Loads and Loads of Races: Difference between revisions

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[[File:300px-~~Alien_lineup~~.jpg|frame|[http://club.doctissimo.fr/elea369/mars-attack-156520/photo/300px-alien_lineup-4784758.html The usual suspects.]]]

[[File:300px-Alien lineup.jpg|frame|[http://club.doctissimo.fr/elea369/mars-attack-156520/photo/300px-alien_lineup-4784758.html The usual suspects.]]]

Sometimes, a [[Tabletop Games|Tabletop Game]] or [[Video Game]] setting just has a metric boatload of playable ~~races -- even~~ more than the standard [[Five Races]]. Other times, a setting just adds in races, for reasons gone into below.

Sometimes, a [[Tabletop Games|Tabletop Game]] or [[Video Game]] setting just has a metric boatload of playable races—even more than the standard [[Five Races]]. Other times, a setting just adds in races, for reasons gone into below.

'''Happens in three ways:'''

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* ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' is a good example of type 1. Every time a new ally or opponent needed to be added, JRR would come up with a new race (and possibly a thousand years of history, mythology, and linguistic development) to drive the story. Sure, the protagonists were the big five (dwarves, elves, men, wizards (Istari), and hobbits), but that didn't count the various subdivisions of elves, men, and hobbits, nor the orcs, goblins, elite orcs, undead, daemons, spiders, spider gods, scary things that used to be men, bad-ass wolves, eagles, sentient trees, giant tree-men (but no more tree-women), dragons, and whatever Tom Bombadil, Old Man Willow, and Beorn are.

* ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia]]'' sort of falls under type 3. Besides the managerie of beings in Narnia: Dwarfs, Fauns, Dryads(tree nymphs/gods/spirits), Centaurs, Stayrs, Naiads(water nymphs/gods/spirits), Giants, Unicorns, Winged Horses, and Talking Beasts, Other various beings are mentioned in certain books: The monsters and demons in the White Witch's Army(Evil Dwarfs, Evil Giants, Werewolves, Evil trees and plants, Ghouls, Boggles, Ogres, Minotaurs, Cruels, Hags, Spectres, People of the Toadstools, Incubuses, Wraiths, Horrors, Efreets, Sprites, Orknies, Wooses, and Ettins), The humans from Calormen, Archenland, Telmar, and the Islands, Stars, Merpeople(traditional half human-half fish hybrid), Sea People(basically aquatic humans with purple hair and go around naked), Duffers/Monopods/Dufflepuds(one-legged dwarfs), Dragons, Sea Serpents, Giant Squids, Krackens, Birds from the Sun, Marshwiggles, Gnomes(who look a little more like devils with pitchforks than whimsical, diminuitive cousins to dwarfs), and Salamanders.

* All the characters in [[Adrian Tchaikovsky]]'s ''[[Shadows of the Apt]]'' are human, but the humans are split into an enormous number of "kinden" ~~-- tribes~~ who take on characteristics of a particular type of animal, usually an insect or other arthropod. Who can tell me which group of creatures has the greatest number of species...?

* All the characters in [[Adrian Tchaikovsky]]'s ''[[Shadows of the Apt]]'' are human, but the humans are split into an enormous number of "kinden"—tribes who take on characteristics of a particular type of animal, usually an insect or other arthropod. Who can tell me which group of creatures has the greatest number of species...?

* The [[Cthulhu Mythos]] has [[wikipedia:Elements of the Cthulhu Mythos#Beings|a head-spinning number]] of types of aliens and other unpleasant things that [[Eldritch Abomination|want to drive you insane, then eat you]].

* Carna, the world of the ''[[Codex Alera]]'', ''used'' to have these, until most were wiped out (some by the Alerans/humans, the main protagonist race, but probably others that we don't know about that were destroyed by other races). As of the timeline of the novels, there are only five sentient races left (Alerans, Marat, Canim, Vord, and Icemen), though ironically they ''don't'' fit into the [[Five Races]] categorization.

