Race to the bottom
July 5th 2008 01:54
If race is a hot-button unmentionable in politics, imagine how much more vehement and emotional the quarrels get in fantasy writing and gaming where nothing major is at stake. In Magic, each race that can appear as a creature type attracts venomously partisan supporters who flood message boards with every new set announcement, demanding that every creature in that set have typelines like Orc Wizard or Dwarf Soldier.
Now, I admit to a fairly strong bias towards elves, but the fact remains that dwarfs have never fit well in Magic. They always had to compete for attention with other iconic red species. Dragons were more instinctively exciting, much as you would expect from big scary monsters with treasure hoards when compared to short, fat, cave-dwelling jewelry-makers. Not only were goblins stronger in gameplay, but their flavor elements also fit more easily into red, due partly to the founders’ miscasting of dwarfs compared to the established fantasy trope. There is little reason that the original dwarf cards were red, other than the fact that Tolkien’s dwarfs lived in mountains. But red is also war and aggression, chaos and passion. Dwarfs are certainly known for waging wars and holding epic grudges, but they also have strictly regimented societies based on clan loyalty and honor. A society like that would be white in Magic.
Historically, many fantasy settings have found it difficult to get past Tolkien’s conventions. A few fans can even be heard implying that a setting isn’t complete until it includes every single race from Lord of the Rings.
Many people have tried to put their own spin on Tolkien’s creatures, notably the Dungeons and Dragons background writers. The problem is that he himself only used the different races to illustrate things about human psychology, and wasn’t even trying to make them fully-developed cultures when he invented them. As a result, attempts to flesh them out only work up to a point, after which you run out of “canon” to work with and have to start either making things up or extending and exaggerating the race’s stereotypes. Making things up is good for those clever enough to do so, and what they write can become a fantasy convention in its own right. It also risks alienating the Tolkien orthodox (“THESE AREN’T REAL ELVES!!1”). On the other hand, even Papa John might raise an eyebrow at the extremity of the Monster Manual’s hut-dwelling Luddite hobbits. Perhaps the bottom line is that no-one – up to Wizards of the Coast – should write a specific race into their work simply because they feel they have to.
There were also Balrogs and a barrow wight in The Fellowship of the Ring. Does that mean they have to appear in Magic, too?
Now, I admit to a fairly strong bias towards elves, but the fact remains that dwarfs have never fit well in Magic. They always had to compete for attention with other iconic red species. Dragons were more instinctively exciting, much as you would expect from big scary monsters with treasure hoards when compared to short, fat, cave-dwelling jewelry-makers. Not only were goblins stronger in gameplay, but their flavor elements also fit more easily into red, due partly to the founders’ miscasting of dwarfs compared to the established fantasy trope. There is little reason that the original dwarf cards were red, other than the fact that Tolkien’s dwarfs lived in mountains. But red is also war and aggression, chaos and passion. Dwarfs are certainly known for waging wars and holding epic grudges, but they also have strictly regimented societies based on clan loyalty and honor. A society like that would be white in Magic.
Historically, many fantasy settings have found it difficult to get past Tolkien’s conventions. A few fans can even be heard implying that a setting isn’t complete until it includes every single race from Lord of the Rings.
Apparently the problem with the Belgariad was the lack of orcs and elves. Not the Luke Skywalker cookie-cutter clone who was the hero. Not the wildly out-of-character pronouncements that sprung up every second chapter. Not the stereotyped, illogical “first they hate each other then they love each other” sub-plot. Not the utterly predictable deus ex machina ending. Those were fine, but not having orcs ruined it.
Many people have tried to put their own spin on Tolkien’s creatures, notably the Dungeons and Dragons background writers. The problem is that he himself only used the different races to illustrate things about human psychology, and wasn’t even trying to make them fully-developed cultures when he invented them. As a result, attempts to flesh them out only work up to a point, after which you run out of “canon” to work with and have to start either making things up or extending and exaggerating the race’s stereotypes. Making things up is good for those clever enough to do so, and what they write can become a fantasy convention in its own right. It also risks alienating the Tolkien orthodox (“THESE AREN’T REAL ELVES!!1”). On the other hand, even Papa John might raise an eyebrow at the extremity of the Monster Manual’s hut-dwelling Luddite hobbits. Perhaps the bottom line is that no-one – up to Wizards of the Coast – should write a specific race into their work simply because they feel they have to.
Enjoy it while you can, groundlings.
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