# How to make Elves interesting?



## Reilith (Apr 9, 2016)

I've been mulling things over in my head about Elves. I honestly love them, in any shape or form, doesn't matter if it's a game or a book. But considering everything I've already seen, I'm thinking how to make them new and refreshing and interesting - not just magical, pointy-eared mysteries. I am also considering putting them up in a new project I+m starting, so I need ideas. What is it about Elves that you love and hate? What would you advise to keep and what to change? Are you more for the traditional Tolkin-esque Elves, or maybe more for the unconventional type such as Aurenfaie from Nightrunner? HULP!


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## Ireth (Apr 9, 2016)

As far as Tolkienesque elves go, I love that for all their grace and beauty they are also very fallible. Feanor and his family are an extreme example -- they swore an oath against God Himself that they'd recover the stolen Silmarils, and in the end it killed all but one of them (unless the last eventually died of sheer grief). To a lesser extent, their attitudes toward humans and dwarves show relatable variation. Elves and dwarves are often at odds, but they also have decent trade going on for much of the First Age. The dwarves had a great love of pearls, which were only gathered by the Sea-elves who lived along the coasts of Middle-earth, but traded freely. Likewise the dwarves aided some of the elves in great feats of craftsmanship, such as the delving of Menegroth. On the human side of things, many Elves thought of Men as inferior, but some, like Finrod Felagund, held great love for them and wanted to learn from them and teach them himself.

I also love the Sidhe from classical Celtic myth. They're beautiful and terrifying at once, some of them willing to steal human babies while others gently woo human lovers. And at least in my stories, even the cruelest are capable of changing for the better and gaining true friendship with humans, without forsaking their Fae-ness entirely. They sometimes just need a push in the right direction.


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## FifthView (Apr 9, 2016)

I love the Aurenfaie, but I never quite pictured them as being elves.  There are some similarities, so elves always seemed like a distant source material for the Aurenfaie, kind of hovered in the back of my mind.

I'm almost totally disinterested in the traditional Tolkein-esque version or the D&D/MMORPG versions.  I'm sure I could still enjoy a very well-written novel that used traditional elves, but they would not be particularly interesting to me themselves, _as_ elves.

I might not be the best person to give advice, then!  But I'd suggest maybe creating a distinctive culture for them that veers from the norm.  It really comes down to what you personally like most about them and what you could stand to change.  If you changed them so much that they stopped being "elves" for you, what would be the point?


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## Reilith (Apr 9, 2016)

FifthView said:


> I love the Aurenfaie, but I never quite pictured them as being elves.  There are some similarities, so elves always seemed like a distant source material for the Aurenfaie, kind of hovered in the back of my mind.



I know I've read somewhere that the writer said she hated the traditional Elf build and it is noted in her writing even. But the bottom line is that Aurenfaie still have that Elvish feel for me, even without the pointy ears of some other things of traditional variety. I guess what I am trying is to find something of the sorts, that doesn't scream Elf, but uses Elven-like culture as a base.


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## Devor (Apr 9, 2016)

Truthfully, I've always thought that the problem with most depictions of elves is that they're somehow lesser than Tolkein's.  They've gotten more normal, more human, more mundane with every new series.  Many of the fantasy races have, but while it's sometimes interesting to make orcs behave more human, for instance, I feel it's kind of ruining the elves.

To me, I would want to see elves who hold on to the original sense of mystery and give purpose to their extended age, rather than just portray the uppity old beautiful people who fling magic around.


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## Jerseydevil (Apr 10, 2016)

It really depends on the context, but generally, I don't care for elves at all. Actually, both of my WIP are anti-elf, with one having them as the main antagonist species that gets decimated under concentrated rifle and musket fire. The other is an Urban fantasy where the Sidhe are major players in the supernatural world and as a consequence lord over unaware humans, at least until someone breaks out the green tip ammo. The main reason for this dislike is that they always come across are too perfect (Tolkien is the notable exception). They have immortality, impossible grace, beauty, wisdom, and all the rest and that for some reason grates on me. This has nothing to do with the fact that I am short, ill-tempered, and somewhat akin to a dwarf, the greatest fantasy race ever, without exception. 

