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Grey

2022-02-25T20:37:59Z

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A grey is a [[wargame]] [[miniature]] that has been assembled but not yet painted. The name comes from the grey color of most plastic and resin kits or the tarnished pewter of unpainted metal. While playing with greys is frowned upon in most GW stores and tournaments, and painted armies look [[awesome]], having an unpainted army makes no difference to actual gameplay. [[Necrons]] are the only army that does not need painting in order to look realistic, as their vanilla paint scheme is already grey. Even though completely unpainted models are generally referred to as greys, primed models can also be considered greys, since no actual detail paint has been applied to them.

Not to be confused with greens, the master sculpts for production models, which comes from the yellow/blue binary resin (aka "Green Stuff") used to make them.

In [[Space Station 13]], assistants are the lowest ranking individuals on the station, and start play with a gray jumpsuit and no access to anything important. New players tend to start with this role, as a way to get used to the game's odd controls before trying anything more important. 'Grey' is a quick yet non-specific way to refer to an assistant.

[[The Lord of the Rings|Gandalf]] used to be one of these, before somebody finally put a white base coat on him.

===Grey Tide===
A term with multiple meanings, depending on context and community.
* Sometimes used to describe the typical new [[Ork]] player, fielding large amounts of unpainted boyz. In their defense, when you've got three hundred basic infantry models, painting does get to be something of a chore.
* Occasionally used to describe a sudden influx of new players to a local gaming scene, particularly if those players are young. In some areas a new group of high school kids discover 40k for the first time every other year or so, bringing a pile of players with freshly de-spru'd models.
* Space Station 13: Sometimes assistants will group up in a sort of proletarian riot, commonly known as 'The Grey Tide'.
* Also, the Gray Tide is a Principality in the [[Eberron]] game setting.

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==Grey Aliens==
[[File:Gray PF.jpg|thumb|200px|Pathfinder's Gray]]
Greys are the stereotypical depiction of grey skinned humanoid aliens with enlarged hairless heads, flat noses, and big black eyes.

===Pathfinder===
Grays show up in [[Pathfinder]] as the stereotypical alien abductors. They kidnap people in their sleep and experiment on them, leaving them with only vague memories and nightmares. They have the ability to phase shift through walls and obstacles, and probe the minds of creatures they touch.

===Starfinder===
Of course they show up in [[Starfinder]]. For some reason they are blue now.

====PC Stats====
Ability Adjustments: +4 Int, -2 Str

Size and Type: Small humanoid (gray)

Hit Points: 2

Darkvision 60ft

Gray Magic: Grays gain the following spell-like abilities. The caster level for these effects is equal to the gray's level.
*1/day - mind thrust (1st level)
*at will - daze, telepathic message

Phase: A gray can shift itself out of phase with reality as a reaction to gain a 20% miss chance against one attack. A gray can use this ability a number of times per day equal to its Constitution modifier.

Limited Telepathy 30ft

===Gallery===
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{{Starfinder-Races}}

[[Category:Wargames]]

Orc

2022-02-25T20:36:21Z

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[[File:Orc.jpg|400px|thumb|right|An average Warhammer Orc.]]
{{Topquote|These have not had a fair press. They are fanatically brave in spite of being weaker and less practiced than most other humanoids, and must be kind to animals, since they train them so well. It is interesting that Tolkien’s characters describe them in terms very similar to those used by medieval chroniclers to describe Mongols, who in our day are considered a nice friendly people of slightly eccentric lifestyle.|Phil Barker, Sue Laflin Barker & Richard Bodley Scott, ''Hordes of the Things''}}

'''Orcs''' are a fantasy race that is used in a number of settings. Compare to [[Ork]]. They are generally depicted as barbaric humanoids with tusks and green or gray skin(or some combination of the two). Typically, they are stronger than an average [[human]], though generally less intelligent as well.

They enjoy molesting, eating and generally mistreating the goblins, their smaller cousins. They have longstanding relationships with trolls and ogres, their larger and stupider neighbors, whom they con into performing demeaning menial tasks and press into service in wartime. Their relations with more distant races are more variable - some may work for humans as mercenaries, for example, while others will attack humans on sight. They are also interfertile with many other races, leading to the existence of [[half-orc]]s. The long-standing exception to this is [[elves]]. All orcs hate elves, and this makes them good people.

Historically, the term is derived from an Anglo-Saxon word meaning 'demon', according to Tolkien, who lifted the word from Beowulf and proceeded to invent orcs as a fantasy race out of whole cloth.

== The Master Template ==
While many traditional fantasy races (elves, dwarves, dragons and wizards) can be traced back to folklore and mythology, orcs are entirely a product of modern fantasy literature. Here we have a basic rundown of the image that comes up when people say "Orc" and how it evolved.

===Tolkien===
[[File:Tolkien Goblins.JPG|thumb|right|400px|The origin of the original Orcs.]]
Orcs as we know them have their beginnings with Tolkien's works. The first orcs were created by Melkor (later known as Morgoth) shortly after the first elves awoke, before humans existed. It should be noted that Tolkien never definitively stated the true origin of Orcs , and most of what we have comes from notes and decisions he left to his son Christopher when he passed control of the setting over.
According to one account published after Tolkien's death in The Silmarillion, some of these elves wandered about exploring this world that they had awoken in and were captured by some of Melkor's Maiar ("fallen angels" futher down the hierarchy, Melkor being basically Satan) and were taken to Angband, his base of operations. Because Melkor was bitter about being unable to create life they were tortured, abused, cursed, mutated and selectively bred until you got Orcs, [[What| because obviously torture is totally going to influence the physiology of your offspring]]. The result was a species of ugly, bad-smelling, fanged, bow-legged, long-armed, claw-handed, hairy apelike humanoids which were 'sallow', 'swart' or 'black' in coloration, had an aversion to sunlight, ranged in size from smaller than a hobbit to almost as large as a man. These creatures would make up the bulk of Melkor and later Sauron's armies.

Tolkien's Orcs are not stupid, described as "making no beautiful things, but many clever ones" and their speech, while crass, is articulate. They are capable of making weapons (bows, spears, daggers, shields and curved swords), armor (helmets, mail and scale armor supplemented by salvage), effective if unpleasant medicine (prosthetic limbs are literally stabbed into the stump, for example), and are pretty good engineers on top of creating assembly lines; one of the general morals of Tolkien's works is rampant industrialization is a path to evil and/or misfortune, and making Orcs more advanced than other races reflects this. They are almost as good at mining as Dwarves are even if their work ethic leaves something to be desired. Nor are all orcs identical. There are variations among Orcs both in terms of individual personalities and differences between groups. Orcs from the Misty Mountains are described as being fairly tribal while those of Mordor are regimented (to the point where they have serial numbers). There are also different breeds of Orcs, besides the garden variety Orc you also have 'snufflers' bred for following scent trails and the larger and more sun resistant Uruk-Hai bred by Sauron and Saruman, supposedly made by crossbreeding Orcs with humans and specialized to act as commanders. However they are violent, sadistic, spiteful, enjoy breaking stuff, have no concern for aesthetics and are as a rule hateful and miserable. Fighting, killing, eating, drinking, looting, blowing stuff up, gaining power, bossing their subordinates around, torturing and presumably raping captives can only give temporary reprieve. They hate Sauron and especially Melkor, but serve them out of fear, their psychic influence over them and the fact that everyone who is not under their authority despises them and wants them dead. They are capable of internal loyalty and do have some social taboos (being accused of eating other Orcs is a considerable insult even though they are perfectly fine with eating non-Orcs) which are enough to let them act together as groups, although these groups tend to collapse due to infighting after reaching a certain size in the absence of a leader who can terrify them into submission.

Despite this, little is said by Tolkien about how Orcs live their lives on a day-to-day basis as their role in the story is as a force which threatens the heroes and those around them. It can be extrapolated, however that it is usually nasty, brutish and short. Some of the interactions between different groups of orcs frequently results in back-stabbing and violent power struggles, so we can assume that they operate on a grimdark version of Klingon politics. All the orcs mentioned are male which is usually interpreted as "orcs don't bring their womenfolk along on campaigns" (which is basically what Tolkien said in one of his letters) but has led a few to say that orcish sexual dimorphism is basically nonexistent or that female orcs don't exist. Given Sauron's proclivities and the various castes in mordor they were likely subject to some form of selective breeding program.

In Tolkien's published works, "Orc" and "goblin" are synonyms (at least at first; later he said that goblins were a subtype of orc, and later still he said that they were totally unrelated). In later editions of The Hobbit, he says that "goblin" is a translation of "orc", which is "not an English word". "Uruk" means Orc in Black Speech, a mix of Elvish, human tongue, and Sauron's attempts to give them their own language. Most fantasy fiction typically distinguishes between Goblins and Orcs: most of Tolkien's Orcs would resemble other works' Goblins (Frodo and Sam disguised themselves as Orcs, so we can assume at least some are Hobbit height). The largest Orcs in Middle Earth - the Uruks of Isengard and Mordor - appear to be somewhat smaller than Men.

====Grey areas====
The question of whether they are [[always Chaotic Evil|intrinsically evil]] is never brought up, and several of Tolkien's unpublished works suggest that this was due to his own misgivings with the concept of a wholly evil race. Melkor had no power to create other beings himself, but the fact that elves could be corrupted would also imply Eru had either made the souls of some elves either inherently evil or easily corrupted to become evil. Unlike Melkor, Sauron, and Balrogs who were spiritual beings that made an active choice to be evil, Orcs are universally portrayed as evil which means they could be evil from birth which was strongly against Tolkien's strong Catholic beliefs in the nature of good and evil. This in turn contradicted his own views on the nature of Eru as a wholly good deity while also opening up some thorny questions of faith for Tolkien himself, and even in his last writings it appears he could not come up with a satisfactory explanation for how they could be universally evil by nature. Christopher similarly has not come up with a satisfactory answer and has largely avoided the subject, avoiding talking about Orcs as anything but adult militant antagonists and leaning back on his father's suggestions of corrupted man/elf hybrids descended from enslaved elves.

Fans divide into different camps of explanation. Orcs could be born adult and "male", like the Warhammer Orcs discussed below, and thus be more intelligent animal like Dragons as opposed to inherently evil people. Another suggestion is they could also be people who are indoctrinated from youth, such as their closest inspiration as the Central Powers in World War 1 (trying to kill Tolkien in the Somme) and Axis (who blew up his barn while he and the family hid in the cellar during the Blitz) which would make Orcs antagonists with horrible leaders and a corrupt ideology as opposed to naturally evil; this would make them as evil as the Easterlings. Some have reasoned, in the vein of the second suggestion, that Orcs are not all unified on Melkor/Sauron's side, which is supported by a single line from Tolkien that no race stood united for or against Sauron; this is dismissed by some with the elf/man origins as all Orcs evil and all elves good, but can be interpreted either way. In this view some have reasoned there must be neutral tribes of Orcs who did not participate in conflict and are as unmentioned as the Stoorish Hobbits (Gollum's original people, who's only importance at all and thus only mention is just that; being Gollum's people before he degenerated into a [[Ghoul|ghoulish]] being), that these Orcs could possibly even be good for all that is known. Another idea is that Melkor's corruption of the Elves he kidnapped either diminished or removed their capacity to do good, which would make creating the Orcs one of the most monstrous acts he had ever committed, and considering this guy was capital-E Evil in every way he could think of that says a whole goddamn lot. The final suggestion is Orcs have no souls, and much like the Little Mermaid (not the Disney version, but rather the original story where they are Feyfolk who are sea foam come to life in the forms of people that can love and grieve, but return to sea foam in oblivion when they die because they have no souls) are just some natural material come to life with no real importance or moral rights because they were not intentionally created by the omnipotent creator (Dwarves are exempt from this fate, being creations of the Vala Aulë who were granted life and 'adopted' by Eru Illuvatar). In this view you could do anything you want to an Orc from killing to torture because they have as much natural rights as their base components, similar to the destruction of the Golem in Hebrew myth, and would explain the ostensible absence of orc-souls in the afterlife of Tolkien's cosmology, though one could find moral problems with this as well depending on your worldview. Tolkien seems to have considered this explanation at one point but ultimately rejected it, as he believed that the Orcs would have been no more intelligent than any other animal if they were truly soulless.

In any case, Tolkien invented Orcs and what is discussed above served as the inspiration of of MANY spinoffs that to various degrees A: took the idea and ran with it while expanding on it to fill in the blanks, B: took the basic idea and gave it a few tweaks, or C: deliberately subverted what people expected from Orcs, making it possible for them to be the good guys. There have been various takes on the "are Orcs fundamentally evil?" question. As a general rule more people tend to go with some flavor of "no, strictly speaking" in that regard as it opens up more narrative possibilities as opposed to a race of set-in-stone killer meatbots utterly unable to deviate from their programing though still cast them primarily in a villainous role.

====Direct Adaptations====
For the most part the Lord of the Rings movies created by Peter Jackson have done a reasonable interpretation of the orcs from the books, though they have cranked their aggression up a bit, uglied them to a great degree, often used the green skin-tones that were popularized later, made them much taller across the board, and ''possibly'' confirmed females. No females are pointed out, but some actresses that played Orcs have insisted their characters (who are usually killed by Elf acrobatics in the same scene or just screech at the camera and shoot an arrow) are female; Jackson has never confirmed or denied this but still made a point of including these interviews on the special features sections of the home release of the movies. Then again, he also put Elves at Helms Deep...

Notably, the 2014 game Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, while mostly known for being "actually pretty good" for what was essentially an Assassin's Creed clone, also showed Orc culture. Essentially, they were a naturally evil race ruled by a hierarchy of tribe chiefs who use grimdark Klingon politics; meaning whoever could knock around his fellow Uruks became boss, and a boss who could honorably duel, assassinate, or otherwise neutralize his peers climbed the ladder. While they were the Chaotic Evil monsters Tolkien didn't want to portray them as, this didn't mean that they weren't interesting. Their mindset was that when they weren't focusing on eliminating other tribes, most Uruks just wanted to put in a hard day's work (of bossing around human slaves), made small talk, had drinking songs, and at the end of the day just go have a drink with his mates. With the mental influence of Celebrimbor's shade on them they are rendered neutral in terms of good/evil, but will still fight and kill each other for promotions; this is generally interpreted as mind control, although a large number of Orcs following you without Celebrimbor in the sequel suggests it may also be you reducing Sauron's influence on them and allowing them to make their own moral choices.

===Warhammer===
[[File:Black Orc.jpg|400px|thumb|right|The modern interpretation of Orcs.]]
[[Games Workshop]] was originally a company that produced quality boards for games like Chess, but after two out of three of the original team fell in love with Dungeons & Dragons after [[Gary Gygax]] sent them a copy (believing they were a legitimate company based on their name, rather than three guys in an apartment sending out stuff through the mail) they began distributing licensed games and later producing miniatures for use in these games under the brand [[Citadel Miniatures]].

As time went on, they had a surplus of unsold miniatures and had trouble retaining the rights to sell their products, so they began to have members of their team create new games owned by Games Workshop to use the models they produced (which unfortunately made many of the early Warhammer designs that survive [[Broo|extreme]] [[Daemon|ripoffs]]). The most successful of these was [[Warhammer Fantasy]], then just Warhammer, which was a wargame version of Dungeons & Dragons that existed mostly just to sell models. Warhammer didn't get its own setting and story until 3rd edition, where [[Orcs & Goblins|its Orcs]] were described as having green skin and red eyes with tusks in their mouths as well as being savage brutes that gathered in hordes and attacked civilization, or just about anything capable of fighting, every so often. Although later on this lore became more complex with Warhammer greenskins becoming genderless mushroom-apes with the creation of [[Warhammer 40000]] which was ported back into Fantasy, the prototype Warhammer Orc still had females and Half-Orcs.

With this, the master template of Orcs was completed. Almost every fantasy setting to use Orcs after Warhammer made them green and sometimes gave them red eyes with tusks, which eventually migrated back into Dungeons & Dragons and even the Lord Of The Rings movies. However, one thing was missing. Orcs were still Always Chaotic Evil which greatly limited their use, and non-evil Orcs were a footnote that didn't even have a [[Drizzt]] to be their posterboy example.

===[[Warcraft]]===
The importance of Warcraft isn't actually in any evolution in any master template. In fact, what it mostly did is combine concepts from previous fantasy settings into a setting and use the appearance of Warhammer Orcs, which was thrust into mainstream public perception and made Orcs "cool" causing a boom of fantasy gaming both on the tabletop and in video games, as well as the movie screen.

Warcraft: Orcs & Humans was released in 1994, and featured generic knights VS generic Orcs in the Warhammer style (indeed, rumors persist that Warcraft was a canceled Warhammer game as Games Workshop had been experimenting at the time with video games). Orcs were controlled by Demons from some obscure Satanic force, and used Ogres as their minions. The only real innovation was Orcs coming from another planet through a portal, although the theme of Satanic forces invading from portals was largely dropped and instead lived on in the Diablo franchise. The game was a surprising success, being low budget from a minor studio.

It was followed by Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness in 1996, which sold RIDICULOUSLY well and sparked a boom in the entire Real Time Strategy genre which quickly became a staple of PC gaming. The setting was expanded a great deal, although Orcs remained mostly the same but were joined by Goblins (who coincidentally looked similar but were a different race), Trolls, their persisting Ogre slaves, the undead (created by the Orcs from their own dead Warlocks), and enslaved dragons. The most diverse change to be found here was Goblins being a race of money-obsessed mad scientists, and Trolls being intelligent. An expansion pack was released that involved the humans invading the Orc homeworld to end the war.

Setting their eyes on the horizon, Blizzard planned an explosion of lore with a book series beginning with Of Blood And Honor which went into the friendship between a human Paladin and an aged Orc ex-Shaman who hated what his race had become which created complexity in what had previously been just a generic "kill it all and loot/eat then march again" race. The second book was Day Of The Dragon, expanding a minor plot involving Dragons into the war between good and evil which had used the Horde and Alliance as a proxy for their own machinations. Lord Of The Clans delved deeper into Orc lore, explaining that they were a race with souls naturally attuned to other sources of energy that had communed with the forces of nature itself until they were tricked into a Daemonic curse that affected them like meth, giving them fanatical boosts of power until it diminished their body and soul into a husk; the main character of the book, named Thrall by humans who used him as a pit fighter, learned nature magic and freed the defeated Orcs to lead them to a peaceful natural existence again. Finally the book The Last Guardian detailed the madness of the human supreme wizard Medivh who had summoned the Orcs into the world in the first place and gave context on the Burning Legion, transforming them from a vaguely satanic demon army into a varied force of cosmic enemies that would fit right into Doctor Who.
Here finally Warcraft added new flavor to their Orcs although unlike previous versions of non-evil Orcs the Warcraft version had identical culture only without malice. The major difference here was making them neutral race that actually got to be in the spotlight, as all previous non-evil Orcs were minor races left mostly undescribed beyond the basics that never starred in a story and always were just an option for exotic PCs; Warcraft was the first setting to make them a core race in the starring role with equal importance to humans in the first person narrative, which catapulted Orcs across fantasy fiction in importance.

In Warcraft III: Reign Of Chaos, released in 2002, Blizzard took the mantle of villains entirely away from the Horde and rendered the judgement of gray morality into all factions. The Alliance were racist arrogant bastards that hated each other, were ineffective, and easy to corrupt. The Horde was full of the same assholes from Warcraft I and II that were missing "the good old days" and jumped at a chance to suckle Daemon teat for power again (although the curse was broken during the game). Undead wore the mantle of villainy, but that's because they were lead by a soulless human merged with the ghost of the Orc who set in motion the events which made the Horde evil in the first place. Also, there was forest Elves who wanted everyone to get the fuck out of their forest.

Warcraft III became THE game on the PC at the time, and Warcraft mania had made the image of Orcs something the average non-gamer person could identify. Green skin, tusks, gigantic frame with large shoulders, and sometimes red eyes (which just meant "evil Orc" in Warcraft) became THE Orc as a result of Warcraft, which very little since then has drifted away from. Very few fictional works with Orcs that came after left out these details.

Next in 2004 came World Of Warcraft, '''THE''' MMO which destroyed or outlasted every competitor, surviving for <s>12</s> '''15''' full years and which is still ongoing today. While most of the changes added in WoW remain only important to Warcraft continuity, as they haven't migrated into the mainstream yet, non-evil (or at least neutral) Orcs put upon both by their own evil kin and the hateful humanity became the default Orc. As the game's story moved on, the main racial plot for the Orcs concern itself with its heritage as bloodthirsty conquerors, with the younger lads wondering whether or not wanton genocide really was all that bad... One of them even took the Horde to... [[Nazi|An interesting place]]. So the nature of Orcs as evil/not-evil-just-really-fighty is still being discussed within the game.

So while Warcraft didn't pioneer the idea of non-evil Orcs, greenskins with tusks, or Orcs being in control of their own destiny rather than being pawns in the schemes of a greater power, it did make the Master Template a staple of fantasy fiction. Stories like the Styx and Divinity video games have continued using the new template since then, with more on the way. Even Warhammer itself dropped the most outright evil of their Orcs since then, making them Chaotic Neutral destructive forces that can be allied with rather than Chaotic Evil.

==Mold-Breakers==
{{topquote|Look at them. Ranks, files, locked in everlasting conflict at the whim of the player. They fight, they fall, and they cannot turn back because the whips drive them on, and all they know is whips, kill or be killed. Darkness in front of them, darkness behind them, darkness and whips in their heads. But what if you could take one out of this game, get him before the whips do, take him to a place without whips‚ what might he become? One creature. One singular being. Would you deny them that chance?|Lord Havelock Vetinari, '''Unseen Academicals''', on the subject of [[Terry Pratchett|Sir Terry Pratchett's]] Orcs}}

As the above suggests, orcs are typically your generic [[barbarian]] rapine-horde of bad-guys in most fantasy settings. However, this isn't always the case, and a number of notable exceptions have developed over the years.

'''Discworld''' (Also the universe where the above quote comes from) barely mentions orcs, only saying that they were made as cannon fodder for an evil empire before it was destroyed. There is, however, one orc Character; Nutt, who is Perhaps the most intelligent being in the whole setting, incredibly strong and fucking brilliant at football, although he avoids becoming a [[Mary Sue]] due to Terry Pratchett's Incredibly good writing.

'''[[Al-Qadim]]''' is notable for being probably the first full-on retooling of the orcs from "rampaging barbarian tribes" to "just one more fantasy race that mostly gets along with the others." This is mostly because, rather than having all the races living in their own corners of the world with their own cultures, the deserts of Al-Qadim saw lots of racial mixing around the few oases, and thus a single unified culture comprised of multiple races formed. The only enemies who ''are'' always evil are explicitly supernatural, like the YAKMEN! Also, the most likely setting ever for [[/d/|elf-orc crossbreeding]].

'''[[Eberron]]''' gave its orcs a status as a relatively peaceful race who were once responsible for combating the threat of [[aberration]] hordes from beyond the stars, as well as founders of the tradition of druidism in-setting. Orcs generally tend to live in few places and have vastly different cultures, some good, some evil, some neutral. Even in the present, they tend to live in the swamp-regions and do no harm; they freely mingle with humans and adopt them into their tribes, so [[half-orc]]s are not only common, but have just as much an expectation of being born from consensual relationships as anyone else, rather than the "orc man raping a human woman" expectation of most other D&D settings.
*Shadow Marches, said to be orc homeland, is home to the the Gatekeeper druids who saved the world from aberrations severl thousand years ago and are busy keeping evil unkillable daelkyr lords of madness locked in their prisons. But it's also a home to cults of Kyrzin, one of those evil lords of madness and orc tribes loyal to Gatekeepers and those loyal to Kyrzin are constantly fighting. Both tend to kill outsiders wandering through their lands, because those outsiders are usually enemy agents and it saves time, so don't get confused by Gatekeepers being the good guys, they're by no means nice guys.
*Droaam, right next to Shadow Marches is a multi-cultural nation of monsters and orks are a sizeable population of it. Gaa’aram tribes are your typical evil barbarian orcs, only difference being they form multi-racial tribes where orcs, goblins, ogres and trolls work together. Gaa’ran on the other hand are "peaceful" farmers and about the only people in Droaam who do agriculture. "Peaceful" is in brackets is because they would only fill you with axes and hang your mutilated corpse on a stick to deter future trespassers if you trespass on their lands, being the epitome of "get off my lawn".
*Demon Wastes have two competing cultures, both made of orcs, humans and half-orcs fighting together. Ghaash'kala clans are "good" human, orc, and half-orc [[barbarian]] clans all living and fighting and drinking together for the glory of Kalok Shash, an incarnation of the Silver Flame, in an endless war to make sure nothing ''else'' in the Demon Wastes ever gets out. That being said, things they fight are mostly evil orcs of Carrion Tribes who worship demons and make your typical Faerun orcs look like saints in comparison. Just like in Shadow Marchers, don't assume Ghaash'kala are nice because they're good - they operate under assumption that anything that comes from the wastes is corrupted and needs to die (an assumption that is right 99% of times), so don't expect eny mercy if you come to their lands from the wrong side.
*Finally, separated from all other orc lands are Jorash'Tal, the asshole racist orcs of Mror Holds who hate dwarfs with fiery passion for invading and colonizing their mountains thousands of years ago and refuse to let it go. They're nomad tribes roaming valleys between the mountains and are generally nice people that ''won't'' kill you for trespassing on their lands unlike other orc cultures generally painted as "good". Unless you're dwarf. In which case they kill you for the sins of other dwarfs that lived so long ago no one remembers them. Generally they're a case study on how racial grievances won't do you any good, no matter how justified they are. Dorfs, being both more numerous and technologically advanced are locked in indecision what to do with them as half their clans want to make peace and integrate Jorash'Tal, putting them to work since most holds are in need of more labour, while the other half pushes for the ultimate solution to orcish problem.

'''[[Forgotten Realms]]''', although certainly playing it straight, has exceptions too, in the form of the AD&D-only orc subspecies known as the Ondonti. A ''Lawful Good'' race of peaceful, quiet, contemplative, gentle orcs who devote themselves to [[Eldath]] (a minor Goddess of Peace and Quiet Places) and live a humble life as farmers in a hidden valley. They have several Priestly spell-like abilities (Sanctuary (Self) and Purify Food & Water 3/day, Barkskin 1/day and Tree 1/week), are resistant to poison and immune to Charm spells. The general belief of their origin is that they are an example of option 3 in the infamous [[The Orc Baby Dilemma]], with a bunch of Eldathi priests taking orphaned orc infants into seclusion and bringing them up into their cult, causing them to forsake their ancestral barbarity and embrace peace, quiet and advanced hygiene. You can check out their AD&D stats [http://www.lomion.de/cmm/orcondon.php here]. It's also worth noting that many D&D fans take the stance that orcs, goblins, ogres, and other "always evil" monsters are only evil because ''they're brought up in an evil culture'', and that an orc raised in a human household would be just as Good as their adoptive parents (assuming the parents actually ''are'' Good-aligned, that is). There's also the Kingdom of Many-Arrows, a nation of orcs that seeks to have diplomatic ties to their neighbours, though they do occasionally raid their neighbours, especially the local human barbarian tribes.

