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'''Dr. Venture:''' Will you listen to yourself, Hitler?|''Dr. Venture'' showing his sensitivity; ''[[The Venture Brothers]]''.}}
 
Just about every fantasy world has at least one race whose defining characteristic is that they're short. They typically fill the role of "comic relief" in an adventuring group (when they're not the protagonists), and often serve as the "cute" race in a [[Five Races]] setup. Not always, though; the [['''Little People]]''' can be made to fit pretty much any of the [[Five Races]], with the exception normally being High Men (that spot's reserved for taller races, always). If any race of the [['''Little People]]''' is to be considered tall compared to the rest of those races, it's most likely gonna be a [[Our Dwarves Are All the Same|Dwarf]]. Because they resemble a child, there's a good chance the [['''Little People]]''' [[Child Mage|are magic users]].
 
[[Our Dwarves Are All the Same|Dwarves]], [[Hobbits]], [[Leprechaun|Leprechauns]]s, [[Our Gnomes Are Weirder|Gnomes]], and some [[The Fair Folk|Fairies]] are specific subtropes. If these people are ''really'' little and are the main characters, it is a [[Mouse World]]; for other mouse-sized people, see [[Lilliputians]]. Not to be confused with an [[Little People (TV series)|animated series of the same name]].
{{examples}}
== [[Comic Books]] ==
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* The [[Trope Codifier]], of course, are [[J. R. R. Tolkien|JRR Tolkien]]'s Hobbits, and also Dwarves (''[[Lord of the Rings]]'', ''[[The Hobbit]]'').
* [[Charlie and the Chocolate Factory|Oompah-Loompahs]]
* In works by [[Terry Pratchett]], all the [[Little People]] tend to be [[The Napoleon|violent and mean tempered]].
* In [[Lloyd Alexander]]'s ''[[Prydain Chronicles]]'' series, [[Our Dwarves Are All the Same|Doli]], [[The Eeyore|Gwystal]] and the rest of [[The Fair Folk]] are smaller than humans in size.
* Warrows in the ''Mithgar'' series by Dennis McKiernan fit here.
* The [[Little People]] in Robert E. Howard's and Arthur Machen's fiction (not related, but have very similar, if vague descriptions) are [[Always ChaoticExclusively Evil]] creatures that form a degenerate civilization in places where the Celtic people believed [[The Fair Folk]] to dwell, and occasionally kill people or rape women crossing their territory for [[For the Evulz|no particular reason]]. The [[Half-Human Hybrid|offspring]] born from the latter cases are always mentally retarded and physically [[Beauty Equals Goodness|at least slightly deformed]], and they seem to [[Genetic Memory|subconsciously know the language of their fathers]] though how that is possible is never actually explained.
** There's more than a sprinkling of [[Reptiles Are Abhorrent]] associated with them as well, especially in the Howard story "Worms of the Earth".
* The [[Little People]] who work for Mr. Tiny in the [[Cirque Du Freak]] series. While the small, blue-hooded, (mostly) mute Little People are minor characters in the beginning, one of them, Harkat Mulds, quickly becomes a major character.
 
== Mythology and Folklore ==
* Many mythical depictions of [[Our Elves Are Better|elves]] were like this ([[Christmas Elves|Santa's elves]], for instance), until [[J. R. R. Tolkien|Tolkien]] repopularized the 'tall' elves of ancient myth into modern fantasy.
* [[Leprechaun|Leprechauns]]s, natch.
 
== Tabletop RPGs ==
* Halflings and Gnomes serve this purpose in ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]''.
** The Dragonlance setting introduced the Kender, which served as a different take on the [[Little People]] at the time (even if it was considered the [[The Scrappy|Scrappy]] race due to annoying players playing up the kender's natural curiosity, fearlessness, and kleptomania). This helped evolve the Halfling in later editions past "hobbits with the serial numbers filed off".
** The Dwarves of the D&D settings were short, but they don't fit the cute or childlike part of the trope. They tend to be characterized as dour, tough, and warlike, and they tend to make good fighter characters.
* The Ratlings of ''[[Warhammer 40000]]'', though they don't have much presence in the game besides being specialist snipers for the Imperial Guard.
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== [[Video Games]] ==
* ''[[Warcraft]]'' also has Gnomes and Dwarves as its [[Little People]].
** Also goblins, but their only comic trait is their tendency to make things go boom.
* Tarutaru in ''[[Final Fantasy XI]]'' take the cuteness factor, throw in some [[Verbal Tic]]s, and aim for being as [[Tastes Like Diabetes|adorable and sweet]] as possible. Thankfully, the [[Narm]]-factor whenever they try and act serious is enough to make up for this.
* The Lilties in ''[[Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles]]'' are a very small and cute race. They're also super-adorable (and can [[Human Subspecies|crossbreed with people]]). Oh, and they used to be [[The Empire]] and can be extremely hardy and gruff, are incredibly strong for their size, can forge some mean weaponry, and can hold a grudge with the best of dwarves. Do ''not'' cross a Lilty of you know what's good for you.
* The comic relief bit is oh-so-averted in ''[[Arcanum]]''. Gnomes are [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|Corrupt Corporate Executives]]s who {{spoiler|organize the mass kidnapping and rape (by ogres) of human women to breed [[Half-Human Hybrid|half-ogres]] for use as a bodyguard race}}.
* Nander in ''[[RHDE]]''.
 
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