Fair and Dark creatures - Any thoughts?

I think that this is probably something you will want to be careful with. You can probably pull it off if you want to, but there's always a risk the reader will get more hung up on a detail like skin-colour instead of more important things.

 

The problem is that you want to use the light vs dark as good vs evil, and that it will be taken in a racist context. I'd say this is mostly unavoidable, however, unless you give a specific reason as to why the two groups are the colors they are. Is the dark toned race that pigment due to being underground or something of the like? Or has their evil nature had an effect on this?

It's hard to sweep something like that under the rug because so many people can and will take it in the wrong light. My suggestion is that both races be subjected to good and evil. That would take it from a racial issue to something of a judgment of individual character.

Good luck

 

Going with a real world analogy, most things that live underground aren't necessarily dark. Rather, the lack of light means they're often pale or lacking in colour. Beings living on the surface and subjected to sunlight will have some kind of colouration to their skin - the more light they see the darker their skin.

What you could do is consider that in choosing skin colours. The underground folks, could have pale white, grey, or blue-ish skin tones, while those on the surface have warmer tones.

A person's skin tone can very depending on if they've been out in the sun all day or if they've stayed indoors in the dark all day.


NOTE: None of the above checked for scientific correctness.

 

There's a difference between pale and pale though. On the one hand you have the sickly pale with red, blood-shot eyes - maybe a bit like gollum.

Ok, maybe he doesn't have red eyes, but you get the point.

On the other hand you have someone like Roberth Smith:

Okay, so he's also pale and sickly, but he's different.

The point being that even when you have characters of the same or similar skin colour you can have big differences between them.


I wouldn't worry too much about readers asking why there aren't dark people around. There may still be, they're just living in another part of the world. You may or may not have to mention it as some travelers from that part pass through - or something. A world is a big place and and all of the things that exist in it will not be common in all parts of it.

 

Svrt has brought up good points. If you want to keep the dark tone theme, you could describe them as looking like stone or statues. Almost gargoyle-like. Otherwise, I would stay make them ghastly pale or avoid describing their tones altogether and let the reader come up with their own idea.

 

I think fantasy as a genre tends to rely heavily on white characters and "other races". Like... few books have true dark-skinned human heroes. If they're dark-skinned, they tend to be other than human. Now, I'm not trying to say that's in every case, but just a sort of standard thing I've run into. I think there are probably a lot of reasons for that and I'm not sure many readers are terribly offended by it. I mean... if I were dark-skinned, would I feel more strongly about a hero because they looked similar to me? Or would I feel I couldn't relate to a dark-skinned hero because I'm white? Probably not. I'm thinking about my kids, who constantly color people in their coloring books with dark skin... probably because crayons offer better shades of brown than... um peach or whatever. And my little daughter is wearing Princess Tiana underwear rather than Cinderella. The point is, I think most readers would feel comfortable reading about characters not of their race.

Now, to get back to the original posting... is there a problem with making the evil races dark and the good races light? Kinda. I think back to Othello and Iago and know that in Shakespeare's time, race was perhaps a funnier subject than it is now. I don't know. But, now, we have to be respectful and aware. Is there a way to establish and acknowledge racial characteristics from the real world into fantasy without opening the can of worms? I'd like to think so... but this might not be the best way. If those dark-skinned evil people live underground, it's going to feel odd because cave animals have no pigment and their skin is translucent. So.... that sticks out as an oddity to have highly pigmented skin in a place with no sunlight. One solution might be to do a mole rat kinda thing. Mole rats live in underground burrows and are naked, wrinkly, weird little blind animals. They live together in large numbers and because all their waste stays with them deep underground, they have evolved an interesting adaptation... they do not feel the pain of acid burns. So... mole rats' skin can feel pain if say, you pinch them, but acid doesn't burn them at all because they live in a technically poisonous place. Could you perhaps create a reason your underground dwellers have evolved in a way that their dark, maybe thick or special in some way skin protects them from environmental conditions?

Just an idea.

I put some dark-skinned people into one of my novels. They live on a chain of tropical islands and this MC guy married a girl he grew up with. Her father was a rich trader from the islands and he described her as a rare, exotic beauty, praising her dark skin and hair. I can't imagine how people would feel it's racist at all to simply include dark-skinned people in stories, I think it's more when they're equated to evil/darkness. I'd just think of a rational reason they have that feature and make them believable.

 

wow... I'm kinda surprised. I of course meant no offense. I guess it's hard to relate, since I grew up in a diverse place. In our home, we're pretty open with our kids about why people look different (in all ways, not specifically skin color) and we tend to be rather scientific, talking about regions and why adaptations exist. I mean, white skin, after all is an adaptation to maximize Vit D production for creatures that remain clothed and indoors half the year because it's snowing outside. So... Anne, seriously, I'm not trying to downplay anyone's right to feel differently... but I can only say, if I read a book from a POV of a MC not my race... I'd have no issues at all. I'm rather saddened other people feel differently.

You've opened my eyes (shut because I really don't consider race as a factor in my life). I'll try to be more aware of how people sometimes feel very differently and even when I can't personally understand why, they have every right to feel the way they do.

Okay... I have some questions but as you said, it isn't helpful to this thread. I'll PM them to you. Thanks.