In Defense of Race as Culture + 8 Universal Origins for People

Art @Su Jian

Often browsing internet forums or writing advice blogs, you will often hear the adage of "writing a fictional fantasy or sci-fi race with only one culture is bad writing", and this is true! Classics include Klingons, fantasy Dwarves, always-evil Orcs, and other such examples. The idea of an entire polity of intelligent beings, at least as smart or socialized as humans, yet not having even close to the same amount of diversity of cultures and ethnicities (or "races"; we're using the term race = species here as a colloquialism), does seem to raise some alarm bells and a lack of care for the detail and belivability of a fictional world.

The cause of this phenomena is talked about a lot, so I won't spend much time writing on it. Basically, everyone who writes these types of stories is a human, and humans are pretty much the only intelligent "race" of beings on our planet. As such, we see differences amongst ourselves much better then we do other living creatures. For example, most people couldn't tell the difference looking at an adult male or female tiger unless you put them right next to each other. The stripes, fur, hips, skull construction, everything is too similar unless you're some kind of zookeeper or something. Humans are designed to see differences in other humans, so we naturally gloss over the differences in a fictional nonhuman race. (One could argue this is actually genius level writing; portraying all members of a fantasy race as stereotypes is just the unreliable human narrator or the viewer own lens ignorant of the deep culture differences between deciduous forest elves and conifer-elves, but we're not gonna go there.)

Secondly, the overhead of writers and authors to create (and audiences to consume) is too much for a full human-level of detail and breakdown for different fantasy races with their own cultures and history. There is only so much room in a game or book or show or whatever else to dedicate to such extraneous fluff. As such, they are simplified. This creates a sense of "fakeness" and one-dimensionality to these fantasy races, making them walking stereotypes. Surely, the elves would have their own many factions and cultures. They can't all be tree dwelling, bow using, magical immortals with a penchant for sneering at younger races, right? Is having an entire race of ultra-capitalists in a sprawling sci-fi setting creating a less believable world, no matter how well developed they actually are? 

I think with the bottom-to-top worldbuilding design of creating and explaining every little detail of a world, yes, I think having fantasy races as monocultures is a bit lazy and could veer into bad writing. But in my opinion? Monolithic and one-dimensional races are not bad at all. This is because they are not representative of an actual fantasy race of people but, instead, are essentially the fantastical, exaggerated fantasy versions of real-life heritage and diversity.

Art @Timbukdrew (these are my favorite troglodytes ever btw)

Humans are Not a Race
Perhaps because of playing so many non-human characters, imagining settings with them, or generally consuming media with a smattering of different fantasy races I personally don't find myself with some special connection to fellow humans as portrayed in fantasy worlds. Instead, I just think of intelligent beings in fantasy as just being some vague kind of people. It also helps if we don't use the label of "human" for one or more fantasy races. One good example would be the Elder Scrolls or Lord of the Rings; while they may be "Men", the differences between them are still significant. After all, Hobbits are a race of men too, despite them being wayyyy different from the other "humans" in Tolkien's works, both physically and culturally (mentally?).

In the real world, different human genetic traits evolved due to evolutionary and selective (cultural) pressures. While this topic is obviously contentious, it is in inarguable fact of biology. It cannot be denied without a creationist argument. Even so, I still very strongly feel that the genetic difference between two of the most distant human groups still capable of interbreeding is still probably less then the differences then a Nord and a Breton, or a High Elf and a Dark Elf. They're still the same race, but the differences between them are exaggerated, made fantastical, more apparent to highlight the differences and potential gameplay impacts (which is the only thing anybody actually cares about) that your choice of character race will have on your playthrough.

Of course, "genetic distance" and DNA and shit doesn't exist in fantasy anyway. It's a misnomer. They exist but only as vague concepts that direct how the author and audience expect things to work unless something "else" is going on in the fantasy world. In the real world, somebody can't be half animal, because the genetics don't work like that. But in a fantasy world? Someone can be half horse or half bull or whatever, and potentially pass that trait on. Somebody can also just be touched by supernatural spirits, or be part of a cursed bloodline, or whatever else the author makes up. While logically or "realistically" orcs and elves and humans can't be part of the same species, they can still occupy that space thematically.

Imagine you are traveling along a road in medieval times. After a long enough walk, two villages could have totally different dialects, totally different industries and ways of living, different food and dress, different cultures and customs, and they may even look just a little bit different physically too. These differences are minor, scaling with distance traveled. In a fantasy world? It's the same, except exaggerated. Made fantastical and unreal by the creator and the reader, so much so that the next village over is not run by humans, but little badgers living in little holes under the ground. They aren't literally the same species under a complex set of genetic rules and cultural histories creating these differences; but instead a way to make that pop and become something that inspires awe and intrigue. This is why I don't mind when a fantasy race is boring or one-dimensional. They're only one-dimensional when compared to the real world, but in the fantasy world? They make up part of the tapestry.

Also to improve this rambling post a bit; a random table you can roll on to worldbuild where all your different fantasy races are actually all from the same place and we should like not fight in race wars in stuff because we're all really the same and stuff.

Universal Origins - Roll 1d8
[1] The Gods each made their own race out of the same special clay. Each is molded to look different and do different things, but in the end, they're all from the womb of the earth. Mortals can do this too, but only a fraction of their power; this is where golems come from.

[2] All of the races were uplifted are from different animals, which came first, and were magically transformed into Man-Shape. Orcs are pigs, elves from foxes, dwarves from goats, humans from flightless birds and so on. What about animal people? They were the first drafts, which is why those races are more bestial and less developed; cast aside as failed experiments.

