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Elf

2022-09-10T19:34:11Z

2600:1003:B13E:3DDE:C13C:2E61:E1A:73C0: /* Modern Era */

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[[file:Will_Ferrell_Elf.jpg|right|thumb|400px|Guess which one Tolkien adopted...]]
[[file:Keebler elf.jpeg|right|thumb|400px|What a lot of people think of when you say "elf".]]
{{topquote|Oh God, not another elf!|English professor Hugo Dyson as JRR Tolkien's son, Christopher, read aloud an early draft of Lord of the Rings to his father's friends}}
'''Elves''' are a staple fantasy setting race which can also be found in science fiction settings with fantasy elements such as [[Shadowrun]] and [[Warhammer 40000]], to say nothing of Elf-like races found in most science fiction that has aliens. The modern Elf trope is that of a humanoid being with otherworldly features, usually a tendency towards fondness of nature and the ability to sense and do things through a connection to it or the wider universe. A flowing language without heavy or guttural sounds and pointed ears are standard, and are usually as tall or taller than humans although an older shorter version (AKA Christmas Elves) exists.

The "Tolkien-esque" Elf, pretty much ubiquitous in Fantasy nowadays, is actually quite polarizing with the Fantasy/roleplaying crowd, most of whom either love Elves because "they're like humans only BETTER!", or hate them for the exact same reason.

Compare and contrast them with [[Dwarves]], another staple fantasy race who share mythological origins (in one mythology, Dwarfs lived in the same realm as the Dark Elves of norse myths).

=D&D=
[[File:Ravenloft 3e Elves.png|thumb|right|300px|The elves of [[Ravenloft]] have their own unique style.]]

[[Dungeons & Dragons]] obviously used Elves, and was in fact one of the first to ripoff the Tolkien Elves. Early D&D Elves were much closer to his and were comparable to a player today attempting to play a young Dragon, but as of 3rd edition were toned down greatly. D&D Elves are mostly notable for their batshit insane Greek-style god pantheon in the [[Faerun]] setting. Their lifespans are not much longer than Dwarves, and they can't grow facial hair. [[Half-Elves]] are a core race, and they tend to be sold as tragic figures who had to watch a parent grow old and die in their prepubescent equivalent while in turn growing old and dying as their other parent stays the same age they seemingly always were (of course the standard /tg/ approach is to utilize necromancy for a drama-free backstory).

==[[Elf Subraces|Elven Subspecies]]==
There are three major "archetypes" of elf in D&D; the High Elf, the Wood Elf and the Dark Elf. The myriad elven cultures that have been developed for different settings usually base themselves in these three archetypes, but some sub-species are more unique.

===[[High Elves]]===
These are generally portrayed as the most "civilized" elves; the most focused on exploring their magical heritage and the ones who are most interested in building cities and civilizations. This makes them the most common of elves, in no small part because they tend to be the most adventurous of the elven species. Whilst they are traditionally described as respecting nature heavily, their first true love is magic; this is the race that defined the archetype of the elven wizard, and they shamelessly exploit their natural talents in arcane magic to make their civilizations work. A high elf community isn't necessarily a [[magocracy]], but it's an easily applied trope.

In AD&D, the following elven races are considered to be High Elves:
* Zakharan Elves
* The Silvanesti and Qualinesti of Krynn
* The Moon Elves of Faerun
* The Sun Elves of Faerun
* The Star Elves of Sildëyuir and Faerun
* The Dark Elves (Ancestors of the Drow in the Forgotten Realms)
* The Llewyrr of Moonshae Isles
* The Green Elves (Ancestors of Wood Elves in the Forgotten Realms)

===[[Wood Elves]]===
These elves prefer the wild to civilization, and are much more reclusive than their High Elf cousins. Also known as Sylvan Elves, at least in AD&D, wood elves still possess an affinity for magic, but place far more importance on living in harmony with nature. If the high elves defined the archetype of the elf wizard, these elves are responsible for the association of the elf race with the [[druid]] and [[ranger]] classes - especially the latter, given the wood elf forte with bow & arrow.

In AD&D, the following elven races are considered to be Wood Elves:
* The Kagonesti of Krynn
* The Tamire Elves of Krynn (actually steppe elves)
* The Hulderfolk of Krynn
* The Cha'asii of Krynn (swamp/jungle elves)
* The Wild Elves of Faerun
* The Wood Elves of Faerun
* The Grugach of Oerth
* The Dusk Elves of Barovia

===[[Dark Elves]] (Drow)===
This is the obligatory evil elf race. These guys have their own name, the '''[[Drow]]''', and that's helped them to develop their own iconic niche, in contrast to High & Wood Elves who often seem to have nothing but the most meager nitpicking of details separating them.

===[[Aquatic Elf|Aquatic Elves]]===
Water-breathing elves who live deep underwater. Usually the most xenophobic and thus least interesting of all the elves. Seriously, even in [[Dragonlance]], where the local aquatic elves A: mirror the high elf/wood elf split in their own culture as the Dargonesti (Deep Elves) and Dimernesti (Shoal Elves), and B: are shapeshifters, with Dargonesti turning into dolphins and Dimernesti turning into otters, they have pretty much no value or influence on the setting at all.

The subrace hails all the way back to [[Pelinore]], the flat world from 1st Edition, which established the basic ideas that persisted into their future incarnations, predominantly a) that aquatic elves have a raging feud with [[sahuagin]], and b) that aquatic elves are ''pricks''. Outside of Pelinore and [[Dragonlance]], the most well-known aquatic elf culture is found in the Forgotten Realms, where they are known to inhabit both the Great Sea and the Sea of Fallen Stars. They're known to inhabit [[Mystara]] and probably inhabit [[Greyhawk]], but they're pretty obscure unless you're talking to a real expert on the setting.

For what further details exist, see the [[Aquatic Elf]] page.

===[[Gray Elf|Gray Elves]]===
A subrace which most people prefer to forget, these are the most arrogant and elitist elves of all - that's right, they're literally defined as "the asshole elves who aren't [[drow]]". Obsessed with the idea that they represent the pinnacle of the elven species, even the CBoE struggled with portraying these guys at all sympathetically. Xenophobic, supercilious, condescending, these are pretty much the embodiment of every elitist asshole elf cliche you can think of. Even more so than High Elves, they rely heavily on their prowess for arcane magic to do everything. They also keep other elven races as slaves to do all the physical labor. Charming. A bit notorious in 3rd edition for being the only race in third edition's core to have a boost to a mental ability score and no [[Level Adjustment]].

In AD&D, the following elven races are considered to be Gray Elves:
* The Armach-nesti are a spinoff, full-on apartheid elves; Taladas doesn't dick around
* The Valley Elves of Oerth

===Different Elves===
[[Avariel]] are flying elves from [[Forgotten Realms|Faerun]]. [[Ee'ar]] are the same from [[Mystara]].

[[Dark Sun|Athasian]] Elves are tall, lean, desert-dwelling runners with a culture based on trade and grifting.

[[Eladrin]] are either [[angel]]s who just happen to look like elves ([[Great Wheel]]) or the original [[fey]] from which the elves sprang ([[World Axis]]).

[[Lythari]] are elven [[therianthrope]]s who can assume the form of silvery-white giant wolves.

[[Rockseer Elf|Rockseer Elves]] - also Sargent - are a peaceful race of ''[[Night Below]]''-dwelling elves with innate earth [[elementalism]] powers, who believe themselves to have been outcast by the rest of their race... who, again, forgot they ever existed. These don't hold grudges, though.

[[Shadow Elf|Shadow Elves]] are [[Carl Sargent]]'s residents of the [[Mystara]]n [[Underdark]] and [[Hollow World]], who'd scuttled down there in deep antiquity. The surface elves forgot them. They function almost as drow: no demon-worship, but just as xenophobic and vengeful.

[[Snow Elf|Snow Elves]] are a super-obscure branch of the elf family tree who have adapted to living in artic, subarctic and mountain environments. Basically, if there's snow there most of the year at minimum, you'll find these elves there.

The elves of [[Larisnar]] subvert the trope HARD: they are lizard-scaled, and die at age 30. Those who would live longer make dark pacts and/or turn to necromancy. Are they really elves, or [[githyanki]]...?

===Look, Ma! No Elves!===
Some settings do without, or pretend as much, although these may host fey and/or arrogant-alien races which fill this niche. [[Michael Moorcock]]'s [[Elric|Melnibonéans]] form the template for the latter, this borrowing from Lord Dunsany and Poul Anderson with some antipathy to "[[Tolkien|Prof. T]]" whom Mikey made quite the show of disliking. [[Talislanta]] took those themes and ran with them. Ditto the [[faen]] and alabast in [[Arcana Unearthed | the Diamond Throne]].

==PC Stats==
===OD&D/BECMI===
Back in the earliest days of D&D Elf was a class, not a race. That's how long they've been in the game.

The Basic D&D version of the Elf was a [[Gish]] class, combining elements of [[Fighter]] and [[Wizard|Magic-User]]. As such, they required a minimum [[Intelligence]] of 9 to qualify for the character, and needed high [[Strength]] and [[Intelligence]] to gain bonuses to XP gathering. They had a D6 hit dice, started play with the Set Spear vs Attack and Lance Attack fighter manuevers, were immune to the paralysis attack of [[ghoul]]s, and had a 1 in 3 chance to detect secret or hidden doors.

Technically maxing out at 10th level, they gained a fairly small selection of mostly low-level spells, maxing out at 3 spells for each level from 1st to 4th and 2 level 5 spells upon hitting 10th level. [[Companion Set]] relented, a bit: as with Dwarves and Halflings they could keep gaining experience after 10th level going to [[Fighter]] levels as "Attack Rank", by [[What|the alphabet]]. The ''Elves of Alfheim'' [[Known World Gazetteers|Gazetteer]]'s internal [[splatbook]] just overturned all that, declaring the ABC plan the '''Elf Lord''' option. A high-level elf could instead focus on enhancing their spellcasting abilities, becoming an '''Elf Mage'''.

For those who care, the Companion / Elf Lord maxed out at Attack Rank M. At Rank D, they gained the Fighter Combat Options and could make 2 attacks per round. At G, they halved all damage taken from breath weapons (quartering it if they passed their saving throw). At K, they could make 3 attacks per round.

The [[Hollow World]] subsetting, and the Champions of [[Mystara]] [[splatbook]], both introduced variant elf classes.

The Hollow World produced the Elf Warrior, an elf who, for whatever reasons, couldn't learn magic and so focused on their combat skills instead, complete with rules for "[[multiclassing]]" to "proper" Elf and gaining spellcasting at a later date. This works because the Hollow World setting has a unique trait where native PCs ''cannot'' become magic-users unless they have at least a 16 in [[Intelligence]]... which is almost twice the Intelligence required to qualify for the Elf race in the first place! So, Hollow World Elf PCs don't get to learn spells, but in a trade off, they advance faster - halving their XP costs up till level six, at which point their XP costs become a little over half. But, as the suppression of magic actually stems from an environmental factor in the Hollow World itself, warrior elves who find their way up to the surface can go on to learn elven magic; they do this by paying off the "missing" experience, and once they have as many "elfin wizard" levels as they do elfin warrior levels, they switch over to just using the normal elf XP levels. If these elves then return to the Hollow World, they retain their spellcasting ability; having learned how to cast in the first place, they are no longer affected by the thaumic "static" that saturates the inner world.

Champions of [[Mystara]] produced the variant racial class of Elf [[Shaman]], an elf who used [[cleric]] magic alongside [[wizard]] magic but who was less effective as a fighter as a result.

[[Known World Gazetteers|Dawn of the Emperors: Thyatis and Alphatia]] introduced the ''Forester'' class, a human trained by elves who thusly has learned to blend martial skills and magic the same way that they do. Mechanically, this functions identically to the Elf class, but loses the Immunity to [[Ghoul]] Paralysis and Infravision traits. This was, in a sense, a prototype of the [[Half-Elf]], which itself appeared in BECMI in issue #178 of [[Dragon Magazine]], as part of the serial [[The Voyage of the Princess Ark]].

Dragon issue #178 also introduced Elf variant classes for Elven [[Cleric]]s, [[Paladin]]s, [[Knight]]s and [[Avenger]]s.

[[Mystara]] does have its share of elven subraces, although mechanically these aren't as distinct as their AD&D counterparts.
* '''Shadow Elves''' kind of fill the [[drow]] niche, being subterranean elves, but aren't as outright malevolent as drow and are albinos rather than photonegative-colored. They do have an evil counterpart in the '''Schattenalfen''', who have a [[vampire]]-like allergy to sunlight and culturally borrow from the worst traits of the [[Aztec]]s. See the [[Shadow Elf]] page for more.
* '''[[Aquatic Elf|Aquatic Elves]]''' inhabit the seas of Mystara and were made playable in PC3: The Sea Peoples.
* The [[Hollow World]] is home to three elven cultures that've gone extinct on the surface. '''Blacklore Elves''' are remnants of the technology-embracing elves of [[Blackmoor]], and live an existence of utterly meaningless luxury and ease doted upon by [[golem]]s in the shape of futuristic [[robot]]s, with absolutely nothing to do or strive for and trying to fill the hideous boredom of their existences. You can actually play these, but they are treated as Warrior-Elves who start with no useful weapons (their culture's only native weapon, the Torch, is a magical lighter that doubles as a heat ray-blaster and doesn't work outside of their native territory) and no armor proficiency, but in compensation completely ignore the ''Cultural Bias'' rule. The '''Gentle Folk''' are the ultra-passive and docile root-stock of elfdom; PCs of this race can begin play as either Warrior-Elves or Elves, but they have no starting armor proficiencies or weapon proficiency other than a staff - they can, however, freely take up arms and armor by adopting them from other cultures, representing how they are mutants who do have an aggressive streak or self-preservation instincts: this frees them from the experience penalties aspect of ''Cultural Bias'', but nothing else (overcoming the pacifism and docility is a roleplaying-only flaw). Finally, the '''Icevale Elves''' are the Mystaran equivalent of a [[Snow Elf]]; mechanically, these are just Warrior-Elves or Elves with a culture loosely based on Iron Age Icelanders.

===AD&D===
[[File:Elf MM 2e.png|thumb|250px]]
Elves in AD&D got codified as one of the better races offensively, with a useful +1 to hit with long swords, short swords, and bows of all kinds (but not crossbows). They are also 90% Resistant to Charm and Sleep effects, and have a chance to spot secret doors just by going near them. They gain +1 Dexterity, but suffer a -1 penalty to Constitution. Their biggest downside is that Elves ''cannot'' be Raised from the dead; to revive an Elf, a much more powerful magic (the Resurrection spell) is required. All in all, Elves were a decent character race.

AD&D would later go on to publish the ''[[Complete Book Series|Complete Book of Elves]]'', a hilariously bad book that achieved cult status amongst fa/tg/uys the world over due to how hilariously elf-supremacist the book is. While it's a stretch to say that it goes the [[Chakat]] route of establishing them as a race of [[Mary Sue]]s, it does go out of its way to establish them as brilliant, capable, and far beyond the ken of those pathetic lower races. Even the original author of the book treats the supplement like a complete joke and has gone on record mocking how terrible it is.

To its credit, the ''Complete Book of Elves'' does include a number of interesting ideas all its own, including interesting takes on Elven folklore and myths, explanations of why it is Elves find humans attractive (mostly human dynamism and flexibility), explains the animousity between Dwarves and Elves, and perhaps most interestingly, ways to make an elf-themed campaign, whether because elves are the biggest race in it, or whether they're almost extinct, offering lots of potential insight into how to design such a campaign. The few good inclusions, however, do not do anything to lessen just how ridiculous the book itself is, or its funniest offenses (for example, a story of how Elves singing at a funeral accidentally killed human guests present).

The basic issue with the ''Complete Book of Elves'' is that it struggles under the burden of TSR both trying to emulate the Celtic Mythology from which the elves are drawn AND to present them as a playable race, which just... doesn't work very well unless you're trying to use them in a [[Heroic Fantasy]] instead of the [[Sword & Sorcery]] setting that AD&D aimed for.

The CBoE included playable stats for High, Sylvan, Dark, Grey and Aquatic Elves, plus the first basic material for playing Averiel. Mechanically, these ranged in power from overpowered to absolute crap - take the Sylvan Elf, who is mechanically ''required'' to be more of a dick than either the [[drow]] or the gray elves, who are established in that same book as such hyper-arrogant elitist elf-supremacists they think they have a divine right to enslave the other elven races!

The CBoE was also the birthplace of the [[Bladesinger]], which was one of a wide array of [[kits]] that mostly were forgotten about in future material, such as the Spellfilcher (an elven mage/thief specialized in stealing magical grimoires and artifacts from non-elven [[wizard]]s) and the Collector (which is basically the Spellfilcher mixed with elven Indiana Jones).

===3rd Edition===
Elves are one of the core races of 3e. Like all the PHB races that weren't Human and Dwarf, Elves were really lame. They sacrificed constitution for dexterity, which is an awful deal for any class that doesn't like going splat (which is all of them). Their only other abilities were better-than-average visual acuity, proficiency with four weapons any class that should be using a weapon and isn't a Cleric (which they are poorly suited for) can use some/some of already, and immunity to magical sleep effects. In fact, they don't need to sleep at all, instead going into a meditative trance for four hours. Since everyone else needed to sleep and they could only regain spells after 8 hours of rest, even if they didn't need 8 hours of rest, the only use for this outside of all-elf groups was the elf was stuck with night watch duty. Also for some reason this was buried in their fluff (under "physical description", paragraph two. I checked), and never put in their stat block, so nobody actually remembers they have it. Since it wasn't in the stat block, it wasn't added to the SRD (though elves not sleeping remains in the description of the Dream and Nightmare spells), and therefore no OGL based system includes it either.

Unlike most of the PHB races, Elves didn't have to wait before they stopped being worthless. In the Monster Manual (still core) the subrace ''Gray Elf'' was briefly detailed. They get the normal elf traits, but +2 Intelligence and -2 Strength in addition to the standard elf traits. This gave them total adjustment of -2 str, +2 dex, -2 con, +2 int. These adjustments shoehorned them into one thing, [[Wizard]], which they did moderately well but it was ''something'' they were useful for without leaving core, which is more than most PHB races could claim. Unfortunately, only NPC elves could benefit from this, since the races in the Monster Manual didn't get level adjustments to make them playable until 3.5e (or the FRCS, in the case of Duergar, Drow, and svirfneflbibbles).

Eventually, because Third Edition was shitting out books at an average rate of one every month, sometimes even releasing two or three in a single month, the elves came to have at least 20 different subraces, including 3 underwater variants, a flying variant, and ''albino half-drow''. Surely at least one of them must have been good for something.

===Pathfinder===
Compared to 3.5, all elves got a +2 to intelligence, a bonus to spellcraft and a bonus to checks against spell resistance. Since it wasn't in the SRD, elves lost their trance ability. This was a bit weird since when [[Golarion]] was a 3.5 based setting there were references to elves going into a trance. Once again elves were pretty much locked into wizard if they didn't want to be useless. Like all core races they got to trade some of their racial traits out, but this mostly amounts to swapping the bonus weapons and other secondary traits for more caster goodies.

Despite not being particularly strong race they are still the third most played race in Pathfinder (after human and half-elf). This is mostly an anomaly due to a ''very'' high number of elf wizards (22% of wizards were elves), plus a good number of [[Alchemist]]s, Rogues and [[Arcanist]]s (the only classes their bonuses are suited for).

===4th Edition===
4th edition decided that the vast array of different elven subraces were, really, kind of silly. Plus, the basic divide between High Elf & Wood Elf was never really very clear - both races are simultaneously highly magical and highly enamored with nature, which itself doesn't make a lot of sense in D&D - there's a reason the [[wizard]] and the [[druid]] don't get along. So, they decided to twist things around.

Elves in 4e originate from the [[Feywild]]. Once, they were [[Eladrin]] clans who felt a deep affection for the nature, especially that present in the mortal world rather than their own faerie realm. Choosing to take [[Melora]] and the [[Primal Spirits]] as their patrons instead of [[Corellon]] and [[Sehanine]], they gave up the cities and pursued a tribal existence, venturing deep into the uncharted regions of the mortal world. When [[Lolth]] promoted her civil war, a side-effect was that the ties between the Eladrin clans were broken, and much like the renegades who followed Lolth into the [[Underdark]] ultimately transformed into [[Drow]], so did the mortal worlder eladrin mutate, losing some of their fey nature and becoming more tied to nature. Despite the fact that [[D&D 4e|4th edition]] elves all descend from extraplanar eladrin outsiders, which fits the very definition of ''[[planetouched]]'', [[Wizards of the Coast|Wiztards of the Coast]] somehow entirely neglected to use the word ''planetouched'' when describing their elves-descended-from-extraplanar-outsiders.

Personality wise, elves are described as a simple and earthy people; eladrin may be reserved and scholarly, but an elf would rather tell jokes or go out and do some target shooting whilst sharing a drink with some buddies than sit around being gloomy all day. They're much darker-colored than their ancestors were - though more in the sense of brown/black hair and tanned skin than being full-on black-skinned - and lack the characteristic "one solid color" eyes that define an eladrin.

4e's elves favor martial, divine and primal classes over arcane ones; their initial ability score modifier was +2 Dexterity and +2 Wisdom, and it wasn't until later in the game that they got the ability to trade their Wisdom bonus for an Intelligence bonus. The [[Seeker]] was created as the iconic elf class, combining their cultural and mechanical predilictions for the [[Ranger]] and the [[Druid]].

A 4e elf's statblock goes like this:

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::+2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom OR +2 Intelligence
::Medium
::Speed: 7 squares
::Skill Bonuses: +2 Nature, +2 Perception
::Elven Weapon Proficiency: You are Proficient with the Longbow and the Shortbow.
::Fey Origin: You count as a Fey creature for effects that key off of origin.
::Group Awareness: Non-elf allies within 6 squares of you gain a +1 racial bonus to Perception checks.
::Wild Step: You ignore difficult terrain when you shift.
::Racial Power - Elven Accuracy: 1/encounter, you can reroll an attack roll, though you must use the second roll even if it is worse than the original.
</div></div>

It bears mentioning that elves attracted a lot of flak for Elven Accuracy, simply because it's a single attack re-roll once per encounter (with a +2 bonus to the re-roll if you've got the Elven Precision racial feat). This isn't really as powerful as it seems, because A: 1 re-roll per fight sequence isn't going to guarantee every attack hits, and B: most of the Leader classes can hand out attack re-rolls like freaking candy anyway. Most anons on /tg/ either hadn't read any of 4e's actual combat mechanics, couldn't get over the idea of elves not having a [[Strength]] penalty (never mind that races like [[Orc]]s, [[Bugbear]]s and [[Goliath]]s still got Strength bonuses and so '''still''' had higher average bonus damage than elves did), or both.

[[Dragon Magazine]] #382 then introduced an elven subrace called the Dusk Elves, who are... different. These pale-colored elves (skin "like moonlight", fair hair, light blue or light violet eyes) are descendants from a 4th group of eladrin: during the great civil war between [[Corellon]] and [[Lolth]], their ancestors just wanted to stay out of it entirely, refusing to take part in the fighting on either side. This attempt at neutrality backfired on them when both the Corellon-loyalists ''and'' the proto-Drow turned on them; if it weren't for [[Sehanine]] taking pity on them, they probably would have been exterminated. As such, they've been forced into exile in hidden cities and enclaves throughout the mortal world, protected by complex layers of illusion magic. Described as furtive, haunted and suspicious by nature, they are very emotionally withdrawn and '''extremely''' touchy about the topic of loyalty. Unlike other elves, dusk elves have no particular loyalty to the [[Prime Material]]; they view it as being a prison, at best a gilded cage, and culturally yearn to return to the [[Feywild]] once more.

As with most early subraces in 4th edition, Dusk Elves are represented by taking an elf and buying the appropriate "bloodline feats". The core bloodline feat is ''Dusk Elf Stealth'', which grants a +1 racial bonus to Stealth to all allies within 6 squares who don't have this feat. It's... rather unimpressive, and the race rather relies on its other unique feats to stand out;'' Gathering Night'' lets you become invisible for a turn by taking a Total Defense action whilst concealed, ''Gloaming Ward'' grants you a turn of free concealment the first time you get bloodied, ''Sehanine's Boon'' means you gain extra HP from healing surges sent whilst concealed, and and ''Umbral Wind'' means you can use your second wind to gain concealment (or bump concealment to total concealment) for a turn instead of granting +2 all defenses for a turn. Oh, they also have ''Dusk Elf Weapon Training'', which is free proficiency with light blades and a small damage boost with them.

Dusk Elves have a unique racial [[Paragon Path]], called the Darkening Blade; a Dexterity-focused melee attacker who uses a combination of mobility, stealth, and swift but accurate strikes to prevail.

Similarly to the Eladrin, Elves also got a set of alternate racial traits in the ''Neverwinter Campaign Setting'' to portray the neglected wood and wild elves. Since the Eladrin were covering the High Elves, this enabled for elves to cover the more primal versions of the species. The unfortunate factor of this is that both variants replaced the racial power, where a good number of racial feats dedicated their existence to, though they did get some consolation prizes.

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'''Wild Elf Variant Traits'''
::Replace Elven Accuracy with Subtle Step (1/encounter ability to shift at full speed)
::Replace Group Awareness with Wild Elf Weapon Proficiency (Javelin, Spear, Longspear)

'''Wood Elf Variant Traits'''
::Replace Elven Accuracy with Sense Threat (Use Perception for Initiative, allies within 10 squares of you gain +2 to Initiative rolls if they scored below you)
::Replace Group Awareness with Wood Elf Reactive Stealth (Can use Stealth to hide when rolling Initiative)
</div></div>

===5th Edition===

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::Ability Score: +2 Dexterity
::Typical Alignment: Favor Chaotic Good (Lawful Evil if Drow)
::Size: Medium. Ranges from under 5 to over 6 feet tall, with slender builds. Nothing's stopping you from making a fat elf, of course.
::Speed: 30 foot base walking speed.
::Darkvision 60 feet
::Keen Senses: Proficiency in Perception.
::Fey Ancestry: Advantage on saves against being charmed, and immune to magic that puts you to sleep.
::Trance: Trancing for 4 hours yields the same effect as an 8 hour sleep.
::Languages: Common and Elvish.

And, of course, there are the subraces. The High Elves, with the Sun Elves being the asshole, extra arrogant bastards we all think of, and the Moon Elves, who are more common and friendly (note: they both fall under the umbrella of High Elf, with the same bonuses). Then, there's the tree-hugging Wood Elves, and the edgy Drow.

'''High Elf'''
::Ability Score: +1 Intelligence
::Elf Weapon Training: Proficiency with Longsword, Shortsword, Shortbow, and Longbow.
::Cantrip: Free cantrip from the Wizard spell list. Uses Intelligence as it's Spellcasting Modifier.
::Extra Language: Free extra language.

'''Wood Elf'''
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Wisdom
::Elf Weapon Training: see above
::Fleet of Foot: Base walking speed now becomes 35 feet.
::Mask of the Wild: You can attempt to hide even when you are only lightly obscured by natural phenomena, such as foliage, heavy rain, falling snow, and mist.

'''[[Drow]]'''
::Ability Score: +1 Charisma
::Superior Darkvision (120 feet instead of 60)
::Sunlight Sensitivity: Disadvantage on attack rolls and Perception checks that rely on sight if you, your target, or whatever you're trying to perceive, is in direct sunlight.
::Drow Magic: Start with free Dancing Light cantrip, get free Faerie Fire at 3rd level, and free Darkness at 5th level. Both recharge on a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these.
::Drow Weapon Training: Proficiency with rapiers, shortswords, and hand crossbows.

Amazingly, if one doesn't count the [[Eladrin]] (who received a writeup in the [[Dungeon Master's Guide]] and then a tweak of that in [[Unearthed Arcana]]), it took until the November 2017 issue of [[Unearthed Arcana]] before the elves received some new subraces.

'''Avariel''' - Winged elves, and immediately a source of derision on /tg/ for getting absolutely nothing beyond their flight ability.
::Bonus Language: Auran ([[Elemental]] Air)
::Flight: Fly speed of 30 feet, but not available if wearing medium armor or heavy armor.

'''Grugach''' - Super-feral and territorial wood elves originally from [[Greyhawk|Oerth]]... in many ways a prototype of the Wood Elves of [[Warhammer Fantasy]]. Also really made no sense as a subrace when the PHB specifically lists them as an example of a Wood Elf.
::+1 Strength
::Xenophobic: Your default language is Sylvan instead of Common.
::Grugach Weapon Training: Spear, Shortbow, Longbow, Net.
::Druidic Cantrip: You know 1 cantrip of your choice from the [[Druid]] spell list, which uses Wisdom as its spellcasting ability score.

'''Sea Elves''' - The long-anticipated(?) oceanic elves of classic D&D lore.
::+1 Constitution
::Bonus Language: Aquan ([[Elemental]] Water)
::Sea Elf Weapon Training: Spear, Trident, Light Crossbow, Net.
::Child of the Sea: You have a Swim speed of 30 feet and can breathe both air and water.
::Friend of the Sea: You can communicate with Small or smaller animals that possess an innate swimming speed.

'''[[Shadar-kai]]''' - These basically attempt to crudely mash-up their lore from the past two editions by using 4e's lore, but making them descendants of elves rather than humans.
::+1 Charisma
:: Deathly Cantrip: You know a single cantrip chosen from a list of Chill Touch, Spare the Dying and Thaumaturgy. This cantrip can't be changed at a later date. Your spellcasting ability score for this cantrip is Charisma.
:: Blessed By The [[Raven Queen]]: You can use a bonus action to teleport to an unoccupied space within 15 feet. After teleporting, you gain resistance to all damage until the end of your next turn, during which time you appear translucent and ghostly. After using this ability, you must complete a short rest or a long rest to use it again.

''[[Eberron]]: Rising From the Last War'' made [[Dragonmark]]s subraces, which eans that the Mark of Shadows is technically an elf subrace.

'''Mark of Shadows'''
::+1 Charisma
:: Cunning Intuition. When you make a Charisma (Performance) or Dexterity (Stealth) check, you can roll a d4 and add the number rolled to the ability check.
:: Shape Shadows. You know the minor illusion cantrip. Starting at 3rd level, you can cast the invisibility spell once with this trait, and you regain the ability to cast it when you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
:: Spells of the Mark. If you have the Spellcasting or the Pact Magic class feature, the spells on the Mark of Shadow Spells table are added to the spell list of your spellcasting class.

Mark of Shadows Spells<br>
1st: disguise self, silent image<br>
2nd: darkness, pass without trace<br>
3rd: clairvoyance, major image<br>
4th: greater invisibility, hallucinatory terrain<br>
5th: mislead

Hovering between offical and unoffical is the '''Pallid Elf''' of [[Exandria]], from the Explorer's Guide to Wildemount. They're a newly emerged subrace and are essentially [[World of Warcraft|Lightforged]] [[Drow]], and thusly considered pretty overpowered.
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Wisdom
::Incisive: You have advantage on Investigation and Insight checks.
::Blessing of the Moon Weaver: You can cast the Light cantrip. At 3rd level, you can cast Sleep 1/day. At 5th level, you can cast Invisibility (Self) 1/day. As with all racial SLAs, you don't need components when using these trait-granted spells. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability score for all three.

Whereas in the lore the [[Elven Imperial Fleet]] of [[Spelljammer]] had been a united faction of elves largely made up of [[High Elf|High Elves]] and [[Gray Elf|Gray Elves]], 5e decided they needed to be their own unique elf race. Enter the '''Astral Elf''', descendants of elves who migrated to the [[Astral Plane]] and promptly mutated there, gaining a distinct "starry gleam" in their eyes. Mechanically, they're like a weird mix of the original, 4e-faithful [[Eladrin]] from the DMG and the [[Gith]].
::Astral Fire: You possess either Dancing Lights, Light or Sacred Flame as a racial cantrip. Choose at character creation if it keys off of Int, Wis or Cha.
::Darkvision 60 feet
::Fey Ancestry: You have Advantage on saves to avoid or end the Charmed condition.
::Keen Senses: You have Proficiency in Perception.
::Starlight Step: You can teleport 30 feet as a bonus action. You can do this (Proficiency Bonus) times per long rest.
::Astral Trance: You are immune to magical sleep, and can complete a long rest in 4 hours by spending it in a meditative, still-aware state called a "Trance". If you complete a trance, you can give yourself proficiency in one skill and in one weapon or tool of your choice, with these bonus proficiencies lasting until you next take a long rest.

</div></div>

====3rd Party Settings====
;Arkadia
The [[Elves]] of the world of [[Arkadia]] are at once recognizable and unique, consisting of analogues to the standard High Elf/Wood Elf/Dark Elf trinity, but cast through their own set of unique history and racial mechanics. During the Age of Gods, Arkadian Elves ruled the world, but the passage of time and unique catastrophes have plunged most of them into decay, leaving a world littered with ancient elven ruins and the remnants of three elven races struggling to figure out what to do with themselves in this world where [[Arkadian|humanity]] now claims to be the dominant race, however tentatively.

The rarest of the elves in terms of total numbers are the '''Scyllaean Elves''', Arkadia's equivalent to High Elves. These once ruled from the island-nation of Scyllaea, Arkadia's equivalent to [[Atlantis]]... until, like Atlantis, it was dragged beneath the waves by a powerful Titan of the Oceans. The race was the master of arcane magic, and to this day they are still its greatest practitioners; it is said that it was the survivors of Scyllaea that passed on the secrets of the arcane to humanity. Scyllaean elves have fair skin, with eyes of blue and grey and green, as the sea. They have striking hair of black or gold, and typically wear it loose or in elaborate coiled braids. Most Scyllaean elves dwell in Ithea, the closest city to the shattered islands of their lost home, where they are highly valued for their innate skill in magic and love of the sea. Others live as hermits along Arkadia’s bluegreen shores or the broken island ruins of their lost kingdom, hearing in the waves the muffled whispers of their ancestors, never far from the sea.Wherever they stray, they are marked by tragedy, beauty, and mystery. The most famed among them is the Oracle, an ancient and powerful seer, sequestered in the high reaches of Mount Hyperium.

In contrast, Arkadia's Wild Elves, the '''Oreyan Elves''', are thriving in terms of numbers. Unlike their Scyllaean and Nyssian counterparts, they have never been city-builders, but instead have always chosen to pursue a nature-based existence as [[amazon]]ian warriors and huntresses. Like the dryads, many are fearful and curious of the world of men. Others walk freely among humans, their hatred of the titans making them natural allies to those who would protect Arkadia. Oreyan elves have tanned tawny or bronze skin with dark hair and eyes.Most wear their hair long and wild or bound in a thick plait, though some crop it short. Oreyan elves dwell primarily in Oreya’s Wood, a sacred forest stretching from Crixos to Ithea. Beset by the spreading blight from the south, many have been driven from their ancestral home. Others can be found throughout the wild places of Arkadia, ranging the mountains of Garagos in pursuit of [[Arkadian Orc|orc]] marauders or guiding a band of Krytan hoplites through dry [[manticore]]-infested hills.

