inspired others, including The Elder Scrolls series.
The Elder Scrolls series has certainly grown into its own creature over the years, forming its own mythos and developing its own unique features. Despite this, both IPs share some names and concepts - for instance, the playable Orc race. Dragonborn, judged by the name only, would seem to be another shared concept between D&D and Skyrim. So how are Skyrim and D&D’s Dragonborn similar, and how are they different?
First and most apparent in the list of differences is the appearance of a Dragonborn. In D&D, Dragonborn are a race of draconic humanoids descended from true dragons. As such, they have a lizard-like appearance, with their scales’ color corresponding to that of their dragon ancestor. The Dragonborn of Skyrim, however, while potentially inheritable, such as with the Dragonborn Emperors, are not a separate race. Instead, they are people chosen by the gods and given a dragon soul, becoming essentially a dragon within a mortal body. Elder Scrolls players may choose to make a character who looks similar to D&D Dragonborns by selecting the playable Argonian race, but there are some differences in appearance. Most notably, while Argonians have a tail, unless allowed by the DM, Dragonborn characters in D&D do not.
D&D Dragonborns Aren't Usually As Important As Skyrim's
Their role in the story is a little harder to characterize as different or similar. Skyrim’s Last Dragonborn is a prophesied hero, destined to save the world and to kill dragons by consuming their souls. Most Dragonborn in D&D probably aren’t able to consume a dragon’s soul. However, in both instances the player is free to do what they want, regardless of morality or prophecy, be it save the world as planned or steal all of the cheese wheels in existence. The random element provided by the player, therefore, is one thing both types of Dragonborn have in common.
Dragonborn in both properties are capable of a breath attack. In Skyrim, the Dragonborn is able to weaponize the dragon language into Thu’um, or Shouts, each of varying powers. In D&D the form of their breath attack is determined by the Dragonborn’s dragon ancestor, with different colors of dragon providing a different element. Unlike their D&D counterparts, Skyrim’s Dragonborn can change what Thu’um they use at will and are not limited to elemental effects. In of abilities, Skyrim’s Dragonborn are like unrestricted versions of D&D’s Dragonborn.
While there are some key differences between each series Dragonborn, they remain recognizably similar. A crafty enough player could probably even play the same character in both games with fairly minor differences. In any case, with The Elder Scrolls VI unlikely to arrive in the near future, and with more D&D content produced all the time, neither Skyrim nor D&D’s Dragonborn are unlikely to fade away anytime soon.
