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| {{oldschool}}
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| '''Demihuman''' is a term adopted into the [[/tg/]] lexicon from [[Dungeons & Dragons]] prior to 3rd edition. It referred to "those nonhuman humanoid races you can play in-game" - that is, those in such parties as [[Tolkien]] would assemble, the [[elf]], [[dwarf]], and [[halfling]]. Other races, such as [[orc]]s, [[goblinoid]]s, [[kobold]]s, [[xvart]]s, [[ogre]]s and so forth were all lumped together as basic "humanoids" which you had to fight. [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons|AD&D]] also allowed the [[gnome]] (which was fine) and the [[half-orc]] (stretching the concept).
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| [[E. Gary Gygax]], designing a human-centered [[Robert Howard]] style of game, had problems with the whole notion of nonhuman PCs, to the extent [[Mary Sue|they had abilities we don't]] and might force a world of human inferiority - in which world, many human players wouldn't play a human. Thus his rules tried to nerf them in several ways, depending on the race. [[Basic Dungeons & Dragons]] for its part imposed level-limits, although [[Companion Set]] would walk that back some. Then the [[Known World Gazetteers|GAZ10]] allowed for full-on [[orc]] PCs, and [[hobgoblin]]s and [[gnoll]]s and whatever else. And then there came ''[[From The Ashes]]'', for good or for ill. So much for all that, then.
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| With the release of [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition|3rd edition]], this whole term was dropped from the official D&D lexicon. Some suspect worries over its hidden assumptions; using "demihuman" to refer to playable humanoids could be taken to imply that 1) all civilized/nonevil humanoid races are related to humans, and 2) those races are somehow inferior to "real" humans, while "humanoids" are shittier still. Note that neither of these assumptions are at all true in most D&D settings, despite what most editions' crunch would have you believe. And anyway even before 2e, the [[Humanity Fuck Yeah]] skiff had long floated down the Svartjet to get [[rape|pegged]] by [[drow]].
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| Still, the term does occasionally pop up; aside from the obvious nostalgia appeal, the plain truth of the matter is that "demihuman" is a simple shorthand way of referencing all of the "traditionally non-evil humanoid races" with a single word. And what fa/tg/uy is opposed to the idea of having a shorthand name to call something, really?
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| [[Anime]] has resurrected "demihuman" for [[monstergirl]]s, especially for human-mammal mixes like [[kitsune]] and [[catgirl]]s. Minotaurs would probably count but since they're bigger than us, they don't usually feature.
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| [[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]][[Category:Dungeons & Dragons Races]][[Category:Monstergirls]][[Category:Gamer Slang]]
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