Five Races: Difference between revisions

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And half-grown hobbits, the hole-dwellers.''|'''Treebeard's''' song on the lore of creatures, ''[[The Lord of the Rings (Literature)|The Lord of the Rings]]''}}

Many fantastic settings attempting a universe will end up using 'races' of people. This is less in the spirit of being different species and more an easy way to soapbox or [[Planet of Hats|describe different points of views]] and aspects of normal people; or, in a game world, simply to give the player a wider range of choices. At least one has a good chance of being from a [[One Gender Race]]. These usually include:

Many fantastic settings attempting a universe will end up using 'races' of people. This is less in the spirit of being different species and more an easy way to soapbox or [[Planet of Hats|describe different points of views]] and aspects of normal people; or, in a game world, simply to give the player a wider range of choices. At least one has a good chance of being from a [[One-Gender Race]]. These usually include:

* Stout ([[Our Dwarves Are All the Same|Dwarf]]): Gruff, usually associated with hard physical work and masculinity. The typical Stout is the dwarf. Often has a counterpart in [[Speculative Fiction]] settings, in the guise of humans genetically or cybernetically enhanced for heavy labour or life on high-gravity planets, or possibly actual robots. The [[Proud Warrior Race]], if they aren't one of the [[Always Chaotic Evil|evil races]], may also fill this role.

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This doesn't include the various "[[Always Chaotic Evil|evil races]]" that crop up, though some of those can fit into the above categories as well [[Fantasy Axis of Evil|as their own]].

If the heroes in this setting form a [[Five Man Band]], there will typically be one of each race represented, since each race can usually "map" to one of the five slots better than any of the others. (Humorously enough, this often means that the Dwarf in the party fills the role of [[The Big Guy]].)

If the heroes in this setting form a [[Five-Man Band]], there will typically be one of each race represented, since each race can usually "map" to one of the five slots better than any of the others. (Humorously enough, this often means that the Dwarf in the party fills the role of [[The Big Guy]].)

In the role of a [[Sixth Ranger]], the 'sixth species' may be a lost or hidden race, namely there's always a [[Last of His Kind]] or some ancient ruins of the once great species. This set up usually enforces [[Hybrid Overkill Avoidance]] to keep [[Competitive Balance|the balance.]]

See [[Square Race Round Class]] for the deliberate subversion. The [[Fantasy Axis of Evil]] is the [[Evil Counterpart]].

== Anime and Manga ==

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** The Canim might count as the Mundane. Yes, the nine-foot tall, possibly immortal ''[[Wolf Man|wolf men]]'' are the Mundanes.

* In [[Philip Pullman]]'s ''[[His Dark Materials]]'' trilogy, we have:

** The [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|panserbjørne]] ([[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|intelligent, armour-clad]] [[~~Everythings~~ Worse With Bears|bears]]) as the stouts, right down to the hard physical work (they're expert smiths) and masculinity (female bears were seen once, briefly, and males seem to be the only ones who do anything)

** The [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|panserbjørne]] ([[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|intelligent, armour-clad]] [[Everything's Worse With Bears|bears]]) as the stouts, right down to the hard physical work (they're expert smiths) and masculinity (female bears were seen once, briefly, and males seem to be the only ones who do anything)

** The [[Our Angels Are Different|angels]] as the fairies

** Humans as the mundanes, obviously

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*** Fairy - Eladrin, Tiefling: Eladrin are the magicial elves, so they fit Fairy to a T. Tieflings are a darker example, being humans with diabolic traits resulting from a [[Deal With the Devil]]. Forgotten Realms gives us Genasi, elemental blooded beings, and the [[PHB 2]] also gives us Devas, reincarnated divine beings, while the PHB 3 adds the Wilden who are guardians of nature and Shardminds who are crystals held together by pure thought.

*** Mundane - Human: Naturally.

*** High Men - Elf, Half-Elf: The forest-loving elves and the [[Half Human Hybrid]] half-elves can easily be placed here. The PHB 3 adds the Githzerai, mosaic folk from the Elemental Chaos (but oddly enough, not the Githyanki).

*** High Men - Elf, Half-Elf: The forest-loving elves and the [[Half-Human Hybrid]] half-elves can easily be placed here. The PHB 3 adds the Githzerai, mosaic folk from the Elemental Chaos (but oddly enough, not the Githyanki).

*** Cute - Halfling: The short, sneaky guys. Gnomes from the PHB 2 also qualify, with some multiclass with Fairy.

** As for the original game, we had:

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*** '''Stout''': Giants, although they were more of a secondary race. Among the five primary tribes, the Merfolk (Merrow) were a sort of intellectual variation on the Stout archetype.

