kijo 破邪顕正 on Nostr: I think that's just a case of "nordic aesthetic" overlapping with "nazi" simply ...

I think that's just a case of "nordic aesthetic" overlapping with "nazi" simply because Nazis appropriate a lot of Nordic culture. That by itself means nothing. As far as I know "stormcloak" itself isn't literally a nazi term though it makes you think of "stormfront." Ingame, Stormcloak is a family name held by the Jarls of Windhelm.

They DID make a faction that are like Nazis. They are called the Thalmor created by a group of High Elves. They quite literally believe they are the greatest race, and because they believe a human (Talos Stormcrown) cannot ascend to Godhood (only elves can) they wage a war against all of humanity. All races of Tamriel are to some degree distrustful of foreigners, but Thalmor are extremists which everyone, including some High Elves agree on. They patrol Skyrim looking for Talos worshipers to torture and execute, as well as support the ongoing civil war in Skyrim because it suits their interests.

The actual reason this guy probably thinks Ulfric Stormcloak is Literally Hitler is because of Windhelm's diaspora (dark elves who fleed their homes 200 years ago due to a volcanic eruption. they live 300ish years, and there's Argonian lizard people.)
Regardless of who you side with in the Civil War quest, Argonians and Dark Elves in Windhelm will remain SEGREGATED because in the Dark Elves' homeland, Argonians are SLAVES. Argonian children are kidnapped from their own homeland, sold, and tortured by Dark Elves in Morrowind.

Neither Ulfric nor the Imperial Jarl you appoint want to deal with race wars happening between the two, so dark elves get a Gray Quarter to live in and Argonians live in the city walls facing the docks. The only difference is that the Imperial Jarl will claim to at least renovate the Gray Quarter for better living conditions.

The other controversial thing Ulfric has done is cleansing of Reachmen in Western Skyrim. Reachmen are (iirc) people indigenous to Skyrim (while Nords, like most other races, originate from an ancient island sunken eras ago.) In Elder Scrolls Online, Reachmen are just as aggressive and cruel to Nords as Ulfric would have been to them 1000? years later. Reachmen are supposed to be a brutal, violent, cannibalistic tribe. The Stormcloak rebellion starts 30 years after Ulfric takes back Markarth (Eastern Skyrim) from the Reachfolk.

What people get wrong when trying to analyze Tamrielic politics and race relations is applying real-world standards to them. They view humans massacring elves for example the same way they'd view white people committing ethnic cleansing, because they ignore that x years ago it was elves massacring humans sacrificing them to evil gods. ES races are inspired by real-world cultures but it's not 1:1.

All races of Tamriel have their strengths and weaknesses. Aggression is typically two-sided. There are no helpless, ever-marginalized victim groups who never have agency or the power to fight back against an ever-powerful oppressor. Everyone is pretty much equally racist against one another.

And for a game made in 2011, if they wanted to add Nazi imagery or references to a game, they could've gotten away with a LOT more than making some guy's surname "Stormcloak." The Nords joining the rebellion may be overly cautious of foreign influence, because they're being oppressed by a fucking Empire that colonized their pantheon and allows Elves roam their streets with the intention of taking prisoners on a whim. Nords aren't the only ones to secede from the Empire because of Elf interference - Hammerfell successfully seceded AND fought back against the Elves trying to massacre them. Feel free to look up what Redguards from Hammerfell look like.