Finally, the '''Nyssian Elves''' are Arkadia's [[Drow|Dark Elves]], with a distinctly [[Egypt]]ian cast. As their name suggests, they hail from the desert land of Nys, far across the sea from Arkadia, where crumbling stone pyramids mark the entrance to an underground of tunnels and crypts and buried cities, a labyrinth reputedly dug by the slain Titan known only as "The Great Worm". Their undying
priests tend to its whispering husk, preparing for its prophesied return. Their highest caste are the pharaohs, liches beholden to the dead Worm, their hearts sealed in canopic jars in pursuit of the true immortality that is the dark promise of their master. Nyssian elves, or drow, have dark skin that ranges from obsidian black to onyx grey. Their hair is white, though it is common for Nyssians to shave their hair or dye it with henna. Their eyes range from blood red to canid shades of orange and gold. Whilst their culture is thriving, Nyssian elves are rarely seen in Arkadia; in their esoteric culture, to leave their vast and sprawling underworld of buried ruins, stone tombs, and ancient tunnels is anathema. Once on the surface, touched by the sun, a drow’s caste is broken, and they can never return to the life they knew. These damned souls wander the blasted sands, and some lucky few are rescued by tomb-raiders from Crixos, which welcomes their skills in the arts of [[Necromancer|necromancy]], however begrudgingly, since the drow are the greatest allies they have found in their struggle against the undead plague.

Arkadian Elves use the D&D 5e [[Elf]] core racial statblock (albeit renaming "Fey Ancestry" to "Immortal Ancestry"), but have unique subraces.

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'''Oreyan Elf:'''
::Ability Score Increase: Your Wisdom score increases by 1.
::Huntress’ Accuracy: Whenever you make a ranged attack roll and roll a 1 you can reroll the die, but you must use the new roll even if it is another 1.
::Elven Weapon Aptitude: You have proficiency with the javelin, spear, war spear, simple bow, and recurve bow.
::Amazonian Stride: Your base walking speed is increased by 5 feet.

'''Scyllaean Elf:'''
::Ability Score Increase: Your Intelligence score increases by 1.
::Gift of Prophecy: When you trance during a long rest you are sometimes visited by prophetic dreams whose omens and portents may give you insight into the future.When you finish a long rest, roll 1d20. On a roll of 20 you can ask a single question concerning a specific goal, event, or activity to occur within 7 days. The GM offers a truthful reply. The reply might be a vision, a cryptic rhyme, or an omen.
::Thessa’s Trident: You learn the magic missile spell and can cast it once without expending a spell slot. You regain the ability to cast it in this way when you finish a long rest. At 3rd and 5th level the number of times you can cast the spell in this way without expending a spell slot is increased by one. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for this spell.
::Lost Knowledge: You are proficient in the History and Arcana skills.

'''Nyssian Elf:'''
::Ability Score Increase: Your Charisma score increases by 1.
::Darksight: While in bright light, you have disadvantage onWisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight. While in nonmagical darkness, you have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.
::Whispers of the Worm: You learn the Command spell and can cast it at will, without expending a spell slot, but you may only target Undead creatures when it is cast in this way.
::Curse of Nys: You are immune to disease.
</div></div>

;World of Farland
The [[World of Farland]] is home to several unique elf subraces. The Player's Guide contains the ''Galan'', or '''Glimmer Elves''', who are also found in the "War of the Immortals" historical expansion set, and the ''Ranarim'', or '''Sundered Elves'''. War of the Immortals is also home to the now-extinct ''Tellarim'', or '''Frontier Elves'''. All have their own unique subrace mechanics.

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'''Glimmer Elf:'''
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Wisdom OR +1 Charisma
::Elf Weapon Training: Proficiency with Longsword, Longbow, Shortsword and Shortbow.
::Touched by the Swan: You have Advantage on Wisdom and Charisma saving throws.
::Let The Power Shine Forth: Once per short rest, you can draw upon your holy ancestry to gain Advantage on a single Wisdom check or Charisma check of your choice.

'''Sundered Elf:'''
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Constitution
::Elf Weapon Training: Proficiency with Longsword, Longbow, Shortsword and Shortbow.
::Fade Away: Once per short rest, you can use your Reaction to being targeted by an attack to become invisible until either the end of your next turn or you take any action that would end an Invisibility spell.
::Forest Stealth: You have Proficiency in Stealth and apply double your Proficiency Bonus to Stealth checks made in forests and woodlands.

'''Frontier Elf:'''
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Constitution
::Frontier Elf Weapon Training: Proficiency with Longsword, Longbow, Shortsword and Shortbow. You also gain a bonus weapon proficiency based on your settlement of origin; frontier elves from Emerain gain the Lance and those from Palahan are proficient with Net and Trident.
::Tough: You ignore the first level of Exhaustion you incur in a 24 hour period.
::Talent of the City: A frontier elf from Emerain starts play with a riding horse and has Advantage on Wisdom (Handle Animal) checks made with horses. A frontier elf from Palahan has Proficiency with Navigator's Tools and Water Vehicles, is proficient in swimming, and gains advantage on Strength (Athletics) checks related to swimming.
</div></div>

;Scarred Lands
Elves of the [[Scarred Lands]] are divided to three different subraces: the Drendali who are the drow-equivalent elves of the setting, the Ganjus are wood elves and the most common elves in [[Ghelspad]], and the Forsaken elves who are high elves cursed by the Titan they managed to kill. All of the elves replace the standard Darkvision with ''Tattoo Mystic'', proficiency with tattooist's supplies and the ability to use one magic tattoo one more time without completing a short or long rest.

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'''Drendali Elves:'''
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Charisma
::Darkivision 60 feet
::Drendali Combat Training: Proficiency with the light crossbow, rapier, shortbow, and shortsword.
::Drendali Magic: You know the Mage Hand and Minor Illusion cantrips.
::Languages: Drendali and one other language.

'''Forsaken Elves:'''
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Intelligence
::Darkvision 30 feet
::Elf Weapon Training: Proficiency with longsword, shortsword, shortbow, and longbow.
::[[Chern]]'s Curse: Advantage on saving throws against disease, but you're almost certainly infertile, and any child that's conceivied and survives the pregnancy is born with a birth defect.
::Languages: Elduran and two other languages

'''Ganjus Elves:'''
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Wisdom
::Darkvision 30 feet
::Ganjus Combat Training: Proficiency with longbow, quarterstaff, shortbow, and spear.
::Natural Stealth: Proficiency in Stealth, and you can hide even when only lightly obsucured by foliage and natural phenomena.
::Language: Elvish and one other language.
</div></div>

;[[Midgard]]
Midgard elves are largely divided into two groups; River Elves, which fill the [[High Elf]] niche and use that subrace's statblock, and [[Shadow Fey]], the setting's [[Drow]] analogue. Both are found in the Midgard Heroes Handbook. Then Tome of Heroes added two new subraces; '''Dunewalker Elves''' are desert-dwelling nomads who get +1 Wisdom and the racial traits ''Desert Dweller'' (free Proficiency in Survival, ignore high temperature penalties, don't need extra water in high temperatures), ''Dunewalker Elf Training'' (proficiency with longbow, scimitar, shortbow and spear), ''Sand Spirit'' (ignore difficult terrain based on desert environments, such as high sand), and ''Desert Mirage'' (once per short rest, when outdoors in a sunny area with an ambient temperature above freezing, you can create a mirage that surrounds you and Proficiency Bonus or fewer allies within 10 feet for one minute; creatures shrouded by the mirage are Lightly Obscured and can Hide behind it, so long as any observer is at least 30 feet away). '''Frostfell Elves''' are basically the [[Snow Elf|Snow Elves]] of Midgard; rugged tribals who survive in high mountains and arctic regions. They get +1 Constitution and the racial traits ''Elf Weapon Training'' (Proficiency with longsword, shortsword, longbow, shortbow), ''Cold DWeller'' (Resistance: Cold), ''Snow Step'' (ignore Difficult Terrain based on ice or snow), and ''Ice Crafting'' (once per short rest, by touching water, ice or snow, you can shape it into an icy replica of any nonmagical object without moving parts that weighs 10 pounds or less - it's still made of ice, so it ''will'' melt depending on the temperature).

Two more elf subraces would be introduced in the [[splatbook]] "Book of Ebon Tides", which are closer to the [[Shadow Fey]] side of the family tree. '''Lunar Elves''' are a mutant strain of Shadow Fey who are always born under the light of the full moons, and who literally glow from within - this bioluminescence, combined with their luminous silver eyes and tendency to long, spiraled, pearlescent horns, is the only thing that visually distinguishes them from their pale-skinned Shadow Fey cousins. They often take up roles that keep them away from the hearts of shadow fey power.
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Wisdom
::Luminous: You emit a 30ft radius of light - bright light in the 15 feet closest to you, dim light beyond that; you can extinguish this light, reduce it to 15ft dim light, or restore it to normal as a free action. If your light enters an area of darkness created by a spell level equal to or lower than your proficiency bonus, you dispel the darkness.
::Moon Child: When in darkness, dim light, or a shadow large enough to cover your body, you can cast Moonbeam (Wisdom as SAS). This can be done (Wisdom Modifier) times per day.
::Shadow Fey Weapon Training: You have Proficiency with Rapier, Shortsword, Shortbow, and Longbow.
::Sunlight Sensitivity

'''Sable Elves''', in contrast, represent a dying breed; whereas river elves chose to stand and fight and shadow fey to pact with the darkness when the elves fell into decline, sable elves just tried to run from their fate. As a result, both river elves and shadow fey look down on them, and sable elves are dwindling; only a single redoubt, and handfuls of wandering nomads, remain in the present. Sable elves are tall, willowy elves with silver skin, dark eyes and red or raven-black hair. Most carry an irrepressible aura of world-weariness. Luckily, they retain some of the lat vestiges of the now-lost elven high magics from when elves ruled over Midgard, which makes them natural survivors.
::Ability Score Modifiers: Your racial ASMs are +2 Intelligence and +1 Dexterity, instead of +2 Dexterity/+1 from subrace.
::Blood Affinity: Choose a single school of magic at character creation (Abjuration, Conjuration, Divination, Enchantment, Evocation, Illusion, Necromancy, Transmutation). You gain a cantrip of your choice, as well as a 1st level spell of your choice at 3rd level and a 2nd level spell of your choice at 5th level. All of these SLAs must be drawn from the school you chose, and the 1st level and 2nd level spells can be used 1/day.

=Magic: The Gatherering=
[[Magic: The Gathering]] has had Elf as a creature type since forever and [https://mtg.gamepedia.com/List_of_Magic_slang#I as green's "characteristic creature"] show up in almost every standard set, a contrast with dwarves, who show up only in a handful of sets. Though they can do anything green, they are best known for their manadork creatures.

Elves of Dominaria tend to be stereotypical forest dwelling wood elves of post-Tolkien fantasy. The elves of Lorwyn more closely resemble the Children of the Forest from ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', with satyr-like horns and other clearly abhuman features. On the planes of Kaladesh and Fiora, elves are cosmopolitan, resembling humans in dress and behavior.

=On /tg/=
[[File:Old Elf.jpg|250px|thumbnail|right|/tg/ says: If you made an Elf that looks just like this, then you are doing it right.]]

''NOTE: As mentioned above, elves have drawn their fair share of hatred. The sections below are a factual but [[meme|tongue-in-cheek]] [[skub|discussion]] about the aspects of elves. Due to various reasons including overuse, being arrogant, and the males being effeminate and gayer than thou and the elf who talks about gender insecurities as elves are prone to do, there is A LOT of scorn towards elves among communities such as /tg/ and here. Read on, learn more and draw your own conclusions.''

The origins and nature of elves lie in Germanic mythology and folklore. Reconstructing the early concept of an elf depends almost entirely on texts in Old English or relating to Norse mythology, which altogether is a clusterfuck of alternate versions and retcons. The facts about elves in these legends often changed, though the general idea was a group of beings with magical powers and supernatural beauty, ambivalent towards everyday people and capable of either helping or hindering them. They have been everything from lesser gods to harmful fey beings almost as bad as demons. These varied portrayals and possible pagan origins led to further demonization of elves when Christianity spread to those parts of the world (though even in the earliest non-Christian mythologies about elves, they are portrayed as unpredictable, mysterious and potentially dangerous). Most elves in modern fiction are derived from their usually benevolent, fey or near-angelic portrayal in Tolkien's works. (Ironically, considering it was some early Christians who demonized elves, Tolkien himself was a Christian and a devout Catholic in Britain no less.)

For the average elegan/tg/entleman, elves are magical, pointy-eared, forest-dwelling hippies; the antithesis to the industrious, manly [[dwarf|dwarven]] race (though ironically in the original Germanic mythology all Dwarfs are a subset of elf, meaning that [[Lulz|all Dwarfs are elves]] but not all elves were Dwarfs). Though related, they are not in fact [[Eldar]] due primarily that one is found in space with guns that shoot shuriken, and the other live in forests and have bows that loose arrows... unless you're playing something crazy like [[Spelljammer]]. Elves are the chosen race of many [[Faggotry|hipster]] [[Mary Sue]]s in the fantasy setting thanks to their pointed ears, slender builds and ever-perky breasts. In all actuality, that could be why they're always scantily-clad and the fantasy of [[neckbeard]]s everywhere. An overdone joke (based on said appearance and [[/d/|fantasies]]) is that "all elves are female unless proven otherwise" or that "an elf's gender is elf".

Please note that this article probably wouldn't concern [[Dark Eldar]] and some forms of dark elf, who are usually many times more metal than their fruity non-dark cousins, allowing them some form of toleration or even acceptance by some smar/tg/entlemen. They are also much more likely to show some skin and/or put out, which helps.

=Elf History=
==Myths And Evolution==
To sum up the history: "Everyone in the northern Old World kinda maybe sorta had the same creature, but evolved their own variations on it, then kept swapping ideas and offshooting other mythological creatures until we wound up with [[gnomes|toymakers]], [[fey|fairies]], [[dwarves|bearded drunks]], and perfect assholes who shoot arrows".

For the long version: Elves are one of the oldest western European myths, having roots in Germainic folklore (meaning "pretty much all of the northern half of Europe") which extends into the pre-Christian era, and at the earliest points of the written record there was already some fairly distinct differences in everyone's version. Thus its almost impossible to pinpoint an origin or original variation due to most Europeans not being big into writing shit down before the Romans, most of them having incomplete languages so they pretty much abandoned whatever they had before being introduced to the Greek alphabet, and the few that could write down their folklore rarely wrote shit down on anything lasted being buried for a few centuries in some forgotten bog aside from the rare grave marker or weapon inscription.
While the name is synonymous with Germanic/Scandanavian folklore, the archetype is quite common under different names, such as nymphs, faeries, and other creatures that tend to get lumped together under the name "fair folk." Of note, unlike most modern incarnations, they weren't called this JUST [[Mary Sue|because they were pretty]], but because you should call them nice things lest they [[Asdrubael Vect|fuck]] [[Malus Darkblade|your shit up]] [[Eldrad|with dickery]]. Generally speaking, if it's a magical human-like being from folklore of a country touching the Baltic Sea (as opposed to a talking animal or somewhere like the Mediterranean or whatever), it probably goes back to Elves.

Of some note: It's widely speculated that the idea of the Elf is a combination of two real world phenomena: People finding stone arrowheads from the stone age, which would inspire the question "why would you use stone if you had access to even low-quality metal?" (RL answer: "Because at the time, any metal was too valuable to use on something you could lose easily, and was too hard to work with") and distorted memories of other tribes and hominids, similar to what happened to turn a Rhino into the [[Unicorn]]--in particular, Neanderthals were historically claimed to be the inspiration behind elves by some naive folklorists.

The basic evolution of the idea as far as we are aware goes like this:
* ''Roman:'' Some historians connect the origins of Elf myths to the Romans, who had myths about the spiritual explanation for misfortune and guerilla warfare they dealt with in the far northwestern reaches of Europe (kind of like World War 2 "gremlins" being blamed for malfunctions in aircraft among superstitious pilots). Some further connect it to a tactic possibly used by the Celts against the Romans, dressing children and small adults in mud and leaf camouflage and using them to sneak into Roman camps to steal supplies and weapons to use against them.
* ''Scandinavia:'' In Norse mythology, the nature of Elves changed wildly based on the author's use of them, and the gradual evolution of the viking myths as they became more and more influenced by the groups they raided certainly doesn't help. We basically know all of the small details and none of the big ones, and the things they can be but not the things that they cannot be. In most texts, they are similar to how the Greeks used the word [[Daemon]], a reference to most kinds of non-god spiritual beings that tells you very little about what said being is or does other than it not being human. In some texts, Elves includes the Vanir gods and not humans, or humans and not gods, made even more complicated by the fact some Vanir (nature gods) are also Aesir (human-centric) gods. One text divides them into svartálfar (Black Elves), dökkálfar (Dark Elves), and ljósálfar (Light Elves). The lord of the land of the Elves is the god Freyr, one of the most popular Norse gods and the twin brother of Odin’s wife Freya (which throws some water on Odin and Thor as a [[Humanity Fuck Yeah]] gods, with Thor’s uncle being one of his close friends). Some humans are reincarnated as Elves when they die, some Elves are demigods who are worshiped as someone more likely to answer your prayers than the gods themselves (this actually persisted even after vikings largely converted to Christianity; imagine praying to Legolas because Jesus is too busy for your shit). Elves are sometimes a type of Dwarf, or Dwarves are a type of Elves. There are references to paying tribute to Elves, the sun being an Elven creation, Elves wander the countryside and can be seen in mornings, and Elf men lust after human women while human men lust after Elf women and the descendants of such unions are often heroes. Unfortunately Elves aren't actually the focus of any surviving stories, and as a result, there are only minor references to them that we no longer have much context for. The only thing that's really concrete about viking Elves is they're pretty, all have magic, and are great to have on your side.
* ''Germany:'' German myths use Elves as tricksters who are a blight on humanity, causing mischief and disease like a type of fairy rat. Elves also behave like several Greek countryside feyfolk by seducing or raping human men and women. Dwarves are distinct from Elves, but Dwarves can behave like them and use Elf magic against humans. According to the viking writings about German folklore, Dwarves and Elves are basically the same thing and are powerful magical beings that play major parts in heroic stories; in particular the character Alfrikr/Alberich is a Dwarf who's name translates to a connection to Elves (there's interpretation on the meaning shared between the translation of his Old Norse and German names; he could be "power of Elves" or "Elf power", meaning he could be their king or a magician trained in their magic) who appears in a number of heroic poems (we'll discuss him more below). That being said, the vast majority of German Elf myth keeps them as humanoid evil magical beings in league with Satan, being described the same way that the Greek [[Satyr]] was albeit with the ultimate evil as their leader. They have are the servants and lovers of witches, they are among the beings you can blame for everything from milk turning sour to mental/physical illness to bestiality (maybe all three at once if they're doing it right!). Dwarvish-Elves had a lot better reputation in Germany before the works of Richard Wagner, who made them both very Jewish and very evil (there’s a reason the Nazis loved him so much). Although love of Wagner’s orchestrations persists, the cultural perception of the stories he adapted have shifted back towards the earlier versions with the Dwarf-Elf as a sidekick rather than instigating antagonist.
* ''Britain/Ireland/Scotland:'' Elves in British folklore are fairly synonymous with fairy myths. Elves are often trickster spirits like in Germany, and breed with humans like in the Norse accounts, but British Elves are gone into in depth as having their own kingdoms and politics, using humans as wet-nurses for Elf royalty and Elf nobility forcibly abducting/raping/marrying human maidens. Thus British Elves are less trickster spirits or types of lesser divine beings and more another race of mortals living in the realm of fairies and playing by fairy rules. Scottish and Irish folklore both kept Elves in the trickster fey position. The Brits took the ljósálfar/dökkálfar distinction one step further by creating the [[High Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|Seelie]] and [[Dark Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|Unseelie]] courts; elves of the Seelie Court were [[Eldar|“generally” nicer]], as in they'd reward you if you did them a favor and would warn you if you accidentally offended them (assuming your stupidity, pride, or short-sightedness doesn’t turn the reward into an accidental punishment), and would play mostly harmless, lighthearted pranks. <s>Sort of like [[Eldrad|that one knife eared...]]</s> ''No, not really...'' Elves of the Unseelie court were usually assholes that would visit harm on travelers and would hurt you just because they felt like it. [[Dark Eldar|Sort of like these knife eared little shits]]. The Scottish also had the Sidhe, which both refers to various magical beings as well as being the word for the places that the Aos Sí feyfolk live. Sidhe/Aos Sí myths influenced the British heavily in regards to Elves/fairies, which they spread back to the French and Germans.
* ''Slavs:'' Pan-slavic mythology is a bit problematic due to two major reasons - one is the fact that the Slavs were/are a diverse group of ethnicities and cultures that were/are connected broadly by only some cultural elements and language, thus one can't exactly pinpoint a "slavic elf" and because many myths and beliefs were shared with the germanic tribes. The second reason it's relatively difficult to distinguish the slavic elves is because their mythology generally folded them with other mythological beings - a good (and closest clear equivalent) would be "Vila" - which had the characteristics of fairies (but without the diminutive size), nymphs and elfettes whilst also having a penchant for living in sky-castles and fighting alongside human heroes (Slavs know where it's at - magical fairy-elf warrior monster girls ftw!). Additionally, many beings that could be designated an elf were also tutelary deities, muddling the issue even further. However, the male of the species - "vilenjak" could be understood as basically an elf (and is usually translated as such when dealing with english). It is interesting to note that among the slavs, the more north one goes, the more various elven and fay beings become weird and outright malicious, while the southern slavs seem to sway towards the image of the elves and fairies that became the fantasy standard today.

In most myths Elves were seen as pagan, repelled by Christianity (like Vampires). The sign of the Pentagram was considered the "Elf Cross" and could be used as a symbol on jewelry or decoration to ward away the ill-intentions of Elves (in theory that would mean Elves not wanting humans to bother them would use the sign of the Christian cross).
[[File:Robin "Puck" Goodfellow.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Yep, ol' Billy Shakes was writing about Elf self-insert OCs too. Causing the costume prosthetic ear industry is a lesser mentioned influence he had on the modern day.]]
During the Renaissance period and the Enlightenment, Elves were used to add a sense of wonder to stories such as in William Shakespeare's ''Midsummer Night Dream'', or a touch of eroticism such as in the popular ballad ''Elveskud'' where a female Elf seduces a young man to be her husband (in most variations he resists her and she murders him with pestilence, likely to keep it PG-13). Just like how in the modern day you can circumvent rules regarding violence on television by using non-humans and blood colors other than red, you could get away with a lot of shit that uptight religious folks would (literally) burn you at the stake for by just substituting a human for a pointy-eared human. It should be noted that, as far as we know (it can be argued of course), the trope of Elves having pointy ears comes from ''Midsummer Night Dream'' through the Fey spirit named Puck, who later would be known as Robin Goodfellow in Shakespeare's ''Grim the Collier of Croydon'' and would appear in other pieces of English literature from other authors. Puck is a servant to the fairy king and queen Oberon and Titania, and is generally portrayed like a [[Satyr]] (which are usually portrayed with pointy ears like a goat). As fairies and Elves became staples of English art and folklore, Puck's pointy ears showed up more and more and in further and further cultures.
Interestingly, its possible that Shakespeare derived the fairy king and Puck's master Oberon from the French Auberon, himself derived from the aforementioned German Alberich, and Shakespeare's Puck retroactively influenced the German change of Dwarfs from bit parts in the stories of great heroes to rapist goatmen that want you to shag a regular goat. Which is a pretty good summary of how Elf myth evolved and cross-pollinated. Of course it gets more complicated too, since Alberich is also likely the inspiration for the character Elegast, a Dutch character who is the king of the Elves and a friend of Charlemagne's (yes, '''THAT''' Charlemagne) who after proving his loyalty marries ol'Charly's sister, a story which may have influenced both later variations of Arthurian myth as well as Robin Hood. Alberich could change his appearance but was generally depicted either as an attractive bearded warrior or as a small child, his preferred guise for mischief which Puck/Robin inherited. On the other hand, Richard Wagner's operas used Alberich as a recurring character, influenced by the evil that Germans had come to associate with Elves and appears as a gross old hermit that is absolutely cram-packed full of all the anti-Semitic content Wagner could pack into one character before it spilled over into others and served as the catalyst for much of the misfortune in any of the stories he's in, giving a huge boost to pop-culture Dwarves being gold-obsessed dirty old men.

A kind of war of words was waged around this time between authors from various European countries for ownership of the concept of Elves by famous figures such as Jacob Grimm (of the Brothers Grimm) and Hans Christian Anderson, each of whom carried Elves further away from sexual human-like beings and further towards what we know today as fairies (as in the thing your daughter might run around the house in plastic butterfly wings pretending to be, not the cruel, thieving, kiddie-raping variety that was known to pagan holdovers in earlier European myth.)

By the 1700s, elves appeared in song and literature to add a sense of beauty to descriptions of the wilderness, an idyllic version of the countryside full of magic and mystery. This continued into the Victorian era, where small diminutive humanoids were added to pictures of toadstools or tree branches, helped further by the widespread appeal of fairy tales and the reprinting of the works of the aforementioned great authors into children's storybooks with thousands of illustrations by different artists. Some folks, notably Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (the guy who wrote Sherlock Holmes) actually believed these to be real, to the point that "believes in elves/fairies" was the 1800s version of "believes aliens are living on Earth" and was just as common. Martin Luther himself (as in the one who kicked off the whole Protestant revolt/Reformation thing) believed in them too, but a much more [[grimdark]] variety, that is, creatures of the devil, in whom he had a quite vigorous belief, [[What|once lobbing an inkwell at the old chap's head]], the resulting stain still being shown to tourists in [[The Empire (Warhammer Fantasy)|Wartburg]].
[[File:The King Of Elflands Daughter First Edition.jpg|thumb|right|100px|Its not as expensive as it should be given the significance, but a first edition copy of TKoE'sD costs about as much as a Hot Toys Legolas doll or the start to a Warhammer Elf army.]]
The return of the man-sized elves came with the 1823 American poem ''Twas the Night before Christmas'', describing Santa Claus as being "a right jolly old elf"; this kicked off an artistic evolution, a key figure of which was cartoonist Thomas Nast, who created the visual and folklore for Santa Claus as an Nordic-esque elf who is identical to a human, helped by child-sized elves of the Danish "shoemaker elf" variety (they are called "nisser" in Danish).

==Modern Era==
The first modern Elf story that defined the fantasy trope that any fa/tg/uy worth their salt would know is actually not JRR Tolkien's. It was ''The King of Elfland's Daughter'', written by Edward Plunkett, better known by his title Lord Dunsany, in 1924. It showcases the full return of the classic Nordic Elves. In it, a human king is given an order by his subjects that they want their next ruler to be magical. The king sends the prince to marry an Elf woman, and he enters the mystical realm of the Elves where he wins the heart of the Elf princess. She returns with him to rule the humans as queen, but is unhappy and longs for her family and returns. The prince sets out to return to her side but would die trying to find the entrance in vain, so his bride begged her father to enable them to be together. The Elf king uses his magic to draw the entire human kingdom into the Elf lands, uniting the two races in one dynasty over one kingdom. They all lived happily ever after.

This story didn't really influence anything that /tg/ know of directly, since nobody gets whacked with swords in it; but its worth mentioning that Plunkett beat Tolkien to the punch.

===Tolkien===
Tolkien grew up fascinated by mythology, but thanks to most of the pre-Christian pre-Roman British culture being lost he always felt disappointed that his own people would never have the amazing mythology of the Norse or the Egyptians. As a result, he spent much of his youth creating his own, which became a lifetime project. Tolkien's non-fiction scholarly pursuits in the study of language and translation of various classical texts from early European history helped him greatly in his endeavors, allowing him to essentially reverse-engineer a semi-plausible fictional mythology. Tolkien himself was a very devout Catholic, and as a result his work shied away from being heavily pagan, taking a note instead from how the Norse mythology gradually changed (Odin becoming less warlike and wiser, Loki changing from clever trickster to villain, Baldur transitioning from unimportant victim in a story about arrogance to being a literal resurrected nice guy everyone loves after the end of the world). Tolkien's fiction borrows heavily from many feyfolk in European folklore which, as previously mentioned, basically can all be fairly called elves. The actual word "elves" was reserved for his [[Mary Sue|favorite]] beings in the setting.

A recurring theme in his work is the importance of music and passing on stories (because many of the pieces of ancient history we have today were exactly that, stories told by a storyteller or a song sung in celebration or remembrance, thus the appearance every dozen pages or so of verse which varies, shall we say, a great deal in quality.) Tolkien entrusted his many, many, ''many, many,'' '''many, many,''' '''''many''''' semi-organized (putting it politely) volumes of notes from a lifetime of work - including enough for many stories - to his own son Christopher, along with the control of the canon. Christopher Tolkien has spent most of HIS life trying to decode his father's intent, decipher scribbled notes, and try to figure out which of a hundred versions of one text is the final copy; to this end he published several volumes of collected stories, the last being Tolkien's most important work ''Beren & Luthien'' (which was already released in a very abridged form in ''The Silmarillion''.)

In the Tolkien setting, there is ''([[Tom Bombadil]], as well as)'' one omnipotent god called Eru Iluvatar who used aspects of his own personality to create lesser beings, mistakenly worshiped as gods by mortals, called Ainur. After creating the Ainur he conducted them to sing, the first sound that ever existed. One of the Ainur named Melkor refused to participate in Eru's melody and began singing his own tune, confusing others into harmonies and dissonances between the two conductions, although the vastly more clever Eru trolled Melkor; the second piece became a single greater song no matter how hard Melkor fought to create an independent one. That song not only created everything that ever was or ever will be, but its echo is literally destiny and the great plan of Eru for all his creations and their creations and so on. Eru gave the Ainur their own free will at this time and gave them the knowledge they needed to understand his plan (but not all of it, for nothing is omniscient other than himself.) He then fucked off to watch his plans unfold (which is basically all he does for the rest of time as far as anyone knows), while the Ainur sorted themselves into Valar (the strongest, and the rulers) and Maiar (the weaker ones which serve the Valar.) The Valar set themselves to finishing the world according to Eru's still-echoing song - with the exception of Melkor, who followed his own by fucking up the works of the others and creating volcanoes and dark deep places, not knowing that Eru had planned for that shit during the singing of the great song.

[[File:Timeline Of Tolkien Elves.jpg|thumb|center|200px|This is your cheat sheet for the following section.]]

While the Ainur helped to create much of the world during the Music of the Ainur, Illuvatar alone created two special races using the secret fire; the firstborn were the Elves, who awoke before the creation of the Sun. The first to awaken were three married couples: Imin and Iminyë, Tata and Tatië, and Enel and Enelyë. As they traveled from the eastern region where they awoke towards the west, they found six other married couples of Elves, which Imin and wife claimed as their subjects; then nine couples which were claimed by Tata and wife; and finally twelve [[Waifu|wives were claimed]] by Enel and wife. The sixty total Elves followed the rivers on their journey to the west (not ''that'' one) and focused on poetry and music as they went, [[Derp|despite not yet having developed a language]]. They discovered eighteen more stargazing couples, whom Tata claimed, and another twenty-four singing pairs who joined Enel's group. At the end of Elf Genesis, there was a grand total of 144 Elves (so ''much'' less incest). Elf numerology as a result is based on two, three, six, twelve, and 144. Here, the Elves created the first spoken language and named themselves Quendi.

Melkor first discovered the Elves and sent minions to harass them, which took the form of great horsemen resembling the Valar Oromë. This was done so that when the real Oromë discovered them, some Elves hid or fled. These Elves were later collected by Melkor, and seeing the terrible influence he had on Elves, the Valar finally waged war in order to basically put the fucker in time-out. The Elves who didn't flee from Oromë sent three ambassadors to visit the Valar, and returned with tales of a literal Garden Of Eden that all Elves were invited to. Most Elves did leave, with the exception of the Avari who refused to leave Middle Earth; this came to be called the Sundering Of The Elves. During the Great Journey the Elves passed by Melkor's dark lands and grew afraid, returning to live with the Avari.

The Elves who reached the western coast of Middle Earth were guided by Ulmo to the kingdom of Valinor, on a small continent called Aman where the Valar dwell while on the planet and not in Eru's realms. The last group to arrive was the Teleri, who were so curious about the wonders of the mortal world as they traveled that they stopped constantly.

Of the Elves that reached Aman, there were three groups ruled by the ambassadors who had been sent there by the Elves before the Sundering began: the Vanyar ruled by Ingwë, the Ñoldor ruled by Finwë, and the Teleri ruled by the brother of their ambassador named Olwë (because the real ambassador Elwë remained in Middle Earth among the Falathrim).

The "family" tree of elven ancestry so far is as follows:
* The '''Teleri''' are the ancestors of the Sindar, Falathrim, and Nandor/Laiquendi. They love the sea, and even during the Sundering many decided to island-hop and explore the watery parts of the world with the Maiar Ossë.
** '''Sindar''' are the Teleri who never reached Aman, but were given knowledge of the wonders of Aman by their king Elwë, who had been one of the elf ambassadors to Aman. Additionally, they were educated by Mélian the Maia, wife of Elwë, and thus received a partial measure of the gifts of Valinor. Elwë Singollo, or Elu Thingol in the Sindarin tongue, styled himself King of Beleriand, and all Telerin Elves acknowledged him as such. Thingol's realm of Doriath was the core of Sindarin power in the First Age, and something all future Sindarin lords such as Celeborn, Elrond, or Thranduil would seek to emulate in their own realms. They are called Grey Elves as they were more enlightened than their Avari cousins but still hadn’t received the full benefit of Aman’s blessings (or, more boringly, because of the name 'Thingol' (grey-cloak), or because the first Sindar the Ñoldor met were the tribe of Mithrim, or literally 'Grey-elves.' Did we mention Tolkien was a linguist?). They formed one of the more powerful elf kingdoms until it was destroyed, where the surviving Sindar decided to rule over the lesser Nandor, depart west to the Grey Havens, or linger in remaining Elven holdings such as Rivendell. Sindarin is the dominant elvish language used in Middle Earth.
** The '''Nandor''' are Telerin Elves who chose to remain when the rest of their kindred passed west of the Misty Mountains. They drop out of history until a group of them pass into Beleriand, led by an Elf king named Denethor (one of several characters of that name) when he heard Elves nearby had established a kingdom named Doriath. The Nandor settled the area of Ossiriand (later the Elven realm of Lindon, the only part of Beleriand left after the War of Wrath) until Denethor was later killed by Orcs, whereupon the Nandor became known as the Laiquendi, or Green Elves, and their kingdom absorbed into Doriath. The Nandor who did NOT relocate to Beleriand became known as Wood Elves, or Silvan Elves, and established their own kingdoms, which would later come under the dominion of High Elves such as Galadriel or Thranduil fleeing east. The average Tolkien moviegoer would know them as almost all of the non-speaking Elves seen in the Hobbit and LotR trilogies.
** '''Falathrim''' are simply Sindar who loved the sea so much they lived among the coasts of Beleriand, under the lordship of Cìrdan. After their realm was destroyed they established the Grey Havens, providing passage for Elves and a very select few Hobbits seeking to depart Middle-Earth for the Undying Lands.
* While it may seem that the '''Avari''' would be important later given they're given importance enough to mention, they aren't... for their own sake. They remain wild and feral, one of their number (Eol) is literally called a Dark Elf when he's namedropped later, though that might be due to his own [[Rape|evil actions]] rather than his race, as Tolkien never seemed to decide if he was Avari or Sindar. But the Avari (as such) are a dropped plot in canon Tolkien work. They may be evil or good, but their fate is 90% unknown.
** That 10% is a doozy. As strays from the path of Aman, many Avari fell prey to "the dark powers" - Melkor and his balrogs. Melkor twisted his captives into the first [[Orc]]s. Maybe. He might have changed his mind later. Thus exiting the scope of this article here.
* As you will see, the '''Ñoldor''' are something of the historical fuckups of the Elves. On one hand they are great warriors, great smiths, great artists, great lovers (in the non-sexual sense), and literally shaped most of the history of early Middle Earth. But on the other, they are the only group of Elves even slightly [[Fall of the Eldar|corruptible, due to their impulsive natures and desire to see and experience and learn.]] It's worth noting that according to Christopher Tolkien, the Ñoldor were originally supposed to be called the Gnomes, but Tolkien early on decided against it because he didn't figure people would be able to divorce the idea of the tiny jolly lawn ornaments from his elf Saxtons and used his skills with linguistics to create the more <strike>nerdy</strike> <strike>plz nerf number of words kthx</strike> respectable-sounding Ñoldor.
* The '''Vanyar''', who all went to Aman, and never did anything interesting afterwards, except marry a bunch of Ñoldor princes and bear blonde-haired elf children.

