Who is Akatosh in the Elder Scrolls?

[Hardiyy]

They say Alduin is a Nordic variation of Akatosh, which should mean they're the same thing. I think Akatosh is one of two gods found in the religion of every major race, right? I mean I have heard that the character akatosh is similar to Alduin in this game. But I am not sure about the same so I just want to know whether the same thing is the appropriate one or now. So please let me know what I can do to get the appropriate information regarding the same.

[Edbert]

Alduin isn't really the Nordic version of Akatosh - it's the other way around. Akatosh is the Imperial version of Alduin/Auri-El, and was actually a political compromise to allow the freed former slaves that made up the Imperial population to "sort-of" continue to believe in the merish pantheon they were accustomed to, without angering the Nords who they had been freed by and who were on decidedly poor terms with the mer. This is why, unlike Alduin, which are two different views of the same basic concept Dragon God of Time who both creates and destroys the world, Akatosh was decidedly pro-Man and was a guardian of the Empire. He still had his primary element but he wasn't the destroyer as well as the creator.

[Rompage]

Of course even while his attributes were different it is important to remember that Akatosh WAS the same as Alduin and Auri-El - reality and gods specifically can get a bit schizophrenic like that. It's actually possible that the Allessian Order did fundamentally change Alduin when they caused the Dragon Break - and that changed God was Akatosh, who might have ceased to exist as an element of the Dragon God at the end of Oblivion, allowing the original, proper form(s) of the Destroyer to come back - therefore causing the crisis in Skyrim. I don’t know whether that's supported anywhere in the lore or if it's just speculation, but I think it's a pretty cool story myself.

[Deenanath]

It's not. It's his other personality. Having multiple perceptions in a world where believe and perceptions shape the world and gods do that. Hell, Shor, Shezarr, and Lorkhan are the same guy, different name, different views, and different aims yet hardly anyone disputes this. Also, Shezarr was a political move too, in order to curb a deity who is HIGHLY anti-mer, due to the time god. If you ask me, too many people are attached to a political move.

[Cadwallader]

Yes, perspective is the key here. Auri-El and Akatosh have much in common and are confirmed to be the same god. However, Alduin is something different altogether. The only evidence that Alduin is the same as Akatosh is the perspective of an in-game author. For all we know, Alduin is some shadow entity created after the formation of Nirn or just the progenitor of all dragons. We just won't know until the game comes around. In all instances, Auri-El and Akatosh aren't even two separate entities, they are just different names by the Aldmer and the Imperials. However, Alduin is different as well, the only thing he has in common with Akatosh is that he is a dragon and that it "seems" that he can warp time, which we already know that the dragons can already do that as their language is so powerful it can alter time, so it can't be taken as definitive proof that Alduin is Akatosh either.

[Gajendra1]

The lore of Elder Scrolls has a theme of duality. But gods can have dualities without switching between Aedric and Daedric. Alduin and Akatosh is one such example. They are the same entity, but they are two heads of the same coin. Akatosh is the god of time, Alduin is the god of the end of time. They are different personalities, different identities, and different interpretations, but they both empower the aspect of time. The Imperials believe Akatosh is simply their chief god, a dragon, the symbol of the Empire and its protector, destined to make the empire last as long as time itself. The Nords think of Alduin solely as a dragon who must eat the world every time it comes to the end of its lifespan, and then it must be re-formed.