Poll: Anyone else hate the Skyrim animal races?

[Lilani]

In exploring Skyrim this last week, I discovered something. I really, really hate the animal races, or anthropomorphs or whatever you want to call them. Conceptually and aesthetically. First of all, they make little sense as a race. I mean really, people who are EXACTLY like regular people but with animal hides and fur? REALLY? What is the evolutionary advantage to that? Why are the changes in physiology restricted to the head and skin? Why aren't their joints reversed like animals legs? Why aren't they more muscular, or more svelt, or taller or shorter or hunchback? It makes absolutely no sense. It's like they just said "Hurr derp, let's stick some random animal heads on our people and call it a day!"

Then they're just ugly and wreak of laziness in design. Because once you think about it, the reason their physiology is the same as regular people is obvious. If their bodies are the same, the same animations and scripts can be used to make them move can be the same as well. And then I just feel awkward looking at them. They're like a furry's wet dream come alive.

So please, somebody tell me I'm not the only one who really can't stand these things?

 

[scorptatious]

You're never the only one.

I personally like the animal races. If I didn't I wouldn't be playing as an Argonian for two games straight.

EDIT: Also I kinda find it this topic funny considering your avatar.

 

[Strain42]

I like the Lizard dudes (I'm not a big elder scroll's player if it isn't obvious lol)

In fact, once Skyrim releases their GOTY edition and I actually consider it worth spending money on, I'm probably going to play as one. Not necessarily because I like them, but because if my character is supposed to be Dragon Born (which again, haven't played it so I don't know if that's literal or not) I want to make my character at least look like there's some relation lol

 

[Terminate421]

No.

Argonians are more Raptor like than Salamander like.

Therefore they are full of win.

Also Kahjiit are far more interesting being Bobcat like rather than just Lion People.

 

[skywolfblue]

In exploring Skyrim this last week, I discovered something. I really, really hate the animal races, or anthropomorphs or whatever you want to call them. Conceptually and aesthetically. First of all, they make little sense as a race. I mean really, people who are EXACTLY like regular people but with animal hides and fur? REALLY? What is the evolutionary advantage to that? Why are the changes in physiology restricted to the head and skin? Why aren't their joints reversed like animals legs? Why aren't they more muscular, or more svelt, or taller or shorter or hunchback? It makes absolutely no sense. It's like they just said "Hurr derp, let's stick some random animal heads on our people and call it a day!"

Then they're just ugly and wreak of laziness in design. Because once you think about it, the reason their physiology is the same as regular people is obvious. If their bodies are the same, the same animations and scripts can be used to make them move can be the same as well. And then I just feel awkward looking at them. They're like a furry's wet dream come alive.

So please, somebody tell me I'm not the only one who really can't stand these things?

It was even worse in Oblivion. At least in Skyrim the bodies are shaped just differently enough to make the head flow, in Oblivion it was literally just tacked on.

Skyrim managed to improve it enough so that they didn't give me laughing fits every time I saw one. So while I still agree that they should look more animal, they're suitable enough so that it doesn't bother me a whole lot.

 

[ImProvGamr]

if my character is supposed to be Dragon Born (which again, haven't played it so I don't know if that's literal or not) I want to make my character at least look like there's some relation lol

Cool, I'm not the only person who thought that!

I actually like the anthro races of TES games, and I usually play an argonian. I have fond memories of my Oblivion Argonian character: a Mage who was gifted in destruction magic and had a high speed stat. I ended up being so fast that I could outrun a horse, and if anything went after me I just hid under water and stayed there until they left (free waterbreathing).

 

[Loop Stricken]

I mean really, people who are EXACTLY like regular people but with animal hides and fur? REALLY? What is the evolutionary advantage to that? Why are the changes in physiology restricted to the head and skin? Why aren't their joints reversed like animals legs? Why aren't they more muscular, or more svelt, or taller or shorter or hunchback? It makes absolutely no sense. It's like they just said "Hurr derp, let's stick some random animal heads on our people and call it a day!"

Because this world isn't built on science, it's built on magic. Hence the gods, the dragons, the undead and ZE MAGICKS!