After some time Melkor pretended to have reformed, but immediately set to work stirring up trouble again, starting by corrupting his caged Elves into [[Orcs]]. The Vanyar were uninterested in him or his promises of power and gain, the Teleri were useless in his eyes given they had little potential for warfare or interest in his non-ocean gifts, but the Ñoldor were corruptible in their unending desire for knowledge. It should be noted that Ñoldor do NOT learn to achieve power, but to understand; this ties into Tolkien's explanation of power and its role in determining good and evil. Tolkein literally stated in a letter once that anytime the word "power" is used and it isn't in deference or servitude to the divine creator Eru's plan (like Gandalf's power is) it is a sign of villainy, particularly if used for its own sake; this rather reflects the philosophical perspective that learning is a type of prayer to better understand the divine creator's work (compare to Einstein's desire to understand the mysteries of the universe and his apprehension and regret for being a part of the creation of the atomic bomb). The Ñoldor simply took it way too far in their ambition, and Melkor thus gave them exactly what they wanted: [[Tzeentch|knowledge of all things he knew, but peppered with more than a few of his "suggestions" once they had come to trust him]]. One of the greatest revelations was that sometime in the future, the human race would be created, with the implications that mankind was the replacement for the Elves and Aman was a metaphorical kennel to imprison them in while mankind enjoyed Middle Earth.

In particular, he convinced the most hot-headed of the Elves, Feanor, that his half-brother Fingolfin wanted his royal birthright, and the two nearly came to blows. To stir things up even more, he destroyed the Two Trees - Earth's only source of light at the time other than stars, mere fragments of which became the moon and sun - murdered Feanor's father Finwë, and stole the Silmarils, gems that Feanor had created using essence from the trees (which were now impossible to replicate). Feanor was so pissed that he swore revenge, no matter who stood in his way, including his own kin and the Valar. Well, oaths are a pretty serious deal in Middle-Earth, and Feanor did end up committing the first Elf-on-Elf murder; due to the Teleri refusing to provide him with ships, he took them by force in order to reach Melkor faster, and as a result his people were exiled from Aman in his quest for revenge - only for Feanor himself to get killed by Melkor before he had the chance to exact it.

Pretty much all of the worst Elves died in the wars against Melkor, so the ones that survived to the end of the Third Age were much wiser and mellower, though they also experienced intense sorrow since immortality means outliving everyone you knew. On top of that, whereas elves can't die of old age, they can whither away into wraiths unless they return to the undying lands, which nearly all have by the end of the LOTR trilogy. Many elves are actually envious of humans' mortality, calling it "the gift of men," since Illuvatar has a special fate for them that none but him knows of, whereas elvish souls are bound to Middle-Earth until the end of time.

So at the end of the canon stories, we have a pretty good structure of why Elves are the way they are, and it is 100% the setting they are in and the values of the beings who created them and raised their culture (Eru, Valar, Maiar).
* Elves are the most aware of Eru's plan compared to any non-Eagle non-Ainur race. They know the basics of where their race will go and end up. So when humans start talking about destiny and fate, or choice in a conflict, the Elves know that they themselves are playing with a different set of rules than mankind, something very few humans know and less really understand.
* Elves are not greedy or ambitious for power. Like a Hobbit, babbling brooks or really tall trees contain as much beauty to them as the finest gold and diamond crown, and with less literal appetite than a Hobbit the Elf has even less need for gold. Elves are also aware of the Tolkien rule that non-god power is evil. The only Elves with a hook to play to their baser natures are the aforementioned Ñoldor, who were hot-headed and knowledge-lusting - but the descendants of Fëanor's people have learned their lessons, and great leaders such as Thranduil and Elrond feel it's better to spend centuries in inaction than jump rashly into a fight. Elves such as Vanyar and Teleri have no desire to fight at all, to the point that regardless of stakes they cannot be drawn into war.
* Elves look at the achievements and failings of mankind, and their reactions are "yeah, we've been there". Particularly in the Ñoldor terms just above, Elves have already made every major mistake you can possibly make, and know in the case of Fëanor that assholes gonna asshole, and as a result are hesitant to involve themselves in anything shortsighted no matter how seemingly righteous. Contrast with Dwarves, a race who seemingly continues to repeat the same mistakes for stupid reasons (from an Elf perspective) and wonder why Elves never want to get involved.
* Elves are generally extremely rigid in their psychology. They develop certain personality qualities, mindsets and obsessions which get set into stone. At most an Elf can be broken by tragedy or torture, leaving the permanently damaged being. This is part of why Elvish/Human relationships are problematic - total heartbreak for one party is an inevitability. This does nothing to stop human-elf relationships, though. Indeed, the elven songs seem to most commonly be about how great such a relationship is or how awesomely badass a half-human half-elf hero was. If anything will preen your man feathers, it’s how the Mary Sue elves recognize and look up to man’s heroic and noble spirit.
* Elves are literally part of nature. Their afterlife is to continue to faff about while many reincarnate back into the world as mortal Elves, and no matter what happens, they can always uproot and fuck off back to Valinor. This means they are connected to the fate of the world as a whole and thus have high stakes to defeat world conquerors, while they are simultaneously disconnected from the smaller localized events such as the fate of kingdoms, including their own. Elves are intrinsically connected to the goodness of the world, and the mucking about of Sauron or random Orcs means little in the long term. Separating themselves from this natural world saps their strength, and in time would degrade them into what Orcs are today (I.E hobbit-sized sun-fearing cowardly humanoids that can only be whipped into a warrior culture by a powerful evil).
* Elves value things that other races have mild appreciation to outright disdain for. The Falathrim prefer sailing around the coast to a literal Garden Of Eden. Laiquendi disregard the promise of gold, and instead would accept gossip, songs, and jokes as payment for services and lodging. While ideal friends of Hobbits and decent allies to many humans, Dwarves and ambitious men find Elves to act like mentally handicapped assholes. Exceptions exist, such as the warmth Gimli has towards Elves coming from his humble appreciation of beauty without the need to possess it, but in general greed and pride make you a poor bedfellow for an Elf (Beren/Luthien joke not intended, but true).
* The race of Elves were planned by Eru as the first to dwell in the world, and teach the second race (humans) the ways they discovered, much like the first part of a song setting the tune and chorus that is echoed later in a different key. Elves view their own history like the way a person ages, their first era being childhood innocence but also being inferior to benevolent teachers while fearing powerful evils that would do them harm. In the second era their history reaches adulthood, being the primary force which shepherds their dependents (humans, to a lesser extent Dwarves) while being the main defenders standing up to the darkness. By the third era, the one where mankind is starting to take responsibility for the world and looking to stand alongside their former protectors as equals, the Elves are in their elderly years and preparing to leave the world; this causes them to fall somewhere between benevolent gift-giving grandparent and irritable veteran/teacher/“GET OFF MY LAWN”. By the fourth age their race is mostly gone from the world, leaving humans as inheritors with Legolas hanging out with Aragorn until his death and then taking Gimli across the sea as well.

===Post-Tolkien===
Like most ideas which Tolkien invented, or at least popularised, many authors tried putting their own spin on Elves in their own settings. Usually badly or at best, skubby.

When copying Elves from Tolkien, many writers kept the differences between Elves and the other races of the world but without explanation as to why those differences exist, making Elves seem irrational and alien in their settings at best and as complete Mary Sue assholes at worst. Where Tolkien’s elves started from scratch and worked their way up (making many terrible mistakes along the way) and worked hard to teach younger species to avoid their own mistakes (which largely worked and earned much respect for the elves) and were just plain genuinely likable people, Post-Tolkien elves are often successful just because they’re elves, frequently knowingly keep advice and wisdom away from other species specifically because they seem to enjoy seeing younger species fail, and are often deeply unlikable as people. The closest that gets to Tolkien is actually Warcraft. Sure, their elves are still prone to being selfish and don’t really advise anyone, but they have the rest of Tolkien good stuff and their reason for not sharing wisdom is that they’re terrified of other species fucking up as badly as they themselves did. And not participating in world-ending wars is excusable for them because they lived on the other side of the world and so didn’t know those species even existed.

* In a setting without a Fëanor expy fucking everything up in their pre-human history, Elves often come off as douchebags for not wanting to join great wars against evil and leave all the heavy lifting to mankind while a few of their adventurers go against this to do the magic or shooting arrows. Likewise, any Elf attempts at isolationism and neutrality often comes from an unearned wisdom that is rarely ever explained.
* Without literally being taught by Mother Nature itself how to create a civilization, the tree-hugging stuff is just a dull trope without justification. A race that has the lifespan to watch mountains crumble should be more inclined to build out of stone and steel far more than wood and leather, and without the handwaving of "Elves lack man's ambition" the logic fails.
** Some settings have tried to give other explanations for the tree-hugging (their magic is tied to nature, they began as a simple hunter-gatherer culture, etc.), but whether or not these explanations are actually satisfying is a different story.
* Elves exceed the human lifespan in virtually every setting they are in, if not being outright immortal. There is often no obvious downside to this presented for the individual Elf, which is strange because even vampires are like "everyone I know and love is dead" (an argument can be made this would be due to the mind of the formerly human vampire working still the same emotionally as a human, but the problem with that logic is it means that Elves wouldn't mourn things that live less long than them like dogs or their own children/kinsmen). By contrast Tolkien's Elves paid for it by having difficulty in politics with humans and Dwarves, and were unfortunately bound to Eru's plan taking away a large part of their free will as a race (not as individuals however). While in some settings they have to pay a personal price for it, such as Warhammer Elves and their shit afterlives where their gods are dead and/or assholes and their souls are tasty to Eldritch horrors, in most fiction they get off scot-free.
* Tolkien Elves emotionally suffer from the mayfly problem of their companions dying, making all Elf/human romance invariably a tragedy (unless the Valar get involved, which only happened once) and having Elf kings still mourning the fall of ancient human civilizations to descendants who barely even know the legends of that era (like an Elf mentioning to the UK Prime Minister that he never got over the end of the Mesopotamians and speaking at length about how wonderful they were). In most settings any sadness felt from the death of human companions is in the future tense (which the story rarely gets to outside of an epilogue if at all). This is also a critical difference in how the Tolkien elves view friends and humanity. Tolkien elves view humanity (the species) as a dear friend and a sort of hybrid of younger sibling and child. Heck, they don’t even blame humanity for the whole Sauron fiasco as that was causes by humans being too compassionate to execute Sauron after defeating him. They see it more like “It sucks how that turned out, but we’re honored to know such a noble-hearted people.”
* Elvish civilization is far older and more advanced than human civilization but is almost always on the decline, usually due to the slow death of magic in the world or just their low birthrate/slow maturation and some general cultural stagnation. Some settings attribute limitations in magic to the decay of Elves while humans emphasize on the seemingly limitless technology, which is why in most settings the industrial nature of the Orcs and Goblins is removed so as to not leave the question why humans aren't just as in decay from an even faster breeding science race. Of course the scientific innovations of humans is also in the future tense, not explaining at all why having the same technology Elves have had for thousands of years has put them so far ahead, barring perhaps gunpowder although oftentimes if the humans have it then the Elves have it as well (Warhammer Fantasy being the exception that proves the rule).
* Elf science and industry hit a roadblock early on. In Tolkien's work the advancements of science are independent of the advancements of progress, the latter of which is just the pursuit of power (which is always evil) and the former being a beautiful and almost religious desire. Most settings simply decide that Elves stop at aqueducts and the winepress in the technological equivalent of the Iron Age and Rome expies, and even when technology is readily available from other races they ignore it since they've somehow attained the knowledge from magic millennia ago and didn't really do anything with it beyond make some trinkets. Most settings just get lazy with explanations, mixing in some of the other explanations on this list; "lack of ambition/more into magic".
* Elves have the best magic and would never use the crass artifices used by humans and Dwarves, even if they are advanced in their own right. Their own shit is so ancient and powerful it is literally never used, or no longer belongs to them and instead is passed from dark lord to adventurer to dark lord to adventurer and so on. In Tolkien's work its because of one of his universal rules that everything old is as good as its going to get, and the longer time goes on and the older things get then the worse everything gets. The Elves at the height of their power could give demigods a difficult fight, and likewise the things they made was just as grand in scale. But the humans at the height of their own power were as strong and full of epic talent as the Elves of the present and the great artifacts ancient humans created are just as legendary as the Elvish goods and even more rare due to the tragedies that befell men in the later centuries. In most settings, Elves seem to have been born as a race straight into their current level of technology and magic while humans had to spend 5000 years figuring out fire and the wheel. Most settings just handwave it as "Elves can see magic, of course they're more advanced" which then leads back into the above problem of why they are stagnating while other races are catching up to and possibly even surpassing them.
* Elves are almost always haughty elitists who look down on other races, whether they're snobby High Elves, murderous hippy Wood Elves, or sociopathic Dark Elves (though in fairness, you're ''supposed'' to hate that last one). Any explanation of why they act like this usually relies on some of the aforementioned orphaned advantages, which makes it even worse since the Elves basically act better because they are better because reasons, but are getting their ass kicked by time anyway. Few of Tolkien's Elves are actually racist, and all of the ones that are were members of the royal families that were known for hot-headed temperaments, while Galadriel's court seemed to hold some stereotypes of Dwarves when Gimli surprises them by being the exact opposite of what they expected. If anything, the animosity is implied to be one-sided AGAINST the Elves in The Hobbit as the commonfolk Elves irritate the Dwarves simply with their springtime celebrations and being overly chatty.

When poorly handled, these post-modern traits are often significant parts of the reasons that many people straight-up '''hate''' Elves. And while many people blame the worst elvish traits on Tolkien, many of them simply aren't present in the books (outside of the aforementioned asshole who got his ass handed to him). Or they blame him for fantasy writers adhering to this self-imposed mold without looking into the source material or original mythology like the narrative version of a coloring book page of Legolas glued in the middle of a painting.. Many creators have tried to break free of this mold by going back to the trickster fey roots, with mixed results. Others just treat Elves as humans with a trade-off, in which case their advantages are greatly toned-down. This can make them more palatable to people put off by Elven Mary Sueness, but of course, for the Elf die-hards, this approach is likely less satisfying.

Small wonder that a resistance-movement arose to Bring Back The Real Elf. Poul Anderson went back to Scandinavian folklore for elves (and [[trolls]]) for ''The Broken Sword''. This was published in 1954, the very year ''The Fellowship of the Ring'' (finally) came out. Gygax owed at least as much to ''The Broken Sword'' as he owed to Tolkien. And, of course, [[Michael Moorcock]] proclaimed loud and long his preference for Poul's work.

=Elves and Dwarf Fortress=
Elves in ''[[Dwarf Fortress]]'' are notably different than elves in other settings. Essentially the polar opposite of the above descriptions, the RAGE they create isn't inspired by bishie Mary Suedom, but rather derived from primal fear and panic. They are terrifying figures of slaughter incarnate - sure, they may approach your fortress as a group of traders that get pissy if they notice you own a wooden anything because "lol nature boys", but they also are [[meme|actual cannibals]] who will kill and eat all your [[dorfs]] if they have their way. All that figurative rape usually focused upon elves in other fantasy settings will be [[/d/M|thrust upon your little Dorfy settlers]] and fortress, with little to no mercy.

TL;DR '''BITCH THEY EAT PEOPLE.'''

=Other Works=
* In [[Warhammer Fantasy]], Elves are a race created by giant interdimensional space toads called the [[Old Ones]] to fight against a dimension of molestation/mucous/murder/mindfuck demons, but were <s>such a bunch of arrogant pricks generally prone to murdering each other over stupid shit</s> slow to reproduce and their inherent compassion (yes, really) soured into arrogance - so much so that they were rejected as failures and the Old Ones went on to create [[Dwarfs]]. Later on the Elves split into three groups, two of which are murderfucking insane, one of which is the true heroes of the setting that you want to lose anyway because most of them are such fucking assholes, due to their gods being dead or insane assholes. [[Awesome|They also ride around on eagles and on chariots pulled by giant lions]]. Its worth mentioning that Warhammer was the third setting to steal from Tolkien after D&D, and certainly took the idea further. Things got way the fuck crazier in [[Age of Sigmar]], which is basically the straight-to-DVD Warhammer 2: Electric Boogaloo.
* [[Warhammer 40000]] went with the name Eldar for their space elves (even though it was still ripping off Tolkien, especially since he invented the word Eldar), keeping them largely the same but in only two groups, neither of which are heroes (the setting really doesn't have any faction that truly qualifies anyway), and making them the origin story for the aforementioned molestation demons.
* In [[Shadowrun]] Elves are merely humans that mutated after the return of magic to Earth in 2012. They have long lifespans, although to varying degrees. Across the world they banded together and overthrew local governments to create their own "kingdoms" (keep in mind the world of Shadowrun is the lovechild of D&D and Blade Runner). Some Elves are effectively immortal unless killed, and a few in particular come from entirely different points in world history (keep in mind that everything we know that ever happened in our universe is known as the Sixth World...Harlequin is an Elf that's most likely from the Fourth...). Of course your average Elf player character is most likely between 20 and 60 years old, and physically most likely the same either way, as a homeless drifter orphan or the child of blue collar workers from a megacorp. Average Elf NPCs are low skill workers, street vendors, violent gang members, wageslaves, rent-a-cops, and corporate executives. Shadowrun Elves have the ability to see magic usually, some degree of feeling it, but an Elf is as likely to be able to use it as most other "races".
* In the Legends of Zelda, there are these Hylian race which are just human with pointy ears with their most notable characters are the main character Link and the princess Zelda. They have strong affinity with magic and has rich culture, religion background with a goddess called Hylia protects them. They also have this weird telepathic ability which allows their pointy ear to transmit messages to any other Hylian in any space, realm, dimension and time (ha! Suck it, [[Tyranids|shadows of the warp]]!). Depending on the exact game, they tend to be about 50-80% of the cast, and you can usually only recognise them by checking the ears. TL,DR: People in Zelda have pointy ears.

=In Other Media=
* Elves in [[Elfquest]] are the descendants of a race of time traveling shapeshifting aliens that attempted to visit humans during the medieval period, and took the forms of Elves from folklore while also reshaping their giant spaceship into the form of a crystal castle to approach the humans as friends; the pets of the Elf aliens, in fear, tampered with the control panel and sent the ship into the past as the Elves were preparing to leave, and instead greeted cavemen who promptly slew many of the shapeshifters and forced the rest into the wilderness. The descendants of the Elves each have different characteristics based on what happened after their ancestor fled as only the first generation could shapeshift, such as tall bodies and wings for those who dreamed of returning to their ship and taking to the stars again. All Elves are psychic, and form mating pairs based on subconscious links. The main cast are mostly from the deep forests, their ancestor turning feral in the wilderness and taking the form of a [[Furry|wolf]] (also, she [[Furry#Yiffing|fucked a wolf too]]). They behave like the <s>[[Wulfen]]</s>elf/wolf hybrids they are, are very short and have four fingers with very large eyes; their leader later finds a mate in one of the desert Elves, who retained more of the Elven alien culture and have the power to heal others. Stories include learning industrialization, kinslaying, that humans make good pets, where they came from, even more kinslaying, the medieval humans they were supposed to contact in the first place weren’t worth the effort, their ancestors were morons, and so on.
* Elves in Warcraft were a type of Troll that was mutated by magical radiation coming from a pool of Titan blood (and possibly further altered by the intervention of a moon goddess). This changed them, making them closer to humanoid (five fingers and toes and no tusks being the biggest changes). Each subgroup can be defined mostly by how much magic they consider too much, with each preceding group from lowest to “never enough” being ousted by the preceding group. The changes became more diverse as time went on, with the latter groups becoming closer to human than the former groups, and even spawning other separate races (Night Elves and Nightborne have fangs while High Elves and [[Edgy|Blood Elves]] don't). The groups are Kaldorei -Night Elves (which had a group split off and become Shal'dorei - Nightborne), then some more Kaldorei called Highborne (which were made up of magic users and royalty) split and became Quel'dorei - High Elves, which also split with most supping on fel magic becoming Sin'dorei - Blood Elves. Even then are mutations such as the Naga (merpeople/snake people who are Highborne mutated by the Lovecraftian-type Old God N'zoth), Satyrs (like the real-life mythological beings based on a Highborne mutated by Sargeras) and the San'layn (the setting's vampires, who are mutated undead Sin'dorei made by the Lich King).
* Elves in the [[Geralt of Rivia|Witcher]] franchise have a complex origin, but generally come in two varieties.
** '''Aen Elle''' are Elves from another dimension, where they are constantly at war with Unicorns and the "White Frost", an apocalyptic scenario that is the destined destruction of all realities (one at a time rather than all at once). They're not exactly nice, but technically they're trying to save all worlds even if they kill everyone they meet while doing it. A major factor in the latter novels and the video games (less so in the first where they are the direct cause of the events you are dealing with, which you won't learn until the end of the second game). They don't particularly care about humans, monsters, or other kinds of Elves, they just want to wipe out the Unicorns and the White Frost plus all witnesses while generally being fairly pleasant and peaceful in their own dimension.
** '''Aen Seidhe''' are the Elves native to the setting, although not originally. Elves, monsters, and humans arrived to the world from their own separate dimensions after the White Frost destroyed them during an event known as the "Conjunction Of The Spheres". Elves arrived first and created a civilization while warring with the natives, humans appeared later and destroyed many of the civilizations that preceded them including those of the Elves over time. Many humans and Elves believe themselves to be a native race to the planet and hate the other for being an unnatural invader, while other Elves believe themselves to have been created by gods and humans simply being an evolved ape whereas humans believe Elves to be disguised demons and humans to be the divinely created ones. Many events that would in other settings have cemented the bond between Elf and man, such as a human prince and an Elf princess falling in love, instead always end in tragedy and cause further discord between the races. The Witcher setting takes place in the Northern Kingdoms of an unnamed continent where Elves are treated worse than any other, having formed largely into guerilla warriors spread across the world called "Scoia'tael" that also include Dwarves, Gnomes, intelligent monsters, and some human outcasts such as Witchers (read: Geralt "GIT YER HANDZ OFF MAH ELFS AND WITCHES OR I'LL GUT YE" of Rivia). Scoia'tael attack humans constantly, usually retribution for casualties in a war they can't win due to Elves only being able to breed in youth while humans have most of a medieval lifespan to do so. Any time Elves don't join Scoia'tael they are found in the ghettos of human cities, which are subject to frequent ethnic purges either by mob or inquisition. Of course because its Witcher any time Geralt can side with some decent Elves you'll find out in the next game or novel they were slaughtered or were politically out-maneuvered back to square -1, the rest of the time there being little difference between the Elf and human assholes other than the humans generally raping before they murder the townsfolk. In one of the later novels of the series (Lady of The Lake) its mentioned that some form of magical door opened to another dimension, with many of the Elves choosing whatever is ahead of them over the bullshit behind them.
* Elves in [[Monster Hunter International]] are one of the few friendly species of monsters with a species wide PUFF exemption. They live in the "Enchanted Forest"... which is actually a trailer park and are every trailer trash stereotype at once. The US Government basically gave them a PUFF exemption and welfare in exchange for being on hand for consulting on magic (as they are one of the few outright magic users that isn't powered by demons or old ones) and like started acting like anyone else on gibmedats. They aren't officially supposed to cast magic, but MHI is known to bribe them with alcohol for some assistance under the table. One elf shows proficiency with a bow though takes offense, calling it a hurtful stereotype, when the local fa/tg/uy points this out. The next book shows another elf using a bow on their own volition when they have access to guns, so bow use may be truer than they admit. Supposedly the European elves aren't trailer trash like their American kin, but it is never shown.
* The Keebler Elfs, possibly the most famous elfs of the "old, shoemaker" style elfs. Keebler, a US brand of cookies, needed some pitchmen, and went with what we'd call a bunch of animated tree gnomes, which got called "elfs" because it was 1968 and advertising executives thought consumers were idiots (with some justification, admittedly) and Mr 1960s tie, crew cut and Ford-Fariline office man had only the dimmest understanding of mythology. Feel free to research them and bring them up next time you encounter an elfaboo.

=Elven Ears=
In modern fantasy the prominent visual feature of Elves is pointed ears. This is not a unique feature to elves, as many other fantasy races have them (Fairies, Goblins and orcs), but it's the prime diagnostic trait of elves. In the case of Tolkien's Elves, the point is usually subdued. In the other cases, it is more pronounced with elongated ears that are often mobile.

In addition to being expressive, mobile ears offer something of an advantage as sensory organs, being better to adjust themselves to better work out the origin of a sound. <ref>There's a trade off, of course: The chief advantage of round ears, like humans have, are that while they have a harder time locating a sound, they are more likely to actually hear something if they aren't pointing at it, and be better able to differentiate between two similar noises. (Then there are floppy ears, like those found on elephants; those are more for the purposes of heat dissipation than hearing.)</ref>

=The Ugly Side of Elves=
Elves are truly a [[skub|love-or-hate]] phenomena amongst fantasy fans, and the main reasons for the dislike stem from some of the traits in the "post-Tolkien" elves section above. In a nutshell, elves are often portrayed as the [[Mary Sue]] race in fantasy fiction; even when the author doesn't outright use them as a mouthpiece, the simple fact of the matter that they are rarely called on their shit (screwing things up, being arrogant, being wrong about shit, acting like they have the right to lecture other races, etc) usually pushes them into the "asshole" category for many readers. When the setting's non-elf characters outright agree with them, that's when readers/viewers/gamers tend to get particularly pissed. The exception to this is when the reader is NOT supposed to like them, in which point they are often pants-on-head retarded and Stupid Evil, being villains who don't deserve to be as hammy as they are written compared to their minions.

Compounding matters is that those who are fans of elves tend to be on the obsessive side, even by /tg/ standards; which is part of the reason ''why'' they often get pushed into the Mary Sue's territory. [[Dungeons: the Dragoning 40,000 7th Edition]] proposed the name "Elfaboo" for hardcore Elf fans; whether "Elfaboos" or Weeaboos come off worse by comparison is probably unknowable.

Adding to the Skub wars, is that some people ''prefer'' Elves as arrogant jerkwads, on the grounds that its more "interesting" then having them all be perfect (since apparently we can't think to give Elves any other flaws than arrogance).

=This bears repeating=
Tolkien invented the modern version of "elves". Tolkien was a devout Catholic, and his Elves were actually meant to represent what Humanity would've been like had we remained sinless and Unfallen™; deprived of these theological undertones, the modern image of Elves has since lost its original context. In Tolkien's works, Elves had a certain degree of [[Mary Sue]] perfectness about them, yes, but they also had certain weaknesses in exchange; most importantly, they would fade from the world, and they knew it. Many subsequent imitators forgot this nerf, and thus failed to include the accompanying flaws in their elves.

Also, Tolkien's elves were genuinely likeable people for the most part (which you'd expect, given their sinless nature). When they or some members had something unlikable about them, those characteristics were distinctly human and therefore relatable to the reader. We don't feel like we're reading about a perfect species, we feel like we're reading about normal people who have simply lived long enough to learn from their mistakes and are trying to help others avoid those mistakes - which is exactly what they are. Later elves after Tolkien had none of that; in fact, many of the post-Tolkien elves would probably be considered horrible people by Tolkien elves, especially with their anti-human or elven superiority traits, as his elves were close bros with humanity and fully believed elves were not some sort of super-people (while a few Tolkien elves did espouse an elf supremacist view, it's either done a manner similar to real-life racism to show it's a character flaw, the prejudice is based on historical grievances - the reason elves and dwarves don't like each other and this prejudices are criticized in the story).

This isn't to say Elves ''can't'' have boons like longevity, magical adeptness, and so on. It's just when they have so many advantages relative to other races, and the only flaw they're liable to have is being unbearably arrogant know-it-alls, it doesn't usually make a good combination.

'''TL;DR: Nobody likes a [[Mary Sue]], much less a whole species of them.'''

=So why are these guys popular again?=
By this point we likely have you scatching your heads wondering how in the hell Elves ever caught on as a concept outside of Tolkien's writings. But for all <s>those damn Dwarves and their grudges</s> <s>salty haters</s> certain concernced parties complain about them, the fact is that Fantasy Elves are indeed popular, and there are reasons why (though these do also vary somewhat depending on the specific source):
* '''Like Humans, but better''': This is really the big one. Part of human nature is that we often more easily and readily identify with people who look like or otherwise remind us of ourselves. Well, since Elves usually look the same as humans except for a few physical differences, most audiences will more likely connect to them than, say, [[Orks|big muscular green soccer hooligans with fangs that are constantly violent]], [[Tau|Alien Stalinists]], [[Necrons|murderous robots]], [[Daemons of Chaos|or literal demonspawn.]] But because they ''aren't'' humans, there's still (sort of), the novelty of seeing an experience through the eyes of another intelligent species.
* '''They're all pretty''': It's an open secret that most people like their characters to be at least OK looking in appearance, but usually more than OK. Well, Elves are pretty much always slender, graceful, and beautiful. Nerd fetish for hot Elf females is well known, and it basically boils down to the fact that (again), they're all hot and physically idealized, though it goes in the other direction too.
* '''They're long-lived''': Growing old can be a real bitch. But Elves don't have to worry about it as much (or at all, depending on the setting). So whenever one is reminded of life's brevity and feeling down about it, Elves with their centuries-long lifespans or more offer a nice fantasy of a character who can live much longer than any of us will.
* '''They're the cool precursor race''': A common theme in High Fantasy works is that there was a super-OP faction from the good old days who were running things more or less unopposed until some cataclysm brought them down. Audiences seem to really dig these "rise and fall" type narratives as part of a setting's worldbuilding and lore. Elves are often the ones given this role to some extent, so this adds to their popularity.
* '''They're the best mages and/or archers''': Magic is cool, and so is pretending you're Legolas/Hawkeye/Green Arrow/Katniss Everdeen/too many other characters to list. Elves are frequently shown to excel in either or both of these, leading to some of the most spectacular displays of magic or marksmanship in a story. And since Elves are a fictional race that are usually superhuman to some extent, writers can get away with crazy feats of power/aiming that audiences might find a little harder to swallow if it was a human doing it.
* '''Cool armor''': Whenever Fantasy Elves are given lots of plate armor to wear (instead of, say, leather or hide), its often made to be some of the shiniest, fanciest, and most powerful armor in the setting, and often very aesthetically pleasing. So that brings in the armor buffs.
* '''Dragons, son''': While not all Fantasy settings do this one, it is still the case that Elves and Dragons are tied together in many Fantasy settings (Warhammer Fantasy being the big one). Since Dragons are universally considered Awesome, a race that regularly tames, rides, and has them is going to have some of that coolness rub off on them.
* '''Hybrid Friendly''': Apart from the obvious of Half-Elves, Elves seem to lend themselves naturally to other cool combinations, such as a Vampire Elf, a Tiefling Elf, and so on. While other races can also be combined, Elves are just one of the more popular choices for doing it, probably in part because there are usually so many varieties of them to begin with, so there's a bigger pool of combinations. On that note...
* '''Sub-types, sub-types, sub-types''': As the earlier parts of this page should have made clear by now, Elves often come in more flavors than other Fantasy races like Dwarves (who by contrast are often depicted much more monolithically). So if one type of Elf isn't your style, there will probably be some other type that is. Over the years, writers have done everything from the standard High/Wood/Dark to Sun/Moon, to Fire and Sea, to practically anything else the writers can think to have as a prefix to the word "Elf".

And all of the above ultimately leads to probably the biggest one of all:

* '''They're who you most want to be''': Much as Batman and Iron Man are popular superheroes because, let's face it, we all want to be that rich, handsome, irresistible to women, and stuffed to the brim with cool armor and gadgets, so too are Elves are a popular Fantasy race because they're who most people if they were dropped in a Fantasy world and asked to pick a new species would pick. You get to be beautiful, long-lived or immortal, and no one can ever gainsay your magic skills or inhuman marksmanship. And, depending, you might also get a dragon and/or a shiny suit of armor made from the setting's resident super-metal. Viewed that way, who would really say no? Especially if the alternative is [[Orcs|a near-mindless brute who everyone hates]] and who is [[Kobolds|probably destined to be sword-fodder for a team of adventurers]].

=How to make your Elves not be [[Mary Sue]]s=
[[Homebrew|Rolling your own setting]], and want to include an Elven nation who isn't immediately going to make non-Elfaboo players want to punch every elf (and possibly the author) in the face? Or have players wondering "Why don't the elves dominate everything?" Here are a few possible options to both problems:

The three big ones:

* Shorten their lifespans to be just barely beyond human. Anything more than 300 years, and you start heading into hard [[Mary Sue]]-race territory. (Tolkien got away with longer, but Tolkien...well, see above, especially under "This Bears Repeating".)
** If ''you'' want to get away with it, consider showing the realistic consequences of a race that lives so long, such as having difficulty connecting with shorter-lived races and angsting over losing non-Elf friends constantly, and particularly be aware of the next point:
* Make sure any paternalism they exhibit is ''actually paternal'' (in the Good Parenting sense) and based on actual wisdom, and not just arrogance.
* If you can't do either of the above, at least [[Sanderson's laws | give them some real comparative weaknesses]]. Not just [[-4 STR|reduced physical strength]], or other minor nerfs, but actual full on weaknesses that they'd need to lean on the other races for.

Lesser, still valid solutions:

* Make them so prone to factionalism that Elven politics makes the fight between the [[Monty Python | Judean People's Front and the People's Front of Judea]] look positively civil and well-motivated.
* Make their entire leadership a bit like that annoying granduncle who talks like [political figure that died 10 years ago and retired 30 years ago] is still in office, and wants to re-litigate an argument his side lost 50 years ago. Only you can add an extra "0" or two (or in extreme cases, three or four) on to all those numbers.
* If you don't mind restricting them to NPCish roles: Their magical nature means there are places they can't go, and things they can't do without much heavier opposition than a human would get, or just flat out can't go or do and expect to be alive at the other end.
** A rare subspecies of this: There are a few settings that have a Magic vs. Technology theme happening, and the Elves are just the "Magic" side of that fight.
* Accept that everyone is going to dislike the main body of the Elven race, and just aim to have a niche underclass who's likable and plausible as PC material. (Sometimes called the "[[Shadowrun]] method", fairly or unfairly.)
** Toss all of them (those in your immediate campaign anyway) into that underclass (a.k.a. the Witcher/[[/v/|Dragon Age]] method). Notably, a lot of modern Fantasy writers seem to take to this one (especially if halfelves can happen), enough so that it's arguably become something of a cliche in itself. But then, whom are you more likely to sympathize with: folks living in ghettos who everyone hates and treats badly, or narcissists living in an ivory tower?
* Stick 'em with an ''actual'' Mary Sue race, who turns around to make the elves their bitch: Valheru for Midkemia, Irda for Krynn and in many ways the Noldor themselves for the native Sindar. Or, we suppose, the [[Epic_Level_Handbook|LeShay]]. Yes, this just shifts the blame; so as, for humans, to make the basic problem ''worse''. However if the events happened in the narrative's distant past (as is the case for Feist, Hickman, and Tolkien) the device serves to impose some much-needed humility upon potential master-race fantasies, for the elves and for everyone else. "There's always a bigger fish . . ."
* Put them on the slowly losing side of a long war (a.k.a. the [[4e]] [[Eladrin]] method).
* If you ''must'' have arrogant elves, try to make it clear that they're as disliked by a large chunk of their kind as they are by non-Elves (like in [[The Elder Scrolls]], where the Aldmeri Dominion High Elves are disliked by pretty much everyone, including other High Elves).

