When you get over the fact that "oh my, they have scales. Thats different" you will realize that all the "mystery" is just Bethesda need a race to get dunked on and they don't actually care about them.
Argonians have a skeleton for lore and the stuff Bethesda haven't bothered to write is just called mystery. Where your races history is 30% slavery, 5% they did something during oblivion, and 65% mystery it doesn't make a race interesting. Its lazy and boring.
What makes the Argonians interesting, is their connection and shared history with the Dunmer. That alone moves them from 10th place up to 4 or 5th place on the list.
Frankly that was a bit nice. This video was on which race has the best lore argonians arent a race there just tools made to.take care.of plants. Hell even the ones not in service as dunmer farm equipment that think there free are just drones that exist to serve hist trees
Scott dont know that Argonians and Dunmer have almost the same playstyle which primarily is Nightblade, but also Battlemages and Spellswords. Where they differ is Dunmer have more pure mages/wizards, and Argonians more skirmishers and thieves.
rip breton gang, they're my favorite race but they're significantly lacking in the lore department at least compared to the other races. The best we got is the Reachmen.
Exactly what my thoughts were before clicking on this video and seeing your comment hahaha. There’s just no beating Dunmer and Khajiit lore. No other race comes close to them.
@@realzachfluke1 Something, something, Argonians counter-invaded Oblivion during the Oblivion Crisis and made Mehrunes Dagon -- Lord of Destruction and ruler of the Oblivion Plane that is fundamentally the "fire and brimstone"-type of Hell in form and function -- shit himself and close all portals in Black Marsh, something, something. JK, I love Dunmer and Khajiit most.
Jayden Harrold they all have cool lore but the dunmer lore we have explored the most because we literally meet the tribunal and a lot of their lore happens in-game
Argonians i agree with, they are unique with their underwater breathing, poison + disease immunities and hard protective scales etc. Bosmer are the least arcane gifted elves, they are stealthy and agile but so are the khajiit and they have more physical strength on top of that.
@@VinnyEntertainmentYAH the lore filled with tree huging cannibals mobile tree cities and the abillity to shapeshift into formless eldritch horrors that can route armies.
Scott: I dont like how everything about argonians relates to the hist Also Scott: I love how everything about the khajiit relates to the moons (Still love the video though!)
i'm gonna guess and say that the thing that doesn't make those statements contradictory is that it's not about each race having everything relate to this one thing, but the thing itself. he doesn't like argonians being all about the hist because they're essentially sapient bioluminescant trees, and he likes the khajitt being all about the moons cause the moons are actually the two rotting halfs of lorkhans body and thats much cooler/interesting than magic tree sap. there's also the way each thing affects the race, the hist basically get to choose on a whim how argonians will turn out, and the argonians themselves don't seem to posess much autonomy. the moons follow a strict order of what phases make which types of khajiit, and you will never see any khajiit that isn't one of the 17 presets, there's and order to it, and the khajitt, while revering the moons, are still independent and can choose to do what they wish.
@@lkim100 Idk about you, but transdimensional, sapient, bioluminescent tree gods who subtly influence an entire species of people -- all of whom are also created and given form by these trees -- is interesting as hell to me. The fact that they very likely survived the previous kalpa and are using their powers to create a race of mortals equal with the others in Tamriel leaves a lot of room for thought. They could be trying to benefit Nirn, or trying to recreate their old world over time, or even using their godlike powers to shape the new kalpa's world into something else entirely. It's also worth asking why they so viciously keep the center of Blackmarsh closed off to the outside world, to the point where they called the entire Argonian race back to the province to defend it during the Oblivion crisis.
That's bound to happen to the races that haven't gotten an entire game dedicated to their culture. With Wood Elves, everything relates to the Green Pact and everybody has to mention the Wild Hunt. With Argonians everything relates to the Hist and people act like them getting cheat codes to beat back the Daedric invasion makes up for literal centuries of doing nothing remarkable.
All I can think about is Drew's way of speaking, like everything is an epic tale. I love it! I wonder how it would be to listen to Drew explaining, like, how drain pipes work 😂 He'd make it sound mythologically epic! 🤟 You guys are all epic, ofcourse! I really like your vids! Keep it up 😊
“They are that mysterious black hole that swallows our very life force, our sacred water, in a destructive vortex. They’re the veins of the void, channeling the icy liquid back to the darkness from whence it came. They’ve been around for millennia, sitting in our grounds and hiding in our very homes, and yet we barely take the time to consider our shadowy neighbors. Hello everyone, I’m Drew and today we’re talking about the fascinating lore of drain pipes.”
Sephiroa One-of-Nine, Tell that to the Dunmer. Because of the Argonian invasion they had to move their capitol from Mournhold to some shithole called Blacklight.
@@pastorofmuppets4552 Blacklight the capital of house redoran the warrior base house, yea its not a shithole, also the same house that single-handle defeated the argonians, but also the argonians who only chance of invasion success was after morrowind was both hit with the oblivion crisis and with the largest volcano in the world nuking them....yea fucking do that same invasion when morrowind is at full-strength, slave race is slave race
Known Fact: Argonians invaded Oblivion during the Oblivion Crisis. (TBH I wrote this not watching whole video, and I am really, really, really tired...) Edit: Oh, the title says *lore.* I thought the list was about *combat prowess* because the Argonians were made to be durable by the HIST.
It's fitting because they were created by sapient plants for the purpose of being their manservants. So really, the Dunmer are just appropriating the hists cultivation tools. If the hist mind the Dunmer running off with their equipment, we never really hear about it.
Be interesting to see this list redone after elderscrolls 6 comes out. Completely agree. They went way to mainstream for nords and imperials. Morrowind was so "alien like" that there is no way dunmer aren't the best strictly because of how the game portrayed them. Much love guys.
@Captain Redbeard that's exactly why they are the coolest. Because it was so foreign. Nords portrayed in morrowind sounded awesome but in Skyrim we got a lot of bumbling farmers. Don't get me wrong i love Skyrim. Same with oblivion, fudgemuppet has touched on it many times they completely ignored the colovians and the nibenese cultural differences. ( I'm probably butchering the spelling) They went very mainstream for both and didn't stray from the "norm"
@Captain Redbeard agree. They portrayed the Skaal in an incredible fashion yet somehow the entire mainland continent Skyrim is not like them in the slightest. Morrowind had the difference in the ashlanders and the rest of the Dunmer. But they recognized each other. Skyrim I can't remember ever mentioning the Skaal.
The dunmer are a favorite only because the had a game then. If Black Marsh had a game and was expanded on it would easily move up. Just like Scott said with the Khajit had ESO not done well with the Elsweyr they would have scored lower. So this video wasn't Lore related it was all meta game related.
Honestly why I’m kinda upset were getting the next game in the franchise in Hammerfell/High Rock. Seems like we’re just gonna get standard ancient Arabic and middle ages European architecture rather than some of the crazier stuff you’d see in Valenwood, Black Marsh or Summerset.
@@Gum_Cuzzler agreed. I wish the next game would be set in Summerset - it's basically 2 big islands (plus the one that appears and disappears) and they could make the map scale really large, and there's so much potential to explore there. Imagine getting the super high towers, the ones that try to get as close to the sun as possible; imagine climbing these extremely tall buildings with no stairs, only levitation; exploring everything about the most magically oriented culture in Tamriel. The ancient mages who are thousands of years old; the Thalmor; all that. Morrowind was by far the best and most interesting lore-wise, story-wise, and when it comes down to atmosphere and setting. Summerset could be just as good, but with modern mechanics. Bethesda is quite incompetent man, from the very fact they haven't even made TES 6 this whole time..
One of my favorite things about these three kings and their discussions is that, even when they have diametrically opposite opinions, they are so respectful of one another and genuinely hear each other out. They all listen to each other’s thoughts and when presented with new evidence, their opinions evolve accordingly. It’s one of the biggest reasons these three are so amazing as a team, and as friends. Scotty, Mikey and Drew all have such brilliant minds and when they all come together to discuss their findings or views, it’s amazing to see. It doesn’t even matter that they are diving into the lore of TES. I would listen to these three give their thoughts on literally anything, and I would love it. It’s pretty rare to find a podcast/group that you can’t find a single thing that you dislike. I am better for having found this podcast, these guys make my day each time. Been going through some really intensely hard stuff lately, medical and personal stuff, found out my newborn isn’t actually mine, and that I have to have surgery soon. It’s really nice to know I can curl up and just nerd out and learn so much about my favorite series while listening to these three. Fudge muppet is getting me through some really hard times. Thanks you guys. Fucking love this show.
When it comes to their religion the lore is pretty good, but everything about them as a race and society is just boring to me. If they weren’t cat people, they would be irrelevant.
Whats most interesting to me about khajit is how the moon phases effect their bodyshape and thus there place in society. They basically have a caste systhem but one that is predetermined by nature(moon phases) not by a leader wich is an interessting take on caste systhems
I think they've been kind of done dirty lore wise so i get the placing. They dont have any unique theological views like Khajit or outcasting like Orsimer and visually speaking they just look like normal people with a higher affinity for magic. Bethesda realy could have delved into the creation of Bretons and their backstory and they probably would have placed much higher, around 5 i think.
Shawn Berry please explain, because I just don’t see it, they come off to me as more Frenchy Imperials with some elven ancestry but without the interesting characters like Pelinal Whitestrake.
