I’m putting this here because, although at first it might sound like I’m making an across the board Elder Scrolls question, it is more intended to make it a mod specifically for Skyrim if they don't exist, so here goes. We all know that races in Tamriel are based on Earth cultures and races, but are Orientals represented in Elder Scrolls? If not maybe they could be a future mod? Be interesting to see the odd samurai or ninja turn up during adventures (especially once we get to expand the maps to the rest of Tamriel), not least being able to either become one or hire one as a follower.

Orchish culture and history is similar to Japanese if I'm not mistaken.

Akavir is east asia on acid.

(Ridiculous and false hyperbole)

You mean Asians cultures, mostly from the Japanese and Chinese cultures.

The Akavir continent and Akaviri cultures are reminiscent of Chinese and Japanese cultures from what little we know of them and the graphics assets used to represent them (like the Blades). The names of the various races on Akavir also sound Asiatic, namely - the Kamal, the Tsaesci, Tang Mo, and the Ka Po'Tun. The continent itself is known as the 'dragon land'.

Example, Cloud Ruler temple is very Chinese/Japanese in style of architecture and the name as well: http://guides.gamepressure.com/theelderscrolls4oblivion/gfx/word/-240865171.jpg
Also compare the Oblivion http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5044/5260611070_4775c47203.jpg and ancient http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/lithuania/414/arm/carmor_1.jpg

The races of Akavir are also all anthropomorphic animal-like people, although whether or not the books about the continent should be taken literally is something else (because alternatively, they've been described as fully human in some other literature in the game).

Kamal are snow demons, Tsaesci are half human and half snake like nagas, the Tang Mo are monkey-like and may or may not be related to the Imga, and the Ka Po'Tun are humanoid tigers. The Ka Po'Tun are not known to be related to the Khajiit or not, but are specifically mentioned as being uniformally tiger-like and probably all bipedal (compared to Khajiit who can be four-legged or housecat sized etc.).

They all killed all the traditional humans on the continent, probably ate them.

They also killed all the dragons on their continent, hence why the Blades derived from them as the Akaviri are basically the best dragonslayers in the world.

Also apparently the king of the Ka Po'Tun can change himself into a dragon, so now he's a tiger-dragon. I'm guessing we're suppose to take this literally.

More info: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Akavir

They actually have a lot of linkage to the Dragonborn prophecies through the Blades connection. In particular the earlier history is that Akavir had invaded Tamriel and basically were on a warpath until the first king who called himself the Dragonborn managed to halt the advance. They recognize his Dragonborn status and joined him and that's where the Blades first became the official bodyguards and basically commando units of the kings.

Apparently "oriental" is a pejorative. Just an eff why eye.

This. Look at the orcish armor's helmet, ignore the green, but the shape looks like a samurai ornamental helmet for sure.

Peoples perception of what Asian is varies greatly, Americans seem to perceive Asians as being typical Japanese and Chinese where as in Europe we look at Asia n a wider context and put more emphasis on India and Pakistan, The people and culture differ immensely and there is no particular look or body type which fits all. its like saying North American culture, but of course do you mean Innuit, Canadian, Mexican, native Indian and so on.

However the term Oriental is an archaic term that is not really used to refer to China, Korea or Japan anymore. Mostly people just use Chinese, Japanese, or Korean to identify them. I'm Chinese and I do not call myself Oriental. Hence why I suggested just to refer specifically to the culture the OP was alluding to - i.e. Japan and China and/or Korea.

It's use to refer to China and such is also dependent on the region it's used in.For example in America, it's use is considered outdated and in the same vein apparently as the term 'colored'. In Britain, it's use is to differentiate between India and other Asians. However in German, it is used to refer to Arab World and Persia, and not China and Japan.

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orient#Current_usage

Also for consideration, the term 'Occidentalism' is used to refer to stereotyped views of the western world, generally in the negative context. Orientalism is the equivalent for stereotyped views of the eastern world.

Most people refer to it as East Asian. East Asian is your mostly "oriental" which is a term that is used to refer to items, not people. Oriental rugs makes sense, Oriental people? Not so much.

Or maybe he didn't want to write out a laundry list of country names. Kind of like how we say Europeans and really mean France, Germany, and Britain.

The only Oriental mods i'm aware of are the pedo/fetish anime types. I'm guessing you're looking for a proper mod though, so the answer is unfortunately no.

Slightly off topic, but for those of us who read the boards on their iPhone / smartphone during smoke breaks etc., the boards background is white. Pink makes me squint reallll hard:(

TES has a lot of Asian influences. Altmer, Orismer, Akaviri, Dunmer, and Imperials all have strong Asiatic influences (although imperials are never depicted in-game as having Asiatic influences, the empire originally drew a lot from Imperial China.)

Oh god, PC makes my head swim.

WIKI: British English
In British English, the term Oriental is not considered pejorative or offensive, and refers to people from East and Southeast Asia. Asian is generally used only to mean people from South Asia. This usage reflects historic immigration into the UK, since more than 50% of the non-European population is from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Burma, (in British English terminology called British Asian), whereas East and Southeast Asians comprise only 5-6% of the non-European population. Of those, the majority are of Chinese descent.

In other words, when we say "Asian" it mostly means Indians and Pakistanis (which I wasn't talking about). I was talking about people and culture from the Orient, which are far, far different from those in India and Pakistan, both in looks and culture. And if I was intending to be racist why was I suggesting to include them in the game as people you could even play or have as allies?


