Elf subraces

It starts with Tolkien, like everything else D&D.

Tolkien

• Quendi, aka "Elves"
  • Eldar: those who left Cuivienen
    • Vanyar
    • Noldor
    • Teleri
      • Nandor (Laiquendi and Silvan Elves)
      • Sindar
  • Avari, who stayed at Cuivienen
  • The Half-elven, which are neither a race nor common, but the name is used for only one family (most well known of them is Elrond).

Then D&D 0th edition wanted to be all "Lord of the Rings is awesome, and we want a Legolamb and an Elrond Hubbard in our games too!" So D&D elf characters were copies of the Avari, or maybe Nandor, and these fighter/magic-user multiclass with super vision and didn't sleep and had +1 when using bows and and and... They're the Mary Sue.

Then Gary was all "nuh-uh! My Mary Sue is better!" and included the first four breeds of elf from Tolkien (calling the first kind 'high elves'), and you had different stat pluses JUST FOR EACH KIND of elf. And kickass abilities even if you were half-elf/half-human. Because elves are still the Mary Sue.

Players who are NOT gay for elves were like "hey, why can't dwarves and gnomes and halflings get the same?" and TSR was like "*sigh* FINE, here have three kinds of halflings." Still, some of the perfectly heterosexual writers were trying to come up with stuff for Dragon magazine, and splatbooks, so they would make more subraces. Sometimes of elves. But you never heard of a half-dwarf or half-gnome, because everyone wants to have sex with elves instead.

And it got way out of fuckin' hand. See for yourself: (mad props to Filby for having the patience to come up with this list)

(and any of these could be half-elf/half-human too, don't forget)

what about planetouched elves like tieflings or aasimar or genasi?

GTFO we have enough elves already.

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Dungeons & Dragons

World of Greyhawk

• Avariel (winged elf)
• Drow (see Monster Manual)
• Gray elf (see MM)
• Grugach (wild elves from MM)
• High elf (see MM)
• Snow elf (tall, reclusive elves from the arctic; from Dragon Magazine 155)
• Valley elf (human-sized gray elf offshoot)
• Wood elf (see MM)

Forgotten Realms

• Aquatic elf (two cultures: Great Sea and Sea of Fallen Stars)
• Avariel (aka winged elves, see 'Races of Faerun')
• Drow (aka dark elves, same as in Monster Manual)
• Lythari (elven werewolves)
• Marels (evil aquatic elves found in the Moonsea; from 'The Moonsea', AD&D2E)
• Moon elf (aka silver elf, the 'high elves' of Toril)
• Poscadar elf (Native American-style elves from Anchorome, the continent north of Maztica; from 'The City of Gold')
• Star elf (aka mithral elf, mysterious elves from a demiplane in the Ethereal, from 'Unapproachable East')
• Sun elf (aka gold elf, the 'gray elves' of Toril)
• Wild elf (aka green elf)
• Wood elf (aka copper elf, descended from a mix of moon, sun, and wild elves)
• Zakharan elf (from the Al-Qadim campaign setting; fully integrated into 'enlightened' Zakharan society)

Dragonlance

• Armachnesti (Silvanesti offshoot found on Taladas, the northern continent)
• Cha'asii (primitive jungle-dwelling elves from Taladas)
• Dargonesti (aka Quoowahb among themselves; aquatic elves who can turn into dolphins)
• Dimernesti (aquatic elves who can turn into sea otters)
• Drow (the demoness Jialuthi from Krynn once posed as Lolth to convince many drow from different worlds to come to Krynn; she was killed and the drow were driven back to their own worlds. From 'Wild Elves')
• Elf of the Host (I only know the name. Apparently from some novel? 'Riverwind the Plainsman'? tell me if I'm wrong)
• Hulderfolk (reclusive 'wild elves' from Taladas)
• Kagonesti (the 'wild elves' of the southern continent, Ansalon)
• Lucanesti (I know virtually nothing about these elves except that they were introduced in 'Dark Queen of Krynn', a computer game?)
• Mahkwahb (evil aquatic elves who turn into sharks)
• Qualinesti (the 'high elves' of Ansalon)
• Silvanesti (the 'gray elves' of Ansalon)
• Tamirnesti (aka Hosk'i Imou Merkitsa; savage elves from Taladas)

