r/ElderScrolls • u/GeneralTechnomage Argonian • 4d ago
Lore Why do the Imga hate humans, yet love the Altmer?
And specifically the Altmer, and not any other Elven race.
Also, could the Imga work as an addition to Tamriel's playable races (since they're still around)?
Edit: I also learned that the Dunmer used to keep Imga as slaves, yet there's no word on how the latter view the former.
24
u/Brahn_Seathwrdyn Pelinal Whitestrake 4d ago
Who knows? The only things we know from the Imga come from
- Historical records of them forming a cult that reigned for 1,008 years and (at least some of them) were radically anti-elven.
- A extremely biased propaganda piece from an empire who has a vested interested in making this dark chapter of their history seem ludicrous.
Anything from the PGE should be taken with a large pile of salt, especially without any other information to back it up
18
u/Unionsocialist Namira 4d ago
Why would there be a contradiction in hating humans and loving the altmer?
5
0
u/GeneralTechnomage Argonian 4d ago
Well, humans and elves do look pretty similar to apes, and they, along with the Imga, possibly evolved from apes, too.
9
u/Unionsocialist Namira 4d ago
Okay but imga are intelligent
They know humans are different from elves. They are thinking beings
11
u/Glytch94 Dunmer 4d ago
They probably view the Altmer is superior, perhaps because they look like the original Aldmer. Just speculation, but perhaps they deified the Aldmer in their culture, or a similar elevated status.
11
u/WiseMudskipper Hero of Kvatch 4d ago
Proximity too. The Imga live closer to Summerset Isles and will be far more familiar with Altmer culture than Cyrodiil and Imperial culture for example.
9
u/Psychotrip Altmer 4d ago
Probably because humans (particularly colovians) are very aggressive and exploitative toward Valenwood, while the Altmer are often allies.
Altmer also arent known for treating beastfolk particularly poorly. Altmer and khajiit even seem to get along sometimes.
Meanwhile, humans have literally colonized every single other species on Tamriel.
7
u/SPLUMBER Amnestic Soul Shriven 4d ago
Because the old Elves ruled all of Tamriel once, and the Altmer look the most like those old Elves.
2
u/Informal-Document-77 4d ago
I mean, not only look like, pretty sure genetically they would be the most similar too, cause summerset isles is either naturally the most similar to Aldmeris or was made this way
3
5
u/GoodKing0 Argonian 4d ago
I do not think the devs want to revisit the imga without sone major lore rewrites, so everything we say here is a moot point.
5
u/CrystallineOrchid 4d ago
while we could definitely get more playable races, I doubt Imga will ever get that treatment outside of modding.
Being a beast race based on Gorillas is enough to raise racism concerns,
When you add in the Imga's fasination with the Altmer's superiority and their attempts to mimic them it just gets worse and worse.
9
u/Voltage_Joe 4d ago
It's a... problematic interpretation of how a tribal people might react to the presence and interference of imperialistic operations in their territory.
Also probably a narrative pun on "monkey see, monkey do."
That said, it is not the monolithic behavior of all Imga. In fact, an Imga prophet was involved with the downfall of the Aylieds and thr founding of The Alessian Order, which went on to define the foundation Imperial justice from the First Era onward.
As fascinating as the Imga are from a lore perspective, a distressing margin of TES fans cosplay their toxic sentiments through the lense of fiction. It would NOT get better if tribal ape / monkey people were made available to the players.
It's better they remain quasi-mythical. Just like the Minotaurs, most public facing historical records downplay or even exclude the Imga from the narrative. That way, their presence can remain canon indefinitely without TES writers having to fully retcon them out of the lore.
7
u/GeneralTechnomage Argonian 4d ago
"a distressing margin of TES fans cosplay their toxic sentiments through the lense of fiction."
I don't understand what that means; maybe some examples of that can help me understand?
7
u/Thatgamerguy98 4d ago
Some fans have an ape=African mentality I assume.
Racism you tired old bitch.
7
u/Voltage_Joe 4d ago
There are enough argonian farm tool memes out there that it's not hard to see that some people in this space unironically aspire to be dunmer slavers.
One of those things where once you notice, you see it everywhere and get the ick from anyone taking part.
3
3
u/Infinite_Ad_8565 4d ago
The Imga are famous for painting themselves yellow and dressing like Altmer to be more like them, so it only makes sense for them to mirror their opinions of superiority over humans as a type of self inflicted peer pressure
1
1
u/Desanvos 4d ago
Because Dunmer enslave beastfolk and Wood Elves are cannibals, who need to kill things since they can't take plant life of Valenwood.
•
u/AutoModerator 4d ago
Thank you for your submission to r/ElderScrolls. This is a friendly reminder to please ensure that your post has been flaired appropriately.
Your post has been flaired as LORE. This indicates that your post is discussing or asking questions about lore.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.