but may explain the Thalmor's motivations. According to the Old Ways, gods are really just very powerful ancestors that many people worship. The more people that worship them, the more powerful they become. The less people that worship them, the less powerfull they become. This actually fits with Elven understanding of creation where the gods, the aedra, are "our ancestors" vs the daedra who are "not our ancestors." If this interpretation of divinity is correct, then the fact that many people worship Talos is by itself enough to make him into a god. Going by the Od Ways, then, the way to un-do Talos's divinity is to get people to stop worshiping him. If the Thalmor can succeed at that, then they can deprive Talos of his divinity. This would be especially important to the Thalmor since Talos was a man and therefore not an ancestor of the elves, perhaps meaning their connection to this god is attenuated compared to their connection to the other gods.

Preaching to the Choir, my boy.

On the official forums, it's generally held without question that Talos is a God. There's a certain poster who'll claim otherwise, but I think it's only because he's acting as a diehard Thalmor supporter, rather than any actual disbelief on his/her part.

You also forgot that you can't find him in Soverngarde, where all Nords go when they die; so he must have ascended. No other real explination for his dissapearance, as he is a Nord. And the Nerevarine in Morrowind can meet with an aspect of Talos, named Wulf, if s/he stops in the Towers of Dusk and Dawn once the final quest starts.

Anyone he thinks he isn't a god is either an RPer, or they have only played Skyrim.

Tiber Septim =/= Talos.

Talos is an amalgam of three personalities: Tiber Septim (aka Hjalti Early-Beard), Zurin Arctus and the Underking.

They all walked the walk. It means that their actions, decissions etc, etc. put their way so close to the way of Lorkhan that they basically became Lorkhan.

There's also the fact that Talos' shrines confer a blessing. And in addition to Wulf, the Prophet is also evidence that Talos ain't just your average Joe.

No one thinks otherwise unless they have only played Skyrim.

I don't think he's worth worshiping, and im a pretty hardcoe Thalmor supporter who's been around since Daggerfall