Intro

If you’ve read my books—or even just the books I’ve recommended here on the blog—you probably know that I’ve got a thing for classic fantasy creatures. Elves, dwarves, orcs, and dragons are all awesome—which is why it’s always sad to me whenever I see other fantasy authors and readers ripping on them. (I mean, come on now, who actually doesn’t think dragons are cool? And we all know that, seasonal courts aside, “fae” is usually just the cool, trendy term for what are essentially elves.)

The reason for this stigma against these classic fantasy creatures is that many people think they’re overused and unoriginal—which, granted, they are. (Most of these creatures come from mythology, so they’ve literally been used for thousands of years.) This is something that I, personally, have never had a problem with; as a lover of fantasy, I like seeing the tropes that shaped the genre, regardless of how many times I see them—elves and dragons never get old. (Oftentimes literally.) But I do agree that a lot of writers don’t really take the time to make these creatures their own, depending too heavily on the stereotypes associated with them without throwing in anything new.

Which is why, in today’s post, I’m going to talk about how I spice up these classic fantasy creatures and make the ones in my stories unique, while still keeping them recognizable. And, spoiler alert, it’s actually very fun, so I hope it’ll convince you to give it a shot yourself!

Drawing Inspiration From the Stereotypes

We all know the drill: Dwarves are miners and warriors, known for their fiery tempers, stubbornness, loyalty, and of course their Scottish accents. Elves are beautiful, graceful—and often a little snobby—protectors of the forests, who all naturally excel at archery for some reason. Orcs are hulking, fearsome warriors who have a tendency to fall into a deadly battle rage.

None of these are bad—in fact, I make all these statements with endearment, and I think that most people who read a book with these creatures in them kind of want to see these things represented in some way, shape, or form. But they are predictable and, if I depend solely on these stereotypes when I’m planning the creatures for my story, I’m going to end up with something very unoriginal, and possibly even a little boring. Not to mention that a lot of these stereotypes, being as old as they are, have a nasty habit of making entire groups of people seem exactly the same, which doesn’t really fit our modern understanding of things. (Or, at least I’d hope it doesn’t.) So, even if I don’t want to completely throw the stereotypes out the window, I’m going to want to give these creatures my own personal touch

But, like I mentioned earlier, people reading a book about elves typically expect to see the traditional elf stuff—and being able to use that traditional elf stuff is one of the perks of using elves, or any other classic fantasy creature; they give me a base to work off of. So what do I include, and what do I leave out? As you’d probably guess, there’s no one definitive answer to that; it depends on the story and what I want this version of these creatures to be like. If I want my story to feel very Tolkienesque, I’d probably want to keep as much of the stereotypical stuff as possible—just make sure to throw in some of my own ideas too, to help it feel fresh. On the other hand, if I want to do more of a reimagining of these creatures, I’d only keep the parts of the stereotypes that I feel are essential to the creature; like, if I’m doing orcs, maybe I’d keep their general appearance and warrior culture the same, but leave the rest to my own imagination.

And I don’t only have to pull inspiration from the most traditional or Tolkienesque forms of the creature. Maybe my dragons are more based on Asian or Middle Eastern dragons than on European ones. Or maybe my elves are dark elves like you see in Dungeons and Dragons and The Elder Scrolls, instead of your typical Legolas-style elves (which, in case you didn’t know, is generally referred to as a “wood elf” in most media). One of the best things about working with these classic fantasy creatures is that, since they’ve been being used for so long, there are a lot of different interpretations out there that you can use to get ideas from, and even different subcategories that you can use instead of the more traditional ones. (Just make sure that any subcategories you’re interested in using aren’t copyrighted, of course. Wouldn’t want anyone to read this, then go off and try to use blood elves or something.) Using these lesser-used versions and subcategories is also a very effective way to escape the predictability of using classic fantasy creatures—though I would still handle them the same way I would the more common ones, choosing what I want to incorporate into my own versions and leaving room for my own ideas.

Generating My Own Ideas

Once I’ve decided what aspects of the stereotypes I’m keeping, it’s time for the next step: coming up with my own ideas to throw in there. This is the step that’s really going to make my versions of these creatures distinctive from the others, so it’s important to stop and really think about it.

