So I was in this Dwemer Ruin for a College of Winterhold quest and as I further went through I found random Falmer bodies lying about. I didn't think anything of it, maybe a few just traveled through and died along the way. But then I found live ones, and eventually found higher and higher ranking Falmer. As I continued through, I began to realize that the Falmer looked EXTREMELY similar to the Orcs in LOTR, specifically those in the Mines of Moria. With Moria being a Dwarven place, and this ruin that I was in also being a Dwarven place, I began to wonder whether or not Bethesda partly copied from the series. These creatures looked almost identical, the setting was extremely similar, and the names and circumstances were uncanny. Did they just copy or was it a reference? There is no way this was just a coincidence.

Elder Scrolls games have been copying a lot of stuff from LOTR books/films since 1994. Its nothing new, many western RPG games do it.

I'd say they borrowed off The Descent pretty heavily with the Falmer

I don't think they copied from LOTR

A simply copy? No.
Maybe a reference? Possible.

Technically, any existing fantasy world except for LOTR is inspired by LOTR.
Even thos in this case you described, I don't see the similarity.

There's only so much you can do with an elves face before it looks broken.

Yes, there is a way this is a coincidence.

Very likely, in fact. Considering LotR is one of the most major fantasy titles in the world, many developers OR players are going to subconsciously think of it while they're developing/playing.

I could throw a bunch of short, black-skinned, monsters in a dark cave, and have you stab them, and SOMEBODY will think of LotR.

I think western fantasy for the last 50 years has burrowed off of Tolkien quite abit

Whiterun=Edoras

Red mountain in morrowind was quite lotr'ish imo

Anyone that thinks Falmers and Uruk Hais look similar needs to visit ze eyedoctor.

I think it needs to be pointed out that really the only way the Falmer can look like LOTR orcs is if that's how you imagined them to look.

I mean look at the difference in just the orcs from the cartoon movies off The Hobbit and The Return of the King to the rotoscoping nightmare that was titled The Lord of the Rings but was just the Fellowship and Two Towers. Then after that compare them to Pete Jackson's imagining from the movies all the way to Turbine's LOTRO, and the various other LOTR game titles....Not to mention the different interpretations from various artists, like the Hildebrants.

So, you didn't happen to notice how the story line from the game and American names of places appears to borrow heavily from A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin? Most recently known as an HBO TV series Game of Thrones, this series seems to be the initiator of a few of the fantasy scenarios I've been seeing lately. White Run and Riverwood are places in Skyrim, but in George R.R. Martin's books you have Riverrun and Whitewood. Winterfell became Winterhold, etc.

Over-arching story-wise I've noticed that A Song of Ice and Fire (created in 1995 I believe), Dragon Age: Origins, and Skyrim all seem to revolve around a civil war breaking out during the return of dragons.

In A Song of Ice and Fire giants are an ancient race north of the wall. When "stuff" starts to hit the fan giants are described as riding their MAMMOTHS.

There are several references to the Night's Watch and DA's Grey Wardens.

It's a pretty normal thing for fantasy stories to borrow from one another. Even with similarities like this I still wouldn't say anything is too similar, but I also wouldn't say anything is too original. I've heard all three of these stories described as "North American dark fantasy" as a genre, but you know how classifications are these days.

Star Wars just followed the hero motif. It's just how stories come about- springing up from other stories.

It's a pity one of the companies that have the rights to Middle Earth didn't copy off Skyrim in terms of depth? We'd have a cracking Lord of the Rings game then!

But Elder Scrolls lore and those cities names were estabilished with Arena, before ASOIAF came out, IIRC.

Those were goblins, not orcs.

And yeah, Tolkien is basically the founder of modern fantasy as we know it. Everything is inspired by him...

The LOTR references are pretty obvious.


As others have stated, Whiterun looks extremely similar to the city of Edoras.

What he said

And Edoras simarly looks like a typical north European Dark Age settlement, albeit a very refined one I must add.

Not Orcs from Moria but Goblins.

Were they now? That I did not know at all, thank you.

Either way it's still making the same general point- stories are the basis for more stories. I think this is the way it has always been, and this is the way it always will be. And I'm talking about spanning mankind, not just lately.

It's much worse.

It wouldn't be bad actually if the developers copied from LOTR. But fact is, Skyrim (and the other TES games) are promoting Babylonian idols and religion. Talos is clearly the in-game representation of Marduk, the "dragonborn" who was made the divine champion of the "gods".
Also, Azura and her eight-point star is a reference to Ishtar. In Oblivion, the original Sumerian eight-point star represented the Mages Guild. So this game (and all other TES games) actually promote the worship of the devil and his fallen angel bastard friends.

But then again, it's the typical 'murican thing: "God's own country". Yep, the "god of this world" that is...

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

No one even mentioned Uruk Hai.. reading comprehension FTW! and besides there are orcs in LoTR that are similar to falmer yes, by that I mean not standing as upright and humanly looking as uruk hai are. Uruk Hai came from saruman , and orcs are mentioned in the hobbit before saruman creates uruk hai.