Elven race / elves - what do you like about them?

[Naruzeldamaster]

Why is this repeated all the time?
Not counting LotR, but I never have seen someone writing elf characters like this.

Newer media has taken to making elves less idealistic. Now they're more just magical humans (and it depends on the author how much)
Older Media got hung up on the Tolkien variety being the de facto way to depict them. Which got pretty stale like a few years after LOTR hit the scene.
Even Skyrim took the Tolkien approach with it's elves.

 

[Malik]

Why is this repeated all the time?
Not counting LotR, but I never have seen someone writing elf characters like this.

Terrarch, Court of Elves, a crapton of Romantasy, Bethany Adams's whole Return of the Elves series from Soulbound onwards, many others but if I keep going I'm going to start getting into books by authors I know and like personally, and whom I'm going to be sharing panels with year in and year out.

 

[Insolent Lad]

I think I would have to admit that my original idea of what elves are (or were or would be or something) came from Poul Anderson's The Broken Sword, which I read as a teen well before being introduced to anything by Tolkien. Not nearly as noble a bunch as those in LOTR and somewhat closer to what one finds in Norse/Germanic myth. In fact, I reckon that book was a pretty big early influence on my writing in general.

 

[MSadiq]

Newer media has taken to making elves less idealistic. Now they're more just magical humans (and it depends on the author how much)
Older Media got hung up on the Tolkien variety being the de facto way to depict them. Which got pretty stale like a few years after LOTR hit the scene.
Even Skyrim took the Tolkien approach with it's elves.

I think the most shocked I've been with "newer" media's depiction of elves is in Divinity Original Sin 2. They have a cannibalistic aspect to them. They can eat some of you to read your memories. I sure it's not something Larian invented, but it was novel at the time.

Though, it makes me wish more series would take that Germanic elf and do something new with it rather than take the elves that have been created and do something new with them.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

I think the most shocked I've been with "newer" media's depiction of elves is in Divinity Original Sin 2. They have a cannibalistic aspect to them. They can eat some of you to read your memories. I sure it's not something Larian invented, but it was novel at the time.

Though, it makes me wish more series would take that Germanic elf and do something new with it rather than take the elves that have been created and do something new with them.

My elves are kind of a mixed bag.
Water Bloods are more Tolkien like, though they don't feature the snoody-ness. (I mean SOME of them are, but not all of them. Main protagonist clocks this as the most 'human like' thing about them, as a compliment to the royalty.)
Flame Bloods and Stone Bloods are more human like (Minus the obvious magical elements of them obviously)
Wind Bloods are more like Fae folk, they are rare to be seen and if you're lucky enough to see one they take your breath away. (badum tis, but also literally if you anger them)

The more literal inspiration for these guys/gals is the Elves from Dragon Prince, which had a similar elemental thing going.

 

[MSadiq]

My elves are kind of a mixed bag.
Water Bloods are more Tolkien like, though they don't feature the snoody-ness. (I mean SOME of them are, but not all of them. Main protagonist clocks this as the most 'human like' thing about them, as a compliment to the royalty.)
Flame Bloods and Stone Bloods are more human like (Minus the obvious magical elements of them obviously)
Wind Bloods are more like Fae folk, they are rare to be seen and if you're lucky enough to see one they take your breath away. (badum tis, but also literally if you anger them)

The more literal inspiration for these guys/gals is the Elves from Dragon Prince, which had a similar elemental thing going.

I went with something inspired by a book called Elves in Anglo-Saxon England. I based it not on the descriptions of the elves, not exactly, but based on what the word elf denoted, as the book argues, which is very convincing, and where they lived in the Anglo-Saxon world view as described.

My Elves are white beasts who begot the Elfkin, as the Elfkin believe, and each Kin reflects some traits of their progenitor. Ernkins, for example, have great talons. So the race is not itself the elves, but rather the deities they worship. The Elfkin are usually called just Kin or by their kin name, like Ernkin, Hartkin, and so on.

 

[Super Fantasy]

Well, in my Nesneria writings, yes.

 

[TheCrystallineEntity]

My elves are sort of aliens. After an exceedingly long time, can turn into living stars who send holographic projections of themselves to interact with the wide interstellar neighbourhood, or multi-limbed [mostly friendly] eldritch dragonfolk, depending on what other parts of their life cycle they decide to pick. Or they can just stay elves, and not turn into anything.

