Elves, dwarves and orcs: where do they fit in these days?

[Dashgar]

I'd like to say something on the use of some 'fantasy staples'. I was gonna post this on another topic but realised as I was writing it was a whole different issue I'd got to.

I guess I've always had a fanscination with Elves and Dwarves (and even more so Orcs), tracking back less to Tolkien (which don't get me wrong I read from a young age) but more from Warhammer and the Warcraft games. I found the more I read of fantasy that writers were trying to steer away from these creatures but in many ways they never really did. In the same way that the creators of DnD and Warhammer embraced Tolkiens ideas and made them something completely their own, some authors are trapped beneath his shadow, trying to do something new.

Take any 'evil race' from a fantasy story, I think trollocs from wheel of time are a great example. For me they've never quite worked. Even though they are described very similarly to beastmen in Warhammer (a race that have a hugely entertaining history). Why can I picture what a beastman camp would be like and not a trolloc camp. Why can I imagine what beastmen would talk about and not trollocs. They are essentially the same thing but in emphasising they are different Jordan's Trollocs have lost the beastmen's appeal.

I think by borrowing the 'high fantasy' terms you inherit a certain amount of backstory that can be valuable to your narrative. Then as you build on those 'principles' you make the races your own. Orcs in Tolkien are very different to orcs in Warhammer, Warcraft and even Warhammer 40k. Any other world with Orcs will hopefully have very different orcs too (or they will be breaking the aforementioned rule). I know mine are so different they could be given a whole different term. But I don't for the reasons I've described, the inherited backstory.

Its the same with humans. We can use humans in our stories because it just makes sense. But theres no reason you have to use humans. In LOTR for example there are only 2 characters in the fellowship who are human and neither are the ring bearing main character. If anyone's fantasy world can use humans then they can also use elves, dwarfs etc.

I ramble, I know, but my point is that I find just using humans takes a lot of fun from fantasy. Creating races from scratch can either take way too long to describe or be cheap rip offs of elves, dwarfs, orcs etc. Sometimes of course its well done, (I hope I will be able to achieve that with a few unique races of my own). So I think that using established terms such as elves and dwarves can quickly give your world some colour, some history and a general feel to it, and by the time you leave your own personal mark on all these races you won't have anything samey about your world at all.

[Louise]

I largely tend to agree, although I can't say I know any different. Humans are easy to use as a race because, well most of us are human but, of course, that doesn't mean to say fantasy has to have them.

I think naming is so so important though. It's amazing how one simple character will change a person's entire outlook on a race/object/idea/thing. To one of my own examples: in one of my stories, I use the undead. But instead of using the word zombie or undead, which I didn't think fitted at all, I named them "husks" in reference to the empty, soulless vessels that they are. And it fits that much better. As long as you're clear that the concept is still the same (i.e they're undead) then readers shouldn't have a problem in imagining the beings you are trying to describe. (and failing that I can always go into comic books ).

[the_hound]

Have you read Orcs by Stan Nichols?not the greatest book ever but an enjoyable action packed romp usings orcs as the pratogonists. But I do hear what you are saying, neither ogiers or trollocs work that well in Jordan. They felt like badly disguised elves or orcs.  Probably the writer who has created the most interesting fantasy creatures of their own recently is Mark Newton and they are just there as decoration but also as protagonists.

[Jon Sprunk]

There are several forces at work in the "fantasy races" topic. One of the biggest for modern readers (and editors) is the cliche factor. Anything that features dwarves with long beards and an affinity for axes and gold, or elves that live in the forest and quote poetry while they shoot bows, is deemed derivative. Writers can rise above this with a superior storyline (sometimes), but it's not easy.

For writers who want to include stock fantasy races, I suggest giving them a strong reason for existing--a reason tied to the main plot. If they exist just for flavor, you're only making it tougher on yourself if you want to publish.

[Nyki Blatchley]

Have you read Orcs by Stan Nichols?not the greatest book ever but an enjoyable action packed romp usings orcs as the pratogonists. But I do hear what you are saying, neither ogiers or trollocs work that well in Jordan. They felt like badly disguised elves or orcs.  Probably the writer who has created the most interesting fantasy creatures of their own recently is Mark Newton and they are just there as decoration but also as protagonists.

I haven't read that one, but Mary Gentle's Grunts is a similar idea, and that's brilliant.

Having said that, I haven't read much using stock races that interests me greatly.  That's not saying it can't work, but I'd rather see either something totally new or else humans, rather than thinly-disguised humans, as these races often are.  Personally, I prefer writing about humans, with a few stranger beings for added colour.

