I searched on this in the search bar, and can't find too much about this particular topic.

I'm curious about racial prejudices. I know from Morrowind that Dunmer are suspicious of everyone. And that they can't be too friendly with Khajiits and Argonians considering they are often made slaves.

Nords can't get along too nicely with the elves considering the elves must harbor some distrust of them and anger over loosing Skyrim to the proto-Nords.

But, what I would like here is a full discussion on prejudices of all races, who hates who, who distrusts who, etc., among the Nords, Imperials, Bretons, Redguards, Altmer, Dunmer, Bosmer, Khajiits, Argonians, and Orcs.


I'm trying to write some fanfiction, and it'd be a plus if I knew a lot more about prejudices among the different races of Tamriel.

Also, if there's a link someone could point me too, that would be helpful as well. Thanks!

Try UESP.net, it has a lot of good info.

Altmer - They look down on everyone. Have contempt for their brethen living on the mainland. If they hate anybody, it's the Imperials, who are a stubborn stain on their worldview.

Bosmer - Historical animosity towards the Khajiit.

Dunmer - Basically everyone, though especially the Altmer (decadent and depraved), Imperials (tyrannical con-men), and Beast races (not good anything that doesn't involve enslavement).

Orcs - Largely unprejudiced, to my knowledge, though they may harbor some resentment towards the Redguards and Bretons for the years of attempted genocide on their people.

Breton - Have a habit of hunting Orcs to near-extinction and possibly dislike Imperials.

Redguards - Same as Bretons.

Nords - Burning hatred for all things Merrish.

Imperials - Largely unprejudiced, though they seem to be at least suspicious of Mer.

Argonians - Dunmer, for obvious reasons. Also seem to have some sort of rivalry with the Khajiit.

Khajiit - Dunmer, also. Again, rivalry with Argonians. Segments of their society deeply resent the Imperials.

Lemme see if I can give you a list here....it's kinda complicated.

Altmer distrust all races. Due to their devotion to Aedra and ancestor gods, they'd see the Orcs and Dunmer as heathens, with the Bosmer being "lesser" since they've taken "mannish wives". They also abhor Lorkhan, their Satan to the Saint of humanity. Who Lorkhan is and what he stands for when he had the gods make Tameriel, is the original point of friction between elves and men. The former rejecting the world as flawed, with the latter accepting it as a gift.

Argonians are a mystery. Aside from having deep sated hatred for the Dumer after ages of slavery, they probably hold most races at a distance.

Bretons have fought Orcs and Nords for years, their meric ancestry not helping matters. Other humans are probably slightly intimidated by their magical talents, and most mer probably see them as mongrels or upstarts.

Bosmer have constantly been attacked by the Khajiit, and see the other elven races as boring and callow. Other than that, they're probably the most approachable elven race in normal circumstances.

Dunmer are the same as Altmer; all races are not to be trusted, even other elves for their Aedric worship, while Dunmer follow Daedra. They are all ignorant of the reality of the world, and only they follow the true way. The Dunmer (and maybe Altmer) see the beast races as little more than intelligent cattle, with humans being slightly above them.

Imperials are neutral to say the least.

Khajiit have a long history with the Bosmer. It's believed that Azura made the first Khajiit from wood elves that ventured into Elsweyr. Either way, they've fought them many times and have also been victims of slavery.

Orcs are disliked by everyone. Various races have tried to exterminate them at various times. By nature and history, they hold most races at a distance.

Nords dislike all elves; the first nords that appeared on Tamriel where exterminated by them, so the Nords had to cut out a place for themselves and humanity as a whole. They've also fought Bretons and Dunmer, so they hold a special hostility towards them.

Redguards are one of the newer races. Their ancestors where both the leaders and refugees of their sunken homeland. Aside from exterminating a lesser known branch of elves, there isn't any friction between the other races aside from Orcs and Bretons.

I hope this helps.

In general, your immediately geographically adjacent race is going to have border disputes with you, so you'll dislike them for that. Anyone further away needs a different reason, which may relate to past alliances etc. The Imperials are running things at the time of Oblivion and can afford to feel benevolent to the other races, but there's probably a bit of dislike spread equally around as they border just about everyone else.

First of all, thanks guys. Each of these answers provides some excellent insight into the prejudices of each race against the others, and will be wonderful assistance to me in writing my fanfiction.

One question to Haute Quêteure, and anyone else who can answer this? What does the rivalry between the Khajiits and Argonians stem from? There doesn't seem to be much in the lore on these races that discusses this rivalry.

There is little evidence of this rivalry. Only in Leyawiin during Oblivion are they seen as being somewhat hostile towrds eachother. It could be just an isolated case.

Many of the Redguard do resent the Imperials for their, well, imperialism. They're an independent people.

I think it's fair to say that every race resents the imperious imperials with their imperializing. Granted, they do let the other races govern themselves and keep the bulk of their traditions for the sake of autonomy and social balance, especially in distant places like Summerset Isles and Argonia.

The game "Redguard" gives the impression that the Redguards (the Crowns faction, specifically) resisted the control of the Septim Empire more fiercely than most.

Redguard culture is alot more complicated than just "so and so hates so and so'. The Forbears only called for the help of the Empire after it looked like the Crowns were going to win the civil war. The Crown's saw the Empire as meddling in their affairs and were unwelcome presence by most. All in all, the Redguard's believe themselves to be a superior race and the other races barbarians. The cities we here most about are Forbears, who adopted the culture and practices of their new homeland and thus became more open, while the Crowns, the last bit of the Notumba held onto their Yokudan heritage and old ways.

The Dunmer of Morrowind weren't keen on it either. Two out of three major houses were avid traditionalists. Even in Oblivion, the Imperials didn't feel to welcomed in Bruma and the once-Elsweyr city of Leyawiin. I imagine that the Imperials aren't well received in the more insular parts outside of Cyrodil.