There's always plenty of commentary on racism in ES games...pretty much every race in every game is depicted with more or less widespread racial superiority issues, and facing facts when one race has stripes and tails and the world is locked in a struggle between round eared men and pointy eared elves that's appropriate.

So I was doing a little lore digging for a project because it sort of involves a 'mixed race' character and I wanted to see if that would contradict anything. Found some sources on the subject and settled it.

But it got me thinking...in each ES game there are couples (may be an exaggeration as I haven't played them all). In this little place called reality, the mixed race couple taboo is pretty much the last taboo to fall, and even in places where racism has been in decline for decades it can be very strong. So isn't it odd that in ES games where racism is clearly a strong social dynamic there are so many of those couples that are mixed race?

In Skyrim there's a Cyrodiilic woman depicted as 'the Nords put up with her because she is married to a Nord'. If racism were portrayed 'realistically' that would fly the wrong direction.

Not a big deal, just an oddity.

I understand your point, and agree to some extent, but your example fails. The Imperials and Nords are both Men (with the first said to be partly descended from the second), so not widely different racially. I see it as more of a political or cultural issue, somewhat like a Norwegian and an Italian in real life. Man/mer mixes would tend to be a lot less common (other than possibly if one is a Breton, and therefore already "mixed"), while beast race with man or mer should be an extreme rarity.

Well, irl the only race that exist is human, the differences are culture not race (Though many people have small minds and can't think that far sadly)

In ES seeing and Elf with a Human is interesting yet not to strange.

Marrying a beast with a human or and elf now that would be very hard to do (Seeing how physically different beast are to man or mer)

Was there ever a case of a man or mer being married to one of the beasts?

There are different human races but we all belong to the same species.

In TES each race has one culture and one nationality (mostly) which differs greatly from real life. I dont know about mixed races, maybe they dont exist because of game mechanics limits or the lore has something to say aboout this. And can an argonian mate with an imperial?

I've always wondered about this.

Although being in a different universe, there could be different cultural standards and beliefs.

Perhaps, for example, if a dunmer is married to a nord, the dunmer "becomes a nord at heart" kind of like the orcs and blood-kin?

(Sorry if I made a fatal error, I'm not real good with TES lore.)

Actually, humans are all the same species, but "races" include local adaptations of pigmentation (coloring), hair follicle differences, nose shape, and other minor cosmetic changes. Given several hundred thousand or a million years of isolation, they could develop into different species. In fact, at least one small isolated group of Amish have developed their own unique blood type over the last hundred years or so.

The cosmetic and minor climate adaptation differences between Imperials, Nords, and Redguards are similar, and Bretons are only marginally different (although I have no idea how the silver-skinned Kothringi fit that). The mer are a different but similar "species", with "races" consisting of Altmer (descended from the Aldmer), Dunmer (altered from the Altmer), Bosmer, Orsimer, and the former Dwemer and Falmer (both groups extinct or nearly so).

Of course, the whole concept of genus, species, and race fall flat when you're talking about a fantasy world where the rules of science don't entirely apply. In the game, mixed races always take the race of the mother, with a few "traits" from the father. Bretons only took on a "mixed" racial identity (still almost entirely Man) after many generations of cross-breeding with Mer.

Give me an example of "different" humans pls.

Because at a genetic lvl, we are all the same.

edit: Unless you mean the Neanderthal's who weren't Homo sapiens