Elves always seem to be at extremes. They are either too perfect or too evil. Just look at the Warhammer world. There are High Elves that are immortal and perfect beyond measure (arrogance as a flaw only goes so far), the Wood Elves who are so one with nature that they are militarized hippies, and the Dark Elves, that are pure, distilled evil with no redeeming qualities at all. That's the problem. There is almost no in between, no grey areas, no room for more development. Though most fantasy races fall into a stereotype, they at least are so different from humans that they seem unique. Elves usually come across as  humans without flaws, and if reading a ton of fiction has taught me anything, perfection is at best boring. If you want to write them, make them more than just graceful people that don't die and spend their time gazing longingly at a dying tree. 

Just my three cents


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## WooHooMan (Apr 10, 2016)

I find the best way to go about reinventing any fantasy creature is to focus in on an aspect of their original depiction and then go with it.
For example, I read that in some periods of Norse mythology, light elves were semi-intangible.  They were said to be made out of mist and light.  So, why not have more ghostly elves?
D&D got a lot of mileage out of making a subspecies of elves that were closer to Norse black elves.

Second option is to focus on a few key elements and change everything else.
In the Elder Scrolls video game series, Dwarves are bearded builders and craftsmen who live underground and tend to fight with elves.  They're also relatively tall and very intelligent solipsists/nihilists whose aesthetic was mostly based on Mesopotamia.
The thing that I did was take the Tolkien idea of elves being corrupted and turning into orcs and reversed it.  So, orcs were turned into elves as a kind of magic/divine punishment.  And I made them "inferior" less spiritual humans rather than "superior" more spiritual humans.


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## Svrtnsse (Apr 10, 2016)

My first encounter with elves was through Lord of the Rings which my dad read to me when I was 7 or 8. I thought the elves were cool, but didn't really pick up on much of the details.

Later, but not much, I came across the Elfquest comics. I was probably 8 or 9 at the time, and they were the coolest thing ever, but I have a hunch I should try and avoid doing a more detailed analysis from my current perspective. Still, back then, these comics rocked my little world.

As I recall, there was a bit of interesting world building. The elves had fascinating magical abilities and some of them were friends with the wolves. They also had a little bit of history that seemed interesting and which turned out to have some unexpected twists.

If you have the time, you can read the comics online here: Elfquest Comic Viewer - just keep in mind they were first released in the 70's and I won't vouch for how well they've aged.


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## Reilith (Apr 10, 2016)

Reading your answers now, I am seeing disdain for traditional Elves as much as the human-esque ones. Let me clarify my efforts: I am mulling things for a race that is Elven like but more towards the human specter, making them not perfect at all, and with human flaws that can sometimes even be worse than in humans. Another idea sprung in my mind as well. As they are magical and sort of descendants of gods, they used to be a lot like the gods - but through time passing their looks, personas and general existence morphed more towards human - the mix of blood, living away from the divine source of their magic etc.

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## Terry Greer (Apr 10, 2016)

The problem I always have with much fantasy is how similar it all is.

I'd love to see something done that really is brave and inverts preconceptions, which most fantasy doesn't. 
This is understandable as people get interested in writing what they already like - so tend to want to write something that plays to their preconceptions. There's nothing wrong with that - but it can be uninteresting and pretty 'safe' for those of us who want something different. It also tends to be treated as just another racial type which is to me really wearing thin.

Why not:
Have fantasy races as extinct races that's left lots of interesting stuff around - or maybe there' not quite all gone just yet (but it takes a while to find them). Having fantasy races too common really devalues them.
or have them really be something totally different to what the legends say or what you've been told about them in the story. E.g. just because something looks human and female (or male) doesn't mean it has to have (or even learn) human or gender-based emotions at all. (last years film 'ex machina' does it wonderfully for AI). Making them too human is possibly really what's doing them a disservice.


