I Have always been a keen fan of the several attempts made to converst the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons system into a video game. (Baldurs Gate I & II, Icewind Dale I & II, Neverwinters Nights, Planescape Torment, the 2 Baldurs gate conole attempts whose names I've forgotten) Though I found them to be lacking in racial diversity, and what choices were available never seemed to have any noticeable change on the gameplay. White characters never startred with an inheritance, never passed unmolested by guards where others wouldn't. Black characters never encountered any racism or oppresion of any kind, blue or green characters were treated as anyone, no ridicule, fear or even curiosity. And then the Elder Scrolls were introduced like a tornado into my life.

Nords, your classical stereotype of a norse viking. Imperials, the english empire beyond it's peak. The Bretons, who the Americans wish they were. We could never forget Redguards, Your indomitable african nation, allowed to flourish and prosper, rather than finding oppresion and domination arriving upon their shores. Yes, I was an instant fan of Elder Scrolls.

After several varied and enrapturing experiences within this new univeres, I began to notice an abscence. It was slight at first, just a vague awareness that something was missing, but it grew. And grew. Before I knew it an unignorable metaphorical hole appeared upon my map of Tamriel. Mexico. The densely populated metropoli of Tamriel were sadly ignorant of the musky aroma of a middle aged mexican man after a days hard work, the sore eyes of Cyrodil had never witnessed a young latino lass, the hungry bellies of Morrowind would never be full of burito. The people looking for fun in hammerfell would have to go without the melodious tones of a mariachi band, birthday kids in Blackmarsh would never know the pleasure of pounding on a pinata.

And it saddened me. I could hold no blame to Bethesda, the problem is bigger than just one company. I want to see an end to the conspiracy keeping our latino brothers out of mythical universes that exist within our hearts, minds & gaming devices.

I immediately envisioned an army of equal opportunity freedom fighters, smashing virtual oppression, with me at the helm. Before my dreams could become more than just dreams, I realised that Bethesda were doing it for me. Under the noses and in front of the eyes of the overlords keeping the common man down, Bethesda had achieved the impossible and smuggled mmexicans into the game. "How?" I hear you ask. Please turn off your microphone. "I see no proud Mexican peoples in my game" Others among you will declare, but I have seen through the curtain that hides this brilliant justice Bethesda have delivered us.

Argonians. Yes, that's right. Argonians. "But Argonians are Argonian, not Mexican" Please turn off your microphone. They couldn't put mexicans into the game and still get it past the censor, so they wrapt them in lizard skins. The similarities, while vague and inconclusive to all but the keenest observers, are undeniably there. Argonians are likely the strongest swimmers in Tamriel. If you go swimming you will likely get wet. One of the parts of you inparticular that may get very wet is your back. Wet... Back.... Wetback. In fact, the description of the race, found at http://www.elderscrolls.com/codex/races_argonian.htm can be read:

Little is kno
wn and l
ess is unders
tood
a
bout the reptili
an denizens of Bla
c
k Marsh
. Years of defending their borders have made the Argonians experts in guerilla warfare, and their natural abilities make them equally at home in water and on land. They are well-suited for the treacherous swamps of their homeland, and have developed natural immunities to the diseases and poisons that have doomed many would-be explorers into the region. Their seemingly expressionless faces belie a calm intelligence, and many Argonians are well-versed in the magical arts. Others rely on stealth or steel to survive, and their natural agility makes them adept at either. They are, in general, a reserved people, slow to trust and hard to know. Yet, they are fiercely loyal, and will fight to the death for those they have named as friends.

Read it very carefully, and you may be observant enough to notice that if you read only the first letter for the first 9 lines you will find the hidden message, "wet back".

The people of Morrowind know the benefits of cheap labour. Very cheap labour. They find it in the form of Argonians and Khajit. The people of America could also be said to appreciate the benefits of very cheap labour, namely in the form of Mexicans (these days, anyway). Notice how I said "The People of America COULD be said to blah blah yada yada". I didn't, and wouldn't say that for fear of offending people, but I could say that.

One doesn't need to delve far into the world that is the phoenetic structure of your common argonian to discover some astonishing links between the verbal styles of both mexicans and argonians. I want you to close your eyes, and imagine an argonian, speaking directly ot you. Focus on it's accent. Hopefully you'll just know to do this as you won't be able to read this, your eyes are closed, remember? Alternate between doing this exercise with an argonian, then a mexican. Do this several thousand times. See? They're almost the same.

My fourth and final point until more research can be completed, and some would say my most conclusive point, is simply, this: Mexican walking fish. There. I said it. You know you were thinking it. Only a fool would not notice the screamingly obvious link. It's there, whether you choose to see it or not.

Thankyou for taking to the time to read my observations into racial diversity within Tamriel. The mind must be fed knowledge, the best food is homemade.

- Boris (Lygactyor) 7/10/2010

English here, many here are european players as well...
We could go into how bethseda made the Imperials ( what most assume are italians but in fact originally more south american in looks / feel ) take over the nords and bretons, but "real life" comparisons are just wrong in general.

Secondly wtf?

Thirdly this is more of an issue of lore, not general discussion.

Fourthly. Not even I could believe this nonsense and read my sig!

Lastly this is going to get locked, real life politics and modern talks on race are banned.

I would've actually drawn a similarity between Altmer and British Empire beyond its peak, but whatever.

Anyway, this is Tamriel, not Earth. The races don't have to have equivalents.

Whilst anyone can make giant leaps to link real life politics and racism from stuff they see in the game, that never has been nor ever will be a feature of Bethesda games.

The discussion of both those is not permitted on these forums so the topic is closed.