Khajiiti Warfare

I’ve seen this a bit lately, so much like they’re relationship with the Thalmor that was misunderstood, Khajiiti warfare will be explored.

Firstly, we know that in any task, Khajiit work together. This applies to anything with the Khajiit, if one form cannot do it then another can and as we’ve seen in previous threads, Khajiit are very community-minded. Likewise, this is seen in their tactics. Khajiit see advantage in any way and they’ll take it. Using the best and almost only source we have, Mixed Unit Tactics talks about the cooperation between the sub-species. Mixed units being the trump card for Khajiit in battle, where most races favour a particular form of warfare Khajiit can perform all of them well.

One thing that is shared amongst all Khajiit, however, is that they won’t fight a pointless or hopeless fight. If a Khajiit found himself in front of a group of imperials, you can bet he’d kick him in the nads and run away. Fighting dirty is just fighting for survival and they will run away if they have to, no point in fighting just so your corpse gets praised (however, there are martyrs in Khajiit society, Ri’sallidad). But, Khajiit are all different types all fighting together and in different cultures, so we have to look at these factors too. Culturally first, then through sub-species.

Anequina

“Barbaric” to the Pelletines (pelletinians, they don’t have an official term), they’re the more nomadic and ruthless Khajiit who live in the more northern end of Elsweyr, particularly in and around the towns by the Ne’ Quin al desert. The conventional combat sub-species would be favorable here and their “talents” more suited for this culture. An Anequinine Senche-Raht would be one hell of a force to be reckoned with.

Pelletine

Considered “decadent” by the Anequinine Khajiit, these guys are less nomadic and more connected with the rest of Tamriel due to the massive port city Senchal and the proximity with the coast. Also by virtue of the fact that it’s mostly jungle and forest as opposed to biting hot desert. Trade and business flourishes in Pelletine and would likewise cause its fighters to be less “battle-hardened” than Anequinine Khajiit. However, this does not mean they are not talented. With the thick and deadly jungles and importance of “trade” these guys would be much more accustomed to guerrilla tactics and light, mobile soldiers.

That covering as little as it did, should make a bit more sense when looking at the individual sub-species (that we know of).

Alfiq

Very powerful mages and the most magically adept sub-species. This, of course, could be used in a wide variety of roles given the variety of magic schools there are. They’re also the size of a house cat, so these guys aren’t exactly going to be frontline infantry. Alfiq-Raht would likely be the same case, but bigger in size.

Cathay

the subspecies considered to “make good warriors” (from Morrowind dialogue) likely due to their size and bipedalism making them able to adapt to using both typical weapons and their own claws. I’d estimate that their size would make the typical Cathay about 1 foot taller than a regular Altmer and Cathay-Raht probably being 2-4 feet taller than Altmer, however we don’t officially know their height so we have to resort to conjecture.

Suthay

from the same dialogue, these guys don’t typically make good warriors, not even Suthay-Raht. However, they’d be much more suited to guerrilla, hit and run tactics due to their stature and affinity for stealth. Suthay-Raht are the sub-species that players in Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim can be. Martial arts would likely be their strong suit and there’s plenty of forms for them to learn (and with claws, they really can do some nasty stuff).

Tojay

pretty much nothing is known about these guys, other than they’re believed to be bipedal.

Pahmar

said to be similar to a tiger. I’d say they would be both strong and agile fighters, however also restricted by their paws making them incapable to using weapons. Pahmar-Raht, like the other -Raht types, is likely just a bigger version.

Senche

the big boys, these guys are as suited to combat as you could get. Senche-Raht are famously referred to by Imperials as “battle cats” and are said to be the size of two Altmer in height and who knows how thick. Thankfully, we have some idea of what they look like beyond being quadrupedal, as the Tale of Dro’Zira informs us that Sabre Cats of Skyrim were formerly Senche that had turned smaller into what they are now (and no, Sabre Cats are not Khajiit). I don’t think I have to explain how useful these guys are in a fight.

Dagi

as we can see from Mixed Unit Tactics, they’re small, agile, tree-dwelling and useful with bows AND magic. Probably as guerrilla as it gets for the Khajiit. However, they’re also limited by the fact that they wouldn’t be very useful outside of forests and jungles due to one of their best natural talents becomes pointless when there’s no trees around. Dagi or Dagi-Raht are probably half the size of a Suthay-Raht (again, just estimation). They’re also talented mages and supposedly take advantage of this whilst they’re in battle.

Ohmes

probably the most suited to traditional warfare with archery or as another kind of light soldier due to their size and Bosmer-like appearance. Probably very useful in an intelligence role due to their appearance and agility; but also more likely used for traditional warfare that Imperials and other man races are more likely to use, though I doubt they excel at it compared to Imperials.

Ohmes-Raht

quite different from Ohmes, they actually have tails and light fur. However, they are still very man-like overall and thus would come under similar roles in battle as Ohmes.

Now for some special things

Martial arts in Elsweyr is in no short supply, with the most popular/known forms being Goutfang, Whispering Claw and Rawlith Khaj. Rawlith Khaj having several of its own styles: Rain, Sand, Wind, Sun, Storm, and Two-Moons-Dance. The martial arts themselves are described to be “of claw and tail”, again playing to the natural advantages Khajiit have, particularly their claws. Likewise, monks have even been said to be some of Elsweyr’s greatest warriors when they need to be.

There are still more sub-species of Khajiit that we know nothing about. The PGE claims there to be “over twenty” and an old MK comment stated there to be 24. But again, we don’t know anything about these and can’t comment on their usefulness, role, or anything really.

Khajiit armour use is overall still obscured to us. We’ve heard that they typically use medium armour, but it’d be ridiculous to think that this applies to 16 different types of Khajiit. It’s possible that it covers most of the body as it’s offensive to expose ones body fur in Khajiiti society, however in battle and especially amongst the more “barbaric” Anequinine Khajiit this could be disregarded; we don’t really know. However, we do know that they have little regard for heavy armour.

To sum it up, Khajiit are a very varied people. They are suited for every task, it’s what they were designed for and it is mirrored in their combat. In jungle or desert, big or small, they will fight in any way they can or try again tomorrow when you’re not looking.