Throughout fantasy there has been a generic foe for the heroes to fight before the main antagonist, usually these are orcs. This seems to be the 'safe' option for many fantasy writers out there but whenever someone does try to leave this cliche cult then they're whipped for it unless they do it correctly, and few do! Whatsmore over the years orcs have evolved in fantasy, from being the evil lackeys of Sauron in the Lord of the Rings with no emotion other than hate, to viewpoint characters of new novels that are heroic and morally good. I suppose my question is... are orcs overused and if so how could I change people's perception of them in my novel?