I think it should be pointed out that all the characters we’ve seen on this thread are the result of the efforts of gaming journalists (Eurogamer, GameInformer, 1UP, etc.) playing with the character creator.

Here are a few more Argonians (before TK beats me to them):

Male Argonian
Hooded Female

And another Orc:

Knuckleduster

And how old are these so-called journalists? Sixteen? (no offense intended to those of our forumers who may be sixteen or younger). I think you may be right Destri. I had been struck by how similar these characters were - almost as if they were drawn by the same comic artist.

Neil Gaiman, where are you when we need you?

I do like how the Argonians look. They are more serpentine now, and less lizardlike (if that makes sense to anyone). You could play Thulsa Doom with one. I think horns do work for them. I especially liked the small ones on the side of the male's neck. But ram's horns? That seems weird.

The orc looks the same as the others. Like h.e.r. said, is the same guy doing them all?

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Aug 18 2011, 10:11 PM

Not on their breasties...just sayin'...

This post has been edited by mALX: Aug 19 2011, 04:40 AM

Oh, don't worry, I'm pretty sure we'll have a fair few sexy kitties for you within the first month of CK hitting the shelves.

First of all, I love the looks of the argonians and khajiits(especially the argonians) and the redguards(except the first) looks great as well. The orsimers' noses just looks weird. On the others I suppose it would make sense that in a harsher climate the people would look much more rugged. But from what I've seen on pictures of Skyrim it isn't all that harsh(I said not all, of course it's got to be harsh in the mountains and where snow covers the ground all the time. Absolutely love the dog, and don't think it would be strange at all to have it as a pet in Skyrim, though it looks more like a pet you would keep to cuddle with than to have by your side in a fight, and I don't think it would do well if you ventured into the mountains during the winter.

As much as I love the hairy Khajiit, it is a comfort to know that the velvet-furred Maxical will never look like an albino orangutan.

My friend is actually a journalist who was at Gamescon, and these are all largely preset characters according to him. During the demonstration they were given the designer flicked through all the races at the character creator quickly before diving into the game with a random pick. So I think some of these are presets by the company. However, quite a few examples are custom made.

But they still look amazing, and I am loving the new armor and weapon designs as well, and the poses from the animations seem a lot more natural than the rigid stances from Morrowind and the care free uninterest in Oblivion.

This post has been edited by Ahrenil: Aug 20 2011, 12:22 AM

And why not? They are Khajiit,after all! You know, one of the so-called 'beast' races? I don't see anyone trying to de-scale the Argonians. Living in a harsh environment like Skyrim one could imagine Khajiit having a surplus of fur. I for one would LOVE to see a hirsute Maxical!

In any event this:

My favorite Khajiit yet!

looks a bit more sleek and feline.

Still having trouble getting over the crummy low-res LOD landscape textures...

Not the mountains, no, but take a look at that piece of land jutting out behind the Khajiit, that's what I'm talking about.

QFT. They look drawn, not realistic at all.


@ Destri :


... SPEW !!! Not the Nanas !!! If the Mams have hair, Maxical will be a Nord or something, ROFL !!

This post has been edited by mALX: Aug 23 2011, 03:21 AM

And then there were ten.

Unfortunately, I now find myself in total agreement with Rosa about the elves. They look terrible. I know the word for "male with decidably female traits" is androgynous, but what is it the other way around? Because that's what I'm seeing here.

My God those Dunmer are ugly. I mean, it's great that they're trying to recreate the Morrowind 'look', but even the MW Dunmer weren't all as hideous as that!

I agree that these example (and I must stress the word example) faces are nothing to write home about, but just look at the possibilities available in the character creator:

Khajiit – I am seeing a fantastic number of options in the different fur patters and colors. Your particular Khajiit can be everything from a white tiger to a black panther. And maybe it’s just my own particular fetish revealing itself, but I think the females look amazing!

All the Human races – I like the variations of skin tone within the races. And I like that the Bretons don't look so wussied-out in Skyrim. The characters all have a weathered look to them unlike, as Grits said earlier, the Play-Dough look of Oblivion. Good facial hair options are finally available! I also like the decent looking shoulder length hair, as opposed to Oblivion’s. Not to mention that we finally have short hair options for the Redguard!