 

[Calin Sarbu]

In my own work, I took the idea of longevity and made it both a blessing and a curse to elves.
They live for thousands of years (duh), which means for them 1 year or a decade is a pretty short time frame. Which means they inevitably form a complete, almost bored attitude towards things that in their perception past by fast. Kind of like us with trending reels or shorts. What problems does this cause? Well, for them, taking serious decisions means really pondering on the decision for years/decades while a inferior race as humans can decide much faster. What this leads to is scenarios in which, lets say humans decide to attack them and they would be debating for too long how to properly react that they have already lost battles, have casualties and so on. I made it so this flaw is so dire, despite being superior to humans, they are as rare as pandas (when these were still on the endangered list).
Also, because they live for so long, the concept of friendship, family, love is far more twisted for them. They don't marry for life, but rather marriage is a phase. it might take 50 years, 100 but they don't hook up to stay together forever. That doesn't mean they need to split, just that inevitably they grow bored or distant and move on. Same with procreation. When you live for thousands of years, having kids is not a priority. Especially not having them early, meaning they struggle to repopulate.
Continuing with the longevity, they live among humans in peace in present times, but they still cannot understand why people are hyped about being 18 yo or why reaching retirement can feel like an achievement. Same with being grandparents and the list goes on. For them these concepts are confusing, meaning while they live among humans, deep inside it's a torture for them, because nothing makes sense and it cannot fundamentally make sense to them.
On the plus side, magic is a thing in my world and humans can maybe get lucky and be blessed with a tiny ounce of it, while elves are born with magic and spend decades if not an entire century just to learn it. Humans just wing it and hope they can maybe use it for something and not accidently cause harm to themselves by simply not knowing how to use it.
Don't think it is super original, but I thought it would be more fun to tackle the effects their longevity and wisdom and what have you when confronted with creatures that simple master only one thing better than them. time. Human grow faster, organize faster, plan faster and strike faster, so it can feel like the worse thing to live for thousands of years. (there is more to it, but this is kind of the core premise)

 

[Malik]

In my series, elves view humans very much the way we view our dogs. Dogs aren't with us forever, but they live these short, intense lives completely devoted to us, willing to die for us. Our role, conversely, is to help them successfully navigate a world that wasn't made for them. I created my world for the Fae, and the humans are just doing the best they can in it.

To that end, I liken a Fae having sex with a human--which happens in my books--to us scratching a dog where it itches; my Fae have a whole other thing between themselves involving sex that surpasses the physicality of it, on a psychic and intellectual level that humans can't ever match. That's what they eventually marry for. The grunts and squishing noises of the physical act of sex are reciprocal back-scratches, nothing more.

A Faerie woman in a Vendel-era society meeting my MC, a human from Earth--formally educated, able to whip almost anyone's ass in hand combat, and conditioned to see the world from a 50,000-foot vantage point and observe all the gears turning--would be like a human finding a Belgian Malinois that can speak several languages. Of course she's going to hold on to him. And scratch his ears.

My fae live forever until killed by an outside force; however, they know their humans aren't going to live forever. But they cherish the f*ck-it-allness with which we approach the world, because they don't have it. They can't. They wish they could. They value their lives. They wait out problems, while we kick our problems' asses. And some Fae love that about us. (Some hate it.)

I have a 90-lb. Olde English Bulldogge who can pull my truck in a harness. He can push-up into a sit with me lying on his back, meaning he can bench 300 lbs. He chased a 4- or 500-lb. bear off my property when it was going for the chicken coop. He has no idea how brave that was; he doesn't even understand what bravery is, it's just how he's wired. He just engaged while I was yelling at him to stop and trying to get a clear shot. (I didn't need the shot, the bear said "F*ck this," and took off at a sprint with the dog on his heels.)

Similarly, my Fae won't get into mortal combat unless it's REALLY important, and then, they always have several moves planned ahead to ensure they survive. Humans, however, seem to get in mortal fights all the time. Same arrangement as my dog and me. His life is short, and he's absolutely willing to throw it away in hand-to-hand combat to keep his charge safe. Because he's a comparatively simple creature and he understands only that he has ONE JOB: Keep The Farm Safe.

I'm the elf; the dog protecting me 24/7 is my human companion. I write my elves from this POV.

 

[rareruin]

I have an abandoned story, so the elves dwarves humans and dragon born were all evolved from different chains of hominin. So Elves in this world are basically great white shark monkeys that no longer live in the ocean. They retained there primitive life span & live roughly 200+ years. These types of elves reached sexual maturity at around 50 and were fully grown adults at 20. They developed at the same rate as humans but because they lived longer their society was far superior. I'm not sure if we should even call these elves but they are meant to have blue & white speckles and grey skin pointy ears and are adapted to live symbiotically with forest spirits.

