Pretty Orcs

[Johnny Angel]

Originally Posted by Phoenix_Dragon

Depends entirely on the setting. In many (Maybe a majority, maybe not?), the elven and orcish ideals of appearance may be very much different. If nothing else, elves tend to be portrayed as tall, lean, and graceful, while an "ideal" orc seems to be tough and strong.

I'd tend to agree that a lot of settings seem to portray it that way. ...which also plays into my previously mentioned confusion about what I think of when I hear the term 'orc.' A lot of settings seem to somewhat contradict themselves when they describe what orcs are supposed to be. I know that many generic fantasy terms and races are used very differently in many settings, but the orc seems to have less of a set in stone definition; a lot of the definition they did have has been retconned & changed in many settings. I can still remember when many of the games I played said that orcs were related to goblins

In terms of their mentality, I think the LoTR orcs would be closer to what I (being that I was a D&D player before GURPS) would think of when I hear the term hobgoblin. I think Tolkien's goblins would be somewhere between my mental image of orcs and regular goblins. I imagine orcs being a less green, taller, and a little bit tougher. In the movies, I imagine the orcs being the ones who wanted to eat the hobbits, and the hobgoblins being the more militaristic ones who were more disciplined.