It's really cool that the argonians were named after the element Argon. The joke I feel is that like the element Argon, they don't mix well with anyone. Or do anything for anyone. You have to force the element to react. Bethesda is quite the nerd fraternity lol. Wouldnt have it any other way
@@ms.aelanwyr.ilaicos I didnt know that... that's actually really cool and makes sense. The dino race is named after the element used to date their remains😂 Wait wait wait What if the Argonians are Argon based life forms?????
They just look funky but I wouldn't say that their culture is so cool, they're all about religion and almost nothing about history or culture, they were slaves for dunmer throughout centuries
@@n1lls_ that's cause we dont know a lot about them cause they always keep to themselves and there is history like the ebonheart pact and the pirates etc obviously the the whole hist shit is really unique and mysterious and they're the only race who ain't the ogs
@@n1lls_ As another guy stated we don't know a lot because Argonians are quite a hermit people, there are some lore that state that Blackmarsh is deadly to everyone but the Argonians so it'd be quite hard to go and take a tour of Blackmarsh. But even still Argonians do have some culture and history that is apparent, we know that if Argonians are born underneath the shadow sign they are called shadowscales and trained to be amazing fighters/assassins, they're usually adopted by the Dark Brotherhood. As well they repelled Mehrunes Dagon during the Oblivion Crisis, some stories state that the Argonians pushed the Daedra so far back that some of them chose to invade Oblivion. A lot of the popular stuff about the Argonians is about the Hist but that's because they're so mysterious, if you look closer you can see a much more thought out culture. Hopefully Bethesda choses to give light to them because in my opinion they are one of the most mysterious races.
I feel like ranking the races on an S-tier ranking system would have made this so much easier, since its really difficult to rank certain races higher than others because they're both so cool.
The numbered list is better for discussion I would say. In a S to F ranking system will often go through the different alternatives rather quickly so you get an overview of where they fall. To go in depth you will have to compare the races more closely to each other, and thus be able more accurately place them from best to worst.
To be honest the I felt like the Nords were way too war focused and played into the Viking stereotype when there is so much Scandinavian and Anglo Saxon influence to draw from
Very good point. Finland is a brilliant source of inspiration for the Nords too considering that their religion is much more shamanic. The Baltic nations, the slavs & the Early Russian kingdom of the Kievan Rus, a nation founded by Vikings with some Byzantine influences, are also amazing influences for the nords. Skyrim didn’t even really handle the Scandinavian stuff right, lol. Its just... cheesy. Not all of it but its very watered down
@@DEVS_VLTIMA Why not? Russians are descendants of a norse tribe called the Rus. But now I’m repeating myself. & Slavic cultures have lots of connections with the norse. For example the norse þor & the slavic Perun are basically the same god. You can’t deny how related the groups are. Besides, i listed them in a number of cultural groups for inspiration. Not just nords=slavs.
I like em but between redguard and nords it basically comes down to wich continent you like more and i think altmora or what the name of the nord continent is again is super interesting
You can tell these guys really love the elder scrolls, but Scott especially is living there in his mind and has some great perspectives. That’s what makes it for me
I'm listening to you guys on spotify and I gotta say, congrats to you all. You go straight to the point, every minute is content that we all love and enjoy, no wasting time talking about useless stuff, and your conversations are helping me assimilate some lore stuff that I'm learning from a series that a brazilian youtuber (I'm brazilian, thats why) is doing since december 2017. Again, very good content, keep it up!!!
I figured someone else might cop onto this. Nords and Imperials are alike in that they are both mutually central in a lot of politcal and worldy engagements, the only reason they are not as interesting IMO is that the Nords have the Thu'um. Then again, the Imperials can summon the embodiment of Akatosh through their emporer. But I'd personally put Nords just above Imperials and if I'm going to put Imperials at the bottom, then the Nords have to go there too. They're just not that interesting, and the only reason that they are considered as such is because of Ysgrimmor. Remove Ysgrimmor and nords are basically just drunk humans who believe in nirvana and follow the Aedra the same as the Altmer. They're still more interesting and contextually relevant than Altmer though, Altmer for position no. 10.
Imperial should be way higher. By far they have the best lore. Especially the pelinel whitestrike and that whole story. The imperials are interconnected to the whole of nirn. The hypocritical statements make no sense. I knew they were gonna pick dark elves before I even saw the the thumbnail. They are my second favorite race to imperials. I actually played Morrowind when in came out and it is my favorite elder scrolls game. It has aged horribly though. When it came out though it was revolutionary especially compared to the first two games. The scale was smaller, but the detail was amazing.
@@MalusSanguine that acceptable to me. I just don't think the race that rule tamerial Multiple time deserves to be that low at number 10. It just my opinion though.
@@TheWhiteWolf68 Yep, same. Plus the different cultures within the Imperials (Colovian, Nibenese), the fact that deadra worship is frowned upon, yet not illegal. The fact that there are influences of different cultures within the Imperials depending on the reagion...
I must say I never understood the argument that because something is typical classic high fantasy, that it is a bad thing/boring. There is a reason why aGoT/LotR/Fable etc are so popular...it's because they are interesting to many people. They are relatable, and have elements from this world made fantastic. This is why Bretons ARE my favorite race, and the race I'm most interested in. For me the mindset of popular=bad is a flawed one, but to each their own. Another awesome podcast, thank you for making my lunch break enjoyable!
It's not necessarily bad just kinda generic at this point, we've seen it before in every fantasy setting that just wants to copy Tolkien instead of something new. Not bad, but we've seen them before everywhere. So next to Dunmer, Redguard, Nords, etc. Bretons don't offer anything unique to the setting, whereas every other race (except imperials) has something new to offer.
Seeing roughly the same thing over and over from different fictions for decades is like white noise. It can take a long time to get sick of a concept, but it can happen. It's less "if it's popular it's bad" and more "overly-common concepts become boring". The more out-there stuff tends to be more memorable on account of uniqueness. Of course, different people will have different tastes; I'm just describing a different view.
@@WumboGuy you should look into the imperial's lore is quite deep and interesting. It just gets overshadowed by roman similarities. And personally I don't like the nords they're basically Viking and they're history is just hating the elves and even Talos was probably a breton
"The Khajiit hail from a distant land called Elsweyr, bordered on the north by Cyrodiil and the south by the glistening blue waters of the sea. Elsweyr is an arid land of deserts and rocky canyons, where the sun shines warmly, always. There are cities so ancient, the sands have swallowed them whole. But now I will say no more, for I miss my home greatly." Anyways, I kinda like the Khajiit...
@@corv1d770 Everything from their pantheon, their culture, their province, to even their biology is so interesting and there are so many cool concepts to explore. Also, their passive ability grants them so much unarmed damage boost that it's on par with Daedric Sword's base damage so there is that.
My personal list: 1: Redguard (swords, previous kalpas, culture) 2: Khajiit (culture, lunar lattice) 3: Dunmer (morang tong, daedra worship) 4: Orcs (culture, theology) 5: Argonians (hist biology/culture) 6: Nords (I like the Norse influence) 7: Bosmer (cannibalism and shape shifting) 8: Altmer (honestly they are just Bland) 9: Imperials 10: Bretons Scott was my only ally on this day *sword salute*
@@siouxsieslime2985 LMAO fr some time ago they give us content about how their ancestors (sword singers) can create energy blades from thin air and use it to close the void and they below nords? Not to mention they come from a different kalpa. That's some really cool shit that no other race on nirn can claim.
@@truerebel5467 The Redguards forgot how to make the Shehai, similarly to the Nords, only the Greybeards use the Voice. The Thu'um is literally used by the Divines, see Kyne here. And Nords are also from previous Kalpas, they are being summon on the Throat of the World each Kalpa.
Of course Argonians are more than just farm tools... They also make decent maids, and you might even be able to teach one to cook... Wait, they do know mud isn't food, right?
Good list! I'm starting to realize that Redguards are probably my favorite race, altogether. Also rip Bretons, I knew they'd be towards the bottom lol. I almost always play as them, though. You guys should do an episode about the other continents that we don't visit, like Pyandonea and Akavir!
As long as I love Khajits, it is clear for me that the Dunmer race (former chimer) has the best lore. Massive shape shifting (the skin), living gods, directly interaction with three powerful daedra, original architecture, the great houses, ancestors worship, very original fashion and armor design ...
Argonians: manage to have the only impenetrable nation that has no hope of ever being conquered, have unique lore surrounding the concept of a hivemind tree deity (aka the Hist of course), have been repeatedly enslaved and yet still fight back, have their own unique traditions and cultural tidbits that stand out from other races (like their ability to change their sex through communion with the hist, or the fact that if distant from the hist they grow less conscious of their spiritual connection to it and also rely on its sap to develop properly as their kind), may have direct ties to Sithis himself considering the implied connections between Sithis and the Hist as well the shadowscale tradition, AND have incredible biological abilities and statistical strengths and advantages Scott: Argonians boring boo Argonians: am I a joke to you?
I've been pointing this out to the rest of the comment section Dunmer and Nords rank high only because they have a game each. If Black marsh had a game that was as expansive as the Morrowind game they would go up as well. Scott even mentions that Khajit wouldn't have been as high up had ESO not done the Elsweyr expansion properly.