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* Edgar Rice Burroughs' [[wikipedia:John Carter (character)|John Carter/Barsoom]] series has a lot of races. John himself is human, but Mars has the Green Martians, Red Martians, Yellow Martians (Okarians), White Martians, Black Martians, Kaldanes, Rykors, and Hornads.

* Larry Niven's ''[[Known Space]]'' series has Humans, Kzinti, Puppeteers, Outsiders, Pierin, Kdatlyno, Trinocs, Bandersnatchi, Grogs and more. Those are only the contemporary races, the Thrint, Tnuctipun, Pak, Martians and others have gone (mostly) extinct. And then there are all the myriad humanoid subspecies on Ringworld...

* ''[[Discworld]]'' started with humans, trolls, and ~~elves -- although~~ even this was explained in the context of Rincewind trying to work out why there were still dryads. Then gnomes and dwarfs got added in ''[[Discworld/The Light Fantastic|The Light Fantastic]]'', and gnolls in ''[[Discworld/Equal Rites|Equal Rites]]''. Then ''[[Discworld/Reaper Man|Reaper Man]]'' added zombies, vampires, werewolves, weremen, bogeymen and banshees. Then ''[[Discworld/Lords and Ladies|Lords and Ladies]]'' introduced [[The Fair Folk]], so the elves that had been vaguely mentioned previously had to be explained as [[Half Human Hybrids]]. ''[[Discworld/Feet of Clay|Feet of Clay]]'' added golems, and ''[[Discworld/Carpe Jugulum|Carpe Jugulum]]'' added the Nac Mac Feegle (and the Igors, if they count as a race). ''[[Discworld/Thief of Time|Thief of Time]]'' included yeti. ''[[Discworld/Unseen Academicals|Unseen Academicals]]'' introduced {{spoiler|orcs}} and featured the first mention of goblins, who would go on to play a major role in ''[[Discworld/Snuff|Snuff]]'' (as well as a throwaway reference to a "Medusa" in the Watch). (And ''[[Discworld/Night Watch|Night Watch]]'' had a brief mention of kvetches, but never really explained what they were beyond being covered in hair).

* ''[[Discworld]]'' started with humans, trolls, and elves—although even this was explained in the context of Rincewind trying to work out why there were still dryads. Then gnomes and dwarfs got added in ''[[Discworld/The Light Fantastic|The Light Fantastic]]'', and gnolls in ''[[Discworld/Equal Rites|Equal Rites]]''. Then ''[[Discworld/Reaper Man|Reaper Man]]'' added zombies, vampires, werewolves, weremen, bogeymen and banshees. Then ''[[Discworld/Lords and Ladies|Lords and Ladies]]'' introduced [[The Fair Folk]], so the elves that had been vaguely mentioned previously had to be explained as [[Half Human Hybrids]]. ''[[Discworld/Feet of Clay|Feet of Clay]]'' added golems, and ''[[Discworld/Carpe Jugulum|Carpe Jugulum]]'' added the Nac Mac Feegle (and the Igors, if they count as a race). ''[[Discworld/Thief of Time|Thief of Time]]'' included yeti. ''[[Discworld/Unseen Academicals|Unseen Academicals]]'' introduced {{spoiler|orcs}} and featured the first mention of goblins, who would go on to play a major role in ''[[Discworld/Snuff|Snuff]]'' (as well as a throwaway reference to a "Medusa" in the Watch). (And ''[[Discworld/Night Watch|Night Watch]]'' had a brief mention of kvetches, but never really explained what they were beyond being covered in hair).

