How Brandon Sanderson Writes Fantasy Races | Writing & Worldbuilding

When you think of Fantasy races, what’s the first thing that pops into your mind? In all likelihood, it’s probably a fantasy race popularised thanks to the granddaddy of Fantasy himself, JRR Tolkien. For me it’s usually elves and dwarves, but for you it might be orcs and giants, or halflings and goblins.

It’s understandable that these are the primary ideas we have for fantasy races since you can find these races in almost any popular fantasy IP these days. From books, to shows, to films, to games, these classic fantasy races are, quite literally, everywhere. But they aren’t the only ones out there. In fact, Brandon Sanderson gives us a masterful lesson in how to create unique and interesting fantasy races for your story.

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[molliethomas]

I like that you point out the tendency to make a whole race into a monolith. There are stories and settings (like D&D, DragonLance, etc.) that try to avert this, but Sanderson has taken it to the next level, imo

[eruiluvatar]

0:00 OP's confession to Brandon Sanderson
5:25 Actual video

[simouniel]

Them when fantasy races are mentioned:
Elves, dwarves, etc.

Me:
Leonin, Kor, Moonfolk, Vastaya, Yordle

[Fimbulvinter]

Monolith Races is something I've had a problem with in both fantasy and Sci-fi stories. Like how there just the Klingon language and culture, and not regional dialects and variety, same with Vulcan, or Romulan, or Na'vi, or whatever. While it could be argued that They have unified to the point that only a single dominant language and culture remains, even that needs to be justified with some explanation and development, with hints to a past through the use of lone words, or cultural practices. Because invariably during these times, Humanity still has dozens of languages in active use that an alien translator would need to allow for. Envoy form is a bit of a cop out in some ways, playing into the 'just because, ' trope a little, but even that has justifications baked into the lore should you care to look, which brings us right back to the ideas of needing to create a fully fleshed out culture for your fantasy races.

[georgeoldsterd]

Speaking of monolith races, there's a sister trait to this in sci-fi (and to a lesser degree in fantasy) when a world (i.e. a planet) is treated as essentially a city. Think of Star Wars? Every planet the characters visit, they only ever visit one locale, or maybe two or three, but they're always connected directly by virtue of being neighbours or whatnot. It's so annoying.

[kailanerman]

How does this video not have more views!?? This is the exact kind of stuff I love to listen to and research when I plot and build

SUB

[GustavoSilva-nyjc]

The fact this video is so underrated is beyond me, i truly wish there was a spoiler section making video way longer cause you truly had something great. The arts were godlike, the creatures were badass af and the girls were super hot. Ive been studying Bran's lessons and had no idea his books were so original.

[GoranXII]

I'd like to think Pratchett and Discworld played a role too. I don't think there's once developed character you can point to, and say "he/she is typical of that 'race'".

[jacqueshardin]

I have noticed similar shifts in manga and anime. Demon Slayer has a particular way it portrays demons I find pretty refreshing. The Ancient Magus's Bride is accurate to its portrayal of the fey while still having its own spin on them. Then there is Land of the Lustrous which I hear is a trip.

For me, I have a fondness for Inuyasha which features a lot a Japanese folklore. If you want to get into manga or anime, Inuyasha is a fairly good place to start, especially considering it has a satisfying ending. And also Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood which has a magic system with Sanderson sensibilities.

[Ardieru]

Could you try to use images of the races while you are talking about them? it's confusing to see a Kendra while you talk about singers for example. Anyway, great video and very informative!!

[tomfoolery-]

I think, in order to have memorable and worthwhile non-human people in your world, you need to drill deeply into their origins. Play the Why Game relentlessly. Why were they created? (Or, if they evolved, what ecological niche did they fill and what pressures led to them developing intelligence?) What resources are available for them to exploit, and how does that affect their physical forms? How do those bodies affect their thinking? How social are they, and how are they social? (Sapient hermit crab people aren't going to interact the way social apes do.) What led this culture to hold these values? Are those values changing? Why? Importantly, you have to keep in mind these are *people.* People are, first, organisms (or monsters). Their autopilot behaviors will be dictated by whatever helps them baseline survive. But they also have needs and values beyond survival. Some of them probably seek power (how do they get it and what do they want to accomplish with it?), while others have artistic inclinations. The interplay of survival, power games, creative expression, and beliefs about the world will give rise to individuals' personalities, and the collective personality we call culture. Every single individual and every single group has different experiences, therefore they will have markedly different beliefs and concerns, and thus, personalities. You should be able to point to any event or behavior and explain, back to the eco/psych level, what's going on.

If you want existing races in your story, you can take their known traits and work backwards. You may create a really unique take that way. Personally, I'd rather put that effort toward something new that can be fully attributed to me. I think this is what Brandon Sanderson does, and it's why his people species are so memorable. They have depth, they're there for a reason, and they use the resources of their world creatively.

[Andrewtr]

The problem I have is creating fantasy races. I want to approach it a different than how I create aliens. For aliens, I try to avoid anything that looks like a humanoid animal from earth or just a human with "x" color skin. However, for fantasy the races can be anything because magic. I have elves and fairies in my fantasy story, but I want some original races to. That's where I hit a roadblock because idk what would be unique enough to exist with the other races.

[elgatochurro]

I really agree, ngl, I didnt know what to think going in on this. But I absolutely abhor this idea that EVERY SINGLE LAST INDIVIDUAL OF A NON MIND LINKED/HIVEMIND RACE would all have the same beliefs, ideas, etc.

The reason human history is rife with conflict is that even on the individual level, we are different from each other. Every culture has at least a subculture, and possibly even more derivatives at that! You wouldn't so much as need a governing or ruling body or authorial hierarchy if everyone was the same and agreed on all fronts.

[GustavoSilva-nyjc]

5:32 I'm tired of dumb giants, give me smart giants GODDAMMIT. And they dont even need to be that humongus, something like 8ft or 6m is pretty good!! The only story ive seen do this was Gantz, well, FnH has too if you count the Gods as one.

[joshhoehne]

Yep, Sanderson is great with his ability to create unique and nuanced races, each filled with distinct individuals.

And just putting my own two cents towards another comment, the varied presentation of Sanderson artworks playing during the video doesn't bother me insofar as them "not syncing" with the particular race being discussed at any particular moment. Too me it isn't any different from the myriad YouTube channels that cover all of the superhero genre of movies and streaming shows simply playing the trailers while they discuss news or leaks that happen to be the flavor of the moment.

[reffa]

I'm fine with the traditional fantasy races as long as you do something unique with them. Like how an elf from skyrim will differ from an elf from dragonage. They may both be immortal, pointed eared humans but their history and motivations bring you to two different conclusions about them.

[ChatarraCrow]

I basically took the StarCraft route with my alien races. A high class tech alien, an infantry based skill craft race and humans as the high power high mobility.
Anyway, I have a way to retemplate them into a fantasy world. My infantry race is the more dwarven one, the high tech are the elves, and humans still focus on brute force. But I consider humans as the potential for orc profile. Keep in mind that my dwarves and elves don't look like dwarves and elves. I'll only share so much, but that's the vague and general gist.

[alexpfeifle]

Thank you for putting out content with races that are not traditionally seen in fantasy right now. There is a lot of the same stuff out there.

[synivy]

I feel like people forget there’s sub groups, like both the iron foot dwarves live on Granite mountain with the steeleg dwarves…while both being descendant from the ancient race of dwarves they also both have their own unique culture and different dialects of a dwarven language

[oneukum]

If you are constructing aliens, then the degree of uniformity is one of the factors that can make them alien. Hence I have to disagree with the final point. The point just has to be intentional.