This is going to
be the first article of many I have written based around very
abstract or vague concept. Hence, they are titled “Vagueposting”.
They are a bit more ranty then my other blogposts and are more about
capturing a specific mental feeling or “emotion” that may be hard
to describe, as such this is due warning that my Vagueposting
articles will be a bit more focused on fluff and abstract fantasy
world stuff then actual game rules- however I do hope these articles
can communicate the ideas that I am thinking of when I write them,
but you are free to skip them if you want more useful or structured
game content. Hence, Vagueposting.
So
let's talk about Demihumans.
Now
when it comes to the standard mix of Demihumans; I used to not like
them as much, but they've grown on me a bit. My main problem with
them is the lack of diversity in body types and cultural-stereotypes.
If you take the generic 5 races; Human, Elf, Dwarf, Halfling, and
Gnome (some will also include half elf and half orc to this list),
you basically have a majority of these races as just “shorter
version of human”. This, to me, is really boring. In many of these
worlds too, Elves are also shorter then humans, so it's really more
like 4 versions of shorter and/or more magical humans.
Culturally;
ALL of these demihumans are depicted as being longer lived and
wiser/more conservative in action or attitude then humans, with
various cultural traits between them. Elves tend to be close to
nature, with Gnomes usually also being close to nature or being mad
tinkerers ala Warcraft. Dwarves are all about their grudges and
conservative cultures, where as Halflings are intentionally designed
to be passive and a bit boring; just pastoral, comfy villager people.
I think in order for these Demihumans to be more interesting as a
whole, there needs to be something that really sets Halflings and
Humans apart, as well as Gnomes getting a bigger list of differences
to Elves.
However,
the one thing I'll say about this that I do enjoy is it gives the
“human” race a more unique element. Humans instantly stand out as
being the largest and usually physically strongest race (though
Dwarves tend to be close, or perhaps stronger but stockier, usually
implied to have more endurance), which is a nice change of pace from
humans being the generic middle of the road everyman.
Now
if you read this blog, you know I have a LOT of weird race ideas.
Some of them are furry, some of them are aliens, some of them are
just weird. I want to mention here I do enjoy certain aspects of
Demihuman-like races, things like goblins, orcs, trolls, hobgoblins,
(as an inclusion to playable races) feel different to me then things
like tengu or khajiit, the non-animal nature of them I think makes
them actually feel a bit more foreign and interesting.
Now,
let me share some of my favorite demihuman depictions.
Hawk the Slayer
In
the Hawk the Slayer movie, there are a few demihumans depicted. Gort the Giant on the left, Baldin the dwarf as second to the right, and Crow the elf on the far right. The woman in the center is just an old human witch/sorceress, I have no idea why she's squatting down so low.
Unfortunately, the highest res image I could find for this picture is
this shit with its stupid watermark, so you'll have to forgive me for
that. This is a classic movie that a lot of people have nostalgia
for, especially the UK, I personally only watched it recently as a
part of my Appendix N cultural enrichment. (Hawk the Slayer actually was made after the LBB and AD&D, clearly it's based on the same tone however.)
Anyway,
Hawk the Slayer features three demihumans. There's a giant, a dwarf,
and an elf. I want to mention here that as movie actors, they just
grabbed actors who fit the physical profiles here, and it works
REALLY well. In my mind, I like to imagine these demihuman races as
just far offshoots of humanity, or in a fantasy world these fantasy
races are ACTUALLY races of humanity, not different species or
fantasy-esque version of “species”, and can freely interbreed
with humans. The race of giants is just really tall men. In the same
way that real life races existed from evolutionary pressures in their
environments, this fantasy world could have similar pressures. The
giant is just a race of really tall, if somewhat slow witted people.
The dwarves are just very short, small people who are hardy and used
to living underground. I like this a lot as it implies a much more
grounded setting in general, but actually makes the whole of humanity
more interesting in the fantasy world. I also think that this makes
the “Elf” as a race or subspecies even more interesting.