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## Reilith (Apr 10, 2016)

Terry Greer said:


> The problem I always have with much fantasy is how similar it all is.
> 
> I'd love to see something done that really is brave and inverts preconceptions, which most fantasy doesn't.
> This is understandable as people get interested in writing what they already like - so tend to want to write something that plays to their preconceptions. There's nothing wrong with that - but it can be uninteresting and pretty 'safe' for those of us who want something different. It also tends to be treated as just another racial type which is to me really wearing thin.
> ...



Okay, I am actually loving the idea. This is why I love this forum it always gives me more ideas. Thinking fresh - have a race that resembles elves and has what I mentioned above, but as it turns out they are not what the history told them. Instead being "elves of divine origin" it turns out they are simple humans that at some point mingled with true elves which are almost extinct, putting the whole culture and nation into an uproar. It needs elaborating though.

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## Chwedleuwre (Apr 10, 2016)

If you want to keep the term "elf", you might include a comment about how pointed ears are one of those misconceptions about elves - or some such allusion that will make your elves unique. Other ways to distinguish mythic races would be to emphasize  their unique speech patterns, clothing (style, colors...), habitats, food and drink, etc. What do YOU want them to be like? As far as I know, the word "elf" isn't copyrighted. tee-hee. So, perhaps the question is: Do you want your elves to be traditional (which tradition?) or your own version? Have fun with your writing. Best wishes for much success!


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## Reilith (Apr 10, 2016)

Chwedleuwre said:


> If you want to keep the term "elf", you might include a comment about how pointed ears are one of those misconceptions about elves - or some such allusion that will make your elves unique. Other ways to distinguish mythic races would be to emphasize  their unique speech patterns, clothing (style, colors...), habitats, food and drink, etc. What do YOU want them to be like? As far as I know, the word "elf" isn't copyrighted. tee-hee. So, perhaps the question is: Do you want your elves to be traditional (which tradition?) or your own version? Have fun with your writing. Best wishes for much success!



Thank you! I know I will not go with the traditional view of Elves in our irl terms. I do plan to give them a different culture and possibly high magic-religion correlated ideals. Together with the geography, foods, culture of living, dress-code and all else that accompanies them, I think they could possibly be different enough not to give off the sense of "Elves" right away. Also, they will have a specific name as a nation.


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## NerdyCavegirl (Apr 10, 2016)

There's just something about lean sexy arboreal archers with pointy ears, and that's the only preconceptions I usually have about elves. Though I'll take almost anything as long as they have pointy ears. My own elves start with those basic traits, lean pointy-eared forest humanoids, though they're simply another primate descended from early humans with their own adaptations. Sukokuek, one of my three most developed MCs that was just recently named, is from a race of arctic elves that more closely resemble hobbits. Short and stocky, pointy ears, dark hair, quite a bit of it on their bodies and/or faces, but still more slender than their arctic human counterparts. My elves are more of a "middle race", a role humans usually seem to play; more agile and flexible than my stocky more Neanderthal-like humans, but bigger and stronger than my third major race, the fun-size firekin. None are closely related enough to interbreed though, nor do their lifespans differ much.


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## skip.knox (Apr 10, 2016)

Svrtnsse, I too loved Elf Quest. I even read the early issues of the first series when they were still black and white. Great fun, and a good example of how to be original while remaining within the basic stereotype.


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## ThinkerX (Apr 11, 2016)

Oh well, for what little it may be worth at this point...

My worlds were originally terraformed and settled by utterly alien species, some of whom were powerful natural psionic types. Indeed, much of their technology required psionic ability to operate.  Time passed.  These aliens took to abducting lifeforms from other worlds, including earth (and humans.)

They decided that humans could be useful servants...if they had psionic ability.  Gruesome experiments followed.  Those humans subjected to these experiments that survived did receive powerful mental abilities.

The aliens also conducted a slew of other bizarre experiments.  In the one relevant to this thread, they summoned spiritual entities from the deep Astral realms and 'implanted' them in physical bodies (humans).  This merger changed those bodies, granting them increased lifespans, pointed ears, and an affinity for certain types of magic.  Aka 'Elves.'

Then catastrophe beset the alien civilizations.  Most of the aliens perished right off; most of the survivors fled.  Their servitor races found themselves left to their own devices, and formed their own civilizations.  The psionically talented humans became the first wizards.  

As far as my stories go, elves are way in the background.  They're considered dangerous and alien, but there are groups that do trade with them, as well as other interactions.  A few half elves are found here and there.  The prominence of a few half elven characters is the main reason I kept the elves around at all.


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## kennyc (Apr 11, 2016)

I keep reading this thread title as "How to make Elvis interesting"

.....


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## Logos&Eidos (Apr 11, 2016)

Look at what elves have become in minds of the fantasy audience.

The elves are an idealized form of humanity, they are everything great and noble about humanity cranked up to twelve. Now D&D and other RPGs have tried to balance out this idealization by adding flaws.

Slow breading.

Slow to act.

Lazy and unindustrious.

Frail as a result of being built for speed and endurance,rather power and stamina.

Magic Dependant, perhaps even a vulnerability to cold-iron. 

Some even take Tolkien's idea of elves as a fading people and portrayed elves as a subjugated once great people, analogous to various indigenous peoples subjugated by colonizing Europeans. I think this is also to make the human audience of the books  feel better about themselves.    

You take what the elves are and play with these elements,rearrange and shuffle them until you get something distinct. I think that the biggest twist that you could make is not have then a reclusive fading power that is slowing losing ground to humanity.


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## kennyc (Apr 11, 2016)

Yep that definitely sounds like the older Elvis!  

I'll show myself out now.


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## Demesnedenoir (Apr 11, 2016)

I have elf-like races, but long story short, in a traditional sense they are not elves... one might say they look and some behaviors like elves (woodland people, bows, long lived, magical) but if you tried to breed them with Tolkien's or other traditional elves it wouldn't work, heh heh.

Give them a depth of culture that sets them apart, that's a good start.


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## AJ Stevens (Apr 13, 2016)

Steven Erikson's 'Tiste' races are often seen as a different take on elves. Other sources will do a better job of describing them than me, but it's worth a look.

Incidentally, I always thought that the Night Elves in World of Warcraft (for those who've played it) were strikingly similar to the Tiste Edur, and the Blood Elves much like the Tiste Liosan.


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## Nomadica (May 14, 2016)

I like to think of elves as rogueish forest dwellers, something more feral. But still lean, gracful, acrobatic and good with a bow and magic. I imagine them with slightly pronounced eyeteeth but not to the extent of a vampire. The eyeteeth to me represents an animalistic trait, slightly predatory, gives them an edg. And of course pointy ears. I'm not as into the fancy celtic cathedral architecture of elves in LOTR.


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## Nomadica (May 14, 2016)

But I do like the architecture of the small villages of the nightelves in WOW. It's a mix of Nors and old Japanese


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## Miskatonic (May 14, 2016)

I just leave them out entirely. I am done with the forest dwelling, pointy eared, in tune with nature, immortals. 

Tolkien did it best as far as I'm concerned. I don't like elves enough to try and create something different.

That being said, The Elder Scrolls games do a pretty good job with elves by giving them some actual diversity.


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## evolution_rex (May 14, 2016)

I personally enjoy seeing the gnome-like lighthearted elves. Like Santa's elves or the keebler elves. And that's probably because its used less often and are the farthest from the standard elf.


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## glutton (May 14, 2016)

On a somewhat related note I have a group of hippies/druids in my WIP who wear fake elf ears in imitation of 'a magical race of legend.' Their leader, the Queen of Mercy who the heroine gets a bad feeling about since her name implies (to the MC) treading dangerously close to being worshiped as a false god, may or may not turn out to actually be a powerful mystical being though.


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## Nomadica (May 14, 2016)

Miskatonic said:


> I just leave them out entirely. I am done with the forest dwelling, pointy eared, in tune with nature, immortals.



well making anything immortal makes them less interesting IMO


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## skip.knox (May 15, 2016)

>well making anything immortal makes them less interesting IMO 

I agree, Nomadica, but I'm curious to hear your reasons.


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## Charles Parkes (May 15, 2016)

Miskatonic said:


> I just leave them out entirely. I am done with the forest dwelling, pointy eared, in tune with nature, immortals.



Gosh darn it. This pulled some of us away from our tree-hugging long enough to protest.

'You may take away our immortality, you may change our physical appearance' and so on. . .  but there's still a place in contemporary fiction for elf-like harmony creatures, even if they are blown into a new mould by an original author (as musket-ball shredded aggressors for example as I saw earlier on the thread), or changed so much they cease to be elves at all.

I think that, however irritating people find pastoral based races, there is still a significant section of readers who identify with pastoral themes as an accessible and relevant source of symbology and inspiration. Far more so perhaps than themes closer to 1960's architectural brutalism for example. High-tech sci fi worlds and steampunk urban settings all benefit from their counterpoints : )


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## Nomadica (May 15, 2016)

Well I've never put it to words before. I like life to be visible on a character, and  lots of flaws. When my husband was hired to do some landscaping for his moms rich friend there were these old white stone statues of lions in her yard that were stained, covered in lichens and moss. They looked hundreds of years old and were full of character. Like old runes, full of stories and mystery.  There was so much beauty in those flaws. Unfortunately his mom's friend didn't see it the same way and wanted them scrubbed till they were shiny. Things are just more interesting and beautiful to me when they are full of these king of flaws. something immortal is like a boring new looking statue, too perfect, easy and clean.


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## skip.knox (May 15, 2016)

Thanks, Nomadica, for the thoughtful reply.


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## Miskatonic (May 17, 2016)

Nomadica said:


> Well I've never put it to words before. I like life to be visible on a character, and  lots of flaws. When my husband was hired to do some landscaping for his moms rich friend there were these old white stone statues of lions in her yard that were stained, covered in lichens and moss. They looked hundreds of years old and were full of character. Like old runes, full of stories and mystery.  There was so much beauty in those flaws. Unfortunately his mom's friend didn't see it the same way and wanted them scrubbed till they were shiny. Things are just more interesting and beautiful to me when they are full of these king of flaws. something immortal is like a boring new looking statue, too perfect, easy and clean.



The conditions of the character's immortality can change this.


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## Queshire (May 17, 2016)

When it comes to immortality there's the old classic of the heartbreak of everyone you know growing old and dying, but that's a bit overplayed for me personally. There's so much more that you can do with it! Just imagine the shenanigans that you could come up with if you have an immortal with, well, Medieval is a bit too obvious an example for me, but say Ancient Roman morals and sensibilities in modern day.


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## Miskatonic (May 18, 2016)

My MC is close to a thousand years old. I want to try and depict one example of what a person would be like after all that time without the typical cliches. Someone that has been tempered by centuries of experiencing human nature in action.


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## Nomadica (May 18, 2016)

Queshire said:


> Just imagine the shenanigans that you could come up with if you have an immortal with, well, Medieval is a bit too obvious an example for me, but say Ancient Roman morals and sensibilities in modern day.



Well that is an interesting scenario, it's not the same as just haveing a whole race be imortal just becaus. Not that it is bad, just not as interesting to me personaly. Though I'd be more interested in immortal character if it was part of the story like that.


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## Galahad W-528 (May 30, 2016)

On making Elves more interesting, I found that thinking with a scientific mind rather than trying magic through it is easiest.  It gives not only a more adaptable view that can grow and change as you think of different attributes that would give a species the extra edge, but also a more grey view that is more true to human nature than incorruptible or extreme sides of light and dark.  Starting out small, changing height, abilities, muscle structures and densities and the like can easily lead to a three hour crash course on the feeding habits of tube worms to give a subspecies of "elves" the ability to ignore the lack of food in their native region/realm/worldď

In short, look not only to other sources invented and developed by authors but to the world we live in.  There's plenty of crazy things to pull from whose only copyright is God's (I'm looking at you platypus).


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## Darkfantasy (Jun 3, 2016)

Unlike a lot of people my first encounter with elves was actually in mythology and those are the elves I liked best so I would back back to them.

I avoid using elves in my books simply because they've been done so much and I like to be creative. There's nothing wrong with blending elves with another race. But I try to avoid using all the common creatures (elves, dwarves, orcs). I create new things, especially if my world is not earth. A new planet would have it's own things. And if I use humans I make sure to say how humans got to this planet.


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## Miskatonic (Jun 3, 2016)

Darkfantasy said:


> Unlike a lot of people my first encounter with elves was actually in mythology and those are the elves I liked best so I would back back to them.
> 
> I avoid using elves in my books simply because they've been done so much and I like to be creative. There's nothing wrong with blending elves with another race. But I try to avoid using all the common creatures (elves, dwarves, orcs). I create new things, especially if my world is not earth. A new planet would have it's own things. And if I use humans I make sure to say how humans got to this planet.



I'm the same. You create a lot of preconceived notions when you use the more classical fantasy races.


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## skip.knox (Jun 3, 2016)

"Use" is an interesting verb in this context. How do you "use" elves in a story?

One way would be to have a character say "hi, I'm an elf." Or the narrator simply says, "a dwarf, and elf, and a gnome walk into a giant."

With no context or description, the author is letting the reader fall back on stereotypes to envision the scene. The author does not create the preconceived notions but allows the reader to summon them. At best, this is lazy writing. I mean, would you really say, "he was a human" and let it go at that? It's still worse if the author goes on to try to break the stereotype, after having first allowed the reader to envision it.

But there are many other ways to go about this. There's an author in my writer's group whose story looks at first sight to be science fiction. We have a scientist in a lab. But then she tucks her hair behind one pointed ear. And a few paragraphs later, she's explicitly called an elf. This effectively tells the reader, I know you think you know elves, but you don't know _my_ elves. We have an author using the stereotype to her advantage.

Or, to take my own case, I have monsters invading the Roman Empire. I describe them. Later, I have some of the soldiers hear the locals' word for the monsters. They repeat it clumsily. _Cobbel_. Later, the better-educated Roman officer gives them a more Latinized name: _ghobellensi_. And, finally, goblins. I let the reader figure out the "real" name at whatever point they figure it out, because it doesn't really matter. By that time, they know that my goblins don't fit any traditional mold anyway. I did this partly to add verisimilitude (what Roman is going to say, "oh, goblins"?) but partly also because I did not want the reader to haul out any preconceived notions about my monsters. At the same time, I had reasons not to invent wholly new names, either.

>I avoid using elves in my books simply because they've been done so much and I like to be creative.

As I think the above examples show, there's no reason why you cannot be creative using elves. Conversely, there's nothing intrinsic to using elves that somehow makes it un-creative.

In other words, and this is said by many in many ways: it's not the idea, it's the execution. It's not what you think, it's what you write.


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## Miskatonic (Jun 3, 2016)

Since dwarfs are basically tied into the idea of living in mountains, mining and excavating, etc., I just made my dwarfs these rock creatures, like the minerals and ores the dwarfs might dig up.


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## Peat (Jun 3, 2016)

I find elves straight up interesting and feel that they're even almost kinda underused in modern fantasy literature, weird as that might seem. They're in every game, but in actual books? Not so much.

The problem with elves, half the time, is that people write elves and not characters. Which sucks.

And the other half, they write radically different elves and we do this that's different and cool and woah and... not characters.

I've kicked around various ideas for elves, not all of which are radically different to what's out there. Such as elves that are only immortal because they're all practising serious life extending magic, taking it from the trees and giving it to themselves. Most elves take just a little, but there's all sorts of things that you can do with life magic, so some live in groves of withered trees...

Or elves where all the males are short and stout and serious, craftsmen and warriors, and all the females are tall and ethereal - so basically dwarves and elves as one race.

I like GW's Eldar - the idea of Elves as terrifyingly passionate and fighting to find ways to keep their soul from going to the Great Enemy, and the many ways the race found to confront that. Heavily ritualised roles and all that.


What I'd like to see from someone's elves - mine if they get there first - is a return to them as semi-divine beings. The more human flavour of elf is all well and good but it doesn't interest me as much, I don't feel like there's as much scope for something interest. Being semi-divine doesn't make you flawless (so much evidence for that in mythology) or unbeatable; but it does make you very different. 

Do you get a race that tries to puppet master all the others in the belief they have the divine plan?
Or are they nomads, finding the worthy and secretly answering their prayers?
Or maybe they are jealous of the gods they nearly are but are so far from, and plot war with heaven?

Or maybe, like Tolkien's, they rebelled in their pride and are now diminishing echoes... but there's got to be plenty of things you can do with that other than what Tolkien did.

Maybe if you go down this route the easiest thing is to not call them elves. They do come with a lot of connotations after all. 

Ah! Maybe they're a new race, created to replace humanity on account of them being a bunch of dicks...

The world is a mollusc of your choice. Just remember all that culture, all that alienness... it has to make good characters and stories.


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## Queshire (Jun 4, 2016)

Elllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllves.

That's pretty much all I have to say.

...
...
...

Ok, well since that it's very interesting I've said this before probably already in this thread, but I love doing my own twists on fantasy races. I've thought up several things with Elves, though I haven't really actually written a story with them yet. My personal pet take on Elves has them as genetic engineers. Numerous monsters were originally created by them along with some other races, and naturally they favor bio-tech. Originally they had a caste system with each caste slightly genetically altered to be visually distinct and be able to better preform in their area of expertise. Unfortunately the destruction of their homeland has lost them the majority of their ancient knowledge, in many cases including how to control the monsters they made. The remains of the previous castes went their own way and eventually became distinct tribes resulting in the sort of dark elves, wood elves and high elves common in fiction.

Another take on Elves aren't actually elves at all, or at least they're Elves in name only. After an apocalyptic war a galactic empire fell into ruins and for one planetary colony left all on its own with the fall regressed. Magic spells are programs run on an ancient super computer, horrible dangers left over from the war lurk in the dark corners of the planet, ancient artifacts of sufficiently advanced tech shape the course of entire countries. The Elves are the only ones who remember the truth. They're a squad of space marines stationed on an ancient space station above the planet. Thanks to actually knowing what they hell they're doing their tech and "magic" is impossibly advanced compared to those on the ground. Normally they don't interact with those on the ground much. They generally only show up when something suitably horrible from the war wakes up and threatens all life and such. Elf is actually a mistranslation. It went from Alph from the name of their company to Alf and then Elf.

A third take on Elves that I've done makes a distinction between Elves based more on Norse mythology and more modern day Elves. The first are the ancestors of the second. They're spirits or minor gods of light and are suitably mysterious and unknowable in their actions and goals as a result. Though they're spirits the modern day elves are decidedly more physical. They're suitably respectful and to a point frightened of their older cousins, but frankly the older Elves are just as alien to them as they are to anyone else. As an Elf ages they take on more and more qualities of the spirit elves, but despite the rumors there's never been a confirmed case of a modern elf ascending to become a spirit elf or a spirit elf falling to become mortal. There's a similar divide for other such "Spirit Folk" such as Dwarves, but that's another story.


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## Svrtnsse (Jun 4, 2016)

The elves in my setting were originally "angels" (companions/servants to a great celestial being of unspecific generalness) in a parallel universe. Their universe was invaded by demons and some of them escaped by opening a portal to "my" universe and dropping their entire city through it. (yes, I stole that from somewhere)

These original elves are very powerful beings, but there aren't that many of them. With each generation the elves grow a little weaker and a little shorter. The first ones were easily ten to twelve feet tall, whereas the most recent generation don't reach six feet. The elves' magic also grows weaker with each generation, but they still don't seem to be able to die of old age.

The elves that came through the portal were mono-gendered and could mate with anything to produce offspring (elven half-breeds). However, only through mating with each other could they produce live offspring ("regular" elves) that was be able to procreate independently.

While the elven half-breeds can't give birth to live offspring on their own they can do it through divine intervention. Many of the original elves have joined up with minor gods to create groups of half-breeds (polar elves, elphines). The original elf creates the first batch of the half-breeds and the god gives the spark of life to any offspring born within the tribe.


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