'''[[Spelljammer]]''' is an unusual entry on this list, because its unique orcs, or ''Scro'', are still bad guys. It's just that, in [[AD&D|an era where orcs were defined as being chaotic, anarchic, disorganized hordes]] scro were defined by being cultured, intelligent, disciplined and well-organized soldierly regiments - in other words, very close to how [[hobgoblin]]s have come to be defined in modern editions. They are even bigger than normal orcs, pimp out their teeth with much bling, and [[Nazi|wear black leather uniforms when not in battle armor]].

'''[[Warcraft]]''', as covered above, may be the iconic example of a mold-breaker when it comes to orcs. After making them fairly bog-standard bad guy invaders in the first two games (if a little unusual in that they were also invaders from another planet), the third game offered the revelation that orcs had once been a [[noblebright]] culture of shamans and honorable warriors, but were corrupted into savage, bloodthirsty conquerors by an evil warlock and the setting's demonic BBEG. As a result, the third game focused on their drive to draw their beaten clans out of human territory and found a new nation for themselves where they could try and rediscover their past. This led to the formation of the Horde faction in [[World of Warcraft]], which took off hugely in popularity because of its then-novel idea of traditionally brutal monster races (orcs, [[troll]]s, [[undead]], and [[minotaur]]s) as an ordinary, viably civilized (relatively speaking) faction in its own right. There was even a short-lived tabletop RPG (first a D&D 3.5 spin off, then a more "customized" but still fundamentally D&D-cloned WoW version) as a result. They still fight, bicker, and war with the "good" races, but now it's because of [[Blizzard]]'s <s>refusal to [[Advancing the Storyline|give up the "dual faction" mechanic and let the story progress]] along with long-standing prejudices between both the Alliance and the Horde rather than because they're the bad guys</s> revolving door of insane and genocidal Horde warchiefs who get overthrown every 2-4 years, with Orcs on both sides of the warchief's agenda. The plot twist is that this time, the warchief is not an Orc at all, but an undead elf which adds layers of complexity. For example, the Orcs go along with her orders in an attempted genocide of the Night Elves after the demons are defeated, but one of the key figures to rise against her was an Orc.

While '''[[Elder Scrolls]]''' **prepare for shitelf cope** Orcs (or Orsimer, if you wish to use their proper name) weren't even considered ''people'' in the first game, by the time the third game rolled around they had become fully integrated into normal society and weren't looked upon any differently from elves or humans. They are as intelligent as anybody else (in the fifth game one even runs the library at the local mage's college) and generally known to be the best smiths in the setting besides the long-extinct Dwarves, as well as crazy good soldiers next to the Nords and Redguards. Their skill in fighting with heavy armor has lent them a place as heavy shock legionaries in the Imperial Legions. One Orc even became the continent's best chef. Technically, they're a subspecies of Elf which were transformed into their current state after the Daedric Prince Boethiah [[Vore|ate (and shat out)]] their greatest champion/god, who was himself turned into the Daedric Prince Malacath.

'''[[Wicked Fantasy]]''' Orks ''were'' originally the standard Always Chaotic Evil raider types, having been created by malevolent gods for the purpose of fighting for their amusement. And then, one day, thirteen great orkish heroes realized that their race had always been nothing more than slaves, and chose to take a new path. They fought their gods and slew them, and though they still struggle with the lingering blood-rage they were created with, they are now a comparatively peaceful race. They're still a ''dark'' race, but not an evil one. For example, they worship pain as a sacred concept... because, by their understanding of it, pain is ultimately on the side of life and it is the giver of strength. Pain warns you when you are hurt, when you are about to die, but it also pushes you to fight harder, to try and survive. Orks prize battle scars as near-sacred objects; nothing comes without sacrifice, and without a scar, the physical symbol of pain, for reference, a victory is ultimately meaningless.

'''[[Sharakim]]''' seem like this at first glance, as they are orcs who are highly organized, discipline, civilized and benevolent people, but arguably don't count: they're the descendants of humans who were cursed to ''look like'' orcs for sacrilege, not really proper orcs.

'''[[Monster Hunter International]]''' orcs, while green and tusked, are among the few monsters that aren't evil as a species. Unlike most of them they are not PUFF exempt, so they do their best to stay hidden from the government. Monster Hunter International helps hide the orcs at their headquarters in Cazador, Alabama and, in return, gets a help from a few orcs. Appearance wise MHI Orcs are pretty standard, though they wear masks to hide this from humans (though the one look at their village suggests they may do this beyond just secrecy). What makes them interesting is that they have an (Orc) god given talent that makes them very specialized in a particular area, yet utterly incompetent at something related to but outside that area. These include a master of bladed weapons that can't hit the broad side of a barn with a gun, and a helicopter pilot who can make a [[MI-24 Hind]] do things even current helicopters can't, but is unable to drive a car (Upon hearing this, one character speculates that Top Gear's Stig is an orc). They can also make magical healing potions, though they need to be made for specific people and don't keep well. Female orcs greatly outnumber males, so polygamy is the norm. MHI Orcs also worship heavy metal musicians. Most information about orcs in this world is based on the depiction of one friendly tribe, and the only other tribe mentioned was willing to slaughter this friendly tribe, so it's likely other tribes differ in some or all aspects.

It's not very common, as one can see, but some DMs have been known to revamp orcs for their own homebrew settings as well.

==Orcs in D&D==
[[File:DnD Original Orc.jpg|thumb|right|400px|1st Edition D&D Orcs, now commonly referred to by some variation of "P'Orcs" by fans.]]
In the first edition of [[Dungeons & Dragons]], Orcs were among the first monsters inspired by folklore and fantasy literature added to the game in a reissue set. They became the primary antagonists out of the many enemies in the game due primarily to their statline rather than their iconic nature, since they were the best "always an enemy" humanoid to accompany a [[Big Bad Evil Guy|BBEG]]. Early DnD Orcs were pig-like monsters resulting from savage tribals that bred with all other races they warred with (so reproducing via rape) with no unified culture or language, but interestingly were also described as having a "reputation for cruelty that is deserved, but humans are just as capable of evil as orcs" which suggests they weren't anything extraordinary to the setting.

Half a decade after their introduction, they were given a more neanderthal appearance as well as being given a size-increase to that of a gorilla (which is actually shorter than the average human, btw), were made able to breed with humans resulting in the [[Half-Orc]] playable race, and given their own mythology (which in most D&D settings is the explanation for why a race behaves the way it does). The leader god is named [[Gruumsh]], who was screwed over in inheritance of the world by the gods of the fairer races causing him to be a bitter asshole and make his race into entitled "might makes right" pricks like a father passing on their shitty life to their kids. Gruumsh's family are below him in importance and include his wife [[Luthic]], goddess of the submission of Orc females as the inferior gender, who goes barefoot and never wields a weapon and just serves to run the home and [[Meme|make babby]], and their son [[Bahgtru]] who's pretty much the god of "stupid, but strong", along with Gruumsh's second in command [[Ilneval]] who is the Orc god of war that directly guides mortal Orcs, with the four together representing the Neutral and "Lawful" (as in they are willing to take orders and respect their place in society) side of the pantheon. Also added were [[Shargaas]] the god of general bad magic and spooky things, and [[Yurtrus]] the god of ruin and death, neither of whom have any loyalty to Gruumsh's side of the pantheon and represent the truly Chaotic "for the evulz" aspect of Orcs.

An article for [[Dragon Magazine]] later gave the option of making the traditionally evil races like Orcs and [[Kobolds]] player characters of any alignment. This lead to the [[Forgotten Realms]] setting having two races of Orcs that are capable of any alignment, the pacifistic Ondonti who culturally are closer to Hobbit than Orruk, and the Gray Orcs who are treated as another among the fair races. All other D&D Orcs remained stupid-evil.

Dungeons & Dragons became the standard for most fantasy that came after, but ultimately for Orcs the only purpose was to move forward to the next step in the master template.

Despite their traditional role as bad guys, since at least the days of Basic D&D, where they had their own [[Known World Gazetteer]] in "The Orcs of Thar", orcs have actually been a full-fledged PC race. True, you typically need DM permission, but the option was there.

Though... not a lot of people took it, as in accordance with their fluff, orcs could be mechanically rather... lackluster. It's a well-known fact in 4th and 5th edition alike that, really, you're better off using and reflavoring the [[half-orc]] or even the [[goliath]] races instead. Especially in 5th edition, where they are literally ''the only race in the game'', aside from [[kobold]]s, to get an ability score penalty.

===BECMI Orc:===
In BECMI era [[Mystara]], there are two different Orc race-classes; the standard Orc, as seen in [[Known World Gazetteer|The Orcs of Thar]], and the horse-riding Krugel Orc, seen in the [[Hollow World]] subsetting. If the Krugel Orcs are Mystara's proto-orcs, then they must be the orcs of Mystara's distant past, Blackmoor, who were ruled by King Funk, chosen of the Lovecraftian Egg of Coot to lead the orcish hordes, arguably the first big fearsome orc warlord type character in tabletop gaming, predating Warhammer's Grimgor Ironhide, Kings of War's Gakamak the Smasher, and Faerun's Obould Many-Arrows.

;Standard Mystaran Orc
::Orc Ability Modifiers: +1 Strength, -1 Dexterity
::Note: Like all Humanoids from "The Orcs of Thar", an Orc 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", an Orc determines its [[Charisma]] score for interacting with [[human]]s and [[demihuman]]s by dividing its Charisma score by 3 (rounding down) and subtacting the result from 9.
::Orc Natural Armor Class: 8
::Can become [[Shaman]]s (6th level) and [[Wokani]] (4th level).

{| class=wikitable
!Orc's's level || XP Required || Orc's hit dice
|-
|0||0||d8
|-
|1||1,000||2d8
|-
|2||2,000||3d8
|-
|3||4,000||-
|-
|4||8,000||4d8
|-
|5||16,000||5d8
|-
|6||32,000||6d8
|-
|7||64,000||-
|-
|8||130,000||7d8
|-
|9||260,000||+2 Hit Points
|-
|Subsequent||200,000||+2 Hit Points
|}

[[file:orc MCV1.jpg|thumb]]

;Krugel Orc
::Racial Ability Modifiers: +1 Strength, -1 Dexterity, maximum of 16 Intelligence and 16 Wisdom
::Prime Requisite: Strength - Strength 13+ for +5% to XP earned, Strength 16+ for +10% to XP earned
::Save as [[Fighter]] of equivalent level
::Can reach 6th level as Shaman and 4th level as Wokani
::Mandatory Skill: Riding (Horse or Bounder - a kind of far-leaping bipedal carnivorous [[dinosaur]])
::Unlike normal Mystaran orcs, Krugel orcs have lost their Infravision
::Cultural Melee Weapons: Dagger, Sword (Short/Broad/Bastard), Mace, Club, Warhammer, Spear, Javelin, Lance, Net, Whip
::Cultural Missile Weapons: Crossbow (Light/Heavy), Bow (Long/Short), Sling
::Cultural Armor: Leather, Scale, Mail, Chain Mail, Banded Mail, Shield (including horned, knife, sword and tusked), Leather Horse Barding
::Shamans can use: Mace, club, warhammer, lance, net, all cultural armor
::Wokani can use: Dagger, club, net, whip

Krugel Experience Table: Krugels can reach level 36
::1: 0 XP, 1D8 Hit Dice
::2: 1,000 XP, 2D8 Hit Dice
::3: 2,000 XP, 3D8 Hit Dice
::4: 4,000 XP
::5: 8,000 XP, 4D8 Hit Dice
::6: 16,000 XP, 5D8 Hit Dice
::7: 32,000 XP, 6D8 Hit Dice
::8: 64,000 XP
::9: 130,000 XP, 7D8 Hit Dice
::10: 260,000 XP, +2 HP (Constitution bonus no longer applies)
::+1 Level: +200,000 XP, +2 HP (Constitution bonus no longer applies)

===AD&D Orc:===
[[file:orc MM 2e.png|thumb]]
::+1 Strength,-2 Charisma
::Strength: Minimum 6, Maximum 18
::Dexterity: Minimum 3, Maximum 17
::Constitution: Minimum 8, Maximum 18
::Intelligence: Minimum 3, Maximum 16
::Wisdom: Minimum 3, Maximum 16
::Charisma: Minimum 3, Maximum 12
::Available Classes & Max Levels: Fighter 10, Cleric 9, Shaman 6, Witch Doctor 6, Thief 11
::35% chance to spot new and unusual constructions
::25% chance to spot sloping passages
::Infravision 60 feet
::-1 penalty to attack rolls and morale when in direct sunlight
::Weapon Proficiencies: Battle axe, crossbow, flail, hand axe, spear, any bow, any pole arm, any sword.
::Nonweapon Proficiencies: Alertness, armorer, blacksmithing, bowyer/fletcher, carpentry, chanting, close-quarter fighting, hunting, intimidation, looting, religion, set snares, spellcraft, tracking, weaponsmithing.

===3.x Orc:===
[[file:orc MM 3e.jpg|thumb]]
There are several different orc stats, scattered across multiple sourcebooks. The "common" orc in the [[Monster Manual]] featured the following statblock:
::+4 Strength, -2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma
::Medium size
::Base land speed 30 feet
::Darkvision out to 60 feet
::Light Sensitivity (Ex): -1 penalty to Attack rolls when exposed to bright sunlight or a daylight spell.
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Barbarian]]

In the [[Forgotten Realms]], however, there are three different varieties of orc:

The "Mountain Orc" is the most common of the three races, and is the most generic, being pretty much standard Monster Manual orcs. They inhabit the Frozen North, predominantly the Spine of the World mountains and other hilly regions (hence the name), and for the most part at generic would-be conquerors foiled by their own inability to focus on anything besides killing - except for when [[Obould Many-Arrows]] tried to forcibly drag them out of their pits and show them that the best way to get respect is to actually make a kingdom of their own. These guys use the standard orc profile.

Deep Orcs, or [[Orog]]s, are a stronger, smarter (but somewhat shorter) breed of orc native to the [[Underdark]]. See their page for more details.

Finally, Gray Orcs are a strange race of emotional, impulsive, and deeply religious orcs originally hailing from another world. Long story short, centuries ago, an archmage created a portal to their world, but wound up being killed for an unrelated incident before anyone ever found out about this portal - which meant nobody ever shut it off. Five years after his death, the orcs found the portal and swarmed through in a religious crusade, battling the empires of Mulhorand and Unther in the 6-years-long Orcgate Wars, which ended with the closing of the portal, the defeat of several of the incarnate gods of Mulhorand and Unther, and the scattering of the gray orcs into loose, fractious tribes that still haunt the Moonsea and the Endless Wastes. Though physically weaker than their mountain orc "relatives", gray orcs are much more strong-willed and independent, and retain a knack for divine magic which makes them dangerous. They also possess a far swifter stride and keener senses of smell. Gray Orc PCs have the following racial stats:
::+2 Strength, +2 Wisdom, -2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma
::Medium Size
::Base Speed 40 feet
::Racial Weapon Proficiency: Great-Axe and Longbow
::Light Sensitivity (Ex): -1 penalty to Attack rolls when exposed to bright sunlight or a daylight spell.
::Scent (Ex)
::Orc Blood: For all effects and special abilities that target a creature's race, Gray Orcs count as '''Orcs'''.
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Cleric]]
::[[Level Adjustment]]: +1

===[[Midnight]] Setting Orc===
::+4 Strength, -2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma
::Medium
::Base land speed 30 feet
::Weapon Familiarty: Vardatches are Martial Weapons for Orcs
::Night Fighter: Darkvision 60 feet, +1 racial bonus to attack rolls when fighting with no light.
::Light Sensitivity: -1 penalty on attack rolls in bright sunlight or within the radius of a daylight spell.
:: Resistance to Cold: Immune to nonlethal damage caused by cold weather, severe cold, exposure or extreme cold. Halve lethal damage (rounding down) inflicted by extreme cold.
::Natural Predator: Orcs add their Str modifier to Intimidate checks as well as their Cha modifier.
::Spell Resistant: +2 racial bonus on saves against spells and spell-like effects, -2 spell energy points for orc casters.
::+1 racial bonus on damage rolls against dwarves.
::+1 racial bonus on attack rolls when fighting in groups of 10 or more orcs; allies and enemies both count for triggering this feature.
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Barbarian]]

===Warcraft the RPG Orc===
* +2 Constitution, -2 Intelligence
::Medium size
::Base land speed 30 feet
::Low-Light Vison
::Battle Rage: Can Rage once per day as per a Barbarian, or adds +1 to rages per day if a Barbarian
::Weapon Familiarity: Orc Claws are a Martial Weapon rather than an Exotic Weapon
::Weapon Proficiency: Automatically receive Martial Weapon Proficiency (Battleaxe) as a bonus feat
::+2 racial bonus to Handle Animal (Wolf) checks and Intimidate checks. Handle Animal (Wolf) and Intimidate are always Class Skills for orcs.
::+1 racial bonus to attack rolls against humans
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Fighter]]

===World of Warcraft the RPG Orc===
* +2 Stamina, -2 Intellect (Note: Con and Int by different names)
::Medium size
::Base land speed 30 feet
::Low-Light Vison
::Battle Rage: Can Rage once per day as per a Barbarian, or adds +1 to rages per day if a Barbarian
::Weapon Familiarity: Orc Claws are a Martial Weapon rather than an Exotic Weapon
::Weapon Proficiency: Automatically receive Martial Weapon Proficiency (Battleaxe) as a bonus feat
::+2 racial bonus to Handle Animal (Wolf) checks and Intimidate checks. Intimidate is always a Class Skill for orcs.
::+1 racial bonus to attack rolls against humans
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Barbarian]]

===4e Orc===
[[file:orc MM 4e.jpg|thumb]]
::+2 Strength, +2 Constitution
::Size: Medium
::Speed: 6 squares
::Vision: Low-light
::Running Charge (+2 to Speed when charging)
::Warrior's Surge (racial encounter power; make a 1[W] + Strength modifier attack with a melee weapon against an opponent's AC and get to spend a healing surge)

===[[Pathfinder]] Orc===
* +4 Strength, -2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma
::Medium size
::Base land speed 30 feet
::Darkvision out to 60 feet
::Ferocity (can keep fighting at zero HP, but is Staggered and loses 1 HP each round automatically)
::Light Sensitivity (automatically suffer Dazzled condition in daylight)
::Weapon Familiarity: Automatically proficient with Greataxe and Falchion, treat any weapon with "Orc" in its name as a Martial weapon.

As nameless monsters who won't survive the encounter anyways, Ferocity effectively adds their constitution score (''score'', not modifier) to their HP. This make them quite dangerous at low levels, since it ''triples'' their HP (the standard Orc has 6 HP and 12 con). This isn't enough to put them next to [[Cat|house cats]], incorporeal foes or [[Swarm]]s as slayers of low level PCs, it does make them quite hard for their supposed CR 1/3.

===Pathfinder 2nd Edition Orc===

::Hit points: 10

::Size: Small

::Speed: 25 feet

::Ability Boosts: Strength, Free

::Languages: Common and Orcish, as well as any other languages equal to your intelligence modifier.

::Darkvision: You can see in darkness and dim light just as well as you can see in bright light, though your vision in darkness is in black and white.

Compared to their previous edition, and the DnD 5e, the Orcs of second edition is a lot more fleshed out. With the APG sidesteping a lot of their more "violent" tendencies of pillaging and "conception" of half-orcs, preferring to focus on their glory-seeking, honesty and unbreakable loyalty to those they see as equals or treat them nicely. They are a society looking to surpass their shitty upbringings, wanting to move on from their long history of conflict.... by way of conflict.

===5e Orc===
[[file:orc MM 5e.jpg|thumb]]
Added in Volo's Guide to Monsters as a monster race. They get the following traits... which are, as more than one person has noticed, essentially the 5e [[Half-Orc]] stats with -2 Intelligence tacked on and with the gloriously beefy Relentless Endurance (survive a killing strike with 1 [[hit point]] left 1/day) and Savage Attack (+1 die of damage on a melee weapon critical hit) replaced with the okay Aggressive trait and the pathetically overvalued Powerful Build trait, something that [[skub|has caused its fair share of arguments]].
::+2 Strength, +1 Constitution, -2 Intelligence
::30 feet base movement speed
::Size is medium, but they get <strike>almost large</strike> Powerful build which gives them the carrying capacity of a large creature.
::60 feet darkvision
::Aggressive (use bonus action to dash, must finish dash closer to your enemy than where the dash started)
::Menacing (Intimidation proficiency, same as half orcs)

Amazingly, orcs got an official retcon with an official PC writeup in the 5e [[Eberron]] splatbook. "Rising from the Last War" uses the above orc as a base, but strips away the pointless -2 Intelligence penalty and trades the Menacing for ''Primal Intuition'', which gives them two free skill proficiencies chosen from a list made up of Animal Handling, Insight, Intimidation, Medicine, Nature, Perception and Survival. This is much more useful, and better meshes with the theme of the orcs as the primary [[druid]]ic race in Eberron, and overall makes them a powerful and viable PC race... still, from a flavor perspective, there's something to be said for switching the Half-Orc and Orc stats around.

This version of the Orc was subsequently reprinted in the [[Exandria]] splatbook "Explorer's Guide to Wildemount", so it seems to have become more or less the official replacement for Volo's initial shitfest.

And as of the October errata, that is now the case, and the change seems to be a step in the right direction for orcs and [[Kobold|kobolds]]. Even so, it goes without saying, but [[Skub|it's simply impossible to please everyone]].

====Arkadian Orc====
The [[Orc]]s of [[Arkadia]] are a race born from the blood of the Great Hydra, and native to the broken wastes of Garagos. Also known as [[Giant]]s for their mighty stature - orcs typically stand 6 to 7 feet tall, though the orcs of Gargaros can grow even larger - the race has long been the traditional enemy of the Arkadians, as the race seems possessed to the last by madness and the need for destruction. But... Arkadian orcs are not a monolithic racial force. There are many tribes of orcs scattered throughout Gargaros. The Cerberans train cerberus worgs to hunt and kill; the Cyclopax fight alongside [[Cyclops|cyclopean giants]]; and the Hydrak, the largest and most hated — even by their own kind — who worship the bound titan, seeking to free it through fire and blood. Despite the ancient animosity between orcs and men, some tribes of orcs have come to find a place in Arkadia, especially among the Krytans who value strength and physical prowess above all else. These orcs were first taken as slaves during one of the many wars with Gargaros. Thrown into the fighting pits and gladiatorial arenas they displayed such power and ferocity that the king, impressed, granted them freedom and a place in his army. Many Orcs have since taken to the worship of Krytos with abandon, finding in the mighty god a surrogate father who shares their savagery and love of combat.

Arkadian orcs resemble humans, but with leaf-like ears similar to those of the [[Arkadian Elf|elves]], powerful builds, and jutting lower canines. Their skin is the color of ochre clay; orange, reddish brown, or ashen grey, often varying from tribe to tribe. Many orcs wear black warpaint in stark bands and square keyed patterns. Valuing strength and dominance above all else, orcs, as a Hyperian general once put it, make excellent warriors and terrible soldiers. Their physical prowess and violent nature make them most at home in Kryta, whose army cares more for the might of individuals than the discipline of lines. Their fearlessness and unbridled aggression on the field make them an unstoppable force, ideal as linebreakers, often turning the tide of battle almost single-handed. Some, lacking even the control for this, become mercenaries. Others take to the fighting pits or, with some luck, the grand coliseums of Illyria, untouched by Gargaran raids, where their prodigious size and strength are coveted for their exotic nature.

::Ability Score Increase: +2 Strength, +1 Constitution
::Size: Medium
::Speed: 30 feet
::Darkvision: 60 feet
::Colossal Build: Your carrying capacity and the amount of weight you can push, drag, or lift is doubled as if you were one size category larger.
::Relentless Endurance: When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. You can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
::Savage Attacks: When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon attack, you can roll one of the weapon’s damage dice one additional time and add it to the extra damage of the critical hit.

====Farlandish Orc====
Orcs in the [[World of Farland]] come in a number of different subspecies, as part of their home setting's homage to the [[Lord of the Rings]] books that inspired it.

::Ability Score Increase: +2 Strength
::Size: Medium
::Speed: 30 feet
::Vision: Darkvision 60 feet
::Orcish Weaponry: You are proficient with the Hand Axe, Battle Axe, Great Axe, Scimitar and Great Sword.
::Aggressive: Once per short rest, you can use a Bonus Action to move up to your speed towards a creature that you can see.
::Subrace: Choose the Snog, Skaruk or Irzuk subrace.

'''Snog''' orcs, or "Slave Orcs", are the root-stock of the orcish race; first bred as fodder for the wars of dark masters, they are still used in that role to this day, and are literally bred like livestock for that role.
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Constitution
::Relentless Endurance: When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. You can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
::Indefatigable: You have Advantage on all Constitution checks relating to exhaustion, forced marching, going without food and water, and going without sleep.
::Armored: You have Proficiency with Light and Medium armor.

'''Skaruk''' orcs, or "Wild Ones", are orcs descended from tribes that fled their creators and have since pursued independent existences in the wilderness.
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Dexterity
::Savage Attacks: When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon attack, you can roll one of the weapon’s damage dice one additional time and add it to the extra damage of the critical hit.
::Wild Rage: After you first take damage in battle, you deal +1 damage with each attack for the next minute until you are knocked unconscious, or if your turn ends and you haven't attacked a hostile creature since your last turn or taken damage since then.

'''Irzuk''' orcs are a new race of orcs bred for their resistance to the cold and their ability to track victims. They are visually distinguished by their uniquely crimson hides.
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Wisdom
::Tracker: You have Proficiency in Survival and gain Advantage on Survival checks relating to tracking by scent.
::Cold Endurance: You have Advantage on Constitution checks relating to resisting natural cold and are Resistant to Cold Damage.
::Enhanced Aggression: When you use your Aggressive trait, you can move up to +10 feet over your normal movement limit.

====Scarnish Orcs====
Orcs of the [[Scarred Lands]] are semi-nomadic tribals who live in the plains and savannahs of [[Ghelspad]], noted for their talents in astrology and riding [[Dire Animal|Dire Wolves]], strong tribal identities, and a preference for a simple life with a few great luxuries. They originally fought on the titans side in the Divine War, but most of them took the asylum offer given by the gods. They all have the following stats:

::Ability Score Increase: +3 Strength, +1 Constitution
::Size: Medium
::Speed: 30 feet
::Darkivision 30 feet
::Aggressive: As a bonus action, you can move up to your speed toward a hostile creature you can see.
::Menacing: Proficieny in the Intimidation skill
::Orcish Combat Training: You are proficient with the battleaxe, greataxe, handaxe, and lance.
::Savage Attacks: When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon attack, you can roll one of the weapon’s damage dice one additional time and add it to the extra damage of the critical hit.
::Language: You speak Orcish and one other language.