Weaknesses that are interesting:
* Maybe they are addicted to magic to the point they need it to survive (a.k.a. the [[World of Warcraft|Warcraft]] method).
* Maybe they're all insane in some way, just different ways for each Elf, so it sorta cancels each other out on a racial level.
* [[Sword#Magical_materials|Cold Iron]] is an old favorite for this.
* Or maybe rip off the Pathfinder [[Gnomes]] and the 4e [[Shadar-kai]]: They're immortal, but they'll die if they stay bored long enough, which is at least a coherent weakness.

===Is your Elf /tg/ approved?===
[[File:Perv.jpg|300px|right|thumb|Elf watching is a popular hobby]]
A Quick guide to making a /tg/ approved elf. Every answer of yes is a point in their favor.

* Do [[Dwarf Fortress|they eat people]]?
* Are they batshit crazy?
* Do they have Dragons?
* Do they learn from their mistakes (or even make mistakes at all that are acknowledged by the story as such?)
* Does s/he do [[Doomrider|cocaaaaaaaaaaine?]]
* Are they NOT Chaotic Good? (Double extra important if it's a Drow)
* Does s/he wield a chainsaw? (<strike>only applicable to some settings</strike> Forget that part. A chainsaw wielding, magic casting elf will be accepted anywhere, due to the rules of [[awesome]])
* Is s/he NOT protective of trees/animals? Alternatively, [[Dwarf Fortress|is he/she protective of trees and/or animals BUT to the point of bloody fanaticism ?]]
* Is s/he sexually attractive?
* Is s/he bloodthirsty?
* Does s/he know how to work metal?
* Is s/he skilled at making technology? Otherwise, is s/he at least skilled at using technology?
* If s/he is an archer or melee combatant, does s/he have visible muscles? (Note s/he doesn't have to be RIPPED, just visibly muscular. "Swimmer's physique" is a thing. Go google image search for Olympic athletes in the relevant sport ("Olympic fencer body" seems to return good (if rather NSFW) results) for reference of what humans who do that kind of thing semi-professionally actually look like.)
* It is NOT another fucking [[Drizzt]] clone?
** Note that this doesn't mean every Dark Elf/Drow has to be a 100% bastard. Just that if you're going to have a non-evil Drow, try, try, TRY to not make it a Chaotic Good Ranger with dual swords.
* Does s/he inspire fear incarnate and is shunned if not hated by society?
* Is s/he NOT childishly, excessively optimistic?
* Does said elf fight with something ELSE than a bow/longsword/rapier/magic? (Axes, hammers, fists, crossbows, hell [http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Melf_%28Earth-616%29 even guns if you have them])
* Does s/he swear profusely like a drunk pirate?
** Does s/he drink?
*** Is s/he a pirate?
* Are they not bigoted against non-elves? Alternatively, [[Dark Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|do they hate non-elves to the point of seeing them as vermin to be enslaved or destroyed]]?
* Is it NOT like any other elf stereotype you have every seen?

If you have a large majority of "yes", congratulations. You have a /tg/ approved elf.

For DM's, you can create any type of elven race. Make it fun for your players, and no one will give a shit. Of course, this is true of Elves in general; if your players don't have a problem with Elves, then feel free to disregard a lot of what you've read so far.

=Good Post-Tolkenian Elves=
Here we'll list examples of Elves from modern fantasy which are inspired by Tolkien and why they work...

* WarCraft: As already noted, they actually are closer to Tolkien's take than many other modern depictions, plus having the inventive weakness of magic addiction. And, for those who are tired of seeing the usual High/Wood/Dark sub-types, WarCraft instead has its own sub-types: Night Elves and Blood Elves. While at a glance, you can pretty easily accuse the former of just being Wood Elves with a different name, they do actually have the advantage of being more "nature magic" types than merely "people who live in the woods" of a lot of Wood Elves.
** You also have some weird new ones as of late such as Void Elves (Blood Elves who delve into the void), The Illidari (While technically not a new race, they are demonic elves), and the undead elves (Sylvanas and the Dark Rangers). In Warcraft they are also descendant from trolls and different races have weird cultural quirks. Oh, and several other races in WarCraft are either mutated Elves or cousin-races of Elves (Dryads, Naga, etc.)
* The Elder Scrolls: Say what you will about Elder Scroll's incessant retcons and other mindfucks in their canon, but if nothing else, they ''do'' have some legitimately creative takes on the Elves. Want Elves who are intentionally unlikable in their arrogance and racial supremacist views? The High Elves (called Altmer), have you covered. Want Elves who live in nature but are hardcore and not a bunch of walking Vegan and Hippie stereotypes? Look no further than the cannibalistic and rather unstable Wood Elves (called Bosmer). Want Elves who aren't High, Wood, or Dark? They've got those too. Heck, even the setting's Orcs and Dwarves are Elf types here.
* The Witcher: While still often arrogant and anti-human, here it's a lot more understandable given that most humans in the Witcherverse are enormous assholes where Elves are concerned. Also the Wild Hunt are solidly designed villains who neatly eschew most Elf stereotypes (and are effectively a different race from the native elves).
* Dragon Age: Similar to Witcher, DA Elves have it rougher than Elves in many other Fantasy settings, which helps get them more sympathy points. They are also a lot less OP relative to humans, having access to the same classes and roles and not enjoying any obvious racial advantages.

* Warhammer: This one's debatable. On the one hand, for those who have gotten sick of seeing the Elves as totally pure goody-two-shoes, they're plenty flawed. Plus, they get dragons and most of them understand the benefits of armor and metalworking. On the other hand, they fit the usual problem of "Elves being arrogant pricks" more than virtually any other modern Fantasy setting. But, they have Malekith and Teclis, so they're not all bad.
** Warhammer 40k: This one's still arguable, but much less so than Warhammer Fantasy (if you ignore the Science Fiction angle, at least); their pride and arrogance led to the largest fall from grace possible without going extinct, and their Dark Elf equivalent are a pretty large part of what makes the setting Grimdark, while the non-Dark Eldar are played as, effectively, "''slightly'' worse than the Tau and non-Chaos Human factions, but for sound reasons". In other words, possibly the most morally darkish-grey Elves around.
* Iron Kingdoms, AKA Warmachine and Hordes: Another Grimdark tabletop war game setting with its own spin on Elves, the Elves of Iron Kingdom have numerous elements that separate them from the standard Tolkien-esque takes, including mech suits and various other weapons and tech you don't generally see Fantasy Elves with, which helps them feel unique. Still arrogant overall, but in a much more precarious situation due to looking at possible extinction. Their souls are supposed to reincarnate, but that has broken down and now Iosian children have a 50/50 shot of being born [[Solitaire|soulless]]. Did we mention they have mechs?
* Starfinder: Remember how we mentioned that Elves with chainsaws/chainswords are automatically [[Awesome]]? Well, in this Sci-Fi counterpart to Pathfinder, you can have exactly that. Also a good choice for those who want Space Elves but prefer something more palatable than the haughy Eldar and depraved Dark Eldar. The events of Starfinder mean the long-lived elves all REMEMBER having society-wide amnesia, and it's made them super paranoid to the point of forting up and building space-elf Israel (which we guess makes their warriors Space-Mossad, which is also cool).
* Dragonstar: Another solid "Space Elves" take. While they fit the stereotypical modern Elf mold pretty well, they tend to not be unbearably stuck-up and seem to really just want to help preserve nature across the cosmos, being basically the galaxy's resident conservationists. Basically, like Tolkien Elves, the writers remembered to keep them ''likable''. Its more the dragons in this setting who are the arrogant jerks.

(Apparently, that's all of them. Well, besides Dwarf Fortress Elves, who are straight up assholes, like just about everyone in that setting, including the Gods and Dwarves.)

=Monstergirls=
{{Monstergirls}}
Elves are technically one of the most widely accepted form of [[monstergirls]], alongside the [[catgirl]] and the [[cowgirl]]. As such, there's a lot of [[/d/]] aspects of elves, as you've doubtlessly gathered by now. Not helping elves is that their menfolk are typically portrayed as slim, clean-shaven, graceful and ranging from "pretty boy" to "androgynous" on the looks department; in Western culture, these are stereotypes of gay men, in contrast to the buff, rugged, hairy, chiseled appearance of, say, a [[dwarf]] or an [[orc]]. Ironically, in Japan, the stereotypes are actually reversed, so your standard elf man is expected to be an avid chaser of and/or magnet for human women whilst those burly dwarves and orcs are busy having sweaty gay orgies in their holes in the ground. Notably, if you go looking you'll find that the sort of porn actual women prefer reflects the Japanese stereotypes more often than the American ones, although gay men are more evenly split on the matter (bears do exist after all, and no, [[Furry|not THAT kind of bear]]).

Being one of the most accepted types, elves are just about as entry level as monstergirls gets. Pointy ears, superior senses, and an improved lifespan are the only ways they really differ from humans (the only other things that are often applied are superhuman speed and enhanced magical ability), and they're almost always very attractive with a comparative lack of aging. They can be anything from wholesome and homely to full-on tsundere or even yandere. Inevitably elves are very lewd, and even the stuck up ones secretly crave sex. They often possess overly sensitive ears that can turn them into helpless moaning messes when rubbed, if not outright drive them to orgasm (much like the Ferengi of [[Star Trek]] - yeah, good luck getting ''that'' image out of your head). Elves are also prime [[rape]][[Grimdark|bait, frequently being characterized as submitting to sexually aggressive]] [[human|humans,]] [[orc|orcs,]] [[Grimdark|and monsters after only a few short thrusts or rubs. This makes them popular for the genre of manga/anime where they are easily molested and submit to their partners,]] [[/d/|leaving them dripping with or soaked in semen and possibly pregnant as well.]] This also makes them popular with mindbreak and willing [[slavery]] fetishists. Alternatively, the Elf lady will be the dominatrix instead where she will literally [[Dark Eldar|fuck people to death]] to satisfy her urges.

==MGE==
In the [[Monster Girl Encyclopedia]], there are two kinds of elf; the standard elves are pretty bog-standard tsunderes who live in seclusion to avoid giving into their craving for dick, whilst the "dark elves" have embraced their corruption and turned into a pack of dusky-skinned [[/d/|incestuous BDSM freaks]].

<center>
<gallery>
Image:MGE Elf.jpg
Image:MGE Dark Elf.jpg
</gallery>
</center>

=See Also=
* [[Lelf]]
* [[Elf Subraces]]
* [[Elf Slave, Wat Do?]]
* [https://cooldude618.tumblr.com/post/169093727876/i-wouldnt-go-to-elf-practice-either-its-god| Despite rumors to the contrary, Elves actually struggle with the musical arts... ''a lot.'']

{{D&D1e-Races}}
{{D&D2e-Races}}
{{D&D4e-Races}}
{{D&D5e-Races}}
{{Pathfinder-Races}}
{{Starfinder-Races}}
[[Category:Scarred Lands Races]]
[[Category:Monsters]]

Goblin

2022-09-10T18:55:30Z

2600:1003:B13E:3DDE:C13C:2E61:E1A:73C0: /* Tolkien Goblins */

[[File:Path Gob Rat.PNG|thumb|right|300px|Brushy brushy.]]

{{Topquote|I want to have goblins about me, for I am courageous. The courage which scareth away ghosts, createth for itself goblins--it wanteth to laugh.|Friedrich Nietzsche, ''Thus Spoke Zarathustra''}}

'''Goblins''' are mythological creatures of unclear origin and contradicting descriptions, but are generally agreed to be small humanoids with a mischievous nature, possibly belonging to the fey family (along with creatures such as redcaps, brownies, leprechauns, kobolds, etc).

The origin of the word "Goblin" can be traced back to the British "Gobelinus", which was the name of a demon that once caused trouble in Normandy. It has been theorized the term began with [[Kobold]], which was a German Fey spirit whose origins can be traced to one of a variety of earlier myths based in Paganism from various other cultures. Kobolds also gave their name to cobalt, due to the fact that new advances of mining in Germany during the Middle Ages allowed access to large amounts of that ore, but the mining was very dangerous, they had no idea how to smelt the metal, and it turned out to be toxic to touch, so as a result the numerous mine collapses as well as the "theft of the ore, with only poison and ash left behind" were blamed on Kobolds cursing the new metal. Either way, Goblin myths often involve mischief, mining, and chemistry.

In modern fantasy, the term "Goblin" has been very much defined by the Tolkienian conception of the word - as in a species of stunted humanoids in service to evil ("Orc" was another name for said species, with Tolkien claiming the etymology of ''that'' word as being an old English term for demon). Goblin appearance has been further shaped by both video- and boardgames, as well as various artists. They are universally smaller than humans, although the exact size varies, and often have large pointy ears (larger, wider/triangular, and more animalistic than elf ears) and either long, crooked, and pointed noses (For DnD goblins, a large or otherwise impressive nose is a sign of virility and attractiveness in a male) or orc-esque noseless features.

The basic goblin stereotype is that of a savage warrior and raider that attacks villages and ambushes unwary travelers; being one-dimensionally evil, they can be (and often are) killed without remorse in large numbers (unless you read Eberron, G:LTTE, or Terry Pratchett's Snuff). They act and move in small groups (as they don't pose a large threat by themselves but are wary enough of human reprisals to avoid mass hordes that will bestir an army to mobilize and wipe them all out), and are commonly the first true monster encounter for a young adventurer (most don't count animal culling even if said animals are unnaturally enhanced, such as the [[Giant Rat]]). Goblins tend to live in caves, swamps, or other "badlands", and gang up with orcs and similar races, with whom they are sometimes described as belonging to the same family or species. Their intelligence is usually fairly low, although among dumber and larger brutes they will be the clever ones doing the "skilled" work while the bigger ones shout orders.

A lesser but definitely competing Goblin stereotype is that they are an unusually technologically advanced and ludicrously smart/cunning race on par with if not better than [[Dwarves]], such as by creating fantasy machine guns or an entire robot army in Warcraft or Dungeon Siege, though usually with the handicap of being very blasé about construction- or even user-safety, as well as being consummate merchants; Tinker Goblins will gleefully sell or contract out to a wannabe evil conquerer, but almost never become one themselves. If you couldn’t tell from the examples given, this was really more of video game trope for a long time; goblins in tabletop were sometimes described as oddly industrious, but until recent years it never extended beyond a joke gimmick or the occasional war machine pulled right out of their green asses just to give the PCs/Good Races a hard time in a campaign/lore battle.

Because of the comedy potential, players have always liked being goblins, and they were one of the three most-popular races requested for an add-on to 5e as of a (no longer) recent survey.

[[Goblinoid]]s include a vast array of species in D&D, ranging from obscurities like the stone-skinned [[Norker]]s and the "they heal when you hit them, die if you heal them" [[Nilbog]]s to mainstays like the more organized [[Hobgoblin]]s and the big, scary, pseudo-[[orcs]] called [[Bugbear]]s.

=In /tg/ Media=
In the [[Iron Kingdoms]] and [[Magic: The Gathering]] (sometimes), goblins have a penchant for technology and love to tinker with machinery (especially steampunk contraptions and the like), somewhat propagating the "mad scientist" archetype.

In [[Kings of War]] goblins are still a source of evil comic relief. They're often suggested to have been created by the [[Celestians (Kings of War)|Celestian]] Garkhan the Black after he finished creating the orcs with "whatever was left," although where exactly they came from is a mystery. They're still engineers as in many settings, but they tend to be very short-term thinking and don't like to test things before they use them.

In [[Eberron]], goblins are quite a bit different than their usual portrayal, described in the d&d section below

In [[Pathfinder]], they're stupid little freaks with all manner of strange quirks (good singing voices, fear horses and writing, like fire and pickles), sort of a cross between Gremlins and a baby-eating Stitch. They are also very funny and (somewhat) lovable, and even have their own comic series. Surprisingly, despite being described as naturally inclined towards a mixture of [[Chaotic Stupid]] (easily distractable to the point of stopping combat ''mid-swing'' to chase a frog or pick their nose) and [[Stupid Evil]] (love of torturing anything smaller than them) behaviors, they have no mental penalties. Pathfinder also has a goblin variant called the Monkey Goblin, which is even ''stupider'' than regular goblins, but much stronger and more agile, using a rat-like prehensile tail to aid it in a life in the trees.

In [[Malifaux]], they're noseless hillbillies with very few womanfolk called Gremlins complete with straw hats, jug bands, blunderbusses, and lots of pigs. Also come in an Asian variant.

=Tolkien Goblins=
[[File:Tolkien Goblins.JPG|thumb|The most accepted origin of Goblins in the Middle Earth setting.]]

{{Topquote|Now goblins are cruel, wicked, and bad-hearted. They make no beautiful things, but they make many clever ones.|J.R.R. Tolkien, ''The Hobbit''}}

Tolkien was not consistent on the relationship between goblins and orcs. Initially he said that "Goblin" was merely the halfling word for Orc, though that was swiftly contradicted. The main narrative text of <i>The Hobbit</i> contains few explicit mentions of orcs at all; it is remarked early on that the name of the sword "Orcrist" translates, in the ancient tongue of Gondolin, to "goblin cleaver", and later Gandalf rebuffs Bilbo's suggestion that the Company walk ''around'' Mirkwood instead of through it by informing him that there is a necromancer's lair to the south and to the north the Grey Mountains are "bristling with hobgoblins and orcs of large and viscous breed". LotR proper and later notes made further statements insinuating that goblins were a specific subtype of orc. Even later notes started to treat goblins and orcs like completely separate creatures, so take your pick, but the most "developed" canon leans significantly towards the "goblins are a runty orc subspecies" reading. Generally, since The Hobbit is the central foundation to his stories and it makes a point of explaining that Orcs are just larger types of Goblins, along with Lord Of The Rings having most Orcs as being not much bigger than Hobbits, Goblins are seen as around Hobbit-sized or even a bit smaller.

Goblins/Orcs have a multiplicity of origin stories from Tolkien and he never really settled on one definitively, although the most prominent one posits that they are the twisted forms of Elves tortured and beat into submission by Morgoth and Sauron. Other origins include: an Asian group of Elves stolen from their people and bred as slaves by Morgoth & Sauron, just being animals uplifted by M&S, fallen Maiar, men who were corrupted rather than Elves (or a mix of the two, with post-corruption interbreeding with humans as yet another possibility), or even just slimy rocks transformed by Morgoth's magic into living beings. Regardless of how they came about, once created they swiftly became the backbone of Sauron's armies (his other monstrous creations mostly not surviving the dwindling of magic over the passing Ages) that are heavily industrialized and produce only ugly things that cause sickness (perhaps a metaphor for wartime industry). On the subject of canon; Christopher Tolkien ultimately decided on them being Elves who were among the first group to awaken but believed Morgoth's whispers that the Valar were beings of evil and fled from them into the woods when the Valar first met the Elves to be later captured by or lured into Morgoth's power, so that's the go-to answer for the Tolkien scholars.

The notion of an entirely evil race conflicted big time with Tolkien's Catholic beliefs, so there are hints that not all Goblins and Orcs were evil, as a few passages indicate no race was wholly united for or against Morgoth; there are independent groups of Goblins in The Hobbit, and a few lines given indicate that Orcs will go to great lengths to avenge their fallen leaders, while in his notes he considered them a race capable of free-choice and thus not the "[[Always Chaotic Evil]]" inborn bloc that many later works paint them to be.

Although Tolkien did try to avoid overtly assigning any real life peoples to his fantasy races, the Goblins are very blatantly Asians with fangs and Tolkein once described them as "Mongol-types". If you want to be ''really'' charitable you could argue that alternatively, in dialect and mannerisms, orcs and goblins are exaggerated Cockney thugs or louts from urban South West England, in direct contrast to the very genteel Midland Farm Country hobbits, bumping the caricatures down a notch or two from "out-and-out racist" to "exceedingly classist and provincialist".

Orcs and Goblins are repeatedly stated by the narration to be fantastic inventors and engineers, with one of Tolkien's notes alleging that they have access to rudimentary blackpowder weaponry, but this isn’t really shown. Sure, Uruk-Hai are anachronistic in their munition armor and drilling exercises, but that's entirely thanks to being bred, trained, and outfitted by Saruman. I guess the shantytown metropolis inside the Misty Mountains is a rather impressive feat of construction, but that's really it for stuff they are seen to have actually built themselves.

=Warhammer=

{{Topquote|Gork and Mork made da Goblinz for us to kick, kill, and eat. Dey iz nothing. Dey iz less than nothing. Even dere magic iz weak an' pointless. Only use Dey got in a fight iz catchin' Humie arrows. Wiv der 'eads.|Sheglak, Orc Great Shaman}}

In early [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]], Goblins were merely a shorter variety of Orcs, which were green-skinned evil humanoids who sometimes bred with humans. In fact, Warhammer Fantasy was the very first depiction of Goblins and Orcs as green-skinned, something that has since become a staple of the races in pop culture. This is mostly because they came from model ranges that GW had lost the rights to sell (e.g. Tolkien or D&D) and thus needed to quickly rebrand them as something with a veneer of uniqueness to finish selling their existing inventory. The specific choice of new complexion may have been inspired by [[Marvel Comics|The Incredible Hulk]], for like Orks he is also hugely muscled, mindlessly destructive, and originally ''grey''-skinned.

With the creation of [[Warhammer 40,000]], the Goblins became [[Grots]], also called Gretchin, who like the [[Orks]] were actually a type of fungus ape. Between their legs is only two bulging spore-sacs which burst upon death and grow into new Grots/Orks in the ground. After 40k had massive success, this was ported back into Warhammer Fantasy and Goblins, along with the Orcs, became fungus men. [[Skub|Some oldschool Warhammer fans have rejected this, and the term "Orcgina" can make many on /tg/ go into flashbacks about the arguments inspired between the oldfags and newfags on the subject.]]

In both settings, Goblins/Grots are smaller greenskins who are extremely vicious but also extremely cowardly and refuse to attack something unless they outnumber it ten to one (preferably much more). Against nonthreatening foes however they enjoy torturing them, and POWs are subjected to horribly slow deaths to the chittering amusement of the tiny greenskins.

In Warhammer Fantasy, Goblins are independent of Orcs, with most living in their own separate tribes. A few even have their own gods, like the [[Forest Goblins]] who worship the [[Spider-god]]. Despite this, many Goblins also join groups with Orcs, a decision that invariably ends with either the Goblins ganging-up to bully the Orcs into doing their manual labor, or them ''getting'' bullied by sufficiently numerous and united Orcs into doing said labor.

While only the [[Black Orc]]s are capable of actually producing new goods or learning technical knowledge among the larger greenskins, Goblins produce many things from giant flying ships to chariots. Of especial note is the Night Goblins; master chemists whose biology is bizarre and alien in its fungal nature even to other greenskins. Red Goblins existed in the early model ranges, as well as Bugbears and Kobolds, but they vanished as the old model ranges were replaced.

Apart from all this, the main distinction between Goblins and 40k Grots is that Goblins aren't all weak, subservient slaves - Goblins individually ''are'' pretty weedy, but they do try to deck themselves out in armor and whatnot and can even take over Orc tribes, if a cunning or vicious enough Boss arrives. Most often this will be a Shaman (for his tricks and ability to scheme) or a Night Goblin Warboss (for being fucking insane), but even a normal (AKA Plains) Goblin Warboss can be a significant threat.

In 40k, Grots have almost no freedom and are only found alongside their bigger kin. They're not the strongest, quickest, meanest, or anything-est compared to the Orks, except for being better shots and more kunnin', to the point of generally being brighter (though that's not saying much). In most cases they are at best assistants, at worst slaves and moving targets. The only exception is the [[Gretchin Revolutionary Committee]], although that...ended badly. They fare a little better in Mek-controlled settlements where their technological know-how and small size are more in-demand. They may even be allowed to make their own tanks - small and scrappy, but dangerous at least.

In both Warhammers, all greenskins speak in a British Cockney accent, with heavy Chav mixed in for variation. Goblins were renamed to Grots in [[Age of Sigmar]].

<gallery>
Image:Bad Moon Goblins.png|Warhammer Fantasy Goblins of today.
Image:Goblin Airship.JPG|Warboss Beater Pan(ic)!
Image:Gretchinmob.jpg|Grots.
</gallery>

{{Template:Playable Factions in Warhammer: Age of Sigmar}}

=D&D Goblins=
[[File:Goblin DMG 5e.jpg|right|300px]]

{{Topquote|Goblins are what you default to when you have no idea what the party should be fighting, because they're just so splattered all over the realm that everyone just accepts that they can show up anywhere.|JoCat, ''A Crap Guide to D&D - Goblins''}}

[[Dungeons & Dragons]] did not do anything particularly innovative with goblins. Instead, they are fairly close(ish) to their Tolkien roots - or, rather, to the simplified version of Tolkien's goblins; small, hateful, savage creatures that infest the unwanted corners of the world, constantly squabbling amongst themselves for power and occasionally spilling out to raid and terrorize the neighboring civilized lands when their numbers build up enough. Whilst Tolkien's goblins were actually quite inventive and adept at building things, since they were a combination of the two peoples that Tolkien most disliked (the Central soldiers he'd fought in WW1, and the industrialists he believed were destroying the countryside), D&D's goblins lack that trait due to [[Medieval Stasis]] - they're not as primitive as [[lizardfolk]], but are still the quintessential depiction of them as "just tribal scavengers", in contrast to goblins in some other media being "the chaotic and/or evil tinker race".

In fact, when you scratch the surface, D&D goblins may tap into the same "evil mook" basis as Tolkien's goblins, but actually are deliberately taken in different ways. Whilst originally D&D [[orc]]s & goblins are implied to have often worked together, and even interbreed, by the time of [[Planescape]] the two were actually bitter enemies - the two races share the same "heaven" of [[Acheron]], where they constantly war in an attempt to drive the other race to extinction. This even persisted into 3rd edition, when the orcs' changed racial alignment of Chaotic Evil meant they shouldn't have been going to Acheron in the first place. This stands in stark contrast both to Tolkien (who initially said that "orc" and "goblin" were words in two different languages for the same race) and to other popular settings, such as [[Warhammer Fantasy]] & [[Warcraft]], where goblins tend to be a strong racial ally to orcs. Some sourcebooks, usually setting dependent, present a more nuanced portrayal of them and give them a deeper culture than that, but for the most part, D&D goblins are your standard generic cannon fodder evil mooks.

However, just like the [[orc]]s, goblins have a ''long'' history of being a potential PC race in [[Dungeons & Dragons]] - they've been playable in literally every single edition, with multiple incarnations in 3rd edition. The usual idea is to play them up as "spunky little troublemakers" - either a scrappier analogue for the [[halfling]] or a less kitschy counterpart to the [[gnome]] (or even a more high-functioning version of the [[Kender]], without the stigma). And, for what it's worth, goblin PCs are actually generally quite liked. In fact, goblins were one of the player races most requested for a formal update into 5th edition PC races. Given the second season of [[Critical Role]] features a goblin PC as a main character, in the form of Nott (a self-loathing female who wants to become a [[halfling]]), and the fact that [[Pathfinder]] goblins have such an fandom that Pathfinder 2e promotes them to a corebook race, many are expecting an eventual 6e to feature playable goblins in the PHB, just like how 4e added the [[tiefling]] and the [[dragonborn]].

The biggest exception to goblins being generic evil baddies in d&d is the Eberron
setting, where they're given a nuanced portrayal, with a deep and sophisticated culture. In [[Eberron]], "goblin" is used to refer to bugbears, hobgoblins, and goblins. They are the descendants of the once mighty continent spanning Empire of Dhakaan that collapsed because of an invasion by the [[Daelkyr]], masters of the plane of madness. The invasion was eventually beaten back by an alliance between the empire and the orc tribes called the Gatekeepers (badass men-in-black style druids who protect the world from lovecraftian horrors), but the empire fell afterwards. They're not the banal savages that you can kill guilt free in many other settings.

In the current day they are split up into three broad cultural groups (and a few splinter groups) - the smallest of the big three are The Heirs of Dhakaan, or Dar Dhakaani, which are the badass super disciplined remnants of the empire who preserved their way of life after the empire collapsed by hiding underground or in secluded mountains (thus quarantining themselves from the Plague of Silence) and would like to bring goblins back to their previous heights, especially now that they know the rest of goblinoid population is no longer contagious. The various goblin races are all equal under the Dhakaani and share a eusocial bond like ants. They specialize in different tasks - the hobgoblins are administrators and soldiers (females are usually bards), goblins are workers, scouts and spies, and the bugbears are shock troopers and heavy laborers - but if you're better at a job outside your cultural role, the empire doesn't waste talent and puts you in that job. On the darker side, Dhakaani are ''very'' xenophobic and see no place for non-goblinoids in their society (for good reason, as they could not share their eusocial bonds), at best exiling them from places they conquer, and at worst killing them all. The latter is disturbingly common, since Dar Dhakaani like to keep their existence secret to surface-dwellers and are usually quite good at it.

Then you have the Ghaal'Dar, who made up the bulk of the descendants of the collapsed empire and had to deal with the fallout. Their culture degenerated into petty barbarian tribes with a might-makes-right mentality, their eusocial bond destroyed by the daelkyr Plague of Silence. They are usually ruled by hobgoblins due to their superior ability to organize vs the other two subspecies. However, during the conflict known as The Last War they united and stole a chunk of land from the human kingdoms that they named Darguun. It's their "new goblin Homeland" and they're starting to rebuild their culture from there, but nobody thinks it will last. It's ruled by an alliance of clans with the leader, Lhesh Haruuc maintaining a delicate balance of power between them to maintain stability. He's tried to institute the rule of law and has been mostly successful, but a few clans (mostly in desolate areas where they can get away with it) only pay lip service. The country has been a success so far and their culture is slowly clawing it's way out of the dumps, but many are worried that when Haruuc dies it will all fall apart, so he is desperately looking for a competent successor. There's also an extra layer of Dar Dhakaani sending their spies, agents and entire squads of elite operatives masquerading as "Ghaal'Dar from remote holds" or even assassinating Darguun leaders and replacing them with Dar Dhakaani doubles to manipulate Darguun into becoming a seed from which Dhakaani empire could be rebuilt and indoctrinating Darguun goblins into old Dhakaani beliefs instead of tribal traditions they picked up after empire's collapse. It wouldn't be out of character for Dar Dhakaani to kidnap entire villages of Ghaal'Dar goblins to experiment on them in hope to reverse Plague of Silence effects.

The last major cultural group are the city goblins. They're the descendents of Ghaal'Dar goblinoids who weren't killed or fled when the humans conquered the continent, and were enslaved for a few thousand years. They're mostly lower g goblins, and were released from slavery about a thousand years before the current time. They're considered tax paying citizens and have all the rights (on paper) of human or [[Demihuman]] citizens of the countries they live in. However, they tend to be poor and live as second class citizens in many places due to racism and lack of opportunities, as well as objective reasons like short lifespan, meaning less time to get education for high-paying jobs compared to humans, and [[Warforged]] flooding the low-paying job market after the war and incidentally lowering wages for everyone else. The majority of them are loyal to their country of birth and consider themselves regular citizens, and they often dislike the Ghaal'Dar for commiting war crimes during the Last War and giving goblins a bad name. Most of the ones who were sympathetic to Ghaal'Dar moved to Darguun.

Goblins (like 99% of races in this setting) are not naturally evil in Eberron; they have the same range of alignments as every other sentient race. For cultural reasons they do tend towards being Lawful Neutral, but only slightly.

As a somewhat curious aside, D&D goblins are yellow (mostly) compared to the more usual goblin color of green. This trait survived even after the popularization of green Goblins in most other fantasy settings, most prominently the aforementioned Warhammer Fantasy and Warcraft. A few settings sometimes portray them as shades of grey, or the previously mentioned colors with a grey tint. They're even portrayed as red or deep orange in some artwork.

The D&D goblin has a ''huge'' family tree, to the point they even coined their own racial name; "[[goblinoid]]". The two most prominent goblin-kin are the [[bugbear]]s - large, hairy, brutish goblins that, arguably, are D&D's attempt to maintain the orcy archetype without making orcs & goblins officially related - and the [[hobgoblin]]s, who are literally Tolkien's Uruk-Hai.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Goblin ODD1.png|Original D&D
Goblin MM 1e.jpg|1e
Markessa goblins A2.png
Goblin Monster card.jpg|AD&D Monster Card
goblin MCV1.jpg|2e
Goblin MM 2e.png
goblin First Quest.jpg
Goblin slaver First Quest.jpg|They call him Baby-Face
Goblin A0-A4.png
Goblin 3e.jpg|3e
Goblin 4e.jpg|4e. The only edition with GREEN goblins!
Goblin 5e.jpg|5e
TWBTW Jingle Jangle.png|Post-Tasha's they are looking pretty [[gnome]]y
TWBTW chucklehead.png
Goblin B1.png|Pathfinder
goblin ARG 1.png
goblin ARG 2.png
Goblin SF.png|Starfinder
</gallery>

==PC Stats==
===BECMI===
Goblin PCs first appeared, alongside many other "classic humanoids", as PCs in the Known World Gazetteer #10: The Orcs of Thar. Under the Basic system, they had the following crunch:

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<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
::Goblin Ability Modifiers: -3 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Constitution
::Note: Like all Humanoids from "The Orcs of Thar", a Goblin has racial ability score caps of 18 in all scores bar [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]], which are capped at 16.
::Note: Like all Humanoids from "The Orcs of Thar", a Goblin determines its [[Charisma]] score for interacting with [[human]]s and [[demihuman]]s by dividing its Charisma score by 3 (rounding down) and subtracting the result from 9.
::Goblin Natural Armor Class: 8
::Can become a [[Shaman]] (8th level) and a [[Wokani]] (6th level)

{| class=wikitable
!Goblin's's level || XP Required || Goblin's hit dice
|-
|0||0||d8-1
|-
|1||800||2d8-2
|-
|2||1,600||3d8-3
|-
|3||3,200||-
|-
|4||6,400||4d8-4
|-
|5||13,000||5d8-5
|-
|6||26,000||6d8-5
|-
|7||55,000||-
|-
|8||110,000||7d8-5
|-
|9||220,000||+2 Hit Points
|-
|Subsequent||160,000||+2 Hit Points
|}
</div></div>

===AD&D===
Goblins went on to appear in [[The Complete Book of|The Complete Book of Humanoids]]:
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::Ability Score Modifiers: -1 Strength, -1 Charisma
::Ability Score Range: Strength 4/15, Dexterity 4/17, Constitution 5/16, Intelligence 3/18, Wisdom 3/18, Charisma 3/12
::Class Restrictions: [[Fighter]] 10, [[Cleric]] 9, Shaman 7, Witch Doctor 7, [[Thief]] 12
::Infravision 60 feet
::Can detect new or unusual constructions in an underground area with a 25% chance of success (1-2 on a d8).
::Goblin shamans have access to the Spheres of Divination, Reversed Healing, Protection and Reversed Sun.
::-1 Penalty to their attack rolls when in bright sunshine
::Monstrous Traits: Appearance (-2 to to reaction rolls), Bestial Habits (-2 to reaction rolls)
::Weapon Proficiencies: Axe, Military Pick, Morning Star Sling, Short Sword, Spear
::Nonweapon Proficiencies: Alertness, Animal Handling, Animal Training (Worg), Begging, Chanting, Close-Quarter Fighting, Fast-Talking, Fortune Telling, Hiding, Hunting, Information Gathering, Looting, Mining, Religion, Riding (Worg), Set Snares
</div></div>

===3e Stats===
In 3rd edition, goblins appeared as an NPC race in the [[Monster Manual]] and were made fully playable in [[Forgotten Realms: Races of Faerun]]. They were reprinted without change in a few books after that.