** In the same vein as the Golems we get Gargoyles. On a stranger front, we get Demons, Things from the Dungeon Dimension, and certain Anthropomorphic Personifications (Time specifically, but maybe each one can be seen as a separate race). Also gods, genies (''[[Discworld/Sourcery|Sourcery]]''), Auditors of Reality, occasional sentient dragons (''[[Discworld/The Colour of Magic|The Colour of Magic]]'' and ''[[Discworld/Guards Guards|Guards Guards]]''), "Stupid Lizard Men" (presumed extinct as of ''[[Discworld/The Last Hero|The Last Hero]]'') and Furies (''[[Discworld/Unseen Academicals|Unseen Academicals]]'')

* In ''[[Lacuna]]'', Saara implies this about the universe.

* The likely world record for [[Loads and Loads of Races]] almost certainly belongs to [[Alan Dean Foster]]'s [[Spellsinger]] series, in which literally ''every species'' of mammal, bird, amphibian, or turtle on Earth has an equivalent intelligent race. An unspecified number of insect (Plated Folk) and spider (Weaver) species likewise come in sentient as well as mundane varieties. [[Lions and Tigers and Humans, Oh My!|Humans are also present]], as are numerous other intelligent races, some with a mythological basis (dragons, fairies, unicorns) and others made up from scratch. All told, that's got to be ''tens of thousands'' of races at a minimum, possibly over a million.

* The likely world record for Loads and Loads of Races almost certainly belongs to [[Alan Dean Foster]]'s [[Spellsinger]] series, in which literally ''every species'' of mammal, bird, amphibian, or turtle on Earth has an equivalent intelligent race. An unspecified number of insect (Plated Folk) and spider (Weaver) species likewise come in sentient as well as mundane varieties. [[Lions and Tigers and Humans, Oh My!|Humans are also present]], as are numerous other intelligent races, some with a mythological basis (dragons, fairies, unicorns) and others made up from scratch. All told, that's got to be ''tens of thousands'' of races at a minimum, possibly over a million.

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

* ''[[Star Trek]]''. The humans, the Vulcans ([[Our Elves Are Better|space elves]]), the Romulans (the Vulcans' nastier cousins [So... Space Drow?]), the Klingons ([[Proud Warrior Race Guy~~|Proud Warrior Race Guys~~]]), the Borg ([[Bee People]]), the Cardassians ([[Planet of Hats|spies and assassins]]), and the Ferengi ([[Space Jews|interstellar merchants]]) are the most prominent ones. However there are a lot more that turn up only in individual episodes or plot arcs, and unimportant ones represented by a main character (Betazoids, Trill, Denobulans...)

* ''[[Star Trek]]''. The humans, the Vulcans ([[Our Elves Are Better|space elves]]), the Romulans (the Vulcans' nastier cousins [So... Space Drow?]), the Klingons ([[Proud Warrior Race Guy]]s), the Borg ([[Bee People]]), the Cardassians ([[Planet of Hats|spies and assassins]]), and the Ferengi ([[Space Jews|interstellar merchants]]) are the most prominent ones. However there are a lot more that turn up only in individual episodes or plot arcs, and unimportant ones represented by a main character (Betazoids, Trill, Denobulans...)

* Where does one begin with ''[[Doctor Who]]'', world's [[Long Runners|longest running sci-fi television series]]? [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien|Time Lords]], [[Omnicidal Maniac|Daleks]], [[You Will Be Assimilated|Cybermen]], [[Proud Warrior Race|Sontarans]] and their enemies the Rutan Host, Ice Warriors, Zygons, Tereleptils, Silurians and Sea Devils, the Nestene Consciousness, Zarbi, Menoptera, Eternals, [[Physical God|Osirans]], Usurians, Monoids, Alpha Centaurians, Axons, Argolin, Foamasi, intelligent cacti from Zolfa Thura, Tractators, the Cheetah People, Haemovores and their giant cousins the Great Vampires, Tharils, [[Giant Enemy Crab|Macra]], [[Plant Aliens|Krynoids]], [[My Friends and Zoidberg|and even humans]]. ''Then'' the new series introduced Raxicoricofallapatorians (often mistakenly called the Slitheen), Ood, Judoon, Sycorax, Adipose, Pyrovillians, Saturnynians, Crafayis, Malmooth, Weeping Angels, the Silence, and many other background races and individuals. Don't even get ''started'' on the [[Doctor Who Expanded Universe]] of which one race, Chelonians, have been mentioned in the new series...