@@HugoSan432 I def agree with this point. The dunmer will alway be my favorite, but them going on about how cool nords are while pushing the argonians sounded really silly to me. The whole concept of lizard people who develop sentience through symbiosis with sentient, hivemind trees is just??? So cool and not typical in any fantasy sense? Whereas the nords are basically the kinds of people you find at a bar bragging about how they killed some minority while talking about how sophisticated and complex their people are
I would deffo not put Argonians as last, but I have to correct some things you said: they were never enslaved as a whole, there were some raiding parties from House Dres to capture slaves from the borders, but they actually never penetrated deep into Blackmarsh. And to be fair, the Argonian invasion of Morrowind only advanced as far as the biom was similar to their own, so when they hit the vulcanic lands they also struggled. Also their cultural bit that I find just lazy writing is that they don't care about their past, so they don't have such a rich history and culture this way imo. (also sorry for the extremely late reply :P)
Redguard would be higher if they had more polish in the modern games I think. But I gotta agree, Thu'um > Swordsinging Swordsinging gives you weapons, Thu'um IS a weapon
I love the Orc lore but never play them, every time i try to play them i end up leaving them to collect dust sadly. I love argonian lore and how they look but I have the same issue with them. I love Dunmer, their lore, and play them a lot.
I know how you feel, there are some races I never play for very long. Orcs are sadly on that list, I think it's because their lore is so simple it's hard to pretend to be anything else and get fully invested. If you're an orc outside of a stronghold you're an outcast on your own journey - basically a nomad looking for a fight or a challenge, nothing more, nothing less [like Umbra, or the ebony warrior] and never touching a spell. If you're a Dunmer, you can be a traditionalist who worships Azura - summons an ancestral ghost, finds conjuration and even necromancy acceptable. Or a destruction mage. A member of the Morag Tong, a highly skilled assassin and member of the dark brotherhood. If you're a non-traditionalist maybe you just want to live a simple life, have basic sword skills from killing cliffracers back in vvardenfell,
Lore wise, I generally agree with the compromised list. I find interesting though that my preferred choice to play as is almost that exact list up side down.
REEE my favorite wasn't number one!!!! In all seriousness, great video as usual guys. Bretons are my favorite race to play but outside of that I can't justify them being any higher on this list. I think I'd switch the Altmer and Bosmer's positions but otherwise I think you nailed it. Thanks for the interesting discussion!
I was convinced that you all were one person cuz your voices sound so similar, all that "Hi I'm Scott/Drew/Michael from Fudgemuppet." I tuned out in the time I've watched the videos y'all put out.
I wonder if there will be a podcast comparing the non-playable races? Perhaps not all of them, if you look into things there is an absurd amount of races that only really get mentioned once or twice. If it were me I'd keep it to stuff like Maomer, Dwemer, Aylied? Things like that.
The amount that Redguard had to defend being higher than the Bosmer versus the moments spent defending Bosmer makes me think Redguard had a much stronger case. Long list for redguard, pretty small for bosmer other than 'creative for elves'. But, great list!
Personally the races I find most interesting are non-playable races. Snow Elves being my number 1 I think, but it definitely changes. Of the playable races I definitely think the Redguards are the best/most interesting human race. For Elves it’s so hard to choose. I’m a huge fan of elves in any story and there are parts that I like and dislike about every Elven race in TES. Perhaps I might pick the Altmer just to be contrary - and also because they make such good bad guys. Of the beast races I definitely have to pick the Khajiit, with the Argonians being a close second. They miss out on being equal first because I love cats in real life. 😁. Of these if I had to pick a number one, it’d probably be the Altmer. They do make really good bad guys and I feel bad for them. They’ve locked themselves into a life without growth and change for misguided reasons. They are as much a tragic race as the Orcs in my opinion.
Being a big Zelda fan, I always felt that, based on their descriptions, that Bretons should look a bit more like Hylians. The defined pointed ears, but looking mostly like humans, plus the affinity for magic.
I've lost an hour to determine the origins of the theme in the beginning of the video. And finally: it's from "Morrowind", The Road Most Travelled! I so loved that game and felt good exploring the land with such great music in the background. Jeremy, never stop composing.
Interesting parts. 08:00 - 17:50 Scott explains why he thinks the Argonians are the least interesting race. An argument with Michael ensued. 18:00 - 22:50 : Scott explains why the bretons are kind of cool. Drew and Michael thinks they had potential to be cool but...Meh. 23:40 - 27:25 Michael explains why he puts the orcs so low (because shrek and he hates green color) but Drew explains how cool is their creation story (because shit happens). 28:55 - 33:33 : Michael thinks nords are cool but no so much as other races. An argument with Scott and Drew ensued. In Conclusion, it was officially recorder that nords are cool. 34:45 - 39:40 : Scott talks about the Bosmer. They are cool because, you know, cannibalism, the green pact, their size, those wonderful tree cities, and in the end how they are super gross. An argument with Michael ensued about how "hot" they are. Drew just admitted he was wrong to put them so low. 39:50 : 44 :15 Michael explains why the redguards are super cool and fuck the shit out of the bretons. Scott calls them the north-africans samurai and their theology are super cool and their spirit swords are cool. Drew explains why they are more than warriors. 46:54 - 49:25 : Oh my god. What a surprise. The number one is revealed. Dunmer are the best race. Apparently. FUCK PELINAL ! They are cool consistently because cultural changes are fucking cool, their pantheon, the architecture, and so on. Dark elves foreva baby ! 52:15 : 58:30 - To Scott, Khajiits' culture is really great. Drew and Scott are in love with their religion/pantheon. #thedarksideofthemoon But at the end of the day, if they had to clear Tamriel, it wouldn't make such a difference. lol
I’m a bit late to the party but this content is so awesome to listen to while working/gaming/cleaning or doing anything around the house. Keep it up guys and more content like this please!
I mean I don't like imperials, but holy fuck does the song of Pelinal and Pelinal himself get me hyped. Hands down favourite character in the Elder scrolls along with Trinimac and the story of Malacath
@@InquisitorThomas Breton's could be so interesting, but they are just bereft of lore. Hope that they really flesh them out in the next elder scrolls game, but I have my doubts on whether it will actually be good or not. I just hope they don't dumb anything down more than they already did from Oblivion to Skyrim. Bethesda has lost a lot of my trust with the whole 76 debacle.
personally i enjoy the simplicity of the argonian connection with the hist tree, that's what initially drew me in to making myself argonian for my oblivion playthrough. granted, i'm fairly new to the world of TES, but i find it endlessly fascinating. it's true that the other races have more complex pantheons and religions, but conversely the argonians are the only ones who have such a unique relationship to the world and spirituality, and that's what makes them interesting to me. getting visions from the hist, and the cycle of their spirits returning to the hist upon death before being reborn while the hist essentially live every argonians experience and see all over tamriel from their place in the heart of a basically impenetrable swamp is part of such a strange and wonderful symbiosis. doesn't fit into the other races with their complex and sometimes similar creation stories and gods, but it certainly is unconventional. to me it feels like something ancient and mystical, that spiritual connection with nature. it's really cool. these lizards are tripping out on tree sap and being reincarnated while a bunch of sentient trees collect their knowledge and experiences. not to mention getting them methed up to pussywhip a daedric prince, which is about as metal as it gets. at least they did something right. edit: drew really kind of hit it on the head in far less words. it's the mystery of it all that makes it so interesting. we'll never really know what's up with the argonians and the hist and their mystical earthy relationship, and that's just really enticing.
My list before watching the video: 1. Nord 2. Imperial 3. Khajiit 4. High Elf 5. Dark Elf 6. Orc 7. Redguard 8. Breton 9. Argonian 10. Wood Elf Will update if my mind changes!
Listening to Michael talk about the duality of wood elves how they're the more in his words amorously inclined people of all the merfolk but also they are still Savage when it comes to war protecting their homes is exactly how I'm playing my current wood elf bosmer playthrough.
One of the most gangster things in ES history are Argonians during the Oblivion Crisis. Actually invading Oblivion by fighting the dremora armies through the Oblivion gates. Pretty awesome.
To me, when it comes to lore. 10. Altmer (They just kinda there... not really much in terms of lore outside them making some magic schools that don't exist in the games.) 9. Bretons (At least their backstory's okay, but like, they're in the same boat as the Altmer, they're just kinda there). 8. Orsimer (The way they came into existence is literally all they've got. Well, outside them trying to make a kingdom once every few centuries, just for it to be destroyed). 7. Argonians (Lizard 1: I wanna lick some sap. Lizard 2: Same, bro. *Both lick sap.* Lizard 1: Broooo, is like, this tree talking to us? Lizard 2: Broooo, I hear it too, man.)(Anyway, outside that joke, they've only've been getting good lore recently; them attacking Dunmer cities, them fighting back the forces of Oblivion, making the xenophobia of the Nords look like just simple bullying, etc). 6. Khajiit (FUCKING FURRIES... Their diverse biology is cool, but like, there's not much in terms of lore outside how their biology works and how their society works and them being drug dealers... and thieves...) 5. Bosmer (The coolest thing about them is them basically being the source of all monsters in the world. Outside that, "cannibal" carnivore, archers... basically it. Oh, and horns) 4. Imperials (I'll say if there's a "protag" race, it's the Imperials, but they're almost mindnumbingly generic. But they've got good lore). This is where it becomes hard for me. 3. Dunmer (They've got the most lore over all other races, but they don't have lore that's as important to Tamrial compared to the other two top races). 2. Redguards (They've got the most badass lore. Sword-singers, the fact that they don't belong in this "world", the best one-handed swordsman on tamrial, etc) 1. Nords (If there's a race after the Imperials that I'd call "protag", it'd be the Nords. If the Nords didn't exist, most of the events on tamrial wouldn't have happened) Personally, I like all the human races, with the Dunmer being the only non-human race I like.
