Elves : Good Cliche or Bad

[Androxine Vortex]

I am making lots of different races and noticed I haven't made anything like the popular elves. I try to make my characters and creations original and enjoy giving everything their own unique name. Makes me feel like more of my creation than designing something else someone already made if that makes sense. The closest thing I have to an elven race is one I came up with a few days ago; I haven't decided on a name but they have very slanted eyes and ears with snake-like slits for nostrils yet they are described as being very elegant and beautiful.

Do you use elves in your stories? Do you think they are overused? Should we as authors try to come up with more original ideas or try and take creative spins on things already developed?

 

[Ireth]

I love using elves and elf-like beings in my stories, especially the Celtic Fae and the Norse Alfar. I'm kind of on the fence about originality versus new spins on old ideas, because I've done a bit of both. As well as just going right back into the old ideas themselves, like the mythologies I mentioned above.

 

[Svrtnsse]

When I created my settings I started with humans, elves, dwarves, and hobbits - copied straight from the stereotypical ideas of what these races are. Then I tweaked them until they became something other than what people generally think of when they hear those words, well, except the humans, they're still the same (and I changed the names of hobbits to anfylk).
The same with the dragons.

I used to say that originality is overrated, and that it's what you do with what you have that matters. I'm still not convinced that originality is the kind of holy grail that some people seem to make it out to be, but I recognise that there's value in it.
To me, the importance is in the details. I like the little unexpected twists and turns that don't appear until you looks closer at something - things that could otherwise be easily missed.

 

[Tom]

I use elves mostly for fun, because there are so many elven cliches you can exploit for a parody story. Still, I'd like to use them more often in my more serious work. The Fey in Southerner somewhat resemble elves, I suppose.

I've always been fascinated by elves--mostly because they're almost human, yet distinctly alien. It's interesting to think about how their minds work. Since they resemble us physically, does that mean they also resemble us mentally? Or is their psychology totally different?

 

[Androxine Vortex]

And on a side note this was supposed to be in writing questions, not sure why i posted in world building. Sorry about that.

 

[evolution_rex]

I personally don't like Elves in the way that they're normally used in fantasy. They're almost always Tolkien-esque, and to me if you want to put them in there, you've got to add a lot of original touches. Personally, if I add elves, I make them short scruffy Gnome/Leprechaun kind of creatures. I think it's used less often in serious fantasy and I don't think it's a terrible idea.

But if you need the 'ancient advanced peaceful race' that the Elves so often are, try finding an obscure mythological humanoid or invent your own. I usually do Sylphs or Angels (typically my own adaptation of what an Angel is, not the Abrahamic definition). Maybe adapt the least suspecting mythological humanoid and make them into something Elven-esque. Imagine an ancient race of super intelligent Ogres who once ruled the world!

 

[Garren Jacobsen]

To answer your question with a somewhat useless answer (at least on the surface): it depends. Seriously, it depends on how you use them. If you pretty much do what Tolkien did then it's cliched and a strike against your story. But if you change the elves and make them truly your own then it won't be bad but a cool reinterpretation of the mythos. Problem is it's easy to pull a Tolkien but difficult to do something original with it. But, it is possible. Dragon Age has a good different type of elf (like gypsies). Ergaon has a bad method of depicting elves (basically Tolkien but with dragon friends).

 

[Saigonnus]

Can't say I've used them at all in my works in progress, but that doesn't mean I won't in the future. I think at the moment, my focus has been on refining some of the other races that inhabit my world.

The Gur for example are generally dwarvish in stature, but that's about the only similarity they share.

I think if I do have an elf-like race, I would like to think that they won't have too many similarities with the traditional manifestations presently in the realm of fantasy.


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[Feo Takahari]

I used an exaggerated parody of them once, which controlled time, communicated through singing, could singlehandedly fight and kill an entire squad of soldiers, etc. Then I made it clear that their society was fundamentally corrupt and their future was in jeopardy. I never, ever write a straight-up "superior species."

 

[Tom]

I used an exaggerated parody of them once, which controlled time, communicated through singing, could singlehandedly fight and kill an entire squad of soldiers, etc.

They sound like Paolini's elves. And they're not supposed to be parody...

 

[Feo Takahari]

They sound like Paolini's elves. And they're not supposed to be parody...

They were actually inspired by the Qirsi from Winds of the Forelands.

