A lot of people don't know this, but I originally designed the Giant to look like my father, Jim Lobe (you can google him if you like, he's a journalist). With his weathered features and weary demeanor, the Skyrim Giant was meant to convey a profound feeling of oldness, of a long life lived in the sun. I wanted players to feel like children again, small, in awe of the largeness of our parents as they moved around the house. To create this, I referenced the art of Adam Adamowicz (obviously - he was the concept artist there at Bethesda Softworks!), farmers from around the world (to get that creased-skin look) and African tribal scarring (blended with a Celtic influence).
The model, fully-clothed, weighs in at around 12k polys. Watch out for that club - it'll send you into orbit.
(Fun-fact: We at Bethesda identified that physics bug in the game almost right away... and then decided it was too hilarious to take out!)