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::-2 Strenth, +2 Dexterity, -2 Charisma
::Small
::Humanoid ([[Goblinoid]])
::Base speed 30 feet
::Darkvision 60 feet
::+4 racial bonus on Move Silently and Ride checks
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Rogue]]
</div></div>

===4e Stats===
Like in 3e, the goblin appeared as a PC class in the [[Monster Manual]] for 4th edition. However, like all such races in 4e, its statblok there was...serviceable, but underwhelming. However, one of the last sourcebooks of that edition to be published, "The Dungeon Survival Handbook", brought them back as an official race, and boy were they beefy!

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<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
::+2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom OR +2 Charisma
::Small
::Speed 6 squares
::Low-light vision
::+2 Bluff, +2 Stealth
::Goblin Reflexes: +1 to Reflex defense.
::Racial Power - Goblin Tactics: At will, as an immediate reaction to being missed by an enemy melee attack, you can shift 1 square.
</div></div>

The biggest boost that the DSHb gave, besides the flexible mental ability score boost, was a selection of racial feats and racial utility powers, both of which really strengthened the goblin's mechanics and thematics.

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%"> Click "Expand" to see the list of goblin racial traits
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
''Goblin Racial Feats:''
* Ankle Biter: +1 feat bonus per tier to damage rolls vs. creatures larger than you, +1d6 damage on critical hits against creatures larger than you.
* Desperate Goblin Tactics: When bloodied, Goblin Tactics lets you shift 3 squares.
* Goblin Feint: When you use Goblin Tactics, you gain Combat Advantage against the triggering enemy until the end of your next turn.
* Shadowcreeper: Requires [[Assassin]] class. When you use Goblin Tactics, you shift 2 squares and gain Partial Concealment until the end of your next turn.
* Sneaky Stabber: Requires [[Rogue]] class. When you deal Sneak Attack damage to an adjacent foe, reroll any damage rolls of 1 until you get a result higher than 1.
* Wrist Biter: When you use Goblin Tactics, the triggering enemy takes 1d4 damage per your character's tier before you shift.

''Goblin Racial Utility Powers:''
* Fast Filch: At-will. When adjacent to a creature granting combat advantage, as a minor action, you can make a Thievery check to pick its pocket or perform sleight of hand. Level 2.
* Leg Up: Encounter. When adjacent to a creature, as a move action, you can jump your speed horizontally or up to 10 feet vertically. Level 2.
* Little Green Lie: Encounter. If you fail a Bluff, Diplomacy or Intimidate check, you can re-roll the check as a free action. If it was a Diplomacy or Intimidate check, you can use your Bluff modifier instead. Level 2.
* Living Shield: Encounter. If you are hit by an enemy melee or ranged attack whilst adjacent to an ally, as an immediate interrupt, you can shift 1 square and transfer the hit to that ally. Level 6.
* Unwitting Guardian: Encounter. When adjacent to a Medium or larger creature, as a move action, you can can shift 1 square to enter the target's space, occupying it until the end of your next turn and being hidden from all creatures except the target. Level 6.
* Down and Through: Encounter. As a move action, choose a Medium or larger enemy adjacent to you and shift up to 5 squares to a different square adjacent to that creature; you can move through its space during this shift. Level 10.
</div></div>

===5e Stats===
Finally, goblins appeared as a PC race in 5th edition's Volo's Guide to Monsters. Like their fellow [[goblinoid]]s, the [[kobold]], the [[orc]] and the [[Yuan-ti]], they were officially described as "unbalanced", which has earned a lot of fan flak, as this is literally an open invitation for more close-minded DMs to refuse goblin PCs - goblin fans are still hoping that WotC will eventually put out a splatbook with a "more official" and/or balanced version of goblin PC stats. Ironically, they were better off than the poor kobold.

Hopes of a reboot were shattered when the Guildmaster's Guide to [[Ravnica]] came out in November 2018; whilst earlier [[Plane Shift]] articles had presented an alternative goblin statblock, the GGR simply reprinted the Volo's Guide stats below.

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<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
::+2 Dexterity, +1 Constitution
::Small
::Speed 30 feet
::Darkvision 60 feet
::Fury of the Small: Once per short or long rest, when you inflict damage with an attack or spell on a creature larger than you, inflict bonus damage equal to your level as you attack from below, probably punching the enemy in the balls.
::Nimble Escape: You can take the Disengage or Hide action as a bonus action on each of your turns.
</div></div>

Surprisingly enough, after a second reprint in Eberron: Rising, the children’s “activity book” Adventure with Muk gave an alternative playable writeup, specifically for the Dankwood Goblins featured. All this does though is raise +1 Wis instead of +1 Con, and replaces Fury of the Small for the Forest Gnome’s Speak with Small Beasts, letting them communicate simple ideas to Small beasts and smaller. Which is nice for the utility, I guess.

As mentioned above, [[Plane Shift]] featured alternative goblin stats first - two separate versions, in fact. Whether they are better than the official versions is a matter of debate, though...

;[[Zendikar]]
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<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
::+2 Constitution
::Small
::Speed 25 feet
::Darkvision 60 feet
::Grit: You have Resistance to Fire and Psychic damage, your Unarmored AC is 11 + Dexterity modifier.
::Tribal Affinity: Choose either the Grotag Tribe (you have Proficiency in Animal Handling), the Lavastep Tribe (you have Advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks made in rocky or subterranean environments) or the Tuktuk Tribe (you have Proficiency with Thieves Tools).
</div></div>

;[[Ixalan]]
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<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
::+2 Dexterity
::Small
::Speed 25 feet, Climb 25 feet
::Darkvision 60 feet
::Climber: You have a Climb speed of 25 feet if you are not encumbered or wearing either medium armor or heavy armor.
</div></div>

====3rd Party Settings====
;[[World of Farland]]
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<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
::Ability Score Increase: +2 Dexterity
::Size: Small
::Speed: 30 feet
::Darkvision 60 feet
::Goblin Proficiencies: You are proficient with the Scimitar, Shortbow, and Light Armor.
::Nimble Escape: This is basically the same as the trait of the same name from 5e canon, except this version can only be used once per short rest.
::Subrace: Choose the Urban Goblin or Subterranean Goblin.
</div></div>

''Urban Goblin''
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::Ability Score Increase: +1 Constitution
::Urban Stealth: You have Proficiency in Stealth and apply twice your Proficiency bonus, rounded down, when making Stealth checks in Urban environments.
::Tenacious: After failing a saving throw, a skill check, or an ability check, you gain Advantage the next time that you make a save or check using that same ability score. This trait lasts until used or 24 hours have passed.
</div></div>

''Subterranean Goblin''
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<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Wisdom
::Dungeon Stealth: You have Proficiency in Stealth and apply twice your Proficiency bonus, rounded down, when making Stealth checks in subterranean environments.
::Pious: You have Proficiency in the Religion skill.
::Improved Darkvision: Your Darkvision increases to 120 feet.
</div></div>

===Pathfinder===
Of course the [[Pathfinder]] ruleset included Goblins, and tweaked them up a bit from their third edition version by giving them more dexterity. By Paizo's own reckoning, this puts their overall Race Points (RP) on a par with the other PC races, so should be a viable option for players, even if it is a bit uninspired.

Pathfinder did considerably more to support Goblins as a usable race, for both players and DMs. An entire splatbook was dedicated to their place in Golarion, while they were also included in the Advanced Race Guide and had additional options in the Monster Codex, allowing for a respectable variety in race trait customisations, giving them things like bite attacks, perceptions boosts, weapon familiarity, among others; the ability to create a medium-sized goblin who is not a [[Hobgoblin]] (their secret is morbid obesity); a bunch of racial feats; and a handful of dedicated class archetypes, including [[Alchemist]]s with [[Awesome|flying mount companions]].

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::-2 Strength, +4 Dexterity, -2 Charisma
::Small
::Humanoid ([[Goblinoid]])
::Base speed 30 feet
::Darkvision 60 feet
::+4 racial bonus on Ride and Stealth checks
</div></div>

=[[Half-Goblin]]s=
Given the strong connections between goblins and [[orc]]s in some settings, particularly in [[Dungeons & Dragons]]' older editions, and the existence of [[half-orc]]s, one may ask if there's ever been any love give to half-goblins? Well, ironically, not really; though [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] claimed that [[goblinoid]]s interbred with each other and with orcs all the time, that fluff was lost after the change to 3rd edition, which wanted to try and make the two races distinct. As for goblin/human crossbreeding? Forget about it; they barely gave half-orcs any love, so you can imagine they'd be less than interested in half-goblins.

Except... there was one setting where [[goblinoid]]s took the place of orcs. In the [[Dragonlance]] setting, orcs don't exist, being replaced by goblins and [[draconian]]s, and so the half-goblin appeared there in 3.5's Races of Ansalon sourcebook. Surprisingly, they're known for both being very self-confident and assured (in fact, their Charisma penalty is described as stemming from coming across as ''too'' confident, making them seem overbearing or aggressive), in contrast to the propensity for wangsting endemic to half-orcs and half-elves in other settings, very brave (in contrast to the traditional goblin cowardice) and with a drive to be peacemakers and diplomats, rather like half-elves. Essentially, rather than bitching about being rejected by both worlds (human and goblin) or about the lack of a "true" half-goblin culture, half-goblins are near-universally driven to try and force the world to shape up and make a culture for them, by bringing goblins and humans to work together in peace. Which is actually kind of badass, and certainly a change from the norms for half-breeds. In essence, they're said to combine human ambition and drive with goblin ferocity and mob mentality.

Half-goblins are described as looking more or less like human-sized goblins; half-bugbears might be particularly hairy, and half-"common" goblins shorter than average, but still within the human stature. Although this stature can lead to them being mistaken for [[hobgoblin]]s, they apparently lack quite as many fangs and have more human-like eyes, which makes the difference obvious enough at a closer look.

=[[Magic: The Gathering]]=
{{Topquote|Goblins are eager to follow orders, especially when those orders involve stealing, hurting, annoying, eating, destroying or swearing.|''Krenko's Command'' flavour text}}

It should be no surprise that Goblins appear in Magic. Showing up in the very first set, Goblins have risen to be one of the most popular tribes in the game, and boy do they get a ton of support. They are known as the "characteristic" species of red, which means that they show up in pretty much every plane as the default red-aligned race. In fact, the number of planes in which goblins do not appear on can be counted on one hand. In general, when goblins show up, they are shown to be chaotic and unruly. They almost always have green or red skin, and travel in large groups, though this isn't always the case. On [[Ixalan]], they look more like monkeys with white fur and black skin, and tend to be individualistic. They love fire and scrapping together machines and weapons that should by no stretch of the means work, but they do. More often than not, these inventions require the sacrifice of another goblin to get it working properly.

As a tribe, goblins often have small bodies and weak frames. When they show up with high power, it's usually at the cost of toughness. They are cheap to get out onto the battlefield, cheap to search up, and attack fast. They are perfect for aggressive red strategies, and they often come with ways to dump out even more goblins out onto the field. This usually comes in the form of goblin creature tokens, but some of the most powerful goblins let you dump them straight from your hand! If you don't wipe the board, or take out the few key goblins holding the deck together, you can expect the battlefield to be swarming with the little guys, and you'll be losing fast.

Goblins aren’t always evil in MtG settings. Usually they’re more of a footnote that don’t even appear in any actual stories, and on cards they’re often portrayed as more destructive than outright evil; picture an entire race whose approach to warfare is indistinguishable from an audition for Jackass. There are occasional appearances of Goblins in less chaotic contexts such as Boros Recruit, which depicts a Goblin footman. Mirrodin offers the biggest example of a heroic Goblin, with the forest Elf main character of the first block having a companion named Slobad who was an elderly Goblin machinist.

=[[Warcraft]]=

{{Topquote|Every great goblin invention was born from necessity, bubble gum, or an accident.|Goblin adage}}

Goblins are a staple race in the Warcraft franchise. They have green skin, are very short, have long and strong fingers, long noses, large pointy ears, and sharp teeth.

In Warcraft 2, when the game expanded to more than just Humans, Orcs, Ogres, and Demons, Goblins were first mentioned. They were small mechanically-inclinded lunatics who invented great devices and were god-tier chemists. They offered their services to the Horde since it gave them more opportunities to wreak havoc and the races that would come to be those of the Alliance had ignored them for their entire history.
The Goblins mainly performed recon and VIP transport for the Horde via their Zeppelins, demolitions in the form of suicide Sapper squads, the invention of airtight missile-launching capsules that were tied to the backs of giant turtles to use as submarines, and finally experimenting on their Forest Troll allies to transform them into giant Berserkers. In secret they also helped the resident Sauron, an insane evil dragon named Deathwing, in his various endeavors. Goblins were described as insane, sadistic, and greedy for gold.

In Warcraft 3, Goblins became a neutral group. It was revealed only a small portion of the Goblin race actually worked with the Horde, while the others have always provided their services to anyone with gold to spend and after the fall of the first Horde they have enforced that their own race remain entirely neutral to all factions. They did little of importance other than provide transportation for the various power players in this time.
When the second Horde was building their capital of Durotar, a small number of Goblins lead by world famous Gazlowe provided them with fair deals (which is itself a big deal for their race) for Goblin services including demolition.

In vanilla World of Warcraft, Goblin lore expanded even further; a small number of Goblins were seen in the Alliance, some among the Horde, while it was revealed almost the entirety of their race dwell on an island called Kezan which has a massive underground city called the Undermine. The Cartels run Kezan, the most powerful of which is the Steamwheedle Cartel which performs the basic services offered in Warcraft 3. They maintain a few cities around the world including Ratchet (Gazlowe's city nearby Durotar), Booty Bay (a port which services anyone who reaches it, mainly pirates although they are just as much at threat from pirate attack), Gadgetzan (a desert city of scum and villainy, plus a small gladiatorial arena), and Everlook (a town high in the mountains of Kalimdor near by ancient magical Elf ruins).

Goblins have a racial rivalry with the other mechanically minded race, [[Gnomes]], although hostility varies from giant robot wars to having a giant racetrack where they see which race can build the best vehicles to next-door neighbors who collaborate with each other on inventions and take any opportunity to try and make the other admit their philosophy is better. In general, the Goblin philosophy is "Chemicals, 50% chance of exploding is acceptable, build it fast, what we’re really here to make is big bucks people!" while the Gnomish philosophy is "Magic and radiation, 10% chance of turning anything from your hair a different color to your entire self into a chicken is acceptable, take your time and spend decades if need be, do it all for the love of knowledge and invention".

In Cataclysm, Goblins recieved a MAJOR update as they became a player race. One of the cartels which was one of the weaker ones (having their section of Kezan entirely on the surface, mainly producing pop culture, cars, sports, and edibles) joined the Horde after Deathwing set their portion of Kezan on fire (since in the middle of a not-football game a ball was kicked and hit him). Their trade prince sold the entire Cartel into slavery after charging them all their possessions for supposedly safe passage off the island, and the ships were caught in a naval battle between the Horde and Alliance. After conquering the island, they then joined the Horde which was in the middle of becoming a fascist genocidal dictatorship again thanks to shit leaders (also, their trade prince got to keep his job despite the mess he caused). They quickly upgraded the Horde from catapults to giant robots and from bow and arrow to machineguns, then created their own new capital by completely renovating a huge chunk of the continent into the symbol of the Horde complete with a Mount Rushmore of their racial leader.
During the Kezan levels it was also revealed that Goblins have become multicultural, taking on things previously alien to them like worship of the light and shamanism (although the former is seen as a combination of medic and television evangelism, while the latter is perceived as cutting deals with nature). Kezan is very modern and has television, pop stars, sunglasses, champagne, fancy cars, neon lights, not-Chinese food, electricity and lightbulbs, and many other conveniences not seen elsewhere in the rest of the Renaissance setting outside the homeland of the Gnomes.

Goblin origins were also explained. In ancient times, Goblins were a semi-intelligent race of monkeys which were enslaved by Island Trolls and forced to mine a substance called Kajamite. Kajamite has a side-effect of causing a huge boost to intelligence (although not coherent thought) in anyone who imbibes it, and one day the Troll slavemasters entered the mines to whip their tiny laborers and were disintegrated with laser beams. Since then, the Goblins have mined Kajamite and used it as an ingredient in ingestibles of all kinds (including "Kaja-cola") although their supply was beginning to run out, and there was fear they may regress back to being mere monkeys without it. Like most Cataclysm plots, this was never brought up again, although there were hints that with the Kaja-cola that was left everywhere they go, that monkeys drinking it have started becoming intelligent as well.

Goblins in Warcraft 2 had extremely squeaky, high-pitched voices and tended to babble or shriek. In Warcraft 3 the shrillness of the voice was lessened, and they became more calm and coherent. The Goblins in World of Warcraft still have a voice that is higher-pitched than a human, although only slightly more for males while gaining something of an American Brooklyn accent. The non-Bilgewater Goblins still speak in their Brooklyn accent or a general American accent, whereas the Bilgewater Goblins speak like they're from New Jersey both in accent and expression.

<gallery>
Image:GoblinZeppelin.png|A Goblin Zeppelin pilot in Warcraft 2.
Image:GoblinSappers 2.jpg|Goblin Sappers in Warcraft 2.
Image:Goblin Sappers.jpg|Warcraft 3 Goblin Sappers.
Image:Goblin Tinker WX.png|Warcraft 3 Goblin Tinker.
Image:WoW Goblin Fem.jpg|World of Warcraft female Goblin player characters.
Image:Warcraft Goblin Player Male.jpg|World of Warcraft male Goblin player characters.
Image:GOBLINS AND GNOMES.jpg|Goblin/Gnome rivalry.
Image:Kezan.png|The Bilgewater portion of Kezan.
Image:Goblin Easter.png|Goblins are into holidays in a big way, either as a business conspiracy or over-enthusiasm.
Image:Goblin femSapper.jpg
</gallery>

=[[Goblin Slayer]]=

{{Topquote|Before the demons destroy the world, the goblins will destroy the villages. The world being in danger isn't an excuse to let the goblins live.|The slayer himself}}

[[Skarsnik|The said goblin in this manga while being a weak, tiny and barbaric humanoid is capable of many unorthodox tactics and teamwork that they could outplay and murder low level adventurers numerous times, whom the said adventurers underestimate the cunning goblins]]. They are barbaric primitives so they have to loot tools. However, they are capable of some degree of intelligence, like using signs like totems to create distractions as well as cover their weapons with urine and poisonous herbs to not only prevent adventurers from healing themselves, but also mark them with scents for goblins have an acute sense of smell. While they use mercenaries and pets such as wolves and orcs to further boost their effectiveness, the biggest contributors of their horde are their red shirt goblin goons, who are weak, small, but expendable and effective while attacking in groups. The horde is often led by a goblin mage that is capable of casting spells like fireball.

Oh, and this being Japan, they're sadists native to the moon who have only one gender and use females of other races to reproduce; given their brutal nature, it's done via rape. What the hell else would you read this shit for?

=Troll 2 Goblins=
The notorious movie Troll 2 infamously [[Irony|features no actual trolls]]<ref>Nor any connection to its purported prequel, ''Troll'' from 1986, which is a fascinatingly bad movie in itself. Troll 1 features a surprisingly strong cast and a pair of protagonists both named "[[Harry Potter]]" (Sr. and Jr.), among a great deal of other weirdness unrelated to its "sequels". Further, there have been ''two'' movies released as "Troll 3", neither of which has a [[troll]], nor much connection to either Troll 1 or 2 or each other (one purported Troll 3 features a "hobgoblin" and the other features killer trees). And then there was a semi-official sequel to Troll 2 called "Goblin 2" (Troll 2 being originally filmed under the title "Goblins") that actually featured a [[troll]] (and no actual goblins). But enough about other filmmakers' [[Pun|Trolling]] of audiences.</ref>. It instead features goblins (thus, its presence in this article), who live in the town of Nilbog ("Its Goblin backwards!"), and who, for the purposes of this movie, are vegetarian monsters who turn their human victims into plants via various potions and other concoctions. (The writer/director was an Italian with ''issues'', okay?)

That being said, the Troll 2 goblins are worth mentioning just because "vegetarian monsters who convert their prey into plants" is a fairly good line for "just how weird you can go with goblins", and also a good adventure seed that could be used for a minor [[World of Darkness]] mystery baddie.

=Monstergirl Depictions=
{{Monstergirls}}
[[Image:Goblin_Bar_Wench.png|thumb|200px|"Hey sugar, what'll you be having? Tonight's special is already served to your table."]]

{{Topquote|You can [...] design them so unexpectedly attractive that it'll make people question if they discovered a new fetish, or if it was there all along and this was just its awakening.|JoCat, ''A Crap Guide to D&D - Goblins''}}

Traditionally, the idea of goblins being [[monstergirls]] was something of a niche, at best; most thought of them as just hideous, stupid, filthy little monsters - who would want to put their dicks in that?

Ironically, it was [[Warcraft]] that probably first sowed the seeds of female goblins being fuggable; whilst the attractiveness of female goblins in that game is contentious, people must admit that they were better-looking than the tumor-riddled, snaggle-toothed, scarred abominations that made up the canon depictions of most goblins prior to that. They were certainly attractive enough to start scoring [[Rule 34]] artwork, and this became a revelation to fa/tg/uys: that goblin-girls did ''not'' have to be fugly!

From there, goblin-girls became an underground sensation, slowly developing and evolving in the steamier underbelly of /tg/ and on /d/ (or at least its "western counterpart" /aco/) until they have become as mainstream in the /tg/ fandom as any monstergirl has a chance of being. When brought up, expect the occasional joking argument on whether it should be standard for female goblins to be referred to as "goblettes".

Because goblins vary so widely in their depictions, it shouldn't be surprising that goblin-girls likewise have been a particularly fertile ground for interpretations. There are five "mainstream" depictions of the goblin-as-monstergirl you will probably encounter on /tg/, and many different sub-forms and cross-pollinations. All depend on which of the various "goblin aspects" a creator deigns to focus on; tinker skills, short-sighted hedonism, mischievousness, propensity towards rapaciousness, and/or fertility:

* The "Pervy Tinker" archetype directly traces its roots back to Warcraft's Rule 34'd goblins: this envisions goblins as a "techy" race with a strong lewd streak, leading to them focusing their mad science skills on coming up with newer and more deviant ways of getting off. Depending on the fundamental tech level of the setting and the creator's own tastes, this can range from aphrodisiac gas grenades and crystal-powered sybians, to [[golem]]s built as living sex engines, bimbofying/transforming [[magitek]] rayguns, and vat-grown tentacle monster pets. Rule 34 interpretations of World of Warcraft lore can be counted as this, as well as rare goblins in Corruption of Champions that are mentally stable enough to keep their panties on while in a lab.
* The "Shameless Slut" archetype likewise has its roots in Warcraft goblins, vis-a-vis their canonical obsession with money, but is perhaps one of the more widely known "generic" archetypes as well. These goblins are hedonists who take a great deal of pride in their libido and their love of pleasure, integrating with the other races and usually gravitating towards roles based on "entertaining"; from barmaids to outright prostitutes. In fact, they are often depicted as actively enjoying whoring themselves out, as it ensures a steady stream of partners and profit, whilst sating their perverse and degrading sexual desires. These goblin-girls are often size-queens, specifically choosing partners based on the stature of their masculine organs. The adult comic artist Incase is fond on this archetype, and might as well have codified it with his drawings.
* The "Mischief Maker" archetype is the most innocent of the archetypes; portraying goblins as just playful, fun-loving hedonists whose greatest aims in life are pranking, partying, and making love, not necessarily in that order. This archetype is the closest to a pornified parallel of the old "civil goblins are just green-painted Halflings/Gnomes" canard, as the latter two in porn tend to also be found in whimsical depictions of normalized-sex communes. These goblins are still generally less sentimental with their "free love" compared to them, but are significantly less transactional than the Shameless variety, and derive plenty of pleasure out of teasing their paramours.
* The "Savage Slut" archetype is perhaps the oldest of the archetypes, as it owes its origins to the original interchangeability of goblin and [[orc]]. These goblins are basically sexy "savages"; wild and primal little monstergirls who live a primitive lifestyle centered on hunting, playing, and of course capturing & having sex with men. Essentially, this depicts goblins as [[shortstack]] or [[loli|"a loophole for masturbating to underage children"]] orcs. Kenkou Cross' Monster Girl Encyclopedia is squarely focused on this aspect.
* The "Breederphile" archetype is, in comparison, probably the youngest of these archetypes. These goblins are defined by their racial pregnancy fetishism, and by having bodies almost literally built to breed. Being impregnated is intensely orgasmic, pregnancy either fills them with bliss, makes them incredibly horny, or both, birth is a series of some of the most intense orgasms of their lives, and social standing revolves around how many daughters they have to boss around. {{BLAM|+++...SCANNING...+++}} {{BLAM|+++Congratulations Neophyte, you have just weathered the single worst psychic assault a slaaneshi daemon is capable of unleashing; you may now be promoted into the ranks of the [[Grey Knights]].+++}} This archetype does make some sense if you think about it: after all, as a 'cannon fodder' species for PCs, where do all the Goblins come from? Corruption of Champions might as well have pioneered this archetype.
* The "Ghetto Goblin", while not part of the "five aspects" breakdown, has a decent-sized backlog of smut and is unique enough to be worth an honorable mention. This variant of goblin-girl portrayal is native to [[Urban Fantasy]] settings. Mostly played as a watered-down mix of the "Shameless Slut" and "Breederphile" archetypes (the "water" in this case being some occasionally-awkward racial coding), Ghetto Goblins tend to be used as an attempt at a less-overtly-offensive repackaging of old "hot-blooded Latina" or "Ghetto Black Girl" racial stereotypes in that they are: sexually open, tend toward foul language and fiery tempers when angry and lewd vocalizing or body-language when aroused or teasing others, frequently dressed provocatively, and very often have a pronounced species/raceplay kink. While breeding for the Ghetto Goblin isn't usually as erotic as it is for the Breederphile, the social status of the Ghettoblin is often measured by how many offspring they have, how often they have sex, and how early they first had sex. They arouse easily, to the point that human men in their stories often need to talk Ghetto Goblins out of outright molesting them openly in public, not helped by the often-added detail of humans and goblins being very sensitive to each other's pheromones. As you can imagine, this is mostly a niche community depiction. More precisely, it was codified and achieved popularity on [[/aco/]] based almost entirely on the output of one prolific writefag.

Whilst these archetypes are certainly well known and defined, there are also two setting-specific depictions of goblin monstergirls that have achieved enough recognition to be recognizable by name; the MGE Goblin and the CoC Goblin.

The [[Monster Girl Encyclopedia]] depiction of the goblin is essentially a mashup of the Mischief Maker and the Savage Slut archetypes. These primitive mamono live in tribal clusters, entertaining themselves by playing pranks on each other or the races around them, hunting game, and conducting banditry for fun, profit, and boyfriends. In appearance, they resemble pointy-eared human [[loli]]s with horns and superhuman strength, allowing them to fight with weapons that only a strong human man would normally have a chance of lifting. Simple-minded and carefree, they have no intention of giving up the lifestyle they so enjoy.

The CoC Goblin takes its name from Corruption of Champions, a [[/d/|hentai]] fantasy text adventure game that was popular on /tg/ for a while, before the fact that [[furries]] are much more willing to put money where their mouth is when it comes to getting fetishistic shit done led to the inevitable flooding of the game with [[beastfolk]] waifus and encounters and /tg/ promptly banished it. Still, before it went under, it had a significant impact on the goblin-girl arena: CoC may not have created the idea of the Breederphile archetype, but it certainly brought it to the attention of what passes for /tg/ mainstream. CoC's goblins are Breederphiles who became a pregnancy-obsessed all-female race due to succubus-corruption in their water supply. Once a brilliant race of alchemists and inventors, they have since devolved into a Savage Slut culture, living in crude tribes based on a massively curvy matriarch, her husband(s), and as many daughters as she can make who are willing to stick around - whilst goblins are fiercely competitive with each other, there is also safety in numbers, keeping them from being eaten by [[hellhound]]s or raped/beaten to death by [[minotaur]]s. Such clans are often notably inbred, for their corruption means they have little sense of objection to incest, with only the matriarch's jealous possessiveness in regards to her husband keeping her daughters at bay. They're also examples of the Pervy Tinker archetype, using what remains of their former knack for invention to create sex toys and perverse alchemical concoctions for use in subduing husbands and molding them to their liking.

One memorable goblin monstergirl is Zanik from [[RuneScape]]. Zanik is a badass female goblin adventurer who is the star of one of the game's major story arcs, wherein she helps the player save her tribe of technologically advanced goblins from a KKK-like cult of racist humans and then from an evil god of war who wants to take back control of her tribe. Fans of the game were so mad when the developers killed her off unfairly (and also gave her a graphical update that made her extra-ugly) that they later brought her back with a cuter redesign (though now fans complain that her new look is ''too'' cute).

Incidentally, one of the first modern references to a sexy Goblin monster girl may be, of all things, a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NwPJo4ysXI Frank Zappa song].

<gallery>
Image:Cute_Goblin_Adventurer.jpg
Image:Goblin_Dancer.jpg
Image:Goblin_Adventurer_1.png
Image:Goblin_Monk_1.jpg
Image:Goblin_Shamaness_1.jpg
Image:Goblin_Shamaness_2.jpg
File:MGE Goblin.jpg|When Lolis go after predators.
File:ZanikFanRedesign.jpeg|Zanik's graphical overhaul was so bad one dude decided to [[Get shit done|salvage it himself]].
</gallery>

=Gallery=
<gallery>
Image:Sneaky Goblin.gif
Image:Goblin Knight.JPG|A more "player character" variety.
Image:GreenGoblin3.jpg|Most goblins tend to [[Alchemist|throw pumpkin bombs]] and use flying crafts to annoy [[/co/|superheroes]].
</gallery>

=See also=
* [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition races]]
* [[Unified Setting/Goblins]] Yet another take on a classic concept.
* [[Goblin Slayer]], a man with a serious beef against goblins.
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqx4ywmqYUw The most common reaction to Goblins]
* [[Goblinoid]], for the extended goblin family.
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLLHu8qtxjg Rare footage of a Goblin ritual. Purpose unknown.]

{{D&D1e-Races}}
{{D&D2e-Races}}
{{D&D4e-Races}}
{{D&D5e-Races}}
{{Pathfinder-Races}}
{{Starfinder-Races}}
[[Category:Kings of War]][[Category:Monsters]]
[[Category: Goblin]]

Goblin

2022-09-10T18:40:49Z

2600:1003:B13E:3DDE:C13C:2E61:E1A:73C0: /* Monstergirl Depictions */

[[File:Path Gob Rat.PNG|thumb|right|300px|Brushy brushy.]]

{{Topquote|I want to have goblins about me, for I am courageous. The courage which scareth away ghosts, createth for itself goblins--it wanteth to laugh.|Friedrich Nietzsche, ''Thus Spoke Zarathustra''}}

'''Goblins''' are mythological creatures of unclear origin and contradicting descriptions, but are generally agreed to be small humanoids with a mischievous nature, possibly belonging to the fey family (along with creatures such as redcaps, brownies, leprechauns, kobolds, etc).

The origin of the word "Goblin" can be traced back to the British "Gobelinus", which was the name of a demon that once caused trouble in Normandy. It has been theorized the term began with [[Kobold]], which was a German Fey spirit whose origins can be traced to one of a variety of earlier myths based in Paganism from various other cultures. Kobolds also gave their name to cobalt, due to the fact that new advances of mining in Germany during the Middle Ages allowed access to large amounts of that ore, but the mining was very dangerous, they had no idea how to smelt the metal, and it turned out to be toxic to touch, so as a result the numerous mine collapses as well as the "theft of the ore, with only poison and ash left behind" were blamed on Kobolds cursing the new metal. Either way, Goblin myths often involve mischief, mining, and chemistry.

In modern fantasy, the term "Goblin" has been very much defined by the Tolkienian conception of the word - as in a species of stunted humanoids in service to evil ("Orc" was another name for said species, with Tolkien claiming the etymology of ''that'' word as being an old English term for demon). Goblin appearance has been further shaped by both video- and boardgames, as well as various artists. They are universally smaller than humans, although the exact size varies, and often have large pointy ears (larger, wider/triangular, and more animalistic than elf ears) and either long, crooked, and pointed noses (For DnD goblins, a large or otherwise impressive nose is a sign of virility and attractiveness in a male) or orc-esque noseless features.

The basic goblin stereotype is that of a savage warrior and raider that attacks villages and ambushes unwary travelers; being one-dimensionally evil, they can be (and often are) killed without remorse in large numbers (unless you read Eberron, G:LTTE, or Terry Pratchett's Snuff). They act and move in small groups (as they don't pose a large threat by themselves but are wary enough of human reprisals to avoid mass hordes that will bestir an army to mobilize and wipe them all out), and are commonly the first true monster encounter for a young adventurer (most don't count animal culling even if said animals are unnaturally enhanced, such as the [[Giant Rat]]). Goblins tend to live in caves, swamps, or other "badlands", and gang up with orcs and similar races, with whom they are sometimes described as belonging to the same family or species. Their intelligence is usually fairly low, although among dumber and larger brutes they will be the clever ones doing the "skilled" work while the bigger ones shout orders.

A lesser but definitely competing Goblin stereotype is that they are an unusually technologically advanced and ludicrously smart/cunning race on par with if not better than [[Dwarves]], such as by creating fantasy machine guns or an entire robot army in Warcraft or Dungeon Siege, though usually with the handicap of being very blasé about construction- or even user-safety, as well as being consummate merchants; Tinker Goblins will gleefully sell or contract out to a wannabe evil conquerer, but almost never become one themselves. If you couldn’t tell from the examples given, this was really more of video game trope for a long time; goblins in tabletop were sometimes described as oddly industrious, but until recent years it never extended beyond a joke gimmick or the occasional war machine pulled right out of their green asses just to give the PCs/Good Races a hard time in a campaign/lore battle.

Because of the comedy potential, players have always liked being goblins, and they were one of the three most-popular races requested for an add-on to 5e as of a (no longer) recent survey.

[[Goblinoid]]s include a vast array of species in D&D, ranging from obscurities like the stone-skinned [[Norker]]s and the "they heal when you hit them, die if you heal them" [[Nilbog]]s to mainstays like the more organized [[Hobgoblin]]s and the big, scary, pseudo-[[orcs]] called [[Bugbear]]s.

=In /tg/ Media=
In the [[Iron Kingdoms]] and [[Magic: The Gathering]] (sometimes), goblins have a penchant for technology and love to tinker with machinery (especially steampunk contraptions and the like), somewhat propagating the "mad scientist" archetype.

In [[Kings of War]] goblins are still a source of evil comic relief. They're often suggested to have been created by the [[Celestians (Kings of War)|Celestian]] Garkhan the Black after he finished creating the orcs with "whatever was left," although where exactly they came from is a mystery. They're still engineers as in many settings, but they tend to be very short-term thinking and don't like to test things before they use them.