I’ve always wondered how hard do u have to worship a daedric prince like Azura for example, to gain access to their realm (moonshadow) after life. Like if I lived in TES universe and I have a shrine to Azura in my basement and pray to her twice a day am I going to have an afterlife in moonshadow. SOMEONE PLEASE ANSWER I GOTS TO KNOW
I'm not sure about Azura but I do know that most of the afterlives in TES do work similar to that. Though there are other ways to get into some too. Like Hircene for example
@@talinbentley235 hircine’s afterlife works through curse, you are basically chained to his realm as soon as you contract lycanthropy. I wonder if you can reach his realm without having to become a werewolf.
@@Swaggerpede im not quite sure why i said Hircine here i assume i meant to put a different Daedric Prince lol. Though I dont think it is explicitly said anywhere I would assume a normal mortal could be part of the Hunt with enough devotion to Hircine.
Most of them are pacts, you sell your soul for a boon. Technically at the end of skyrim there's going to be a war over the dragonborns soul. Which would be a great plot in es6.
@@ralcogaming7674 Technically it looks like Akatosh will just swoop in and take your soul and that's that. You are The Last Dragonborn he has the claim on your soul and there's nothing anyone can do about it. There will be no war.
With some of the coolest characters in the series associated with them I can't see how imperials were ranked so low. People like Pelinal Whitestrake and Reman Cyrodiil. Its criminal. So many cool characters. Talos, Pelinal, Alesia, Maruk, Every Emperor in the septim line, special mentions to Pelagius III and Uriel V and my home Titus Mede II.
52:00 everyone and their mothers on eso pick Khajits " I like being a giant kitty" dont get me wrong I love cats and games but outta all the simple reasonings that's one that takes the cake, dead ass 30+ people throughout my guilds Aldmeri Dominion simply for khajits
So I'm a little late to this party, but my personal list goes something like this. 1) Nords 2) Orcs 3) Dunmer 4) Redgard 5) Khajiit 6) Bosmer 7) Altmer 8) Imperial 9) Breton 10) Argonian
Plus they're the least basically gifted of the elves including even the bretons. (Except the orcs but it's debated whether they're elven or beast folk)
Nords are simple minded with no arcane or stealth based talents, but they are brave and among the best warriors. So that means you only like to play as a warrior or a straightforward brawler?
@@thomasrosendahl2783 Nords are a proud, strong and hardy race with a rich history. They have exceptional skills in melee combat and are strong warriors. Therefore I don't see them as a simple minded race. I like playing as a warrior but also as a mage. I have played many different races and builds, and Nords have always come out as my number one favorite race. And hey, you can't deny that they are badass and cool as hell.
I enjoy the Nord culture and feel they have a very naturalistic perspective on life; plus I always thought it was interesting building a Nord character that doesn't fully adhere to the regional society, a product of the culture but an outlier never fitting into it comfortably. There are many individual ideals and beliefs under the shade of the wider umbrella of Nordic culture. The environment of Skyrim itself breeds strong individualism
I love the khajiit lore, and the influence of the moons. Lore wise, they are one of my favorite races. With that said, I do have a tendency to play mainly as dunmer or altmer.
I am thankful that you guys exist and that there can be discussions at this length over a world we all love and share but isn't even real. Sithis bless you all, bitches.
When you understand that Scott is a dunmer weeb is makes a lot of sense why he put argonians at #10
Property shouldn't even be discussed when talking about races
When you get over the fact that "oh my, they have scales. Thats different" you will realize that all the "mystery" is just Bethesda need a race to get dunked on and they don't actually care about them.
makes sense
If you play knights of the nine dlc in Oblivion. Imperial lore is a lot more interesting
Nah they actually have nomlore compared to others
"If you took away the Argonians, it's not like anything would change"
The entire Dunmer economy for millennia: Am I a joke to you?
Dunmer: "Where are my farm tools?"
oh noooo 😭
They actually mentioned that.
House Telvanni: *sigh* Servant, go out and buy me a dozen Khajiit.
One of all the 2 impactful thing they have ever done lol
Bless you Michael, may the Hist bring great visions to you, marsh-brother
Argonians have the best thing. Mystery.
@@thezerowulf507
The mystery is maintained by the SUV sized bugs in the marsh.
Argonians have a skeleton for lore and the stuff Bethesda haven't bothered to write is just called mystery. Where your races history is 30% slavery, 5% they did something during oblivion, and 65% mystery it doesn't make a race interesting. Its lazy and boring.
What makes the Argonians interesting, is their connection and shared history with the Dunmer. That alone moves them from 10th place up to 4 or 5th place on the list.
I never rated the Argonians, but listening to Mike made me actually take an interest in them
23:47 "I don't like green" Scott says in a green box lol
Said a man named Scott
@@simonschenz3315 LMAO
It’s a punishment
Scott: *Puts Argonians in bottom tier*
*DARK ELF SUPREMACY INTENSIFIES!*
Frankly that was a bit nice. This video was on which race has the best lore argonians arent a race there just tools made to.take care.of plants. Hell even the ones not in service as dunmer farm equipment that think there free are just drones that exist to serve hist trees
Fudge: *Nord are the best humans*
*STORMCLOAK SUPREMACY INTENSIFIES*
*N'WAH EXTREME*
He did make a sound argument against the sap drinking hulk lizards.
Scott dont know that Argonians and Dunmer have almost the same playstyle which primarily is Nightblade, but also Battlemages and Spellswords. Where they differ is Dunmer have more pure mages/wizards, and Argonians more skirmishers and thieves.
rip breton gang, they're my favorite race but they're significantly lacking in the lore department at least compared to the other races. The best we got is the Reachmen.
Talos is believed to be Breton, so they have an assended god.
Men and Mer = Breton = Godlike
I agree with you. I’d say the Bretons are my top Human race. Not #1 overall but top 5 easy.
Who needs lore when you have busted racials?
Breton and Imperials are best in politics and science, elves are the best in culture and how
before i watch i will predict they will talk about either Dunmer or Khajit the most
yep
I predicted that when they announced this a couple days ago, those two races really do have the coolest lore.
Exactly what my thoughts were before clicking on this video and seeing your comment hahaha. There’s just no beating Dunmer and Khajiit lore. No other race comes close to them.
@@realzachfluke1 Something, something, Argonians counter-invaded Oblivion during the Oblivion Crisis and made Mehrunes Dagon -- Lord of Destruction and ruler of the Oblivion Plane that is fundamentally the "fire and brimstone"-type of Hell in form and function -- shit himself and close all portals in Black Marsh, something, something.
JK, I love Dunmer and Khajiit most.
Jayden Harrold they all have cool lore but the dunmer lore we have explored the most because we literally meet the tribunal and a lot of their lore happens in-game
Zachary Fluke Redguard lore is a lot more interesting than Khajiit lore, but thats just my opinion.
YES!! Michael showing wood elves and Argonions the respect they deserve
@@Observant213 have you even read into their lore?
@@skinhead3588 Lol WHAT LORE?
Argonians i agree with, they are unique with their underwater breathing, poison + disease immunities and hard protective scales etc. Bosmer are the least arcane gifted elves, they are stealthy and agile but so are the khajiit and they have more physical strength on top of that.
@@thomasrosendahl2783 The Argonians literally had to evolve feet that can wear shoes.
@@VinnyEntertainmentYAH the lore filled with tree huging cannibals mobile tree cities and the abillity to shapeshift into formless eldritch horrors that can route armies.
Scott: I dont like how everything about argonians relates to the hist
Also Scott: I love how everything about the khajiit relates to the moons
(Still love the video though!)
i'm gonna guess and say that the thing that doesn't make those statements contradictory is that it's not about each race having everything relate to this one thing, but the thing itself. he doesn't like argonians being all about the hist because they're essentially sapient bioluminescant trees, and he likes the khajitt being all about the moons cause the moons are actually the two rotting halfs of lorkhans body and thats much cooler/interesting than magic tree sap. there's also the way each thing affects the race, the hist basically get to choose on a whim how argonians will turn out, and the argonians themselves don't seem to posess much autonomy. the moons follow a strict order of what phases make which types of khajiit, and you will never see any khajiit that isn't one of the 17 presets, there's and order to it, and the khajitt, while revering the moons, are still independent and can choose to do what they wish.
@@lkim100 Idk about you, but transdimensional, sapient, bioluminescent tree gods who subtly influence an entire species of people -- all of whom are also created and given form by these trees -- is interesting as hell to me. The fact that they very likely survived the previous kalpa and are using their powers to create a race of mortals equal with the others in Tamriel leaves a lot of room for thought. They could be trying to benefit Nirn, or trying to recreate their old world over time, or even using their godlike powers to shape the new kalpa's world into something else entirely. It's also worth asking why they so viciously keep the center of Blackmarsh closed off to the outside world, to the point where they called the entire Argonian race back to the province to defend it during the Oblivion crisis.
That's bound to happen to the races that haven't gotten an entire game dedicated to their culture.
With Wood Elves, everything relates to the Green Pact and everybody has to mention the Wild Hunt. With Argonians everything relates to the Hist and people act like them getting cheat codes to beat back the Daedric invasion makes up for literal centuries of doing nothing remarkable.
Well the moons are obviously superior to a bunch of hallucinogenic trees. What an N'Wah
@@KonoGufo No they are not gods. Tiber Septim is a god.
I think a ranking of all the races of Nirn both playable and non-playable would be interesting
number 1 dwemer
@@YOGI-kb9tg dremora
Kurt County dremora aren’t a race of nirn they are a race of oblivion
@@zerosparky5996 they also dont have a culture they are basically just demons it would be better to say deadra in general at that point
@@YOGI-kb9tg nah there different each other because of daedric princes.