My first character was an Argonian warrior, tearing crap up with his mighty daedric mace.

 

[Zhukov]

You made it so answering the question in the thread title gives the opposite result to answering the question above the poll. I hate it when people do that. Now you don't know which question people are answering in the poll.

Moving on...

No, I do not like the animal races in Skyrim. For one, they're rather uninventive. Dress it up however you like, they're just cat-people and lizard-people.

Secondly, they look ridiculous. Human models with different heads stuck on top and tails tacked on the back. Would it have been so hard to make and animate some proper bodies... oh wait, this is Bethesda we're talking about, never mind.

Lastly, the Argonian faces look derp-tastic.

Spoiler: Derp.

Note to self: Do not run a google image search for "argonian" with safesearch turned off. Yeesh.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

I dunno, they're hardly any worse than Star Trek or Star Wars Aliens. And those usually feature even less differences than humans.

 

[worldruler8]

I always found the culture of the Khajiit to be more interesting then their looks. I'm happy that SKyrim made them look more animal-like, though Morrowing did it better, as Khajiit had digigrade legs, and couldn't wear shoes in the game, which, in essence, punished the player for choosing a certain race (this was also the case of argonians). I also liked how in Morrowing, the Dunmer considered the beast races as barely higher then intelligent animals, and merely used them as slaves and labor. Yes, the design is cheap, but they DID put some creativity into their culture. Wish they talked more about that, though...

 

[Corporal Yakob]

Lusty Argonian Maid.

That is all.

Also in my playthrough (as an Argonian) there were like 10 other lizard folk and maybe two dozen Khajiit in the whole of Skyrim so hardly enough to hate the entire races for!

 

[Suicidejim]

They're allowed to be like that because magic.

Also, I find it odd that you only apply these criticisms to the Argonians and Khajiit. Why are the Elven races pretty much like normal people? Why don't they have some weird, unique physiology? Why aren't Orcs all twisted and hunched?

Now, I'm currently half asleep (ironically, fell asleep while playing Skyrim), so my reasoning may not be sound, but I'm guessing that if you've got however-many races with similiar physiological traits, then A) I assume they share common ancestors way back in the evolutionary chain, assuming there is one, and it isn't just more magic, and B) perhaps the environmental conditions of Skyrim are such that an ideal skeletal and muscular structure for bipedal creatures evolved, and all the races roughly meet those ideal requirements?

Besides, this is a game with a standard fantasy setting, where any choice of race outside the standard 'person/elf/dwarf' selection is the equivalent of mind blowing innovation.

. . . I bet you're a Nord.

 

[Lilani]

You made it so answering the question in the thread title gives the opposite result to answering the question above the poll. I hate it when people do that. Now you don't know which question people are answering in the poll.

LOL! So I did, so I did. Sorry about that, I wrote the title first and the poll last, and somewhere in the middle I forgot how I had worded the title, hehe.

Also, I find it odd that you only apply these criticisms to the Argonians and Khajiit. Why are the Elven races pretty much like normal people? Why don't they have some weird, unique physiology? Why aren't Orcs all twisted and hunched?

I'm more willing to let them slide on the assumption that they are simply other sentient races who evolved under slightly different conditions and ended up with slightly different physical traits, like the way we did. Yeah the orcs probably should be more mangled, and no specific reasons are given for why the elves look the way they do, but at least they aren't literally humans crossed with animals. There is absolutely no reason for them to have just evolved that way, at least without a huge "experiments gone wrong" storyline.

. . . I bet you're a Nord.

Nah, Imperial, I wanted to wield magic and a sword :3 Though I have sided with the Stormcloaks. They do act like bullies, but at least they aren't imperialistic pricks trying to get up in everybody's business.

 

[Loop Stricken]

I'm more willing to let them slide on the assumption that they are simply other sentient races who evolved under slightly different conditions and ended up with slightly different physical traits, like the way we did. Yeah the orcs probably should be more mangled, and no specific reasons are given for why the elves look the way they do, but at least they aren't literally humans crossed with animals. There is absolutely no reason for them to have just evolved that way, at least without a huge "experiments gone wrong" storyline.

