This is my second character in Skyrim but it is the first time I have become a Thane in Solitude. However upon meeting my new Housecarl (Jordis the Sword-Maiden) in Proudspire Manor I noticed that she looked an awfull lot like Lydia (Housecarl in Whiterun).

I decided that a side by side comparison was needed. here is what I have determined.

They are the Exact same character model except for two thing......Different hair color, same hairdo....and different eyebrows. Thats it !!!

I could see two character looking very simular because of the limited character creation tools (on console at least) but, to make them both be Housecarls seems a little strange to me. If they had different hairstyles I probably wouldn't of noticed at all.

I guess I don't reaaly have a complaint about this I guess since the character models are actually one of the better looking character models in the game...just making an observation about something that I find kind of amusing.

Your right about samey looking characters, in the Creation Kit it's quite hard to make unique faces.

Now, I can't believe you haven't notice all the children of Skyrim look like they are from same one big happy family.

Skyrim made a big step up from previous games, but yeah... we're still not quite at the point where all NPCs look (and sound) truly unique.

The children irritate me most of all though. I thought it had to be a bad joke at first.

I dont know how many times I found myself staring at a clone in Morrowind. Very limited number of faces and hairstyles. Oblivion was a nice step up with the ammount of control, but most faces ended up looking puffy.
So many people are talking about not being able to marry Lydia (unless you use the console), but nobody seems to talk about how you can marry Jordis.

I married Jordis. I reckon Lydia is a nun. Have you tried commanding her to sleep? She says "Not for anyone".

Well at least TES is making progress with the whole distinguishable NPC thing. Not much but it is a helluva lot better than Morrowinds. Oblivion's NPC's were truly unique but I think we all know why. Potato heads....and ugly as hell. Very different though!

The Children in Skyrim...god that was just a good idea horribly implemented. Yup there are kids. They are also invincible AND annoying. Oh they also look exactly the same except a few color tones being different!! Awesome!!

According to the guide you only have to be Thane to marry her.

It's money, power, THEN women... Skyrim got the idea

Love throwback thread titles, anyways it's seems the Nords have a limited gene pool, because (despite the improvements from Oblivion) clothing is still the only why I tell them apart.

I think the character creation options in Skyrim are far too limited. It's very difficult to make anyone's face in Skyrim look like anyone in particular, they all look pretty similar.