This Popular American Video Game Includes Arab History

posted on: Oct 1, 2020

By Emily Tain/Arab America Contributing Writer

The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim is the fifth installment of The Elder Scrolls franchise and, in the past decade, was the 13th most purchased video game in the US. Filled with fantasy and adventure, the game takes place in the province of Skyrim on the continent of Tamriel. Aesthetics and game mechanics provide a “Middle Ages” feel; some of the many characters found in Skyrim include wizards, barbarians, and vampires. While the game created its own cannon, players have noticed striking resemblances to the real world: Skyrim heavily reflects the historical context of the 4th century CE. Tamriel’s virtual civilizations and empires have some clear historical counterparts, including Arab civilizations in 300 CE.

Races

Within the game, a myriad of groups bear resemblance to various dynasties in history. For our purposes, we will be analyzing the Khajiiti and the Redguard, two “races” you can choose for your character. Even if you choose one of the other eight races, you will encounter both Khajiiti and Redguard during your journey.

Khajiiti

Khajiiti (singular Khajiit) are cat-people proficient in stealth, agility, and intelligence. Excluded from most of society, many Khajiiti spend their days roaming Tamriel with various wares for sale. Because of their nimbleness and night vision, many Khajiiti are hired as assassins and thieves. 

Pinpointing the Khajiiti’s origins is difficult because of their mixed Arabic and Greek accent, lack of human features, and nomadic lifestyle. The most prevalent theories on the Khajiiti’s ethnicity labels them as Arab, Ethiopian, Bedouin, Greek, Hebrew, or Romani. Some believe that the Khajiiti are a mixture of these groups. While the lifestyle of the Khajiiti might reflect Greek or Romani, their history says otherwise.

In Skyrim, Khajiiti are either urban or nomadic. The former, living in the wealthier regions along rivers, could represent pre-Islamic Arab civilizations. Said river basins compare to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and both societies are heavily involved with art, trade, and agriculture. Nomadic Khajiiti, who travel in small tribes, reflect the Bedouin during this time period. This dichotomy is not as prevalent in the alternative ethnicities proposed.

There is a book found in Skyrim, however, that pulls directly from a real document about a historic battle between Arabs and Ethiopians. In this, the Arabs would be the Bosmer wood elves, while the Khajiiti bear resemblance to the Kushites. Aside from the similarity in name, the Khajiiti and the Kushites are both talented archers that could shoot from impossible distances. Despite these two specific historical accounts, players also suspect that the Khajiiti are meant to represent Semitic warriors in Judea, Palestine, and Syria. Vague historical texts and undeterminable physical features prevent a solid conclusion from being made.

Redguard

The Redguard are much easier to identify in the presented timeline, and the creators of the game have alluded to their origin. Most players agree that the Redguard physically represent the Moors of North Africa, but culturally lean toward the Middle East. This combination makes most players believe that the group represents Arabs. 

In physicality, some say the Redguard are Libyan, Moroccan, or Mauritanian. Others claim they bear a stronger resemblance to sub-Saharan Africans, but skin tone is the only characteristic to back this up. Some of the most obvious ties to Arab culture come from their clothing and weaponry. Most Redguard wear Keffiyeh-like headdresses and robes with a scimitar at their sides. Additionally, Redguard architecture clearly mimics Arab architecture, as shown below. These factors make it significantly harder to argue that the Redguard are anything but Arabs.

Video games, despite being fantastical, can easily reflect real-life situations and events; they can also represent our past and our future. The Last of Us, for example, depicts a zombie apocalypse in the near future in which America must completely restructure its society.

Red Dead Redemption II, on the other hand, illustrates the American Wild West era. Skyrim shows the ebbs and flows of civilization from a time we can never experience. This, along with its endless playability, has made it a classic for many gamers.

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