Did Bethesda just decide that they hated Khajiit?

[Just_Mad]

It's worth considering.

Case in point:

Khajiit are resented in every single city in Skyrim, never being allowed within the walls, PC and Followers are the only exceptions to this rule.

Various NPCs, (Nord and other races alike) have race specific anti-Khajiit dialogue, more than any other races

There are only 39 Khajiit characters ingame, and only 27 of these are named NPCs.

No Marriageable Khajiit exist, even after all three DLCs are installed- in fact, not a single named Khajiit is added with any of the DLCs

Of the 27 named Khajiit, I count only 12 that have a constant presence in-game, as in, in the over-world, not dungeon or quest only characters.

So, I know the automated counterargument here is that by lore, Khajiit would be A) out of place in Skyrim, and B) held in disdain by the resident Nords, and thus it makes no sense for so many to be present in-game, but the Orcs were given four strongholds, as well as free entry to the cities, Argonians are practically given their own quarter (albeit outside the walls) of Windhelm, and passage into the cities, and even Altmer, assuredly the most hated race in existence circa 4E201, are given more rights than the Khajiit.

This comes across as fanboy-ish, I know. But they have always been to me the most interesting and likable race in ES, and it hurts my feelings to see that Bethesda are ready to step down from Skyrim without ever giving Khajiit a chance. I would have liked to see maybe a Khajiit encampment in Southern Skyrim (closest to Eleswyr) where the caravans might meet up, where little humanoid kittens would run around chasing butterflies (M'aiq vouches for his love of butterflies too) and at least one male and female potential spouse awaited. Hell, I'd pay full Dawnguard/Dragonborn Price for it... and I'm not joking...

I guess I was wondering, does anyone else feel like the Khajiit were, in this game, not given a chance?

[swordsister]

I don't think they diss any race on purpose. It's more like they fail at adding depth ingame matching their written lore. I often wonder what it'd be like if MK was still working for/with them.

[CBR JGWRR]

It's not quite as bad as you think - It's just the Caravans who aren't allowed in the cities, not all khajiit, there are no bosmer or male altmer that can be married, and only 3 argonians so it isn't just khajiit who aren't marriable (doesn't excuse it though)

They were given as much as you could expect really.

[philfredobob]

i agree with the OP, Khajiit seemed to be left in the dust in this game. in their rush to give everyone a beard, they forgot to give some space to the original beard-havers

those nords are just jealous of the Khajiit...

[Just_Mad]

As you can see from my name, I am not even an hour old to this forum, and I haven't seen 'MK' before, I assume it refers to an ex-member of the development team?

And @CBR, See, that's a good point, as Bosmer are actually my second favourite race (any guesses as to my playstyle?) But the caravans, see, I'd always interpreted Ysolda's 'Worst thing is, nobody wants them in the cities. Nobody trusts them.' line to be about Khajiit as a whole, but upon taking your point into consideration, the dialogue option that prompts this line is about caravans specifically- Even so, if that is the case, you'd have hoped to see a couple of non-caravan affiliated Khajiit among Skyrim's Urban population

Khajiit aren't allowed beards in this, sadly, though they are allowed some Japanese sensei looking moustaches

[philfredobob]

MK is Michael Kirkbride, some nutty lore writer who bethesda borrows most of their stories from. if you havent guessed, i am not a big fan of his stuff, but some lore-buffs worship his every word

[swordsister]

MK is Michael Kirkbride, some nutty lore writer who bethesda borrows most of their stories from. if you havent guessed, i am not a big fan of his stuff, but some lore-buffs worship his every word

It is true that he often goes "nutty". I'm not a huge fan of him either but i think he's more capable of giving depth to TES characters. Have you read his writings on Cyrus? brilliant and brainf*king at the same time.

[The SheoDovah]

They probably forgot about the Khajiit and put them in at the last moment. But they will rise again.

After the Dovahkiin has disappeared and the Moot has been called. Once the Throne is occuiped by the true high king. After the Dovahs have been driven from Skyrim, the Khajiit will rise again. There is one who is destined to lead them into battle along side with the nords. He is called a Liar by some and may be immortal. He is M'iaq the Liar! And he will lead the Khajiit of Skyrim to glory!

[philfredobob]

its too bad really, one of the good things about skyrim was how the Khajiit looked and sounded. Skyrim had the best Khajiit voice acting and the best looking Khajiit.

[Just_Mad]

@TheLastDovah Hah! 'No-one believed him, they all thought him crazy, but those calipers he gathered? He's used them well, and now all will tremble before the MechanoCat'

And I have to admit, Khajiit did have excellent voice acting, even the dialogue itself, their greetings and their farewells, the personalities...for liars, rogues and thieves, the majority have much better manners than any other 'Dignified' race.

