Falmer or Snow Elves

[ryguy90]

So are the Falmer still Snow Elves or like the Dunmer and the Oaks, have become a compltely different race?

I say the Falmer are a separate race, their culture and biology have completely changed after they were blinded by the Dwemer. Yes they still share some characteristics with their ancestors, the white skin and resistance to ice magic, the differences far out number the similarities. Their skin is no long pure snow white but more a rubbery dirty white, their noses are now large holes on their face, their teeth have turned into fangs and their finger nails have grown into claws and lets not forget about their eyes.

So yes I beleive the Falmer can no longer be consider to be Snow Elves. However if you disagree and have evidince to back it, please post it,

 

[Rhubarb&Custard]

Slightly off topic, but I hate the Falmer, they're just so creepy, skulking about in dark damp caves only lit by glowing mushrooms, I always hate facing them, even when playing my most powerful character, because they're just so damn scary looking.

 

[theoperation]

I think you may be right. I tend to think they have devolved into beasts as they have white souls, not black ones like all other mortals.

 

[bronxtale]

well falmer are evolved i guess they are blind but they have better senses beside these guys are scary looking I think they were drived out by the nords? i think still hard to fight in low levels

 

[Rhubarb&Custard]

well falmer are evolved i guess they are blind but they have better senses beside these guys are scary looking I think they were drived out by the nords? i think still hard to fight in low levels

If you read up about them in one of the books in-game, it says how they were originally a powerful race above ground before the Nords even settled in Skyrim, when they did, they tried to live with the Snow Elves, but they eventually drove them underground, where they formed an un-easy alliance with the Dwemer, who basically back stabbed them and turned them into slaves and lab rats.

After so many generations of living underground it's no wonder they've de-volved basically into this beast, though they still do have intelligent ways, like keeping Chaurus as pets/guards and breeding/keeping skeevers for food and having some sort of language as revealed later in the Thieves Guild questline. So yes, they've lost what made them great as Snow Elves before they were driven underground by the Nords and betrayed by the Dwemer.

 

[bronxtale]

ohhh that's sad now im going to kill them quick and painless

 

[Rhubarb&Custard]

ohhh that's sad now im going to kill them quick and painless

Yeah, they've had a hard life. Doesn't stop them from killing you as soon as you step into their territory though.. I always go and sneak kill them if I can. A group of Falmer vs a sneaky thief/assassin build isn't great. Especially if you only have a bow and a dagger on you for weapons. Going slightly off topic, but I always tend to go with archers with a bit of melee whenever I make a character, granted I've only made 3 so far, and my first one with which I completed the game for the first time, started out as a heavy armour sword and shield wielding imperial, when eventually I gave the bow a try I kept with it and switched to light armour and archery enhancing enchantments. Odd.

 

[Lizzifer]

When the snow elves breathed, I'm sure it didn't sound like the 7th circle of hell crawling into your soul through your ears like it does with the falmer, so my assumption is that they've evolved into an entirely different entity.

 

[Rhubarb&Custard]

Evolved would suggest they've gotten better, I reckon the word to describe the Falmer is DE-volved. Like the big fearsome dinosaurs were the most powerful being on the planet, and now they're canaries.

 

[Lizzifer]

Considering evolution is a species adapting to its environment as successfully as it can, I'd say they've evolved pretty well to match the dank recesses of plopssville they now live in.

 

[DrunkenMage]

The price for refuge the Snow Elves had to pay was their sight, the Dwemer told them it'll cost them their sight for safety. They're not the same anymore they have lived underground for several Eras, the blinding of their race was with a toxin, the creatures they are now are just hundreds/thousands of years being underground. Falmer language means Snow Elf Language before they became what they are now, they have no language, but their intelligence is returning and the possibility to communicate may happen in the future.

Perhaps that is why they have white souls instead of black, they have become more beast than Mer.

Though they do build pretty good bridges on heights...not very skilled at fighting when they're on a bridge have seen many walk off the edge and fall to the depths below.

 

[bronxtale]

Yeah, they've had a hard life. Doesn't stop them from killing you as soon as you step into their territory though.. I always go and sneak kill them if I can. A group of Falmer vs a sneaky thief/assassin build isn't great. Especially if you only have a bow and a dagger on you for weapons. Going slightly off topic, but I always tend to go with archers with a bit of melee whenever I make a character, granted I've only made 3 so far, and my first one with which I completed the game for the first time, started out as a heavy armour sword and shield wielding imperial, when eventually I gave the bow a try I kept with it and switched to light armour and archery enhancing enchantments. Odd.

still that is what i like about skyrim you can switch your play style

 

[Odd Child]

Slightly off topic, but I hate the Falmer, they're just so creepy, skulking about in dark damp caves only lit by glowing mushrooms, I always hate facing them, even when playing my most powerful character, because they're just so damn scary looking.

So. true. It always scares the crap outta me when you're sneaking through the darkness of their campsites and you hear their hissing out of nowhere. Those falmer cretin are vile to say the least.

 

[Bad-People]

The Dunmer and the Orcs were changed mystically, The Falmer simply devolved. Plus they were great in "The Descent".