[AshKB]

I think by borrowing the 'high fantasy' terms you inherit a certain amount of backstory that can be valuable to your narrative. Then as you build on those 'principles' you make the races your own. Orcs in Tolkien are very different to orcs in Warhammer, Warcraft and even Warhammer 40k. Any other world with Orcs will hopefully have very different orcs too (or they will be breaking the aforementioned rule). I know mine are so different they could be given a whole different term. But I don't for the reasons I've described, the inherited backstory.

You can also toss out a lot of the backstory, and start over. That by itself makes those species your own. Particularly if make them "not human" with different instincts and so on.

I admit, that I find this easiest with my take on elves (thank you, wikipedia, for all the mentions of 'elf king and a court of elf-maidens' inspiring a gender-number imbalance in my take on the species, place a radically different cultural base), and I'm having too much fun to stop and poke at dwarves and giants and so forth (at least, right now).

But that backstory...it can grow too heavy, and sometimes to make things interesting, you either subvert that history, or throw it out entirely. And then you have room to explore a world with many different kinds of humanoids, and how that affects things.

[Elfy]

Have you read Orcs by Stan Nichols?not the greatest book ever but an enjoyable action packed romp usings orcs as the pratogonists. But I do hear what you are saying, neither ogiers or trollocs work that well in Jordan. They felt like badly disguised elves or orcs.  Probably the writer who has created the most interesting fantasy creatures of their own recently is Mark Newton and they are just there as decoration but also as protagonists.

I haven't read that one, but Mary Gentle's Grunts is a similar idea, and that's brilliant.

Having said that, I haven't read much using stock races that interests me greatly.  That's not saying it can't work, but I'd rather see either something totally new or else humans, rather than thinly-disguised humans, as these races often are.  Personally, I prefer writing about humans, with a few stranger beings for added colour.

A. Lee Martinez has a similar take on this with In The Company of Ogres

[Dashgar]

For writers who want to include stock fantasy races, I suggest giving them a strong reason for existing--a reason tied to the main plot. If they exist just for flavor, you're only making it tougher on yourself if you want to publish.

I think this idea is key. The races need a reason to exist. I think this is the case with humans as much as any other race if you are using multiple races in fantasy. In your fantasy world humans are a fantasy race, although they may resemble earth humans in absolutely every way the fact that they are not from earth makes them a different race.

I base my fantasy world around 5 races that are each tied to one of the 5 types of magic. Those races are humans, elves, dwarves, orcs and krull (my only made up race). They all stem from the same race before magic entered the world and changed things. I won't give a huge history lesson on my own work but I've made sure each of the races histories are the same length as they all diverged from the earlier mortals at the same time. This is a big step away from the elves always being the elder race and humans being the youngest.

I think its a mistake to 'take humans as a given' because they're not. If the elves arrived on the continent on big white ships and the dwarves emerged from tunnels underground (bad cliches on purpose) then where did the humans come from?

[Nyki Blatchley]

I wouldn't say that creating your own fantasy race has to involve long explanations and back-story.  I created a winged humanoid species simply for a short story, although it fitted into my main world.  Since it was a short story, I didn't explain where they came from or give a detailed account of their culture - I just described them, gave them some avian-like gestures and body movements, and used flying as terms of reference in their dialogue.  I think that worked fine.

[the_hound]

I wouldn't say that creating your own fantasy race has to involve long explanations and back-story.  I created a winged humanoid species simply for a short story, although it fitted into my main world.  Since it was a short story, I didn't explain where they came from or give a detailed account of their culture - I just described them, gave them some avian-like gestures and body movements, and used flying as terms of reference in their dialogue.  I think that worked fine.

Flying Bird Man are a long running staple - based on garudas from Hindu mythology I believe/ or harpies from Ancient greek mythology -  I think most people just recall those if you use them - so no need to do to much explaining.

[Elfy]

I wouldn't say that creating your own fantasy race has to involve long explanations and back-story.  I created a winged humanoid species simply for a short story, although it fitted into my main world.  Since it was a short story, I didn't explain where they came from or give a detailed account of their culture - I just described them, gave them some avian-like gestures and body movements, and used flying as terms of reference in their dialogue.  I think that worked fine.

Flying Bird Man are a long running staple - based on garudas from Hindu mythology I believe/ or harpies from Ancient greek mythology -  I think most people just recall those if you use them - so no need to do to much explaining.

Mark Charan Newton has used garudas and banshees in his Legends of the New Sun series. Daniel Abraham created a bunch of new races for The Dragon's Path (first book of The Dagger and the Coin) and they were based on existing fantastical creatures to an extent. There's still room for both traditional and new fantasy races.