FANTASY RACES - Terrible Writing Advice

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS
Because that's what you kids like these days.

CREDITS

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

[stickguy]

Remember these traits
Elf: Faster and good with bows
Orcs: Slower and super strong
Dwarfs: Have the best armor and weapons
Humans: Perfectly balanced

[raven]

I love how High Elves are just a little bit taller than the rest

[extremelyhappysimmer]

Now i want to actually write a story where everything is competent but there are kitchen sink elves and nobody treats it like anything abnormal.

[macoy]

“Tolkien obviously stole from the marvel universe.” That’s it I found my senior quote.

[kaiosamatlj]

You know what's even more lazy than just putting dwarves and elves because of Tolkien? Is putting a dwarf X elf rivarly because of Tolkien.

[LordEpos]

Okay, but, hear me out. What if we made a fantasy world... In SPACE!?! We'd have to rename the races, of course, but how hard is that? How about we call the elves "Vulcans" and the orcs "Klingons!"

[n.m.dimmick]

who would want to look at mythology for inspiration? It's not like those stories have lasted through the centuries or anything.

[Dylan_Devine]

“Is it better to be born good, or to overcome inherent evil through great effort?” -Paarthurnax

[Abelhawk]

You forgot humans. They're always "balanced" and "varied in every way" and "adaptable, " but all the other races aren't for some reason?

[David_Axelord]

I was having some of those thoughts about Orcs a few years ago, when I was playing that Shadow of Mordor game. I was about to hack off some poor bastard's head, when he looked up, with orky tears in his eyes, and asked, "Why? Why kill Uruk?" That really spoke to me on a personal level. So instead of killing him, I just brainwashed him with my undead magic, taking away all his individuality and free will. I felt much better about myself after that.

[TomorrowWeLive]

The thing I appreciate most about this, as a Tolkien fan, is your reminding people that Tolkien's portrayal of famtasy races was much more complex and multifaceted than people realise. People just know the simplistic stereotypes from derivative works and attribute that to Tolkien.

[Gbaboo]

I thought high elves would have weed with them.

[thenerdbeast]

Tolkein himself regretted writing the Orcs so evil, and he would probably be pissed that the Orcs were made more evil in the movies. Remember Tolkein himself fought in World War 1 and though the grim nature of it affected his writing he understood that the enemy soldiers were not evil but pawns of greater political forces. For instance, most of Tolkein's Orcs were actually farmers not soldiers. Mordor actually has some of the best farm land thanks to the ash from Mt. Doom and most Orcs spent their days tilling the fields and raising livestock. This is how Sauron fed his forces, they had plenty of food. That is why despite their superior physical strength Orcs are such bad fighters individually, they weren't professional soldiers they were civilians drafted and sent to fight with no training before hand. The Orcs in World of Warcraft are probably closer to what Tolkein had in mind than the Orcs in the movies.

[sadboixxxx]

When I first saw this video, I was trying to think of a new race. I came up with a tall, lanky, skidd-ish, cave-dwelling people. I soon realized that I just made Smeagol with a growth spurt.

[navilluscire]

Regarding Tolkien's elves, the reason why most elves in "generic fantasy" (an oxymoron right?!) are usually SO smug and condescending rather than endearing and pleasant is because they forget the *the elves of Tolkien's Arda ARE jealous of men...* that's right they the elves envy their younger siblings, mankind. But why, why would such flawless, ageless beings be envious of short-lived mortals? Simple...any mistake an elf has ever made will always haunt them, forever they *can never live it down* nor can their fellow elves ever forget. (or forgive..) Another reason is becuase while an elf is immortal and ageless their works are not simple because they do not possess an elf's nature *everything they have ever worked for within Middle-earth, everything they've hoped to preserve will not last.* Knowing all this *the elves see men as lucky for their time is brief, they need not worry nor linger in this world forever bound by regerets* and can transcend the world leaving it behind forever. *Elves are forever bound to the world and love it greatly yet they know this world will not last, * one day it will end and with its destruction they perish with it. You would think all of this would make them melancholy and super depressed and while many of them can *seem cold and distant, do not mistake it for them actually being that way* an elf for a friend is a life long and beloved companion. *What gets an elf through all of the hardships, all of this eventuality is simple...sincere faith.* Faith in their comrades, faith in the younger races, faith in their friends be they elf, dwarf, or men...it matters little (or it should) to an elf weather your immortal or mortal if your an sincere person they in turn will be sincere to you. Any way...that's just my thoughts as to why elves have become SO...stale and boring...it's from a lack of faith and it's importance to the elves, that's *their defining trait is not perfection...but faith and hope personified.*



p.s. Sorry for the run on sentences...and (possible) grammer mistakes.

[belliepuff]

New Book: *The Rise of The Kitchen Sink Elves*

[psychronia]

HEY! Where are the immortal dragons that randomly decide to try and breed with humans somewhere in the protagonist's ancestry? And succeed, beyond all biological reasoning?

[ashton]

"there is only one race the human race"
"what about nascar"

[randomfantasy]

Im not copying Tolkien
Im not copying D&D




I just mix them

[reymichaelsungazornosa]

I feel like anime has listened to this too many times that it has become mandatory to get a degree from this dude