^^^ This. ^^^


Not really. I've yet to see any, er..."Asian" looking people in TES. And the Empire looks more Roman (Italian i.e. European) than anything else.

Yep true. We have an "Asian" radio station that has nothing to do with the "Orient" - http://www.bbc.co.uk/asiannetwork/

Orcs in the game like I said although don't look Japanese in appearance, they wear armour very similar to the Samurai, and their culture has deep similarities with that.

The Akaviri and Blades use "Samurai" style swords, and also their culture is very East Asian.

Nexus has an _{http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/tagsearch.php?tags=/-/133&page=1&orderby=name&order=ASC}

found http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=8583 from a quick look at that:

Moonpaths to Eleswyr have a distinct Indian and jungle vibe to them.

The most asiatic influence in tamriel is from the Blades subculture ,it is a clearl intermixture of Roman and Japanese that makes an interesting base for styles , tough In my personal opinion the Bethesda designs slightly lack a certain originality couse it limited to a nitermixing cross instead than an intermixing evolution ....

what I meanis that they usually get japanese or chinese and roman styles and put them together ... like for example the very nice blade armor here is actually mostly a roman cuirass with neck protection from japan , center lower protection from japan , kote , and some legging protections from china more or less .... ofc not equals but very similar , overall the mixing is well done and nice and surely better than the oblivion old one ...

But I woudl have liked something more "evolved" like using that as a base and take a totaly new direction ...

I tried to make somethig similar with my sword , using as base a japanese katana , shinobi to and mainly a Tachi , with European weapon style , nordic cultural influence , roman and "tamrielic in general " ^^ .... dunno if It come out plausible in the vision of bethesda lore but I hope so ...

I think the time is ripe for an Akaviri TES VI. Of course first we need to settle the beef with Thalmor. Hopefully Beth will have enough ambition to do a Summer Isles expansion for TESV so we can finally adventure beyond Tamriel in the next game. Lorewise the possibilities are endless once you jump from Tamriel to Akavir.

Yep, and Asian cinama and tv news is based in the India & Pakistan region.


But from experience anime is a type of animation that generally depicts mostly Westerners in a unique way, rather than being an accurate depiction of "Asians" themselves. As a little kid I used to watch a Chinese show called "http://img.metro.co.uk/i/pix/2010/03/24/article-1269447947276-08D9FFE0000005DC-602923_466x330.jpg", which showed a fantasy band of adventurers on a pilgrimage across China. Then there was the show "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-h2GOmeHouw", showing David Carradine's monk travelling across the old West. This is the sort of thing I had in mind. Just imagine being on a quest and coming across a friendly http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs31/f/2008/235/b/d/DEMON_SAMURAI_II_by_aka_maelstrom.jpg or http://oldphotosjapan.com/images/86.jpgon a similar quest across Tamriel! And I'm not talking orcs (monsters in slightly "Asian" looking clothes) or Dark Brotherhoods (caucasian ninjas) here, but rather humans who are "Asian" in appearance rather than just dress. Well, they included black Moorish people in the mix with the Redguard, so why not "Asian" people wearing "Asian" type clothes? I'm not saying be PC about it, just add a tad more realism to the world of Tamriel. After all, I suspect a minority of "Asian" people got as far as Europe (which most of Tamriel is based on) in medieval times, so why not here?

Redguard are Muslim? I kind of thought they were a desert dwelling people. Maybe the miscommunication here comes from the way you express yourself. Because the Redguard I've seen don't follow anything close to Islam.

Id say they were a mix between Arabian/Persian and North African.

Redguards strike me as being Moorish.

Yep, and Moors were Muslim (anyone who's watched El Cid would know that!). You can also tell by their outfits and their "curved swords" (i.e. Scimitars), a favourite weapon used by Muslims, especially the design used in TES.

WIKI: The curved sword or "scimitar" was widespread throughout the Muslim world from at least the Ottoman period, with early examples dating to Abbasid era (9th century) Khurasan. The type harks back to the makhaira type of antiquity, but the Arabic term saif is a loan from Greek xiphos (the straight, double-edged sword of Greek antiquity). The Persian sword now called "shamshir" appears by the 12th century and was popularized in Persia by the early 16th century, and had "relatives" in Turkey (the kilij), the Mughal Empire (the talwar).



Sorry, I meant "roughly based", seeing that there are black cultures in Africa who are Muslim and Islam is so strong in those cultures that it's an integral part of their cultural identities.

The Dunmer and the entire game of Morrowind were very heavily based on East Asia, especially Japan.

For Skyrim, there is The Ashen, which in turn is based on the Oriental Beauty mod.

Also... fyi (for everyone), East Asian entertainment, including Japanese, Chinese, and Korean, is not "pedo" or "fetish." Such a perception is typical ethnocentrism, as others have pointed about about differing perceptions in different locales. In fact, even moe style is not actually "pedo" or "fetish" (unless you want to consider content such as kill cams "fetish," and of course some people might feel exactly that way about such "features"). However, moe style is only one style out of many. It happens to be my preference, but I also like other styles. You will see moe style in shoujo and bishoujo works (former aimed at girls, latter aimed at guys), but unlike yaoi, moe is created by a wide variety of artists, both male and female. This is believed to be why it has a broad appeal across various demographics, unlike yaoi and certain other styles or genres that tend to appeal to a very specific market.