FANTASY RACES - Terrible Writing Advice 

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

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

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

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

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

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.

I thought high elves would have weed with them.

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

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.

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

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

I like the Silmarillion reference "Feanor is a nice guy"

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!"

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.

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

Aren’t elves usually either culturally or technologically stagnant or both and on the brink of extinction

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.

Im not copying Tolkien Im not copying D&D I just mix them

One thing I hate even more than just making 57 types of elves is when a D&D Dungeon master thinks that they're really fucking clever and makes it so "Common" is not a language but instead every single human nation has it's own language BUT DOESN'T DO THE SAME FOR ELVISH OR ANY OTHER LANGUAGES. It's like saying "Ah yes all elves speak elvish all dwarves speak dwarven etc but for whatever reason humans are the only race that doesn't have a way to communicate with all the members of their race even though literally everyone else can."

Tolkien didn't invent Elves, Dwarves, or Goblins. They all originated from various mythologies. Hobbits were the only race that was truly created by Tolkien and even then they're basically Gnomes.

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.

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.

Headcannon: every fantasy similar to tolkien, including isekai share the same universe, unless its fundamentally different overall.

I’m thinking of a story where someone’s first meeting with one the wolf-like species gives her an impression that they are a group of prideful, honor-bound warriors. Then she meets other members and learns everyone else thought he was an uptight asshole.

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?

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.

One of the reasons I love Elder Scrolls lore so much is because it has all the generic aspects you would expect to find, and then goes in all kinds of different directions than you would think. A couple of examples: 1) The Orcs (Orsimer) are themselves elves, descended from those who were followers of the Aldmeri god Trinimac, who were transformed when he was defeated and corrupted by the Daedric Prince Boethiah, himself becoming the Daedric Prince Malacath. But far from being evil, they are more tribal and militaristic. A lot like the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons, they strive for honor in battle (and so have a lot more in common with the Nords of old than first meets the eye). 2) The Dwarves are actually not dwarves in the typical sense but are, in reality, also elves (the Dwemer). Far from being excellent builders and smiths (typical), they are credited for having become more technologically advanced than any civilization before then or since. Unlike the conventional elves of fantasy (who are innately and strongly spiritual people), the Dwemer detested the existing deities (the Aedra and Daedra alike) and strove to fashion a god of their own making (the Numidium) so as to ascened to godhood themselves, and on the whole are somewhat similar to Paolini's elves in personality (who are basically just arrogant and condescending atheists). And they were exceedingly racist, even against other elves (going so far as to deceive, enslave, and blind nearly the entire Falmer population when they sought them out for refuge).

I wish they we're more creative when making races. Almost all of them look human with the exception of having pointy ears, bizzare eyes, unusual skin color, etc.

Kitchen sink elf needs his own novel. Or series of novels; 1: The general life of Kitchen sink elf. 2: Kitchen sink elf and the haunted garbage disposal. 3: Kitchen sink elf meets Super Mario 4: Kitchen sink elf and the lonely housewife and so on.

This channel is gold.

I love how Elder Scrolls made elves actually interesting by making them properly different, and playing up their superiority complex to where it makes them near evil. Also how the different elf races were created by the gods individually.

Stupid Character ideas: - Orc priest who taught love and kindness - Edgy Elf lady in heavy armor and war hammer - Young Dwarf assassin who doesn't like smithing - Human necromancer protagonist who uses zombies

I'm _really_ sick of the trope of "dying ancient human-like race". Elves seem to occupy that a lot. The only time I found it particularly interesting outside of Tolkien was in Dragon Age. Also, it's kind of funny how orcs are now buff and green-skinned, when they were originally weak and came in a variety of colors.

Two elves walk into a bar. And thus the bar elf subrace was created.

Watching this really reminds me how much Tolkien accomplished and how much influence he really has over today’s society

Zelda is so darn unique. Completely original races, like Gorons, Rito, Zora, Gerudo, Kokiri, Bokoblins, Moblins, Lizalfos, Bulblins, and the Sheikah. Even the Hylians (which most people like to call elves) act more like humans than elves do.