In [[Eberron]], goblins are quite a bit different than their usual portrayal, described in the d&d section below

In [[Pathfinder]], they're stupid little freaks with all manner of strange quirks (good singing voices, fear horses and writing, like fire and pickles), sort of a cross between Gremlins and a baby-eating Stitch. They are also very funny and (somewhat) lovable, and even have their own comic series. Surprisingly, despite being described as naturally inclined towards a mixture of [[Chaotic Stupid]] (easily distractable to the point of stopping combat ''mid-swing'' to chase a frog or pick their nose) and [[Stupid Evil]] (love of torturing anything smaller than them) behaviors, they have no mental penalties. Pathfinder also has a goblin variant called the Monkey Goblin, which is even ''stupider'' than regular goblins, but much stronger and more agile, using a rat-like prehensile tail to aid it in a life in the trees.

In [[Malifaux]], they're noseless hillbillies with very few womanfolk called Gremlins complete with straw hats, jug bands, blunderbusses, and lots of pigs. Also come in an Asian variant.

=Tolkien Goblins=
[[File:Tolkien Goblins.JPG|thumb|The most accepted origin of Goblins in the Middle Earth setting.]]

{{Topquote|Now goblins are cruel, wicked, and bad-hearted. They make no beautiful things, but they make many clever ones.|J.R.R. Tolkien, ''The Hobbit''}}

Tolkien was not consistent on the relationship between goblins and orcs. Initially he said that "Goblin" was merely the halfling word for Orc, though that was swiftly contradicted. The main narrative text of <i>The Hobbit</i> contains few explicit mentions of orcs at all; it is remarked early on that the name of the sword "Orcrist" translates, in the ancient tongue of Gondolin, to "goblin cleaver", and later Gandalf rebuffs Bilbo's suggestion that the Company walk ''around'' Mirkwood instead of through it by informing him that there is a necromancer's lair to the south and to the north the Grey Mountains are "bristling with hobgoblins and orcs of large and viscous breed". LotR proper and later notes made further statements insinuating that goblins were a specific subtype of orc. Even later notes started to treat goblins and orcs like completely separate creatures, so take your pick, but the most "developed" canon leans significantly towards the "goblins are a runty orc subspecies" reading. Generally, since The Hobbit is the central foundation to his stories and it makes a point of explaining that Orcs are just larger types of Goblins, along with Lord Of The Rings having most Orcs as being not much bigger than Hobbits, Goblins are seen as around Hobbit-sized or even a bit smaller.

Goblins/Orcs have a multiplicity of origin stories from Tolkien and he never really settled on one definitively, although the most prominent one posits that they are the twisted forms of Elves tortured and beat into submission by Morgoth and Sauron. Other origins include: an Asian group of Elves stolen from their people and bred as slaves by Morgoth & Sauron, just being animals uplifted by M&S, fallen Maiar, men who were corrupted rather than Elves (or a mix of the two, with post-corruption interbreeding with humans as yet another possibility), or even just slimy rocks transformed by Morgoth's magic into living beings. Regardless of how they came about, once created they swiftly became the backbone of Sauron's armies (his other monstrous creations mostly not surviving the dwindling of magic over the passing Ages) that are heavily industrialized and produce only ugly things that cause sickness (perhaps a metaphor for wartime industry). On the subject of canon; Christopher Tolkien ultimately decided on them being Elves who were among the first group to awaken but believed Morgoth's whispers that the Valar were beings of evil and fled from them into the woods when the Valar first met the Elves to be later captured by or lured into Morgoth's power, so that's the go-to answer for the Tolkien scholars.

The notion of an entirely evil race conflicted big time with Tolkien's Catholic beliefs, so there are hints that not all Goblins and Orcs were evil, as a few passages indicate no race was wholly united for or against Morgoth; there are independent groups of Goblins in The Hobbit, and a few lines given indicate that Orcs will go to great lengths to avenge their fallen leaders, while in his notes he considered them a race capable of free-choice and thus not the "[[Always Chaotic Evil]]" inborn bloc that many later works paint them to be.

Although Tolkien did try to avoid overtly assigning any real life peoples to his fantasy races, the Goblins are very blatantly Asians with fangs and Tolkein once described them as "Mongol-types". If you want to be ''really'' charitable you could argue that alternatively, in dialect and mannerisms, orcs and goblins are exaggerated Cockney thugs or louts from urban South West England, in direct contrast to the very genteel Northern Farm Country hobbits, bumping the caricatures down a notch or two from "out-and-out racist" to "exceedingly classist and provincialist".

Orcs and Goblins are repeatedly stated by the narration to be fantastic inventors and engineers, with one of Tolkien's notes alleging that they have access to rudimentary blackpowder weaponry, but this isn’t really shown. Sure, Uruk-Hai are anachronistic in their munition armor and drilling exercises, but that's entirely thanks to being bred, trained, and outfitted by Saruman. I guess the shantytown metropolis inside the Misty Mountains is a rather impressive feat of construction, but that's really it for stuff they are seen to have actually built themselves.

=Warhammer=

{{Topquote|Gork and Mork made da Goblinz for us to kick, kill, and eat. Dey iz nothing. Dey iz less than nothing. Even dere magic iz weak an' pointless. Only use Dey got in a fight iz catchin' Humie arrows. Wiv der 'eads.|Sheglak, Orc Great Shaman}}

In early [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]], Goblins were merely a shorter variety of Orcs, which were green-skinned evil humanoids who sometimes bred with humans. In fact, Warhammer Fantasy was the very first depiction of Goblins and Orcs as green-skinned, something that has since become a staple of the races in pop culture. This is mostly because they came from model ranges that GW had lost the rights to sell (e.g. Tolkien or D&D) and thus needed to quickly rebrand them as something with a veneer of uniqueness to finish selling their existing inventory. The specific choice of new complexion may have been inspired by [[Marvel Comics|The Incredible Hulk]], for like Orks he is also hugely muscled, mindlessly destructive, and originally ''grey''-skinned.

With the creation of [[Warhammer 40,000]], the Goblins became [[Grots]], also called Gretchin, who like the [[Orks]] were actually a type of fungus ape. Between their legs is only two bulging spore-sacs which burst upon death and grow into new Grots/Orks in the ground. After 40k had massive success, this was ported back into Warhammer Fantasy and Goblins, along with the Orcs, became fungus men. [[Skub|Some oldschool Warhammer fans have rejected this, and the term "Orcgina" can make many on /tg/ go into flashbacks about the arguments inspired between the oldfags and newfags on the subject.]]

In both settings, Goblins/Grots are smaller greenskins who are extremely vicious but also extremely cowardly and refuse to attack something unless they outnumber it ten to one (preferably much more). Against nonthreatening foes however they enjoy torturing them, and POWs are subjected to horribly slow deaths to the chittering amusement of the tiny greenskins.

In Warhammer Fantasy, Goblins are independent of Orcs, with most living in their own separate tribes. A few even have their own gods, like the [[Forest Goblins]] who worship the [[Spider-god]]. Despite this, many Goblins also join groups with Orcs, a decision that invariably ends with either the Goblins ganging-up to bully the Orcs into doing their manual labor, or them ''getting'' bullied by sufficiently numerous and united Orcs into doing said labor.

While only the [[Black Orc]]s are capable of actually producing new goods or learning technical knowledge among the larger greenskins, Goblins produce many things from giant flying ships to chariots. Of especial note is the Night Goblins; master chemists whose biology is bizarre and alien in its fungal nature even to other greenskins. Red Goblins existed in the early model ranges, as well as Bugbears and Kobolds, but they vanished as the old model ranges were replaced.

Apart from all this, the main distinction between Goblins and 40k Grots is that Goblins aren't all weak, subservient slaves - Goblins individually ''are'' pretty weedy, but they do try to deck themselves out in armor and whatnot and can even take over Orc tribes, if a cunning or vicious enough Boss arrives. Most often this will be a Shaman (for his tricks and ability to scheme) or a Night Goblin Warboss (for being fucking insane), but even a normal (AKA Plains) Goblin Warboss can be a significant threat.

In 40k, Grots have almost no freedom and are only found alongside their bigger kin. They're not the strongest, quickest, meanest, or anything-est compared to the Orks, except for being better shots and more kunnin', to the point of generally being brighter (though that's not saying much). In most cases they are at best assistants, at worst slaves and moving targets. The only exception is the [[Gretchin Revolutionary Committee]], although that...ended badly. They fare a little better in Mek-controlled settlements where their technological know-how and small size are more in-demand. They may even be allowed to make their own tanks - small and scrappy, but dangerous at least.

In both Warhammers, all greenskins speak in a British Cockney accent, with heavy Chav mixed in for variation. Goblins were renamed to Grots in [[Age of Sigmar]].

<gallery>
Image:Bad Moon Goblins.png|Warhammer Fantasy Goblins of today.
Image:Goblin Airship.JPG|Warboss Beater Pan(ic)!
Image:Gretchinmob.jpg|Grots.
</gallery>

{{Template:Playable Factions in Warhammer: Age of Sigmar}}

=D&D Goblins=
[[File:Goblin DMG 5e.jpg|right|300px]]

{{Topquote|Goblins are what you default to when you have no idea what the party should be fighting, because they're just so splattered all over the realm that everyone just accepts that they can show up anywhere.|JoCat, ''A Crap Guide to D&D - Goblins''}}

[[Dungeons & Dragons]] did not do anything particularly innovative with goblins. Instead, they are fairly close(ish) to their Tolkien roots - or, rather, to the simplified version of Tolkien's goblins; small, hateful, savage creatures that infest the unwanted corners of the world, constantly squabbling amongst themselves for power and occasionally spilling out to raid and terrorize the neighboring civilized lands when their numbers build up enough. Whilst Tolkien's goblins were actually quite inventive and adept at building things, since they were a combination of the two peoples that Tolkien most disliked (the Central soldiers he'd fought in WW1, and the industrialists he believed were destroying the countryside), D&D's goblins lack that trait due to [[Medieval Stasis]] - they're not as primitive as [[lizardfolk]], but are still the quintessential depiction of them as "just tribal scavengers", in contrast to goblins in some other media being "the chaotic and/or evil tinker race".

In fact, when you scratch the surface, D&D goblins may tap into the same "evil mook" basis as Tolkien's goblins, but actually are deliberately taken in different ways. Whilst originally D&D [[orc]]s & goblins are implied to have often worked together, and even interbreed, by the time of [[Planescape]] the two were actually bitter enemies - the two races share the same "heaven" of [[Acheron]], where they constantly war in an attempt to drive the other race to extinction. This even persisted into 3rd edition, when the orcs' changed racial alignment of Chaotic Evil meant they shouldn't have been going to Acheron in the first place. This stands in stark contrast both to Tolkien (who initially said that "orc" and "goblin" were words in two different languages for the same race) and to other popular settings, such as [[Warhammer Fantasy]] & [[Warcraft]], where goblins tend to be a strong racial ally to orcs. Some sourcebooks, usually setting dependent, present a more nuanced portrayal of them and give them a deeper culture than that, but for the most part, D&D goblins are your standard generic cannon fodder evil mooks.

However, just like the [[orc]]s, goblins have a ''long'' history of being a potential PC race in [[Dungeons & Dragons]] - they've been playable in literally every single edition, with multiple incarnations in 3rd edition. The usual idea is to play them up as "spunky little troublemakers" - either a scrappier analogue for the [[halfling]] or a less kitschy counterpart to the [[gnome]] (or even a more high-functioning version of the [[Kender]], without the stigma). And, for what it's worth, goblin PCs are actually generally quite liked. In fact, goblins were one of the player races most requested for a formal update into 5th edition PC races. Given the second season of [[Critical Role]] features a goblin PC as a main character, in the form of Nott (a self-loathing female who wants to become a [[halfling]]), and the fact that [[Pathfinder]] goblins have such an fandom that Pathfinder 2e promotes them to a corebook race, many are expecting an eventual 6e to feature playable goblins in the PHB, just like how 4e added the [[tiefling]] and the [[dragonborn]].

The biggest exception to goblins being generic evil baddies in d&d is the Eberron
setting, where they're given a nuanced portrayal, with a deep and sophisticated culture. In [[Eberron]], "goblin" is used to refer to bugbears, hobgoblins, and goblins. They are the descendants of the once mighty continent spanning Empire of Dhakaan that collapsed because of an invasion by the [[Daelkyr]], masters of the plane of madness. The invasion was eventually beaten back by an alliance between the empire and the orc tribes called the Gatekeepers (badass men-in-black style druids who protect the world from lovecraftian horrors), but the empire fell afterwards. They're not the banal savages that you can kill guilt free in many other settings.

In the current day they are split up into three broad cultural groups (and a few splinter groups) - the smallest of the big three are The Heirs of Dhakaan, or Dar Dhakaani, which are the badass super disciplined remnants of the empire who preserved their way of life after the empire collapsed by hiding underground or in secluded mountains (thus quarantining themselves from the Plague of Silence) and would like to bring goblins back to their previous heights, especially now that they know the rest of goblinoid population is no longer contagious. The various goblin races are all equal under the Dhakaani and share a eusocial bond like ants. They specialize in different tasks - the hobgoblins are administrators and soldiers (females are usually bards), goblins are workers, scouts and spies, and the bugbears are shock troopers and heavy laborers - but if you're better at a job outside your cultural role, the empire doesn't waste talent and puts you in that job. On the darker side, Dhakaani are ''very'' xenophobic and see no place for non-goblinoids in their society (for good reason, as they could not share their eusocial bonds), at best exiling them from places they conquer, and at worst killing them all. The latter is disturbingly common, since Dar Dhakaani like to keep their existence secret to surface-dwellers and are usually quite good at it.

Then you have the Ghaal'Dar, who made up the bulk of the descendants of the collapsed empire and had to deal with the fallout. Their culture degenerated into petty barbarian tribes with a might-makes-right mentality, their eusocial bond destroyed by the daelkyr Plague of Silence. They are usually ruled by hobgoblins due to their superior ability to organize vs the other two subspecies. However, during the conflict known as The Last War they united and stole a chunk of land from the human kingdoms that they named Darguun. It's their "new goblin Homeland" and they're starting to rebuild their culture from there, but nobody thinks it will last. It's ruled by an alliance of clans with the leader, Lhesh Haruuc maintaining a delicate balance of power between them to maintain stability. He's tried to institute the rule of law and has been mostly successful, but a few clans (mostly in desolate areas where they can get away with it) only pay lip service. The country has been a success so far and their culture is slowly clawing it's way out of the dumps, but many are worried that when Haruuc dies it will all fall apart, so he is desperately looking for a competent successor. There's also an extra layer of Dar Dhakaani sending their spies, agents and entire squads of elite operatives masquerading as "Ghaal'Dar from remote holds" or even assassinating Darguun leaders and replacing them with Dar Dhakaani doubles to manipulate Darguun into becoming a seed from which Dhakaani empire could be rebuilt and indoctrinating Darguun goblins into old Dhakaani beliefs instead of tribal traditions they picked up after empire's collapse. It wouldn't be out of character for Dar Dhakaani to kidnap entire villages of Ghaal'Dar goblins to experiment on them in hope to reverse Plague of Silence effects.

The last major cultural group are the city goblins. They're the descendents of Ghaal'Dar goblinoids who weren't killed or fled when the humans conquered the continent, and were enslaved for a few thousand years. They're mostly lower g goblins, and were released from slavery about a thousand years before the current time. They're considered tax paying citizens and have all the rights (on paper) of human or [[Demihuman]] citizens of the countries they live in. However, they tend to be poor and live as second class citizens in many places due to racism and lack of opportunities, as well as objective reasons like short lifespan, meaning less time to get education for high-paying jobs compared to humans, and [[Warforged]] flooding the low-paying job market after the war and incidentally lowering wages for everyone else. The majority of them are loyal to their country of birth and consider themselves regular citizens, and they often dislike the Ghaal'Dar for commiting war crimes during the Last War and giving goblins a bad name. Most of the ones who were sympathetic to Ghaal'Dar moved to Darguun.

Goblins (like 99% of races in this setting) are not naturally evil in Eberron; they have the same range of alignments as every other sentient race. For cultural reasons they do tend towards being Lawful Neutral, but only slightly.

As a somewhat curious aside, D&D goblins are yellow (mostly) compared to the more usual goblin color of green. This trait survived even after the popularization of green Goblins in most other fantasy settings, most prominently the aforementioned Warhammer Fantasy and Warcraft. A few settings sometimes portray them as shades of grey, or the previously mentioned colors with a grey tint. They're even portrayed as red or deep orange in some artwork.

The D&D goblin has a ''huge'' family tree, to the point they even coined their own racial name; "[[goblinoid]]". The two most prominent goblin-kin are the [[bugbear]]s - large, hairy, brutish goblins that, arguably, are D&D's attempt to maintain the orcy archetype without making orcs & goblins officially related - and the [[hobgoblin]]s, who are literally Tolkien's Uruk-Hai.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Goblin ODD1.png|Original D&D
Goblin MM 1e.jpg|1e
Markessa goblins A2.png
Goblin Monster card.jpg|AD&D Monster Card
goblin MCV1.jpg|2e
Goblin MM 2e.png
goblin First Quest.jpg
Goblin slaver First Quest.jpg|They call him Baby-Face
Goblin A0-A4.png
Goblin 3e.jpg|3e
Goblin 4e.jpg|4e. The only edition with GREEN goblins!
Goblin 5e.jpg|5e
TWBTW Jingle Jangle.png|Post-Tasha's they are looking pretty [[gnome]]y
TWBTW chucklehead.png
Goblin B1.png|Pathfinder
goblin ARG 1.png
goblin ARG 2.png
Goblin SF.png|Starfinder
</gallery>

==PC Stats==
===BECMI===
Goblin PCs first appeared, alongside many other "classic humanoids", as PCs in the Known World Gazetteer #10: The Orcs of Thar. Under the Basic system, they had the following crunch:

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%"> Click "Expand" to see the statblock.
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
::Goblin Ability Modifiers: -3 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Constitution
::Note: Like all Humanoids from "The Orcs of Thar", a Goblin has racial ability score caps of 18 in all scores bar [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]], which are capped at 16.
::Note: Like all Humanoids from "The Orcs of Thar", a Goblin determines its [[Charisma]] score for interacting with [[human]]s and [[demihuman]]s by dividing its Charisma score by 3 (rounding down) and subtracting the result from 9.
::Goblin Natural Armor Class: 8
::Can become a [[Shaman]] (8th level) and a [[Wokani]] (6th level)

{| class=wikitable
!Goblin's's level || XP Required || Goblin's hit dice
|-
|0||0||d8-1
|-
|1||800||2d8-2
|-
|2||1,600||3d8-3
|-
|3||3,200||-
|-
|4||6,400||4d8-4
|-
|5||13,000||5d8-5
|-
|6||26,000||6d8-5
|-
|7||55,000||-
|-
|8||110,000||7d8-5
|-
|9||220,000||+2 Hit Points
|-
|Subsequent||160,000||+2 Hit Points
|}
</div></div>

===AD&D===
Goblins went on to appear in [[The Complete Book of|The Complete Book of Humanoids]]:
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%"> Click "Expand" to see the statblock.
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
::Ability Score Modifiers: -1 Strength, -1 Charisma
::Ability Score Range: Strength 4/15, Dexterity 4/17, Constitution 5/16, Intelligence 3/18, Wisdom 3/18, Charisma 3/12
::Class Restrictions: [[Fighter]] 10, [[Cleric]] 9, Shaman 7, Witch Doctor 7, [[Thief]] 12
::Infravision 60 feet
::Can detect new or unusual constructions in an underground area with a 25% chance of success (1-2 on a d8).
::Goblin shamans have access to the Spheres of Divination, Reversed Healing, Protection and Reversed Sun.
::-1 Penalty to their attack rolls when in bright sunshine
::Monstrous Traits: Appearance (-2 to to reaction rolls), Bestial Habits (-2 to reaction rolls)
::Weapon Proficiencies: Axe, Military Pick, Morning Star Sling, Short Sword, Spear
::Nonweapon Proficiencies: Alertness, Animal Handling, Animal Training (Worg), Begging, Chanting, Close-Quarter Fighting, Fast-Talking, Fortune Telling, Hiding, Hunting, Information Gathering, Looting, Mining, Religion, Riding (Worg), Set Snares
</div></div>

===3e Stats===
In 3rd edition, goblins appeared as an NPC race in the [[Monster Manual]] and were made fully playable in [[Forgotten Realms: Races of Faerun]]. They were reprinted without change in a few books after that.

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%"> Click "Expand" to see the statblock.
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
::-2 Strenth, +2 Dexterity, -2 Charisma
::Small
::Humanoid ([[Goblinoid]])
::Base speed 30 feet
::Darkvision 60 feet
::+4 racial bonus on Move Silently and Ride checks
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Rogue]]
</div></div>

===4e Stats===
Like in 3e, the goblin appeared as a PC class in the [[Monster Manual]] for 4th edition. However, like all such races in 4e, its statblok there was...serviceable, but underwhelming. However, one of the last sourcebooks of that edition to be published, "The Dungeon Survival Handbook", brought them back as an official race, and boy were they beefy!

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%"> Click "Expand" to see the statblock.
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
::+2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom OR +2 Charisma
::Small
::Speed 6 squares
::Low-light vision
::+2 Bluff, +2 Stealth
::Goblin Reflexes: +1 to Reflex defense.
::Racial Power - Goblin Tactics: At will, as an immediate reaction to being missed by an enemy melee attack, you can shift 1 square.
</div></div>

The biggest boost that the DSHb gave, besides the flexible mental ability score boost, was a selection of racial feats and racial utility powers, both of which really strengthened the goblin's mechanics and thematics.

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%"> Click "Expand" to see the list of goblin racial traits
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
''Goblin Racial Feats:''
* Ankle Biter: +1 feat bonus per tier to damage rolls vs. creatures larger than you, +1d6 damage on critical hits against creatures larger than you.
* Desperate Goblin Tactics: When bloodied, Goblin Tactics lets you shift 3 squares.
* Goblin Feint: When you use Goblin Tactics, you gain Combat Advantage against the triggering enemy until the end of your next turn.
* Shadowcreeper: Requires [[Assassin]] class. When you use Goblin Tactics, you shift 2 squares and gain Partial Concealment until the end of your next turn.
* Sneaky Stabber: Requires [[Rogue]] class. When you deal Sneak Attack damage to an adjacent foe, reroll any damage rolls of 1 until you get a result higher than 1.
* Wrist Biter: When you use Goblin Tactics, the triggering enemy takes 1d4 damage per your character's tier before you shift.

''Goblin Racial Utility Powers:''
* Fast Filch: At-will. When adjacent to a creature granting combat advantage, as a minor action, you can make a Thievery check to pick its pocket or perform sleight of hand. Level 2.
* Leg Up: Encounter. When adjacent to a creature, as a move action, you can jump your speed horizontally or up to 10 feet vertically. Level 2.
* Little Green Lie: Encounter. If you fail a Bluff, Diplomacy or Intimidate check, you can re-roll the check as a free action. If it was a Diplomacy or Intimidate check, you can use your Bluff modifier instead. Level 2.
* Living Shield: Encounter. If you are hit by an enemy melee or ranged attack whilst adjacent to an ally, as an immediate interrupt, you can shift 1 square and transfer the hit to that ally. Level 6.
* Unwitting Guardian: Encounter. When adjacent to a Medium or larger creature, as a move action, you can can shift 1 square to enter the target's space, occupying it until the end of your next turn and being hidden from all creatures except the target. Level 6.
* Down and Through: Encounter. As a move action, choose a Medium or larger enemy adjacent to you and shift up to 5 squares to a different square adjacent to that creature; you can move through its space during this shift. Level 10.
</div></div>

===5e Stats===
Finally, goblins appeared as a PC race in 5th edition's Volo's Guide to Monsters. Like their fellow [[goblinoid]]s, the [[kobold]], the [[orc]] and the [[Yuan-ti]], they were officially described as "unbalanced", which has earned a lot of fan flak, as this is literally an open invitation for more close-minded DMs to refuse goblin PCs - goblin fans are still hoping that WotC will eventually put out a splatbook with a "more official" and/or balanced version of goblin PC stats. Ironically, they were better off than the poor kobold.

Hopes of a reboot were shattered when the Guildmaster's Guide to [[Ravnica]] came out in November 2018; whilst earlier [[Plane Shift]] articles had presented an alternative goblin statblock, the GGR simply reprinted the Volo's Guide stats below.

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%"> Click "Expand" to see the statblock.
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
::+2 Dexterity, +1 Constitution
::Small
::Speed 30 feet
::Darkvision 60 feet
::Fury of the Small: Once per short or long rest, when you inflict damage with an attack or spell on a creature larger than you, inflict bonus damage equal to your level as you attack from below, probably punching the enemy in the balls.
::Nimble Escape: You can take the Disengage or Hide action as a bonus action on each of your turns.
</div></div>

Surprisingly enough, after a second reprint in Eberron: Rising, the children’s “activity book” Adventure with Muk gave an alternative playable writeup, specifically for the Dankwood Goblins featured. All this does though is raise +1 Wis instead of +1 Con, and replaces Fury of the Small for the Forest Gnome’s Speak with Small Beasts, letting them communicate simple ideas to Small beasts and smaller. Which is nice for the utility, I guess.

As mentioned above, [[Plane Shift]] featured alternative goblin stats first - two separate versions, in fact. Whether they are better than the official versions is a matter of debate, though...

;[[Zendikar]]
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%"> Click "Expand" to see the statblock.
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
::+2 Constitution
::Small
::Speed 25 feet
::Darkvision 60 feet
::Grit: You have Resistance to Fire and Psychic damage, your Unarmored AC is 11 + Dexterity modifier.
::Tribal Affinity: Choose either the Grotag Tribe (you have Proficiency in Animal Handling), the Lavastep Tribe (you have Advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks made in rocky or subterranean environments) or the Tuktuk Tribe (you have Proficiency with Thieves Tools).
</div></div>

;[[Ixalan]]
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%"> Click "Expand" to see the statblock.
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
::+2 Dexterity
::Small
::Speed 25 feet, Climb 25 feet
::Darkvision 60 feet
::Climber: You have a Climb speed of 25 feet if you are not encumbered or wearing either medium armor or heavy armor.
</div></div>

====3rd Party Settings====
;[[World of Farland]]
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%"> Click "Expand" to see the statblock.
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
::Ability Score Increase: +2 Dexterity
::Size: Small
::Speed: 30 feet
::Darkvision 60 feet
::Goblin Proficiencies: You are proficient with the Scimitar, Shortbow, and Light Armor.
::Nimble Escape: This is basically the same as the trait of the same name from 5e canon, except this version can only be used once per short rest.
::Subrace: Choose the Urban Goblin or Subterranean Goblin.
</div></div>

''Urban Goblin''
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%"> Click "Expand" to see the statblock.
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Constitution
::Urban Stealth: You have Proficiency in Stealth and apply twice your Proficiency bonus, rounded down, when making Stealth checks in Urban environments.
::Tenacious: After failing a saving throw, a skill check, or an ability check, you gain Advantage the next time that you make a save or check using that same ability score. This trait lasts until used or 24 hours have passed.
</div></div>

''Subterranean Goblin''
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%"> Click "Expand" to see the statblock.
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Wisdom
::Dungeon Stealth: You have Proficiency in Stealth and apply twice your Proficiency bonus, rounded down, when making Stealth checks in subterranean environments.
::Pious: You have Proficiency in the Religion skill.
::Improved Darkvision: Your Darkvision increases to 120 feet.
</div></div>

===Pathfinder===
Of course the [[Pathfinder]] ruleset included Goblins, and tweaked them up a bit from their third edition version by giving them more dexterity. By Paizo's own reckoning, this puts their overall Race Points (RP) on a par with the other PC races, so should be a viable option for players, even if it is a bit uninspired.

Pathfinder did considerably more to support Goblins as a usable race, for both players and DMs. An entire splatbook was dedicated to their place in Golarion, while they were also included in the Advanced Race Guide and had additional options in the Monster Codex, allowing for a respectable variety in race trait customisations, giving them things like bite attacks, perceptions boosts, weapon familiarity, among others; the ability to create a medium-sized goblin who is not a [[Hobgoblin]] (their secret is morbid obesity); a bunch of racial feats; and a handful of dedicated class archetypes, including [[Alchemist]]s with [[Awesome|flying mount companions]].

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%"> Click "Expand" to see the stablock.
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
::-2 Strength, +4 Dexterity, -2 Charisma
::Small
::Humanoid ([[Goblinoid]])
::Base speed 30 feet
::Darkvision 60 feet
::+4 racial bonus on Ride and Stealth checks
</div></div>

=[[Half-Goblin]]s=
Given the strong connections between goblins and [[orc]]s in some settings, particularly in [[Dungeons & Dragons]]' older editions, and the existence of [[half-orc]]s, one may ask if there's ever been any love give to half-goblins? Well, ironically, not really; though [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] claimed that [[goblinoid]]s interbred with each other and with orcs all the time, that fluff was lost after the change to 3rd edition, which wanted to try and make the two races distinct. As for goblin/human crossbreeding? Forget about it; they barely gave half-orcs any love, so you can imagine they'd be less than interested in half-goblins.

Except... there was one setting where [[goblinoid]]s took the place of orcs. In the [[Dragonlance]] setting, orcs don't exist, being replaced by goblins and [[draconian]]s, and so the half-goblin appeared there in 3.5's Races of Ansalon sourcebook. Surprisingly, they're known for both being very self-confident and assured (in fact, their Charisma penalty is described as stemming from coming across as ''too'' confident, making them seem overbearing or aggressive), in contrast to the propensity for wangsting endemic to half-orcs and half-elves in other settings, very brave (in contrast to the traditional goblin cowardice) and with a drive to be peacemakers and diplomats, rather like half-elves. Essentially, rather than bitching about being rejected by both worlds (human and goblin) or about the lack of a "true" half-goblin culture, half-goblins are near-universally driven to try and force the world to shape up and make a culture for them, by bringing goblins and humans to work together in peace. Which is actually kind of badass, and certainly a change from the norms for half-breeds. In essence, they're said to combine human ambition and drive with goblin ferocity and mob mentality.

Half-goblins are described as looking more or less like human-sized goblins; half-bugbears might be particularly hairy, and half-"common" goblins shorter than average, but still within the human stature. Although this stature can lead to them being mistaken for [[hobgoblin]]s, they apparently lack quite as many fangs and have more human-like eyes, which makes the difference obvious enough at a closer look.

=[[Magic: The Gathering]]=
{{Topquote|Goblins are eager to follow orders, especially when those orders involve stealing, hurting, annoying, eating, destroying or swearing.|''Krenko's Command'' flavour text}}

It should be no surprise that Goblins appear in Magic. Showing up in the very first set, Goblins have risen to be one of the most popular tribes in the game, and boy do they get a ton of support. They are known as the "characteristic" species of red, which means that they show up in pretty much every plane as the default red-aligned race. In fact, the number of planes in which goblins do not appear on can be counted on one hand. In general, when goblins show up, they are shown to be chaotic and unruly. They almost always have green or red skin, and travel in large groups, though this isn't always the case. On [[Ixalan]], they look more like monkeys with white fur and black skin, and tend to be individualistic. They love fire and scrapping together machines and weapons that should by no stretch of the means work, but they do. More often than not, these inventions require the sacrifice of another goblin to get it working properly.

As a tribe, goblins often have small bodies and weak frames. When they show up with high power, it's usually at the cost of toughness. They are cheap to get out onto the battlefield, cheap to search up, and attack fast. They are perfect for aggressive red strategies, and they often come with ways to dump out even more goblins out onto the field. This usually comes in the form of goblin creature tokens, but some of the most powerful goblins let you dump them straight from your hand! If you don't wipe the board, or take out the few key goblins holding the deck together, you can expect the battlefield to be swarming with the little guys, and you'll be losing fast.

Goblins aren’t always evil in MtG settings. Usually they’re more of a footnote that don’t even appear in any actual stories, and on cards they’re often portrayed as more destructive than outright evil; picture an entire race whose approach to warfare is indistinguishable from an audition for Jackass. There are occasional appearances of Goblins in less chaotic contexts such as Boros Recruit, which depicts a Goblin footman. Mirrodin offers the biggest example of a heroic Goblin, with the forest Elf main character of the first block having a companion named Slobad who was an elderly Goblin machinist.

=[[Warcraft]]=

{{Topquote|Every great goblin invention was born from necessity, bubble gum, or an accident.|Goblin adage}}

Goblins are a staple race in the Warcraft franchise. They have green skin, are very short, have long and strong fingers, long noses, large pointy ears, and sharp teeth.

In Warcraft 2, when the game expanded to more than just Humans, Orcs, Ogres, and Demons, Goblins were first mentioned. They were small mechanically-inclinded lunatics who invented great devices and were god-tier chemists. They offered their services to the Horde since it gave them more opportunities to wreak havoc and the races that would come to be those of the Alliance had ignored them for their entire history.
The Goblins mainly performed recon and VIP transport for the Horde via their Zeppelins, demolitions in the form of suicide Sapper squads, the invention of airtight missile-launching capsules that were tied to the backs of giant turtles to use as submarines, and finally experimenting on their Forest Troll allies to transform them into giant Berserkers. In secret they also helped the resident Sauron, an insane evil dragon named Deathwing, in his various endeavors. Goblins were described as insane, sadistic, and greedy for gold.

In Warcraft 3, Goblins became a neutral group. It was revealed only a small portion of the Goblin race actually worked with the Horde, while the others have always provided their services to anyone with gold to spend and after the fall of the first Horde they have enforced that their own race remain entirely neutral to all factions. They did little of importance other than provide transportation for the various power players in this time.
When the second Horde was building their capital of Durotar, a small number of Goblins lead by world famous Gazlowe provided them with fair deals (which is itself a big deal for their race) for Goblin services including demolition.

In vanilla World of Warcraft, Goblin lore expanded even further; a small number of Goblins were seen in the Alliance, some among the Horde, while it was revealed almost the entirety of their race dwell on an island called Kezan which has a massive underground city called the Undermine. The Cartels run Kezan, the most powerful of which is the Steamwheedle Cartel which performs the basic services offered in Warcraft 3. They maintain a few cities around the world including Ratchet (Gazlowe's city nearby Durotar), Booty Bay (a port which services anyone who reaches it, mainly pirates although they are just as much at threat from pirate attack), Gadgetzan (a desert city of scum and villainy, plus a small gladiatorial arena), and Everlook (a town high in the mountains of Kalimdor near by ancient magical Elf ruins).

Goblins have a racial rivalry with the other mechanically minded race, [[Gnomes]], although hostility varies from giant robot wars to having a giant racetrack where they see which race can build the best vehicles to next-door neighbors who collaborate with each other on inventions and take any opportunity to try and make the other admit their philosophy is better. In general, the Goblin philosophy is "Chemicals, 50% chance of exploding is acceptable, build it fast, what we’re really here to make is big bucks people!" while the Gnomish philosophy is "Magic and radiation, 10% chance of turning anything from your hair a different color to your entire self into a chicken is acceptable, take your time and spend decades if need be, do it all for the love of knowledge and invention".