The main way I come up with these other ideas is by looking at what parts of the stereotypes I’m keeping and then building off of them. Like, if my elves are protectors of nature, I might ask myself why they’re protectors of nature, and then come up with an answer. Maybe some powerful forest entity—a god or guardian or something—once helped their people in a time of need and, as repayment, the elves are now sworn to protect nature and uphold the natural order. And I could keep asking questions from there to keep fleshing it out: How, exactly, do the elves protect nature? What were the elves like before they were guardians of nature? Who is this entity who helped them, and what is the elves’ current relationship with them? Do the elves think kindly of the other peoples that might live in the area, or do they consider them a threat to nature? If they protect the natural order, what do they think about life and death? As you can see, these questions can go on and on for as long as I want to keep answering. By the time I’m done, I’ll likely have a pretty solid idea of my elves’ history and culture.

A lot of the time, I also like to come up with some physical and biological quirks for my versions of fantasy creatures too. This includes things like their general lifespans, heights, possible skin/hair/eye colorings, and any innate abilities (like night vision, supernatural strength, flight, magic that all people of this species are born with—that sort of thing). Coming up with unique appearances and/or abilities for classic fantasy creatures is one of the easiest—and most effective, in my opinion—ways to really make them stand out.

Be Mindful of Real-World Stereotypes

One of the arguments against using classic fantasy creatures that I’m more in agreement with is one that points out how a lot of these creatures were originally created for the purpose of discriminating against marginalized groups of real-world people. Creatures like goblins and orcs—and pretty much all other humanoid fantasy species that are traditionally categorized as “evil”—have their roots in racism, sexism, religious intolerance, and just about every other nasty social issue you can think of. But does that mean we shouldn’t use them?

Obviously, the choice is yours; you should do what you like or feel comfortable with. But I, of course, wouldn’t be writing this article if I thought these creatures were best left in the dust—and I’ll tell you why. Because so many of these creatures have existed in our imaginations for centuries, they’ve gone through a lot of changes—every popular fable, book, movie, and game that includes them shapes the general expectation of them in some way. The versions of elves and dwarves that we see in Lord of the Rings, for example, are very different from the original versions from Norse mythology—and yet, because of LOTR’s popularity, they’ve become the general expectation across fiction for those species. (And don’t even get me started on the fact that the term “dark elf” was originally just a synonym for “dwarf”!) The point is, these creatures have already evolved over time with society and pop culture; what’s to stop them from continuing to do that? And in a direction that’s more in accordance with our modern beliefs?

If you’re an avid follower of fantasy books and games like I am, you probably know that this has already started to happen; popular games like Dungeons and Dragons have been cutting out the politically-incorrect aspects of their lore for years now, and popular books like Legends and Lattes include orc and succubus main characters that put the old, harmful stereotypes to shame. So, as you can see, I’m far from the only person who believes that we don’t have to abandon these defining creatures of the fantasy genre; we just have to be mindful of any questionable messages they might send, and be willing to change and modernize them as necessary.

If you’re looking to use these creatures yourself, this is where the whole picking and choosing which parts of the original creatures you’re going to use part can be really handy—especially if you’re using a traditionally “evil” creature. My rule of thumb is this: No species is completely good, or completely evil. They’re all full of individuals, who have their own individual moralities. So, if I’m using a creature that’s traditionally always been depicted as “evil”, I make a point of portraying some members of that species as good guys, or just as regular people. And the reverse is also true: If I’m using a creature that’s traditionally always been depicted as “good”, I make a point of showing some members of that species doing evil things. Obviously, I still can—and often do—portray creatures in their stereotypical moralities but, by making sure that I also include things like evil dwarves and innocent orcs, I ensure that I’m not supporting biological essentialism, and that people know I’m not some crusty old Tolkien fanatic who doesn’t believe in modernization. (So it’s a win-win.)

But, of course, biological essentialism isn’t the only thing that can make a fantasy creature harmful to real-world groups. Many creatures—again, namely goblins and orcs—also include caricatures and stereotypes of marginalized groups embedded in their traditional depictions. For centuries, goblins have been used as a caricature for Jewish people, and orcs have served as representations of so-called “savage” people from Africa and Asia. Needless to say, you do not want any of this junk in your story. So, if you’re going to be using either of these creatures—or any other creature that you’re unsure about—take a real good look at what aspects of their traditional lore you’re planning to use, and do some research about the harmful stereotypes associated with them so that you know what to avoid. 

I’ve got another handy tip for these sorts of issues: Never base fantasy creatures off of real-world groups of people, even if you think you mean well; you are literally dehumanizing them. So just don’t.

Outro

That’s all for today’s post. I hope you found this interesting and helpful. Thanks for reading, and be sure to check back next month for the next writing post!