I summon Blue Eyes Blonde Haired Elf! And attack your life points directly! Never watched Yu-Gi-Oh...

I'm taking every single bit of advice from this to write my new novel "Elven Nazis."

This sounds like it's calling out the Eragon series, and I'm HERE for it. At least until the orc part, because the author at least sort of tried with those.

The worst thing about different 'races' in fanatsy is often time they perpetuate a kind of racism within thier own worlds. Everyone can be so simply defined by a bunch of stereotypes and character traits. Tolkien atleast tried to show how these stereotypical traits come about and how some don't fit into them at all but for so many writers it's crutch the betrays a shallow view of the world that stops me from believing in whatever world they created

If you're gonna use existing races, at the very least do something new with them. Like The Elder Scrolls. They add a lot of interesting nuance to the orcs, not making them evil but rather making them a conservative warrior-society where everyone is expected to grow up into fighters and die in battle, and also adding a more unique spin to their origins. I myself am writing a fantasy novel where the most prevalent race are demons, and I try my best to offer a neat explanation about what they are and where they came from, and make it at least somewhat original. Of course, demons are one of the easier pre-existing races to make your own, considering how broad of a term it is.

I think the greatest use of fantasy races in the weirdest way was the Artemis Fowl series. It was so utterly strange that it was captivating.

*Aldmeri Dominion intensifies*

My pitch: Every race is actually human. Someone with modern sensibilities wouldn't be able to tell the difference appearance-wise, but in the story, races are frequently described as human or non-human. They are literally dehumanizing alien peoples.

let me quote some part of The Experimental Log of The Crazy Lich The Elves, well-known for their beauty and longevity, lived inside the peaceful forest. They were pure, kind, and lived a simple and self-sufficient life. They typically lived in harmony with nature, but whenever this world is threatened by Evil, they would unhesitatingly rouse themselves for battle, and would fight to their last breath. Only the children would believe such a fairy tale! If there was a race of such innocence and purity, they would have been exterminated long time ago, by any big war evolved from the stray projectiles from the crossfire. damn I love this novel

Always hated this. I grew up deeply fascinated by creatures like dragons, lizard people, chimeras, goblins, and all sorts of monsters or weird aliens from film or games, but then I noticed in quite a lot of cases these things were either underused, in the minority of fiction, or both. Instead, elves and Dwarves are freakin' everywhere, and if that ain't enough so are things like 3-eyed or just recolored green human aliens. I... just don't get the appeal. You get to use your imagination, create an entirely different being and culture, and you... just make a short guy, or give someone pointy ears, or color them green? Ugh. Sometimes they're still made interesting by the story, but still it feels like a gigantic wasted opportunity.

This is why I like Gary Gygax. He steals Tolkien’s races and adds his own, like dragons and demons. *WAIT*

I’m running a pathfinder campaign where the elves are actually a genocidal industrial empire. The story is that thousands of years prior, they were typical tree hugging tolkien elves. They revered the goddes of life and were allied by a tribe of human druids. However, The goddess of life made the human tribe here chosen people, transforming them into a new race with greater power over nature. The elves were enraged at this and renounced their faith towards the goddess. Over the coming ages, their rage grew until they declared war on the other races to prove that they were superior to all. They enslaved the halflings and gnomes, along with several races of fey, cause the humans to flee the continent, and drove the dwarves to extinction. Now, only an alliance of orcs, goblinoids, beast men, and the chosen of the goddess stand between the elves and domination of the continent.

Personally I identify as a Kitchen Sink Elf How about you?

That moment when all races in your fantasy story are based off of flowers... Seriously, no one has thought of this-why?

Dark elf and forest elf could be “races” race means only small genetic differences between a species, what you’re talking about with orcs though, that’s not a different race, they would be an entirely different sentient species, not a different race.....