In Cataclysm, Goblins recieved a MAJOR update as they became a player race. One of the cartels which was one of the weaker ones (having their section of Kezan entirely on the surface, mainly producing pop culture, cars, sports, and edibles) joined the Horde after Deathwing set their portion of Kezan on fire (since in the middle of a not-football game a ball was kicked and hit him). Their trade prince sold the entire Cartel into slavery after charging them all their possessions for supposedly safe passage off the island, and the ships were caught in a naval battle between the Horde and Alliance. After conquering the island, they then joined the Horde which was in the middle of becoming a fascist genocidal dictatorship again thanks to shit leaders (also, their trade prince got to keep his job despite the mess he caused). They quickly upgraded the Horde from catapults to giant robots and from bow and arrow to machineguns, then created their own new capital by completely renovating a huge chunk of the continent into the symbol of the Horde complete with a Mount Rushmore of their racial leader.
During the Kezan levels it was also revealed that Goblins have become multicultural, taking on things previously alien to them like worship of the light and shamanism (although the former is seen as a combination of medic and television evangelism, while the latter is perceived as cutting deals with nature). Kezan is very modern and has television, pop stars, sunglasses, champagne, fancy cars, neon lights, not-Chinese food, electricity and lightbulbs, and many other conveniences not seen elsewhere in the rest of the Renaissance setting outside the homeland of the Gnomes.

Goblin origins were also explained. In ancient times, Goblins were a semi-intelligent race of monkeys which were enslaved by Island Trolls and forced to mine a substance called Kajamite. Kajamite has a side-effect of causing a huge boost to intelligence (although not coherent thought) in anyone who imbibes it, and one day the Troll slavemasters entered the mines to whip their tiny laborers and were disintegrated with laser beams. Since then, the Goblins have mined Kajamite and used it as an ingredient in ingestibles of all kinds (including "Kaja-cola") although their supply was beginning to run out, and there was fear they may regress back to being mere monkeys without it. Like most Cataclysm plots, this was never brought up again, although there were hints that with the Kaja-cola that was left everywhere they go, that monkeys drinking it have started becoming intelligent as well.

Goblins in Warcraft 2 had extremely squeaky, high-pitched voices and tended to babble or shriek. In Warcraft 3 the shrillness of the voice was lessened, and they became more calm and coherent. The Goblins in World of Warcraft still have a voice that is higher-pitched than a human, although only slightly more for males while gaining something of an American Brooklyn accent. The non-Bilgewater Goblins still speak in their Brooklyn accent or a general American accent, whereas the Bilgewater Goblins speak like they're from New Jersey both in accent and expression.

<gallery>
Image:GoblinZeppelin.png|A Goblin Zeppelin pilot in Warcraft 2.
Image:GoblinSappers 2.jpg|Goblin Sappers in Warcraft 2.
Image:Goblin Sappers.jpg|Warcraft 3 Goblin Sappers.
Image:Goblin Tinker WX.png|Warcraft 3 Goblin Tinker.
Image:WoW Goblin Fem.jpg|World of Warcraft female Goblin player characters.
Image:Warcraft Goblin Player Male.jpg|World of Warcraft male Goblin player characters.
Image:GOBLINS AND GNOMES.jpg|Goblin/Gnome rivalry.
Image:Kezan.png|The Bilgewater portion of Kezan.
Image:Goblin Easter.png|Goblins are into holidays in a big way, either as a business conspiracy or over-enthusiasm.
Image:Goblin femSapper.jpg
</gallery>

=[[Goblin Slayer]]=

{{Topquote|Before the demons destroy the world, the goblins will destroy the villages. The world being in danger isn't an excuse to let the goblins live.|The slayer himself}}

[[Skarsnik|The said goblin in this manga while being a weak, tiny and barbaric humanoid is capable of many unorthodox tactics and teamwork that they could outplay and murder low level adventurers numerous times, whom the said adventurers underestimate the cunning goblins]]. They are barbaric primitives so they have to loot tools. However, they are capable of some degree of intelligence, like using signs like totems to create distractions as well as cover their weapons with urine and poisonous herbs to not only prevent adventurers from healing themselves, but also mark them with scents for goblins have an acute sense of smell. While they use mercenaries and pets such as wolves and orcs to further boost their effectiveness, the biggest contributors of their horde are their red shirt goblin goons, who are weak, small, but expendable and effective while attacking in groups. The horde is often led by a goblin mage that is capable of casting spells like fireball.

Oh, and this being Japan, they're sadists native to the moon who have only one gender and use females of other races to reproduce; given their brutal nature, it's done via rape. What the hell else would you read this shit for?

=Troll 2 Goblins=
The notorious movie Troll 2 infamously [[Irony|features no actual trolls]]<ref>Nor any connection to its purported prequel, ''Troll'' from 1986, which is a fascinatingly bad movie in itself. Troll 1 features a surprisingly strong cast and a pair of protagonists both named "[[Harry Potter]]" (Sr. and Jr.), among a great deal of other weirdness unrelated to its "sequels". Further, there have been ''two'' movies released as "Troll 3", neither of which has a [[troll]], nor much connection to either Troll 1 or 2 or each other (one purported Troll 3 features a "hobgoblin" and the other features killer trees). And then there was a semi-official sequel to Troll 2 called "Goblin 2" (Troll 2 being originally filmed under the title "Goblins") that actually featured a [[troll]] (and no actual goblins). But enough about other filmmakers' [[Pun|Trolling]] of audiences.</ref>. It instead features goblins (thus, its presence in this article), who live in the town of Nilbog ("Its Goblin backwards!"), and who, for the purposes of this movie, are vegetarian monsters who turn their human victims into plants via various potions and other concoctions. (The writer/director was an Italian with ''issues'', okay?)

That being said, the Troll 2 goblins are worth mentioning just because "vegetarian monsters who convert their prey into plants" is a fairly good line for "just how weird you can go with goblins", and also a good adventure seed that could be used for a minor [[World of Darkness]] mystery baddie.

=Monstergirl Depictions=
{{Monstergirls}}
[[Image:Goblin_Bar_Wench.png|thumb|200px|"Hey sugar, what'll you be having? Tonight's special is already served to your table."]]

{{Topquote|You can [...] design them so unexpectedly attractive that it'll make people question if they discovered a new fetish, or if it was there all along and this was just its awakening.|JoCat, ''A Crap Guide to D&D - Goblins''}}

Traditionally, the idea of goblins being [[monstergirls]] was something of a niche, at best; most thought of them as just hideous, stupid, filthy little monsters - who would want to put their dicks in that?

Ironically, it was [[Warcraft]] that probably first sowed the seeds of female goblins being fuggable; whilst the attractiveness of female goblins in that game is contentious, people must admit that they were better-looking than the tumor-riddled, snaggle-toothed, scarred abominations that made up the canon depictions of most goblins prior to that. They were certainly attractive enough to start scoring [[Rule 34]] artwork, and this became a revelation to fa/tg/uys: that goblin-girls did ''not'' have to be fugly!

From there, goblin-girls became an underground sensation, slowly developing and evolving in the steamier underbelly of /tg/ and on /d/ (or at least its "western counterpart" /aco/) until they have become as mainstream in the /tg/ fandom as any monstergirl has a chance of being. When brought up, expect the occasional joking argument on whether it should be standard for female goblins to be referred to as "goblettes".

Because goblins vary so widely in their depictions, it shouldn't be surprising that goblin-girls likewise have been a particularly fertile ground for interpretations. There are five "mainstream" depictions of the goblin-as-monstergirl you will probably encounter on /tg/, and many different sub-forms and cross-pollinations. All depend on which of the various "goblin aspects" a creator deigns to focus on; tinker skills, short-sighted hedonism, mischievousness, propensity towards rapaciousness, and/or fertility:

* The "Pervy Tinker" archetype directly traces its roots back to Warcraft's Rule 34'd goblins: this envisions goblins as a "techy" race with a strong lewd streak, leading to them focusing their mad science skills on coming up with newer and more deviant ways of getting off. Depending on the fundamental tech level of the setting and the creator's own tastes, this can range from aphrodisiac gas grenades and crystal-powered sybians, to [[golem]]s built as living sex engines, bimbofying/transforming [[magitek]] rayguns, and vat-grown tentacle monster pets. Rule 34 interpretations of World of Warcraft lore can be counted as this, as well as rare goblins in Corruption of Champions that are mentally stable enough to keep their panties on while in a lab.
* The "Shameless Slut" archetype likewise has its roots in Warcraft goblins, vis-a-vis their canonical obsession with money, but is perhaps one of the more widely known "generic" archetypes as well. These goblins are hedonists who take a great deal of pride in their libido and their love of pleasure, integrating with the other races and usually gravitating towards roles based on "entertaining"; from barmaids to outright prostitutes. In fact, they are often depicted as actively enjoying whoring themselves out, as it ensures a steady stream of partners and profit, whilst sating their perverse and degrading sexual desires. These goblin-girls are often size-queens, specifically choosing partners based on the stature of their masculine organs. The adult comic artist Incase is fond on this archetype, and might as well have codified it with his drawings.
* The "Mischief Maker" archetype is the most innocent of the archetypes; portraying goblins as just playful, fun-loving hedonists whose greatest aims in life are pranking, partying, and making love, not necessarily in that order. This archetype is the closest to a pornified parallel of the old "civil goblins are just green-painted Halflings/Gnomes" canard, as the latter two in porn tend to also be found in whimsical depictions of normalized-sex communes. These goblins are still generally less sentimental with their "free love" compared to them, but are significantly less transactional than the Shameless variety, and derive plenty of pleasure out of teasing their paramours.
* The "Savage Slut" archetype is perhaps the oldest of the archetypes, as it owes its origins to the original interchangeability of goblin and [[orc]]. These goblins are basically sexy "savages"; wild and primal little monstergirls who live a primitive lifestyle centered on hunting, playing, and of course capturing & having sex with men. Essentially, this depicts goblins as [[shortstack]] or [[loli|"a loophole for masturbating to underage children"]] orcs. Kenkou Cross' Monster Girl Encyclopedia is squarely focused on this aspect.
* The "Breederphile" archetype is, in comparison, probably the youngest of these archetypes. These goblins are defined by their racial pregnancy fetishism, and by having bodies almost literally built to breed. Being impregnated is intensely orgasmic, pregnancy either fills them with bliss, makes them incredibly horny, or both, birth is a series of some of the most intense orgasms of their lives, and social standing revolves around how many daughters they have to boss around. {{BLAM|+++...SCANNING...+++}} {{BLAM|+++Congratulations Neophyte, you have just weathered the single worst psychic assault a slaaneshi daemon is capable of unleashing; you may now be promoted into the ranks of the [[Grey Knights]].+++}} This archetype does make some sense if you think about it: after all, as a 'cannon fodder' species for PCs, where do all the Goblins come from? Corruption of Champions might as well have pioneered this archetype.
* The "Ghetto Goblin", while not part of the "five aspects" breakdown, has a decent-sized backlog of smut and is unique enough to be worth an honorable mention. This variant of goblin-girl portrayal is native to [[Urban Fantasy]] settings. Mostly played as a watered-down mix of the "Shameless Slut" and "Breederphile" archetypes (the "water" in this case being some occasionally-awkward racial coding), Ghetto Goblins tend to be used as an attempt at a less-overtly-offensive repackaging of old "hot-blooded Latina" or "Ghetto Black Girl" racial stereotypes in that they are: sexually open, tend toward foul language and fiery tempers when angry and lewd vocalizing or body-language when aroused or teasing others, frequently dressed provocatively, and very often have a pronounced species/raceplay kink. While breeding for the Ghetto Goblin isn't usually as erotic as it is for the Breederphile, the social status of the Ghettoblin is often measured by how many offspring they have, how often they have sex, and how early they first had sex. They arouse easily, to the point that human men in their stories often need to talk Ghetto Goblins out of outright molesting them openly in public, not helped by the often-added detail of humans and goblins being very sensitive to each other's pheromones. As you can imagine, this is mostly a niche community depiction. More precisely, it was codified and achieved popularity on [[/aco/]] based almost entirely on the output of one prolific writefag.

Whilst these archetypes are certainly well known and defined, there are also two setting-specific depictions of goblin monstergirls that have achieved enough recognition to be recognizable by name; the MGE Goblin and the CoC Goblin.

The [[Monster Girl Encyclopedia]] depiction of the goblin is essentially a mashup of the Mischief Maker and the Savage Slut archetypes. These primitive mamono live in tribal clusters, entertaining themselves by playing pranks on each other or the races around them, hunting game, and conducting banditry for fun, profit, and boyfriends. In appearance, they resemble pointy-eared human [[loli]]s with horns and superhuman strength, allowing them to fight with weapons that only a strong human man would normally have a chance of lifting. Simple-minded and carefree, they have no intention of giving up the lifestyle they so enjoy.

The CoC Goblin takes its name from Corruption of Champions, a [[/d/|hentai]] fantasy text adventure game that was popular on /tg/ for a while, before the fact that [[furries]] are much more willing to put money where their mouth is when it comes to getting fetishistic shit done led to the inevitable flooding of the game with [[beastfolk]] waifus and encounters and /tg/ promptly banished it. Still, before it went under, it had a significant impact on the goblin-girl arena: CoC may not have created the idea of the Breederphile archetype, but it certainly brought it to the attention of what passes for /tg/ mainstream. CoC's goblins are Breederphiles who became a pregnancy-obsessed all-female race due to succubus-corruption in their water supply. Once a brilliant race of alchemists and inventors, they have since devolved into a Savage Slut culture, living in crude tribes based on a massively curvy matriarch, her husband(s), and as many daughters as she can make who are willing to stick around - whilst goblins are fiercely competitive with each other, there is also safety in numbers, keeping them from being eaten by [[hellhound]]s or raped/beaten to death by [[minotaur]]s. Such clans are often notably inbred, for their corruption means they have little sense of objection to incest, with only the matriarch's jealous possessiveness in regards to her husband keeping her daughters at bay. They're also examples of the Pervy Tinker archetype, using what remains of their former knack for invention to create sex toys and perverse alchemical concoctions for use in subduing husbands and molding them to their liking.

One memorable goblin monstergirl is Zanik from [[RuneScape]]. Zanik is a badass female goblin adventurer who is the star of one of the game's major story arcs, wherein she helps the player save her tribe of technologically advanced goblins from a KKK-like cult of racist humans and then from an evil god of war who wants to take back control of her tribe. Fans of the game were so mad when the developers killed her off unfairly (and also gave her a graphical update that made her extra-ugly) that they later brought her back with a cuter redesign (though now fans complain that her new look is ''too'' cute).

Incidentally, one of the first modern references to a sexy Goblin monster girl may be, of all things, a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NwPJo4ysXI Frank Zappa song].

<gallery>
Image:Cute_Goblin_Adventurer.jpg
Image:Goblin_Dancer.jpg
Image:Goblin_Adventurer_1.png
Image:Goblin_Monk_1.jpg
Image:Goblin_Shamaness_1.jpg
Image:Goblin_Shamaness_2.jpg
File:MGE Goblin.jpg|When Lolis go after predators.
File:ZanikFanRedesign.jpeg|Zanik's graphical overhaul was so bad one dude decided to [[Get shit done|salvage it himself]].
</gallery>

=Gallery=
<gallery>
Image:Sneaky Goblin.gif
Image:Goblin Knight.JPG|A more "player character" variety.
Image:GreenGoblin3.jpg|Most goblins tend to [[Alchemist|throw pumpkin bombs]] and use flying crafts to annoy [[/co/|superheroes]].
</gallery>

=See also=
* [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition races]]
* [[Unified Setting/Goblins]] Yet another take on a classic concept.
* [[Goblin Slayer]], a man with a serious beef against goblins.
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqx4ywmqYUw The most common reaction to Goblins]
* [[Goblinoid]], for the extended goblin family.
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLLHu8qtxjg Rare footage of a Goblin ritual. Purpose unknown.]

{{D&D1e-Races}}
{{D&D2e-Races}}
{{D&D4e-Races}}
{{D&D5e-Races}}
{{Pathfinder-Races}}
{{Starfinder-Races}}
[[Category:Kings of War]][[Category:Monsters]]
[[Category: Goblin]]

Goblin

2022-09-10T18:40:07Z

2600:1003:B13E:3DDE:C13C:2E61:E1A:73C0: /* Monstergirl Depictions */

[[File:Path Gob Rat.PNG|thumb|right|300px|Brushy brushy.]]

{{Topquote|I want to have goblins about me, for I am courageous. The courage which scareth away ghosts, createth for itself goblins--it wanteth to laugh.|Friedrich Nietzsche, ''Thus Spoke Zarathustra''}}

'''Goblins''' are mythological creatures of unclear origin and contradicting descriptions, but are generally agreed to be small humanoids with a mischievous nature, possibly belonging to the fey family (along with creatures such as redcaps, brownies, leprechauns, kobolds, etc).

The origin of the word "Goblin" can be traced back to the British "Gobelinus", which was the name of a demon that once caused trouble in Normandy. It has been theorized the term began with [[Kobold]], which was a German Fey spirit whose origins can be traced to one of a variety of earlier myths based in Paganism from various other cultures. Kobolds also gave their name to cobalt, due to the fact that new advances of mining in Germany during the Middle Ages allowed access to large amounts of that ore, but the mining was very dangerous, they had no idea how to smelt the metal, and it turned out to be toxic to touch, so as a result the numerous mine collapses as well as the "theft of the ore, with only poison and ash left behind" were blamed on Kobolds cursing the new metal. Either way, Goblin myths often involve mischief, mining, and chemistry.

In modern fantasy, the term "Goblin" has been very much defined by the Tolkienian conception of the word - as in a species of stunted humanoids in service to evil ("Orc" was another name for said species, with Tolkien claiming the etymology of ''that'' word as being an old English term for demon). Goblin appearance has been further shaped by both video- and boardgames, as well as various artists. They are universally smaller than humans, although the exact size varies, and often have large pointy ears (larger, wider/triangular, and more animalistic than elf ears) and either long, crooked, and pointed noses (For DnD goblins, a large or otherwise impressive nose is a sign of virility and attractiveness in a male) or orc-esque noseless features.

The basic goblin stereotype is that of a savage warrior and raider that attacks villages and ambushes unwary travelers; being one-dimensionally evil, they can be (and often are) killed without remorse in large numbers (unless you read Eberron, G:LTTE, or Terry Pratchett's Snuff). They act and move in small groups (as they don't pose a large threat by themselves but are wary enough of human reprisals to avoid mass hordes that will bestir an army to mobilize and wipe them all out), and are commonly the first true monster encounter for a young adventurer (most don't count animal culling even if said animals are unnaturally enhanced, such as the [[Giant Rat]]). Goblins tend to live in caves, swamps, or other "badlands", and gang up with orcs and similar races, with whom they are sometimes described as belonging to the same family or species. Their intelligence is usually fairly low, although among dumber and larger brutes they will be the clever ones doing the "skilled" work while the bigger ones shout orders.

A lesser but definitely competing Goblin stereotype is that they are an unusually technologically advanced and ludicrously smart/cunning race on par with if not better than [[Dwarves]], such as by creating fantasy machine guns or an entire robot army in Warcraft or Dungeon Siege, though usually with the handicap of being very blasé about construction- or even user-safety, as well as being consummate merchants; Tinker Goblins will gleefully sell or contract out to a wannabe evil conquerer, but almost never become one themselves. If you couldn’t tell from the examples given, this was really more of video game trope for a long time; goblins in tabletop were sometimes described as oddly industrious, but until recent years it never extended beyond a joke gimmick or the occasional war machine pulled right out of their green asses just to give the PCs/Good Races a hard time in a campaign/lore battle.

Because of the comedy potential, players have always liked being goblins, and they were one of the three most-popular races requested for an add-on to 5e as of a (no longer) recent survey.

[[Goblinoid]]s include a vast array of species in D&D, ranging from obscurities like the stone-skinned [[Norker]]s and the "they heal when you hit them, die if you heal them" [[Nilbog]]s to mainstays like the more organized [[Hobgoblin]]s and the big, scary, pseudo-[[orcs]] called [[Bugbear]]s.

=In /tg/ Media=
In the [[Iron Kingdoms]] and [[Magic: The Gathering]] (sometimes), goblins have a penchant for technology and love to tinker with machinery (especially steampunk contraptions and the like), somewhat propagating the "mad scientist" archetype.

In [[Kings of War]] goblins are still a source of evil comic relief. They're often suggested to have been created by the [[Celestians (Kings of War)|Celestian]] Garkhan the Black after he finished creating the orcs with "whatever was left," although where exactly they came from is a mystery. They're still engineers as in many settings, but they tend to be very short-term thinking and don't like to test things before they use them.

In [[Eberron]], goblins are quite a bit different than their usual portrayal, described in the d&d section below

In [[Pathfinder]], they're stupid little freaks with all manner of strange quirks (good singing voices, fear horses and writing, like fire and pickles), sort of a cross between Gremlins and a baby-eating Stitch. They are also very funny and (somewhat) lovable, and even have their own comic series. Surprisingly, despite being described as naturally inclined towards a mixture of [[Chaotic Stupid]] (easily distractable to the point of stopping combat ''mid-swing'' to chase a frog or pick their nose) and [[Stupid Evil]] (love of torturing anything smaller than them) behaviors, they have no mental penalties. Pathfinder also has a goblin variant called the Monkey Goblin, which is even ''stupider'' than regular goblins, but much stronger and more agile, using a rat-like prehensile tail to aid it in a life in the trees.

In [[Malifaux]], they're noseless hillbillies with very few womanfolk called Gremlins complete with straw hats, jug bands, blunderbusses, and lots of pigs. Also come in an Asian variant.

=Tolkien Goblins=
[[File:Tolkien Goblins.JPG|thumb|The most accepted origin of Goblins in the Middle Earth setting.]]

{{Topquote|Now goblins are cruel, wicked, and bad-hearted. They make no beautiful things, but they make many clever ones.|J.R.R. Tolkien, ''The Hobbit''}}

Tolkien was not consistent on the relationship between goblins and orcs. Initially he said that "Goblin" was merely the halfling word for Orc, though that was swiftly contradicted. The main narrative text of <i>The Hobbit</i> contains few explicit mentions of orcs at all; it is remarked early on that the name of the sword "Orcrist" translates, in the ancient tongue of Gondolin, to "goblin cleaver", and later Gandalf rebuffs Bilbo's suggestion that the Company walk ''around'' Mirkwood instead of through it by informing him that there is a necromancer's lair to the south and to the north the Grey Mountains are "bristling with hobgoblins and orcs of large and viscous breed". LotR proper and later notes made further statements insinuating that goblins were a specific subtype of orc. Even later notes started to treat goblins and orcs like completely separate creatures, so take your pick, but the most "developed" canon leans significantly towards the "goblins are a runty orc subspecies" reading. Generally, since The Hobbit is the central foundation to his stories and it makes a point of explaining that Orcs are just larger types of Goblins, along with Lord Of The Rings having most Orcs as being not much bigger than Hobbits, Goblins are seen as around Hobbit-sized or even a bit smaller.

Goblins/Orcs have a multiplicity of origin stories from Tolkien and he never really settled on one definitively, although the most prominent one posits that they are the twisted forms of Elves tortured and beat into submission by Morgoth and Sauron. Other origins include: an Asian group of Elves stolen from their people and bred as slaves by Morgoth & Sauron, just being animals uplifted by M&S, fallen Maiar, men who were corrupted rather than Elves (or a mix of the two, with post-corruption interbreeding with humans as yet another possibility), or even just slimy rocks transformed by Morgoth's magic into living beings. Regardless of how they came about, once created they swiftly became the backbone of Sauron's armies (his other monstrous creations mostly not surviving the dwindling of magic over the passing Ages) that are heavily industrialized and produce only ugly things that cause sickness (perhaps a metaphor for wartime industry). On the subject of canon; Christopher Tolkien ultimately decided on them being Elves who were among the first group to awaken but believed Morgoth's whispers that the Valar were beings of evil and fled from them into the woods when the Valar first met the Elves to be later captured by or lured into Morgoth's power, so that's the go-to answer for the Tolkien scholars.

The notion of an entirely evil race conflicted big time with Tolkien's Catholic beliefs, so there are hints that not all Goblins and Orcs were evil, as a few passages indicate no race was wholly united for or against Morgoth; there are independent groups of Goblins in The Hobbit, and a few lines given indicate that Orcs will go to great lengths to avenge their fallen leaders, while in his notes he considered them a race capable of free-choice and thus not the "[[Always Chaotic Evil]]" inborn bloc that many later works paint them to be.

Although Tolkien did try to avoid overtly assigning any real life peoples to his fantasy races, the Goblins are very blatantly Asians with fangs and Tolkein once described them as "Mongol-types". If you want to be ''really'' charitable you could argue that alternatively, in dialect and mannerisms, orcs and goblins are exaggerated Cockney thugs or louts from urban South West England, in direct contrast to the very genteel Northern Farm Country hobbits, bumping the caricatures down a notch or two from "out-and-out racist" to "exceedingly classist and provincialist".

Orcs and Goblins are repeatedly stated by the narration to be fantastic inventors and engineers, with one of Tolkien's notes alleging that they have access to rudimentary blackpowder weaponry, but this isn’t really shown. Sure, Uruk-Hai are anachronistic in their munition armor and drilling exercises, but that's entirely thanks to being bred, trained, and outfitted by Saruman. I guess the shantytown metropolis inside the Misty Mountains is a rather impressive feat of construction, but that's really it for stuff they are seen to have actually built themselves.

=Warhammer=

{{Topquote|Gork and Mork made da Goblinz for us to kick, kill, and eat. Dey iz nothing. Dey iz less than nothing. Even dere magic iz weak an' pointless. Only use Dey got in a fight iz catchin' Humie arrows. Wiv der 'eads.|Sheglak, Orc Great Shaman}}

In early [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]], Goblins were merely a shorter variety of Orcs, which were green-skinned evil humanoids who sometimes bred with humans. In fact, Warhammer Fantasy was the very first depiction of Goblins and Orcs as green-skinned, something that has since become a staple of the races in pop culture. This is mostly because they came from model ranges that GW had lost the rights to sell (e.g. Tolkien or D&D) and thus needed to quickly rebrand them as something with a veneer of uniqueness to finish selling their existing inventory. The specific choice of new complexion may have been inspired by [[Marvel Comics|The Incredible Hulk]], for like Orks he is also hugely muscled, mindlessly destructive, and originally ''grey''-skinned.

With the creation of [[Warhammer 40,000]], the Goblins became [[Grots]], also called Gretchin, who like the [[Orks]] were actually a type of fungus ape. Between their legs is only two bulging spore-sacs which burst upon death and grow into new Grots/Orks in the ground. After 40k had massive success, this was ported back into Warhammer Fantasy and Goblins, along with the Orcs, became fungus men. [[Skub|Some oldschool Warhammer fans have rejected this, and the term "Orcgina" can make many on /tg/ go into flashbacks about the arguments inspired between the oldfags and newfags on the subject.]]

In both settings, Goblins/Grots are smaller greenskins who are extremely vicious but also extremely cowardly and refuse to attack something unless they outnumber it ten to one (preferably much more). Against nonthreatening foes however they enjoy torturing them, and POWs are subjected to horribly slow deaths to the chittering amusement of the tiny greenskins.

In Warhammer Fantasy, Goblins are independent of Orcs, with most living in their own separate tribes. A few even have their own gods, like the [[Forest Goblins]] who worship the [[Spider-god]]. Despite this, many Goblins also join groups with Orcs, a decision that invariably ends with either the Goblins ganging-up to bully the Orcs into doing their manual labor, or them ''getting'' bullied by sufficiently numerous and united Orcs into doing said labor.

While only the [[Black Orc]]s are capable of actually producing new goods or learning technical knowledge among the larger greenskins, Goblins produce many things from giant flying ships to chariots. Of especial note is the Night Goblins; master chemists whose biology is bizarre and alien in its fungal nature even to other greenskins. Red Goblins existed in the early model ranges, as well as Bugbears and Kobolds, but they vanished as the old model ranges were replaced.

Apart from all this, the main distinction between Goblins and 40k Grots is that Goblins aren't all weak, subservient slaves - Goblins individually ''are'' pretty weedy, but they do try to deck themselves out in armor and whatnot and can even take over Orc tribes, if a cunning or vicious enough Boss arrives. Most often this will be a Shaman (for his tricks and ability to scheme) or a Night Goblin Warboss (for being fucking insane), but even a normal (AKA Plains) Goblin Warboss can be a significant threat.

In 40k, Grots have almost no freedom and are only found alongside their bigger kin. They're not the strongest, quickest, meanest, or anything-est compared to the Orks, except for being better shots and more kunnin', to the point of generally being brighter (though that's not saying much). In most cases they are at best assistants, at worst slaves and moving targets. The only exception is the [[Gretchin Revolutionary Committee]], although that...ended badly. They fare a little better in Mek-controlled settlements where their technological know-how and small size are more in-demand. They may even be allowed to make their own tanks - small and scrappy, but dangerous at least.

In both Warhammers, all greenskins speak in a British Cockney accent, with heavy Chav mixed in for variation. Goblins were renamed to Grots in [[Age of Sigmar]].

<gallery>
Image:Bad Moon Goblins.png|Warhammer Fantasy Goblins of today.
Image:Goblin Airship.JPG|Warboss Beater Pan(ic)!
Image:Gretchinmob.jpg|Grots.
</gallery>

{{Template:Playable Factions in Warhammer: Age of Sigmar}}

=D&D Goblins=
[[File:Goblin DMG 5e.jpg|right|300px]]

{{Topquote|Goblins are what you default to when you have no idea what the party should be fighting, because they're just so splattered all over the realm that everyone just accepts that they can show up anywhere.|JoCat, ''A Crap Guide to D&D - Goblins''}}

[[Dungeons & Dragons]] did not do anything particularly innovative with goblins. Instead, they are fairly close(ish) to their Tolkien roots - or, rather, to the simplified version of Tolkien's goblins; small, hateful, savage creatures that infest the unwanted corners of the world, constantly squabbling amongst themselves for power and occasionally spilling out to raid and terrorize the neighboring civilized lands when their numbers build up enough. Whilst Tolkien's goblins were actually quite inventive and adept at building things, since they were a combination of the two peoples that Tolkien most disliked (the Central soldiers he'd fought in WW1, and the industrialists he believed were destroying the countryside), D&D's goblins lack that trait due to [[Medieval Stasis]] - they're not as primitive as [[lizardfolk]], but are still the quintessential depiction of them as "just tribal scavengers", in contrast to goblins in some other media being "the chaotic and/or evil tinker race".

In fact, when you scratch the surface, D&D goblins may tap into the same "evil mook" basis as Tolkien's goblins, but actually are deliberately taken in different ways. Whilst originally D&D [[orc]]s & goblins are implied to have often worked together, and even interbreed, by the time of [[Planescape]] the two were actually bitter enemies - the two races share the same "heaven" of [[Acheron]], where they constantly war in an attempt to drive the other race to extinction. This even persisted into 3rd edition, when the orcs' changed racial alignment of Chaotic Evil meant they shouldn't have been going to Acheron in the first place. This stands in stark contrast both to Tolkien (who initially said that "orc" and "goblin" were words in two different languages for the same race) and to other popular settings, such as [[Warhammer Fantasy]] & [[Warcraft]], where goblins tend to be a strong racial ally to orcs. Some sourcebooks, usually setting dependent, present a more nuanced portrayal of them and give them a deeper culture than that, but for the most part, D&D goblins are your standard generic cannon fodder evil mooks.

However, just like the [[orc]]s, goblins have a ''long'' history of being a potential PC race in [[Dungeons & Dragons]] - they've been playable in literally every single edition, with multiple incarnations in 3rd edition. The usual idea is to play them up as "spunky little troublemakers" - either a scrappier analogue for the [[halfling]] or a less kitschy counterpart to the [[gnome]] (or even a more high-functioning version of the [[Kender]], without the stigma). And, for what it's worth, goblin PCs are actually generally quite liked. In fact, goblins were one of the player races most requested for a formal update into 5th edition PC races. Given the second season of [[Critical Role]] features a goblin PC as a main character, in the form of Nott (a self-loathing female who wants to become a [[halfling]]), and the fact that [[Pathfinder]] goblins have such an fandom that Pathfinder 2e promotes them to a corebook race, many are expecting an eventual 6e to feature playable goblins in the PHB, just like how 4e added the [[tiefling]] and the [[dragonborn]].

The biggest exception to goblins being generic evil baddies in d&d is the Eberron
setting, where they're given a nuanced portrayal, with a deep and sophisticated culture. In [[Eberron]], "goblin" is used to refer to bugbears, hobgoblins, and goblins. They are the descendants of the once mighty continent spanning Empire of Dhakaan that collapsed because of an invasion by the [[Daelkyr]], masters of the plane of madness. The invasion was eventually beaten back by an alliance between the empire and the orc tribes called the Gatekeepers (badass men-in-black style druids who protect the world from lovecraftian horrors), but the empire fell afterwards. They're not the banal savages that you can kill guilt free in many other settings.

In the current day they are split up into three broad cultural groups (and a few splinter groups) - the smallest of the big three are The Heirs of Dhakaan, or Dar Dhakaani, which are the badass super disciplined remnants of the empire who preserved their way of life after the empire collapsed by hiding underground or in secluded mountains (thus quarantining themselves from the Plague of Silence) and would like to bring goblins back to their previous heights, especially now that they know the rest of goblinoid population is no longer contagious. The various goblin races are all equal under the Dhakaani and share a eusocial bond like ants. They specialize in different tasks - the hobgoblins are administrators and soldiers (females are usually bards), goblins are workers, scouts and spies, and the bugbears are shock troopers and heavy laborers - but if you're better at a job outside your cultural role, the empire doesn't waste talent and puts you in that job. On the darker side, Dhakaani are ''very'' xenophobic and see no place for non-goblinoids in their society (for good reason, as they could not share their eusocial bonds), at best exiling them from places they conquer, and at worst killing them all. The latter is disturbingly common, since Dar Dhakaani like to keep their existence secret to surface-dwellers and are usually quite good at it.

Then you have the Ghaal'Dar, who made up the bulk of the descendants of the collapsed empire and had to deal with the fallout. Their culture degenerated into petty barbarian tribes with a might-makes-right mentality, their eusocial bond destroyed by the daelkyr Plague of Silence. They are usually ruled by hobgoblins due to their superior ability to organize vs the other two subspecies. However, during the conflict known as The Last War they united and stole a chunk of land from the human kingdoms that they named Darguun. It's their "new goblin Homeland" and they're starting to rebuild their culture from there, but nobody thinks it will last. It's ruled by an alliance of clans with the leader, Lhesh Haruuc maintaining a delicate balance of power between them to maintain stability. He's tried to institute the rule of law and has been mostly successful, but a few clans (mostly in desolate areas where they can get away with it) only pay lip service. The country has been a success so far and their culture is slowly clawing it's way out of the dumps, but many are worried that when Haruuc dies it will all fall apart, so he is desperately looking for a competent successor. There's also an extra layer of Dar Dhakaani sending their spies, agents and entire squads of elite operatives masquerading as "Ghaal'Dar from remote holds" or even assassinating Darguun leaders and replacing them with Dar Dhakaani doubles to manipulate Darguun into becoming a seed from which Dhakaani empire could be rebuilt and indoctrinating Darguun goblins into old Dhakaani beliefs instead of tribal traditions they picked up after empire's collapse. It wouldn't be out of character for Dar Dhakaani to kidnap entire villages of Ghaal'Dar goblins to experiment on them in hope to reverse Plague of Silence effects.