Orsimer – We have eye color options for the Orcs! And, who knows, after donning your ‘mead goggles’ in a Whiterun tavern some of those women aren’t bad!

The Elves – Yeah, these elves are fugly for all of you hoping for the Tolkien variety. But let’s take a closer look, shall we? The Dunmer are no longer Smurf-colored (that really bothered me in Oblivion)! Now they look like the Ash-Born instead of the Navi. Remember that we now have body-type options. Judging from the neck size of all the Bosmer women you will still be able to make your petite Wood Elf archer (I’m looking at you Teresa and Buffy ). As for the Altmer, well, I’m sure that the faces we create don’t have to look like that!

I’ve got nothing else to say about the awesomeness of the Argonians!

I wasn't expecting Tolkien elves, either, but take one look at those female Dunmer and tell me that you didn't need to look again to figure out they were female. When you end up with gender-neutral faces like that, you did something wrong, period.

Khajiit - Not bad actually.

All the Human Races - They look really good, actually.

Orcs - Hmmm. Too human looking in my opinion, the models themselves are excellent, and I certainly could not make something like that, however I'm disappointed in the interpretation.

Wood Elves - Well, I won't encounter Fargoth here, thats for certain. My feelings are mixed until I play it directly.

High Elves - No. Just no. Not even close.

The Dunmer - Actually. They may not be our version of 'beautiful' but..this is the Dunmer done right. Most of you are Oblivion fans who've never played Morrowind, therefore, you don't truly know the lore. In fact Destri Melarg, I'm almost disappointed, for all your knowledge of TES lore, you don't know the story written by a certain god, who was alive and there when Azura cursed the Chimer?(Edited to add: I realized that the text only may have me come across as negative or hostile, neither was intended, DM. I in fact have a great deal of respect for your knowledge and thoroughly enjoy your writings!)

"Then Azura came forth anyway and cursed the Tribunal for their foul deeds. She told them that she would use her powers over dusk and dawn to make sure Nerevar would come back and make things right again. But the Tribunal laughed at her and said that soon they would be gods themselves and that the Chimer people would forget their old ways of worship. And Azura knew this would be true and that it would take a long time before her power might bring Nerevar back. "What you have done here today is foul beyond measure and you will grow to regret it, for the lives of gods are not what mortals think and matters that weigh only years to mortals weigh on gods forever." And so that they might know forever their wicked deeds Azura changed the Chimer into Dunmer, and their skin turned ashen and their eyes into fire."Let this mark remind you of your true selves who, like ghouls, fed on the nobility, heroism, and trust of their king."

So far, this is the only true depth I've seen in Skyrim that reflects the actual lore that Oblivion massacred, gods what a terrible game that was. I regret every minute and red cent I spent on that game.

Oh and this guy is totally my Chars cousin or something.

@Thomas Kaira Perhaps the women could be a little more feminine, but otherwise, they did a good job IMHO.

This post has been edited by Black Hand: Aug 24 2011, 10:28 PM

I'm not a fan of the wood elf and high elf presets.

The rest look pretty good to me though.

I take these as a demonstration of options, make your own face. I see beards, braids, wrinkles, scars, dirt, and tattoos that I like. And that’s just the Nords. I'm pretty excited about this.

All right, one gripe. Where's my curly hair?!

I actually think that we are in agreement here, Blackie. If I could refer your attention to post #23 of this very thread:

I like the look of the Dunmer in Skyrim. I hated that the Oblivion Dunmer looked more like the Smurfs than the Ash-Born. My comments above were in reference to those who would wish for a more Tolkienesque look via the character creator.


I may be wrong, but if you go back and look at those Dunmer again I think that they used the same head in each example. To me it just looks like they changed the features (eyes, mouth & nose), hair, and make-up. I think they did that for all the races, or are we supposed to believe that everyone in Skyrim possesses the same ridiculous chin?

@Black Hand: The males I don't have much of a problem with, it's the females. As you said, they are too masculine.

Well, here's hoping Bethesda will see reason and fix the female jawlines before release. Currently they are way too square.

Thankfully, those are all just presets, so we as the user will be able to fix it ourselves if need be. Face creation is one of the few char-gen options we still have left, after all.