Lmfao. This was super funny and relatable. I've been trying to make my own fantasy races and I find the first and most simple thing to consider so that things fall in place is to ask yourself "Why are they still alive, and why are the others still alive" I like my races to have evolved differently based on their needs. So those better with magic didn't advance technology as much, those that are weaker, have shorter life spans, and therefore much larger populations. Etc. The biggest problem I see with people using traditional fantasy races, isn't that it's familiar. It's when they forget to give any reason as of why, or how those races are still around. Humans evolved because the dinos went bye bye and mammals became dominant, so the favorable traits changed over time. I find if you dont give at least a basic thought of what lead a race to exist, or why they didint get conquered by others, you've fucked up. Easiest way to do this though is just say world is divided, or people cant travel, allowing to evolve races in none conflicted biomes. If elves lived in the east and humans in the west and only after boats became better, that makes sense. But if humans and elves are neighbors, its more likely that one of the two would have become dominant and not both of them would evolve into these intelligent, prosperous races.

This is why I like Warhammer orcs. They aren't elves tortured and twisted into evil creatures but sentient fungi that just want to get into fights for the sake of fighting.

One universe that put an interesting spin on elves is TES, actually - High elves are mad geniuses and could probably divide you by zero - Dark elves are nomadic, xenophobic and fanatic mess, mixed in with beautiful middle-east inspired culture - Wood elves are still tree huggers, but they are goddamn cannibals

I love the dwarves (or dwemer) in Elder Scrolls. Not short, long bearded Miners but intelligent elves with high technology

Remember the rule number one,if it looks ugly,them its evil

I think the counter to this, in my opinion is that derivative fantasy races can still be dynamic and interesting, but also provide something familiar and identifiable. Being original is not the same as being good. I'll take a well-done Elvish race that still follows most of the Tolkien Tropes over a poorly done but creative race of sentient gerbils or octopi that don't create an interesting story. You might as well get peeved at everyone using the "hero's tale" or any number of cliches that come up over and over again in media. Cliche is not bad and tropes are not evil. Elves and Dwarves are useful precisely because they are familiar but still alien. Spigunians the race of sentient flowers requires a great deal of explanation, you must spend time either expositing about this new race you introduced even handled well that can be a challenge. But if an Orc appears in your story, anyone who knows fantasy has a picture in their mind of it already. Of course you can subvert those expectations in fact some of the best writing can come with playing with these tropes, you can make your orcs valiant rebels or heroic knights in service to the realm in the course of your story; allowing people to explore those preconcieved prejudices. You can write a story about an orc raised in that positive environment, but could you do it nearly so easily if instead of an orc it was a Fleebert or a Grundinash? Not without either lengthy exposition, or worse, making the creature an orc in all but name.

Wow, looks like the writer of Eragon had finally released his formula for success!

“My weakness is not jewelry this time.”

I like that in mass effect they made the space elves all big titted blue honeys with psychic powers and the best of them having freckles

Right there with you fuji, subbed and liked. Quicktip: if you guys want an underrated youtube channel to succeed, like ALL of that channel's videos (you know, if you actually like it or whatever...) and comment a bunch - youtube's algorithm picks up on social cues such as likes, subs, comments, and every social cue you send will make the channel rank higher. (At least I think that's how it works). Glad I stumbled into this channel, keep up the awesome work!

So you are saying that when coming up with different types of Elves we should use litterally everything but the kitchen si-- oh, we use that too? Sure, why not.

“I can’t see any historical references at all” That got me

Says “just rip off Tolkien”, then I say “Well actually.” Shows Gandalf holding the Edda, then I say “Oh, that’s the joke.”

I dont understand why writers write of humans as uninteresting or weak... After all, just look at us: we survived countless of wars, especially two of the most horrific wars in recent history. We invented weapons that could blow up the world in a single press of a button. We have subjucates beasts much stronger than ourselves into acting in circuses. We have manipulated the minds of entire civilizations through plastic machines and radio waves. If anything, I feel human kind is the most overpowered of any fantasy races...