 

[ryguy90]

A lot of you keep saying the Snow Elves devolved into the falmer, and that the falmer are nothing more than savage animals, but I'm not sure if thats true. Yes they may attack you on sight but what would you do if a well armed warrior walks into your home which your people have spent centuries protecting and hiding from these same people? They also have domestication, advance tool making, and the so called slaves they have are always willing to fight to the death for their masters. Also if any of you try and say that they often raid nord villages on the surface, well I have a question for you, how many non-falmer bandits have you fought? Also if they wanted to destroy the surface world wouldn't now be the perfect time to do so? Both the Dominion and the Empire are weakened by the Great War, Skyrim is in the middle of a three way Civil War, the dragons have returned, a vampire cult is attempting to black out the sun, and there is chaos of some type in nearly ever other nation. They have the numbers, they have equipment and magic, and they probably have tunnels that lead all over Skyrim, so why are they not attacking right now?

Now I'm not saying that the falmer are not nothing more than hellish monster who only wish to bring death and destruction to the surface, because they could be. I'm just playing the devil's advocate and waiting to see if how you respond. If you disagree please speak up and if you do agree also please speak up.

 

[theoperation]

A lot of you keep saying the Snow Elves devolved into the falmer, and that the falmer are nothing more than savage animals, but I'm not sure if thats true. Yes they may attack you on sight but what would you do if a well armed warrior walks into your home which your people have spent centuries protecting and hiding from these same people? They also have domestication, advance tool making, and the so called slaves they have are always willing to fight to the death for their masters. Also if any of you try and say that they often raid nord villages on the surface, well I have a question for you, how many non-falmer bandits have you fought? Also if they wanted to destroy the surface world wouldn't now be the perfect time to do so? Both the Dominion and the Empire are weakened by the Great War, Skyrim is in the middle of a three way Civil War, the dragons have returned, a vampire cult is attempting to black out the sun, and there is chaos of some type in nearly ever other nation. They have the numbers, they have equipment and magic, and they probably have tunnels that lead all over Skyrim, so why are they not attacking right now?

Now I'm not saying that the falmer are not nothing more than hellish monster who only wish to bring death and destruction to the surface, because they could be. I'm just playing the devil's advocate and waiting to see if how you respond. If you disagree please speak up and if you do agree also please speak up.

Since you said speak up, I shall. I still think they've devolved into lesser creatures, mainly because if you try and soul-trap them they have white souls, not black souls like humans/elves/orcs/khajiit/argonians. They're still intelligent creatures, like giants, but they don't have the human level intelligence like the other races. They have methods of making tools and whatnot, but they're somewhat crude, and the techniques are probably just passed down through the generations, but they do not have the capacity to create anything new. It's ok to feel bad for them but they barely resemble elves anymore, so don't feel too bad about killing them. I sure don't

 

[Chowder138]

Well, Falmer and Snow Elf mean the same thing, kind of like Dwarf and Dwemer. However, I usually use Snow Elf to refer to the civilized version, while Falmer usually befits the monsters I always have to kill.

 

[Chowder138]

A lot of you keep saying the Snow Elves devolved into the falmer, and that the falmer are nothing more than savage animals, but I'm not sure if thats true. Yes they may attack you on sight but what would you do if a well armed warrior walks into your home which your people have spent centuries protecting and hiding from these same people? They also have domestication, advance tool making, and the so called slaves they have are always willing to fight to the death for their masters. Also if any of you try and say that they often raid nord villages on the surface, well I have a question for you, how many non-falmer bandits have you fought? Also if they wanted to destroy the surface world wouldn't now be the perfect time to do so? Both the Dominion and the Empire are weakened by the Great War, Skyrim is in the middle of a three way Civil War, the dragons have returned, a vampire cult is attempting to black out the sun, and there is chaos of some type in nearly ever other nation. They have the numbers, they have equipment and magic, and they probably have tunnels that lead all over Skyrim, so why are they not attacking right now?

Now I'm not saying that the falmer are not nothing more than hellish monster who only wish to bring death and destruction to the surface, because they could be. I'm just playing the devil's advocate and waiting to see if how you respond. If you disagree please speak up and if you do agree also please speak up.

FAHLMEHR DEEZERV RITEZ TWO LULZ

GIV DE FALMEER DARE RITEZ

 

[Chowder138]

Evolved would suggest they've gotten better, I reckon the word to describe the Falmer is DE-volved. Like the big fearsome dinosaurs were the most powerful being on the planet, and now they're canaries.

[Citation needed]

 

[Crooksin]

I think a good analogy is this:

Let's say there was an ice age (or in the Snow Elves case, being enslaved and poisoned... I know its a stretch but bear with me) and Humans began slowly turning back into Apes to adapt to their new lifestyle; if it was scientifically viable (or the Snow Elves turning into Falmar to adapt to their conditions). That is what we call, Devolving. This doesn't really make us completely different, just a lesser version of our former selves that is more suited to its current lifestyle/surroundings.

So I would say that Falmor are lesser Snow Elves but they are so different now that you can't really call them Snow Elves anymore, can you? Just like you can't really call Orcs, Elves anymore. You could compare this situation to the differences between Apes and Humans, which is to say that there isn't much.

I would love to see Bethesda somehow bring the Snow Elves back and see the interactions between them and the Falmor but in the mean time I will be slaughtering those filthy bastards everytime I see one