Mystara

• Aquarendi (aquatic elves, probably from 'The Sea Peoples')
• Blacklore elf (magic-users whose culture I believe died out in ancient Blackmoor; placed in the Hollow World by the Immortals to preserve their culture)
• Blackmoor elf (from Dave Arneson's Blackmoor setting; extinct, forerunners of the Blacklore elves)
• Ee'ar (same as the avariel of other worlds)
• Eldar (mentioned in a novel?)
• Eusdrian elf (from the Viking kingdom of Eusdria on the Savage Coast)
• Forest elf (the most common subrace; essentially the equivalent of high elves)
• Gentle folk (primitive elves found in the Hollow World)
• Grunland elf (probably extinct; from the old elven homeland, destroyed in Blackmoor's fall)
• Icevale elf (primitive elves found in the Hollow World)
• Savage Coast elf (native to the western lands of the Savage Coast, fully integrated into human society)
• Proto-elf (ancestor of the modern elves. Connection to yuan-ti?)
• Robrenn elf (from the Celtic kingdom of Robrenn on the Savage Coast)
• Schattenalfen (evil shadow elf offshoot, found closer to the Hollow World than the outer surface)
• Shadow elf (pale-skinned subterranean elves with a strong aversion to sunlight; recently conquered the forest elf kingdom of Alfheim; not really evil but very xenophobic)
• Southern elf (of Glantri; migrated to the Known World from Davania)
• Sylvan Realm elf (not sure if the Sylvan Realm still exists...)
• Water elf (pale-skinned, seafaring elves with a mercantile streak; primary inhabitants of the Minthorad Guilds)

Birthright

• Sidhelien (badass immortal Tolkienesque elves)

Dark Sun

• Athasian elf (7-foot-tall desert nomads)

Spelljammer

• Avarien (no connection to avariel; native only to the Astromundi Cluster)
• Faeriespace elf (elves from Faeriespace, a strange star system that resembles a huge tree, where all its inhabitants live in harmony; from 'Crystal Spheres')
• Kule drow (with kuo-toa and illithids, one of only three sentient species on Oerth's inner moon)
• Mratzal drow (evil drow from Faeriespace, but not as aggressive as other drow because no gods are worshiped in Faeriespace, hence no Lolth (which begs the question of how they got there); from 'Crystal Spheres')
• Perianth elf (elves from the Pyre system, in 'Shadow of the Spider Moon')
• Spider Moon drow (from 'Shadow of the Spider Moon')
• Wildspace elf (any elf who's taken to life in space; usually members or affiliates of the Imperial Elven Navy)

Planescape

• Alabaster elf (apparently extinct; what product are they mentioned in?)
• Elf einheriar (from Asgard, on Ysgard's first layer)
• Planar elf (any elf who was born on the Outer Planes)
• Svartalfar (good drow native to Ysgard's lowest layer)

Ravenloft

• Darkon elf (the 'native' elves of Ravenloft; same as high elves elsewhere)
• Shadow elf (in early 2E described as Lolth-worshipping drow; now apparently Fey type creatures called 'Sidhe' in late 2E and 3E. No connection to Mystara's shadow elves)
• o Alf (small, winged elves)
• Brag (wild-eyed craftsfolk)
• Fir (tinkers and engineers)
• Muryan (aka Dancing Men; violent and aggressive warriors)
• Portune (sobre and silent healers)
• Powrie (aka Redcaps; evil and sinister assassins)
• Shee (elves of Maeve's Seelie Court)
• Sith (dark elves fascinated with death)
• Teg (feral and wild)
• Sithicus elf (descended from the qualinesti of Krynn drawn into Ravenloft when Lord Soth Laren was imprisoned)

Manual of the Planes (3e)

• Sidhe fey from the Realm of Faerie
  • Seelie (celestial)
  • Unseelie (fiendish)

D&D 4th Ed

• Eladrin, which are decadent aliens from the Feywild (aka weaksauce positive material plane)
• Elves, eladrin that migrated to the Prime Material a long time ago and adapted to living in normal forests

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Warhammer

Warhammer Fantasy

They all live to 2500 years, their units are always less armored and faster than the hume equivalents, and they have the most Mary-Sue wizards of anybody else in WarHammer.

• Asur. Known as "high elves" because they think they are better than you. Live on an island continent that is an unsunken Atlantis for all intents and purposes. Or more exactly Melniboné, without the incestuous orgies and the mass-murdering fun.
• Asrai. The "wood elves," are the ones that are slumming it in the Loren Forest.
• Druchii. The " (grim)dark elves" that live in Naggaroth on the other continent, ready to fuck your colonist shit up. Basically, Melnibonéans, WITH the incestuous orgies and the mass-murdering fun.