This is actually good advice if you take it literally. As in actually make the wood elves tree hugging hippies, better yet make them stoned out all the time. Make Dark elves edge lords and goths, make Smug elves nazis. Exaggerate Dwarves even more and add in the kleptomaniac Kinde... I mean halflings we all know and love.

I'm interested in learning more about The Kitchen Sink Elves

That's exactly why i love the lore of Warcraft/WoW. Specifically their take on orcs. Instead of being "hurr durr, dumb evil brutes that want to murder everything" they are an originally peaceful species that was deceived by demons and turned into almost stereotypical orcs for just long enough to fullfill the goals of said demons. After that their world was ruined, so they had to escape to Azeroth, where they were met with extreme prejudice and xenophobia by humans, who only accepted the existence of nice-looking races. As the most capable of the rejects, the orcs formed the Horde, which, contrary to it's first impressions, is simply races not accepted by the Alliance trying to defend their lives together, regardless of how wildly different their worldviews are.

"Getting Sea Sick of Elves" Elves A sea-sick elf... Okay, I might actually use the idea that wood elves suffer from sea-sickness and claustrophobia while their city-elf brethren have overcome these primal fears from their long standing partnership with enterprising humans. The obligatory dwarf will actually be the most compassionate, understanding that not all races are suited to all environments and he too suffers from severe agoraphobia.

What about cross breeding between the races, despite how unrealistic their peaceful meeting is in the plot and of course also considered a crime against nature, while the main race (elves) love triangle themselves through the world nontheless, except orcs, who are way too ugly to be able to have relationships and therefore just spawn out of nowhere when they are needed to show of the awesome skills of the main protagonist? Is that a good idea?

1:26 Elf approaches a duo of dwarves, happily feasting on beer and drumsticks, to ask them "Have you considered becoming vegan?" *This scene literally happened in the Inheritance Cycle.* For extra smugness points, that Elf also suggested that the Dwarves should become atheists and redistribute their wealth. I'm not making this up 😂

I love the idea of a totalitarian regime of immortal elves

The amount of people who believe this is descriptive or a "shot" at the Elder Scrolls is ridiculous. Yes, they have orcs, dark elves, high elves, wood elves and dwarves. But what matters is how they're implemented. The orcs are oppressed and tribal, the dark elves are xenophobic and were slave owners (a lot), high elves, yes, as so many people have pointed out, do have Elf Nazis. But the Thalmor is an incredibly interesting political party. There's a ton of interesting lore behind that. Wood Elves are (or were) fucking cannibals. They're also by far the most interesting interpretation of wood elves in my opinion. Lastly, dwarves aren't even dwarves. They're just regular human size. They're also elves, like the orcs.

If your characters acts and behaviors are defined by their race, then you've made a bad race and a bad character. That is usually how I view it.

I actually made a D&D Class if it was in the modern age. **Like my dad said “So elves and dwarves in suits in ties.”** It’s called *The Observer.* It can act like another class, a well known person, etc. They are a copycat class that have no real life of their own after becoming an observer. Me and my dad thought of a few weakness but we couldn’t think of a good weakness

What if someone wrote a story about classically evil fantasy races trying to overcome stigma from others about their traits?

George R.R martin has showed that fantasy dosen't always have to be a rip of of Tolkien but then again GRRM's work is pretty much a rip of of European history with dragons

who will live in this marvelous fantasy world? *shows map of korean peninsula*

JP, you forgot to mention 'beast' races! If you want to make your fantasy world more exotic and interesting, just take a human and staple on some animal features. Best of all, it's the most customizable, you can lean harder into beast traits (usually meaning they're furrier and have the animal head of your choice) or more human traits (just take a human and add cat ears and a tail). - Beast races ALWAYS have breasts even if they're not based on mammals. No matter what size the animal is in real life, the beast races are always human sized. - Beast races based on birds or other flying animals will always just have wings in addition to human arms, they'll never have to deal with the inconvenience of not having hands! - Beasts are always human sized, no matter what size the animal is in real life. Unless it's an animal that's generally larger than a human, in which case it's allowed to be larger.

