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All Trolls Are Different: Difference between revisions
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Should they be [[Dungeons and Dragons|giants with scaly green skin]] that rapidly heal from any injury except fire or acid? Or something that's literally made of rock and [[Discworld|gets smarter when it's in the cold]]? Or perhaps something that guards bridges from [[Three Billy Goats Gruff (Literature)|errant goats?]]
All right, let's admit it. Trolls are ''diverse''. It's not even a matter of [[Our Monsters Are Different|everyone wanting them to be different]]; there are so many clashing ideas of trolls in mythology ''itself'' that it's hard to decide what they are. So, really, you can't blame modern creators for putting their own spin on trolls. If there is any consistency, it is that [[What Measure Is a Non
Quite a few depictions of Trolls have them [[Kill It With Fire|as being vulnerable to fire]]. Some fictional interpretations give them ridiculously fast [[Healing Factor|regenerative powers]], such that they can heal themselves even as you're cutting them down making them frighteningly invincible. In these interpretations, fire is the only way to prevent their injuries from healing and thus the only way to defeat them. Others have them harmed or [[Taken for Granite|petrified]] by sunlight.
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See [[Our Orcs Are Different]], [[Our Goblins Are Different]], [[Our Giants Are Bigger]], and [[Our Ogres Are Hungrier]].
{{examples
== Anime and Manga ==
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* ''[[Elf Quest]]'' trolls are short, stocky, warty, grey-green, ugly and materialistic. They are also more technologically advanced than most of the rest of the world, live underground, and have beards, making then [[Captain Ersatz|stand-ins for Dwarves]]. Naturally, [[Elves vs. Dwarves|the elves and trolls don't get along well]]. And when you cross an elf with a troll you apparently get a Dwarf who's a [[Magnificent Bastard]] [[Trickster Archetype|Trickster]] with a major Freudian Excuse.
* ''[[Gold Digger (Comic Book)|Gold Digger]]'' Trolls are green-skinned tall and strong humanoids who heal fast and grow larger and stronger with age. Young ones of both sexes are [[Cute Monster Girl|often quite attractive]]. They've got something of a reputation as being less civilized, but that's largely because of prolonged wars with the elves that wrecked a lot of their old civilization; there are plenty of smart trolls including martial artists and archmages and as a species they come off no worse than the other humanoids. They have a grudge against elves, but that goes both ways and isn't universal. There's some evidence trolls and elves are even distant relatives.
* ''[[Poison Elves]]'' trolls are like taller, uglier elves with horns and the ability to [[
* ''[[Cross Gen|Sojourn]]'' features Trolls who look more than a little like the Uruk-Hai from the ''[[Lord of the Rings (Film)|Lord of the Rings]]'' films, being human-height but bulky, green- or brown-skinned, with glowing green eyes and often with massive horns. They were first an [[Always Chaotic Evil]] mook army, and eventually became a [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Proud Warrior Race]] who were more attuned to nature than humans.
* Due to its policy that [[All Myths Are True]], ''[[Hellboy (Comic Book)|Hellboy]]'' ends up with more types of troll than you can shake a [[Red Right Hand]] at.
* In "A Beautiful Tale," a story in the adult comic ''[[
* At least two different kinds of trolls have appeared in the [[Marvel Universe]]. The first are Asgardian trolls, exemplified by [[The Mighty Thor|Thor-villains]] Ullik and Geirrodur. Asgardian trolls very much resemble the Scandinavian trolls mentioned below, but are superhumanly strong - Ulik is on par with Thor, for example. The second kind were a group of myriad-seeming humanoid creatures of various colors who, among other things, hunted a young mutant for his ability to transmute elements; this group has had two story appearances to date spanning four comics.
** A third "troll" type exists, but he is an alien, not a mythical creature. Pip Gofern (aka Pip the Troll) is minor royalty of the Laxadazian race, and more resembles a short, hornless, potbellied satyr than a troll - including in his appetites.
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* In Edith Pattou's [[North Child]], based on a Scandinavian fairy tale, trolls are tall, beautiful humanoids with ridged white skin and the ability to use magic, who live in the North Pole.
