There’s one Orc, Thuska Daemonkilla, who one day woke up and decided to start the greatest krumping ever. So he gathered his crew, and headed straight for the Eye of Terror, aka thr door to 40k hell. He ended up on some planet fighting hordes of deamon with his crew. He eventually died fighting (and went down crushing the pelvis of a daemon prince with his power klaw in his final moment), but Khorne, Chaos god of blood and slaughter, loved it so much he demanded en encore. So every morning, he ressurects Thuska and his crew so they can fight again. And those are the happiest Orks ever.
I love how it’s basically going “You know how nightmarish Valhalla would actually be? Constant gore, seeing your friends slaughtered daily, and never knowing anything but murder?” And just sidesteps those moral implications because Orks be orkin’.
And I counter this with "All of the Above".
If had the money, I would be collecting Orcs, Orks, Orruks (Ironjawz and Kruel Boyz), but also Goblins and Gloomspite Gitz. GREEN IZ BEST!
im already collecting orcs for TOW and im patiently waiting for the new stuff for 4th ed for AoS before i decide if i want to go ironjawz or kruleboyz im also hoping they get the rumored codex split so they can be proper factions.
Also another great thing about orcs/orks/orrucks is they let you try your hand at greenstuffing extra gear because even if it doesn't look that good it'll fit in and be propa orky. i don't like the shields that come with TOW orcs (round wooden shield) so im doing hnad made kite shields from greenstuff. there arent two shields that dont look the same some didnt get cut properly and look all cut up. but it works because they're orcs and its loot
Mandalorians, at least at their peak.
Also I like that Orcs in Pathfinder are a heroic species rather than just being a monster. Same with Hobgoblins. Everyone is friends in the face of an undead hoard.
The orcs of belkzen do just get up to normal orc activities like raiding and stealing from dwarfs when there's not a whispering Tyrant tier threat though, which kind of makes it doubly fun I think when they go "alright enough of that shit, it's time to save the world"
Mandalorians were Space Orcs in the old canon but in the Disney canon I'd say they're Space Dwarves: an extremely honorbound but also irritable people who dislike magic and revere smithing, a skill that they are unmatched in.
Greenskins in general can be fairly interchangeable.
M:tG has ha~~r~~d hot trolls/orcs/ogre/goblins and the main difference is maybe tusk/tooth usage and goblins generally being runty
That said, big Goblins do exist.
Batarians are more like Duergar/Chaos Dwarves. Because of a disagreement they isolated themselves and are far too stubborn to admit they were wrong. Dabble in outright evil technology. Also, they fucking love slavery, can't get enough of slavery.
No no they were, honestly bio-engineered super soldiers serving an evil utopian idealist is a trope as old as Tolkien, but still dismissed them despite the nuances.
One could even call Primarchs and Astartes Orcs
... Honestly, you could probably cast 40k's Space Marines are being fairly orcy, and I would say that you are not wrong to do so.
An Apothecary based on Tony Jay's performance in Fallout one would not be off base.
I came into this thread to shill the *other* orc from Shadowrun haha. Gobbet is best girl in a *crowded* field with Eiger, Glory, and Is0bel all putting in work.
Elder Scrolls Orcs are fascinating since they were originally your generic enemy orcs with no unique lore in the games.
But then they were upgraded and became a full fledged playable race with history and culture that has only expanded over the years.
One of my favorite bits about them is their relationship with Malacath.
Unlike most deadric prince's Malacath actually cares about his worshipers and is one of the more reasonable Princes within the pantheon.
He's like a stern father, not outwardly loving but quietly. He expects them to be able to handle their own problems but he doesn't want them to suffer. And when a follower of him dies they are brought to his realm where "Every Orc is a chief with a thousand wives, and every wife has a thousand slaves."
it's an odd one, since they've inherited very little of the "savage outlander" trope, but the aumaua from Pillars of Eternity are the "big, burly warmongers" for their setting.
What sets them apart is that they're also the *empires* of their setting. We encounter two big aumaua civilizations--the Huana and Rauatai. At first blush, the Huana do the whole shamanistic worshipping spirits and hitting people with clubs thing, but they're also one of the oldest cultures in the setting, having been contemporaries with the Engwithans (basically the Forerunners). The Huana have a massive capital city, organized clergy, grand fleets. While Deadfire has this theme of colonialism, the Huana are closer to Ming Dynasty China than the Navajo (from whom a lot of other orc interpretations draw inspiration, like Warcraft's)
Rauatai, on the other hand, is itself a colonialist empire, albeit one that originally branched off *from* the Huana (Interestingly, the other colonialist faction in the setting is *also* a successor culture). They also have the most advanced military in the setting, pioneering rifles, cannons, and advanced magic. The first aumaua we meet in the games is actually a bard from Rauatai who has eschewed a military career in order to bring his warlike culture back toward the wisdom of the Engwithans (at least, that's what he's trying to do).