[3] Do the Goblin Punch thing where all the races are uplifted genetic castes made for specific purposes by a precursor race. But don't make the precursors "true" Elves or some super powerful aliens; make it gnomes. Every time there is a secret plot or evil conspiracy, it's always the fucking gnomes.

[4] The first being in the world had many offspring that it split off from itself to admire creation. These beings are all just pieces of the whole. The eyes of the Elves, the arms and hands of the Dwarves, the horns of the Oni; all pieces of the true being. When the players finally arrange all the pieces together and zap it with lightning to bring it to life, it actually looks really horrific and it's basically a Lovecraftian monster that is their progenitor; not some creature of great beauty and grace.

[5] The world was actually a trial for souls, one representing each race, to overcome adversity and purify themselves to ascend into heaven to sit besides the Throne of God. Each one of these heroes was given a form that representing their emotional state and greatest faults they had to overcome. The Elf was a soul in love with nature and peace, needing to learn how to be practical. The Orc had a fiery temper and had to learn patience, and so on. The problem? The trial is over, they're all gone. It was made for individuals, and their offspring and families were just left behind later. Those ancient ancestral heroes are all chilling in heaven and don't really care about you anymore. You're just the leftovers.

[6] Each race is really from another demiplane that was once perfect for them. Endless rolling green hills for the halflings, toxic swamps with much prey for the lizardfolk, and so on. Eventually, the demiplanes fused together with cosmic planar gravity; the world is its accretion disc. Racism and stuff happens because you kinda weren't meant to ever exist together, so it's hard to adapt. Don't get mad when demons and freaky outsiders try to open portals to your dimension; they're just trying to join in with everyone else.

[7] When God made the world in all its complexity and design he took all the souls of all the people who would ever be born and asked them what they wanted to be and when all of them said they wanted to be kings and beautiful creatures and all powerful he got mad and just mixed them up in a pot and just spilled them out so that's why you're short and stubby and eat your damn mushroom soup.

[8] We all actually "evolved" over a "billions of years" from a single extremely simple creature called a "single celled organism". Scholars laugh at this nonsense; point to the statues of their Gods which look exactly like them. It just makes more sense.

Blatant Fetish Posting- Genderbending Kobolds

When it comes to fantasy worlds, I think exploring non-human races and cultures is very interesting- biology and magical/supernatural elements means these beings can be very different from our baseline "human" experience, which adds both roleplaying potential as well as game potential for things like rules and background for a game world.

Recently, in some modern D&D lore supplements, the idea of Kobolds being able to switch gender was introduced. This, in my mind, was a very interesting way to make kobolds distinct from other races and humans, and actually makes a lot of sense given the setting- I always imagined kobolds being a bit androgynous in the first place, both in terms of height/strength/looks so it fits that it wouldn't be too destructive or difficult to accomplish in terms of a biological transformation. (I've even written about this before) Kobolds are usually depicted as a bit more lizard-like, who are much more capable of performing a transformation like that compared to a mammal. Kobolds are also often depicted as being highly communal, and the importance of the individual is usually placed underneath the importance of the tribe- both of these would also make sense as cultural elements of a species who can shift and change sex. You give up your own original identity for one that keeps the population of the tribe going even after a disaster. And that final element also ties into it- Kobolds are weak. They are minions or sometimes food for greater monsters, and they die a lot. Evolution shows that creatures with short life expectancy tend to have lots of babies, it's a more r selected species on the sliding scale of quantity and quality.

This leads a lot of doors to potential for interesting character development. My favorite interpretation of this is that it is not a willing or choice to transform, it happens naturally. If you play as a male kobold in a party of mostly male adventurers, your kobold will turn into a girl. It isn't some weird sex thing either, simply being in the presence of males means there is more testosterone in the air then estrogen- this triggers the change to begin. For the character itself; this could lead down a lot of interesting roads. Perhaps they don't really care about the transformation at all, it's a normal part of life for them. Maybe the character is angry or lashes out against these changes, especially if they were raised in a society where the innate ability to change sexes isn't normal, leading to drama.

But there's a bit of a problem with this. Let's get real. There is a group of people, we'll call them those people, who have those politics. If you can't handle spicy political opinions, don't read on.

Is this a boy or a girl?
Art @ecmajor (VERY NSFW)

Basically, some people like the idea of gender shifting or changing stuff in fantasy as a form of wish fulfillment, or worse yet, a intentional political addition. These are inane opinions. But the idea behind genderbending kobolds is still cool- but it doesn't have any bite to it.

See, in my opinion, switching your sex is a big deal. Even in fantasy where magic can be easy or painless; there are so many knock on effects to sex. Sex is an inherent part of what people are; and while most RPGs and video games making a character's sex a purely cosmetic choice, in the fantasy milieu it doesn't really need to be this way. I would find it much more interesting if a character changing sex was a profound thing that really messed up their whole life- and part of this is the fact that kobolds are a bit too androgynous for this to work!

Imagine if you, a female creature, spent your entire life and career as a ammoral vagabond that goes into tombs and explores around as an adventurer. You are skilled at picking locks and mending wounds. Suddenly you begin to bulk up, growing taller and less able to fit into small places. Your hands grow large and hairy and so unsanitary; fingers that once wrapped bandages around your wounded allies are now replaced with large digging and fighting claws- used by males of your species to compete for mates. Suddenly you find your attention span greatly sapped, finding the careful craft of making medicines or repairing machinery impossible or very very difficult. It's a profound part of a character that changes everything, in how they dress and act and are viewed by their society. To simply chalk it up as an "oopsie you're a girl now! :^) " with no mechanical or roleplaying depth makes it nothing more then a pointless cosmetic choice that means nothing.