===[[Starfinder]] Orc===
[[File:Orc sf 1.png|200px|left]]
[[File:Orc sf 2.png|200px|right]]

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Orcs in Starfinder were long ago enslaved by the Drow and forcibly underwent social engineering to make them servile to the Drow on an almost genetic level. Their once green skin has turned blue, to better blend in with the tunnels of the Drow planet's underground caverns and to resemble their masters' more purple skintones.

Ability Modifiers: +4 Str, –2 Cha

Hit Points: 6

Size and Type: Medium humanoid (orc).

Conditioned Focus: Due to her conditioning, an orc can choose one skill that becomes a class skill for her. If the chosen skill is a class skill from the class she takes at 1st level, she instead gains a +1 bonus to checks with that skill. In addition, due to her confidence with that skill, once per day, before she attempts a check with the chosen skill, the orc can grant herself a +2 bonus to that check.

Darkvision 60 feet

Fierce Survivalist: Orcs receive a +2 racial bonus to Intimidate and Survival checks.

Light Sensitivity: An orc is dazzled as long as she remains in an area of bright light.

Orc Ferocity: Once per day, an orc brought to 0 Hit Points but not killed can fight on for 1 more round. The orc drops to 0 HP and is dying (following the normal rules for death and dying) but can continue to act normally until the end of his next turn, when he becomes unconscious as normal. If he takes additional damage before this, he ceases to be able to act and falls unconscious.

===Gallery===
<gallery>
Orc ODD1.png|Original D&D
Orc miners First Quest.jpg|AD&D orcs with some klingon-like head ridges.
4e Orcs, Monster Vault.jpg|4e. Orc sexual dimorphism is a bit of a hit-and-miss affair.
4e Orcs, Dragon 374.png|4e
orc B1.png|Pathfinder
orc ARG 1.png
orc ARG 3.png
</gallery>

==Green Skin==
One usually wonders where the green coloration of Orcish skin came from, in the old myths (i.e., Lord of the Rings) the orcs were established as barbaric, crude brutes, true; but the approximate skin color was never truly established, the Orcs were generally described as filthy and mucky, with darkened skin and bestial countenances. (Similarly, in the films their skin shades are in varying shades of ash-black and dirty-brown, the occasional bit of face-painting notwithstanding.) It wasn't until the advent of the Hulk comics, and GW deciding to make their orcs different, that the common skin of the orc became green. Because Warhammer's orcs became so memorable, thousands of copycats have followed suit.

This of course may not truly explain why some orcs in DnD have green skin as well, DnD being around before Warhammer, but the a more precise green coloration in its orcs may have come later. Indeed, earlier DnD art shows a variety of skin colors, some of them sallow yellow and earthy reds. Green may have come about because all the other possible colors simply have clashing connotations, such as a calming blue, or offensive real world racial connotations (black, [[kobold|red]], brown, and [[goblin|yellow]] are right out for a barbaric and evil race of XP bags.) Another theory is that Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson, the 2 co-founders of [[Games Workshop]], also had a lot of communication with Brian Blume, the developer of D&D, especially in the early days of these 2 companies, so it is entirely possible that certain ideas were mentioned and then copied.

''In-universe'' reasons for their chartreuse complexions vary between IPs; While earlier editions claimed that the Orks of 40k are said to be animate plants, current lore dictates that Ork DNA is a combination of animal, plant, and fungal DNA, thus their colors are effectively the result of chlorophyll running through their bodies (while the animal part conveniently allows them to bleed red for grimdark purposes). Meanwhile, the green skins of the orcs of The Elder Scrolls and Warcraft universes are the result of demonic tampering; The Orsimer are a result of the above-mentioned champion-devoured-and-shat-out incident, while the Warcraft Orcs were convinced to drink the blood of the Pit Lord Mannoroth, changing their normally brown or grey skin into that distinct hue, with further ingestion of Pit Lord blood turning them red. Some orc clans turned down the offer however, and still keep their original skin tones in the present.

Though for what it's worth, D&D orcs are grey, not green, as of 5e. Seriously, open your monster manual if you don't believe us.

==Piggish Looks==
On occasion, a person may find orcs depicted as pig-men, despite the generally accepted portrayal of orcs as being (usually green-skinned) Frazetta Man style cavemen fellows. This goes back to [[Dungeons & Dragons]] 1st edition, where orcs were described as having a fundamentally "piggish snout" for a face and depicted as more or less a boar's head on a hunch-shouldered, ugly, green-skinned chimpanzee. Some depictions of orcs thusly refer back to this. It's most common in Japan, where old-school [[neckbeard]]s grew up to have a huge impact on art, manga and videogames. For a reference cue there, see the Moblins from the Legend of Zelda series. Similar incidents of redesign of classic tabletop gaming creatures include dogfaced kobolds, pumpkinheaded bugbears, starving-looking lanky trolls, and slinky hobgoblin-like gnolls.

==Monstergirl Depictions==
{{Monstergirls}}
Orcs are not the most commonly seen of [[monstergirls]], as many of the individuals inclined to make monstergirls, despite what many [[/d/]] cliches may lead you to believe, aren't inclined to find orcs attractive. Those rare orc MGs seen tend to be, basically, green-skinned [[Amazon]]s; [[musclegirl]]s of a particularly dumb "fight 'em an' fuck 'em" mentality with a penchant for either raping men or gathering in harems around particularly strong, tough warriors (who may or may not be made to submit).

In the [[Monster Girl Encyclopedia]], the Orc is a chubby pink girl with pig ears on her head and a pig's tail (see above about how "pigmen orcs" are popular in Japan). She's a vanilla demihuman-type mamono who goes around in large groups by preference. They're femdommy by nature, but happily submit to maledom if a potential spouse can overpower them in a fight, and also enjoy sharing a spouse between them. Hilariously, this is pretty square with what official sources have established about D&D orc sexual mores. January 2018 saw the release of the "High Orc"; a bigger, stronger, smarter and fiercer version of the standard orc, the "boar-girl" to their "pig-girl". Fearless, cunning and strong, they are natural leaders of their lesser kin, aided by the fact they release a pheromone that whips up a lust for battle (and sex) in any nearby orc. Of course, if you beat them, that knocks the wind out of the normal orcs' sails, and they will generally flee or surrender on the spot. High Orcs fit the same sexual mold as their weaker siblings, aside from their pheromone doubling as an aphrodisiac. In a twist that /tg/ finds hilarious, High Orcs have dark brown skin, which, combined with their status as the natural leaders of the race, immediately puts them in mind of the [[Black Orc]]s of [[Warhammer Fantasy]]. Most likely they were instead based on the Uruk-hai of [[The Lord of the Rings]], but why let that spoil a good laugh?

[[Daily Life with Monstergirl]] combines the above two, having male Orcs be ugly green pig dudes who lust for human (and human-like) women. Thus far we haven't seen female Orcs yet, but like the [[centaur]]s in the series they will likely be a lot more attractive than their male counterparts. As a matter of fact, a female orc named Ruka actually shows up in the tie-in online game as one of your potential haremettes; if taken as canon, then female orcs in this setting are indeed cute green-skinned pig-girls - unlike the MGE version, they have a pig's tail and trotters for feet, with elf-like ears, as the Daily Life verse tends to avoid more animalistic ears for its beast-girls in general.

<gallery>
Female Orc.jpg|gb2kitchen
Amazon Orc.jpg|In some depictions female orcs are rather [[amazon]]ian.
MGE Orc.jpg|A pig-eared orc from the Monster Girl Encyclopedia.
MGE High Orc.jpg|Bigger, tougher, smarter champions of orcdom, the boar-based High Orcs are essentially the MGE's [[Black Orc]]s.
Monster Musume Ruka the Orc.png|Ruka from Monster Musume showcases an incredibly rare meeting point between p'orc and greenskin.
1642287072.baguette2077 konosubaorc 001.jpg|Who says Pigfaced Orc Women can't be attractive?
AsianPigOrc.jpg|Weeaboo Pigfaced Orc Waifu
Aggralan, Mag'har Shamaness.jpg|The she-orcs of [[Warcraft]] have always been pretty hot.
orc ARG 2.png|Pathfinder proving [[half-orc]]s don't HAVE to have human mothers.
</gallery>

==See Also==
*[[Goblins]]
*[[Ork]]
*[[Orcs & Goblins]]

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Orcweapons.JPG|Ork made [[Exotic weapons]].
Orksword.GIF|Ork make more [[Exotic weapons]].
Orc_bard.jpg|What happens when the DM lets him take a homebrew feat to use his Strength score for Perform (Dance) checks.
Orcs are Grays.jpg|Orks are Xenos, after all...
</gallery>

{{D&D1e-Races}}
{{D&D2e-Races}}
{{D&D4e-Races}}
{{D&D5e-Races}}
{{Pathfinder-Races}}
{{Starfinder-Races}}

[[Category:Scarred Lands Races]]

Orc

2022-02-25T20:35:42Z

2601:188:C300:64B8:9D0D:65AE:FCC5:D421: /* Gallery */

[[File:Orc.jpg|400px|thumb|right|An average Warhammer Orc.]]
{{Topquote|These have not had a fair press. They are fanatically brave in spite of being weaker and less practiced than most other humanoids, and must be kind to animals, since they train them so well. It is interesting that Tolkien’s characters describe them in terms very similar to those used by medieval chroniclers to describe Mongols, who in our day are considered a nice friendly people of slightly eccentric lifestyle.|Phil Barker, Sue Laflin Barker & Richard Bodley Scott, ''Hordes of the Things''}}

'''Orcs''' are a fantasy race that is used in a number of settings. Compare to [[Ork]]. They are generally depicted as barbaric humanoids with tusks and green or gray skin(or some combination of the two). Typically, they are stronger than an average [[human]], though generally less intelligent as well.

They enjoy molesting, eating and generally mistreating the goblins, their smaller cousins. They have longstanding relationships with trolls and ogres, their larger and stupider neighbors, whom they con into performing demeaning menial tasks and press into service in wartime. Their relations with more distant races are more variable - some may work for humans as mercenaries, for example, while others will attack humans on sight. They are also interfertile with many other races, leading to the existence of [[half-orc]]s. The long-standing exception to this is [[elves]]. All orcs hate elves, and this makes them good people.

Historically, the term is derived from an Anglo-Saxon word meaning 'demon', according to Tolkien, who lifted the word from Beowulf and proceeded to invent orcs as a fantasy race out of whole cloth.

== The Master Template ==
While many traditional fantasy races (elves, dwarves, dragons and wizards) can be traced back to folklore and mythology, orcs are entirely a product of modern fantasy literature. Here we have a basic rundown of the image that comes up when people say "Orc" and how it evolved.

===Tolkien===
[[File:Tolkien Goblins.JPG|thumb|right|400px|The origin of the original Orcs.]]
Orcs as we know them have their beginnings with Tolkien's works. The first orcs were created by Melkor (later known as Morgoth) shortly after the first elves awoke, before humans existed. It should be noted that Tolkien never definitively stated the true origin of Orcs , and most of what we have comes from notes and decisions he left to his son Christopher when he passed control of the setting over.
According to one account published after Tolkien's death in The Silmarillion, some of these elves wandered about exploring this world that they had awoken in and were captured by some of Melkor's Maiar ("fallen angels" futher down the hierarchy, Melkor being basically Satan) and were taken to Angband, his base of operations. Because Melkor was bitter about being unable to create life they were tortured, abused, cursed, mutated and selectively bred until you got Orcs, [[What| because obviously torture is totally going to influence the physiology of your offspring]]. The result was a species of ugly, bad-smelling, fanged, bow-legged, long-armed, claw-handed, hairy apelike humanoids which were 'sallow', 'swart' or 'black' in coloration, had an aversion to sunlight, ranged in size from smaller than a hobbit to almost as large as a man. These creatures would make up the bulk of Melkor and later Sauron's armies.

Tolkien's Orcs are not stupid, described as "making no beautiful things, but many clever ones" and their speech, while crass, is articulate. They are capable of making weapons (bows, spears, daggers, shields and curved swords), armor (helmets, mail and scale armor supplemented by salvage), effective if unpleasant medicine (prosthetic limbs are literally stabbed into the stump, for example), and are pretty good engineers on top of creating assembly lines; one of the general morals of Tolkien's works is rampant industrialization is a path to evil and/or misfortune, and making Orcs more advanced than other races reflects this. They are almost as good at mining as Dwarves are even if their work ethic leaves something to be desired. Nor are all orcs identical. There are variations among Orcs both in terms of individual personalities and differences between groups. Orcs from the Misty Mountains are described as being fairly tribal while those of Mordor are regimented (to the point where they have serial numbers). There are also different breeds of Orcs, besides the garden variety Orc you also have 'snufflers' bred for following scent trails and the larger and more sun resistant Uruk-Hai bred by Sauron and Saruman, supposedly made by crossbreeding Orcs with humans and specialized to act as commanders. However they are violent, sadistic, spiteful, enjoy breaking stuff, have no concern for aesthetics and are as a rule hateful and miserable. Fighting, killing, eating, drinking, looting, blowing stuff up, gaining power, bossing their subordinates around, torturing and presumably raping captives can only give temporary reprieve. They hate Sauron and especially Melkor, but serve them out of fear, their psychic influence over them and the fact that everyone who is not under their authority despises them and wants them dead. They are capable of internal loyalty and do have some social taboos (being accused of eating other Orcs is a considerable insult even though they are perfectly fine with eating non-Orcs) which are enough to let them act together as groups, although these groups tend to collapse due to infighting after reaching a certain size in the absence of a leader who can terrify them into submission.

Despite this, little is said by Tolkien about how Orcs live their lives on a day-to-day basis as their role in the story is as a force which threatens the heroes and those around them. It can be extrapolated, however that it is usually nasty, brutish and short. Some of the interactions between different groups of orcs frequently results in back-stabbing and violent power struggles, so we can assume that they operate on a grimdark version of Klingon politics. All the orcs mentioned are male which is usually interpreted as "orcs don't bring their womenfolk along on campaigns" (which is basically what Tolkien said in one of his letters) but has led a few to say that orcish sexual dimorphism is basically nonexistent or that female orcs don't exist. Given Sauron's proclivities and the various castes in mordor they were likely subject to some form of selective breeding program.

In Tolkien's published works, "Orc" and "goblin" are synonyms (at least at first; later he said that goblins were a subtype of orc, and later still he said that they were totally unrelated). In later editions of The Hobbit, he says that "goblin" is a translation of "orc", which is "not an English word". "Uruk" means Orc in Black Speech, a mix of Elvish, human tongue, and Sauron's attempts to give them their own language. Most fantasy fiction typically distinguishes between Goblins and Orcs: most of Tolkien's Orcs would resemble other works' Goblins (Frodo and Sam disguised themselves as Orcs, so we can assume at least some are Hobbit height). The largest Orcs in Middle Earth - the Uruks of Isengard and Mordor - appear to be somewhat smaller than Men.

====Grey areas====
The question of whether they are [[always Chaotic Evil|intrinsically evil]] is never brought up, and several of Tolkien's unpublished works suggest that this was due to his own misgivings with the concept of a wholly evil race. Melkor had no power to create other beings himself, but the fact that elves could be corrupted would also imply Eru had either made the souls of some elves either inherently evil or easily corrupted to become evil. Unlike Melkor, Sauron, and Balrogs who were spiritual beings that made an active choice to be evil, Orcs are universally portrayed as evil which means they could be evil from birth which was strongly against Tolkien's strong Catholic beliefs in the nature of good and evil. This in turn contradicted his own views on the nature of Eru as a wholly good deity while also opening up some thorny questions of faith for Tolkien himself, and even in his last writings it appears he could not come up with a satisfactory explanation for how they could be universally evil by nature. Christopher similarly has not come up with a satisfactory answer and has largely avoided the subject, avoiding talking about Orcs as anything but adult militant antagonists and leaning back on his father's suggestions of corrupted man/elf hybrids descended from enslaved elves.

Fans divide into different camps of explanation. Orcs could be born adult and "male", like the Warhammer Orcs discussed below, and thus be more intelligent animal like Dragons as opposed to inherently evil people. Another suggestion is they could also be people who are indoctrinated from youth, such as their closest inspiration as the Central Powers in World War 1 (trying to kill Tolkien in the Somme) and Axis (who blew up his barn while he and the family hid in the cellar during the Blitz) which would make Orcs antagonists with horrible leaders and a corrupt ideology as opposed to naturally evil; this would make them as evil as the Easterlings. Some have reasoned, in the vein of the second suggestion, that Orcs are not all unified on Melkor/Sauron's side, which is supported by a single line from Tolkien that no race stood united for or against Sauron; this is dismissed by some with the elf/man origins as all Orcs evil and all elves good, but can be interpreted either way. In this view some have reasoned there must be neutral tribes of Orcs who did not participate in conflict and are as unmentioned as the Stoorish Hobbits (Gollum's original people, who's only importance at all and thus only mention is just that; being Gollum's people before he degenerated into a [[Ghoul|ghoulish]] being), that these Orcs could possibly even be good for all that is known. Another idea is that Melkor's corruption of the Elves he kidnapped either diminished or removed their capacity to do good, which would make creating the Orcs one of the most monstrous acts he had ever committed, and considering this guy was capital-E Evil in every way he could think of that says a whole goddamn lot. The final suggestion is Orcs have no souls, and much like the Little Mermaid (not the Disney version, but rather the original story where they are Feyfolk who are sea foam come to life in the forms of people that can love and grieve, but return to sea foam in oblivion when they die because they have no souls) are just some natural material come to life with no real importance or moral rights because they were not intentionally created by the omnipotent creator (Dwarves are exempt from this fate, being creations of the Vala Aulë who were granted life and 'adopted' by Eru Illuvatar). In this view you could do anything you want to an Orc from killing to torture because they have as much natural rights as their base components, similar to the destruction of the Golem in Hebrew myth, and would explain the ostensible absence of orc-souls in the afterlife of Tolkien's cosmology, though one could find moral problems with this as well depending on your worldview. Tolkien seems to have considered this explanation at one point but ultimately rejected it, as he believed that the Orcs would have been no more intelligent than any other animal if they were truly soulless.

In any case, Tolkien invented Orcs and what is discussed above served as the inspiration of of MANY spinoffs that to various degrees A: took the idea and ran with it while expanding on it to fill in the blanks, B: took the basic idea and gave it a few tweaks, or C: deliberately subverted what people expected from Orcs, making it possible for them to be the good guys. There have been various takes on the "are Orcs fundamentally evil?" question. As a general rule more people tend to go with some flavor of "no, strictly speaking" in that regard as it opens up more narrative possibilities as opposed to a race of set-in-stone killer meatbots utterly unable to deviate from their programing though still cast them primarily in a villainous role.

====Direct Adaptations====
For the most part the Lord of the Rings movies created by Peter Jackson have done a reasonable interpretation of the orcs from the books, though they have cranked their aggression up a bit, uglied them to a great degree, often used the green skin-tones that were popularized later, made them much taller across the board, and ''possibly'' confirmed females. No females are pointed out, but some actresses that played Orcs have insisted their characters (who are usually killed by Elf acrobatics in the same scene or just screech at the camera and shoot an arrow) are female; Jackson has never confirmed or denied this but still made a point of including these interviews on the special features sections of the home release of the movies. Then again, he also put Elves at Helms Deep...

Notably, the 2014 game Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, while mostly known for being "actually pretty good" for what was essentially an Assassin's Creed clone, also showed Orc culture. Essentially, they were a naturally evil race ruled by a hierarchy of tribe chiefs who use grimdark Klingon politics; meaning whoever could knock around his fellow Uruks became boss, and a boss who could honorably duel, assassinate, or otherwise neutralize his peers climbed the ladder. While they were the Chaotic Evil monsters Tolkien didn't want to portray them as, this didn't mean that they weren't interesting. Their mindset was that when they weren't focusing on eliminating other tribes, most Uruks just wanted to put in a hard day's work (of bossing around human slaves), made small talk, had drinking songs, and at the end of the day just go have a drink with his mates. With the mental influence of Celebrimbor's shade on them they are rendered neutral in terms of good/evil, but will still fight and kill each other for promotions; this is generally interpreted as mind control, although a large number of Orcs following you without Celebrimbor in the sequel suggests it may also be you reducing Sauron's influence on them and allowing them to make their own moral choices.

===Warhammer===
[[File:Black Orc.jpg|400px|thumb|right|The modern interpretation of Orcs.]]
[[Games Workshop]] was originally a company that produced quality boards for games like Chess, but after two out of three of the original team fell in love with Dungeons & Dragons after [[Gary Gygax]] sent them a copy (believing they were a legitimate company based on their name, rather than three guys in an apartment sending out stuff through the mail) they began distributing licensed games and later producing miniatures for use in these games under the brand [[Citadel Miniatures]].

As time went on, they had a surplus of unsold miniatures and had trouble retaining the rights to sell their products, so they began to have members of their team create new games owned by Games Workshop to use the models they produced (which unfortunately made many of the early Warhammer designs that survive [[Broo|extreme]] [[Daemon|ripoffs]]). The most successful of these was [[Warhammer Fantasy]], then just Warhammer, which was a wargame version of Dungeons & Dragons that existed mostly just to sell models. Warhammer didn't get its own setting and story until 3rd edition, where [[Orcs & Goblins|its Orcs]] were described as having green skin and red eyes with tusks in their mouths as well as being savage brutes that gathered in hordes and attacked civilization, or just about anything capable of fighting, every so often. Although later on this lore became more complex with Warhammer greenskins becoming genderless mushroom-apes with the creation of [[Warhammer 40000]] which was ported back into Fantasy, the prototype Warhammer Orc still had females and Half-Orcs.

With this, the master template of Orcs was completed. Almost every fantasy setting to use Orcs after Warhammer made them green and sometimes gave them red eyes with tusks, which eventually migrated back into Dungeons & Dragons and even the Lord Of The Rings movies. However, one thing was missing. Orcs were still Always Chaotic Evil which greatly limited their use, and non-evil Orcs were a footnote that didn't even have a [[Drizzt]] to be their posterboy example.

===[[Warcraft]]===
The importance of Warcraft isn't actually in any evolution in any master template. In fact, what it mostly did is combine concepts from previous fantasy settings into a setting and use the appearance of Warhammer Orcs, which was thrust into mainstream public perception and made Orcs "cool" causing a boom of fantasy gaming both on the tabletop and in video games, as well as the movie screen.

Warcraft: Orcs & Humans was released in 1994, and featured generic knights VS generic Orcs in the Warhammer style (indeed, rumors persist that Warcraft was a canceled Warhammer game as Games Workshop had been experimenting at the time with video games). Orcs were controlled by Demons from some obscure Satanic force, and used Ogres as their minions. The only real innovation was Orcs coming from another planet through a portal, although the theme of Satanic forces invading from portals was largely dropped and instead lived on in the Diablo franchise. The game was a surprising success, being low budget from a minor studio.

It was followed by Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness in 1996, which sold RIDICULOUSLY well and sparked a boom in the entire Real Time Strategy genre which quickly became a staple of PC gaming. The setting was expanded a great deal, although Orcs remained mostly the same but were joined by Goblins (who coincidentally looked similar but were a different race), Trolls, their persisting Ogre slaves, the undead (created by the Orcs from their own dead Warlocks), and enslaved dragons. The most diverse change to be found here was Goblins being a race of money-obsessed mad scientists, and Trolls being intelligent. An expansion pack was released that involved the humans invading the Orc homeworld to end the war.

Setting their eyes on the horizon, Blizzard planned an explosion of lore with a book series beginning with Of Blood And Honor which went into the friendship between a human Paladin and an aged Orc ex-Shaman who hated what his race had become which created complexity in what had previously been just a generic "kill it all and loot/eat then march again" race. The second book was Day Of The Dragon, expanding a minor plot involving Dragons into the war between good and evil which had used the Horde and Alliance as a proxy for their own machinations. Lord Of The Clans delved deeper into Orc lore, explaining that they were a race with souls naturally attuned to other sources of energy that had communed with the forces of nature itself until they were tricked into a Daemonic curse that affected them like meth, giving them fanatical boosts of power until it diminished their body and soul into a husk; the main character of the book, named Thrall by humans who used him as a pit fighter, learned nature magic and freed the defeated Orcs to lead them to a peaceful natural existence again. Finally the book The Last Guardian detailed the madness of the human supreme wizard Medivh who had summoned the Orcs into the world in the first place and gave context on the Burning Legion, transforming them from a vaguely satanic demon army into a varied force of cosmic enemies that would fit right into Doctor Who.
Here finally Warcraft added new flavor to their Orcs although unlike previous versions of non-evil Orcs the Warcraft version had identical culture only without malice. The major difference here was making them neutral race that actually got to be in the spotlight, as all previous non-evil Orcs were minor races left mostly undescribed beyond the basics that never starred in a story and always were just an option for exotic PCs; Warcraft was the first setting to make them a core race in the starring role with equal importance to humans in the first person narrative, which catapulted Orcs across fantasy fiction in importance.

In Warcraft III: Reign Of Chaos, released in 2002, Blizzard took the mantle of villains entirely away from the Horde and rendered the judgement of gray morality into all factions. The Alliance were racist arrogant bastards that hated each other, were ineffective, and easy to corrupt. The Horde was full of the same assholes from Warcraft I and II that were missing "the good old days" and jumped at a chance to suckle Daemon teat for power again (although the curse was broken during the game). Undead wore the mantle of villainy, but that's because they were lead by a soulless human merged with the ghost of the Orc who set in motion the events which made the Horde evil in the first place. Also, there was forest Elves who wanted everyone to get the fuck out of their forest.

Warcraft III became THE game on the PC at the time, and Warcraft mania had made the image of Orcs something the average non-gamer person could identify. Green skin, tusks, gigantic frame with large shoulders, and sometimes red eyes (which just meant "evil Orc" in Warcraft) became THE Orc as a result of Warcraft, which very little since then has drifted away from. Very few fictional works with Orcs that came after left out these details.

Next in 2004 came World Of Warcraft, '''THE''' MMO which destroyed or outlasted every competitor, surviving for <s>12</s> '''15''' full years and which is still ongoing today. While most of the changes added in WoW remain only important to Warcraft continuity, as they haven't migrated into the mainstream yet, non-evil (or at least neutral) Orcs put upon both by their own evil kin and the hateful humanity became the default Orc. As the game's story moved on, the main racial plot for the Orcs concern itself with its heritage as bloodthirsty conquerors, with the younger lads wondering whether or not wanton genocide really was all that bad... One of them even took the Horde to... [[Nazi|An interesting place]]. So the nature of Orcs as evil/not-evil-just-really-fighty is still being discussed within the game.

So while Warcraft didn't pioneer the idea of non-evil Orcs, greenskins with tusks, or Orcs being in control of their own destiny rather than being pawns in the schemes of a greater power, it did make the Master Template a staple of fantasy fiction. Stories like the Styx and Divinity video games have continued using the new template since then, with more on the way. Even Warhammer itself dropped the most outright evil of their Orcs since then, making them Chaotic Neutral destructive forces that can be allied with rather than Chaotic Evil.

