Editing Elf (section)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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