This world does not run on science, it runs on magic.
The various species didn't evolve. It was all magic. That's your reasoning.

The Dwemer tried science. To say it didn't go down well would be an understatement.

 

[Zydrate]

Sorry, but Argonians4lyfe, yo.

Always been a big Argonian player. Big fan of lizard-like species to begin with.

Was never much one for Khajit though. Always looked odd to me, and they still do.

 

[Suicidejim]

I'm more willing to let them slide on the assumption that they are simply other sentient races who evolved under slightly different conditions and ended up with slightly different physical traits, like the way we did. Yeah the orcs probably should be more mangled, and no specific reasons are given for why the elves look the way they do, but at least they aren't literally humans crossed with animals. There is absolutely no reason for them to have just evolved that way, at least without a huge "experiments gone wrong" storyline.

This world does not run on science, it runs on magic.

The various species didn't evolve. It was all magic. That's your reasoning.

I think, to save confusion, every so often this should just flash up on screen during play:

 

[Lilani]

I'm more willing to let them slide on the assumption that they are simply other sentient races who evolved under slightly different conditions and ended up with slightly different physical traits, like the way we did. Yeah the orcs probably should be more mangled, and no specific reasons are given for why the elves look the way they do, but at least they aren't literally humans crossed with animals. There is absolutely no reason for them to have just evolved that way, at least without a huge "experiments gone wrong" storyline.

This world does not run on science, it runs on magic.
The various species didn't evolve. It was all magic. That's your reasoning.

The Dwemer tried science. To say it didn't go down well would be an understatement.

But that's not good enough for me! I like magic, but I also like a little reason behind it. It needs to make sense. It can't just be the glue they stick on anything to make it fit right.

 

[Loop Stricken]

I'm more willing to let them slide on the assumption that they are simply other sentient races who evolved under slightly different conditions and ended up with slightly different physical traits, like the way we did. Yeah the orcs probably should be more mangled, and no specific reasons are given for why the elves look the way they do, but at least they aren't literally humans crossed with animals. There is absolutely no reason for them to have just evolved that way, at least without a huge "experiments gone wrong" storyline.

This world does not run on science, it runs on magic.
The various species didn't evolve. It was all magic. That's your reasoning.

The Dwemer tried science. To say it didn't go down well would be an understatement.

But that's not good enough for me! I like magic, but I also like a little reason behind it. It needs to make sense. It can't just be the glue they stick on anything to make it fit right.

Alright;

[HEADING=1]GODS DID IT[/HEADING]

Normally I'm an advocate of the opposite, but in a world where how this shit works is clearly defined as being because of gods and magic... that's your answer. Gods and magic.

 

[Gorilla Gunk]

The OPs complaint is really weird.

It's like someone watching a Disney movie and going "What the fuck is this shit? Animals don't talk!" or watching a Harry Potter movie and constantly saying "This is so unrealistic."

 

[Hal10k]

But that's not good enough for me! I like magic, but I also like a little reason behind it. It needs to make sense. It can't just be the glue they stick on anything to make it fit right.

Bear in mind that you brought this on yourself.

In the case of the Khaajit, you can blame the moons. Khaajit are actually probably the most diverse race overall: their overall morphology is determined by the influence of the moon at their time of the birth, causing them to range from resembling housecats to bear-sized mountain lions to the sentient type you see in Skyrim. They don't breed much outside of their homeland, so you only see the bipedal type, because they're the ones best suited for trading with other races.

Khaajit credit the moon's influence on their biology to one of their gods, who supposedly assigned them as the protectors of the Khaajit race. Where this fits into the literal cosmology of the lore is something people still argue about on forums, though the fact that the moons themselves are actually the decaying corpse of the guy who created the mortal plane probably has something to do with it.

Argonians are kind of the same deal; broad range of sub-races, and the ones that visit us are only the ones that resemble us for obvious reasons, but the range of appearances is caused by varying quantities of ancient tree sap that they ingest at birth. I don't quite understand that part myself, though the trees in question are one of the weirder parts of the lore anyway.