Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-96.33.33.144-20160426124845

Hey guys. I figured I'd ask a couple questions about the Altmer people and their physiology throughout the games, and also get your opinion on something about each Mer's physical traits.

Question one, I'll get to the point, is dark-hair (black, dark brown, dark red, black-gray, etc) possible for pure-blooded Altmer (those with only Altmeri/Aldmeri ancestry) to have, and if so is it rare? Arena and Daggerfall showed that those dark colors exist, yet starting in Morrowind those dark hair colors seem to have disappeared from them. Oblivion had Altmer with dark hair, and in Skyrim only one (it seems) true example of dark hair on Altmer exists - and that's on a female preset. Otherwise, all Altmeri NPCs - especially those of the Thalmor - have either blonde, white, gray, or rarely auburn hair. Not even a single brown and certainly no black or dark browns present. ESO shows Altmer NPCs who have black, dark brown, and black-gray hair colors, including three or four members of the nationalist *cough*racist*cough* Veiled Heritance group who clearly despise non-Altmer - yet (at least for the moment, I hope) Altmer players lack those darker hair colors. Could it be that lighter shades are considered 'common' hair colors for pure-blooded Altmer and darker colorations are rare?

Question two, is there anything in the lore books or the lore in general that talks about the concept of what an Altmer would consider 'impurity'? The Thalmor seem obsessed with ensuring Altmer purity, yet does this refer to only ancestry staying Altmer/Aldmeri (no Bosmer or anything), or would it even extend to such things as going after those who exhibit difference physical traits among their fellow Altmer that go against the 'typical Altmeri image' of white/blonde hair, golden eyes and pale gold skin?

Personally, I'm not sure if an Altmer with dark hair could be considered 'impure' or if it would mark an Altmer as coming from even one instance of inter-breeding with non-Altmer anywhere in their bloodline. The main physical differences between the types of Mer relate to skin-tone, eye color, ear shape, and body shape.

Altmer - skin-tone consists of shades of gold with gold, amber, or even green (sometimes blue it seems with ESO) eyes, the tallest of Mer, very slight of build typically, and long, straight ears.

Bosmer - the shortest race of Mer (at least their males are), tanned or with pale brown skin, with eyes that range from dark amber to black, and have ears that are shorter than the Altmer - and sometimes shown as mishapen (look at male Bosmer ears compared to male Altmer ears in ESO) from the typical 'dagger-ears' of Elven kind.

Dunmer - red eyes, skin tones ranging from ash gray to various blue-grays, sometimes brown-ish or green-ish, or just very dark gray-black shades, builds similar to humans but usually more slight as well. Ears typically depicted as long yet also curved.

Orsimer - various shades of green and brown skin tones, eyes seem to have a strange range - sometimes yellow, sometimes red, sometimes pale blue, etc - shorter than Altmer but tower over most other races, physiques tend to be muscular and very sturdy. Ears are shorter and a bit curved as well.

Yet for all four of these types of Elves, there have been members of these races who have hair colors that are different from what's typically seen. There have been blonde/light haired Dunmer and Orsimer, dark haired Altmer - the Bosmer though tend to have both light and dark colors. 