 

[cupiscent]

Personally, as a reader, I'm not so interested in stories with elves. They're generally indicative of a sort of fantasy I'm not so interested in - the sort that's more about the epic-questy, good-and-evil, Tolkienesque, Germanic-Euro-tradition things. But hey, that's just me: plenty of other readers like that sort of stuff. Personally, I'm more interested in dirtier, more complex fantasy that digs into humanity and all our flaws. There's so much to be explored within humanity, I'm not really sure I see the appeal of stepping outside it. (I also don't much like sci-fi with alien races. )

 

[MineOwnKing]

Naked Battle Elves is a light but fantastic read.

If one is mature enough to put the slight silliness of the eye candy and erotic flare aside, the actual writing is really very good.

Ryan Erin may have a niche market, but he commands it well.

 

[Gurkhal]

I try to avoid other races due to the fact that humans can be so diverse in themselves, at least for mundane things. If I want a multitude of view points, perspectives or cultures, humans suffice as well.

 

[Miskatonic]

Can they be short and make cookies?

I have no intention of putting elves in my stories, unless it's something coming out of left field.

 

[WooHooMan]

Do you use elves in your stories?
Yes

Do you think they are overused?
Yes but who cares?

Should we as authors try to come up with more original ideas or try and take creative spins on things already developed?
Both
Totally new ideas are good too

On the off chance that you're curious as to how I'm doing elves: the elves I got a ghostly beings - white skin, white hair, white eyes, intangible to a degree, can float - who migrated to the land from the sky.
Sociologically-speaking, they have nothing in common with humans. They're so alien that they might as well be animals. They are, so far, unable to communicate with humans (not that they would want to) and humans cannot understand how they work as a society.
Also, they don't have pointy ears.

In short, I interpreted the original Norse myth elves and rolled with it.

Thematically, they're meant to demonstrate how humans have more in common with "bad" people - for example, let's say orcs - than they'd like to admit and that the two peoples could get along relatively well if they tried. That's the narrative purpose of elves in this setting.

 

[Miskatonic]

Do you use elves in your stories?
Yes

Do you think they are overused?
Yes but who cares?

Should we as authors try to come up with more original ideas or try and take creative spins on things already developed?
Both
Totally new ideas are good too

On the off chance that you're curious as to how I'm doing elves: the elves I got a ghostly beings - white skin, white hair, white eyes, intangible to a degree, can float - who migrated to the land from the sky.
Sociologically-speaking, they have nothing in common with humans. They're so alien that they might as well be animals. They are, so far, unable to communicate with humans (not that they would want to) and humans cannot understand how they work as a society.
Also, they don't have pointy ears.

In short, I interpreted the original Norse myth elves and rolled with it.

Thematically, they're meant to demonstrate how humans have more in common with "bad" people - for example, let's say orcs - than they'd like to admit and that the two peoples could get along relatively well if they tried. That's the narrative purpose of elves in this setting.

The Norse mythology version of elves and dwarves has always been interesting. Definitely gives a different perspective compared to the Tolkien interpretation.

 

[Mythopoet]

I think whether you try to invent something original or you riff off of more traditional tropes depends entirely on who you are as an author, what your goals as an author are, what audience you are trying to reach and what kind of story you are trying to tell.

There's plenty of room for every variation on Elves you can think of. There's plenty of readers looking for all kinds of variety from those that just really enjoy reading about straight up Tolkien Elves to those who would prefer something brand new and unexpected and everything in between. It's not an either or issue. Nothing in fiction is.

 

[skip.knox]

The only good cliche is a dead cliche.

I use elves, though the first one to make an appearance is a dead one. I don't worry about whether they are cliche or not. I worry about whether they make the story work.

FWIW, Tolkien's elves, when he was writing them, broke an older trope.

 

[Shreddies]

I like elves, if I'm honest. And dwarves, etc. I just don't like carbon copies of Tolkien elves. And the whole 'fading away' thing also bugs me to no end. I guess because I'm not a fan of stories where the magic 'goes away'. I want the wonder to grow, dangit!

My elves were inspired by a rewatching of the Hobbit movie, and Legolas in particular. I thought 'Ninja Elves!' and just ran with the idea until I came to a humorous parody of old translated kung-fu movies.

It was either that or make them eldritch world travelers that sailed the sea between worlds. Kinda like cthulhu mythos, only prettier. And most of them aren't even interested in humans. But there's always the occasional one (considered a pervert and shunned by the others) that do take interest and eventually interbreed with humans, producing what is considered in-universe as an elf (pointy ears and all).

Actually, now that I think of it, I might just use both types.