==Mold-Breakers==
{{topquote|Look at them. Ranks, files, locked in everlasting conflict at the whim of the player. They fight, they fall, and they cannot turn back because the whips drive them on, and all they know is whips, kill or be killed. Darkness in front of them, darkness behind them, darkness and whips in their heads. But what if you could take one out of this game, get him before the whips do, take him to a place without whips‚ what might he become? One creature. One singular being. Would you deny them that chance?|Lord Havelock Vetinari, '''Unseen Academicals''', on the subject of [[Terry Pratchett|Sir Terry Pratchett's]] Orcs}}

As the above suggests, orcs are typically your generic [[barbarian]] rapine-horde of bad-guys in most fantasy settings. However, this isn't always the case, and a number of notable exceptions have developed over the years.

'''Discworld''' (Also the universe where the above quote comes from) barely mentions orcs, only saying that they were made as cannon fodder for an evil empire before it was destroyed. There is, however, one orc Character; Nutt, who is Perhaps the most intelligent being in the whole setting, incredibly strong and fucking brilliant at football, although he avoids becoming a [[Mary Sue]] due to Terry Pratchett's Incredibly good writing.

'''[[Al-Qadim]]''' is notable for being probably the first full-on retooling of the orcs from "rampaging barbarian tribes" to "just one more fantasy race that mostly gets along with the others." This is mostly because, rather than having all the races living in their own corners of the world with their own cultures, the deserts of Al-Qadim saw lots of racial mixing around the few oases, and thus a single unified culture comprised of multiple races formed. The only enemies who ''are'' always evil are explicitly supernatural, like the YAKMEN! Also, the most likely setting ever for [[/d/|elf-orc crossbreeding]].

'''[[Eberron]]''' gave its orcs a status as a relatively peaceful race who were once responsible for combating the threat of [[aberration]] hordes from beyond the stars, as well as founders of the tradition of druidism in-setting. Orcs generally tend to live in few places and have vastly different cultures, some good, some evil, some neutral. Even in the present, they tend to live in the swamp-regions and do no harm; they freely mingle with humans and adopt them into their tribes, so [[half-orc]]s are not only common, but have just as much an expectation of being born from consensual relationships as anyone else, rather than the "orc man raping a human woman" expectation of most other D&D settings.
*Shadow Marches, said to be orc homeland, is home to the the Gatekeeper druids who saved the world from aberrations severl thousand years ago and are busy keeping evil unkillable daelkyr lords of madness locked in their prisons. But it's also a home to cults of Kyrzin, one of those evil lords of madness and orc tribes loyal to Gatekeepers and those loyal to Kyrzin are constantly fighting. Both tend to kill outsiders wandering through their lands, because those outsiders are usually enemy agents and it saves time, so don't get confused by Gatekeepers being the good guys, they're by no means nice guys.
*Droaam, right next to Shadow Marches is a multi-cultural nation of monsters and orks are a sizeable population of it. Gaa’aram tribes are your typical evil barbarian orcs, only difference being they form multi-racial tribes where orcs, goblins, ogres and trolls work together. Gaa’ran on the other hand are "peaceful" farmers and about the only people in Droaam who do agriculture. "Peaceful" is in brackets is because they would only fill you with axes and hang your mutilated corpse on a stick to deter future trespassers if you trespass on their lands, being the epitome of "get off my lawn".
*Demon Wastes have two competing cultures, both made of orcs, humans and half-orcs fighting together. Ghaash'kala clans are "good" human, orc, and half-orc [[barbarian]] clans all living and fighting and drinking together for the glory of Kalok Shash, an incarnation of the Silver Flame, in an endless war to make sure nothing ''else'' in the Demon Wastes ever gets out. That being said, things they fight are mostly evil orcs of Carrion Tribes who worship demons and make your typical Faerun orcs look like saints in comparison. Just like in Shadow Marchers, don't assume Ghaash'kala are nice because they're good - they operate under assumption that anything that comes from the wastes is corrupted and needs to die (an assumption that is right 99% of times), so don't expect eny mercy if you come to their lands from the wrong side.
*Finally, separated from all other orc lands are Jorash'Tal, the asshole racist orcs of Mror Holds who hate dwarfs with fiery passion for invading and colonizing their mountains thousands of years ago and refuse to let it go. They're nomad tribes roaming valleys between the mountains and are generally nice people that ''won't'' kill you for trespassing on their lands unlike other orc cultures generally painted as "good". Unless you're dwarf. In which case they kill you for the sins of other dwarfs that lived so long ago no one remembers them. Generally they're a case study on how racial grievances won't do you any good, no matter how justified they are. Dorfs, being both more numerous and technologically advanced are locked in indecision what to do with them as half their clans want to make peace and integrate Jorash'Tal, putting them to work since most holds are in need of more labour, while the other half pushes for the ultimate solution to orcish problem.

'''[[Forgotten Realms]]''', although certainly playing it straight, has exceptions too, in the form of the AD&D-only orc subspecies known as the Ondonti. A ''Lawful Good'' race of peaceful, quiet, contemplative, gentle orcs who devote themselves to [[Eldath]] (a minor Goddess of Peace and Quiet Places) and live a humble life as farmers in a hidden valley. They have several Priestly spell-like abilities (Sanctuary (Self) and Purify Food & Water 3/day, Barkskin 1/day and Tree 1/week), are resistant to poison and immune to Charm spells. The general belief of their origin is that they are an example of option 3 in the infamous [[The Orc Baby Dilemma]], with a bunch of Eldathi priests taking orphaned orc infants into seclusion and bringing them up into their cult, causing them to forsake their ancestral barbarity and embrace peace, quiet and advanced hygiene. You can check out their AD&D stats [http://www.lomion.de/cmm/orcondon.php here]. It's also worth noting that many D&D fans take the stance that orcs, goblins, ogres, and other "always evil" monsters are only evil because ''they're brought up in an evil culture'', and that an orc raised in a human household would be just as Good as their adoptive parents (assuming the parents actually ''are'' Good-aligned, that is). There's also the Kingdom of Many-Arrows, a nation of orcs that seeks to have diplomatic ties to their neighbours, though they do occasionally raid their neighbours, especially the local human barbarian tribes.

'''[[Spelljammer]]''' is an unusual entry on this list, because its unique orcs, or ''Scro'', are still bad guys. It's just that, in [[AD&D|an era where orcs were defined as being chaotic, anarchic, disorganized hordes]] scro were defined by being cultured, intelligent, disciplined and well-organized soldierly regiments - in other words, very close to how [[hobgoblin]]s have come to be defined in modern editions. They are even bigger than normal orcs, pimp out their teeth with much bling, and [[Nazi|wear black leather uniforms when not in battle armor]].

'''[[Warcraft]]''', as covered above, may be the iconic example of a mold-breaker when it comes to orcs. After making them fairly bog-standard bad guy invaders in the first two games (if a little unusual in that they were also invaders from another planet), the third game offered the revelation that orcs had once been a [[noblebright]] culture of shamans and honorable warriors, but were corrupted into savage, bloodthirsty conquerors by an evil warlock and the setting's demonic BBEG. As a result, the third game focused on their drive to draw their beaten clans out of human territory and found a new nation for themselves where they could try and rediscover their past. This led to the formation of the Horde faction in [[World of Warcraft]], which took off hugely in popularity because of its then-novel idea of traditionally brutal monster races (orcs, [[troll]]s, [[undead]], and [[minotaur]]s) as an ordinary, viably civilized (relatively speaking) faction in its own right. There was even a short-lived tabletop RPG (first a D&D 3.5 spin off, then a more "customized" but still fundamentally D&D-cloned WoW version) as a result. They still fight, bicker, and war with the "good" races, but now it's because of [[Blizzard]]'s <s>refusal to [[Advancing the Storyline|give up the "dual faction" mechanic and let the story progress]] along with long-standing prejudices between both the Alliance and the Horde rather than because they're the bad guys</s> revolving door of insane and genocidal Horde warchiefs who get overthrown every 2-4 years, with Orcs on both sides of the warchief's agenda. The plot twist is that this time, the warchief is not an Orc at all, but an undead elf which adds layers of complexity. For example, the Orcs go along with her orders in an attempted genocide of the Night Elves after the demons are defeated, but one of the key figures to rise against her was an Orc.

While '''[[Elder Scrolls]]''' **prepare for shitelf cope** Orcs (or Orsimer, if you wish to use their proper name) weren't even considered ''people'' in the first game, by the time the third game rolled around they had become fully integrated into normal society and weren't looked upon any differently from elves or humans. They are as intelligent as anybody else (in the fifth game one even runs the library at the local mage's college) and generally known to be the best smiths in the setting besides the long-extinct Dwarves, as well as crazy good soldiers next to the Nords and Redguards. Their skill in fighting with heavy armor has lent them a place as heavy shock legionaries in the Imperial Legions. One Orc even became the continent's best chef. Technically, they're a subspecies of Elf which were transformed into their current state after the Daedric Prince Boethiah [[Vore|ate (and shat out)]] their greatest champion/god, who was himself turned into the Daedric Prince Malacath.

'''[[Wicked Fantasy]]''' Orks ''were'' originally the standard Always Chaotic Evil raider types, having been created by malevolent gods for the purpose of fighting for their amusement. And then, one day, thirteen great orkish heroes realized that their race had always been nothing more than slaves, and chose to take a new path. They fought their gods and slew them, and though they still struggle with the lingering blood-rage they were created with, they are now a comparatively peaceful race. They're still a ''dark'' race, but not an evil one. For example, they worship pain as a sacred concept... because, by their understanding of it, pain is ultimately on the side of life and it is the giver of strength. Pain warns you when you are hurt, when you are about to die, but it also pushes you to fight harder, to try and survive. Orks prize battle scars as near-sacred objects; nothing comes without sacrifice, and without a scar, the physical symbol of pain, for reference, a victory is ultimately meaningless.

'''[[Sharakim]]''' seem like this at first glance, as they are orcs who are highly organized, discipline, civilized and benevolent people, but arguably don't count: they're the descendants of humans who were cursed to ''look like'' orcs for sacrilege, not really proper orcs.

'''[[Monster Hunter International]]''' orcs, while green and tusked, are among the few monsters that aren't evil as a species. Unlike most of them they are not PUFF exempt, so they do their best to stay hidden from the government. Monster Hunter International helps hide the orcs at their headquarters in Cazador, Alabama and, in return, gets a help from a few orcs. Appearance wise MHI Orcs are pretty standard, though they wear masks to hide this from humans (though the one look at their village suggests they may do this beyond just secrecy). What makes them interesting is that they have an (Orc) god given talent that makes them very specialized in a particular area, yet utterly incompetent at something related to but outside that area. These include a master of bladed weapons that can't hit the broad side of a barn with a gun, and a helicopter pilot who can make a [[MI-24 Hind]] do things even current helicopters can't, but is unable to drive a car (Upon hearing this, one character speculates that Top Gear's Stig is an orc). They can also make magical healing potions, though they need to be made for specific people and don't keep well. Female orcs greatly outnumber males, so polygamy is the norm. MHI Orcs also worship heavy metal musicians. Most information about orcs in this world is based on the depiction of one friendly tribe, and the only other tribe mentioned was willing to slaughter this friendly tribe, so it's likely other tribes differ in some or all aspects.

It's not very common, as one can see, but some DMs have been known to revamp orcs for their own homebrew settings as well.

==Orcs in D&D==
[[File:DnD Original Orc.jpg|thumb|right|400px|1st Edition D&D Orcs, now commonly referred to by some variation of "P'Orcs" by fans.]]
In the first edition of [[Dungeons & Dragons]], Orcs were among the first monsters inspired by folklore and fantasy literature added to the game in a reissue set. They became the primary antagonists out of the many enemies in the game due primarily to their statline rather than their iconic nature, since they were the best "always an enemy" humanoid to accompany a [[Big Bad Evil Guy|BBEG]]. Early DnD Orcs were pig-like monsters resulting from savage tribals that bred with all other races they warred with (so reproducing via rape) with no unified culture or language, but interestingly were also described as having a "reputation for cruelty that is deserved, but humans are just as capable of evil as orcs" which suggests they weren't anything extraordinary to the setting.

Half a decade after their introduction, they were given a more neanderthal appearance as well as being given a size-increase to that of a gorilla (which is actually shorter than the average human, btw), were made able to breed with humans resulting in the [[Half-Orc]] playable race, and given their own mythology (which in most D&D settings is the explanation for why a race behaves the way it does). The leader god is named [[Gruumsh]], who was screwed over in inheritance of the world by the gods of the fairer races causing him to be a bitter asshole and make his race into entitled "might makes right" pricks like a father passing on their shitty life to their kids. Gruumsh's family are below him in importance and include his wife [[Luthic]], goddess of the submission of Orc females as the inferior gender, who goes barefoot and never wields a weapon and just serves to run the home and [[Meme|make babby]], and their son [[Bahgtru]] who's pretty much the god of "stupid, but strong", along with Gruumsh's second in command [[Ilneval]] who is the Orc god of war that directly guides mortal Orcs, with the four together representing the Neutral and "Lawful" (as in they are willing to take orders and respect their place in society) side of the pantheon. Also added were [[Shargaas]] the god of general bad magic and spooky things, and [[Yurtrus]] the god of ruin and death, neither of whom have any loyalty to Gruumsh's side of the pantheon and represent the truly Chaotic "for the evulz" aspect of Orcs.

An article for [[Dragon Magazine]] later gave the option of making the traditionally evil races like Orcs and [[Kobolds]] player characters of any alignment. This lead to the [[Forgotten Realms]] setting having two races of Orcs that are capable of any alignment, the pacifistic Ondonti who culturally are closer to Hobbit than Orruk, and the Gray Orcs who are treated as another among the fair races. All other D&D Orcs remained stupid-evil.

Dungeons & Dragons became the standard for most fantasy that came after, but ultimately for Orcs the only purpose was to move forward to the next step in the master template.

Despite their traditional role as bad guys, since at least the days of Basic D&D, where they had their own [[Known World Gazetteer]] in "The Orcs of Thar", orcs have actually been a full-fledged PC race. True, you typically need DM permission, but the option was there.

Though... not a lot of people took it, as in accordance with their fluff, orcs could be mechanically rather... lackluster. It's a well-known fact in 4th and 5th edition alike that, really, you're better off using and reflavoring the [[half-orc]] or even the [[goliath]] races instead. Especially in 5th edition, where they are literally ''the only race in the game'', aside from [[kobold]]s, to get an ability score penalty.

===BECMI Orc:===
In BECMI era [[Mystara]], there are two different Orc race-classes; the standard Orc, as seen in [[Known World Gazetteer|The Orcs of Thar]], and the horse-riding Krugel Orc, seen in the [[Hollow World]] subsetting. If the Krugel Orcs are Mystara's proto-orcs, then they must be the orcs of Mystara's distant past, Blackmoor, who were ruled by King Funk, chosen of the Lovecraftian Egg of Coot to lead the orcish hordes, arguably the first big fearsome orc warlord type character in tabletop gaming, predating Warhammer's Grimgor Ironhide, Kings of War's Gakamak the Smasher, and Faerun's Obould Many-Arrows.

;Standard Mystaran Orc
::Orc Ability Modifiers: +1 Strength, -1 Dexterity
::Note: Like all Humanoids from "The Orcs of Thar", an Orc 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", an Orc determines its [[Charisma]] score for interacting with [[human]]s and [[demihuman]]s by dividing its Charisma score by 3 (rounding down) and subtacting the result from 9.
::Orc Natural Armor Class: 8
::Can become [[Shaman]]s (6th level) and [[Wokani]] (4th level).

{| class=wikitable
!Orc's's level || XP Required || Orc's hit dice
|-
|0||0||d8
|-
|1||1,000||2d8
|-
|2||2,000||3d8
|-
|3||4,000||-
|-
|4||8,000||4d8
|-
|5||16,000||5d8
|-
|6||32,000||6d8
|-
|7||64,000||-
|-
|8||130,000||7d8
|-
|9||260,000||+2 Hit Points
|-
|Subsequent||200,000||+2 Hit Points
|}

[[file:orc MCV1.jpg|thumb]]

;Krugel Orc
::Racial Ability Modifiers: +1 Strength, -1 Dexterity, maximum of 16 Intelligence and 16 Wisdom
::Prime Requisite: Strength - Strength 13+ for +5% to XP earned, Strength 16+ for +10% to XP earned
::Save as [[Fighter]] of equivalent level
::Can reach 6th level as Shaman and 4th level as Wokani
::Mandatory Skill: Riding (Horse or Bounder - a kind of far-leaping bipedal carnivorous [[dinosaur]])
::Unlike normal Mystaran orcs, Krugel orcs have lost their Infravision
::Cultural Melee Weapons: Dagger, Sword (Short/Broad/Bastard), Mace, Club, Warhammer, Spear, Javelin, Lance, Net, Whip
::Cultural Missile Weapons: Crossbow (Light/Heavy), Bow (Long/Short), Sling
::Cultural Armor: Leather, Scale, Mail, Chain Mail, Banded Mail, Shield (including horned, knife, sword and tusked), Leather Horse Barding
::Shamans can use: Mace, club, warhammer, lance, net, all cultural armor
::Wokani can use: Dagger, club, net, whip

Krugel Experience Table: Krugels can reach level 36
::1: 0 XP, 1D8 Hit Dice
::2: 1,000 XP, 2D8 Hit Dice
::3: 2,000 XP, 3D8 Hit Dice
::4: 4,000 XP
::5: 8,000 XP, 4D8 Hit Dice
::6: 16,000 XP, 5D8 Hit Dice
::7: 32,000 XP, 6D8 Hit Dice
::8: 64,000 XP
::9: 130,000 XP, 7D8 Hit Dice
::10: 260,000 XP, +2 HP (Constitution bonus no longer applies)
::+1 Level: +200,000 XP, +2 HP (Constitution bonus no longer applies)

===AD&D Orc:===
[[file:orc MM 2e.png|thumb]]
::+1 Strength,-2 Charisma
::Strength: Minimum 6, Maximum 18
::Dexterity: Minimum 3, Maximum 17
::Constitution: Minimum 8, Maximum 18
::Intelligence: Minimum 3, Maximum 16
::Wisdom: Minimum 3, Maximum 16
::Charisma: Minimum 3, Maximum 12
::Available Classes & Max Levels: Fighter 10, Cleric 9, Shaman 6, Witch Doctor 6, Thief 11
::35% chance to spot new and unusual constructions
::25% chance to spot sloping passages
::Infravision 60 feet
::-1 penalty to attack rolls and morale when in direct sunlight
::Weapon Proficiencies: Battle axe, crossbow, flail, hand axe, spear, any bow, any pole arm, any sword.
::Nonweapon Proficiencies: Alertness, armorer, blacksmithing, bowyer/fletcher, carpentry, chanting, close-quarter fighting, hunting, intimidation, looting, religion, set snares, spellcraft, tracking, weaponsmithing.

===3.x Orc:===
[[file:orc MM 3e.jpg|thumb]]
There are several different orc stats, scattered across multiple sourcebooks. The "common" orc in the [[Monster Manual]] featured the following statblock:
::+4 Strength, -2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma
::Medium size
::Base land speed 30 feet
::Darkvision out to 60 feet
::Light Sensitivity (Ex): -1 penalty to Attack rolls when exposed to bright sunlight or a daylight spell.
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Barbarian]]

In the [[Forgotten Realms]], however, there are three different varieties of orc:

The "Mountain Orc" is the most common of the three races, and is the most generic, being pretty much standard Monster Manual orcs. They inhabit the Frozen North, predominantly the Spine of the World mountains and other hilly regions (hence the name), and for the most part at generic would-be conquerors foiled by their own inability to focus on anything besides killing - except for when [[Obould Many-Arrows]] tried to forcibly drag them out of their pits and show them that the best way to get respect is to actually make a kingdom of their own. These guys use the standard orc profile.

Deep Orcs, or [[Orog]]s, are a stronger, smarter (but somewhat shorter) breed of orc native to the [[Underdark]]. See their page for more details.

Finally, Gray Orcs are a strange race of emotional, impulsive, and deeply religious orcs originally hailing from another world. Long story short, centuries ago, an archmage created a portal to their world, but wound up being killed for an unrelated incident before anyone ever found out about this portal - which meant nobody ever shut it off. Five years after his death, the orcs found the portal and swarmed through in a religious crusade, battling the empires of Mulhorand and Unther in the 6-years-long Orcgate Wars, which ended with the closing of the portal, the defeat of several of the incarnate gods of Mulhorand and Unther, and the scattering of the gray orcs into loose, fractious tribes that still haunt the Moonsea and the Endless Wastes. Though physically weaker than their mountain orc "relatives", gray orcs are much more strong-willed and independent, and retain a knack for divine magic which makes them dangerous. They also possess a far swifter stride and keener senses of smell. Gray Orc PCs have the following racial stats:
::+2 Strength, +2 Wisdom, -2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma
::Medium Size
::Base Speed 40 feet
::Racial Weapon Proficiency: Great-Axe and Longbow
::Light Sensitivity (Ex): -1 penalty to Attack rolls when exposed to bright sunlight or a daylight spell.
::Scent (Ex)
::Orc Blood: For all effects and special abilities that target a creature's race, Gray Orcs count as '''Orcs'''.
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Cleric]]
::[[Level Adjustment]]: +1

===[[Midnight]] Setting Orc===
::+4 Strength, -2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma
::Medium
::Base land speed 30 feet
::Weapon Familiarty: Vardatches are Martial Weapons for Orcs
::Night Fighter: Darkvision 60 feet, +1 racial bonus to attack rolls when fighting with no light.
::Light Sensitivity: -1 penalty on attack rolls in bright sunlight or within the radius of a daylight spell.
:: Resistance to Cold: Immune to nonlethal damage caused by cold weather, severe cold, exposure or extreme cold. Halve lethal damage (rounding down) inflicted by extreme cold.
::Natural Predator: Orcs add their Str modifier to Intimidate checks as well as their Cha modifier.
::Spell Resistant: +2 racial bonus on saves against spells and spell-like effects, -2 spell energy points for orc casters.
::+1 racial bonus on damage rolls against dwarves.
::+1 racial bonus on attack rolls when fighting in groups of 10 or more orcs; allies and enemies both count for triggering this feature.
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Barbarian]]

===Warcraft the RPG Orc===
* +2 Constitution, -2 Intelligence
::Medium size
::Base land speed 30 feet
::Low-Light Vison
::Battle Rage: Can Rage once per day as per a Barbarian, or adds +1 to rages per day if a Barbarian
::Weapon Familiarity: Orc Claws are a Martial Weapon rather than an Exotic Weapon
::Weapon Proficiency: Automatically receive Martial Weapon Proficiency (Battleaxe) as a bonus feat
::+2 racial bonus to Handle Animal (Wolf) checks and Intimidate checks. Handle Animal (Wolf) and Intimidate are always Class Skills for orcs.
::+1 racial bonus to attack rolls against humans
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Fighter]]

===World of Warcraft the RPG Orc===
* +2 Stamina, -2 Intellect (Note: Con and Int by different names)
::Medium size
::Base land speed 30 feet
::Low-Light Vison
::Battle Rage: Can Rage once per day as per a Barbarian, or adds +1 to rages per day if a Barbarian
::Weapon Familiarity: Orc Claws are a Martial Weapon rather than an Exotic Weapon
::Weapon Proficiency: Automatically receive Martial Weapon Proficiency (Battleaxe) as a bonus feat
::+2 racial bonus to Handle Animal (Wolf) checks and Intimidate checks. Intimidate is always a Class Skill for orcs.
::+1 racial bonus to attack rolls against humans
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Barbarian]]

===4e Orc===
[[file:orc MM 4e.jpg|thumb]]
::+2 Strength, +2 Constitution
::Size: Medium
::Speed: 6 squares
::Vision: Low-light
::Running Charge (+2 to Speed when charging)
::Warrior's Surge (racial encounter power; make a 1[W] + Strength modifier attack with a melee weapon against an opponent's AC and get to spend a healing surge)

===[[Pathfinder]] Orc===
* +4 Strength, -2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma
::Medium size
::Base land speed 30 feet
::Darkvision out to 60 feet
::Ferocity (can keep fighting at zero HP, but is Staggered and loses 1 HP each round automatically)
::Light Sensitivity (automatically suffer Dazzled condition in daylight)
::Weapon Familiarity: Automatically proficient with Greataxe and Falchion, treat any weapon with "Orc" in its name as a Martial weapon.

As nameless monsters who won't survive the encounter anyways, Ferocity effectively adds their constitution score (''score'', not modifier) to their HP. This make them quite dangerous at low levels, since it ''triples'' their HP (the standard Orc has 6 HP and 12 con). This isn't enough to put them next to [[Cat|house cats]], incorporeal foes or [[Swarm]]s as slayers of low level PCs, it does make them quite hard for their supposed CR 1/3.

===Pathfinder 2nd Edition Orc===

::Hit points: 10

::Size: Small

::Speed: 25 feet

::Ability Boosts: Strength, Free

::Languages: Common and Orcish, as well as any other languages equal to your intelligence modifier.

::Darkvision: You can see in darkness and dim light just as well as you can see in bright light, though your vision in darkness is in black and white.

Compared to their previous edition, and the DnD 5e, the Orcs of second edition is a lot more fleshed out. With the APG sidesteping a lot of their more "violent" tendencies of pillaging and "conception" of half-orcs, preferring to focus on their glory-seeking, honesty and unbreakable loyalty to those they see as equals or treat them nicely. They are a society looking to surpass their shitty upbringings, wanting to move on from their long history of conflict.... by way of conflict.

===5e Orc===
[[file:orc MM 5e.jpg|thumb]]
Added in Volo's Guide to Monsters as a monster race. They get the following traits... which are, as more than one person has noticed, essentially the 5e [[Half-Orc]] stats with -2 Intelligence tacked on and with the gloriously beefy Relentless Endurance (survive a killing strike with 1 [[hit point]] left 1/day) and Savage Attack (+1 die of damage on a melee weapon critical hit) replaced with the okay Aggressive trait and the pathetically overvalued Powerful Build trait, something that [[skub|has caused its fair share of arguments]].
::+2 Strength, +1 Constitution, -2 Intelligence
::30 feet base movement speed
::Size is medium, but they get <strike>almost large</strike> Powerful build which gives them the carrying capacity of a large creature.
::60 feet darkvision
::Aggressive (use bonus action to dash, must finish dash closer to your enemy than where the dash started)
::Menacing (Intimidation proficiency, same as half orcs)

Amazingly, orcs got an official retcon with an official PC writeup in the 5e [[Eberron]] splatbook. "Rising from the Last War" uses the above orc as a base, but strips away the pointless -2 Intelligence penalty and trades the Menacing for ''Primal Intuition'', which gives them two free skill proficiencies chosen from a list made up of Animal Handling, Insight, Intimidation, Medicine, Nature, Perception and Survival. This is much more useful, and better meshes with the theme of the orcs as the primary [[druid]]ic race in Eberron, and overall makes them a powerful and viable PC race... still, from a flavor perspective, there's something to be said for switching the Half-Orc and Orc stats around.