This is why I love the Eberron setting, it defies traditional fantasy stereotypes and allows us to not be locked in rigid definitions of race and considers settings in a more modern light in comparison to medieval fantasy settings.

Ugh you didn't bring up the hybrid/interracial love issues :(

I really enjoy this sarcastic way of handling proper storytelling. The only issue I have with this series as of now is it that it stems heavly from a purely creative standpoint, which is awesome!, but not from a commercial standpoint. The masses arent as critical as the 1% that review and advertize as story, and even then the reviews are based off of what the masses want. No reviewed product is as good as its stated, because all the reviews are centered around money. Im loving this series and its that creative origin that made tbat love. Ive got ideas of my own for stories and all of the characters have flaws, issues, differences and circumstances that allow their traits to show. I just want to tell a story and I think the uninterest in money is a good start for originality.

Fëanor is s really nice guy is possibly the most hilarious thing I’ve seen all day

To summarise: Copy Tolkien!

Good advice on what not to do.

"I'm sure their centuries old wisdom will come across as endearing and not condescending" Ironic statement all things considered

This is why I love what the Witcher books and games did with it, they included so many creatures that you’d never find elsewhere

1:33 basically the admeri dominion from skyrim.

That Nazi Elves part... I don't remember the last time I laughed that hard. Thank you for this series.

"Don't worry! No one calls anyone else a racist in the internet!"

The setting I’m currently writing has your typical humans, elves, and dwarves, but the setting is one in which the standard-issue fantasy planet has literally EXPLODED INTO A MILLION PIECES- numerous islands in the sky that now float around the blazing core. It’s seeing these species who now live on these islands 1000 years later react to this vastly-different world that’s the interesting part- for instance, the dwarves, having been thrust into the sky and lost their homes and way of life, have fallen into a species-wide dark age of depression, while the elves have split into two subspecies: the -Smug Elves- High Elves of the Outer Sphere, whose denial of the world’s change and reliance on magic for everything has led to decadence and sloth (especially among the upper class), and the Fire Elves of the Inner Sphere, who rage against the new world, forsaking magic (after all, magic didn’t save them or their old forest homes in the Explosion!), embracing warrior culture, and turning their elven intellectualism toward metallurgy and technological advancement. And I’m taking great care not to portray any of the species as inherently evil.

Serious yet simple advice: To create familiar but novel fantasy races unburdened by the cliches of generic portrayals, "promote" a "monster." What if giants or goblins or trolls were people instead of savage creatures? To create really unique and interesting ones, don't think about designing a fantasy race at all. Design an alien race, then adapt them to a fantasy setting.

Should have made the high elves junkies

"Ethereal, Beautiful, and impossibly smug." *cough* Hearths father Mr. Alderman *cough*

,,How many elves do you wanna have in your story?" *Y E S*

I feel like dragon age did an amazing job at using elements of tolkien but creating a brand new story, If you've played through the Trespasser DLC for Inquistion it'a amazing how they throw out everything we thought we knew about elven culture and then compare them to the Tevinter Imperium, the group that conquered and enslaved the Elves. And it's great how they added their own race as well that isn't just completely shoved to the sideline to make room for the Humans Dwarves and Elves, the Qunari have a really interesting culture that adds to the overall story and feel like they belong in the world, unlike over fantasy worls where they Tolkien's races, take out the halfings and then replace them with another small race, like the Gnomes in Sword of Shannara.

And now imagin that some one take these lesons seriously. XD

I actually wish people would be more inspired by Tolkien's orcs instead of the green skinned tusked muscle men everyone uses nowadays ( Including the appearance of the orc in the vid :P )

"Tolkien obviously stole from the Marvel Universe"

To avoid the Orc problem in my D&D campaign, I made them more Nomadic and split them into clans with unique banners or symbols to indicate their heritage. Some are more aggressive, but most groups are pretty chill and have a good relationship with humans and elves. Still not perfect, but it's better than just saying "oRCs ArE EViL"