Our Goblins Are Wickeder: Difference between revisions

* ''[[Little Nemo]] in Slumberland'' gave us the Boomps. While most goblins in Nightmareland are evil, the Boomps are good goblins who are outcasts in Nightmareland and enemies of the Nightmare King.

* [[Spider-Man]] features a number of villains with goblin motiffs (mostly [[Norman Osborn|Green Goblins]] and Hobgoblins). They are usually just super powered humans with gadgets. The only exceptions would be Demogoblin who was a demon that was once bonded to one of the many Hobgoblins and the ''[[Ultimate Marvel]]'' version of Norman Osborn who could turn into a green brute that bared a closer resemblance of a goblin.

 

== Film ==

* In [[Dagorhir Battle Games (Roleplay)|Dagorhir]], goblins and orks are a collective ("the greenskins"). Although the orks are the larger and more powerful folks and typically wield more authority and influence, the Big Boss is currently a goblin. Consequently their "cunnin' plans" tend to involve less brute force and more silliness. With the exception of a few, they are predominantly cannon fodder.

** Note that the spelling of "ork" with a K is intentional. Also note that here the difference between "goblin" and "ork" is predominantly a question of size, and that they are otherwise functionally identical.

 

== Literature ==

* Lisa Shearin's novels (starting with ''Magic Lost, Trouble Found'') feature "goblins" that are basically grey-skinned elves, with fangs, [[Took a Level in Badass|several levels in badass]], and a tendency towards BDSM, cannibalism, and general nastiness. They're basically drow [[Expy|expies]], but believably well-written.

* ''[[Discworld]]'' uses the term goblin occasionally, but it just seems to be an alternate name for gnomes. (The original version of "Theatre of Cruelty" uses "goblin", the [http://www.lspace.org/books/toc/toc-english.html online version] has "gnome".)

*** The pots are extremely important to what is essentially their religion and entire culture all in one, being something made by a magical process out of anything handy that can't be replicated by non-goblins. The religion is founded on the notion that if one's body is a temple then the things that come out of it are holy, and thus the pots are used to store things like snot and feces; this has given them a reputation for being unpleasantly obsessed with all things nasty and unhygenic.

* The one appearance of goblins in the ''[[Garrett P.I.]]'' novels was surprisingly peaceful, in that the goblins in question were bounty hunters Garrett paused to chat with in the street. They were searching for a runaway wife, which was their main line of work: in this world, goblin males outnumber females seven to one, and the gobliness had grown sick and tired of over-macho oafs brawling over possession of her. Note that the goblins rode mangy, red-eyed wolves ''in the middle of a human city'', without rousing any disturbance, thus both adhering to ''and'' subverting their usual [[The Lord of the Rings|LotR]] image.

* In [[C. J. Cherryh]]'s ''The Goblin Mirror'', set in what's more or less medieval Hungary ("Maggiar"), there are '''two''' kinds of beings that humans refer to as goblins, and one of them, calling themselves [[Punctuation Shaker|"i'bu okhthi,"]] seems to be more like [[The Fair Folk]]. They don't much like being lumped together with the other breed, "itra'hi," who are apparently [[Dumb Muscle]] -- "different as you from your beasts."

 

* Phineas on ''[[Power Rangers Mystic Force]]'' was only half-goblin. But being half troll, both halves combined to make a really ugly guy, according to his explanation of his [[Backstory]].

* Just as [[Star Trek|Vulcans and Klingons]] are basically Space Elves and Orcs respectively, so Ferengi are very much Space Goblins and may have helped inspired the recent interpretation of goblins as a mercantile race

* ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'' had a literal goblin in Goblin's Gold. It was a small, greenish, bald creature that loved gold and playing tricks on people. It made several people fart, made Uther lose his hair and gave Arthur donkey ears. It could take over a person's body and control them, and the only way to get it out was to almost kill the host.

 

== Tabletop Games ==

* ''[[Iron Kingdoms]]'' has Gobbers. Look like Goblins, act like [[Hobbits|halflings]].

* In ''[[Exalted]]'', you have hobgoblins. In fact, they are the low part of the fair folk people, and are referred by the name commoners. They can look like usual Goblins, but they also look like anything else, because, you know... Fair folk are in fact Chaos people.

 

== Video Games ==

** Whereas in the original Dungeon Siege, goblins inhabit an [[Elaborate Underground Base]] containing a variety of spectacularly anachronistic [[Steampunk]] machinery, weaponry, and magically-powered battle robots. Contrast the goblin footsoldiers, who are weak, fight with melee weapons and dress in loincloths, all the while fighting beside goblinoids that are wielding flamethrowers, [[Lightning Gun|lightning guns]] and [[Gatling Good|gatling guns]]. This makes it more likely that the goblin leader - who is [[Smart People Wear Glasses|bespectacled]], has hair, [[Hulk Speak|speaks Hulk]] and can [[Villain Teleportation|teleport]], all unlike his brethren - is responsible for the existence of the facility.

 

* The ''[[Goblins|Goblins: Life Through Their Eyes]]'' webcomic started out with goblins as being a [[Villains Out Shopping]] look at The [[Dungeons & Dragons]] world from their point of view. It has since mutated into a full blown [[Deconstruction]] of the normal D&D world and [[Character Alignment]] system.

** Alignment system is played straight in this webcomic: many villains even detect as Evil, and they are, well, evil - [[Ax Crazy|very]] [[Psycho for Hire|much]] [[Complete Monster|so]]. It is just that the main cast of goblins is Good and they are opposed by Evil, but self-righteous, humans.

* Subverted in [https://web.archive.org/web/20190118100705/http://www.applevalleycomic.com/ Apple Valley] where Gabbie, one of the main characters is a perky, attractive, cloyingly cute goblin girl. As she is frequently the subject of a fair amount of fan-art and one of the only characters to come even close to being drawn naked, there may also be a bit of ''[[Author Appeal]]'' at work here too.

* Goblins from the [[Porn with Plot]] webcomic Anathema are dark-skinned humanoids with [[Pointy Ears]] and [[Cute Little Fangs]], and a [[More Dakka]] approach to [[Anti-Air]] (their flak cannons are so big they're difficult to manouver). [[Gas Mask Longcoat]] [[Gas Mask Mooks|uniforms]].

 

== Web Original ==

* ''[[Adylheim]]'' has goblins that can only be seen through the corner of the eye, and spend much of their time seemingly moving small objects around randomly. Oh and touching them is very, very bad luck.

* A goblin appears in every Halloween toon from ''[[Homestar Runner]]'', but most of the time it just "looks around and does a dance" {{spoiler|except for that time he saved Homestar from [[It Makes Sense in Context|a zombie sheep]]}}.

 

== Western Animation ==

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Our Monsters Are Different]]

[[Category:Our Tropes Are Different]]

[[Category:Fantastic Sapient Species Tropes]]

[[Category:Index of Fictional Creatures]]