The last major cultural group are the city goblins. They're the descendents of Ghaal'Dar goblinoids who weren't killed or fled when the humans conquered the continent, and were enslaved for a few thousand years. They're mostly lower g goblins, and were released from slavery about a thousand years before the current time. They're considered tax paying citizens and have all the rights (on paper) of human or [[Demihuman]] citizens of the countries they live in. However, they tend to be poor and live as second class citizens in many places due to racism and lack of opportunities, as well as objective reasons like short lifespan, meaning less time to get education for high-paying jobs compared to humans, and [[Warforged]] flooding the low-paying job market after the war and incidentally lowering wages for everyone else. The majority of them are loyal to their country of birth and consider themselves regular citizens, and they often dislike the Ghaal'Dar for commiting war crimes during the Last War and giving goblins a bad name. Most of the ones who were sympathetic to Ghaal'Dar moved to Darguun.

Goblins (like 99% of races in this setting) are not naturally evil in Eberron; they have the same range of alignments as every other sentient race. For cultural reasons they do tend towards being Lawful Neutral, but only slightly.

As a somewhat curious aside, D&D goblins are yellow (mostly) compared to the more usual goblin color of green. This trait survived even after the popularization of green Goblins in most other fantasy settings, most prominently the aforementioned Warhammer Fantasy and Warcraft. A few settings sometimes portray them as shades of grey, or the previously mentioned colors with a grey tint. They're even portrayed as red or deep orange in some artwork.

The D&D goblin has a ''huge'' family tree, to the point they even coined their own racial name; "[[goblinoid]]". The two most prominent goblin-kin are the [[bugbear]]s - large, hairy, brutish goblins that, arguably, are D&D's attempt to maintain the orcy archetype without making orcs & goblins officially related - and the [[hobgoblin]]s, who are literally Tolkien's Uruk-Hai.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Goblin ODD1.png|Original D&D
Goblin MM 1e.jpg|1e
Markessa goblins A2.png
Goblin Monster card.jpg|AD&D Monster Card
goblin MCV1.jpg|2e
Goblin MM 2e.png
goblin First Quest.jpg
Goblin slaver First Quest.jpg|They call him Baby-Face
Goblin A0-A4.png
Goblin 3e.jpg|3e
Goblin 4e.jpg|4e. The only edition with GREEN goblins!
Goblin 5e.jpg|5e
TWBTW Jingle Jangle.png|Post-Tasha's they are looking pretty [[gnome]]y
TWBTW chucklehead.png
Goblin B1.png|Pathfinder
goblin ARG 1.png
goblin ARG 2.png
Goblin SF.png|Starfinder
</gallery>

==PC Stats==
===BECMI===
Goblin PCs first appeared, alongside many other "classic humanoids", as PCs in the Known World Gazetteer #10: The Orcs of Thar. Under the Basic system, they had the following crunch:

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<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
::Goblin Ability Modifiers: -3 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Constitution
::Note: Like all Humanoids from "The Orcs of Thar", a Goblin has racial ability score caps of 18 in all scores bar [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]], which are capped at 16.
::Note: Like all Humanoids from "The Orcs of Thar", a Goblin determines its [[Charisma]] score for interacting with [[human]]s and [[demihuman]]s by dividing its Charisma score by 3 (rounding down) and subtracting the result from 9.
::Goblin Natural Armor Class: 8
::Can become a [[Shaman]] (8th level) and a [[Wokani]] (6th level)

{| class=wikitable
!Goblin's's level || XP Required || Goblin's hit dice
|-
|0||0||d8-1
|-
|1||800||2d8-2
|-
|2||1,600||3d8-3
|-
|3||3,200||-
|-
|4||6,400||4d8-4
|-
|5||13,000||5d8-5
|-
|6||26,000||6d8-5
|-
|7||55,000||-
|-
|8||110,000||7d8-5
|-
|9||220,000||+2 Hit Points
|-
|Subsequent||160,000||+2 Hit Points
|}
</div></div>

===AD&D===
Goblins went on to appear in [[The Complete Book of|The Complete Book of Humanoids]]:
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%"> Click "Expand" to see the statblock.
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
::Ability Score Modifiers: -1 Strength, -1 Charisma
::Ability Score Range: Strength 4/15, Dexterity 4/17, Constitution 5/16, Intelligence 3/18, Wisdom 3/18, Charisma 3/12
::Class Restrictions: [[Fighter]] 10, [[Cleric]] 9, Shaman 7, Witch Doctor 7, [[Thief]] 12
::Infravision 60 feet
::Can detect new or unusual constructions in an underground area with a 25% chance of success (1-2 on a d8).
::Goblin shamans have access to the Spheres of Divination, Reversed Healing, Protection and Reversed Sun.
::-1 Penalty to their attack rolls when in bright sunshine
::Monstrous Traits: Appearance (-2 to to reaction rolls), Bestial Habits (-2 to reaction rolls)
::Weapon Proficiencies: Axe, Military Pick, Morning Star Sling, Short Sword, Spear
::Nonweapon Proficiencies: Alertness, Animal Handling, Animal Training (Worg), Begging, Chanting, Close-Quarter Fighting, Fast-Talking, Fortune Telling, Hiding, Hunting, Information Gathering, Looting, Mining, Religion, Riding (Worg), Set Snares
</div></div>

===3e Stats===
In 3rd edition, goblins appeared as an NPC race in the [[Monster Manual]] and were made fully playable in [[Forgotten Realms: Races of Faerun]]. They were reprinted without change in a few books after that.

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%"> Click "Expand" to see the statblock.
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
::-2 Strenth, +2 Dexterity, -2 Charisma
::Small
::Humanoid ([[Goblinoid]])
::Base speed 30 feet
::Darkvision 60 feet
::+4 racial bonus on Move Silently and Ride checks
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Rogue]]
</div></div>

===4e Stats===
Like in 3e, the goblin appeared as a PC class in the [[Monster Manual]] for 4th edition. However, like all such races in 4e, its statblok there was...serviceable, but underwhelming. However, one of the last sourcebooks of that edition to be published, "The Dungeon Survival Handbook", brought them back as an official race, and boy were they beefy!

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<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
::+2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom OR +2 Charisma
::Small
::Speed 6 squares
::Low-light vision
::+2 Bluff, +2 Stealth
::Goblin Reflexes: +1 to Reflex defense.
::Racial Power - Goblin Tactics: At will, as an immediate reaction to being missed by an enemy melee attack, you can shift 1 square.
</div></div>

The biggest boost that the DSHb gave, besides the flexible mental ability score boost, was a selection of racial feats and racial utility powers, both of which really strengthened the goblin's mechanics and thematics.

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%"> Click "Expand" to see the list of goblin racial traits
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
''Goblin Racial Feats:''
* Ankle Biter: +1 feat bonus per tier to damage rolls vs. creatures larger than you, +1d6 damage on critical hits against creatures larger than you.
* Desperate Goblin Tactics: When bloodied, Goblin Tactics lets you shift 3 squares.
* Goblin Feint: When you use Goblin Tactics, you gain Combat Advantage against the triggering enemy until the end of your next turn.
* Shadowcreeper: Requires [[Assassin]] class. When you use Goblin Tactics, you shift 2 squares and gain Partial Concealment until the end of your next turn.
* Sneaky Stabber: Requires [[Rogue]] class. When you deal Sneak Attack damage to an adjacent foe, reroll any damage rolls of 1 until you get a result higher than 1.
* Wrist Biter: When you use Goblin Tactics, the triggering enemy takes 1d4 damage per your character's tier before you shift.

''Goblin Racial Utility Powers:''
* Fast Filch: At-will. When adjacent to a creature granting combat advantage, as a minor action, you can make a Thievery check to pick its pocket or perform sleight of hand. Level 2.
* Leg Up: Encounter. When adjacent to a creature, as a move action, you can jump your speed horizontally or up to 10 feet vertically. Level 2.
* Little Green Lie: Encounter. If you fail a Bluff, Diplomacy or Intimidate check, you can re-roll the check as a free action. If it was a Diplomacy or Intimidate check, you can use your Bluff modifier instead. Level 2.
* Living Shield: Encounter. If you are hit by an enemy melee or ranged attack whilst adjacent to an ally, as an immediate interrupt, you can shift 1 square and transfer the hit to that ally. Level 6.
* Unwitting Guardian: Encounter. When adjacent to a Medium or larger creature, as a move action, you can can shift 1 square to enter the target's space, occupying it until the end of your next turn and being hidden from all creatures except the target. Level 6.
* Down and Through: Encounter. As a move action, choose a Medium or larger enemy adjacent to you and shift up to 5 squares to a different square adjacent to that creature; you can move through its space during this shift. Level 10.
</div></div>

===5e Stats===
Finally, goblins appeared as a PC race in 5th edition's Volo's Guide to Monsters. Like their fellow [[goblinoid]]s, the [[kobold]], the [[orc]] and the [[Yuan-ti]], they were officially described as "unbalanced", which has earned a lot of fan flak, as this is literally an open invitation for more close-minded DMs to refuse goblin PCs - goblin fans are still hoping that WotC will eventually put out a splatbook with a "more official" and/or balanced version of goblin PC stats. Ironically, they were better off than the poor kobold.

Hopes of a reboot were shattered when the Guildmaster's Guide to [[Ravnica]] came out in November 2018; whilst earlier [[Plane Shift]] articles had presented an alternative goblin statblock, the GGR simply reprinted the Volo's Guide stats below.

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<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
::+2 Dexterity, +1 Constitution
::Small
::Speed 30 feet
::Darkvision 60 feet
::Fury of the Small: Once per short or long rest, when you inflict damage with an attack or spell on a creature larger than you, inflict bonus damage equal to your level as you attack from below, probably punching the enemy in the balls.
::Nimble Escape: You can take the Disengage or Hide action as a bonus action on each of your turns.
</div></div>

Surprisingly enough, after a second reprint in Eberron: Rising, the children’s “activity book” Adventure with Muk gave an alternative playable writeup, specifically for the Dankwood Goblins featured. All this does though is raise +1 Wis instead of +1 Con, and replaces Fury of the Small for the Forest Gnome’s Speak with Small Beasts, letting them communicate simple ideas to Small beasts and smaller. Which is nice for the utility, I guess.

As mentioned above, [[Plane Shift]] featured alternative goblin stats first - two separate versions, in fact. Whether they are better than the official versions is a matter of debate, though...

;[[Zendikar]]
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<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
::+2 Constitution
::Small
::Speed 25 feet
::Darkvision 60 feet
::Grit: You have Resistance to Fire and Psychic damage, your Unarmored AC is 11 + Dexterity modifier.
::Tribal Affinity: Choose either the Grotag Tribe (you have Proficiency in Animal Handling), the Lavastep Tribe (you have Advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks made in rocky or subterranean environments) or the Tuktuk Tribe (you have Proficiency with Thieves Tools).
</div></div>

;[[Ixalan]]
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%"> Click "Expand" to see the statblock.
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
::+2 Dexterity
::Small
::Speed 25 feet, Climb 25 feet
::Darkvision 60 feet
::Climber: You have a Climb speed of 25 feet if you are not encumbered or wearing either medium armor or heavy armor.
</div></div>

====3rd Party Settings====
;[[World of Farland]]
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%"> Click "Expand" to see the statblock.
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
::Ability Score Increase: +2 Dexterity
::Size: Small
::Speed: 30 feet
::Darkvision 60 feet
::Goblin Proficiencies: You are proficient with the Scimitar, Shortbow, and Light Armor.
::Nimble Escape: This is basically the same as the trait of the same name from 5e canon, except this version can only be used once per short rest.
::Subrace: Choose the Urban Goblin or Subterranean Goblin.
</div></div>

''Urban Goblin''
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<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Constitution
::Urban Stealth: You have Proficiency in Stealth and apply twice your Proficiency bonus, rounded down, when making Stealth checks in Urban environments.
::Tenacious: After failing a saving throw, a skill check, or an ability check, you gain Advantage the next time that you make a save or check using that same ability score. This trait lasts until used or 24 hours have passed.
</div></div>

''Subterranean Goblin''
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%"> Click "Expand" to see the statblock.
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Wisdom
::Dungeon Stealth: You have Proficiency in Stealth and apply twice your Proficiency bonus, rounded down, when making Stealth checks in subterranean environments.
::Pious: You have Proficiency in the Religion skill.
::Improved Darkvision: Your Darkvision increases to 120 feet.
</div></div>

===Pathfinder===
Of course the [[Pathfinder]] ruleset included Goblins, and tweaked them up a bit from their third edition version by giving them more dexterity. By Paizo's own reckoning, this puts their overall Race Points (RP) on a par with the other PC races, so should be a viable option for players, even if it is a bit uninspired.

Pathfinder did considerably more to support Goblins as a usable race, for both players and DMs. An entire splatbook was dedicated to their place in Golarion, while they were also included in the Advanced Race Guide and had additional options in the Monster Codex, allowing for a respectable variety in race trait customisations, giving them things like bite attacks, perceptions boosts, weapon familiarity, among others; the ability to create a medium-sized goblin who is not a [[Hobgoblin]] (their secret is morbid obesity); a bunch of racial feats; and a handful of dedicated class archetypes, including [[Alchemist]]s with [[Awesome|flying mount companions]].

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%"> Click "Expand" to see the stablock.
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
::-2 Strength, +4 Dexterity, -2 Charisma
::Small
::Humanoid ([[Goblinoid]])
::Base speed 30 feet
::Darkvision 60 feet
::+4 racial bonus on Ride and Stealth checks
</div></div>

=[[Half-Goblin]]s=
Given the strong connections between goblins and [[orc]]s in some settings, particularly in [[Dungeons & Dragons]]' older editions, and the existence of [[half-orc]]s, one may ask if there's ever been any love give to half-goblins? Well, ironically, not really; though [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] claimed that [[goblinoid]]s interbred with each other and with orcs all the time, that fluff was lost after the change to 3rd edition, which wanted to try and make the two races distinct. As for goblin/human crossbreeding? Forget about it; they barely gave half-orcs any love, so you can imagine they'd be less than interested in half-goblins.

Except... there was one setting where [[goblinoid]]s took the place of orcs. In the [[Dragonlance]] setting, orcs don't exist, being replaced by goblins and [[draconian]]s, and so the half-goblin appeared there in 3.5's Races of Ansalon sourcebook. Surprisingly, they're known for both being very self-confident and assured (in fact, their Charisma penalty is described as stemming from coming across as ''too'' confident, making them seem overbearing or aggressive), in contrast to the propensity for wangsting endemic to half-orcs and half-elves in other settings, very brave (in contrast to the traditional goblin cowardice) and with a drive to be peacemakers and diplomats, rather like half-elves. Essentially, rather than bitching about being rejected by both worlds (human and goblin) or about the lack of a "true" half-goblin culture, half-goblins are near-universally driven to try and force the world to shape up and make a culture for them, by bringing goblins and humans to work together in peace. Which is actually kind of badass, and certainly a change from the norms for half-breeds. In essence, they're said to combine human ambition and drive with goblin ferocity and mob mentality.

Half-goblins are described as looking more or less like human-sized goblins; half-bugbears might be particularly hairy, and half-"common" goblins shorter than average, but still within the human stature. Although this stature can lead to them being mistaken for [[hobgoblin]]s, they apparently lack quite as many fangs and have more human-like eyes, which makes the difference obvious enough at a closer look.

=[[Magic: The Gathering]]=
{{Topquote|Goblins are eager to follow orders, especially when those orders involve stealing, hurting, annoying, eating, destroying or swearing.|''Krenko's Command'' flavour text}}

It should be no surprise that Goblins appear in Magic. Showing up in the very first set, Goblins have risen to be one of the most popular tribes in the game, and boy do they get a ton of support. They are known as the "characteristic" species of red, which means that they show up in pretty much every plane as the default red-aligned race. In fact, the number of planes in which goblins do not appear on can be counted on one hand. In general, when goblins show up, they are shown to be chaotic and unruly. They almost always have green or red skin, and travel in large groups, though this isn't always the case. On [[Ixalan]], they look more like monkeys with white fur and black skin, and tend to be individualistic. They love fire and scrapping together machines and weapons that should by no stretch of the means work, but they do. More often than not, these inventions require the sacrifice of another goblin to get it working properly.

As a tribe, goblins often have small bodies and weak frames. When they show up with high power, it's usually at the cost of toughness. They are cheap to get out onto the battlefield, cheap to search up, and attack fast. They are perfect for aggressive red strategies, and they often come with ways to dump out even more goblins out onto the field. This usually comes in the form of goblin creature tokens, but some of the most powerful goblins let you dump them straight from your hand! If you don't wipe the board, or take out the few key goblins holding the deck together, you can expect the battlefield to be swarming with the little guys, and you'll be losing fast.

Goblins aren’t always evil in MtG settings. Usually they’re more of a footnote that don’t even appear in any actual stories, and on cards they’re often portrayed as more destructive than outright evil; picture an entire race whose approach to warfare is indistinguishable from an audition for Jackass. There are occasional appearances of Goblins in less chaotic contexts such as Boros Recruit, which depicts a Goblin footman. Mirrodin offers the biggest example of a heroic Goblin, with the forest Elf main character of the first block having a companion named Slobad who was an elderly Goblin machinist.

=[[Warcraft]]=

{{Topquote|Every great goblin invention was born from necessity, bubble gum, or an accident.|Goblin adage}}

Goblins are a staple race in the Warcraft franchise. They have green skin, are very short, have long and strong fingers, long noses, large pointy ears, and sharp teeth.

In Warcraft 2, when the game expanded to more than just Humans, Orcs, Ogres, and Demons, Goblins were first mentioned. They were small mechanically-inclinded lunatics who invented great devices and were god-tier chemists. They offered their services to the Horde since it gave them more opportunities to wreak havoc and the races that would come to be those of the Alliance had ignored them for their entire history.
The Goblins mainly performed recon and VIP transport for the Horde via their Zeppelins, demolitions in the form of suicide Sapper squads, the invention of airtight missile-launching capsules that were tied to the backs of giant turtles to use as submarines, and finally experimenting on their Forest Troll allies to transform them into giant Berserkers. In secret they also helped the resident Sauron, an insane evil dragon named Deathwing, in his various endeavors. Goblins were described as insane, sadistic, and greedy for gold.

In Warcraft 3, Goblins became a neutral group. It was revealed only a small portion of the Goblin race actually worked with the Horde, while the others have always provided their services to anyone with gold to spend and after the fall of the first Horde they have enforced that their own race remain entirely neutral to all factions. They did little of importance other than provide transportation for the various power players in this time.
When the second Horde was building their capital of Durotar, a small number of Goblins lead by world famous Gazlowe provided them with fair deals (which is itself a big deal for their race) for Goblin services including demolition.

In vanilla World of Warcraft, Goblin lore expanded even further; a small number of Goblins were seen in the Alliance, some among the Horde, while it was revealed almost the entirety of their race dwell on an island called Kezan which has a massive underground city called the Undermine. The Cartels run Kezan, the most powerful of which is the Steamwheedle Cartel which performs the basic services offered in Warcraft 3. They maintain a few cities around the world including Ratchet (Gazlowe's city nearby Durotar), Booty Bay (a port which services anyone who reaches it, mainly pirates although they are just as much at threat from pirate attack), Gadgetzan (a desert city of scum and villainy, plus a small gladiatorial arena), and Everlook (a town high in the mountains of Kalimdor near by ancient magical Elf ruins).

Goblins have a racial rivalry with the other mechanically minded race, [[Gnomes]], although hostility varies from giant robot wars to having a giant racetrack where they see which race can build the best vehicles to next-door neighbors who collaborate with each other on inventions and take any opportunity to try and make the other admit their philosophy is better. In general, the Goblin philosophy is "Chemicals, 50% chance of exploding is acceptable, build it fast, what we’re really here to make is big bucks people!" while the Gnomish philosophy is "Magic and radiation, 10% chance of turning anything from your hair a different color to your entire self into a chicken is acceptable, take your time and spend decades if need be, do it all for the love of knowledge and invention".

In Cataclysm, Goblins recieved a MAJOR update as they became a player race. One of the cartels which was one of the weaker ones (having their section of Kezan entirely on the surface, mainly producing pop culture, cars, sports, and edibles) joined the Horde after Deathwing set their portion of Kezan on fire (since in the middle of a not-football game a ball was kicked and hit him). Their trade prince sold the entire Cartel into slavery after charging them all their possessions for supposedly safe passage off the island, and the ships were caught in a naval battle between the Horde and Alliance. After conquering the island, they then joined the Horde which was in the middle of becoming a fascist genocidal dictatorship again thanks to shit leaders (also, their trade prince got to keep his job despite the mess he caused). They quickly upgraded the Horde from catapults to giant robots and from bow and arrow to machineguns, then created their own new capital by completely renovating a huge chunk of the continent into the symbol of the Horde complete with a Mount Rushmore of their racial leader.
During the Kezan levels it was also revealed that Goblins have become multicultural, taking on things previously alien to them like worship of the light and shamanism (although the former is seen as a combination of medic and television evangelism, while the latter is perceived as cutting deals with nature). Kezan is very modern and has television, pop stars, sunglasses, champagne, fancy cars, neon lights, not-Chinese food, electricity and lightbulbs, and many other conveniences not seen elsewhere in the rest of the Renaissance setting outside the homeland of the Gnomes.

Goblin origins were also explained. In ancient times, Goblins were a semi-intelligent race of monkeys which were enslaved by Island Trolls and forced to mine a substance called Kajamite. Kajamite has a side-effect of causing a huge boost to intelligence (although not coherent thought) in anyone who imbibes it, and one day the Troll slavemasters entered the mines to whip their tiny laborers and were disintegrated with laser beams. Since then, the Goblins have mined Kajamite and used it as an ingredient in ingestibles of all kinds (including "Kaja-cola") although their supply was beginning to run out, and there was fear they may regress back to being mere monkeys without it. Like most Cataclysm plots, this was never brought up again, although there were hints that with the Kaja-cola that was left everywhere they go, that monkeys drinking it have started becoming intelligent as well.

Goblins in Warcraft 2 had extremely squeaky, high-pitched voices and tended to babble or shriek. In Warcraft 3 the shrillness of the voice was lessened, and they became more calm and coherent. The Goblins in World of Warcraft still have a voice that is higher-pitched than a human, although only slightly more for males while gaining something of an American Brooklyn accent. The non-Bilgewater Goblins still speak in their Brooklyn accent or a general American accent, whereas the Bilgewater Goblins speak like they're from New Jersey both in accent and expression.

<gallery>
Image:GoblinZeppelin.png|A Goblin Zeppelin pilot in Warcraft 2.
Image:GoblinSappers 2.jpg|Goblin Sappers in Warcraft 2.
Image:Goblin Sappers.jpg|Warcraft 3 Goblin Sappers.
Image:Goblin Tinker WX.png|Warcraft 3 Goblin Tinker.
Image:WoW Goblin Fem.jpg|World of Warcraft female Goblin player characters.
Image:Warcraft Goblin Player Male.jpg|World of Warcraft male Goblin player characters.
Image:GOBLINS AND GNOMES.jpg|Goblin/Gnome rivalry.
Image:Kezan.png|The Bilgewater portion of Kezan.
Image:Goblin Easter.png|Goblins are into holidays in a big way, either as a business conspiracy or over-enthusiasm.
Image:Goblin femSapper.jpg
</gallery>

=[[Goblin Slayer]]=

{{Topquote|Before the demons destroy the world, the goblins will destroy the villages. The world being in danger isn't an excuse to let the goblins live.|The slayer himself}}

[[Skarsnik|The said goblin in this manga while being a weak, tiny and barbaric humanoid is capable of many unorthodox tactics and teamwork that they could outplay and murder low level adventurers numerous times, whom the said adventurers underestimate the cunning goblins]]. They are barbaric primitives so they have to loot tools. However, they are capable of some degree of intelligence, like using signs like totems to create distractions as well as cover their weapons with urine and poisonous herbs to not only prevent adventurers from healing themselves, but also mark them with scents for goblins have an acute sense of smell. While they use mercenaries and pets such as wolves and orcs to further boost their effectiveness, the biggest contributors of their horde are their red shirt goblin goons, who are weak, small, but expendable and effective while attacking in groups. The horde is often led by a goblin mage that is capable of casting spells like fireball.

Oh, and this being Japan, they're sadists native to the moon who have only one gender and use females of other races to reproduce; given their brutal nature, it's done via rape. What the hell else would you read this shit for?

=Troll 2 Goblins=
The notorious movie Troll 2 infamously [[Irony|features no actual trolls]]<ref>Nor any connection to its purported prequel, ''Troll'' from 1986, which is a fascinatingly bad movie in itself. Troll 1 features a surprisingly strong cast and a pair of protagonists both named "[[Harry Potter]]" (Sr. and Jr.), among a great deal of other weirdness unrelated to its "sequels". Further, there have been ''two'' movies released as "Troll 3", neither of which has a [[troll]], nor much connection to either Troll 1 or 2 or each other (one purported Troll 3 features a "hobgoblin" and the other features killer trees). And then there was a semi-official sequel to Troll 2 called "Goblin 2" (Troll 2 being originally filmed under the title "Goblins") that actually featured a [[troll]] (and no actual goblins). But enough about other filmmakers' [[Pun|Trolling]] of audiences.</ref>. It instead features goblins (thus, its presence in this article), who live in the town of Nilbog ("Its Goblin backwards!"), and who, for the purposes of this movie, are vegetarian monsters who turn their human victims into plants via various potions and other concoctions. (The writer/director was an Italian with ''issues'', okay?)

That being said, the Troll 2 goblins are worth mentioning just because "vegetarian monsters who convert their prey into plants" is a fairly good line for "just how weird you can go with goblins", and also a good adventure seed that could be used for a minor [[World of Darkness]] mystery baddie.

=Monstergirl Depictions=
{{Monstergirls}}
[[Image:Goblin_Bar_Wench.png|thumb|200px|"Hey sugar, what'll you be having? Tonight's special is already served to your table."]]

{{Topquote|You can [...] design them so unexpectedly attractive that it'll make people question if they discovered a new fetish, or if it was there all along and this was just its awakening.|JoCat, ''A Crap Guide to D&D - Goblins''}}

Traditionally, the idea of goblins being [[monstergirls]] was something of a niche, at best; most thought of them as just hideous, stupid, filthy little monsters - who would want to put their dicks in that?

Ironically, it was [[Warcraft]] that probably first sowed the seeds of female goblins being fuggable; whilst the attractiveness of female goblins in that game is contentious, people must admit that they were better-looking than the tumor-riddled, snaggle-toothed, scarred abominations that made up the canon depictions of most goblins prior to that. They were certainly attractive enough to start scoring [[Rule 34]] artwork, and this became a revelation to fa/tg/uys: that goblin-girls did ''not'' have to be fugly!

From there, goblin-girls became an underground sensation, slowly developing and evolving in the steamier underbelly of /tg/ and on /d/ (or at least its "western counterpart" /aco/) until they have become as mainstream in the /tg/ fandom as any monstergirl has a chance of being. When brought up, expect the occasional joking argument on whether it should be standard for female goblins to be referred to as "goblettes".

Because goblins vary so widely in their depictions, it shouldn't be surprising that goblin-girls likewise have been a particularly fertile ground for interpretations. There are five "mainstream" depictions of the goblin-as-monstergirl you will probably encounter on /tg/, and many different sub-forms and cross-pollinations. All depend on which of the various "goblin aspects" a creator deigns to focus on; tinker skills, short-sighted hedonism, mischievousness, propensity towards rapaciousness, and/or fertility:

* The "Pervy Tinker" archetype directly traces its roots back to Warcraft's Rule 34'd goblins: this envisions goblins as a "techy" race with a strong lewd streak, leading to them focusing their mad science skills on coming up with newer and more deviant ways of getting off. Depending on the fundamental tech level of the setting and the creator's own tastes, this can range from aphrodisiac gas grenades and crystal-powered sybians, to [[golem]]s built as living sex engines, bimbofying/transforming [[magitek]] rayguns, and vat-grown tentacle monster pets. Rule 34 interpretations of World of Warcraft lore can be counted as this, as well as rare goblins in Corruption of Champions that are mentally stable enough to keep their panties on while in a lab.
* The "Shameless Slut" archetype likewise has its roots in Warcraft goblins, vis-a-vis their canonical obsession with money, but is perhaps one of the more widely known "generic" archetypes as well. These goblins are hedonists who take a great deal of pride in their libido and their love of pleasure, integrating with the other races and usually gravitating towards roles based on "entertaining"; from barmaids to outright prostitutes. In fact, they are often depicted as actively enjoying whoring themselves out, as it ensures a steady stream of partners and profit, whilst sating their perverse and degrading sexual desires. These goblin-girls are often size-queens, specifically choosing partners based on the stature of their masculine organs. The adult comic artist Incase is fond on this archetype, and might as well have codified it with his drawings.
* The "Mischief Maker" archetype is the most innocent of the archetypes; portraying goblins as just playful, fun-loving hedonists whose greatest aims in life are pranking, partying, and making love, not necessarily in that order. This archetype is the closest to a pornified parallel of the old "civil goblins are just green-painted Halflings/Gnomes" canard, as the latter two in porn tend to also be found in whimsical depictions of normalized-sex communes. These goblins are still generally less sentimental with their "free love" compared to them, but are significantly less transactional than the Shameless variety, and derive plenty of pleasure out of teasing their paramours.
* The "Savage Slut" archetype is perhaps the oldest of the archetypes, as it owes its origins to the original interchangeability of goblin and [[orc]]. These goblins are basically sexy "savages"; wild and primal little monstergirls who live a primitive lifestyle centered on hunting, playing, and of course capturing & having sex with men. Essentially, this depicts goblins as [[shortstack]] or [[loli|"a loophole for masturbating to underage children"]] orcs. Kenkou Cross' Monster Girl Encyclopedia is squarely focused on this aspect.
* The "Breederphile" archetype is, in comparison, probably the youngest of these archetypes. These goblins are defined by their racial pregnancy fetishism, and by having bodies almost literally built to breed. Being impregnated is intensely orgasmic, pregnancy either fills them with bliss, makes them incredibly horny, or both, birth is a series of some of the most intense orgasms of their lives, and social standing revolves around how many daughters they have to boss around. {{BLAM|+++...SCANNING...+++}} {{BLAM|+++Congratulations Neophyte, you have just weathered the single worst psychic assault a slaaneshi daemon is capable of unleashing; you may now be promoted into the ranks of the [[Grey Knights]].+++}} This archetype does make some sense if you think about it: after all, as a 'cannon fodder' species for PCs, where do all the Goblins come from? Corruption of Champions might as well have pioneered this archetype.
* The "Ghetto Goblin", while not part of the "five aspects" breakdown, has a decent-sized backlog of smut and is unique enough to be worth an honorable mention. This variant of goblin-girl portrayal is native to [[Urban Fantasy]] settings. Mostly played as a watered-down mix of the "Shameless Slut" and "Breederphile" archetypes (the "water" in this case being some occasionally-awkward racial coding), Ghetto Goblins tend to be used as an attempt at a less-overtly-offensive repackaging of old "hot-blooded Latina" or "Ghetto Black Girl" racial stereotypes in that they are: sexually open, tend toward foul language and fiery tempers when angry and lewd vocalizing or body-language when aroused or teasing others, frequently dressed provocatively, and very often have a pronounced species/raceplay kink. While breeding for the Ghetto Goblin isn't usually as erotic as it is for the Breederphile, the social status of the Ghettoblin is often measured by how many offspring they have, how often they have sex, and how early they first had sex. They arouse easily, to the point that human men in their stories often need to talk Ghetto Goblins out of outright molesting them openly in public, not helped by the often-added detail of humans and goblins being very sensitive to each other's pheromones. As you can imagine, this is mostly a niche community depiction. More precisely, it was codified and achieved popularity on [[/aco/]] based almost entirely on the output of one prolific writefag.

Whilst these archetypes are certainly well known and defined, there are also two setting-specific depictions of goblin monstergirls that have achieved enough recognition to be recognizable by name; the MGE Goblin and the CoC Goblin.

The [[Monster Girl Encyclopedia]] depiction of the goblin is essentially a mashup of the Mischief Maker and the Savage Slut archetypes. These primitive mamono live in tribal clusters, entertaining themselves by playing pranks on each other or the races around them, hunting game, and conducting banditry for fun, profit, and boyfriends. In appearance, they resemble pointy-eared human [[loli]]s with horns and superhuman strength, allowing them to fight with weapons that only a strong human man would normally have a chance of lifting. Simple-minded and carefree, they have no intention of giving up the lifestyle they so enjoy.

The CoC Goblin takes its name from Corruption of Champions, a [[/d/|hentai]] fantasy text adventure game that was popular on /tg/ for a while, before the fact that [[furries]] are much more willing to put money where their mouth is when it comes to getting fetishistic shit done led to the inevitable flooding of the game with [[beastfolk]] waifus and encounters and /tg/ promptly banished it. Still, before it went under, it had a significant impact on the goblin-girl arena: CoC may not have created the idea of the Breederphile archetype, but it certainly brought it to the attention of what passes for /tg/ mainstream. CoC's goblins are Breederphiles who became a pregnancy-obsessed all-female race due to succubus-corruption in their water supply. Once a brilliant race of alchemists and inventors, they have since devolved into a Savage Slut culture, living in crude tribes based on a massively curvy matriarch, her husband(s), and as many daughters as she can make who are willing to stick around - whilst goblins are fiercely competitive with each other, there is also safety in numbers, keeping them from being eaten by [[hellhound]]s or raped/beaten to death by [[minotaur]]s. Such clans are often notably inbred, for their corruption means they have little sense of objection to incest, with only the matriarch's jealous possessiveness in regards to her husband keeping her daughters at bay. They're also examples of the Pervy Tinker archetype, using what remains of their former knack for invention to create sex toys and perverse alchemical concoctions for use in subduing husbands and molding them to their liking.

One memorable goblin monstergirl is Zanik from [[RuneScape]]. Zanik is a badass female goblin adventurer who is the star of one of the game's major story arcs, wherein she helps the player save her tribe of technologically advanced goblins from a KKK-like cult of racist humans and then from an evil god of war who wants to take back control of her tribe. Fans of the game were so mad when the developers killed her off unfairly (and also gave her a graphical update that made her extra-ugly) that they later brought her back with a cuter redesign (though now fans complain that her new look is ''too'' cute).

Incidentally, one of the first modern references to a sexy Goblin monster girl may be, of all things, a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NwPJo4ysXI Frank Zappa song].

<gallery>
Image:Cute_Goblin_Adventurer.jpg
Image:Goblin_Dancer.jpg
Image:Goblin_Adventurer_1.png
Image:Goblin_Monk_1.jpg
Image:Goblin_Shamaness_1.jpg
Image:Goblin_Shamaness_2.jpg
File:MGE Goblin.jpg|When Lolis go after predators.
File:ZanikFanRedesign.jpg|Zanik's graphical overhaul was so bad one dude decided to [[Get shit done|salvage it himself]].
</gallery>

=Gallery=
<gallery>
Image:Sneaky Goblin.gif
Image:Goblin Knight.JPG|A more "player character" variety.
Image:GreenGoblin3.jpg|Most goblins tend to [[Alchemist|throw pumpkin bombs]] and use flying crafts to annoy [[/co/|superheroes]].
</gallery>

=See also=
* [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition races]]
* [[Unified Setting/Goblins]] Yet another take on a classic concept.
* [[Goblin Slayer]], a man with a serious beef against goblins.
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqx4ywmqYUw The most common reaction to Goblins]
* [[Goblinoid]], for the extended goblin family.
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLLHu8qtxjg Rare footage of a Goblin ritual. Purpose unknown.]

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{{D&D5e-Races}}
{{Pathfinder-Races}}
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[[Category:Kings of War]][[Category:Monsters]]
[[Category: Goblin]]