Be warned. Your ranking of the glorious Altmer race has earned you our ire. You have been marked by the Thalmor.
You won’t be so superior when your in a bloody pool on the ground elf!
You can't scare me! I know how to t-pose
The Caesar has marked you for death! And the legion obeys! Ready yourself for battle!
If you can’t levitate like a regular Dunmer you deserve to be a gardening tool, N’wah
😂😂😂😂😂 I love this comment
All I can think about is Drew's way of speaking, like everything is an epic tale. I love it! I wonder how it would be to listen to Drew explaining, like, how drain pipes work 😂 He'd make it sound mythologically epic! 🤟 You guys are all epic, ofcourse! I really like your vids! Keep it up 😊
He actually talks normally in the podcasts but when he narrates videos every sentence sounds the same
Drew best boi
I dunno, man. The Dwemer had some pretty epic drain pipes in their ruins.
“They are that mysterious black hole that swallows our very life force, our sacred water, in a destructive vortex. They’re the veins of the void, channeling the icy liquid back to the darkness from whence it came. They’ve been around for millennia, sitting in our grounds and hiding in our very homes, and yet we barely take the time to consider our shadowy neighbors. Hello everyone, I’m Drew and today we’re talking about the fascinating lore of drain pipes.”
drew so wholesome 💟
Scott: If you take Argonians and throw them away, won’t be that big of impact on Tamriel
Ne Ne Ne Ne Ne Ne Ne Ne Ne Ne Ne
I was gonna put the same, shit they even needed for the Dark Brotherhood. Im sure it was this channel about the lore about it.
he's not wrong -
Sephiroa One-of-Nine, Tell that to the Dunmer. Because of the Argonian invasion they had to move their capitol from Mournhold to some shithole called Blacklight.
@@pastorofmuppets4552 Blacklight the capital of house redoran the warrior base house, yea its not a shithole, also the same house that single-handle defeated the argonians, but also the argonians who only chance of invasion success was after morrowind was both hit with the oblivion crisis and with the largest volcano in the world nuking them....yea fucking do that same invasion when morrowind is at full-strength, slave race is slave race
@@pastorofmuppets4552 Guess we can agree that Argonians decided to attack at the Dunmer's weakest point? And yet, they got pushed back? Hahahahahaha
Argonians: Tree lickers?! Ours is to frown at your passing, Scott. :'(
Known Fact: Argonians invaded Oblivion during the Oblivion Crisis.
(TBH I wrote this not watching whole video, and I am really, really, really tired...)
Edit: Oh, the title says *lore.* I thought the list was about *combat prowess* because the Argonians were made to be durable by the HIST.
@@caiuscosades8612
why tf don't argonians have any lore, they were created by trees, there's plenty of potential for lore
@@omnical6135 mofuckers were created by trees and made Dagon go “oh shoot no close close close the gate now “
Lizard licker
Actually Kirkbride Kinda Screwed With That It's Not Really Full Canon With The Invading Oblivion
Dunmer: I'll f**k something weird
Khajiit: I am something weird
Lore Masters: Such rich lore :0
"people who like the dark elves just see them (argonians) as farm tools"
*Scott smiles*
It's fitting because they were created by sapient plants for the purpose of being their manservants.
So really, the Dunmer are just appropriating the hists cultivation tools. If the hist mind the Dunmer running off with their equipment, we never really hear about it.
Be interesting to see this list redone after elderscrolls 6 comes out.
Completely agree. They went way to mainstream for nords and imperials. Morrowind was so "alien like" that there is no way dunmer aren't the best strictly because of how the game portrayed them. Much love guys.
@Captain Redbeard that's exactly why they are the coolest. Because it was so foreign. Nords portrayed in morrowind sounded awesome but in Skyrim we got a lot of bumbling farmers. Don't get me wrong i love Skyrim. Same with oblivion, fudgemuppet has touched on it many times they completely ignored the colovians and the nibenese cultural differences. ( I'm probably butchering the spelling) They went very mainstream for both and didn't stray from the "norm"
@Captain Redbeard agree. They portrayed the Skaal in an incredible fashion yet somehow the entire mainland continent Skyrim is not like them in the slightest. Morrowind had the difference in the ashlanders and the rest of the Dunmer. But they recognized each other. Skyrim I can't remember ever mentioning the Skaal.
The dunmer are a favorite only because the had a game then. If Black Marsh had a game and was expanded on it would easily move up. Just like Scott said with the Khajit had ESO not done well with the Elsweyr they would have scored lower. So this video wasn't Lore related it was all meta game related.
Honestly why I’m kinda upset were getting the next game in the franchise in Hammerfell/High Rock. Seems like we’re just gonna get standard ancient Arabic and middle ages European architecture rather than some of the crazier stuff you’d see in Valenwood, Black Marsh or Summerset.
@@Gum_Cuzzler agreed. I wish the next game would be set in Summerset - it's basically 2 big islands (plus the one that appears and disappears) and they could make the map scale really large, and there's so much potential to explore there. Imagine getting the super high towers, the ones that try to get as close to the sun as possible; imagine climbing these extremely tall buildings with no stairs, only levitation; exploring everything about the most magically oriented culture in Tamriel. The ancient mages who are thousands of years old; the Thalmor; all that.
Morrowind was by far the best and most interesting lore-wise, story-wise, and when it comes down to atmosphere and setting. Summerset could be just as good, but with modern mechanics. Bethesda is quite incompetent man, from the very fact they haven't even made TES 6 this whole time..
When this video started with Morrowind music, we all knew what was coming.
Lol
The podcast videos always Open with morrowind music
Everyone who know at least 1% of this channel.
~1s of the video~
"They will say is Dark elf, isnt?" This dark elfs lovers.... XD, lets see
Scott: *Trash talks the Argonians*
Micheal: “So, you have chosen death”
"THEN PAY WITH YOUR BLOOD"
Farm equipment. It's antique and needs to be replaced.
Symbiotic is the word Michael was looking for in regards to the Hist and Argonians
Thank you! That was bugging me too. I was thinking “someone help him out! It’s Symbiotic he’s thinking of!”
Agree
One of my favorite things about these three kings and their discussions is that, even when they have diametrically opposite opinions, they are so respectful of one another and genuinely hear each other out. They all listen to each other’s thoughts and when presented with new evidence, their opinions evolve accordingly. It’s one of the biggest reasons these three are so amazing as a team, and as friends. Scotty, Mikey and Drew all have such brilliant minds and when they all come together to discuss their findings or views, it’s amazing to see. It doesn’t even matter that they are diving into the lore of TES. I would listen to these three give their thoughts on literally anything, and I would love it. It’s pretty rare to find a podcast/group that you can’t find a single thing that you dislike. I am better for having found this podcast, these guys make my day each time. Been going through some really intensely hard stuff lately, medical and personal stuff, found out my newborn isn’t actually mine, and that I have to have surgery soon. It’s really nice to know I can curl up and just nerd out and learn so much about my favorite series while listening to these three. Fudge muppet is getting me through some really hard times. Thanks you guys. Fucking love this show.
Ever heard of them cats? _Khajiit_ I think they call themselves, I hear theres full countries of them down south
*AND THEY GOT THE BEST LORE*
It's too simple, I think. All this myths about moons, Grivva, it's all just simple
@@n1lls_ Indeed. Always thought the cats were pretty boring.
When it comes to their religion the lore is pretty good, but everything about them as a race and society is just boring to me. If they weren’t cat people, they would be irrelevant.
@Dimitri Telvanni nah I think I love roman Cyrodil things more
Whats most interesting to me about khajit is how the moon phases effect their bodyshape and thus there place in society. They basically have a caste systhem but one that is predetermined by nature(moon phases) not by a leader wich is an interessting take on caste systhems
Michael: Breton 10
Drew: Breton 10
Scott: Breton 7
Me: *As a Breton lover cries on the inside T_T*
Me too, even though I totally expected them to be the least on the list.
I think they've been kind of done dirty lore wise so i get the placing.
They dont have any unique theological views like Khajit or outcasting like Orsimer and visually speaking they just look like normal people with a higher affinity for magic.
Bethesda realy could have delved into the creation of Bretons and their backstory and they probably would have placed much higher, around 5 i think.
They put them last purely off of looks even tho this is about lore not appearances. Smh
Bretons are the best! Their lore is as good as dunmer.
Shawn Berry please explain, because I just don’t see it, they come off to me as more Frenchy Imperials with some elven ancestry but without the interesting characters like Pelinal Whitestrake.
It's really cool that the argonians were named after the element Argon. The joke I feel is that like the element Argon, they don't mix well with anyone. Or do anything for anyone. You have to force the element to react. Bethesda is quite the nerd fraternity lol. Wouldnt have it any other way
Argon is useful for dating fossils!
@@ms.aelanwyr.ilaicos Talk about useless!!!!!!
@@ms.aelanwyr.ilaicos I didnt know that... that's actually really cool and makes sense. The dino race is named after the element used to date their remains😂
Wait wait wait
What if the Argonians are Argon based life forms?????
Argonians are from d&d not elder scrolls
@@thecomedygamingnetwork261 Argon is used for dating fossils...
Argonians use living fossils as part of their dating...
*HMM*
Argonian's need more lore they are my favorite race and have so much going on in the background.