* The troll in [[Poul Anderson]]'s ''[[Three Hearts and Three Lions]]'' is subterranean, larger and stronger than a human, and is [[Healing Factor|almost unkillable]], regenerating from any injury and being able to move its severed limbs. Only [[Kill It With Fire|burning it in a fire]] killed it. (This is where [[Dungeons and Dragons]] got its regenerating trolls from.) Trolls also turn to stone in sunlight, but the [[Doing in The Wizard|decay of carbon into silicon]] makes the area highly radioactive.
* In Robert Lynn Aspirin's "[[Myth Adventures]]" series, the male inhabitants of the dimension Trollia are [[Genius Bruiser|trolls]]. The females are [[Ms. Fanservice|trollops]]. While the male trolls fit the big and ugly (but ''not'' the stupid) stereotype, trollops are [[Green
* Trolls in Holly Black's ''[[Modern Tales of Faerie]]'' are slightly larger and much uglier than most [[The Fair Folk|faeries]], with greenish skin, protruding teeth, and black-and-gold eyes. They turn to stone in sunlight, but will recover when no longer exposed. Troll blood breeds true even when mixed with human. Ravus, the one major character who's a troll, is a little intimidating but a genuinely good guy, although it's indicated in other books that this isn't true of all trolls.
* Trolls in ''[[The Spiderwick Chronicles]]'' are massive, vicious, hideous swamp-dwelling monsters. Arthur Spiderwick himself has got... a bit of a beef with them.
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* Trolls in Eoin Colfer's ''[[Artemis Fowl (Literature)|Artemis Fowl]]'' series are mindless subterranean predators with retractable talons, venomous tusks, dreadlocks, and horns. And they are ''big''.
* Trolls in [[Teresa Edgerton]]'s ''Goblin Moon'' and ''The Gnome's Engine'' are a crossbred or cursed offshoot of humanity, who resemble humans but sport bizarre, often bestial deformities. Their disfigurements are unique to each individual, which means that some can pass for human if they wear the right concealing clothes; it also means they hate their own looks. Trolls are carnivores, sometimes [[Cannibal|cannibals]], and are fond of human flesh, yet they're superficially very cultured and educated (particularly in black magic). Male trolls believe it's good for their health if they {{spoiler|trick a human maiden into marriage, then drink some of her blood each night}}; this belief, which may just be a troll superstition, becomes a major plot point in the novels.
* In Nancy Farmer's ''[[Sea of Trolls]]'', the titular creatures are intelligent, massive, hairy, matriarchal people. They are often at war with their viking neighbors to the south, but somehow seem to be on good terms with them regardless. Also, for no particularly sensible reason, [[Half
** They have the ability to change their form because they are caught between two worlds and two races; it appears all hybrids have this ability, as the half-kelpy in the sequel displays it as well.
* In ''One King's Way,'' second volume of ''The Hammer and the Cross'' trilogy by [[Harry Harrison]], a troll or "marbendill" is a large intelligent humanoid that sometimes feeds on human flesh, lurks in the water to pull unwary boaters under, but otherwise is rather likeable, actually. No, really. Distinguished from humans by, among other things, a much lower sex drive; human behavior in that regard rather amuses them.
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* Trolls in the ''[[Harry Potter (Literature)|Harry Potter]]'' [[Potterverse|universe]] are strong, large, and not too possessed of smarts. There's nothing really unique about them. The first troll we meet is a [[Punch Clock Villain]] but we later meet trolls who are somewhat nicer (at least in that they can be hired as thugs).
** The first troll was more along the lines of a wild beast turned loose in the castle than a [[Punch Clock Villain]].
** The trolls seen later were mentioned as [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|'comparing the size of their clubs.']]
* Trolls in ''[[The Hobbit]]'' and ''[[The Lord of the Rings (Literature)|The Lord of the Rings]]'' are pretty much the same in appearance, except they turn to stone when they're caught in sunlight. Once again, the first trolls we meet are just big bullies who threaten to eat our heroes, but later on they are full-fledged fearsome monsters. Sauron uses them as shock troops.
** It's also implied that they are twisted copies of Ents in the same way as Orcs are of Elves, though whether this is biological or just metaphorical is unknown.
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*** Er, troll in Swedish is, well, "troll", but the word can also mean a wizard or a magician, since trolls in Scandinavian lore usually have magic powers.