This version of the Orc was subsequently reprinted in the [[Exandria]] splatbook "Explorer's Guide to Wildemount", so it seems to have become more or less the official replacement for Volo's initial shitfest.

And as of the October errata, that is now the case, and the change seems to be a step in the right direction for orcs and [[Kobold|kobolds]]. Even so, it goes without saying, but [[Skub|it's simply impossible to please everyone]].

====Arkadian Orc====
The [[Orc]]s of [[Arkadia]] are a race born from the blood of the Great Hydra, and native to the broken wastes of Garagos. Also known as [[Giant]]s for their mighty stature - orcs typically stand 6 to 7 feet tall, though the orcs of Gargaros can grow even larger - the race has long been the traditional enemy of the Arkadians, as the race seems possessed to the last by madness and the need for destruction. But... Arkadian orcs are not a monolithic racial force. There are many tribes of orcs scattered throughout Gargaros. The Cerberans train cerberus worgs to hunt and kill; the Cyclopax fight alongside [[Cyclops|cyclopean giants]]; and the Hydrak, the largest and most hated — even by their own kind — who worship the bound titan, seeking to free it through fire and blood. Despite the ancient animosity between orcs and men, some tribes of orcs have come to find a place in Arkadia, especially among the Krytans who value strength and physical prowess above all else. These orcs were first taken as slaves during one of the many wars with Gargaros. Thrown into the fighting pits and gladiatorial arenas they displayed such power and ferocity that the king, impressed, granted them freedom and a place in his army. Many Orcs have since taken to the worship of Krytos with abandon, finding in the mighty god a surrogate father who shares their savagery and love of combat.

Arkadian orcs resemble humans, but with leaf-like ears similar to those of the [[Arkadian Elf|elves]], powerful builds, and jutting lower canines. Their skin is the color of ochre clay; orange, reddish brown, or ashen grey, often varying from tribe to tribe. Many orcs wear black warpaint in stark bands and square keyed patterns. Valuing strength and dominance above all else, orcs, as a Hyperian general once put it, make excellent warriors and terrible soldiers. Their physical prowess and violent nature make them most at home in Kryta, whose army cares more for the might of individuals than the discipline of lines. Their fearlessness and unbridled aggression on the field make them an unstoppable force, ideal as linebreakers, often turning the tide of battle almost single-handed. Some, lacking even the control for this, become mercenaries. Others take to the fighting pits or, with some luck, the grand coliseums of Illyria, untouched by Gargaran raids, where their prodigious size and strength are coveted for their exotic nature.

::Ability Score Increase: +2 Strength, +1 Constitution
::Size: Medium
::Speed: 30 feet
::Darkvision: 60 feet
::Colossal Build: Your carrying capacity and the amount of weight you can push, drag, or lift is doubled as if you were one size category larger.
::Relentless Endurance: When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. You can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
::Savage Attacks: When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon attack, you can roll one of the weapon’s damage dice one additional time and add it to the extra damage of the critical hit.

====Farlandish Orc====
Orcs in the [[World of Farland]] come in a number of different subspecies, as part of their home setting's homage to the [[Lord of the Rings]] books that inspired it.

::Ability Score Increase: +2 Strength
::Size: Medium
::Speed: 30 feet
::Vision: Darkvision 60 feet
::Orcish Weaponry: You are proficient with the Hand Axe, Battle Axe, Great Axe, Scimitar and Great Sword.
::Aggressive: Once per short rest, you can use a Bonus Action to move up to your speed towards a creature that you can see.
::Subrace: Choose the Snog, Skaruk or Irzuk subrace.

'''Snog''' orcs, or "Slave Orcs", are the root-stock of the orcish race; first bred as fodder for the wars of dark masters, they are still used in that role to this day, and are literally bred like livestock for that role.
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Constitution
::Relentless Endurance: When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. You can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
::Indefatigable: You have Advantage on all Constitution checks relating to exhaustion, forced marching, going without food and water, and going without sleep.
::Armored: You have Proficiency with Light and Medium armor.

'''Skaruk''' orcs, or "Wild Ones", are orcs descended from tribes that fled their creators and have since pursued independent existences in the wilderness.
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Dexterity
::Savage Attacks: When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon attack, you can roll one of the weapon’s damage dice one additional time and add it to the extra damage of the critical hit.
::Wild Rage: After you first take damage in battle, you deal +1 damage with each attack for the next minute until you are knocked unconscious, or if your turn ends and you haven't attacked a hostile creature since your last turn or taken damage since then.

'''Irzuk''' orcs are a new race of orcs bred for their resistance to the cold and their ability to track victims. They are visually distinguished by their uniquely crimson hides.
::Ability Score Increase: +1 Wisdom
::Tracker: You have Proficiency in Survival and gain Advantage on Survival checks relating to tracking by scent.
::Cold Endurance: You have Advantage on Constitution checks relating to resisting natural cold and are Resistant to Cold Damage.
::Enhanced Aggression: When you use your Aggressive trait, you can move up to +10 feet over your normal movement limit.

====Scarnish Orcs====
Orcs of the [[Scarred Lands]] are semi-nomadic tribals who live in the plains and savannahs of [[Ghelspad]], noted for their talents in astrology and riding [[Dire Animal|Dire Wolves]], strong tribal identities, and a preference for a simple life with a few great luxuries. They originally fought on the titans side in the Divine War, but most of them took the asylum offer given by the gods. They all have the following stats:

::Ability Score Increase: +3 Strength, +1 Constitution
::Size: Medium
::Speed: 30 feet
::Darkivision 30 feet
::Aggressive: As a bonus action, you can move up to your speed toward a hostile creature you can see.
::Menacing: Proficieny in the Intimidation skill
::Orcish Combat Training: You are proficient with the battleaxe, greataxe, handaxe, and lance.
::Savage Attacks: When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon attack, you can roll one of the weapon’s damage dice one additional time and add it to the extra damage of the critical hit.
::Language: You speak Orcish and one other language.

===[[Starfinder]] Orc===
[[File:Orc sf 1.png|200px|left]]
[[File:Orc sf 2.png|200px|right]]

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Orcs in Starfinder were long ago enslaved by the Drow and forcibly underwent social engineering to make them servile to the Drow on an almost genetic level. Their once green skin has turned blue, to better blend in with the tunnels of the Drow planet's underground caverns and to resemble their masters' more purple skintones.

Ability Modifiers: +4 Str, –2 Cha

Hit Points: 6

Size and Type: Medium humanoid (orc).

Conditioned Focus: Due to her conditioning, an orc can choose one skill that becomes a class skill for her. If the chosen skill is a class skill from the class she takes at 1st level, she instead gains a +1 bonus to checks with that skill. In addition, due to her confidence with that skill, once per day, before she attempts a check with the chosen skill, the orc can grant herself a +2 bonus to that check.

Darkvision 60 feet

Fierce Survivalist: Orcs receive a +2 racial bonus to Intimidate and Survival checks.

Light Sensitivity: An orc is dazzled as long as she remains in an area of bright light.

Orc Ferocity: Once per day, an orc brought to 0 Hit Points but not killed can fight on for 1 more round. The orc drops to 0 HP and is dying (following the normal rules for death and dying) but can continue to act normally until the end of his next turn, when he becomes unconscious as normal. If he takes additional damage before this, he ceases to be able to act and falls unconscious.

===Gallery===
<gallery>
Orc ODD1.png|Original D&D
Orc miners First Quest.jpg|AD&D orcs with some klingon-like head ridges.
4e Orcs, Monster Vault.jpg|4e. Orc sexual dimorphism is a bit of a hit-and-miss affair.
4e Orcs, Dragon 374.png|4e
orc B1.png|Pathfinder
orc ARG 1.png
orc ARG 3.png
</gallery>

==Green Skin==
One usually wonders where the green coloration of Orcish skin came from, in the old myths (i.e., Lord of the Rings) the orcs were established as barbaric, crude brutes, true; but the approximate skin color was never truly established, the Orcs were generally described as filthy and mucky, with darkened skin and bestial countenances. (Similarly, in the films their skin shades are in varying shades of ash-black and dirty-brown, the occasional bit of face-painting notwithstanding.) It wasn't until the advent of the Hulk comics, and GW deciding to make their orcs different, that the common skin of the orc became green. Because Warhammer's orcs became so memorable, thousands of copycats have followed suit.

This of course may not truly explain why some orcs in DnD have green skin as well, DnD being around before Warhammer, but the a more precise green coloration in its orcs may have come later. Indeed, earlier DnD art shows a variety of skin colors, some of them sallow yellow and earthy reds. Green may have come about because all the other possible colors simply have clashing connotations, such as a calming blue, or offensive real world racial connotations (black, [[kobold|red]], brown, and [[goblin|yellow]] are right out for a barbaric and evil race of XP bags.) Another theory is that Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson, the 2 co-founders of [[Games Workshop]], also had a lot of communication with Brian Blume, the developer of D&D, especially in the early days of these 2 companies, so it is entirely possible that certain ideas were mentioned and then copied.

''In-universe'' reasons for their chartreuse complexions vary between IPs; While earlier editions claimed that the Orks of 40k are said to be animate plants, current lore dictates that Ork DNA is a combination of animal, plant, and fungal DNA, thus their colors are effectively the result of chlorophyll running through their bodies (while the animal part conveniently allows them to bleed red for grimdark purposes). Meanwhile, the green skins of the orcs of The Elder Scrolls and Warcraft universes are the result of demonic tampering; The Orsimer are a result of the above-mentioned champion-devoured-and-shat-out incident, while the Warcraft Orcs were convinced to drink the blood of the Pit Lord Mannoroth, changing their normally brown or grey skin into that distinct hue, with further ingestion of Pit Lord blood turning them red. Some orc clans turned down the offer however, and still keep their original skin tones in the present.

Though for what it's worth, D&D orcs are grey, not green, as of 5e. Seriously, open your monster manual if you don't believe us.

==Piggish Looks==
On occasion, a person may find orcs depicted as pig-men, despite the generally accepted portrayal of orcs as being (usually green-skinned) Frazetta Man style cavemen fellows. This goes back to [[Dungeons & Dragons]] 1st edition, where orcs were described as having a fundamentally "piggish snout" for a face and depicted as more or less a boar's head on a hunch-shouldered, ugly, green-skinned chimpanzee. Some depictions of orcs thusly refer back to this. It's most common in Japan, where old-school [[neckbeard]]s grew up to have a huge impact on art, manga and videogames. For a reference cue there, see the Moblins from the Legend of Zelda series. Similar incidents of redesign of classic tabletop gaming creatures include dogfaced kobolds, pumpkinheaded bugbears, starving-looking lanky trolls, and slinky hobgoblin-like gnolls.

==Monstergirl Depictions==
{{Monstergirls}}
Orcs are not the most commonly seen of [[monstergirls]], as many of the individuals inclined to make monstergirls, despite what many [[/d/]] cliches may lead you to believe, aren't inclined to find orcs attractive. Those rare orc MGs seen tend to be, basically, green-skinned [[Amazon]]s; [[musclegirl]]s of a particularly dumb "fight 'em an' fuck 'em" mentality with a penchant for either raping men or gathering in harems around particularly strong, tough warriors (who may or may not be made to submit).

In the [[Monster Girl Encyclopedia]], the Orc is a chubby pink girl with pig ears on her head and a pig's tail (see above about how "pigmen orcs" are popular in Japan). She's a vanilla demihuman-type mamono who goes around in large groups by preference. They're femdommy by nature, but happily submit to maledom if a potential spouse can overpower them in a fight, and also enjoy sharing a spouse between them. Hilariously, this is pretty square with what official sources have established about D&D orc sexual mores. January 2018 saw the release of the "High Orc"; a bigger, stronger, smarter and fiercer version of the standard orc, the "boar-girl" to their "pig-girl". Fearless, cunning and strong, they are natural leaders of their lesser kin, aided by the fact they release a pheromone that whips up a lust for battle (and sex) in any nearby orc. Of course, if you beat them, that knocks the wind out of the normal orcs' sails, and they will generally flee or surrender on the spot. High Orcs fit the same sexual mold as their weaker siblings, aside from their pheromone doubling as an aphrodisiac. In a twist that /tg/ finds hilarious, High Orcs have dark brown skin, which, combined with their status as the natural leaders of the race, immediately puts them in mind of the [[Black Orc]]s of [[Warhammer Fantasy]]. Most likely they were instead based on the Uruk-hai of [[The Lord of the Rings]], but why let that spoil a good laugh?

[[Daily Life with Monstergirl]] combines the above two, having male Orcs be ugly green pig dudes who lust for human (and human-like) women. Thus far we haven't seen female Orcs yet, but like the [[centaur]]s in the series they will likely be a lot more attractive than their male counterparts. As a matter of fact, a female orc named Ruka actually shows up in the tie-in online game as one of your potential haremettes; if taken as canon, then female orcs in this setting are indeed cute green-skinned pig-girls - unlike the MGE version, they have a pig's tail and trotters for feet, with elf-like ears, as the Daily Life verse tends to avoid more animalistic ears for its beast-girls in general.

<gallery>
Female Orc.jpg|gb2kitchen
Amazon Orc.jpg|In some depictions female orcs are rather [[amazon]]ian.
MGE Orc.jpg|A pig-eared orc from the Monster Girl Encyclopedia.
MGE High Orc.jpg|Bigger, tougher, smarter champions of orcdom, the boar-based High Orcs are essentially the MGE's [[Black Orc]]s.
Monster Musume Ruka the Orc.png|Ruka from Monster Musume showcases an incredibly rare meeting point between p'orc and greenskin.
1642287072.baguette2077 konosubaorc 001.jpg|Who says Pigfaced Orc Women can't be attractive?
AsianPigOrc.jpg|Weeaboo Pigfaced Orc Waifu
Aggralan, Mag'har Shamaness.jpg|The she-orcs of [[Warcraft]] have always been pretty hot.
orc ARG 2.png|Pathfinder proving [[half-orc]]s don't HAVE to have human mothers.
</gallery>

==See Also==
*[[Goblins]]
*[[Ork]]
*[[Orcs & Goblins]]

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Orcweapons.JPG|Ork made [[Exotic weapons]].
Orksword.GIF|Ork make more [[Exotic weapons]].
Orc_bard.jpg|What happens when the DM lets him take a homebrew feat to use his Strength score for Perform (Dance) checks.
Orcs are Grays.jpg
</gallery>

{{D&D1e-Races}}
{{D&D2e-Races}}
{{D&D4e-Races}}
{{D&D5e-Races}}
{{Pathfinder-Races}}
{{Starfinder-Races}}

[[Category:Scarred Lands Races]]

Glorantha

2022-02-25T18:55:22Z

2601:188:C300:64B8:9D0D:65AE:FCC5:D421: /* "Elder Races" */

{{stub}}{{cleanup}}{{NeedsImages}}
One of the first settings for roleplaying games. It began in 1966 when [[Greg Stafford]] was trying to [[FAIL|pull some wiccan chicks into his wargaming group]]. '''Glorantha''' is based off of themes found in myth, rather than from [[Tolkien]]'s works. And given the fact that Greg was a [[Spook|practicing]] [[What|shaman]] with a degree in Comparative Religion... Well, it's completely batshit. Younger gamers may recognize its influence on franchises such as [[Elder Scrolls]] (e.g, the bullshit insane lore) whose lead writers and designers were huge fans and even co-workers of Greg.

Recently a new, ''gigantic'', lore book titled '''Guide to Glorantha''' was released —packing '''12 ducking pounds''' of lore— and covers (practically) everything. Sadly, it's only available now as a [[PDF]] file, and unlikely to be reprinted. It did make enough money to keep the setting going with new lore, however. So support <s>Greg's retirement fund</s>... [[Chaosium|the company]] he left behind, as Greg passed in 2018.

==Premise==
Every truth in this world is true and every falsehood is false aka the world is genuinely formed out of [[Skub|skub]]. Anyone in-fluff who tried to treat the world like a PhD dissertation for their own [[Powergamer|ends]] or otherwise gets cursed, burnt, exterminated, or their souls are ripped apart into oblivion - never to be recovered. More on that last one later.

The "world" is a cube floating in an endless sea topped with a dome of stars, that is really the underside of a land of gods and myths. As for the other planets, there are the various moons which seem to do little more than fuck everything up. Fortunately, that doesn't happen often (unless other civilizations or cults get in the way).

Everything that occurs in Glorantha generally has some sentient being or magical force responsible for it. For example, all rivers flow in any particular direction because a god had decided, been forced, or been bribed to be there (as the god and the river are one in the same). The people/elements/plants/ducks/lizardmen that inhabit Glorantha are generally religious zealots or ingrates that are more than willing to be extorted by any local gods that they have the poor fortune to witness. Aside from these Neanderthals there are a number of civilizations that seem to get by okay when they pool their efforts and trade off with the stronger gods. 
That is, except for the Lunar Empire, which seems to fuck everyone's shit up by using a mysterious magic known as logical reasoning. Aside from the Lunars, there is also the Orlanthi who follow Orlanth (very original guys) and fought the Lunar Empire in order to get [[King of Dragon Pass|their own videogame]] and spotlight status. Besides these major players, Glorantha contains more individual peoples and places than can be covered in a singular paragraph.

===Creation myth===
There are multiple, some are complementary and some are completely mutually exclusive. Best I can do that is that there was a [[Skub|ouroboric dragon/pantheistic being/Glorantha herself/primordial gods/creation rune/world machine]] who came out of the ether and [[Skub|spat out/shat out/snorted out/breathed out/puked out/willed into being/built]] everything else. For a while Elves were ascendant because everything was just algae, forests, and prokaryotes, then the sun (Yelm) came out and gave Elves flowers; now he rules because [[Fail|they loved flowers so much]].

Yelm, the sun, was set up to rule a golden age of peace, prosperity, and stasis. A few years/millennia/million years/next tuesday later, a god named Umath got mad at the stasis so he made war with Yelm and got badly beaten. Before this he managed to [[What|fuck a mountain]] and who knows what else that he begets Orlanth and the Storm Tribe. Someone discovered what death is and some [[That guy|trickster]] [[Lulz|tested]] it on the Adam [[Skub|and/or]] Eve of all humans that they all became mortal. Orlanth, now king of the storm tribe, [[Skub|stole/borrowed/forcefully acquired]] death and used it on Yelm [[Fail|sending the world into darkness]].

Orlanth, now technically ruler of the world in this new Storm Age, still has to fight threats to his domain ranging from mild ones such as whoever's left of Yelm's ilk to horrible shit he's directly responsible for such as [[Chaos]] ([[Fail|Yelm's death left tears in the world for them to dig through]]) and trolls ([[Fail|when Yelm was sent to the underworld his soul and corpse was so bright and warm they had to get out]]). This all comes to a head when Orlanth's brother Ragnaglar invented the concept of rape on his wife Malia and his mistress Thed to create the literal Devil who darkened the world, sent millions into extinction, and killed a fuckton of gods.

During this Darkness Age, darkness and chaos was rampant (but they fight and hate each other), and only ended when Orlanth decided to man up and accept some responsibility for once in his life. He and his retinue, [[Crunch|Issaries]], [[Fluff|Lhankor Mhy]], [[Healslut|Chalana Arroy]], [[That guy|Eurmal the Trickster]], [[What|Flesh Man]], and [[DM|Ginna Jar]] went through a highly difficult and convoluted [[D&D 3E|quest]] to resurrect Yelm and have him light the world. While trying to make peace with Yelm, the [[Skub|Devil/Devil's brother]] who recently [[Fail|got killed just so he can waylay the Lightbringers Quest]] attacked everyone until the [[Skub|Glorantha herself/Ginna Jar/Universe Itself]] [[DM|decided]] they've had [[Rocks fall, everyone dies|enough]] and caught [[Skub|Devil/Devil's brother]] in a [[Awesome|web and used him as material for the legally-binding document: Time]].

Yelm was returned to light the world (but only during the day as he had to include the underworld in his daily rotation), and every god of every culture was made to sign the Great Compromise so as they can live eternally in a separate, ever-repeating, but constricting Godsplane while their mortal constituents live in a free middle plane protected from the clutches of chaos by time/an actual dating system and history starts from here.

==Races & Cultures==
===Humie Kulturs===
Orlanthi - known by many names such as Vingkotlings, Theyalans, and Heortlings. Best real-world equivalents are the pre-roman iberian barbarians for their olive skin, tattoos, and widely ranging hair and eye colors. You get to play them as the heortlings in [[King_of_Dragon_Pass|King of Dragon Pass]] (although they look like germanics in this one) and against them as vingkotlings in [[King_of_Dragon_Pass|Six Ages]]. The posterboy culture of the franchise owing to having the most fluff and that their gods and heroes have had the most effect on Gloranthan history (for better or worse). Is currently (HeroWars era) at a [[What|state of war and/or rebellion with the moon.]] and spiritually led in this endeavor by Argrath who may be one or many. Currently divided into the nations of Tarsh (slavekeeping simps to the Lunars), Sartar (the kingdom you build in [[King_of_Dragon_Pass|KoDP]]), and Holy Country (the country you escape from in [[King_of_Dragon_Pass|KoDP]]). The Holy Country is named so for being ruled by a reincarnating demigod who [[What|swam naked from who-knows-where (the sea cannot be sailed on during this time) into Holy Country shore (known then as Kethaela)]] and just [[Awesome|declared himself god-king then and there.]]

Dara Happans - sun (yelm) worshipping, slavekeeping, patriarchal, egyptian-babylonian fusion who look as white as quakers. So prolific, in fact, that you can tell which cultures are the quite numerous offshoots/cousins of Dara Happans if their art or fluff describes them as midwest american caucasoid. They idealize the city life and the emperor (no matter what form he takes) making them the gloranthan equivalent of the modern, subordinate, weak-chinned, urbanite. They look down upon their rural citizens called Lodrilli (named after Lodril the dara happan earth god) which is ironic as the region that they live in, Peloria, is the breadbasket of the world. Currently ruled as the Lunar Empire by the Red Emperor, demigod son of the moon, and thus they have [[Fail|subsumed Yelm into a subordinate position]].

[[Furry|Hsunchen]] - just your run-of-the-mill spiritual animists and are caucasoid in features but swarthy of skin. Boring and uninspired save for how weird glorantha's effect is on them. Shamans of some of the tribes return from their heroquests as the [[/d/|opposite sex]] or permanently [[Furry|afflicted with qualities of their spirit animals]] while some tribes, such as the telmori, are literally just were-versions of their spirit animals.

Agimori - living on the southern continent and widely varied. AKA the black people of glorantha. Can be slavekeeping, wealthy, Fonritians or technologically advanced (wheels and axle tech) matriarchal sub-saharan hunter gatherers.

Kralorelans - Chinese. Just. Chinese. Led by human emperors who somehow [[Awesome|managed to convince everyone (including dragons) that they're dragons.]].

Malkioni - the fedora tippers of glorantha. described to look like filipinos/indonesians/malaysians and are characterized by a pantheistic/atheistic magocratic caste system wherein they believe that gods are simply entities who managed to "Tap" very strongly into the runes and orders that represent the aspects of the world and that they themselves can rise to "godhood" by doing the same. Currently divided into many philosophies and equivalent kingdoms of varying cosmoplitanism and emancipatoriness. Named after Malkion, their equivalent to the real world Chris Hitchens, who ironically died fighting in the Gods War.

Praxians - horse-nomads but not really but instead they are divided by tribes according to what warbeast they ride. There are the bison tribe, the llama tribe, among others, and even the morokanth tribe [[What|wherein the mounts rule and consume unintelligent humans]] despite [[Fail|not having opposable thumbs]]. Hates chaos and their pantheon is headed by the chaos-hating bull, Storm Bull (who is the orlanthi's Urox).

Pentans - dara happan offshoots but on horses and are sexual egalitarian. Probably descended from the horse riders you play in Six Ages and/or charioteers you play against and are thus cousins to another probable rider-descended horse-riding culture, the Grazers. Worships the sun-horse god Kargzant who may or may not be the orlanthi Elmal. Immensely more successful at being rampaging nomads than the praxians with gloranthan history fraught with them having to get kicked out or subjugated for anything to move forward. There is even a period in recent gloranthan history wherein a genghis khan equivalent called Sheng Seleris conquered the Lunar Empire and ruled over it for two decades before being sent to the underworld by the moon herself. Currently ruled again by Sheng Seleris after Argrath did a Lightbringer's Quest to resurrect him and is so feared that the moon birthed a goddess specifically for the purpose of keeping him in the underworld which is [[Awesome|awesome]] but ended in failure (the goddess got killed) and Argrath himself had to beat him while fighting the Lunars.

Glorantha is riddled with many other relevant minor cultures such as

Grazers- another horse-nomad culture but is of a smaller scale. Used to live in Prax for some reason but had to leave as the horse was the anathema to all the beasts there. Now concerned with keeping Dragon Pass healthy with princes of sartar having to win their incumbent queen's hand to be declared King of Dragon Pass whom even the non-humans in Dragon Pass swear friendship and loyalty to.

Votanki/Malazarings - dara happan cousins who just keep dogs and are basically hsunchen but white. Besides their tribal hearths, Votankiland is dotted with three citadels dedicated to Yelmalio (an ascetic understanding of elmal and kargzant and/or yelm) and are ruled by Malazaring kings with these citadels basically representing what little civilization there is in hellhole. Named after Malazar, a pentan who tried using the votanki towards his own dreams of kingship only to be dashed by the fact that the land is unfertile and that he got killed when dragons ate everyone in Dragon Pass

Jrusteli - mainly known as the origin of the God Learner philosophy. God Learners were the [[Munchkin|munchkins]] of glorantha who were cynically collating the world into useful data and minmaxing. They became so good at [[Powergaming]] they've managed to do things such as 1.) Predicting future events such as the HeroWars (theorycrafting), 2.) [[Lulz|Swapping the earth goddesses of the Orlanthi and the Dara Happans for a while]], and 3.) [[Rocks fall, everyone dies|Getting the world itself to revolt against their bullshit blocking all forms of sea-travel and flooding every coastline in the world]] [[Fail|effectively having them, their island in the middle of the sea, and their philosophy wiped off the face of the planet]]

==="Elder Races"===
Elves - these elves, as opposed to tolkien's elves, are literal walking talking trees. Created by their goddess Aldrya, these elves are divided into many subtypes depending on the ward's tree type. Elves who take care of oaks are called Brown Elves and are typically large and very ent-like while elves who take care of tropical trees are small Yellow Elves and inhabit the vietnams of glorantha, while elves who take care of pines and evergreens are green elves who are deliberately made to look like very attractive humans (man can't handle this pussy tho as matings are characterized by mysterious painless pocks or as in the case of the Rider god Hyalor, who apotheosized right after mating with Aldrya). Hated by the dwarves for throwing a wrench into the Machine (Mostal) which they think caused the Dark Age.