Essentially my favorite part about elves is the overt sexualizations.

But my least favorite part is when animation overtly sexualizes elves, and I think we all know why.

No but seriously what my actual favorite part about elves is creative freedom we have. Elves are mythical meaning they could be anything. Humans Elves and Angels could be an evolutionary path and Humanoids besides these three could be demonized. Noems Halflings and Dwarves could also be like an evolving slave race to the humans.

There's so much subjectivity to what these mean that's why I love fantasy.

 

[Calin Sarbu]

In my series, elves view humans very much the way we view our dogs. Dogs aren't with us forever, but they live these short, intense lives completely devoted to us, willing to die for us. Our role, conversely, is to help them successfully navigate a world that wasn't made for them. I created my world for the Fae, and the humans are just doing the best they can in it.

To that end, I liken a Fae having sex with a human--which happens in my books--to us scratching a dog where it itches; my Fae have a whole other thing between themselves involving sex that surpasses the physicality of it, on a psychic and intellectual level that humans can't ever match. That's what they eventually marry for. The grunts and squishing noises of the physical act of sex are reciprocal back-scratches, nothing more.

A Faerie woman in a Vendel-era society meeting my MC, a human from Earth--formally educated, able to whip almost anyone's ass in hand combat, and conditioned to see the world from a 50,000-foot vantage point and observe all the gears turning--would be like a human finding a Belgian Malinois that can speak several languages. Of course she's going to hold on to him. And scratch his ears.

My fae live forever until killed by an outside force; however, they know their humans aren't going to live forever. But they cherish the f*ck-it-allness with which we approach the world, because they don't have it. They can't. They wish they could. They value their lives. They wait out problems, while we kick our problems' asses. And some Fae love that about us. (Some hate it.)

I have a 90-lb. Olde English Bulldogge who can pull my truck in a harness. He can push-up into a sit with me lying on his back, meaning he can bench 300 lbs. He chased a 4- or 500-lb. bear off my property when it was going for the chicken coop. He has no idea how brave that was; he doesn't even understand what bravery is, it's just how he's wired. He just engaged while I was yelling at him to stop and trying to get a clear shot. (I didn't need the shot, the bear said "F*ck this," and took off at a sprint with the dog on his heels.)

Similarly, my Fae won't get into mortal combat unless it's REALLY important, and then, they always have several moves planned ahead to ensure they survive. Humans, however, seem to get in mortal fights all the time. Same arrangement as my dog and me. His life is short, and he's absolutely willing to throw it away in hand-to-hand combat to keep his charge safe. Because he's a comparatively simple creature and he understands only that he has ONE JOB: Keep The Farm Safe.

I'm the elf; the dog protecting me 24/7 is my human companion. I write my elves from this POV.

I feel like we are playing with different sides of a similar coin, only you opted for a more kind nature in elves, underneath all that while I went massive into "how can I run your existence more?".
You opt for them showing affection and benevolence, cherishing the short time spam like we have towards pets, while mine look at humans and most of them think "why bother with humans? they'll be gone in 50-60 years anyways."

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

In my series, elves view humans very much the way we view our dogs. Dogs aren't with us forever, but they live these short, intense lives completely devoted to us, willing to die for us. Our role, conversely, is to help them successfully navigate a world that wasn't made for them. I created my world for the Fae, and the humans are just doing the best they can in it.

To that end, I liken a Fae having sex with a human--which happens in my books--to us scratching a dog where it itches; my Fae have a whole other thing between themselves involving sex that surpasses the physicality of it, on a psychic and intellectual level that humans can't ever match. That's what they eventually marry for. The grunts and squishing noises of the physical act of sex are reciprocal back-scratches, nothing more.

A Faerie woman in a Vendel-era society meeting my MC, a human from Earth--formally educated, able to whip almost anyone's ass in hand combat, and conditioned to see the world from a 50,000-foot vantage point and observe all the gears turning--would be like a human finding a Belgian Malinois that can speak several languages. Of course she's going to hold on to him. And scratch his ears.

My fae live forever until killed by an outside force; however, they know their humans aren't going to live forever. But they cherish the f*ck-it-allness with which we approach the world, because they don't have it. They can't. They wish they could. They value their lives. They wait out problems, while we kick our problems' asses. And some Fae love that about us. (Some hate it.)