* When it comes to mythological trolls, [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/stories/dovrefjell/dovrefjell_01.php Kaja Foglio's adaptation] of ''The Cat On The Dovrefjell'' actually hit the nail on the head. Certain legends even described the males of the species as being hideously ugly, but the females ([[Cute Monster Girl|tails and occasional other weird features notwithstanding]]) as quite attractive by human standards. (For an example of this in modern media, do a Google search for "Cutefase.")
** The beautiful troll females described in the story above (as well as in the Foglios' [[
*** This is consistent with actual [[Norse Mythology]], in which a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huldra huldra] (or huldre) is generally speaking a beautiful, if [[Tsundere|tempermental]] woman with a cow tail and unusual strength; they're both trolls, [[The Fair Folk]], and confusingly, ''also'' a type of "Alf" (Elf, that is).
* Another mythological creature comparable to trolls in their vagueness is the Bunyip, a creature in [[Land Down Under|Aboriginal and Australian folklore]]. About the only common feature any rendition of the bunyip has is that it lives in swamps, and sometimes it's basically an [[Ultimate Evil]].
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* In ''[http://www.swiftriver-comics.com/ Swiftriver]'', trolls are blue skinned, hairy, and [http://swiftriver-comics.com/swiftriver/2009/07/15/true-colors/ sport horns]. They tend to to be over six feet tall (not counting their horns) and have two rows of teeth. They are always of Norse or Scandinavian heritage and can project a glamour to make them appear human.
* ''[[Dan and Mabs Furry Adventures]]'' doesn't have trolls as such, but does have the 'Mythos', which is a catch-all term for any Creature race that doesn't fit into any other category.
* ''[[Homestuck (Webcomic)|Homestuck]]'' plays with the dual meaning by having [[Troll|internet trolls]] turn out to be actual grey-skinned creatures with horns. Further reveals have shown that they're [[Humanoid Aliens]], with [[Bizarre Alien Biology]] implying that they're closer to insects than humans. They're a [[Higher Tech Species]] whose society runs on [[Blue and Orange Morality]] and lots of violence. They're almost all bisexual (because gender is vestigial) and polygamous (troll reproduction requires this); many are either psychic or psychotic. {{spoiler|Most of the less-savory aspects of their culture are not natural, but were engineered by malevolent outside forces. Prior to the pressing of an in-universe [[Reset Button]], trolls were a peaceful species.}} Personality-wise, there's a great deal of variation within the 12 trolls in the cast (and [[Generation Xerox|their ancestors]]): from [[Anti
** Not quite polygamous; they have four different kinds of romance (I am ''not'' going into that here), and while they believe in finding satisfying relationships in all four quadrants, they also try to stay monogamous within a quadrant, and having the same kind of relationship with more than one person is still a no-no. As is being in more than one quadrant with the same person simultaneously.
* In ''[[Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic]]'' it's [http://yafgc.net/?id=1051 used] as one of [[Fantastic Slurs]]:
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* The Grundles in ''[[My Little Pony]]'' are themselves very diverse in appearance. All of them are varying degrees of [[Ugly Cute]] and they all have very sweet personalities. A few other kinds of trolls appear in the series (such as Niblik from "The Magic Coins"), and pretty much follow the Grundles' standard.
* ''[[Trollz]]'', as in the cartoon of the same name, are magic beings who resemble troll dolls that fail in the cute part of [[Ugly Cute]]. Also, [[Xtreme Kool Letterz]]!
* One of the best variations we've found are the ''[[Stone Protectors (Animation)|Stone Protectors]]''. They were a toy line and short-lived cartoon series released on the heels of the troll doll revival in the mid-90s. These trolls were a literal [[Five
* On ''[[The Simpsons (Animation)|The Simpsons]],'' Homer, Bart, and [[Neil Gaiman|a few others]] group write a children's novel about orphan troll twins who attend a magical school under the Brooklyn Bridge called Underbridge Academy.
* ''[[Barbie and The Diamond Castle]]'' featured a troll that looked just like a short, bald guy that happened to have greenish-brown skin, carried a scimitar, and threatened to eat anyone who couldn't answer his riddle.
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