Agreed.
definitely top 3
They just look funky but I wouldn't say that their culture is so cool, they're all about religion and almost nothing about history or culture, they were slaves for dunmer throughout centuries
@@n1lls_ that's cause we dont know a lot about them cause they always keep to themselves
and there is history like the ebonheart pact and the pirates etc
obviously the the whole hist shit is really unique and mysterious
and they're the only race who ain't the ogs
@@n1lls_ As another guy stated we don't know a lot because Argonians are quite a hermit people, there are some lore that state that Blackmarsh is deadly to everyone but the Argonians so it'd be quite hard to go and take a tour of Blackmarsh. But even still Argonians do have some culture and history that is apparent, we know that if Argonians are born underneath the shadow sign they are called shadowscales and trained to be amazing fighters/assassins, they're usually adopted by the Dark Brotherhood. As well they repelled Mehrunes Dagon during the Oblivion Crisis, some stories state that the Argonians pushed the Daedra so far back that some of them chose to invade Oblivion. A lot of the popular stuff about the Argonians is about the Hist but that's because they're so mysterious, if you look closer you can see a much more thought out culture. Hopefully Bethesda choses to give light to them because in my opinion they are one of the most mysterious races.
I feel like ranking the races on an S-tier ranking system would have made this so much easier, since its really difficult to rank certain races higher than others because they're both so cool.
The numbered list is better for discussion I would say. In a S to F ranking system will often go through the different alternatives rather quickly so you get an overview of where they fall. To go in depth you will have to compare the races more closely to each other, and thus be able more accurately place them from best to worst.
Argonian bad kekw
To be honest the I felt like the Nords were way too war focused and played into the Viking stereotype when there is so much Scandinavian and Anglo Saxon influence to draw from
Very good point. Finland is a brilliant source of inspiration for the Nords too considering that their religion is much more shamanic.
The Baltic nations, the slavs & the Early Russian kingdom of the Kievan Rus, a nation founded by Vikings with some Byzantine influences, are also amazing influences for the nords.
Skyrim didn’t even really handle the Scandinavian stuff right, lol. Its just... cheesy. Not all of it but its very watered down
I know honestly to me Birds are 10 or 9
@@REALROCKFM Slavs aren’t Nords
@@DEVS_VLTIMA
Why not?
Russians are descendants of a norse tribe called the Rus. But now I’m repeating myself.
& Slavic cultures have lots of connections with the norse. For example the norse þor & the slavic Perun are basically the same god. You can’t deny how related the groups are.
Besides, i listed them in a number of cultural groups for inspiration. Not just nords=slavs.
@@DEVS_VLTIMA Kodlak and Vilkas are Slavic names.
I think Redguards are one of my favorite. They are in my top 3 and the most interesting human race in TES.
I like em but between redguard and nords it basically comes down to wich continent you like more and i think altmora or what the name of the nord continent is again is super interesting
You can tell these guys really love the elder scrolls, but Scott especially is living there in his mind and has some great perspectives. That’s what makes it for me
Bosmer Archer was the first thing i ever played and they've been my favorite race ever since
Altmer battle mage for me
I'm listening to you guys on spotify and I gotta say, congrats to you all. You go straight to the point, every minute is content that we all love and enjoy, no wasting time talking about useless stuff, and your conversations are helping me assimilate some lore stuff that I'm learning from a series that a brazilian youtuber (I'm brazilian, thats why) is doing since december 2017. Again, very good content, keep it up!!!
Thank you! Glad you're enjoying it
Scott needs to stop saying their so interconnected when he has imperials at the bottom.
I figured someone else might cop onto this.
Nords and Imperials are alike in that they are both mutually central in a lot of politcal and worldy engagements, the only reason they are not as interesting IMO is that the Nords have the Thu'um. Then again, the Imperials can summon the embodiment of Akatosh through their emporer.
But I'd personally put Nords just above Imperials and if I'm going to put Imperials at the bottom, then the Nords have to go there too. They're just not that interesting, and the only reason that they are considered as such is because of Ysgrimmor. Remove Ysgrimmor and nords are basically just drunk humans who believe in nirvana and follow the Aedra the same as the Altmer.
They're still more interesting and contextually relevant than Altmer though, Altmer for position no. 10.
Imperial should be way higher. By far they have the best lore. Especially the pelinel whitestrike and that whole story. The imperials are interconnected to the whole of nirn. The hypocritical statements make no sense. I knew they were gonna pick dark elves before I even saw the the thumbnail. They are my second favorite race to imperials. I actually played Morrowind when in came out and it is my favorite elder scrolls game. It has aged horribly though. When it came out though it was revolutionary especially compared to the first two games. The scale was smaller, but the detail was amazing.
@@TheWhiteWolf68 To me imperials go 4th place, yet the 10th feels really stupid to me. The Nords Thuum is the ONLY thing thet lets not put me 10th...
@@MalusSanguine that acceptable to me. I just don't think the race that rule tamerial Multiple time deserves to be that low at number 10. It just my opinion though.
@@TheWhiteWolf68 Yep, same. Plus the different cultures within the Imperials (Colovian, Nibenese), the fact that deadra worship is frowned upon, yet not illegal. The fact that there are influences of different cultures within the Imperials depending on the reagion...
I must say I never understood the argument that because something is typical classic high fantasy, that it is a bad thing/boring. There is a reason why aGoT/LotR/Fable etc are so popular...it's because they are interesting to many people. They are relatable, and have elements from this world made fantastic. This is why Bretons ARE my favorite race, and the race I'm most interested in. For me the mindset of popular=bad is a flawed one, but to each their own. Another awesome podcast, thank you for making my lunch break enjoyable!
It's not necessarily bad just kinda generic at this point, we've seen it before in every fantasy setting that just wants to copy Tolkien instead of something new. Not bad, but we've seen them before everywhere. So next to Dunmer, Redguard, Nords, etc. Bretons don't offer anything unique to the setting, whereas every other race (except imperials) has something new to offer.
Seeing roughly the same thing over and over from different fictions for decades is like white noise.
It can take a long time to get sick of a concept, but it can happen.
It's less "if it's popular it's bad" and more "overly-common concepts become boring".
The more out-there stuff tends to be more memorable on account of uniqueness.
Of course, different people will have different tastes; I'm just describing a different view.
@@WumboGuy you should look into the imperial's lore is quite deep and interesting. It just gets overshadowed by roman similarities. And personally I don't like the nords they're basically Viking and they're history is just hating the elves and even Talos was probably a breton
"The Khajiit hail from a distant land called Elsweyr, bordered on the north by Cyrodiil and the south by the glistening blue waters of the sea. Elsweyr is an arid land of deserts and rocky canyons, where the sun shines warmly, always. There are cities so ancient, the sands have swallowed them whole. But now I will say no more, for I miss my home greatly."
Anyways, I kinda like the Khajiit...
The khajiit are such an underrated race, so much potential with their lore and culture
@@corv1d770 Everything from their pantheon, their culture, their province, to even their biology is so interesting and there are so many cool concepts to explore.
Also, their passive ability grants them so much unarmed damage boost that it's on par with Daedric Sword's base damage so there is that.
May your path lead to warm sands, sister.😸
ew
@@insaneguy7571 ???
My personal list:
1: Redguard (swords, previous kalpas, culture)
2: Khajiit (culture, lunar lattice)
3: Dunmer (morang tong, daedra worship)
4: Orcs (culture, theology)
5: Argonians (hist biology/culture)
6: Nords (I like the Norse influence)
7: Bosmer (cannibalism and shape shifting)
8: Altmer (honestly they are just Bland)
9: Imperials
10: Bretons
Scott was my only ally on this day
*sword salute*
Yeah the red guard dismissal was surprising to me honestly
@@siouxsieslime2985 LMAO fr some time ago they give us content about how their ancestors (sword singers) can create energy blades from thin air and use it to close the void and they below nords? Not to mention they come from a different kalpa. That's some really cool shit that no other race on nirn can claim.
Not saying I agree but good list and reasoning
I think I agree with most except I would replace orc with Argonian and Nord would definitely be 10 for me because after Skyrim I hated the Nords
@@truerebel5467 The Redguards forgot how to make the Shehai, similarly to the Nords, only the Greybeards use the Voice. The Thu'um is literally used by the Divines, see Kyne here. And Nords are also from previous Kalpas, they are being summon on the Throat of the World each Kalpa.
Hmmm 1 second in, I'm guessing they will say Dark Elf lol
I totally agree with Scott on armor , the more ordinary and realistic is much better looking .
Of course Argonians are more than just farm tools... They also make decent maids, and you might even be able to teach one to cook... Wait, they do know mud isn't food, right?
leave my people alone 😡
never say "argonian" and "maid" in the same breath, ever.
ϟAHMEDϟ no
they make decent lusty maids
Moriah Jurist what kinda lusty maids are we talking about
Always loved the story of Jagar Tharn and the fact he was Bosmer.
True an evil necromantic wood elf 😅
@@siouxsieslime2985 which is ironic since Bosmer are actually against necromancy lol
Good list! I'm starting to realize that Redguards are probably my favorite race, altogether. Also rip Bretons, I knew they'd be towards the bottom lol. I almost always play as them, though.
You guys should do an episode about the other continents that we don't visit, like Pyandonea and Akavir!
Did you forget Yokuda?
I'm pretty sure they have covered Akavir before.
As long as I love Khajits, it is clear for me that the Dunmer race (former chimer) has the best lore. Massive shape shifting (the skin), living gods, directly interaction with three powerful daedra, original architecture, the great houses, ancestors worship, very original fashion and armor design ...
