Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-8209010-20140808055445/@comment-27913894-20160325151601

While I do not know why the decision of giving a humanoid creature pointed ears to distinguish them as Elves came to be, this practice has been set in stone for decades now, with a wide variety of media following the same trend, likely doing so in order to help the audience instantaneously recognize said creature as an Elf as to avoid confusion. Alongside The Elder Scrolls, games such as World of Warcraft, RuneScape, and many more also follow this trend of pointed ears to distinguish Elves from Men. As for movies, The Lord of the Rings is a good example of a series which clearly follows this trend as well. In terms of recognition, ears which are clearly visible and not blocked from view by hair or other obstructions are, generally, very easy to notice compared to most other parts of the human body and its physical features. As a final note, when you consider the 'sharp' and 'slim' appearance that Mer tend to follow in The Elder Scrolls, a type of 'sharp' and 'slim' ear is quite appropriate if you take the time to think about it.