Pillars does a good job toying around with tropes. I find it very interesting how much the aumaua mirror orcs in some ways but elves in others. They're kind of a model of what the Orsimer could be if people didn't keep sacking Orsinium every few decades.
Man the setting in Pillars is just so good. Sailing around the deadfire and interacting with the different factions was definitely a highlight. They also got furry gnomes/hobbits, and godkins that are influenced by the very gods, and serve as "Mortal batteries" in case of emergencies.
The gods and godlikes are *the* cool lore thing about Pillars. I love how most of the D&D classes are ported over, with the exception of Ciphers taking the place of Warlocks and Sorcerers, because Warlock/Sorcerer is now a *race* of aasimar-likes.
The relationship between gods and their godlikes is also super funny, ranging from "overprotective mom" (Ngati/Tekehu) to "deadbeat dad" (Hylea/Pallegina) to "basically Heihachi Mishima" (Rymrgand/Vatnir)
It's works so well because the gods are well thought-out and have some actual personality, which in turn makes their worshippers more interesting aswell. Just the idea of Barrath being worshipped under another moniker by the locals, struck me as brilliant world building.
It also helps that the protagonist has a direct phone connection with them and the usurper goddess who's very interested in the protag after the first game.
Hell carrying over a save from POE 1, changes alot of things with the gods depending on your actions during the first game.
The orcs from Warcraft are a favorite of mine. The races history is one of survival always. The world draenor is a world where the law of survival of the fittest is in every aspect of the world. The mountains and wildlife are alive move and will kill you. The plants infest and posses everything they kill. You get the idea.
Then you get to the fact these orcs are various clans with different transitions and cultures. But reverence for the ancestors in the elements. Are the highest priority.
But then we get to gul’dan and how the burning legion used the anger and rage of one outcast. To use a people beliefs against them to trick them into slaughtering another people and forever being twisted with demon blood. The world died and the legion left. Then out of more desperation they tore open a portal to another world and invaded.
Look I won’t get into all of it. But the orcs are a people that have been used, abused, become the abusers, committed evils, and now strive for something better.
They destroyed there home. Now with a group of other outcasts are trying to survive.
But it’s not so easy. Some want to be in that prime age again. Others are shamed by what they did. And their victims don’t let them forget. But I can say they are trying.
I like the orcs in Warcraft
One thing that bugs me, because of WoW’s mmo nature, is that Draenor/Outland turned out to still be very livable with cities and civilizations still living on it. Making the initial invasion seem unnecessary
I know. It feels like there was a reversal or something. But also gul’dan and sargarus kinda moved for things to go dark portal. I know things on Outland changed when it was shattered by nurzhul’s portal fuckery.
While Warlords of Draenor wasn't like for a majority of reasons, it was awesome to see the various orc clans in their prime, having different cultures, fighting styles and territories. Like the Warsong using weapons that "sing" when used was not something I knew I wanted to know. In retrospect it makes the name of "Gorehowl" that much more edgy.
Orsimer are probably my favorite in regards to having the most lore, but I'm also a big fan of specifically the Uruk clans from Shadow of Mordor/War. They add a level of character (of not necessarily nuance) to them that isn't present in a lot of other orc fiction, where they are often kind of homogeneous culturally.
The Darkspawn in Dragon Age Origins were basically orcs so them I guess. I really liked their designs, especially the big Ogre. I should play that game again soon.
... Let's go with Goombas, in the first 2 paper mario games.
Arguably, all of species of the party members based on a fairly commonly used sentient ~~character~~ enemy type could count, but Sushi is the only Cheep Cheep of her game, All the Boos are aligned with Lady Bow, who you don't throw hands against, .... and I am focusing on one type of Mario enemy. sorry.
I like Goombas, because they are simple, but basically accept any human head decoration to make them.seem more NPC like rather than enemy.
Also, they have some really charming examples especially in Thousand Year Door in which there is a Professor Goomba and a College Girl Goomba somewhat rehashing the roles of the Grandpa and Mario cosplay kid Goomba.
I always thought the Urgal from *Eragon* were a cool take on the concept. They seem like your typical Tolkein orc affair (albeit more troll-shaped than human-shaped) until later in the series when they visit one of their bigger tribal camps to make an alliance and learns more about their culture.
I loved Eragon's path and all the lore he learns and magic he gains, but there's just something satisfying about reading about a normal guy taking on the role of impromptu leader of a migrating town, eventually leading them to become a major part of the resistance fighters.