Can I also just point out that unlike Oblivion's, Skyrim's Thieves guild does not actually have any Khajiit members?
-Sure you end up with good trade links to the caravans...but they're not quite members..

[The SheoDovah]

Not even the Dovahkiin can de....*Sees Mechanocat getting defeated by him* Nevermind.

[Mattbott]

they were really badly treated (along with Argonians) in Morrowind lol

my khaajiti thief uses the overall negatives of his race as a good RP foundation.. it's great only ever meeting your kin as travelers, like youre a race of spies quietly infiltrating the Nords


i think their treatment in Skyrim sets the series up nicely for a visit to Elsewheyr next game

[Just_Mad]

I'm just going to assume that Bethesda all prefer dogs as pets, rather than cats (or lizards...)

[Abishpulu Shand]

Well, that's understandable.

[Jo'than]

-snip-
never being allowed within the walls, PC and Followers are the only exceptions to this rule.
-snip-

There is another exception. Shavari, the Khajiit Thalmor agent can be seen wandering around Riften under certain situations. Depending on how you play your game, you might see her only in the Ratway, but she also can appear in the main plaza. She'll tell you to get out of town, if you talk to her.

On the positive side, it was a nice touch that Paarthurnax referred to my PC as "Khajiit" at one point. So it's not a case of total neglect.

[Just_Mad]

Hmmm, you're right, I wonder why one Khajiit Thalmor Assassin is allowed in the city, but not another? J'datharr sticks with the caravans, instead of going into the city after his target..

[Musicman247]

J'zargo is a member of the College of Winterhold, and a Khajiit runs the lighthouse outside of Solitude (iirc).

[CBR JGWRR]

Hmmm, you're right, I wonder why one Khajiit Thalmor Assassin is allowed in the city, but not another? J'datharr sticks with the caravans, instead of going into the city after his target..

Part of his cover story with the Caravan. (The caravan doesn't know he's an assassin)

[Evil-i]

No, I don't think it's a case of Bethesda hating the Khajiit. I think it's a symptom of a larger problem. In my opinion, Bethesda dropped the ball when it came to crafting an intelligent and interesting story that had some depth to it. Naturally, the characters who are forced to wear this story are going to come off as shallow, perhaps even smelling like an afterthought.

The gameworld is visually stunning, and this is the one of the few elements of game design that Bethesda knocked out of the ballpark, another well-done element being the soundtrack. Sadly, there just isn't enough well-told storyline content to back the visuals up. I sincerely hope that Bethesda will do a lot more in the next ES game than it did for Skyrim when it comes to spinning a good cohesive tale.

[Travalanche]

Skyrim is very far from Elsweyr so that is one reason there is very little Khajiit content present in Skyrim. They still could have added at least one marriage option per race, such as possible marriage of a caravan member and there are a couple bosmer present in the towns.

In all honesty it comes down to lack of resources, interest, or laziness.... maybe a bit of each. They don't specifically hate the Khajiit, they just don't feel like doing the work or paying the khajiit voice actor to do another line or two of speech.

Edit: In short, I agree with evil-i.

[A4 Paper]

Well..I hate the Khajiit. It stands to reason.

[kunimitsova]

A game taking place in Elsweyr would be pretty awesome! I'm not going to hold my breath, though. A part of me keeps thinking I can find the marry-able Khajiit in Skyrim, even though it's confirmed there's not one. Is there a lore-related reason there's no Khajiit in the Riften Thieves Guild?

They really do have the best voice in the whole game. I use a Khajiit accent any time I ever have occasion to say "Take a look."

[Theificka]

OP, you're completely right, and I hate that the Beast races have always been a reluctant invite to society, they were slaves in (much earlier) lore, and in this game they are just treated too badly to be excused.

The only advantage to being a Khajiit is the Night Eye, but that's completely useless since you could just increase your brightness level, if there were darker dungeons (lit candles and fresh fruit in an unopened tomb, seriously?), then we might appreciate all the light spells and Night Eye. I remember being in Oblivion and using a light spell or night eye was almost required to see in some parts of dungeons and at night, now it seems like the effects are there just so they can be... there...

[Hrolf Alfblod]

I don't think that Bethesda hates the Khajiit. If they did, they wouldn't have bothered with making them look and sound so good. I think they were just playing to the lore.

[philfredobob]

They really do have the best voice in the whole game. I use a Khajiit accent any time I ever have occasion to say "Take a look."

HAH !! i knew i wasnt the only one !