* ''[[Babylon 5]]'' has five major powers: Humans, Centauri, Narn, Minbari, and Vorlons. Then there's the League of Non-aligned Worlds, a collection of at least a dozen minor powers, including the Drazi, the Markabs, the Vree, and the Pak'ma'ra. And then the Shadows turn up and there are an assortment of species that only turn up once or twice like the Dilgar, the Streib, and the Soul Hunters.

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== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

* ''Twilight Imperium'' started out with six "great races" (including humans) scrambling to rebuild the long extinct Lazax Imperium they were once part of; expansions for the game's 1st edition added four more races that had risen to a similar level of power in the interim. The current 3rd edition included all ten races from the get-go, then a new expansion was published which introduced ''four'' brand-new races, for a total of fourteen; probably the largest number of playable races in a tabletop strategy game, with the possible exception of Star Fleet Battles.

* Speaking of which, ''[[Star Fleet Battles]]'' features a bunch of distinct fleets, including, in the basic edition, ships for [[The Federation]], the Klingons, the Romulans <ref>Who have the distinction of having '''three''' completely distinct Tournament ships, whereas almost all the other races have just one, to reflect the fact that there they had/have three completely different fleets</ref>, the Kzinti, the Tolians, and Orion Pirates; expansions include Andorians, Lyrans, Hydrans, WYNs, and the ISC. And all that is for the "Alpha Sector" setting. There are also "Omega Sector" (20 new factions), "Magellanic Cloud" (5 new factions) and "the Early Years" (5 new factions) settings.

* Speaking of which, ''[[Star Fleet Battles]]'' features a bunch of distinct fleets, including, in the basic edition, ships for [[The Federation]], the Klingons, the Romulans,<ref>Who have the distinction of having '''three''' completely distinct Tournament ships, whereas almost all the other races have just one, to reflect the fact that there they had/have three completely different fleets</ref> the Kzinti, the Tolians, and Orion Pirates; expansions include Andorians, Lyrans, Hydrans, WYNs, and the ISC. And all that is for the "Alpha Sector" setting. There are also "Omega Sector" (20 new factions), "Magellanic Cloud" (5 new factions) and "the Early Years" (5 new factions) settings.

* The board game ''Small World'' started with an already-respectable 14 races in the core set, and the first three official expansions have added another 10 in total. Some of the 'races' would normally count as humans, however; for example, Amazons, Barbarians, Gypsies and Sorcerers are all separate races. In addition, there are special abilities which are independent of races, so during a game you'll actually be looking at things like Merchant Halflings or Cursed Goblins. Or Peace-Loving Orcs, for that matter. There are 20 abilities in the core game, with 12 more from expansions, meaning you're looking at 24 * 32 = '''768''' race/ability combinations just from official sources. Fans have added more, obviously.

* The board game ''Cosmic Encounter'' is all about this, with each alien race breaking the rules in a different way. The original game had 15 races, and nine(!) expansion sets bringing the total eventually up to a whopping 75(!). One of the later publishers was planning an expansion with yet another 35(!) but went out of business before the release.

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** ''[[Blood Bowl]]'' has 21 different types of team, inlcuding 3 kinds of human (standard, Norse, and Amazon), 4 kinds of elf (dark, wood, wealthy high and poor high), 3 kinds of chaos (standard, dwarf, and Nurgle), and 4 kinds of undead (standard, necromancer, vampire, and mummy).