While
in the real world no human races fit these kind of profile, the
thought of a human race developing sharp senses, quick wits and agile
fingers for archery, and an affinity for magic (perhaps to evolve for
survival in a fantasy/fairy forest?) is really cool. I like this
because you can imagine some weird combinations for special
snowflakes; what would a half giant, half elf look like? Probably
something pretty close to a tall human who is a bit slender, perhaps
with slightly pointed years and a knack for non-academic magic? Of
course, crossbreeds don't have to actually be a factor at all, I just
think it's an interesting part of it. Secondly, you can take into
account that Half-Elf is a racial choice often in games, but I
actually think this detracts from the above feeling. Somebody could
have Elf in their family history and just look like a normal human,
just with slightly more elf-ish features, a slightly longer lifespan,
and a bit more of a loner attitude. I think that's more interesting
then a specific and strong divide between human, elf, and half-elf.
Dungeon Meshi
Another
of my favorite demihuman race depictions is from Dungeon Meshi. It
has the generic list of races (humans, elves, dwarves, halflings, and
gnomes). On top of this, it also includes very humanoid orcs AND
ogres/oni who are very humanoid as well, which I think really adds to
the experience of rounding out the race list. Of course, there are
also kobolds which in typically Japanese fashion are dog people, but
for the most part the race list is very human and pretty interesting.
I
think this gets even better because of a specific list of chapters in
the manga. There is a part where the main characters get race swapped
due to stepping through some changeling mushrooms, which change
whatever steps through them into a closely related species. (It's not
a permanent change, you can just take a bath to wash away the
spores.)
Remember: Manga is read right to left. |
Here
we see a Laios, a human and one of the main characters of Dungeon
Meshi (arguably the protagonist) detailing the benefits of being a
dwarf. This chapter is great because the characters can give us some
perspective on what their new form is like different from their old
form. Laios specifically notices that Dwarves are very strong, tough,
and have good dark vision making them perfect for living in dungeon
environments. Of course, later he finds out it isn't all its cracked
up to be because Dwarves have no stamina. (usually the opposite in
most fantasy worlds, but I like to imagine he's more referring to
short term “sprinting” stamina, if given short breaks Dwarves can
work or explore much longer then a human could over a full day or
several days, but this is just my headcanon for the Dungeon Meshi
universe.)
Another
good example is Chilchack. He's a halfling, who gets turned into a
human. I never considered a difference between races in this way, but
I think it's really cool- even ones own perceptive abilities are
routed in biology. Halflings seem to have better senses, both of
touch as well as taste and smell (something that Senshi is jealous
of, as a food-obsessed dwarf). Later it even explains the fighting
styles of the races too; Chilchack in his human form tries to just
run back while the group fights a monster, but finds that it targets
him first as he's the biggest- normally he just runs away and
becomes unassuming as a short, stealthy halfling rogue.
Unfortunately,
we don't get too many examples of what differences an Elf, Ogre, Kobold, or
Gnome may have, as the characters who turn into those races aren't
very talkative, and I'm pretty sure nobody gets turned into a Gnome
for anything other then a visual gag. While just one chapter of the
Manga I think it's really telling and interesting in how the mangaka
put a lot of thought into how the various demihumans would actually
feel to be if you were to suddenly change into them, and by that we
can infer how they live their lives and even how they may explore
dungeons or pick their various related professions and roles in a
party. Marcille also, somewhat humorously gets turned into an ogre
(which I call oni, since they look more like Eastern “ogres” then
a more Western “ogre” if that makes sense)- she doens't talk much
in this form and doesn't really cast any spells that I can recall, so
I think it's being implied that ogres are less intelligent then other
races, but are obviously huge and very strong. Also, a human character gets turned into an Elf in a later chapter and describes themselves as being physically weaker, but being able to "tell" that something has magic in it just by touching it, which makes sense. This fantasy world also explains that magical energy or mana is a direct biological component and some races (like Elves) just have more of it then humans, but will pass out or become weak if they cast too many spells as it is similar to bodily stamina.
Finally;
this interesting changing of races thing is so well explored in this
manga that there's even a panel that logically explains why these
race-changing mushrooms aren't totally uprooting the setting.
For those interested, the entire Manga is a treat, but the individual chapters referenced here are the "Dumplings" chapters, since every chapter is about food. Anyway,
hope you enjoyed this first VAGUEPOSTING article. I have a few more
written up in advance before even finishing this, but hopefully as an
introduction this works out well for trying to explain the purpose of
these.
See you next time.
See you next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment