Before you even get started, if you don't like reading long texts, there is a TL;DR at the bottom. You're welcome.

I have played Skyrim a lot.

I have put hundreds, if not thousands, of hours into the 360 version of the game and loved every moment. I now have a decent laptop capable of running this and most games on medium-high graphics and now appreciate Skyrim more than ever before, already putting in over a hundred hours. (thank you, mods)

But, something has not changed throughout any platform, or even any of my playthroughs of the game - I cannot stand to be a 'beast' race, i.e Khajit or Argonian.

I'm not 'racist', in that I really enjoy both of their lores and having them populate the world, as a matter of fact Kharjo is one of my favorite vanilla followers and I've always liked the nice Argonian lady at the Windhelm docks, but just the thought of playing as one of them makes me cringe.

In my ever-humble opinion, I feel as if the Dragonborn should not - cannot - be either of the two. It just doesn't make sense to me. The Dragonborn is an all-powerful, dragon-slaying, prophecy-fulfilling sonuva[censored], not some slimy lizard of flea-ridden cat. It should be some burly Human, utilizing his physical strength to dominate any and all before him; it should be a brilliant Elf, using the powers of lightning, fire, and frost, or any magic, to destroy his opponents. This can be vise-versa and rearranged with any combination, such as an Altmer warrior and a Nord wizard, but just the concept of having a furry cat being the hero of the world doesn't sit well with me.

Don't me get wrong, I like Khajit and Argonians, but I just cannot view them as being the Dragonborn.

I guess I'm coming off as kind of an ass, but this is just my opinion, and if nothing else, I feel as if playing as either Khajit or Argonian is awkward and feels as if the majority of the population of Skyrim dislikes me, even before I kill them. Trust me, bandits, I know Skyrim is for the Nords, I don't want to be here, either.

TL;DR: In my opinion, Argonians and Khajits should not Dragonborn. A cat or a lizard should not be the hero of the world. I know people will disagree and I'm curious to see their opinions on this. That being said, I know people can play as whatever character they wish and make them whoever they want to be. This is all just my opinion.

TIL heros have to be monkeys.

You beat me to it. Calling Khajiit and Argonians cats and lizards is just like calling humans chimps.

I mean, I understand the biology of it, but you must agree there is a difference between a monkey and a human, while Khajit and Argonians are quite literally bipedal cats and lizards.

Even so, are there monkeys in Skyrim? There must be cats, as NPC's often refer to them as so, same with lizards to Argonians.

No, they literally are not, as there is no such thing as a bipedal cat or lizard. They are similar in many ways, though, just as humans and monkeys are.

Psst. Khajiit are elf-descended. They are elves in the same way Orcs are. Kinda.

But yeah, I disagree with you completely. I don't see why heroes should be stereotypical macho-men and the like. I detest "ideal" heroes. Doesn't mean I don't play them, but they're usually imperfect or heavily flawed. Or they're not the hero, just a sidekick/foil to the true hero: some kind of classical anti-hero most of the time.

I don't want to turn this into a biology lesson...that being said, there are no monkeys in Skyrim, so no comparison can be made. You don't hear the Elves refer to humans as monkeys', while 'cats' and 'lizards' are mentioned often.

I'm not sure what you're trying to say. Yes, Khajiit and Argonians look similar to cats and lizards. Monkeys do exist on Nirn, as we've seen in ESO.

Oh, I'm not saying that all heroes must be ideal, I think the opposite, actually. All heroes must have flaws and weaknesses and insecurities, but just imagining Akantosh bestowing the gift of Dragon blood to a lizard confuses me, but then again maybe I am just a racist.

There is however an ape like race in http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Imga

Also, I disagree, Akatosh does what ever he wants.

Grrr, nevermind, I'm not sure where I thought this thread was heading. I honestly thought more people would have ideas akin to my own, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Oh well, maybe canon-wise, the LDB will be a Khajit or Argonian who defies the odds and overcomes stereotypes to unite the nation. Stranger things have happened.

That's a strange opinion to have, since dragons are very lizard-like themselves.

Don't forget the Tang-mo, who are literal Monkey Men.

I got nothing against either species and don't see why they can't be dragonborn. As was pointed out in an above post, dragons themselves are very lizard like so an argonian is not a huge stretch as dragonborn. I don't play these races simply because they do not appeal to me aesthetically They don't look "alien" enough for me, just humans with a different head and a tail. If the khajiit were more like say, the Charr in appearance from guild wars 2 I'd be more inclined to play them (lore wise there are hulking khajiit who fit closely to that bill but they are rarely seen outside of Elsweyr) Another reason is moddability, few modders bother to offer improved textures or skins for these characters,

I'm sure he has plenty of Khajjit and Argonian friends!

Think Zeus... he bedded anything that had a pulse and was female

Who is to say Akatosh wasn't the same way

Hah! He bedded anything with a pulse, -anything-

I don't see why a khajiit or argonian should be excluded from being given the gift of the dragon blood. I don't think Akatosh was picky. When the gift was given to the world I don't believe it was meant to exclude any specific race. Why should a nord have all the honor, or a Breton for that matter? What makes a dunmer more worthy?

You cut anyone of these races and they all bleed red blood.

http://i.minus.com/i8ncGSFQt34FZ.jpg

Well you're not alone, many people do not play the Beast races.
And many people would also never play an Imperial, or a Dark Elf, or a Nord. etc.

All the lore points to the fact that the Dragonborn, or the Nerevarine, can be any race. None of the games have ever hinted that you need to be any specific race.

Any racial preference that you have towards how you roleplay is your own creation. Which is fine. Just keep in mind that nothing in the lore or games ever told you to have that preference, it's just how you play.

Of course the lore says that. The devs aren't going to alienate their fans by saying the dovahkiin has to be a Nord. But, their bias in favor of Nords is there. The biggest indicater being the lyrics to the theme of the game:

"Who was kin to both http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Dragon, and the races of man,"

and "Dragonborn be the savior of men!"

And that some of the other races shouts sound like Nord shouting.

There's also looking at the history of shouting dragonborn, which were Nords. Talos' history is cloudy and before the lighting of the dragonfires, it was claimed that his throat was slit, and he couldn't thu'um anymore. So he was never seen shouting without Wulfharth present. That grey storm. And when they were separated, he never had to thu'um because it was said he no longer could after an assassination attempt supposedly by Bretons.

By the time anyone could question it, he already claimed the amulet of kings, which is theorized to possibly bestow the gift, which would explain why every last emperor they had also happened to be dragonborn, a big coincidence. He also later participated in an enantiomorph, melding his soul with shezzarines and a true dragonborn. Wulfharth.

Anyway, lore from Beth states it and MK states it. Other races can now be dragonborn, arguably for convenience sake, but the bias for Nords is felt in the story, which is why for some it's harder to play as other races compared to Oblivion. It is for me, but it's not surprising. Hopefully the next game will show less bias.

Canon-wise, the LDB and his/her fate will only be referred to vaguely. That's the way of ES games, to let the player decide these things for themselves and leave it quite ambiguous and up for almost never-ending debate on forums. As for stereotypes, there is no need for anyone to ever overcome stereotypes because stereotypes are labels that the ignorant place on other people, they have little basis in fact, and are often over-exaggerated.

Mind you, what Willywonka says is true also - there appears to be a bias in the game towards the Dragonborn being a Nord, including in how NPCs react to the player character. Maybe it's unintentional, but once those words are out, they are free to be reinterpreted any way the audience wants, and if the audience senses bias, that's the fault of the developers.

I have just considered, though, that 'and "Dragonborn be the savior of men!"' doesn't seem as biased as it does nonsensical - if Alduin is victorious, everyone is screwed, not just the Nords of Skyrim. Maybe the bias is intentional, maybe the developers wanted to put it so that the Nords expected - as a result of their own prejudices - one of their own to be the hero.

I feel exactly the same as the OP on the issue of who "can" and "can't" be the Dragonborn, except in my mind I'm even more extreme on the issue. For me, only a Nord or Imperial can be Dragonborn, preferably a Nord. If I play as any other Race I usually end the main quest when Jarl Balgruuf's Court Wizard sends me to Bleak Falls Barrow for the Dragonstone. I take that quest but never complete it and never become Dragonborn. Any race other than Nord or Imperial becoming Dragonborn just doesn't work for me.

it's skyrim dude, the game of course is focused on Nords, it's their land. If the game were called elder scrolls : Black marsh, i am sure the theme song would center around argonians.

I have never played as khajiit or argonian, so I can't even imagine them using shouts. When I played through Morrowinds main quest I had to pick a dark elf, for obvious reasons. And when playing through Skyrim I had to play as a nord, it just fits better and makes more sense to me. In Oblivion you had more choices because well, Cyrodiil had everything. But Khajiit or Argonians never seemed like honorable heroes to me, they're portrayed more like thieves and those kind of characters, even weird or dumb sometimes. Argonians were better in Skyrim, but khajiits still talk funny, I can't see them having a conversation with Paarthurnax.

Stereotypes - you simply have to think beyond them. The thing about Khajiit in Skyrim - as well as Argonians - is that they are a long way from their homeland, so suffer from a distinct lack of cultural presence. The Nords are the dominant culture, they are the ones with the wealth and the power, and the ones who can get away with marginalising the other races in their society, especially the 'beast' races. The Nords can be as prejudiced as they want, who's going to take them to task? It happens all the time in the real world, so it's no surprise that it's an issue in the game.

Khajiit don't 'talk funny', they talk in their own manner. Why should they talk the same as the races of men, et al? Why should they conform to someone else's version of 'normal' and not be themselves? What makes the way Nords speak any better than the way Khajiit speak? For the Khajiit, speaking the way they do is entirely normal - it's the Nords who 'talk funny'.