Argonians: manage to have the only impenetrable nation that has no hope of ever being conquered, have unique lore surrounding the concept of a hivemind tree deity (aka the Hist of course), have been repeatedly enslaved and yet still fight back, have their own unique traditions and cultural tidbits that stand out from other races (like their ability to change their sex through communion with the hist, or the fact that if distant from the hist they grow less conscious of their spiritual connection to it and also rely on its sap to develop properly as their kind), may have direct ties to Sithis himself considering the implied connections between Sithis and the Hist as well the shadowscale tradition, AND have incredible biological abilities and statistical strengths and advantages
Scott: Argonians boring boo
Argonians: am I a joke to you?
I was so surprised watching this that NO ONE mentioned the sithis connection
I've been pointing this out to the rest of the comment section Dunmer and Nords rank high only because they have a game each. If Black marsh had a game that was as expansive as the Morrowind game they would go up as well. Scott even mentions that Khajit wouldn't have been as high up had ESO not done the Elsweyr expansion properly.
@@HugoSan432 I def agree with this point. The dunmer will alway be my favorite, but them going on about how cool nords are while pushing the argonians sounded really silly to me. The whole concept of lizard people who develop sentience through symbiosis with sentient, hivemind trees is just??? So cool and not typical in any fantasy sense? Whereas the nords are basically the kinds of people you find at a bar bragging about how they killed some minority while talking about how sophisticated and complex their people are
@@steve7745 yeah, the nords are pretty cool 😎
I would deffo not put Argonians as last, but I have to correct some things you said: they were never enslaved as a whole, there were some raiding parties from House Dres to capture slaves from the borders, but they actually never penetrated deep into Blackmarsh. And to be fair, the Argonian invasion of Morrowind only advanced as far as the biom was similar to their own, so when they hit the vulcanic lands they also struggled. Also their cultural bit that I find just lazy writing is that they don't care about their past, so they don't have such a rich history and culture this way imo. (also sorry for the extremely late reply :P)
Redguard would be higher if they had more polish in the modern games I think.
But I gotta agree, Thu'um > Swordsinging
Swordsinging gives you weapons, Thu'um IS a weapon
Let's hope they don't try and rehash shouting by replacing it with Sword-singing.
Thum has more uses but the fact that they can forge any soul weapon has cool possibilities
Well, sword swinging probably destroyed an entire continent, so....
Sword singing is more than just a weapon fam.
@@tymiller176 Was done once, and maybe. We don't actually know if it was true.
As a cyrod fangirl i gotta say that the thumbnail didnt lie. Like all games represents them poorly but still
I love the Orc lore but never play them, every time i try to play them i end up leaving them to collect dust sadly. I love argonian lore and how they look but I have the same issue with them. I love Dunmer, their lore, and play them a lot.
I know how you feel, there are some races I never play for very long.
Orcs are sadly on that list, I think it's because their lore is so simple it's hard to pretend to be anything else and get fully invested. If you're an orc outside of a stronghold you're an outcast on your own journey - basically a nomad looking for a fight or a challenge, nothing more, nothing less [like Umbra, or the ebony warrior] and never touching a spell.
If you're a Dunmer, you can be a traditionalist who worships Azura - summons an ancestral ghost, finds conjuration and even necromancy acceptable. Or a destruction mage. A member of the Morag Tong, a highly skilled assassin and member of the dark brotherhood. If you're a non-traditionalist maybe you just want to live a simple life, have basic sword skills from killing cliffracers back in vvardenfell,
@@rasmachris94 I'm not listening, I'm not listening, blocks ears 😭
Imo the most interesting topic of the podcast so far.
Where are my Orc and Nordic brothers at? My 1 and 2 🔥💪
Lore wise, I generally agree with the compromised list. I find interesting though that my preferred choice to play as is almost that exact list up side down.
You prefer Altmer, Imperial and breton in your p.t.?
@@LandStrider23 yep Imperial, breton and altmer in that order.
@@iSuperVamp yea dunmer, imperial, breton for mine. With my runner ups being Altmer and Nords
Not gonna lie tho The Kitty Lore with the birth was a nice touch!
REEE my favorite wasn't number one!!!! In all seriousness, great video as usual guys. Bretons are my favorite race to play but outside of that I can't justify them being any higher on this list. I think I'd switch the Altmer and Bosmer's positions but otherwise I think you nailed it. Thanks for the interesting discussion!
they're the most boring tho
they're so typical the only good side of them is their inter breeding shit so they have magic
@@ciaranmck4469 Right, which is why I said I wouldn't put them any higher.
I was convinced that you all were one person cuz your voices sound so similar, all that "Hi I'm Scott/Drew/Michael from Fudgemuppet." I tuned out in the time I've watched the videos y'all put out.
I wonder if there will be a podcast comparing the non-playable races? Perhaps not all of them, if you look into things there is an absurd amount of races that only really get mentioned once or twice. If it were me I'd keep it to stuff like Maomer, Dwemer, Aylied? Things like that.
The amount that Redguard had to defend being higher than the Bosmer versus the moments spent defending Bosmer makes me think Redguard had a much stronger case. Long list for redguard, pretty small for bosmer other than 'creative for elves'. But, great list!
Redguard is a definitive 2nd behind dunmer facts
They came from the previous universe for gods sake
Personally the races I find most interesting are non-playable races. Snow Elves being my number 1 I think, but it definitely changes. Of the playable races I definitely think the Redguards are the best/most interesting human race. For Elves it’s so hard to choose. I’m a huge fan of elves in any story and there are parts that I like and dislike about every Elven race in TES. Perhaps I might pick the Altmer just to be contrary - and also because they make such good bad guys. Of the beast races I definitely have to pick the Khajiit, with the Argonians being a close second. They miss out on being equal first because I love cats in real life. 😁. Of these if I had to pick a number one, it’d probably be the Altmer. They do make really good bad guys and I feel bad for them. They’ve locked themselves into a life without growth and change for misguided reasons. They are as much a tragic race as the Orcs in my opinion.
I honestly think that Scott put Argonians at 10 just to get Michael riled up 🤣
Being a big Zelda fan, I always felt that, based on their descriptions, that Bretons should look a bit more like Hylians. The defined pointed ears, but looking mostly like humans, plus the affinity for magic.
I agree i like them they just look like nords
In ESO you can give the Bretons pointy ears. I hope they keep this detail for ES 6.
Lifts-Her-Tail really did a number on Scott dudes hating the Argonians big style now!
I've lost an hour to determine the origins of the theme in the beginning of the video. And finally: it's from "Morrowind", The Road Most Travelled! I so loved that game and felt good exploring the land with such great music in the background. Jeremy, never stop composing.
Redguards are from the previous kalpa. They are the best human race easily
LMAO true, they threw me off when they said nords are the best human race.
I find it funny that Scott's two favorite ES races have both Azura in the forefront of who they are. I think he has a crush ;-D
Interesting parts.
08:00 - 17:50 Scott explains why he thinks the Argonians are the least interesting race. An argument with Michael ensued.
18:00 - 22:50 : Scott explains why the bretons are kind of cool. Drew and Michael thinks they had potential to be cool but...Meh.
23:40 - 27:25 Michael explains why he puts the orcs so low (because shrek and he hates green color) but Drew explains how cool is their creation story (because shit happens).
28:55 - 33:33 : Michael thinks nords are cool but no so much as other races. An argument with Scott and Drew ensued. In Conclusion, it was officially recorder that nords are cool.
34:45 - 39:40 : Scott talks about the Bosmer. They are cool because, you know, cannibalism, the green pact, their size, those wonderful tree cities, and in the end how they are super gross. An argument with Michael ensued about how "hot" they are. Drew just admitted he was wrong to put them so low.
39:50 : 44 :15 Michael explains why the redguards are super cool and fuck the shit out of the bretons. Scott calls them the north-africans samurai and their theology are super cool and their spirit swords are cool. Drew explains why they are more than warriors.
46:54 - 49:25 : Oh my god. What a surprise. The number one is revealed. Dunmer are the best race. Apparently.
FUCK PELINAL ! They are cool consistently because cultural changes are fucking cool, their pantheon, the architecture, and so on. Dark elves foreva baby !
52:15 : 58:30 - To Scott, Khajiits' culture is really great. Drew and Scott are in love with their religion/pantheon. #thedarksideofthemoon But at the end of the day, if they had to clear Tamriel, it wouldn't make such a difference. lol
Clearly ES 6 is going to be in Thras... once Azura brings it to the surface.
Azura bless.
Best thing for stage 4 restriction blues 😆 hope you are all well in Sydney friends.
I’m a bit late to the party but this content is so awesome to listen to while working/gaming/cleaning or doing anything around the house. Keep it up guys and more content like this please!
Man, never any love for The Imperials...
@@Observant213 Ya. They seriously need to calm down on the Bosmer train.
I mean I don't like imperials, but holy fuck does the song of Pelinal and Pelinal himself get me hyped. Hands down favourite character in the Elder scrolls along with Trinimac and the story of Malacath
@@leoopperman8018 Pelinal is AWESOME
Can we all just agree that Bretons are the most boring and seriously need more interesting lore?