*** '''High Men''': Elves. Full stop.

*** '''Fairies''': [[Spell My Name With an S|Fae, singular "Faerie"]]. Also pretty damn evil.

*** '''Fairies''': [[Spell My Name With an "S"|Fae, singular "Faerie"]]. Also pretty damn evil.

*** '''Cute''': Goblins (or Boggarts, as the local variety were called) are probably the closest thing, being silly comic relief-types, as goblins often are in Magic.

* ''[[Xevoz]]'' is both a line of action figures AND a tabletop game, utilising six races rather than five and averting many of the usual associations by way of its ''sci-fi'' setting, apart from a Mundane race and a robotic race representing the Stouts. {{spoiler|Until you learn that the robotic race is really Mundanes in cybernetic bodies, making it [[Five Races]] after all.}}

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** High Men: Elvaan (a less pure representation: While having an arrogant and warlike attitude, they place value on honor and are less individualistic than the Humes)

** Cute: This one is split between Tarutaru (overlapping with Fairy; this is a pretty straight portrayal, incorporating a sense of spiritual purity with wildly varying levels of childishness; the writers seem to like to combine reasons to take them seriously with comments and behavior meant to make them hard to take seriously) and Mithra (a more [[Fan Service]]-y portrayal; these [[Catgirl|Cat Girls]] tend to be varied in personality, but are in-touch-with-nature, hunter, [[Fragile Speedster]] types originating from a somewhat xenophobic culture).

* ''[[Final Fantasy]]'''s Ivalice setting fits this trope: Hume are Mundane, Bangaa are lizardmen that mix stout (they're strong) and mundane (they're almost as adaptable as humans), Moogles are Cute (though have the technological advancements usually found in Stout races), Nu Mou (dog/donkey/camel-mixed people with tons of magical prowess but not much else) are Fairy, and Viera ([[One Gender Race]] of bunny women) are High Men - being a combination of naturalist magic users and elf-like [[Proud Warrior Race Guy]] archers. Later games added the [[Cute Monster Girl|Gria]], a Cute/Stout hybrid, the Aegyl - angelic High Men (although unlike most their lifespan is ''shorter'' than humans), and Seeq - stout boar people.

* ''[[Final Fantasy]]'''s Ivalice setting fits this trope: Hume are Mundane, Bangaa are lizardmen that mix stout (they're strong) and mundane (they're almost as adaptable as humans), Moogles are Cute (though have the technological advancements usually found in Stout races), Nu Mou (dog/donkey/camel-mixed people with tons of magical prowess but not much else) are Fairy, and Viera ([[One-Gender Race]] of bunny women) are High Men - being a combination of naturalist magic users and elf-like [[Proud Warrior Race Guy]] archers. Later games added the [[Cute Monster Girl|Gria]], a Cute/Stout hybrid, the Aegyl - angelic High Men (although unlike most their lifespan is ''shorter'' than humans), and Seeq - stout boar people.

* ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' tries to give each side one of each category.

** The Alliance has '''Dwarves''' for Stout, '''Night Elves''' for Fairy, '''Humans''' for Mundane, '''Draenei''' for High Men, and '''Gnomes''' for Cute. '''Worgen''' overlap with both Stout and Mundane.

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** ''[[The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess]]'' really screwed with this, retaining the Zora, Goron, and Hylians, but giving no mention of the Kokiri or Sheikah (unless certain decals are to be taken into account...), while the only remnant of the Gerudo is the desert and [[Big Bad|Ganondorf]] -- ([[Wild Mass Guessing]] speculates a Gerudo genocide.) To balance the scale, we are introduced to the Twili (banished to another dimension, resemble both Sheikah and Gerudo), the Yeti (of whom only two are known), and, most disturbingly of all, the Oocca, who occupy the line somewhere between Fairy and pleasant, innocuous [[Nightmare Fuel]].

*** This makes sense when you learn that ''[[Twilight Princess]]'' and ''[[The Legend of Zelda the Wind Waker (Video Game)|Wind Waker]]'' exist in [http://zelda.wikia.com/wiki/Split_Timeline_Theory separate timelines].

** ''[[The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword]]'' has the Hylians (Mundane), Mogmas (Stout), Kikwi (Cute), Sheikah (High Men), and Ancient Robots (Fairy).

** ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword]]'' has the Hylians (Mundane), Mogmas (Stout), Kikwi (Cute), Sheikah (High Men), and Ancient Robots (Fairy).

* The [[Phantasy Star]] Universe has this in the most obvious ways

** [[CAS Ts]] are Stout (actual robots)