Mostali - dwarves but not really. made as servitors and maintaners of Mostal, the world-machine, and are divided into many subtypes based on what kind of kiln they were forged in and what they're supposed to do. Rock dwarves are stonemasons, gold dwarves run logistics, and so on. Currently engaged in "maintaining" and repairing Mostal and they sincerely think (lol) that everything that happened, [[Just_as_planned|whether disasters or miracles, in Gloranthan history was because of their or someone else's upkeep or breaking of the world-machine]]. [[Old_Ones_(Warhammer)|They also sincerely believe that the world will return to its normal stasis]], with mostali ascendant over the rogue gods and lesser races, as long as they keep working on the world-machine.

Trolls - grey ungulate-looking motherfuckers ranging from 7 to 10 ft forced out of their beautiful underworld by the brightness of Yelm into the middleworld proper [[Dawww|which they call the "Hurtplace"]]. Can eat absolutely anything but has preference for elves as they are delicious and [[What|dwarves as they are hallucinogenic]] and are thus at odds with both these races. also despises chaos for being their main competition during the dark age and would support literally anyone, including the aforementioned races, currently fighting chaos. Once members of the now defunct World Council of Friends (composed of races who survived the darkness against chaos) but left when the council decided to build an artificial god, Nysalor/Gbaji, who subsequently cursed their race and goddess to have 1 out of 2 chance to birth multiple stunted trolls called trollkin who they use as [[What|food]], slaves, and cannon fodder, weakening the once feared race. Is a matriarchal society and matriarchs are structured based on the number of non-trollkin births. Worship mainly Kyger Litor the matriarchal goddess and Zorak Zoran the male troll god of violence.

Dragonewts - [[Chaotic Stupid|absolute weirdos who just do what they want]]. They are the larval forms of true dragons who for some reason take way too long to metamorphose. They do believe that every action they commit contributes toward dragonhood for themselves and the entire world in a philosophy centered around maturing into True Dragonhood. Each nest is ruled by a true dragon who deigned to take dragonewt form called the Inhuman King under which presence they can be reborn in their original eggs when killed, rendering them effectively immortal. Helped form the Empire of Wyrm Friends (EWF) in Dragon Pass until they quit and killed anyone who might know useful dragon lore. The decadence and tyranny of EWF was simply too deeply rooted that it culminated in the Dragonkill wherein fucktons of dragons came out of nowhere and ate every human in dragon pass as well as those who came to crush the EWF. No human lived in Dragon Pass until King of Dragon Pass proper [[Awesome|Dragonnewts who fail to take control of their desires and emotions devolve into and are the ancestors of the dinosaurs of glorantha.]].

Beast men - includes minotaurs, centaurs, and [[What|talking walking ducks with arms]]. Only populates the Beast Valley in Dragon Pass and are orlanthi in culture and religion. Swears fealty to the King of Dragon Pass.

Chaos - They are composed of beings ranging from broos, [[/d/|who rape and cough and shit on everything to propagate]],to Ogres, a race of Chaos-tainted humans who look normal until they open their mouths to reveal rows of jagged teeth for devouring other humans in cannibalistic murders, to Walktapus which are big naked humans with an octopus for a head, to simple amorphous giant blobs of chaos. Hated by almost everyone except by the Red Goddess, who is vaguely associated with them, and her Lunar Empire. They exist on the rightful basis of kill-on-sight.

Triolini - Bikini Bottom in Glorantha. Composed of warring subtypes such as the Ludoch, who are dolphin-folk, and Ysabbau, who are gloranthan deep ones, among others. They are divided based on descent to hated storm gods and nymphs who were either taken willingly (the cetoi who are friendly to landlubbers) or raped (the piscoi tho would drag you down a trench) by those storm gods. Most of them have to surface to breathe with the exception of the gnydron who are the giant triolini and [[/d/|whose ancestress nymph castrated her storm god to be impregnated with her hermaphroditic mating organs.]] (there is some references that this was the other way around or that the ancestress was actually male and the storm god was a goddess though)

==Digestible History==
After the sun came back to the sky, the races of the world formed a UN of sorts based on their shared experience fighting chaos. The council had a falling out with races leaving the council after they decided to build an artificial god to signify their mastery of the world. This god was called Nysalor, later called Gbaji, who defeated Kyger Litor and cursed her children. Gbaji was fought by experienced heroquester Arkat, who was a brithini (the anti-theistic malkioni subsect) in the so-called Gbaji Wars. Arkat got killed and was resurrected through Lightbringers Quest by Harmast Barefoot (an orlanthi descendant of your riders in Six Ages) as an orlanthi (transracial?) who worshipped Humakt (the storm god who owns death). Arkat's forays in heroquesting were so numerous that he's managed to map the godsplane quite comprehensively and has brought back allies and treasures to effectively kill Gbaji. Arkat learned that heroquests of all kinds are all truth and can exist in mutualism which is why he then joined the trolls to do their rituals and became their first and only king before beating Gbaji forever.

After Arkat died, people from Jrusteli landed on Malkioni shores with the God Learner philosophy which they then used to great efffect ruling every coastline in the world into an Empire of Land and Sea. At the same time, people from Dragon Pass decided that dragons are cool and formed the EWF. The God Learners added to their own knowledge by conquering Arkat's autarchy and stealing his discoveries. The God Learners, however, faced a brick wall when they encountered the EWF and have been at war to steal and protect secrets ever since. Both empires did share a mutual burden of having fanatical orlanthi subjects with orlanthi violently opposing the blasphemy of the God Learners and the alien dragon worship of EWF. The human rulers of the EWF were desperate to squash the orlanthi rebellions led by the aptly named Alakoring Dragonbreaker and have fallen off the path of dragonhood in the process, causing the dragonewts to abandon the EWF. The EWF, along with the True Golden Horde sent to defeat it, was crushed and digested by dragons in the Dragonkill. Meanwhile, the God Learners continued to violate the natural order that the world itself groaned and shook to expel them with an event called the Closing. The Closing was an invisible wave of force that sunks ships and prevents sea-travel of any kind, and also caused tsunamis and storms that turned the Malkionist lands into a collection of large archipelagos.

With the God Learners destroyed, no sea-travel, and EWF consumed, a man named Belintar swam towards Kethaela shores. Belintar then conquered Kethaela and formed the Holy Country as the Pharaoh, forcing orlanthi who did not approve to migrate to Dragon Pass which has been uninhabited by humans for centuries. At the same time, a woman in Dara Happa apotheosized as the Red Goddess and the Lunar Empire was born. With the opening of Dragon Pass, the people of the continent were no longer isolated from each other. Sartar conquered Dragon Pass and married the grazer Feathered Horse Queen to become its king and built a powerful orlanthi nation in control of the central trade node of the continent with other orlanthi nations Tarsh and Holay as buffer states between it and the Lunar Empire.

The Pharaoh assisted his son Dormal in an attempt to bypass the Closing, opening up sea trade and travel. Tarsh and Sartar was conquered using treachery by the Lunar Empire and left Sartar with a puppet sartarite descendant as king. The Pharaoh Belintar was assassinated by the Lunars and prevented him from reincarnation which left every Orlanthi nation weak and leaderless and have allowed Orlanth to effectively die. The Lunars were on the brink of victory until a man named Argrath, a wolf pirate under Harrek the Berserk, landed on the Holy Country and conquered all the way north and along the way have (may be attributed to one or many Argraths) resurrected Sheng Seleris, brought Orlanth back to life, conquered Dragon Pass, and had every Lunar loyalist in Dragon Pass accidentally eaten by dragons. The HeroWars culminate with the Red Moon crashing to Glorantha to vague and dubious results.

==See Also==
*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glorantha Glorantha on Wikipedia]

[[Category:Roleplaying]][[Category:RuneQuest]]

Beastmen

2022-02-24T06:44:32Z

2601:188:C300:64B8:9D0D:65AE:FCC5:D421: /* Other Critters */

{{Topquote|The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.|George Orwell, ''Animal Farm''}}

{{Topquote|One might suspect that the lower forms of the servants of darkness would be less blessed by the powers they serve than their more noble counterparts, but this is not the case. The Marks of the Dark Gods are as evident amongst these foul creatures as in any horde of debased Men. Perhaps even more so, for these Beastmen, as they are known, seem to be embraced by their gods just as parents might their children. Spawned by the very darkness that enwraps them, they are closer to the heart of Chaos than any other creatures and are to be greatly feared because of it.|From the Liber Chaotica, penned by Richter Kless, Priest of Sigmar, declared insane.''}}

{{Topquote|The only thing in my head Is five grams of cocaine, fly away alone To the edge of oblivion I have thoughts in my head When will all this end Whenever I'm not alone Because a white eel will fly in|2=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSnDQjEquGA&t=1s Beastmen's official theme song]}}

[[File:Beastman.jpg|200px|thumb|right|A face that even mothers can't force themselves to love.]]
Where the [[Warriors of Chaos|Warriors]] are Chaos tanks and [[Daemons]] are Chaos cheese, the '''Beastmen''' are the true Chaos horde. The Beastmen call themselves the children of Chaos, descended from outcast mutants hurled into the cursed woods of the Drakwald. They are considered a mere nuisance by the Empire and the Bretonnians, but the Wood Elves know how dangerous they truly are. The favorite activities of most Beastmen include toppling waystones, erecting herdstones, kidnapping/raping/eating humans, and, of course, plain old smashing shit! They hate absolutely anything built or anything that is pure and make it a priority to destroy and defile that which the civilized races cherish.

In short, they're a bunch of drunken anarchist fucktards that hang out in the woods, surfacing only to pillage and defile - which is actually kinda awesome if you're into that sort of thing!

==Print History==
The Beastmen weren't always "the Beastmen" as we know them today. For the longest time, they were actually part of a unified Chaos army, but due to the fact that people seemed to like to roll with either all beast, mortal or daemon army lists, [[Games Workshop]] in their infinite wisdom decided to gradually split off the armies. Despite getting split off into an army of their own, they still always play second fiddle to every other villainous faction in the setting. [[Skaven]] used to be under them.

===Runequest===
[[File:GW Special Broo.jpg|thumb|right|px|300|Behold, the first <strike>Broo</strike> Beastmen models.]]
In the early to mid 1980's, Games Workshop still produced miniatures for other games, including some they didn't even sell (similar to [[Reaper Miniatures]] today), and among them was the line of [[Broo]] for the [[Runequest]] game of the [[Glorantha]] setting.

Broo were the proto-Beastmen. Most of the visual style of modern Beastmen, particularly Ungors, is present in the Broo minis. Broo are specifically very similar to Beastmen, [[/d/|although most notably is their lecherous nature and their hyper-fertility to the point they can literally impregnate anything they jizz into, including other males (usually not of their own race), trees, rocks, even just dirt.]]

Games Workshop lost the rights to most of the third party IPs in the early 80's, since the contracts had run out and the IP owners had discovered there was alternatives (early GW had managed to sell itself on the idea it was the primary distributor of tabletop in <strike>The Old World</strike> Europe despite it originally being three young men in an apartment and later on about twenty of them in a small office). This left them with a fair amount of unsold inventory that they couldn't actually sell anymore, so they repurposed it all (with dubious legality) as other things and gave Brian Ansell the thumbs up to make his own game that they'd all have rules in...hence, Warhammer was born. Since Broo were generic enough, Games Workshop repurposed the existing miniatures as a set of models for the game, with very little actually changed aside from all the grey morality removed.

===Hordes of Chaos===
Way back when, they were just part of the single Chaos army where they fulfilled the role of chaff; they were squishier and quicker than other Mortal units and they were good at setting up charges, which Daemons couldn't really do. There were also a couple of special and rare units that were "beastly," but nothing much.

===Beasts of Chaos===
In 6th edition the Chaos army was split, making Beastmen their own army... sort of. They were pretty bad in this edition, essentially being the bitch of Chaos. Indeed, they had almost ''no'' redeeming qualities of their own, but to get into why we'll need to split apart the book and look at it in detail.

For starters, there's nothing the Beasts can do that Mortals or Daemons can't do better. At first this might seem odd since their Special and Rare choices could both be very powerful, however the Chaos books were rather unique in that Beasts, Daemons and Mortals could all be used alongside each other, and so each could take everyone else's Special and Rare choices. The main difference was in what counted as your Core, and a Chaos Core was divided into a Mortal, Beast and Daemon Core. [[Age of Sigmar|Whichever of the three types happened to be your General was the type that counted as your Core, while the other two counted as Special choices.]]

Suffice to say, outside of a few options/builds the Beast Generals were lacking compared to Mortal Generals and Greater Daemons, and so were their Core. Sure if you found a way to get Morghur in the middle of the enemy he could stop at least half an army on his own while Khazrak was hands down one of, (if not the best) monster killers in the game. He was able to get up to S10 and each successful wounding attack, before saves, generated a new attack (yes, even the new attacks did this) and the Beast's ambush rule was pretty cool, but those are the exceptions.

The Beast Core consisted of units that mixed low Toughness and low Leadership; they had lightly armoured Ungors with spears and tough, brawny brawlers in the form of Gors, alongside skirmishers that could scout. The only alternatives (if you wanted a full unit) was to supplement with Warhounds, who can't take a hit and didn't count towards your mandatory Core slots, or take a bunch of tough, strong Bestigors, who were overpriced and much slower than everybody else. If you wanted a Beasts General and mostly wanted to make use of your Special and Rare choices, then you'd probably get a few Tuskgor Chariots to fill your mandatory Core slots. They were significantly cheaper than their Mortal counterparts, did not do that much less damage and were also the only option that could consistently make their points back.

This is because when they were split from the Hordes of Chaos, the Core was nothing more than an unruly band of meat shields. In fact, because they could move faster, it was preferable to field a few beast packs to soak up arrow fire and act as distractions while fast-moving daemons got the flanks and warriors hammered the front ranks.

[[Derp|This does not make a competent, full army.]] Now if you were paying attention you might be wondering how they'd perform if had a Mortal or Daemon General and so could avoid a shitty Core, and that's where things get good. A Chaos army often had to skip out on important upgrades to certain units (specifically Warriors) because they wouldn't have enough to get a good General, a good frontline, and a good few heavy hitters that you'd normally need to collapse the enemy's formation. They were pricy, and so Beasts gave you the option of having a cheap Core and suddenly you had far more points to spend on units of Warriors and Knights.

Now to get into the cool Special and Rare choices, the Beasts gave Chaos the [[Troll#Fantasy_trolls|Chaos Trolls]] and [[Ogre_Kingdoms|Ogres]], [[Dragon Ogres|Dragon Ogres and Shaggoths]], etc. Combined with the Warriors (and saving points using Chariots or Ungor screens for Core) it made for a fairly strong United force, one that could hit like a truck and take solid hits in return.

Almost makes you wonder why they were ever split in the first place, since the only time the Chaos armies of 6th Ed were scary was when they had a united front (just like in the lore).

===Beastmen===
[[File:Beastmen-Warhammer-Fantasy.jpg|400px|thumb|right|Warrior goats with [[Ogre]]-style gutplates]]
Sometimes referred to as "the WEAK chaos army," or the "Powerful [[Chaos]] [[Skaven]]" it more or less resembles a normal horde style army in Warhammer Fantasy Battle with cheap, [[Imperial Guard|expendable]] troops, average leaderships and little immunity to psychology. The things they otherwise don't have are anything resembling armor or any kind relevant shooting, but they try to make up for it with Primal Fury which gives them hatred on a passed leadership test each round of combat on many of their units. The Herdstone magic item allows Beastmen wizards to score extra power dice for their spells, allowing Beastmen to pull off a little extra spell support to augment the cheap core units. They also excel in cheap chaff and redirectors in the form of Ungor Raiders, Razorgors, and Harpies, and fielding fairly costed chariots in core.

Unfortunately they also got fucked in pretty much every other area. Marks were taken away for no good reason, prices went up on models that already cost too much, models were introduced that made your own army worse, the Beastmen were given a piss-poor magic lore (compared to every other lore) in exchange for the other lores that could be occasionally useful, they swapped out mostly decent magic items for mostly shitty ones, or ones that made no sense (like a magic banner that could only be given to a unit who had heavy armour, and it took away their heavy armour without refunding the cost), the list goes on. All in all it made them one of if not the worst army in the game. It was still possible to win, but it would always be an uphill battle as their biggest advantages, like their heaviest hitters and ability to be combined with the other Chaos armies as one big force, were completely removed (with the one exception being Minotaurs who are overcosted compared to other models anyway).

===Real world Inspiration===
The standard way of creating a fantasy race or culture is to take one real world culture and base everything off of that. The Empire is early Renaissance Germany, Bretonnia is Medieval French fused with English Arthurian myth giving them a strong British feel as well. Dwarfs and Elves have their own sort of base line culture based on Tolkien and with a large part of Warhammer fantasy in it nowadays as well.

The Beastmen, however, are based on the popular conception of the barbarians who tore Rome down. First they have no interests other than smashing civilization apart for the sake of smashing it apart. They have in their background that they pay homage to large 'herd stones' which are similar to the Celtic shrines (think Stonehenge, although it is not actually a Celtic shrine). Lastly, they are Beastmen and satyrs are associated with paganism. Ever wonder why the Devil has cloven legs? Early Christians used the old Greek god Pan (the original [[satyr]]), as the devil because he was a god of sex [[Fail|(and shepherds)]] and Christians are against recreational sex outside marriage due to the Bible's stipulation that God intends it for married couples, meaning Pan was a good framework for the devil and all that has really changed since then was turning him red and giving him a trident.

Tactically the Beastmen also fit the Barbarian origin: many light troops that rely on ambush and surprise (more than one Roman legion was lost by this kind of ambush), chariots which the Britons used against the Romans and lastly they are like the Barbarians in that they are focused on skirmishing and raiding. Once upon a time all Beastmen were skirmishers, which while effective against isolated villages is less effective against armies, which is why it was changed.

So the Beastmen have some pretty interesting roots once you 'pop the hood' on their design.

==Occupy Drakwald==
The thing that pisses the Beastmen off is that something like 1% of life in Middenheim controls 99% of the land! There are so many freaky beasts living in the chaos woods, combined with big Empire pushing around the people of the woods and ruining the environment for their own economic interests. And so the Beastmen have taken to their eternal campout against the Empire and it's regional castellan pretty boy, Elector Count Boris Todbringer.

Another thing that really pisses them off is that it's stated in the Orcs and Goblins codex that [[Forest Goblins]] on their spiders tend to murder herds wandering in the woods. Technically this is because the Forest Goblins are the original occupants of Drakwald that have been trying to keep the Empire, Beastmen (born of Empire), and other greenskins out since the dawn of...well, the Old Ones creating all the races, but fuck those fucking fucks! They have fancier hats and more land, so they gotta go too!

And that's not where the similarities end. The Beastmen are a bunch of lazy, shiftless, filthy degenerates that eat babies - no literally! The Beastmen want nothing better than to just drink looted booze, eat/fuck other races and tear down everything that everyone has ever built - ever! (cough cough Chakats.)

==Origins==
The Beastmen's origins seem to be something of a composite piece (and changes from edition to edition). On one account, they are descended from the myriad creatures that inhabited the Northern Wastes and migrated downward, accepting more stable forms from their reduced exposure from the polar fluxes of chaos and interbreeding with more magic resistant creatures. Another myth pins the Beastmen's origins as the mutated descendants of humans cast into the wild for being born a hideous half-man, half-beast creature (Now why the humans decide to throw all their mutant babies into the surrounding forest known to be populated with sadistic and vengeful goatmen born as mutants to humans and cast-off themselves is a bit of a mystery). The 6th ed Beasts of Chaos book says that when the polar gates collapsed, the Beastmen were made from animals mutating to be more human-like and humans mutating to be more bestial while the 7th ed Beastmen book says that when Chaos was first released to the world the "primitives" at the time went mad, fucked some animals, generations later their descendants are the Beastmen. Wood Elves seem to have less of a problem with mutants, either because they resist chaos more/better or they kill such offspring immediately and never talk about it again, but that's just like, you know, a cultural difference.

Age of Sigmar is more vague about the Beastmen's origins, stating that they were present in the Mortal Realms before Sigmar arrived (which is a enigma in itself, since all other forms of Chaos only arrived in the Age of Chaos). Three in-universe theories are presented; the standard "animals and men mutated by Chaos energy", one claiming that they're all descended from a primogenitor beast called the Gor-Father, and another saying that [[/pol/|they're the product of miscegenation between races]]. Since several Beastmen tribes appear to worship the Gor-Father, while there are other accounts of humans being mutated into Beastmen, its possible that all these theories have elements of truth to them.

Regardless, today's Beastman is more likely either the product of gangrape, spawned by a brief and unholy union from victorious Beastman raiders that managed to bring home some captive females from other races, usually humans, and it never ends well for the woman (tying into the inspiration for Beastmen, the [[Broo]], though this was used in a Warhammer race called the Fimir. However this idea was never canon and only inferred by an error of omission in the lore, and the Fimir only magically impregnated random women; you know something's nasty when Games "In the GRIM DARKness of the far future..." Workshop says it's too much), or they were spawned when a Beastman really loves a Beastwoman. We're not too sure how Beastmen "love" one another, but the fluff seems to imply that the Beastmen have to get really fucking hammered before hand with giant orgiastic feasts at their encampments around Beastmen Herdstones. However, as of Total War: Warhammer: Call of the Beastman, it is possible to recruit a female Beastman, or Doe,to your warband.

==Types==
Beastmen come in many varieties, usually denoted by a suffix and a prefix, making a chaotic race that hates organization and civilization into an easily organized and tidy group. In Oldhammer, mutants were included as Beastmen in advertising. After the Tony Ackland legal troubles when most mutants and the more creative types of Spawn were squatted, Beastmen remained pure beast men.

===Devoted===
Beastmen particularly devoted to specific Chaos Gods, usually because of mutations at their birth, being enslaved by devotees of a particular god, or blessing, are given the name of their god in their designation. Its worth noting that the armor of the godly Beastmen are more ornate, implying they are far less antagonistic to the idea of making things intentionally. Note that devoted is our word for organizing them. They were also out of the picture until VERY recently because Phil Kelly removed them from the 7th edition Beastmen book and retconned the fluff to destroy any and all traces of Beastmen that were devoted/enslaved/blessed by a single god, to the point where they couldn't even be given marks on both the tabletop and lore.

* [[Tzaangor]] are Beastmen of Tzeentch. Have white, yellow, and blue features usually as well as mutations giving them spindly limbs, extra arms, and an emphasis on bird and moon appearances.

* [[Slaangor]] are Slaanesh's Beastmen. The least described and depicted of all the Beastmen groups. Their mutations obviously trend more towards the lewd, with extra pectorals and nipples, and are known for being mostly albino with pastel skin. Their eyes are like those of Daemonettes, being large and either green or black. Their species are animals that are lithe or symbolically sensual, but with a large amount of them being non-Minotaur bovines (a Bovigor can be a Slaangor, not all Slaangor are Bovigor).

* [[Khorngor]] are Khorne's. Their fur is shiny and almost metallic, their eyes are white with red pupils, they always have canine heads and the most favored have their horns naturally grow in the shape of Khorne's skull symbol. They wear far more armor than most other Beastmen species.

* [[Pestigor]] are Nurgle's, breaking the prefix naming scheme of the others. Aside from being heavily diseased, something they don't really have exclusive among Beastmen, they have only one horn, their hide is particularly tough, and they wear far more armor than any other variety. Disappointingly, they were not named Nurggors.

===Herd Society===
[[File:Beast_tribe.jpg|300px|thumb|right|]]
Beastmen society is organized around herds and ruled by a system of might makes right. In other words, what the biggest, strongest Beastman says, goes. One would be forgiven in thinking that this automatically means that minotaurs would end up running the show since they are by far the biggest and strongest, but they're not the brightest thing on two hooves. Minotaurs specialize in wholesale slaughter, but aren't too keen on things like where to find food, who should keep watch or how to fix their shitty chariots. Lo, the Beastlord has his task cut out for him.

* '''[[Beastlord]]s''': The Beastmen in charge, the Alpha Male, they run the show for the other Beastmen with a combination of [[Mork|dastardly cunning]] and [[Gork|brute strength]]. They often delegate more benign tasks to their immediate inferiors, the Wargors.
* '''[[Wargor]]s''': The "trusted" (as far as Beastman loyalty goes) lieutenants of Beastlord, Wargors are pretty kickass leaders and fighters themselves. Often seen carrying battle standards or leading Bestigor herds, or both.
* '''[[Bestigor]]s''': Quite literally the best Gors. Strong, tough, heavily armed and armoured, the Wargors and Beastlords often arise from their ranks. They used to be the Chaos Undivided of the Beastmen, complete with the Mark (with the option of becoming [[Khorngor]]s, [[Tzaangor]]s, [[Slaangor]]s or [[Pestigor]]s) but then [[Phil Kelly|some asshole]] took away their marks and unique types.
* '''[[Bray Shaman|Bray-Shamans]] and Great Bray-Shamans''': Tribal elders and spiritual leaders of the Beastmen, they interpret the will of Chaos and determine the best course of action for the herd. They are also the herd's wizards, channeling the lores of Death, Shadows, Beasts and their unique Lore of the Wild, a corrupt offshoot of the Lore of Beasts. One of the very few rules Beastmen have is that you never harm a Bray-Shaman for any reason, ''ever'', if only because it's really hard for the Beastmen to get any kind of favour from the gods so those who are clearly favored cannot be cast aside lightly.
* '''[[Gor]]s''': The rank and file of the beast herd. Your average Gor is bigger, tougher and far nastier than your average human, and also far more stupid which explains why they haven't overrun everything. He's also an unguloid with furry legs and a face that's a blend of bestial and human features. ALL Gors also feature prominent horns and/or antlers on their heads.
* '''[[Ungor]]s''': The untouchables even in beast herds. They are pretty close in size to humans, yet still feature particularly bestial features such as furry unguloid legs with hooves, a semi-bestial face and two small horn buds. Sometimes band together in scouting parties of Ungor Raiders when not used as slave labour to fix all the shitty Beastmen gear.
* '''[[Bray]]s''': Beastmen with no horns, the lowest of the low in Beastman society (so low that they got no models). In a society where life is nasty, brutish, and short, their lives are by far the nastiest, most brutal and most especially shortest.

Beastmen are wild and crude creatures embodying all the negative aspects of animals combined with human-level intelligence. They are truly repugnant to behold, let alone to smell, for they are a twisted reflection of the base and barbaric aspects of nature. Beastmen are Neutral Evil to the core, the only thing stopping them from being Chaotic Evil is their reverence of Bray-Shamans and the Chaos Gods. The carnage and despair they spread across the land is a malevolent and deliberate attempt to wreck anything beautiful or stable for the lulz. Bitterness and spite simmers in the heart of every Beastman; it takes little more than a few well-chosen words to spur a Gor into a frenzy of unrestrained rage. The sounds of distant battle will cause a Beastman to prick up his tufted ears in an instant; a fight or duel upon a woodland path will invariably bring dozens of Beastmen from all about in a very short space of time. Even when gathered in their torrid encampments the Beastmen spend their time fighting, fucking or feasting. The only time they don't is when a particularly strong Beastman knocks a sense of purpose into them (sometimes literally) or a Bray-Shaman calls on the Chaos Gods.