@@InquisitorThomas Breton's could be so interesting, but they are just bereft of lore. Hope that they really flesh them out in the next elder scrolls game, but I have my doubts on whether it will actually be good or not. I just hope they don't dumb anything down more than they already did from Oblivion to Skyrim. Bethesda has lost a lot of my trust with the whole 76 debacle.
personally i enjoy the simplicity of the argonian connection with the hist tree, that's what initially drew me in to making myself argonian for my oblivion playthrough. granted, i'm fairly new to the world of TES, but i find it endlessly fascinating. it's true that the other races have more complex pantheons and religions, but conversely the argonians are the only ones who have such a unique relationship to the world and spirituality, and that's what makes them interesting to me. getting visions from the hist, and the cycle of their spirits returning to the hist upon death before being reborn while the hist essentially live every argonians experience and see all over tamriel from their place in the heart of a basically impenetrable swamp is part of such a strange and wonderful symbiosis. doesn't fit into the other races with their complex and sometimes similar creation stories and gods, but it certainly is unconventional. to me it feels like something ancient and mystical, that spiritual connection with nature.
it's really cool. these lizards are tripping out on tree sap and being reincarnated while a bunch of sentient trees collect their knowledge and experiences. not to mention getting them methed up to pussywhip a daedric prince, which is about as metal as it gets. at least they did something right.
edit: drew really kind of hit it on the head in far less words. it's the mystery of it all that makes it so interesting. we'll never really know what's up with the argonians and the hist and their mystical earthy relationship, and that's just really enticing.
My list before watching the video:
1. Nord
2. Imperial
3. Khajiit
4. High Elf
5. Dark Elf
6. Orc
7. Redguard
8. Breton
9. Argonian
10. Wood Elf
Will update if my mind changes!
Listening to Michael talk about the duality of wood elves how they're the more in his words amorously inclined people of all the merfolk but also they are still Savage when it comes to war protecting their homes is exactly how I'm playing my current wood elf bosmer playthrough.
One of the most gangster things in ES history are Argonians during the Oblivion Crisis. Actually invading Oblivion by fighting the dremora armies through the Oblivion gates. Pretty awesome.
Need an episode dedicated to lycanthropy in Elder Scrolls and all the various theories surrounding them.
To me, when it comes to lore.
10. Altmer (They just kinda there... not really much in terms of lore outside them making some magic schools that don't exist in the games.)
9. Bretons (At least their backstory's okay, but like, they're in the same boat as the Altmer, they're just kinda there).
8. Orsimer (The way they came into existence is literally all they've got. Well, outside them trying to make a kingdom once every few centuries, just for it to be destroyed).
7. Argonians (Lizard 1: I wanna lick some sap. Lizard 2: Same, bro. *Both lick sap.* Lizard 1: Broooo, is like, this tree talking to us? Lizard 2: Broooo, I hear it too, man.)(Anyway, outside that joke, they've only've been getting good lore recently; them attacking Dunmer cities, them fighting back the forces of Oblivion, making the xenophobia of the Nords look like just simple bullying, etc).
6. Khajiit (FUCKING FURRIES... Their diverse biology is cool, but like, there's not much in terms of lore outside how their biology works and how their society works and them being drug dealers... and thieves...)
5. Bosmer (The coolest thing about them is them basically being the source of all monsters in the world. Outside that, "cannibal" carnivore, archers... basically it. Oh, and horns)
4. Imperials (I'll say if there's a "protag" race, it's the Imperials, but they're almost mindnumbingly generic. But they've got good lore).
This is where it becomes hard for me.
3. Dunmer (They've got the most lore over all other races, but they don't have lore that's as important to Tamrial compared to the other two top races).
2. Redguards (They've got the most badass lore. Sword-singers, the fact that they don't belong in this "world", the best one-handed swordsman on tamrial, etc)
1. Nords (If there's a race after the Imperials that I'd call "protag", it'd be the Nords. If the Nords didn't exist, most of the events on tamrial wouldn't have happened)
Personally, I like all the human races, with the Dunmer being the only non-human race I like.
I would love to see you make a similar podcast about the unplayable races at some point.
Argonians, hands down. Straight up started conquering The Deadlands so bad they had to shut the gates
I’ve always wondered how hard do u have to worship a daedric prince like Azura for example, to gain access to their realm (moonshadow) after life. Like if I lived in TES universe and I have a shrine to Azura in my basement and pray to her twice a day am I going to have an afterlife in moonshadow. SOMEONE PLEASE ANSWER I GOTS TO KNOW
I'm not sure about Azura but I do know that most of the afterlives in TES do work similar to that. Though there are other ways to get into some too. Like Hircene for example
@@talinbentley235 hircine’s afterlife works through curse, you are basically chained to his realm as soon as you contract lycanthropy. I wonder if you can reach his realm without having to become a werewolf.
@@Swaggerpede im not quite sure why i said Hircine here i assume i meant to put a different Daedric Prince lol. Though I dont think it is explicitly said anywhere I would assume a normal mortal could be part of the Hunt with enough devotion to Hircine.
Most of them are pacts, you sell your soul for a boon. Technically at the end of skyrim there's going to be a war over the dragonborns soul. Which would be a great plot in es6.
@@ralcogaming7674 Technically it looks like Akatosh will just swoop in and take your soul and that's that. You are The Last Dragonborn he has the claim on your soul and there's nothing anyone can do about it. There will be no war.
Nice thumbnail it's Dean From the iron giant edited to look like a dark elf
Thank you!!! I thought that dark elf looked familiar.
@@jonwaardenburg5842 Heh, bet it was driving you nuts looking at it for the longest time
More specifically to look like Giub (I probably misspelled it), he’s the first character you meet at the beginning of Morrowind
With some of the coolest characters in the series associated with them I can't see how imperials were ranked so low. People like Pelinal Whitestrake and Reman Cyrodiil. Its criminal. So many cool characters. Talos, Pelinal, Alesia, Maruk, Every Emperor in the septim line, special mentions to Pelagius III and Uriel V and my home Titus Mede II.
I highly disagree with argonians being the most irrelevant when orcs exist
Lol that's a good point
One turd is solid. The other is mushy . Both are turds.
Daggerfall?
Right?? Right?!?!
they exist to get stomped by redguards
It has to be the dunmer. Nothing beats the Chimer, the living tribunal, the interactions with the Dwemer, and the game Morrowind itself.
Sure it's Dunmer.
Dunmer? More Mumb-mer.
@@IC-23 Bosmer? More like BOSS-mer.
Dark elves for sure!, however as a middle eastern i feel like i should choose Redgaurd hehehe
Redguards. Duh. They escaped the death of their Kalpa Cycle. Like dude, Auduin wants to eat them twice.
me personally im an oblivion guy but i loved this discussion and the end is honestly my opinion too, theyre just both so good
52:00 everyone and their mothers on eso pick Khajits " I like being a giant kitty" dont get me wrong I love cats and games but outta all the simple reasonings that's one that takes the cake, dead ass 30+ people throughout my guilds Aldmeri Dominion simply for khajits
that crit damage boost from being a cat is hard to tun down.
So I'm a little late to this party, but my personal list goes something like this.
1) Nords
2) Orcs
3) Dunmer
4) Redgard
5) Khajiit
6) Bosmer
7) Altmer
8) Imperial
9) Breton
10) Argonian
Redguards on the other hand... the soul swords, the throwing of Volundrung... the redguards legit need to ally with the orcs
I think all the races are great and unique in their own ways, so sorting them would be really hard for me, but I liked how you guys sorted each race
Imperial lore is Pelinal and the Marukhati and the Alessian Order, so as far as lore, I'm putting them in top 5 at least.
i like the nords. probably because skyrim was my first game. i like the nords, the khajiit, the bosmer, and the dunmer. those are my favorites.
Argonians with those mesoamerican vibes got me jammin, boi
I’m with Michael on that one, Bosmer are so cool. It’s like an underdog type of thing going on with their height too
Plus they're the least basically gifted of the elves including even the bretons. (Except the orcs but it's debated whether they're elven or beast folk)
Skooma, Arrogant Elves, or Blessed by Kyne to shout.
I really love these podcasts. Please keep them up. I love all the work you guys do
Personally Nords are my favorite race, so happy they got a high ranking. 😊
Nords are simple minded with no arcane or stealth based talents, but they are brave and among the best warriors. So that means you only like to play as a warrior or a straightforward brawler?
@@thomasrosendahl2783 Nords are a proud, strong and hardy race with a rich history. They have exceptional skills in melee combat and are strong warriors. Therefore I don't see them as a simple minded race. I like playing as a warrior but also as a mage. I have played many different races and builds, and Nords have always come out as my number one favorite race. And hey, you can't deny that they are badass and cool as hell.
I enjoy the Nord culture and feel they have a very naturalistic perspective on life; plus I always thought it was interesting building a Nord character that doesn't fully adhere to the regional society, a product of the culture but an outlier never fitting into it comfortably. There are many individual ideals and beliefs under the shade of the wider umbrella of Nordic culture. The environment of Skyrim itself breeds strong individualism
I love the khajiit lore, and the influence of the moons. Lore wise, they are one of my favorite races. With that said, I do have a tendency to play mainly as dunmer or altmer.
Khajiit and arogoians are the best no deductions
Ya know maybe it’s the nostalgia but the intro gets better and better every time
Scott looks like a minor antagonist from a 2002 Nickelodeon show set in a middle school
I can’t unsee that now
That is absolute gold
What about Drew who looks like your uncle in a 70s photograph
I am thankful that you guys exist and that there can be discussions at this length over a world we all love and share but isn't even real.
Sithis bless you all, bitches.
Definitely had Nord and Dunmer on top. Nords are too damn cool.
Michael you’re right, there’s nothing out there as deep and immersive as Elder Scrolls. The deep history and cultures pull you in.