Giant (Skyrim)

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

Anatomy
Giants stand between 11 and 12 feet tall, and are mostly humanoid in appearance; with thick gray skin, large hands and feet, and long, thick hair. Most giants have decorative scars carved into their chests, possibly serving as tribal or religious symbols. Their physical similarities with Orcs- jutting lower canines, tapered ears and the presence of horns on the temples (much diminished in giants)- serve as evidence of some loose relation to the Mer.

All Giants encountered in-game are male, with wrinkled faces and long, gray-streaked beards. Giant females are not seen in the game. Whether this indicates a scarcity of female giants, or some other unexplained attribute of their social structure, remains unknown.

Technology
They arm themselves with crudely-made stone and wood clubs (which usually kill the player instantly,launching them into the air. its a convenient way to see the whole area of Skyrim at once from the sky.), and clothe themselves in fur pelts adorned with the bones of animals (including Troll Skulls), although many prefer a simple loincloth. They also herd Mammoths for meat and milk, which they make into cheese.

Most Giants live on meat and mammoth cheese evidenced by their herding of Mammoths and the presence of charred Skeevers spit-roasting over their massive fires. They also appear to be partial to horses and wolves as the bodies of these animals are (less frequently) found on smaller, square-shaped logpiles that have remained unlit.

Intelligence
Despite their appearances, giants are moderately intelligent, able to fashion tools and clothes for themselves and harness fire for warmth. Giants can sometimes be heard speaking in combat. There are no translations for any of the words they use. Their language is guttural and almost indistinguishable from base noises of exertion.

During The Cursed Tribe, Giant paintings can be seen outside Fallowstone Cave resembling their decorative scarification. Giants may also carve symbols into herded mammoth tusks.

Behavior
Giants are nomadic creatures that herd Mammoths for sustenance, and are wary of, 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. This is in contrast to the contracts issued by Jarls, which state that the Giant at a local named location has been harassing and attacking people and livestock. 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 often seen traveling with Mammoths. These mammoths stay close to the giants' camps, and pouches of Mammoth Cheese are often found nearby, supporting the conclusion that the giants raise Mammoths like livestock. Additionally, a giant herding a cow from the base of the path up to the Labyrinthian. The giant walks with the cow to Sleeping Tree Camp or another giant camp. After that, they stand still for hours.

There is no evidence that Giants need to rest or sleep, as they are never seen doing so. Their camps rarely if ever contain bedding materials.

Interactions with Humans
Some farmers offer cows as a sacrifice to the giants in order to avoid attacks on livestock. The cows are painted with traditional markings so that the giants recognize them as peace offerings. However, giants have been known to kill these farmers and ignore the peace offerings.

Locations
Giants can be found in the following locations:
 * Blackreach
 * Bleakwind Basin
 * Blizzard Rest
 * Broken Limb Camp
 * Cradlecrush Rock
 * Giant's Grove
 * Guldun Rock
 * Red Road Pass
 * Secunda's Kiss
 * Sleeping Tree Cave/Sleeping Tree Camp
 * Steamcrag Camp
 * Stonehill Bluff
 * Talking Stone Camp
 * Tumble Arch Pass

Loot

 * 100+
 * Giant's Toe
 * Assorted animal hides
 * Assorted Weapons and Armor
 * Most camps contain mammoth cheese containers which are harvested.
 * Rare gems

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, although the fire they gather around usually gives a novice sneaker away due to the light it gives off. Charred Skeevers can be found around The Camp Fires.