* ''[[Xevoz]]'' starts out with six races (humans, [[Big Creepy-Crawlies|bugs]], robots, [[Monster Mash|the undead,]] [[Beast Man|Beast Men]] and [[Energy Beings]]) and adds two more (Living Gods and Dragons) with the release of Wave 4, its last wave.

* Some settings of ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]''. Also, mainline ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'', if you add enough [[Splatbook~~|Splatbooks~~]]. Or your DM allows the use of intelligent races found in the ''Monster Manuals''. In 3.5 alone, there were 135 official races - but many of them were repeats or overlapping each other (probably a third of those were elves).

* Some settings of ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]''. Also, mainline ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'', if you add enough [[Splatbook]]s. Or your DM allows the use of intelligent races found in the ''Monster Manuals''. In 3.5 alone, there were 135 official races - but many of them were repeats or overlapping each other (probably a third of those were elves).

** For sheer diversity, ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'' stands out, with dozens of races and subraces scattered across the setting. Then there's ''[[Planescape]]'' and ''[[Spelljammer]]'', which by their very nature as bridges between settings allow for practically any race or subrace to be played and then some (''Planescape'' had such options as intelligent squirrels native to Yggdrasil), more to emphasize the dazzling effect, that is Type 3.

** ''[[Eberron]]'', too, has a lot of races. Plus the setting literally says that everything that has a place in ''Dungeons and Dragons'' has a place in ''Eberron'', which at least theoretically means every splatbook is valid.

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* ''[[OtherSpace]]'' features two dozen playable races, ranging from different [[Human Subspecies]] all the way to [[Starfish Aliens]].

* ''[[Legend of Mana]]'' boasts sprites, humans, the jewel-hearted Jumi, dragoons, faeries, flowerlings, dudbears, sirens, mermaids, sproutlings, elves, succubi, chobin hoods, tomato men, sahagin, goblins, narcissos, mad mallards, the enchanted golems, several sapient animals including rabbits, cats, penguins, monkeys, as well as a sprawling assortment of bizarre anthropomorphic objects and mythic beings such as a vampire, basilisk, and a centaur.

* ''[[Star Ocean]]'' is another solid example of a Type 3 here, owing to its influence from ''[[Star Trek]]''~~--most~~ admittedly human-looking enough, but: Humans, Fellpool, Featherfolk, Expelian, Tetrageniot, Nedian, Klausian, Velbaysian, Elicoorian, and Menodix (though some are simply [[Human Aliens]], others have differences that are noted either in the story, in gameplay, or in the plot). And that's just sampling from the PC rosters of the first ~~three--there~~'s far more of them represented among the NPCs and discussed in the Encyclopedia in later games. (to name a few, Felinefolk, Ur-Felinefolk, Vanguardian, Rezerbian, Vendeeni, and so on...)

* ''[[Star Ocean]]'' is another solid example of a Type 3 here, owing to its influence from ''[[Star Trek]]''—most admittedly human-looking enough, but: Humans, Fellpool, Featherfolk, Expelian, Tetrageniot, Nedian, Klausian, Velbaysian, Elicoorian, and Menodix (though some are simply [[Human Aliens]], others have differences that are noted either in the story, in gameplay, or in the plot). And that's just sampling from the PC rosters of the first three—there's far more of them represented among the NPCs and discussed in the Encyclopedia in later games. (to name a few, Felinefolk, Ur-Felinefolk, Vanguardian, Rezerbian, Vendeeni, and so on...)

* ''[[Space Empires]]'' offers around a dozen (or more) races as standard options, each with their [[Planet of Hats|hat]]. It's fairly simple to create and fine-tune your own, particularly to anything prior to the fifth game.

* ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]]'' carries on the ''[[Star Wars]]'' tradition by featuring pretty much every notable race that appeared in the films including humans, Wookiees, Twileks, Hutts, Jawas, Rodarians, Tusken Raiders, etc. as well as introducing several new ones such as the Cathar (feline bipeds) and the Selkath (an aquatic race of bipeds with long, fish-like faces).