Beastmen have forms perfectly suited to their horrid nature. They have long, ridged horns with which to gore their foes, and the legs of cattle and goats with which to trample the bodies of their victims. Their matted hair is encrusted with blood and dung, a haven for fat ticks and colonies of fleas that keep the Cloven One in a constant state of agitation, for hygiene is one of those stable and beautiful concepts that Beastmen feel compelled to ruin. They're not even house trained and mark their territory whenever they feel like it even if it's on an enemy's corpse. Their drool-filled mouths are filled with sharp, wolf-like fangs for tearing the flesh of their prey, and their muscular, sweat-slicked bodies are ideally suited to the murderous desires that gleam in their blood-red eyes.

Above all, though, it is the trappings of progress and civilization that fan the embers of hatred burning within each Beastman's breast. A mere glimpse of bright colours, especially the colour red, will often be enough to get a Beastman's pulse racing with bloodlust. The sight of a proud flag or coat of arms, a pristine uniform or a magnificent statue elicits a powerful reaction in the Beastmen, for the things of order are anathema to the Children of Chaos. All caution is put aside in a desperate attempt to tear down and befoul the offending article, to stomp it into the mud, smear it with dung or rip it to pieces and chew on the remains. Woe betide those who take pride in such symbols of authority and order, for their end will invariably be messy, painful and humiliating. Though Beastmen find it far easier to destroy than to create they can be terribly inventive in the punishments they inflict upon their captives, and they have a sick and ribald sense of humor that leads to truly stomach-churning atrocities enacted upon those they can catch.

No Beastman is truly content unless visiting some manner of violence upon a hapless victim. The only tools they use are the tools of war, and even then they aren't too fussy. In the last edition of Fantasy they armed themselves with crude blades and axes that they call 'man-cleavers,' mostly cobbled together from the spoils of war, because Phil Kelly thought it would be a great idea to change the Beastmen so that they're unable to make their own equipment. He also altered them so that the warherds lack the resplendent weapons and baroque armour of the human servants of the Chaos Gods, saying that since the Beastmen already belong to the Ruinous Powers the gods have no need to bargain such trinkets in exchange for their souls, completely ignoring the fact that the gods are supposed to be petty, meaning even if their souls already belonged to Chaos, they'd still get marks to show which god they belonged to. This might have been a part of his plan to make the army the worst army in all of Fantasy, as the marks and armour also help the armies of Chaos win the fights they get into, so it should be no surprise that after Phil changed their lore, they don't do shit aside from being a punching bag for all the other races. He decided to leave in how they're great at raiding (though the actual rules for raiding were an entirely different story), pillaging and corpse-robbing even when they are not marching to war. Because of this they are never short of battered weapons and ragged suits of armor, albeit ones encrusted with clotted gore and riddled with rust. Such lack of quality is only a minor setback to the Beastmen, who compensate with sheer brute strength and determination.

The robust constitution of the Cloven Ones allows them to live upon the most meagre or unpleasant of diets. They prefer great chunks of meat above all but, unlike their larger Minotaur brethren, they do not care if it is fresh or if it is infested and maggot-ridden. Beastmen are cannibals who gorge themselves upon the corpses of their own kind without hesitation, entrails, hair, horns, hooves and all, and believe that to do so is to inherit the strength of the victim. This diet of dead meat is supplemented with grubs, hairy-legged spiders, poisonous centipedes, plump blowflies, and other vermin, as well as the occasional lost child or lone woodsman. It could be said that Beastmen are hunter-gatherers, though they mainly gather the body parts strewn around the place after a particularly vicious hunt. Human flesh is a delicacy to Beastmen, and rivals have been known to fight to the death over a single human arm or leg.

Of all the creatures of Chaos, Beastmen have an especially close relationship with Morrslieb, the Chaos Moon. Whenever Morrslieb is fullest in the sky the Beastmen will hold night-long, sprawling orgies where they indulge every base lust and bloodthirsty deed they can think of. Much blood is shed, much captured wine and beer is drunk, and many new beast-spawn are conceived, ensuring the cycle of twisted and unholy life is perpetuated. Though it is rumored that the witches and heretics of the Old World join the Beastmen in these frightening and confusing bacchanals, none have ever been able to say for certain, for to stumble upon a camp of blood-drunk Beastmen celebrating under the unclean light of Morrslieb is to plunge into hell itself.

====Beastwomen====
[[File:Canon Beastwoman.png|thumb|left|400px|Thanks to [[Blood Bowl]], specifically [[Spike! Magazine]], we now have a canon piece of artwork of a female Beastman (which is ironically ''less'' beastly than a lot of the fan-art)...albeit from the same game where the greenskins still have women and children.]]
[[File:FemmeGor Waifu Sketch.jpg|thumb|right|300px|One drawfag's interpretation of what happens when a Chaos Champion kills a beastlord.]]
[[File:FemmeGor.png|thumb|right|300px|Fan-art of a hypothetical female beastlord.]]
While it has been confirmed that beastmen are not all male very little canon information has ever been revealed about the female half of the beasts of chaos. What little lore there is describes them as "calmer" than their male counterparts, with one female Chaos Champion in the novels describing how she was saved from death and nursed back to health by a cluster of these "gor-does", which ultimately led to her becoming a Chaos Champion. Naturally, some Chaos fans on /tg/ have speculated quite intensely about the possibility of beastwomen/"gor-doe" waifus, particularly given old lore of human Chaos worshippers partaking in the bacchanalian feasting & rutting of beastmen tribes.

Despite being calmer and more rational than their menfolk, gor-does are still equipped to become warriors, much like the women from the human tribes of the north; the [[Gotrek & Felix]] novels have mentioned the duo encountering beastwomen warriors during their battles.

[[Total War: Warhammer]] stuck its own oar in, claiming that gor-does are relatively rare among the Beastmen and as such the males will fight for the right to mate with one whenever it's breeding season. Meaning only the strongest members of a herd will get to mate with a pure female beastmen. Whether this is actually canon or not is unclear, so it's left to fans to decide for themselves how they prefer it... which of course leads to [[skub|the usual arguments]].

Other older lore has implied both that [[harpy|harpies]] act as females for beastmen, and that, much like the [[Fimir]], beastmen have been known to abduct human (or elf) women as corrupted breeding slaves they call "Beastmothers". For fairly obvious reasons, the Beastmother lore is rarely outright stated to happen anymore, instead leaving it to just the occasional unsettling implication.

Given the beastmen's origins as rip-offs of the [[Broo]], some fans also assume that many Beastmen reproduce by impregnating female livestock.

{{Topquote|She doubted that she or it would have survived if she had not encountered the beastwomen in the forest; if they had not taken her in and guarded her and fed her. She remembered them as being oddly shy and gentle compared to the gors and ungors | from the perspective of Justine, a chaos warrior. William king, ''Trollslayer''}}
{{clear}}

====Beastman Champion Retinues====
Back in the days of [[Realms of Chaos]], Beastman Chaos Champions were able to take the [[Path to Glory]] once introduced in "The Lost and the Damned", and even had their own unique follower retinue table they rolled on, to emphasize the split between the beastmen tribes and the armies of Chaos-damned humans:
::01-020: 2d6 Beastmen (If the Beastman Champion has the Mark of Chaos, these are also Marked by the same Patron; [[Khorngor]]s, [[Pestigor]]s, [[Slaangor]]s or [[Tzaangor]]s - otherwise, they're just normal beastmen)
::21-40: 2d6 Beastmen
::41-60: Beastman Hero
::61-70: Beastman Shaman
::71-80: D6 [[Centaur]]s
::81-85: D3 [[Dragon Ogre]]s
::86-98: D6 [[Minotaur]]s
::99-100: Other (Roll on the Human Chaos Champion retinue table)

===The Bulls===
[[File:BeastmenMinotaurs.jpg|200px|thumb|right|]]
Nobody really knows why, but the Beastmen seem to be accompanied by a race of ferocious Minotaurs, not that they're complaining. When the Minotaurs aren't rampaging through the hardest parts of an enemy army, eating knights, drinking blood and shitting victory, they're often seen guarding caches of magic treasures deep in the Drakwald. They aren't a very bright group but their uncanny resilience, rape-tastic strength and general piss-your-pants scariness gets shit done for the Beastmen. There are also mutant varieties of the bulls that have long ago traded their sanity for fuck-off hugeness and other random shit.

* '''Doombulls and Gorebulls''': The closest thing the Minotaurs have to leaders, with the Doombulls being the larger, stronger and generally more daunting of the two, and Gorebulls functioning like Wargors or Skaven Chieftans.
* '''Minotaurs''': Giant, bull-headed monsters that fuck near can't be stopped once they get to smashing shit.
* '''Cygors''': 50 ft. tall, one-eyed Minotaur mutant that can only see magic things. Likes to collect gigantic pieces of magic rock (more commonly known as temple columns) and eating the souls of mages... unless those tricksy wee things are causing him trouble, whereupon he'll just throw one of his gigantic rocks at it!
* '''Ghorgon''': Minotaurs that get a flair for cannibalism turn into giant-sized, four-armed killing machines with two of their four arms ending in scythe hands. They also have a penchant swallowing things whole and magically reknitting any wounds they may have had.
{{clear}}

===Other Critters===
[[File:Beastmen-centrigor.jpeg|200px|thumb|right|A centigor, [[centaur]] in grimdark.]]
Being that the Beastmen are all a bunch of horrible monsters, they have a pretty high tolerance for other horrible monsters. Along with the minotaurs, the Beastmen's ranks are supplemented by other creatures used for various tasks from beasts of burden to cavalry to shock troops to cannon fodder.

* '''Warhounds''': Just like the ones starved and taunted by the warriors of chaos, but instead starved and taunted by Beastmen. Used for a fast and cheap screen
* '''Tuskgors''': What essentially look like warthogs, they're most often used to pull the herd's shitty chariots.
* '''Razorgors''': Bigger, nastier, mutant tuskgors. They are either loosed in packs or used to pull chariots. Why the Beastmen use pigs as pack animals and eat horses instead of the other way around is a bit bizarre, but might have to do with how flighty horses can get around large, carnivorous animals and that pigs occasionally indulge in carnivorism and predation.
* '''Centigors''': The torso of a Gor fused onto the body of a horse with three hooves per foot, by the looks of it. Totally ungainly and butt-hurt over it, they take to stealing beer, wine and spirits brewed and distilled by other races and getting shit-faced daily to forget that fact. They act as cavalry to the Beastmen.
* '''Harpies''': Identical to Dark Elf harpies, may or may not be the Beastwomen with which the Beastmen procreate. Used primarily as flying shock troops.
* '''[[Chaos Spawn]]''': Can be either heavily mutated Beastmen or just normal spawn, that which must not be named are goaded into battle... somehow. But this is chaos, so really anything can become a chFGHFGTYHAAAD{{BLAM}}
* '''Jabberslythe''': Arguably the ugliest thing in all of WHFB. Said that not even the clearest pools will reflect its image, or maybe they just don't stay clear for very long. Either way, this is yet another giant powerhouse of a monster using its ugliness as a shock weapon to get the Beastmen's enemies to kill themselves.
* '''[[Giant]]''': The warhammer giant is at the beast's disposal to jump up and down, yell at people and stuff them into its pants.
{{clear}}
*A type of amphibious beastmen known as "Lakemen" infest areas of Bretonnia. They appear as humanoid frog-fish with crab claws for hands, and all have at least one type of mutation furthering them from this basic form. Don't really get along with "normal" beastmen that well, either.
* There is a tribe of beastmen in Ind that have tiger heads. Local humans worship them as holy spirits and as such said locals prostrate themselves, even as they get killed by the 'holy spirits'. They're called the Bengal, because if you didn't guess it the first time, Ind is Warhammer India.
*The tribal societies of men, greenskin, and lizardmen in the Southlands have to deal with raids from the Apemen, a race of Beastmen that resemble humanoid gorillas.
* Down in the Warhammer Antarctica, also known as "Southern Chaos Wastes", a pretty obscure Beastmen subrace called '''Beastfiends''' lives. They're actually non-human at all, instead being an unholy mix of Beast and [[Daemons of Chaos|Daemon]]. They're totally irrelevant and only appear in one [[Archaon]] novel.

==Notable Beastmen==
*'''[[Khazrak The One-Eye]]:''' One of the most legendary Beastmen in recent history, known for his use of actual tactics and military strategy. Has one eye (surprisingly) and a heated rivalry with [[Boris Todbringer]].
*'''[[Taurox The Brass Bull]]''': Violent bull-freak made of Brass after eating one of Khorne's daemons. He is a bad ass that likes to cut shit up and kill everything he sees. All in all total bad ass.
*'''[[Morghur]] the Master of Skulls''':The closest thing to a central leader the Beastmen have. This guy not only corrupts and mutates anything in his path, every time he's killed, he simply resurrects and starts all over again. He's considered the greatest enemy of the Wood Elves and the chosen prophet and champion of the Chaos Gods to his people. In Age of Sigmar gets his own faction called the Gavespawn that pretty much worships him as a minor Chaos God.
*'''[[Malagor]] the Dark Omen''': The Bray Shaman of all Bray Shaman, this Beastmen is not only a powerful sorcerer and a cunning manipulator he also has a pair of black raven wings that enable him to fly. He greatly resembles an old representation of old Nick called Baphomet.
*'''[[Gorthor]] the Beastlord''': The greatest Beastlord to ever live, he united all the Beastmen of the Middle Mountains, pioneered the use of chariots, brought down two provinces of the Empire and in addition to his fighting skills was a tactical and strategic thinker.
*'''[[Ghorros Warhoof]]''': The “Sire of a Thousand Young” is an ancient Centigor that is constantly fighting, drinking, or fucking. He proudly boasts to have fathered the entire Centigor race and have connections to every other beastman in the Old World. Like an alcoholic father who left home for a pack of cigarettes, he roams the land in a constant state of bragging, bashing, boozing, and banging, which makes him a somewhat beloved figure in many beast herds.
*'''[[Ungrol Four-Horn]]''': Also known as Blackheart, Hornsthief, and the Spurned One, Ungrol is a two headed Ungor that was fed up with the constant abuse he suffered from the bigger and meaner gors. So he slit the throats of his tribe’s Wargor and Shaman and severed their horns to tie onto his own. He fled from his understandably pissed off tribe and took refuge in a dark series of caves that would become known as the Labyrinth of the Spurned. The legend of Four-Horn spread amongst the herds, and soon Ungrol was the leader of a vast army of Ungors and other outcasts of beastman society.
*'''[[Molokh Slugtongue]]''': The closest thing you can have to a [[Pestigor]] special character in a book where pestigors officially don't exist. Disease-riddled skull-faced [[Bray-Shaman]] wielding pestilence and famine against his enemies, clearly suffused with the blessings of Papa [[Nurgle]].

==In 40k==
''See [[Beastmen (40k)]]''

==Warhammer: Age of Sigmar==
In Age of Sigmar, they're back, as the [[Beasts Of Chaos]].

==Non-Warhammer Beastmen==
Although the Warhammer Fantasy version of Beastmen is probably the most iconic use of the term on /tg/, it has surfaced in some other /tg/ settings as well, owing to the rather generic name. Even with Age of Sigmar's copyright-friendly rename-a-palooza, their name (Brayherds/Warherds) turns out rather generic in comparison to other names (e.g. Aelves, Orruks, Ogors)

In [[Glorantha]], the [[Broo]] are a race of Chaos-aligned/spawned monstrous humanoids who appear as haphazard amalgamations of human and animal traits, all further wracked by diseases and/or mutations. This race actually created the Warhammer Beastmen (long story short; [[Games Workshop]] had a deal to produce miniatures for [[RuneQuest]] Broo models, it fell through, and they decided to recoup their losses by reworking the models into a new Chaos species for their own game).

In [[Dungeons & Dragons]], the obscure [[Greyhawk]] setting has (or had, at least, during the days of [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]]) a race called the Beastmen. These were basically really hairy humanoids with vaguely feline faces who lived in forests and were Stone Age hunters with a Neutral Good alignment. The race has been pretty much forgotten about.

Beastmen is also used in many settings as a collective term (analogous to demihumans and humanoids) to the various, well, [[furry]] races: things like [[lupin]]s, [[minotaur]]s, [[gnolls]], [[catfolk]], [[ratfolk]], etc. Sometimes any "animal-based" race, like [[lizardfolk]], [[dragonborn]], [[aranea]]s, [[chitine]]s, [[aarakocra]]s, etc, will also be lumped in. To avoid confusion, /tg/ tends to prefer the blanket term [[Beastfolk]].

In [[Kings of War]] you get [[Kings_of_War/Tactics/The_Herd|the Herd]], which is Warhammer Beastmen with a few extra steps, such as adding werewolves and giant eagles, but losing the chariots and some of the GW-exclusive monsters. From a fluff perspective they are completely different though, being a neutral army created by a benevolent god called Kyron and related to the orcs (who were created by Kyron's malevolent half), and are thus their chaotic good counterpart. As such they are maybe closer to the idea behind the beastmen army as a force of nature rather than a servant of the dark gods. Also dem werewolves (lycans) are one of the top three units in KoW.

==See Also==
*[[Warhammer/Tactics/8th Edition/Beastmen|8th edition Tactics]]

{{Playable Factions in Warhammer Fantasy Battle}}

[[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]]
[[Category:Beastmen]]
[[Category:Furry]]

Beastmen

2022-02-24T06:43:04Z

2601:188:C300:64B8:9D0D:65AE:FCC5:D421: /* Other Critters */

{{Topquote|The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.|George Orwell, ''Animal Farm''}}

{{Topquote|One might suspect that the lower forms of the servants of darkness would be less blessed by the powers they serve than their more noble counterparts, but this is not the case. The Marks of the Dark Gods are as evident amongst these foul creatures as in any horde of debased Men. Perhaps even more so, for these Beastmen, as they are known, seem to be embraced by their gods just as parents might their children. Spawned by the very darkness that enwraps them, they are closer to the heart of Chaos than any other creatures and are to be greatly feared because of it.|From the Liber Chaotica, penned by Richter Kless, Priest of Sigmar, declared insane.''}}

{{Topquote|The only thing in my head Is five grams of cocaine, fly away alone To the edge of oblivion I have thoughts in my head When will all this end Whenever I'm not alone Because a white eel will fly in|2=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSnDQjEquGA&t=1s Beastmen's official theme song]}}

[[File:Beastman.jpg|200px|thumb|right|A face that even mothers can't force themselves to love.]]
Where the [[Warriors of Chaos|Warriors]] are Chaos tanks and [[Daemons]] are Chaos cheese, the '''Beastmen''' are the true Chaos horde. The Beastmen call themselves the children of Chaos, descended from outcast mutants hurled into the cursed woods of the Drakwald. They are considered a mere nuisance by the Empire and the Bretonnians, but the Wood Elves know how dangerous they truly are. The favorite activities of most Beastmen include toppling waystones, erecting herdstones, kidnapping/raping/eating humans, and, of course, plain old smashing shit! They hate absolutely anything built or anything that is pure and make it a priority to destroy and defile that which the civilized races cherish.

In short, they're a bunch of drunken anarchist fucktards that hang out in the woods, surfacing only to pillage and defile - which is actually kinda awesome if you're into that sort of thing!

==Print History==
The Beastmen weren't always "the Beastmen" as we know them today. For the longest time, they were actually part of a unified Chaos army, but due to the fact that people seemed to like to roll with either all beast, mortal or daemon army lists, [[Games Workshop]] in their infinite wisdom decided to gradually split off the armies. Despite getting split off into an army of their own, they still always play second fiddle to every other villainous faction in the setting. [[Skaven]] used to be under them.

===Runequest===
[[File:GW Special Broo.jpg|thumb|right|px|300|Behold, the first <strike>Broo</strike> Beastmen models.]]
In the early to mid 1980's, Games Workshop still produced miniatures for other games, including some they didn't even sell (similar to [[Reaper Miniatures]] today), and among them was the line of [[Broo]] for the [[Runequest]] game of the [[Glorantha]] setting.

Broo were the proto-Beastmen. Most of the visual style of modern Beastmen, particularly Ungors, is present in the Broo minis. Broo are specifically very similar to Beastmen, [[/d/|although most notably is their lecherous nature and their hyper-fertility to the point they can literally impregnate anything they jizz into, including other males (usually not of their own race), trees, rocks, even just dirt.]]

Games Workshop lost the rights to most of the third party IPs in the early 80's, since the contracts had run out and the IP owners had discovered there was alternatives (early GW had managed to sell itself on the idea it was the primary distributor of tabletop in <strike>The Old World</strike> Europe despite it originally being three young men in an apartment and later on about twenty of them in a small office). This left them with a fair amount of unsold inventory that they couldn't actually sell anymore, so they repurposed it all (with dubious legality) as other things and gave Brian Ansell the thumbs up to make his own game that they'd all have rules in...hence, Warhammer was born. Since Broo were generic enough, Games Workshop repurposed the existing miniatures as a set of models for the game, with very little actually changed aside from all the grey morality removed.

===Hordes of Chaos===
Way back when, they were just part of the single Chaos army where they fulfilled the role of chaff; they were squishier and quicker than other Mortal units and they were good at setting up charges, which Daemons couldn't really do. There were also a couple of special and rare units that were "beastly," but nothing much.

===Beasts of Chaos===
In 6th edition the Chaos army was split, making Beastmen their own army... sort of. They were pretty bad in this edition, essentially being the bitch of Chaos. Indeed, they had almost ''no'' redeeming qualities of their own, but to get into why we'll need to split apart the book and look at it in detail.

For starters, there's nothing the Beasts can do that Mortals or Daemons can't do better. At first this might seem odd since their Special and Rare choices could both be very powerful, however the Chaos books were rather unique in that Beasts, Daemons and Mortals could all be used alongside each other, and so each could take everyone else's Special and Rare choices. The main difference was in what counted as your Core, and a Chaos Core was divided into a Mortal, Beast and Daemon Core. [[Age of Sigmar|Whichever of the three types happened to be your General was the type that counted as your Core, while the other two counted as Special choices.]]

Suffice to say, outside of a few options/builds the Beast Generals were lacking compared to Mortal Generals and Greater Daemons, and so were their Core. Sure if you found a way to get Morghur in the middle of the enemy he could stop at least half an army on his own while Khazrak was hands down one of, (if not the best) monster killers in the game. He was able to get up to S10 and each successful wounding attack, before saves, generated a new attack (yes, even the new attacks did this) and the Beast's ambush rule was pretty cool, but those are the exceptions.

The Beast Core consisted of units that mixed low Toughness and low Leadership; they had lightly armoured Ungors with spears and tough, brawny brawlers in the form of Gors, alongside skirmishers that could scout. The only alternatives (if you wanted a full unit) was to supplement with Warhounds, who can't take a hit and didn't count towards your mandatory Core slots, or take a bunch of tough, strong Bestigors, who were overpriced and much slower than everybody else. If you wanted a Beasts General and mostly wanted to make use of your Special and Rare choices, then you'd probably get a few Tuskgor Chariots to fill your mandatory Core slots. They were significantly cheaper than their Mortal counterparts, did not do that much less damage and were also the only option that could consistently make their points back.

This is because when they were split from the Hordes of Chaos, the Core was nothing more than an unruly band of meat shields. In fact, because they could move faster, it was preferable to field a few beast packs to soak up arrow fire and act as distractions while fast-moving daemons got the flanks and warriors hammered the front ranks.

[[Derp|This does not make a competent, full army.]] Now if you were paying attention you might be wondering how they'd perform if had a Mortal or Daemon General and so could avoid a shitty Core, and that's where things get good. A Chaos army often had to skip out on important upgrades to certain units (specifically Warriors) because they wouldn't have enough to get a good General, a good frontline, and a good few heavy hitters that you'd normally need to collapse the enemy's formation. They were pricy, and so Beasts gave you the option of having a cheap Core and suddenly you had far more points to spend on units of Warriors and Knights.

Now to get into the cool Special and Rare choices, the Beasts gave Chaos the [[Troll#Fantasy_trolls|Chaos Trolls]] and [[Ogre_Kingdoms|Ogres]], [[Dragon Ogres|Dragon Ogres and Shaggoths]], etc. Combined with the Warriors (and saving points using Chariots or Ungor screens for Core) it made for a fairly strong United force, one that could hit like a truck and take solid hits in return.

Almost makes you wonder why they were ever split in the first place, since the only time the Chaos armies of 6th Ed were scary was when they had a united front (just like in the lore).

===Beastmen===
[[File:Beastmen-Warhammer-Fantasy.jpg|400px|thumb|right|Warrior goats with [[Ogre]]-style gutplates]]
Sometimes referred to as "the WEAK chaos army," or the "Powerful [[Chaos]] [[Skaven]]" it more or less resembles a normal horde style army in Warhammer Fantasy Battle with cheap, [[Imperial Guard|expendable]] troops, average leaderships and little immunity to psychology. The things they otherwise don't have are anything resembling armor or any kind relevant shooting, but they try to make up for it with Primal Fury which gives them hatred on a passed leadership test each round of combat on many of their units. The Herdstone magic item allows Beastmen wizards to score extra power dice for their spells, allowing Beastmen to pull off a little extra spell support to augment the cheap core units. They also excel in cheap chaff and redirectors in the form of Ungor Raiders, Razorgors, and Harpies, and fielding fairly costed chariots in core.

Unfortunately they also got fucked in pretty much every other area. Marks were taken away for no good reason, prices went up on models that already cost too much, models were introduced that made your own army worse, the Beastmen were given a piss-poor magic lore (compared to every other lore) in exchange for the other lores that could be occasionally useful, they swapped out mostly decent magic items for mostly shitty ones, or ones that made no sense (like a magic banner that could only be given to a unit who had heavy armour, and it took away their heavy armour without refunding the cost), the list goes on. All in all it made them one of if not the worst army in the game. It was still possible to win, but it would always be an uphill battle as their biggest advantages, like their heaviest hitters and ability to be combined with the other Chaos armies as one big force, were completely removed (with the one exception being Minotaurs who are overcosted compared to other models anyway).

===Real world Inspiration===
The standard way of creating a fantasy race or culture is to take one real world culture and base everything off of that. The Empire is early Renaissance Germany, Bretonnia is Medieval French fused with English Arthurian myth giving them a strong British feel as well. Dwarfs and Elves have their own sort of base line culture based on Tolkien and with a large part of Warhammer fantasy in it nowadays as well.

The Beastmen, however, are based on the popular conception of the barbarians who tore Rome down. First they have no interests other than smashing civilization apart for the sake of smashing it apart. They have in their background that they pay homage to large 'herd stones' which are similar to the Celtic shrines (think Stonehenge, although it is not actually a Celtic shrine). Lastly, they are Beastmen and satyrs are associated with paganism. Ever wonder why the Devil has cloven legs? Early Christians used the old Greek god Pan (the original [[satyr]]), as the devil because he was a god of sex [[Fail|(and shepherds)]] and Christians are against recreational sex outside marriage due to the Bible's stipulation that God intends it for married couples, meaning Pan was a good framework for the devil and all that has really changed since then was turning him red and giving him a trident.