Tactics

 * Giants will attack enemies that provoke them and assist the player if mammoths are not present. Giants make valuable allies, even against Dragons, as they can deal a large amount of damage to the enemy while the player is watching or helping, killing the enemy quickly.
 * A low-level player can kill a Giant by transforming into a Werewolf (using the Beast Form power, earned with lycanthropy) and using the power attack to repeatedly knock the Giant onto the ground. It should be noted that Mammoths, on the other hand, cannot be knocked down.
 * Yet another easy way to kill a giant (and get giant killing practice) is during The Cursed Tribe as Volendrung is proficient at defeating larger enemies
 * Another tactic to kill the giants in the Guldun Rock is to jump on a tall rock at the side of the mountain, and attack with ranged magic or with bow and arrows. Giant will go near and when it sees that it cannot get you, it will walk away. Jump off the rock, and it will try to kill you again and go near you. Jump on the rock again when it's near and attack. Keep doing this and soon the giants will die.
 * An easy way to kill a giant in low levels is with the Animal Allegiance Shout. Attack the Giant with an arrow in sight of the mammoths run up to the Mammoths(while making sure it doesn't run to you and kill you with one blow) and use the Shout. The Mammoths will then fight the giant(s) for you.
 * Another easy way for low levels is to go to Bleakwind Basin and on the left side there are two columns, attack the giant, while out of reach of the giant's attacks. Jumping down will attract the giant(s) back.
 * A tactic for killing giants near Whiterun is to lead them over to the western watch tower, and go inside. The giants will try to walk through the entrance, but can't because they are too big. Just bring out your bow and shoot them until they die. Any Whiterun guards that try to engage it in melee combat are likely to die.
 * A tactic for killing giants is to stand in waist deep water, as giants are scared of water and won't go in. Just keep shooting them with magic and arrows until they're dead. Make sure mammoths aren't around, as they can go into the water, and most likely will kill you.
 * A Stealthy Character can use Throw Voice after shooting it with arrows or magic to throw off the Giant(s) Search Area. Another useful shout is Unrelenting Force as it knocks Giant(s) down (If you have mastered the shout, it always knocks them down)and it takes a good 3–5 seconds for them to stand, giving you time to shoot\regain stats\run.*note that Mammoth(s) don't stagger much, so this shout is rendered useless,It makes them stop charging for about a second then they charge again.
 * An easy way for a mid level player to kill a Giant is using the 30x bonus to sneak attacks with daggers granted by Dark Brotherhood armor and the proper Sneak perk. On their own, giants are fairly easy to sneak up on, as they move slowly and are prone to standing still for long periods of time.
 * Another tactic is to constantly stay behind the Giant, staying away from the Giant's club attacks and wear him down with magic, arrows, and melee attacks.
 * Giants appear to have a huge weakness to frost as it slows them to a crawl and prevents them from charging, making it possible to kill a giant by hitting it continuously with frost spells and staying out of its range indefinitely.
 * It should be noted that attacking a Giant will not enrage Mammoths who are further away BUT attacking a Mammoth will turn other mammoths and all giants in the immediate area hostile. So giants should always be struck first before their Mammoths to prevent getting swarmed by a group of mammoths and giants.

Trivia

 * Giants were ranked third on the list of Top Ten Deadliest Enemies in Skyrim.
 * Despite this the player is more likely to get killed by a skeever than a Giant provided they stay out of its territory and leave the mammoths alone.
 * The giants' markings greatly resemble those made by the Picts, an ancient tribe of Celts that dwelled in modern-day Scotland.
 * Dragon killed by giants.jpgns can sometimes appear and start attacking a giant or its mammoths. When a giant and/or mammoth fights a dragon, the dragon is very likely to lose if it does not stay in the air. This can make for a very easy dragon "kill," since the player only needs to wait for the giant and mammoths to move away, and then go in and loot the dragon corpse. However, sometimes the dead dragon will not give up its soul and burn away.
 * Giants have been seen to "throw" mammoths into the air. Tossing them either vertically or horizontally, to their deaths.Beware they are possible of throwing of you 300 + feet in the air.
 * In the quest The Cursed Tribe, the Dragonborn may have to fight two or three giants.
 * Sometimes, a Giant Herding Mammoths must be killed to complete a Camp. At other times, killing a roaming giant may not cause a camp to be "cleared". After which, the giant must respawn and be killed again before the camp is "cleared".
 * They will become hostile if the player casts a healing spell on them.