I have a 90-lb. Olde English Bulldogge who can pull my truck in a harness. He can push-up into a sit with me lying on his back, meaning he can bench 300 lbs. He chased a 4- or 500-lb. bear off my property when it was going for the chicken coop. He has no idea how brave that was; he doesn't even understand what bravery is, it's just how he's wired. He just engaged while I was yelling at him to stop and trying to get a clear shot. (I didn't need the shot, the bear said "F*ck this," and took off at a sprint with the dog on his heels.)

Similarly, my Fae won't get into mortal combat unless it's REALLY important, and then, they always have several moves planned ahead to ensure they survive. Humans, however, seem to get in mortal fights all the time. Same arrangement as my dog and me. His life is short, and he's absolutely willing to throw it away in hand-to-hand combat to keep his charge safe. Because he's a comparatively simple creature and he understands only that he has ONE JOB: Keep The Farm Safe.

I'm the elf; the dog protecting me 24/7 is my human companion. I write my elves from this POV.

I have something like this (about the head/ear scritches) in my story.
I have a species of Rabbit Folk (They are like 40%-60% rabbit/human respectively. The Most rabbit thing about them is their legs and ears.)
They are an Amazonian race with only a few known weaknesses.
One of those is Chin Scritches. If you can manage to pin them down (Good luck, because again, Amazon/Warrior race) you can woo them by giving them chin scritches in just the 'right' way.

Though I would strongly advise not doing this. Because there is two possible responses. Either they melt into puddy (not literally) or you wind up in a stretcher. There's no in between either. It is one of their most closely guarded secrets of the clan.

 

[MSadiq]

My elves are sort of aliens. After an exceedingly long time, can turn into living stars who send holographic projections of themselves to interact with the wide interstellar neighbourhood, or multi-limbed [mostly friendly] eldritch dragonfolk, depending on what other parts of their life cycle they decide to pick. Or they can just stay elves, and not turn into anything.

This reminds of Caligo from Nightreign. It's an ice Dragon, and when you get it into phase 2, the sky changes, but you don't really notice the REAL change until the fight ends, and that's the giant eye that takes a whole side of the sky. You've been fighting a projection of her this whole time.

 

[Malik]

I feel like we are playing with different sides of a similar coin, only you opted for a more kind nature in elves, underneath all that while I went massive into "how can I run your existence more?".
You opt for them showing affection and benevolence, cherishing the short time spam like we have towards pets, while mine look at humans and most of them think "why bother with humans? they'll be gone in 50-60 years anyways."

There's a sense in my books that elves who bond with humans or hang out in the human world are the elf equivalent of "crazy cat lady." I'm sure a lot of elves just DGAF about humans and their problems.

I have an elderly neighbor who's not so much a shut-in as just insular and keeps to his own business. I've been to his house a few times and everything is absolutely square, absolutely clean, he lives alone, no pets, goes crazy if you leave a coffee cup in the sink. This is how I imagine most elves; way back in the woods, doing their own thing their own way.

Conversely, I have a good friend who's an ocean-going adventure rower. He has rowed from New York to England, and from West Africa to Puerto Rico. He rowed the length of the Mississippi--twice. His mind is fascinating, because he's wired differently than the rest of us. The elves who stay deep in the forest probably see the elves who venture out from the Faerie Stronghold, especially those who go do epic stuff, the same way a lot of people see him.

 

[D. Gray Warrior]

Or what do you dislike about them as a fantasy convention? Do you write elf /elven characters into your own writing? What form do they take? What are their origins in your worldbuilding? What type of elf / Elven characters do you like creating? Or what do you like when reading / watching / gaming when it comes to elves?

I'm on the fence whether to include elves into my own setting, but I like the anime dark elf variety.

I like elves being inherently magical while humans lack any natural affinity for magic. That way, there are actually differences between them instead of elves just being pointy-eared humans with long lifespans. Basically, they are an entire race of magic users.

My take on elves are loosely inspired by anime dark elves. They typically have darker skin, but within the human skin tone range, like brown instead of gray or pitch black. Think Indian or Latino.

They also prefer hot environments like deserts instead of the underground.

 

[Malik]

Conversely, I have a good friend who's an ocean-going adventure rower. He has rowed from New York to England, and from West Africa to Puerto Rico. He rowed the length of the Mississippi--twice. His mind is fascinating, because he's wired differently than the rest of us. The elves who stay deep in the forest probably see the elves who venture out from the Faerie Stronghold, especially those who go do epic stuff, the same way a lot of people see him.

Dude's name is Jordan Eugene Hanssen, BTW. No bullshit, he exists. Google him. Also, he's a damned fine writer and storyteller.

Legendary heroes walk among us. They may be in line next to you at Trader Joe's. You'll never know. He represents a whole other trope that would derail this thread.

I should start another.