Tactically the Beastmen also fit the Barbarian origin: many light troops that rely on ambush and surprise (more than one Roman legion was lost by this kind of ambush), chariots which the Britons used against the Romans and lastly they are like the Barbarians in that they are focused on skirmishing and raiding. Once upon a time all Beastmen were skirmishers, which while effective against isolated villages is less effective against armies, which is why it was changed.

So the Beastmen have some pretty interesting roots once you 'pop the hood' on their design.

==Occupy Drakwald==
The thing that pisses the Beastmen off is that something like 1% of life in Middenheim controls 99% of the land! There are so many freaky beasts living in the chaos woods, combined with big Empire pushing around the people of the woods and ruining the environment for their own economic interests. And so the Beastmen have taken to their eternal campout against the Empire and it's regional castellan pretty boy, Elector Count Boris Todbringer.

Another thing that really pisses them off is that it's stated in the Orcs and Goblins codex that [[Forest Goblins]] on their spiders tend to murder herds wandering in the woods. Technically this is because the Forest Goblins are the original occupants of Drakwald that have been trying to keep the Empire, Beastmen (born of Empire), and other greenskins out since the dawn of...well, the Old Ones creating all the races, but fuck those fucking fucks! They have fancier hats and more land, so they gotta go too!

And that's not where the similarities end. The Beastmen are a bunch of lazy, shiftless, filthy degenerates that eat babies - no literally! The Beastmen want nothing better than to just drink looted booze, eat/fuck other races and tear down everything that everyone has ever built - ever! (cough cough Chakats.)

==Origins==
The Beastmen's origins seem to be something of a composite piece (and changes from edition to edition). On one account, they are descended from the myriad creatures that inhabited the Northern Wastes and migrated downward, accepting more stable forms from their reduced exposure from the polar fluxes of chaos and interbreeding with more magic resistant creatures. Another myth pins the Beastmen's origins as the mutated descendants of humans cast into the wild for being born a hideous half-man, half-beast creature (Now why the humans decide to throw all their mutant babies into the surrounding forest known to be populated with sadistic and vengeful goatmen born as mutants to humans and cast-off themselves is a bit of a mystery). The 6th ed Beasts of Chaos book says that when the polar gates collapsed, the Beastmen were made from animals mutating to be more human-like and humans mutating to be more bestial while the 7th ed Beastmen book says that when Chaos was first released to the world the "primitives" at the time went mad, fucked some animals, generations later their descendants are the Beastmen. Wood Elves seem to have less of a problem with mutants, either because they resist chaos more/better or they kill such offspring immediately and never talk about it again, but that's just like, you know, a cultural difference.

Age of Sigmar is more vague about the Beastmen's origins, stating that they were present in the Mortal Realms before Sigmar arrived (which is a enigma in itself, since all other forms of Chaos only arrived in the Age of Chaos). Three in-universe theories are presented; the standard "animals and men mutated by Chaos energy", one claiming that they're all descended from a primogenitor beast called the Gor-Father, and another saying that [[/pol/|they're the product of miscegenation between races]]. Since several Beastmen tribes appear to worship the Gor-Father, while there are other accounts of humans being mutated into Beastmen, its possible that all these theories have elements of truth to them.

Regardless, today's Beastman is more likely either the product of gangrape, spawned by a brief and unholy union from victorious Beastman raiders that managed to bring home some captive females from other races, usually humans, and it never ends well for the woman (tying into the inspiration for Beastmen, the [[Broo]], though this was used in a Warhammer race called the Fimir. However this idea was never canon and only inferred by an error of omission in the lore, and the Fimir only magically impregnated random women; you know something's nasty when Games "In the GRIM DARKness of the far future..." Workshop says it's too much), or they were spawned when a Beastman really loves a Beastwoman. We're not too sure how Beastmen "love" one another, but the fluff seems to imply that the Beastmen have to get really fucking hammered before hand with giant orgiastic feasts at their encampments around Beastmen Herdstones. However, as of Total War: Warhammer: Call of the Beastman, it is possible to recruit a female Beastman, or Doe,to your warband.

==Types==
Beastmen come in many varieties, usually denoted by a suffix and a prefix, making a chaotic race that hates organization and civilization into an easily organized and tidy group. In Oldhammer, mutants were included as Beastmen in advertising. After the Tony Ackland legal troubles when most mutants and the more creative types of Spawn were squatted, Beastmen remained pure beast men.

===Devoted===
Beastmen particularly devoted to specific Chaos Gods, usually because of mutations at their birth, being enslaved by devotees of a particular god, or blessing, are given the name of their god in their designation. Its worth noting that the armor of the godly Beastmen are more ornate, implying they are far less antagonistic to the idea of making things intentionally. Note that devoted is our word for organizing them. They were also out of the picture until VERY recently because Phil Kelly removed them from the 7th edition Beastmen book and retconned the fluff to destroy any and all traces of Beastmen that were devoted/enslaved/blessed by a single god, to the point where they couldn't even be given marks on both the tabletop and lore.

* [[Tzaangor]] are Beastmen of Tzeentch. Have white, yellow, and blue features usually as well as mutations giving them spindly limbs, extra arms, and an emphasis on bird and moon appearances.

* [[Slaangor]] are Slaanesh's Beastmen. The least described and depicted of all the Beastmen groups. Their mutations obviously trend more towards the lewd, with extra pectorals and nipples, and are known for being mostly albino with pastel skin. Their eyes are like those of Daemonettes, being large and either green or black. Their species are animals that are lithe or symbolically sensual, but with a large amount of them being non-Minotaur bovines (a Bovigor can be a Slaangor, not all Slaangor are Bovigor).

* [[Khorngor]] are Khorne's. Their fur is shiny and almost metallic, their eyes are white with red pupils, they always have canine heads and the most favored have their horns naturally grow in the shape of Khorne's skull symbol. They wear far more armor than most other Beastmen species.

* [[Pestigor]] are Nurgle's, breaking the prefix naming scheme of the others. Aside from being heavily diseased, something they don't really have exclusive among Beastmen, they have only one horn, their hide is particularly tough, and they wear far more armor than any other variety. Disappointingly, they were not named Nurggors.

===Herd Society===
[[File:Beast_tribe.jpg|300px|thumb|right|]]
Beastmen society is organized around herds and ruled by a system of might makes right. In other words, what the biggest, strongest Beastman says, goes. One would be forgiven in thinking that this automatically means that minotaurs would end up running the show since they are by far the biggest and strongest, but they're not the brightest thing on two hooves. Minotaurs specialize in wholesale slaughter, but aren't too keen on things like where to find food, who should keep watch or how to fix their shitty chariots. Lo, the Beastlord has his task cut out for him.

* '''[[Beastlord]]s''': The Beastmen in charge, the Alpha Male, they run the show for the other Beastmen with a combination of [[Mork|dastardly cunning]] and [[Gork|brute strength]]. They often delegate more benign tasks to their immediate inferiors, the Wargors.
* '''[[Wargor]]s''': The "trusted" (as far as Beastman loyalty goes) lieutenants of Beastlord, Wargors are pretty kickass leaders and fighters themselves. Often seen carrying battle standards or leading Bestigor herds, or both.
* '''[[Bestigor]]s''': Quite literally the best Gors. Strong, tough, heavily armed and armoured, the Wargors and Beastlords often arise from their ranks. They used to be the Chaos Undivided of the Beastmen, complete with the Mark (with the option of becoming [[Khorngor]]s, [[Tzaangor]]s, [[Slaangor]]s or [[Pestigor]]s) but then [[Phil Kelly|some asshole]] took away their marks and unique types.
* '''[[Bray Shaman|Bray-Shamans]] and Great Bray-Shamans''': Tribal elders and spiritual leaders of the Beastmen, they interpret the will of Chaos and determine the best course of action for the herd. They are also the herd's wizards, channeling the lores of Death, Shadows, Beasts and their unique Lore of the Wild, a corrupt offshoot of the Lore of Beasts. One of the very few rules Beastmen have is that you never harm a Bray-Shaman for any reason, ''ever'', if only because it's really hard for the Beastmen to get any kind of favour from the gods so those who are clearly favored cannot be cast aside lightly.
* '''[[Gor]]s''': The rank and file of the beast herd. Your average Gor is bigger, tougher and far nastier than your average human, and also far more stupid which explains why they haven't overrun everything. He's also an unguloid with furry legs and a face that's a blend of bestial and human features. ALL Gors also feature prominent horns and/or antlers on their heads.
* '''[[Ungor]]s''': The untouchables even in beast herds. They are pretty close in size to humans, yet still feature particularly bestial features such as furry unguloid legs with hooves, a semi-bestial face and two small horn buds. Sometimes band together in scouting parties of Ungor Raiders when not used as slave labour to fix all the shitty Beastmen gear.
* '''[[Bray]]s''': Beastmen with no horns, the lowest of the low in Beastman society (so low that they got no models). In a society where life is nasty, brutish, and short, their lives are by far the nastiest, most brutal and most especially shortest.

Beastmen are wild and crude creatures embodying all the negative aspects of animals combined with human-level intelligence. They are truly repugnant to behold, let alone to smell, for they are a twisted reflection of the base and barbaric aspects of nature. Beastmen are Neutral Evil to the core, the only thing stopping them from being Chaotic Evil is their reverence of Bray-Shamans and the Chaos Gods. The carnage and despair they spread across the land is a malevolent and deliberate attempt to wreck anything beautiful or stable for the lulz. Bitterness and spite simmers in the heart of every Beastman; it takes little more than a few well-chosen words to spur a Gor into a frenzy of unrestrained rage. The sounds of distant battle will cause a Beastman to prick up his tufted ears in an instant; a fight or duel upon a woodland path will invariably bring dozens of Beastmen from all about in a very short space of time. Even when gathered in their torrid encampments the Beastmen spend their time fighting, fucking or feasting. The only time they don't is when a particularly strong Beastman knocks a sense of purpose into them (sometimes literally) or a Bray-Shaman calls on the Chaos Gods.

Beastmen have forms perfectly suited to their horrid nature. They have long, ridged horns with which to gore their foes, and the legs of cattle and goats with which to trample the bodies of their victims. Their matted hair is encrusted with blood and dung, a haven for fat ticks and colonies of fleas that keep the Cloven One in a constant state of agitation, for hygiene is one of those stable and beautiful concepts that Beastmen feel compelled to ruin. They're not even house trained and mark their territory whenever they feel like it even if it's on an enemy's corpse. Their drool-filled mouths are filled with sharp, wolf-like fangs for tearing the flesh of their prey, and their muscular, sweat-slicked bodies are ideally suited to the murderous desires that gleam in their blood-red eyes.

Above all, though, it is the trappings of progress and civilization that fan the embers of hatred burning within each Beastman's breast. A mere glimpse of bright colours, especially the colour red, will often be enough to get a Beastman's pulse racing with bloodlust. The sight of a proud flag or coat of arms, a pristine uniform or a magnificent statue elicits a powerful reaction in the Beastmen, for the things of order are anathema to the Children of Chaos. All caution is put aside in a desperate attempt to tear down and befoul the offending article, to stomp it into the mud, smear it with dung or rip it to pieces and chew on the remains. Woe betide those who take pride in such symbols of authority and order, for their end will invariably be messy, painful and humiliating. Though Beastmen find it far easier to destroy than to create they can be terribly inventive in the punishments they inflict upon their captives, and they have a sick and ribald sense of humor that leads to truly stomach-churning atrocities enacted upon those they can catch.

No Beastman is truly content unless visiting some manner of violence upon a hapless victim. The only tools they use are the tools of war, and even then they aren't too fussy. In the last edition of Fantasy they armed themselves with crude blades and axes that they call 'man-cleavers,' mostly cobbled together from the spoils of war, because Phil Kelly thought it would be a great idea to change the Beastmen so that they're unable to make their own equipment. He also altered them so that the warherds lack the resplendent weapons and baroque armour of the human servants of the Chaos Gods, saying that since the Beastmen already belong to the Ruinous Powers the gods have no need to bargain such trinkets in exchange for their souls, completely ignoring the fact that the gods are supposed to be petty, meaning even if their souls already belonged to Chaos, they'd still get marks to show which god they belonged to. This might have been a part of his plan to make the army the worst army in all of Fantasy, as the marks and armour also help the armies of Chaos win the fights they get into, so it should be no surprise that after Phil changed their lore, they don't do shit aside from being a punching bag for all the other races. He decided to leave in how they're great at raiding (though the actual rules for raiding were an entirely different story), pillaging and corpse-robbing even when they are not marching to war. Because of this they are never short of battered weapons and ragged suits of armor, albeit ones encrusted with clotted gore and riddled with rust. Such lack of quality is only a minor setback to the Beastmen, who compensate with sheer brute strength and determination.

The robust constitution of the Cloven Ones allows them to live upon the most meagre or unpleasant of diets. They prefer great chunks of meat above all but, unlike their larger Minotaur brethren, they do not care if it is fresh or if it is infested and maggot-ridden. Beastmen are cannibals who gorge themselves upon the corpses of their own kind without hesitation, entrails, hair, horns, hooves and all, and believe that to do so is to inherit the strength of the victim. This diet of dead meat is supplemented with grubs, hairy-legged spiders, poisonous centipedes, plump blowflies, and other vermin, as well as the occasional lost child or lone woodsman. It could be said that Beastmen are hunter-gatherers, though they mainly gather the body parts strewn around the place after a particularly vicious hunt. Human flesh is a delicacy to Beastmen, and rivals have been known to fight to the death over a single human arm or leg.

Of all the creatures of Chaos, Beastmen have an especially close relationship with Morrslieb, the Chaos Moon. Whenever Morrslieb is fullest in the sky the Beastmen will hold night-long, sprawling orgies where they indulge every base lust and bloodthirsty deed they can think of. Much blood is shed, much captured wine and beer is drunk, and many new beast-spawn are conceived, ensuring the cycle of twisted and unholy life is perpetuated. Though it is rumored that the witches and heretics of the Old World join the Beastmen in these frightening and confusing bacchanals, none have ever been able to say for certain, for to stumble upon a camp of blood-drunk Beastmen celebrating under the unclean light of Morrslieb is to plunge into hell itself.

====Beastwomen====
[[File:Canon Beastwoman.png|thumb|left|400px|Thanks to [[Blood Bowl]], specifically [[Spike! Magazine]], we now have a canon piece of artwork of a female Beastman (which is ironically ''less'' beastly than a lot of the fan-art)...albeit from the same game where the greenskins still have women and children.]]
[[File:FemmeGor Waifu Sketch.jpg|thumb|right|300px|One drawfag's interpretation of what happens when a Chaos Champion kills a beastlord.]]
[[File:FemmeGor.png|thumb|right|300px|Fan-art of a hypothetical female beastlord.]]
While it has been confirmed that beastmen are not all male very little canon information has ever been revealed about the female half of the beasts of chaos. What little lore there is describes them as "calmer" than their male counterparts, with one female Chaos Champion in the novels describing how she was saved from death and nursed back to health by a cluster of these "gor-does", which ultimately led to her becoming a Chaos Champion. Naturally, some Chaos fans on /tg/ have speculated quite intensely about the possibility of beastwomen/"gor-doe" waifus, particularly given old lore of human Chaos worshippers partaking in the bacchanalian feasting & rutting of beastmen tribes.

Despite being calmer and more rational than their menfolk, gor-does are still equipped to become warriors, much like the women from the human tribes of the north; the [[Gotrek & Felix]] novels have mentioned the duo encountering beastwomen warriors during their battles.

[[Total War: Warhammer]] stuck its own oar in, claiming that gor-does are relatively rare among the Beastmen and as such the males will fight for the right to mate with one whenever it's breeding season. Meaning only the strongest members of a herd will get to mate with a pure female beastmen. Whether this is actually canon or not is unclear, so it's left to fans to decide for themselves how they prefer it... which of course leads to [[skub|the usual arguments]].

Other older lore has implied both that [[harpy|harpies]] act as females for beastmen, and that, much like the [[Fimir]], beastmen have been known to abduct human (or elf) women as corrupted breeding slaves they call "Beastmothers". For fairly obvious reasons, the Beastmother lore is rarely outright stated to happen anymore, instead leaving it to just the occasional unsettling implication.

Given the beastmen's origins as rip-offs of the [[Broo]], some fans also assume that many Beastmen reproduce by impregnating female livestock.

{{Topquote|She doubted that she or it would have survived if she had not encountered the beastwomen in the forest; if they had not taken her in and guarded her and fed her. She remembered them as being oddly shy and gentle compared to the gors and ungors | from the perspective of Justine, a chaos warrior. William king, ''Trollslayer''}}
{{clear}}

====Beastman Champion Retinues====
Back in the days of [[Realms of Chaos]], Beastman Chaos Champions were able to take the [[Path to Glory]] once introduced in "The Lost and the Damned", and even had their own unique follower retinue table they rolled on, to emphasize the split between the beastmen tribes and the armies of Chaos-damned humans:
::01-020: 2d6 Beastmen (If the Beastman Champion has the Mark of Chaos, these are also Marked by the same Patron; [[Khorngor]]s, [[Pestigor]]s, [[Slaangor]]s or [[Tzaangor]]s - otherwise, they're just normal beastmen)
::21-40: 2d6 Beastmen
::41-60: Beastman Hero
::61-70: Beastman Shaman
::71-80: D6 [[Centaur]]s
::81-85: D3 [[Dragon Ogre]]s
::86-98: D6 [[Minotaur]]s
::99-100: Other (Roll on the Human Chaos Champion retinue table)

===The Bulls===
[[File:BeastmenMinotaurs.jpg|200px|thumb|right|]]
Nobody really knows why, but the Beastmen seem to be accompanied by a race of ferocious Minotaurs, not that they're complaining. When the Minotaurs aren't rampaging through the hardest parts of an enemy army, eating knights, drinking blood and shitting victory, they're often seen guarding caches of magic treasures deep in the Drakwald. They aren't a very bright group but their uncanny resilience, rape-tastic strength and general piss-your-pants scariness gets shit done for the Beastmen. There are also mutant varieties of the bulls that have long ago traded their sanity for fuck-off hugeness and other random shit.

* '''Doombulls and Gorebulls''': The closest thing the Minotaurs have to leaders, with the Doombulls being the larger, stronger and generally more daunting of the two, and Gorebulls functioning like Wargors or Skaven Chieftans.
* '''Minotaurs''': Giant, bull-headed monsters that fuck near can't be stopped once they get to smashing shit.
* '''Cygors''': 50 ft. tall, one-eyed Minotaur mutant that can only see magic things. Likes to collect gigantic pieces of magic rock (more commonly known as temple columns) and eating the souls of mages... unless those tricksy wee things are causing him trouble, whereupon he'll just throw one of his gigantic rocks at it!
* '''Ghorgon''': Minotaurs that get a flair for cannibalism turn into giant-sized, four-armed killing machines with two of their four arms ending in scythe hands. They also have a penchant swallowing things whole and magically reknitting any wounds they may have had.
{{clear}}

===Other Critters===
[[File:Beastmen-centrigor.jpeg|200px|thumb|right|A centigor, [[centaur]] in grimdark.]]
Being that the Beastmen are all a bunch of horrible monsters, they have a pretty high tolerance for other horrible monsters. Along with the minotaurs, the Beastmen's ranks are supplemented by other creatures used for various tasks from beasts of burden to cavalry to shock troops to cannon fodder.

* '''Warhounds''': Just like the ones starved and taunted by the warriors of chaos, but instead starved and taunted by Beastmen. Used for a fast and cheap screen
* '''Tuskgors''': What essentially look like warthogs, they're most often used to pull the herd's shitty chariots.
* '''Razorgors''': Bigger, nastier, mutant tuskgors. They are either loosed in packs or used to pull chariots. Why the Beastmen use pigs as pack animals and eat horses instead of the other way around is a bit bizarre, but might have to do with how flighty horses can get around large, carnivorous animals and that pigs occasionally indulge in carnivorism and predation.
* '''Centigors''': The torso of a Gor fused onto the body of a horse with three hooves per foot, by the looks of it. Totally ungainly and butt-hurt over it, they take to stealing beer, wine and spirits brewed and distilled by other races and getting shit-faced daily to forget that fact. They act as cavalry to the Beastmen.
* '''Harpies''': Identical to Dark Elf harpies, may or may not be the Beastwomen with which the Beastmen procreate. Used primarily as flying shock troops.
* '''[[Chaos Spawn]]''': Can be either heavily mutated Beastmen or just normal spawn, that which must not be named are goaded into battle... somehow. But this is chaos, so really anything can become a chFGHFGTYHAAAD{{BLAM}}
* '''Jabberslythe''': Arguably the ugliest thing in all of WHFB. Said that not even the clearest pools will reflect its image, or maybe they just don't stay clear for very long. Either way, this is yet another giant powerhouse of a monster using its ugliness as a shock weapon to get the Beastmen's enemies to kill themselves.
* '''[[Giant]]''': The warhammer giant is at the beast's disposal to jump up and down, yell at people and stuff them into its pants.
{{clear}}
*A ty0e of amphibious beastmen known as "Lakemen" infest areas of Bretonnia. They appear as humanoid frog-fish with crab claws for hands, and all have at least one type of mutation furthering them from this basic form. Don't really get along with "normal" beastmen that well, either.
* There is a tribe of beastmen in Ind that have tiger heads. Local humans worship them as holy spirits and as such said locals prostrate themselves, even as they get killed by the 'holy spirits'. They're called the Bengal, because if you didn't guess it the first time, Ind is Warhammer India.
* Down in the Warhammer Antarctica, also known as "Southern Chaos Wastes", a pretty obscure Beastmen subrace called '''Beastfiends''' lives. They're actually non-human at all, instead being an unholy mix of Beast and [[Daemons of Chaos|Daemon]]. They're totally irrelevant and only appear in one [[Archaon]] novel.

==Notable Beastmen==
*'''[[Khazrak The One-Eye]]:''' One of the most legendary Beastmen in recent history, known for his use of actual tactics and military strategy. Has one eye (surprisingly) and a heated rivalry with [[Boris Todbringer]].
*'''[[Taurox The Brass Bull]]''': Violent bull-freak made of Brass after eating one of Khorne's daemons. He is a bad ass that likes to cut shit up and kill everything he sees. All in all total bad ass.
*'''[[Morghur]] the Master of Skulls''':The closest thing to a central leader the Beastmen have. This guy not only corrupts and mutates anything in his path, every time he's killed, he simply resurrects and starts all over again. He's considered the greatest enemy of the Wood Elves and the chosen prophet and champion of the Chaos Gods to his people. In Age of Sigmar gets his own faction called the Gavespawn that pretty much worships him as a minor Chaos God.
*'''[[Malagor]] the Dark Omen''': The Bray Shaman of all Bray Shaman, this Beastmen is not only a powerful sorcerer and a cunning manipulator he also has a pair of black raven wings that enable him to fly. He greatly resembles an old representation of old Nick called Baphomet.
*'''[[Gorthor]] the Beastlord''': The greatest Beastlord to ever live, he united all the Beastmen of the Middle Mountains, pioneered the use of chariots, brought down two provinces of the Empire and in addition to his fighting skills was a tactical and strategic thinker.
*'''[[Ghorros Warhoof]]''': The “Sire of a Thousand Young” is an ancient Centigor that is constantly fighting, drinking, or fucking. He proudly boasts to have fathered the entire Centigor race and have connections to every other beastman in the Old World. Like an alcoholic father who left home for a pack of cigarettes, he roams the land in a constant state of bragging, bashing, boozing, and banging, which makes him a somewhat beloved figure in many beast herds.
*'''[[Ungrol Four-Horn]]''': Also known as Blackheart, Hornsthief, and the Spurned One, Ungrol is a two headed Ungor that was fed up with the constant abuse he suffered from the bigger and meaner gors. So he slit the throats of his tribe’s Wargor and Shaman and severed their horns to tie onto his own. He fled from his understandably pissed off tribe and took refuge in a dark series of caves that would become known as the Labyrinth of the Spurned. The legend of Four-Horn spread amongst the herds, and soon Ungrol was the leader of a vast army of Ungors and other outcasts of beastman society.
*'''[[Molokh Slugtongue]]''': The closest thing you can have to a [[Pestigor]] special character in a book where pestigors officially don't exist. Disease-riddled skull-faced [[Bray-Shaman]] wielding pestilence and famine against his enemies, clearly suffused with the blessings of Papa [[Nurgle]].

==In 40k==
''See [[Beastmen (40k)]]''

==Warhammer: Age of Sigmar==
In Age of Sigmar, they're back, as the [[Beasts Of Chaos]].

==Non-Warhammer Beastmen==
Although the Warhammer Fantasy version of Beastmen is probably the most iconic use of the term on /tg/, it has surfaced in some other /tg/ settings as well, owing to the rather generic name. Even with Age of Sigmar's copyright-friendly rename-a-palooza, their name (Brayherds/Warherds) turns out rather generic in comparison to other names (e.g. Aelves, Orruks, Ogors)

In [[Glorantha]], the [[Broo]] are a race of Chaos-aligned/spawned monstrous humanoids who appear as haphazard amalgamations of human and animal traits, all further wracked by diseases and/or mutations. This race actually created the Warhammer Beastmen (long story short; [[Games Workshop]] had a deal to produce miniatures for [[RuneQuest]] Broo models, it fell through, and they decided to recoup their losses by reworking the models into a new Chaos species for their own game).

In [[Dungeons & Dragons]], the obscure [[Greyhawk]] setting has (or had, at least, during the days of [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]]) a race called the Beastmen. These were basically really hairy humanoids with vaguely feline faces who lived in forests and were Stone Age hunters with a Neutral Good alignment. The race has been pretty much forgotten about.

Beastmen is also used in many settings as a collective term (analogous to demihumans and humanoids) to the various, well, [[furry]] races: things like [[lupin]]s, [[minotaur]]s, [[gnolls]], [[catfolk]], [[ratfolk]], etc. Sometimes any "animal-based" race, like [[lizardfolk]], [[dragonborn]], [[aranea]]s, [[chitine]]s, [[aarakocra]]s, etc, will also be lumped in. To avoid confusion, /tg/ tends to prefer the blanket term [[Beastfolk]].

In [[Kings of War]] you get [[Kings_of_War/Tactics/The_Herd|the Herd]], which is Warhammer Beastmen with a few extra steps, such as adding werewolves and giant eagles, but losing the chariots and some of the GW-exclusive monsters. From a fluff perspective they are completely different though, being a neutral army created by a benevolent god called Kyron and related to the orcs (who were created by Kyron's malevolent half), and are thus their chaotic good counterpart. As such they are maybe closer to the idea behind the beastmen army as a force of nature rather than a servant of the dark gods. Also dem werewolves (lycans) are one of the top three units in KoW.

==See Also==
*[[Warhammer/Tactics/8th Edition/Beastmen|8th edition Tactics]]

{{Playable Factions in Warhammer Fantasy Battle}}

[[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]]
[[Category:Beastmen]]
[[Category:Furry]]