Giant (Skyrim)

Giants are a race of gargantuan humanoids found in the wilderness of Skyrim and High Rock.

Anatomy
Giants stand about 11 to 12 feet tall and are mostly humanoid in appearance, with thick gray skin, big hands and feet, and long, thick hair. Most giants have decorative scars carved into their chests, possibly as some kind of tribal or religious symbol. Giants possess tapered ears, possible evidence of a loose relation to the races of Mer. Their physical similarities with orcs- jutting lower canines, tapered ears and the presence of horny scutes on the temples (much diminished in giants)- serve as further evidence of some loose relation to Mer.

Culture
All Giants encountered in-game are male and have wrinkled faces and long, gray-streaked beards. This hints at giant females having been recently killed off by Nordic aggression, which would mean these last few aging males are the final crumbling barrier between the Giant species and extinction. However, it is also likely that the giants merely hide their women and children away -- or they could be based out of another place entirely, such as High Rock -- and that these Giant camps in Skyrim are the providence of nomads of their kind hoping to exploit the unoccupied niche in mammoth farming.

Their "tattoos", which are not inked and more closely resemble ritual scarification, are highly similar to the carvings found on many of the rocks around their camps, being simplistic curving designs that appear to symbolize wind. The dense concentration of Giant camps in the tundra and wide open areas of Skyrim testify to this type of worship, as there would be few geographical features to act as windbreaks. This could hint at some sort of primitive worship of the goddess Kynareth.

Many of the large rocks around Giant camps are found daubed in some kind of thick paint- mostly red or blue- and carved with ornate yellow symbols, perhaps as tribal markers to identify between Giant tribes.

Technology
They arm themselves with crudely made stone and wood clubs, and clothe themselves with fur pelts adorned with the bones of animals, include the skulls of Trolls, though many prefer a simple loincloth. They also raise mammoths for meat and milk, which they make into cheese.

Most Giants live on meat, evidenced by their herding of mammoths and the presence of charred skeevers spitroasting over their massive fires. They also appear to be partial to horses and wolves, as the bodies of these animals have been infrequently found on smaller, square-shaped logpiles in some camps that have remained unlit.

Intelligence
Despite their appearances, giants are moderately intelligent. Although able to fashion tools and clothes for themselves as well as harnessing fire for warmth, giants do not appear to have developed a language system. Giants can sometimes be heard talking in a fight. There are no translations for any of the words they use. Their language is guttural and almost indistinguishable from base noises of exertion.

Behavior
Giants are nomadic creatures that herd Mammoths for sustenance, and are wary but used to the presence of other races. They only attack if attacked first, or if someone strays too close to their camps or herds - lone groups of giants on the move can be closely approached with only a low chance of hostility. Due to a possible bug, sometimes they also appear to ignore the players presence altogether even if both are face to face with each other. Mountain Giants are very powerful and may be seen traveling with Mammoths, which stay close to their own camps. It can therefore be concluded that they are dependent on mammoths for sustenance. This is also supported by camps having pouches of Mammoth Cheese.

Interactions with men
Some of the farmers of Whiterun offer cows to the giants as a way of preventing attacks on livestock. The cows are painted with traditional markings so that the giants recognize them as peace offerings.

Loot
Giants can be a good source of income for higher level players as they are found in many locations and drop an average of 100 to 200 each. Giants can drop Giant toes, Hides, food, and equipment. There are often chests found in tents and hollow tree trunks nearby giant camps. Their clubs cannot be looted or wielded by the player, but a follower can be commanded to pick one up and will wield it. There are often large sacks of mammoth cheese in their camps.

Daggerfall
Giants are large creatures in Daggerfall. Speakers of Giantish can stop giants from attacking. Giants have 75 health and do at least one hundred damage when attacking.

Skyrim
Giants can be found in Skyrim herding Mammoths or standing around large campfires. Many can be found west of Whiterun and south of Windhelm. They are passive creatures, attacking only if you get too close to them or their mammoths, or attack either one. They often have large sacks of mammoth cheese near their fires. They are not very observant which makes sneaking around them easy. Though the fire they gather around usually gives a novice sneaker away.

Bugs

 * When the player, or anything else, is killed by a Giant's club they will most often be sent soaring several hundred feet straight up. NPCs can sometimes be seen in the distance being launched into the sky.
 * If a giant's mammoth is killed by the environment, the giant will guard the mammoth, as if it were still alive.
 * When giants kill dragons, they may send their corpses hundreds of feet into the air.
 * Giants sometimes shrink when they are killed to half or less of their actual size, from a bug or glitch.
 * When killed, the giant's club may give you the option of searching the body, even if it's a distance away.
 * When killed the giants club can start floating around the player.
 * When finding a giant's club that shows statistics on it; such as value, damage, and weight; you can command a follower to pick up the club and weild it as a weapon.