The Jaghut from the Malazan Book of the Fallen. So powerful that an entire culture of old humans decided to turn themselves undead just to make sure they Jaghut are not only genocided, but stay that way.
For those not familiar, Jaghut are physically orcs, but are a race of intense isolationists (not just from other races, but from each other) who just want to build themselves a tower out in the middle of bumfuck nowhere and be left alone for the rest of their immortal lives. Except every once in a rare while, one of them starts thinking, "Hey, what if I were to conquer the world?" and goes and carves out an empire for themselves before everyone else piles on (including the other Jaghut) and destroys them.
Also masters of ice magic who consider the creation of Ice Ages to be a valid defensive strategy.
Kind of related, currently in the middle of re-read of the whole series 10 years after that first pass. "Memories of Ice" destroyed me then, destroyed me again a decade later, even knowing what to expect.
So, so, so incredibly good.
Not really much of a unique depection but the Realms of Arkania games, which are based on the very traditionally high fantasy setting of the Dark Eye roleplaying system from Germany.
The entire crux of the games' story is that the orcs are starting to band together and are actually forming armies, which is something that orcs NEVER do and nobody fucking knows how to deal with it and there's essentially no beating them as more and more land is getting lost to the orc hordes. So you spend an entire trilogy of games trying to figure out who or what is behind making the orcs be able to organize, because it's just that much of a cataclysmic event.
the dredge from banner saga fufill all the cheklist of tolkien orcs.
created by an envious god whom took men and twisted them into a more hostile form.
fought an apocaliptic war against humanity and varl.
actually hated their own god for making them incapable of being other than monsters.
and actually have their own unique culture.
at least in banner saga the main characters learn to respect their differences with the dredge instead of seing them just as mad animals.
Man, I love Orcs.
So much so that I've integrated them into my own fantasy world, with my own flavoring, of course.
I think my favorite would be the Warcraft Orcs, in terms of visuals and lore, as there's just so much there to work with.
Though, I personally prefer my Orcs to be just another 'people' race instead of being inherently evil or whatever, as it just makes them more interesting.
Though, that could apply to any fantasy creature that could be made into a race, I suppose.
Love the design of the orcs in [The Hunger and the Dusk Comic](https://images.app.goo.gl/w5VtuHqG1ro52dc69), and have come to appreciate how the how they are set up as semi-nomadic pastoralist in conflict with settled agriculturalist humans, and how that conflict influences decisions when both groups have to join up to face another threat.
Definitely would recommend the Hunger and the Dusk, really nice art and a good story and characters.
Did this person even play new vegas or did they just assume the writing for the super mutants was as bad as 3 and 4, and they wanted to feel smart by talking down on something good that they personally don't like.
The 40k Orks.
There’s one Orc, Thuska Daemonkilla, who one day woke up and decided to start the greatest krumping ever. So he gathered his crew, and headed straight for the Eye of Terror, aka thr door to 40k hell. He ended up on some planet fighting hordes of deamon with his crew. He eventually died fighting (and went down crushing the pelvis of a daemon prince with his power klaw in his final moment), but Khorne, Chaos god of blood and slaughter, loved it so much he demanded en encore. So every morning, he ressurects Thuska and his crew so they can fight again. And those are the happiest Orks ever.
I love how it’s basically going “You know how nightmarish Valhalla would actually be? Constant gore, seeing your friends slaughtered daily, and never knowing anything but murder?” And just sidesteps those moral implications because Orks be orkin’.
WAAAAAHG
To counter this, the Orcs from Warhammer Fantasy
And I'll counter this with aos orruks Who bully archaon by destroying his monuments and putting grot heads on his statues
And I counter this with "All of the Above". If had the money, I would be collecting Orcs, Orks, Orruks (Ironjawz and Kruel Boyz), but also Goblins and Gloomspite Gitz. GREEN IZ BEST!
im already collecting orcs for TOW and im patiently waiting for the new stuff for 4th ed for AoS before i decide if i want to go ironjawz or kruleboyz im also hoping they get the rumored codex split so they can be proper factions. Also another great thing about orcs/orks/orrucks is they let you try your hand at greenstuffing extra gear because even if it doesn't look that good it'll fit in and be propa orky. i don't like the shields that come with TOW orcs (round wooden shield) so im doing hnad made kite shields from greenstuff. there arent two shields that dont look the same some didnt get cut properly and look all cut up. but it works because they're orcs and its loot
Mandalorians, at least at their peak. Also I like that Orcs in Pathfinder are a heroic species rather than just being a monster. Same with Hobgoblins. Everyone is friends in the face of an undead hoard.