Warhammer 40K

• Craftworld Eldar. Vanilla High-Elf-analogue Eldar. Created a Chaos God of rape and hedonism due to galactic scale orgies. Will sacrifice millions of humans to save a single Eldar. Pricks. Giant pricks. Live on giant world ships, and trying desperately not to die out, but making more enemies than they can handle in the process. Everybody else hopes that they do die out, but [least a few of their women survive]. Also GW's favorite punching bag.
• Dark Eldar. Must torture each other, rape each other, torture and rape captured slaves of other species in order to avoid the aforementioned Chaos God stealing their souls (and they love it). Pricks as well Absolute fuckfaces. Live in a world city cleverly hidden in a tunnel in the Webway.
• Exodite Eldar. Lost tribes of Elfdar who abandoned the Eldar core worlds before they got raped. Living primitively on otherwise uninhabited worlds. "Primitively" here meaning they ride lizards while wielding laser lances, instead of riding jet bikes while wielding laser lances. They WILL fuck your shit up if you happen to start a colony on THEIR world, yet few people seem to care enough not to try. Also GW's second favorite punching bag. Yet again, pricks.
• Harlequin Eldar. Crazy-ass mystic space bards who are the living history of their race, perform ritual plays and live in the webway. Killer clowns who make even the Dark Eldar shit their pants. Engaged too far into RPing and obeying to the Great GM Cegorach (a.k.a. The Laughing God) to do too much other than troll Slaanesh on a daily basis. Due to their assosciation to Cegorach, they are believed to be made of Keikaku and Dori. Not entirely pricks, since they do free shows for other species, including any Humiez who don't try to shoot them on sight. This is actually probably better than it sounds, since their plays are crazy ass, psychedelic Cirque du Soleil shit; and the average Imperial citizen's two choices to pass the time are Gregorian chant and dying horribly, so they're pretty starved for good entertainment.
• Chaos Eldar ^{(Citation needed)}. Mostly renegade pirates and ascended warlords. May have existed at one point in 2nd Ed. May also have been Dark Eldar, who are known to occasionally hang out with Chaos, mistaken to be something completely bonkers. In terms of how big a prick on can be, all we can safely say is this: they are probably a combination of fan wank and flame bait, designed to see whether they or Dark Eldar are most evil.
• Eldar Corsairs. Space Elf Ninja Pirates. Live in naval ships and Eldar space stations away from the Craftworlds. Some Eldar rangers survive long enough to manage to gain some followers and ships, some of these become powerful enough to threaten a subsector. A notable example of the last one is Prince Yriel of Iyanden. They are essentially Craftworld Eldar only with jetpacks, moar dakka, better military training and no moral barriers left, so they are giant pricks.

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World of Darkness

They had a whole line of games dedicated to just elves called Changeling, so elf races became like character classes. That wouldn't be so bad, but then came all the splatbooks with a special new kinds of elf, oh noes.

Old World of Darkness, "The Dreaming"

• Boggans are dreams of hearth and home.
• Eshu are dreams of wanderlust and adventure.
• Nockers are dreams of the neverending quest for industrial creation and perfection.
• Pooka are dreams of animal curiosity and trickery.
• Redcaps are dreams of hunger.
• Satyrs are dreams of passion.
• Sidhe are dreams of beauty and nobility; many houses (read subtypes) of nobility, such as nobility in warfare, or dictatorial rule, exist.
• Sluagh are dreams of secrets and things that go bump in the night.
• Trolls are dreams of honor and duty.
• Clurichaun are Leprechauns.
• Piskies are pixie tricksters.
• Selkies are water nymphs.
• Gillhe Dhu are Celtic dryads.
• Nunnehi ae injun elves.
• Menehue are Hawaiian elves
• Adhene are extradimensional elves too good for hiding like Changelings do.
• Hsien are AZN elves.

New World of Darkness, "The Lost"

Player characters aren't elves themselves, nor elves-hiding-as-humans like the previous game, but humans who were kidnapped by elves, twisted to adapt, and then escaped back to the real world; their goal is not to sneer on mundanes or escape reality, but to rejoin it while seeking to prevent the True Fae from coming back into the universe. There's six classes of elf they could be adapted to, each with around twelve sub-species, for a total of seventy-one different kinds of elf that the escaped humans could resemble, each with their own unique appearance and abilities. In addition, there is a merit allowing a person to take a second subspecies (which did not even have to be of the main species you chose), thus upping the character setups by a combinatorial expansion. Jesus fucking Christ. Note that there wasn't a personality associated with each kind of species as well, so not all Fairest were necessarily snobbish elitists, etc.

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BLAM!

• Clone tribals. Not explicitly elves, but rather a futuristic equivalent. Mostly clone-soldiers left without a purpose or an infrastructure, living in small clans around the specific clone reactor each "family" is born from. Primitive and xenophobic, some may not even be able to speak. They have access to advanced military equipment and weaponry, but their culture being a highly ritualized and superstitious parody of martial discipline, they don't really understand what they know of the City's secrets and technology, but are perfectly adapted to this environment. So, in short, yeah, they're elves from the future. Stick-up-the-ass, can use pseudo-magical stuff, and semi-wild, and are dicks. Also, they look freakishly thin and pale, even by Tsutomu Nihei's standards.

Star Trek

• Vulcans the original space elves. Big on controlling their emotions and logic. Unlike most elves they're BBFs with humans with most "humans suck elves are better" rants just snark between them and a human friend.

• Romulans, thousands of years ago Vulcans were warlike pricks and regularly had nuclear civil wars, That was until a guy name surak told everyone to claim the fuck down. All but one group did so, who told Surak to fuck off, with a nuke. These "who march beneath the Raptor's wings" went out, ripped off Roman Culture and became the Romulan Star Empire. And we're not joking about that last part they claim that they invented every piece of technology in the past thousand years. Best know for using cloaked ship and cloak and dagger tactics.