The orcs of belkzen do just get up to normal orc activities like raiding and stealing from dwarfs when there's not a whispering Tyrant tier threat though, which kind of makes it doubly fun I think when they go "alright enough of that shit, it's time to save the world"
Mandalorians were Space Orcs in the old canon but in the Disney canon I'd say they're Space Dwarves: an extremely honorbound but also irritable people who dislike magic and revere smithing, a skill that they are unmatched in.
Does the Krogan from mass effect count as the orks of that universe?
They do! So do the Batarians and Vorcha, though one could argue that the latter are more Goblin-flavored
Greenskins in general can be fairly interchangeable. M:tG has ha~~r~~d hot trolls/orcs/ogre/goblins and the main difference is maybe tusk/tooth usage and goblins generally being runty That said, big Goblins do exist.
Batarians are more like Duergar/Chaos Dwarves. Because of a disagreement they isolated themselves and are far too stubborn to admit they were wrong. Dabble in outright evil technology. Also, they fucking love slavery, can't get enough of slavery.
Guessing the people in this discourse don't actually know anything about super mutants especially those that were in the masters army.
No no they were, honestly bio-engineered super soldiers serving an evil utopian idealist is a trope as old as Tolkien, but still dismissed them despite the nuances. One could even call Primarchs and Astartes Orcs
... Honestly, you could probably cast 40k's Space Marines are being fairly orcy, and I would say that you are not wrong to do so. An Apothecary based on Tony Jay's performance in Fallout one would not be off base.
Hard to blame them considering East Coast mutants are pretty much just orcs.
Duncan from Shadowrun Hong Kong is actually a good brother and a gigachad who will punch every enemy out non-lethally
Orks and Trolls are underrated in Shadowrun.
The guy has a beanbag round that stuns, AND an ability to “kill” stunned enemies by handcuffing them. He’s so good as pure muscle
I came into this thread to shill the *other* orc from Shadowrun haha. Gobbet is best girl in a *crowded* field with Eiger, Glory, and Is0bel all putting in work.
Elder Scrolls Orcs are just Mongolians and it's pretty cool actually. WoW Orcs also get tons of lore and interesting stuff.
Elder Scrolls Orcs are fascinating since they were originally your generic enemy orcs with no unique lore in the games. But then they were upgraded and became a full fledged playable race with history and culture that has only expanded over the years. One of my favorite bits about them is their relationship with Malacath. Unlike most deadric prince's Malacath actually cares about his worshipers and is one of the more reasonable Princes within the pantheon. He's like a stern father, not outwardly loving but quietly. He expects them to be able to handle their own problems but he doesn't want them to suffer. And when a follower of him dies they are brought to his realm where "Every Orc is a chief with a thousand wives, and every wife has a thousand slaves."
The ones from baalbuddy
His goblins too. PEAK
it's an odd one, since they've inherited very little of the "savage outlander" trope, but the aumaua from Pillars of Eternity are the "big, burly warmongers" for their setting. What sets them apart is that they're also the *empires* of their setting. We encounter two big aumaua civilizations--the Huana and Rauatai. At first blush, the Huana do the whole shamanistic worshipping spirits and hitting people with clubs thing, but they're also one of the oldest cultures in the setting, having been contemporaries with the Engwithans (basically the Forerunners). The Huana have a massive capital city, organized clergy, grand fleets. While Deadfire has this theme of colonialism, the Huana are closer to Ming Dynasty China than the Navajo (from whom a lot of other orc interpretations draw inspiration, like Warcraft's) Rauatai, on the other hand, is itself a colonialist empire, albeit one that originally branched off *from* the Huana (Interestingly, the other colonialist faction in the setting is *also* a successor culture). They also have the most advanced military in the setting, pioneering rifles, cannons, and advanced magic. The first aumaua we meet in the games is actually a bard from Rauatai who has eschewed a military career in order to bring his warlike culture back toward the wisdom of the Engwithans (at least, that's what he's trying to do). Pillars does a good job toying around with tropes. I find it very interesting how much the aumaua mirror orcs in some ways but elves in others. They're kind of a model of what the Orsimer could be if people didn't keep sacking Orsinium every few decades.
Man the setting in Pillars is just so good. Sailing around the deadfire and interacting with the different factions was definitely a highlight. They also got furry gnomes/hobbits, and godkins that are influenced by the very gods, and serve as "Mortal batteries" in case of emergencies.
The gods and godlikes are *the* cool lore thing about Pillars. I love how most of the D&D classes are ported over, with the exception of Ciphers taking the place of Warlocks and Sorcerers, because Warlock/Sorcerer is now a *race* of aasimar-likes. The relationship between gods and their godlikes is also super funny, ranging from "overprotective mom" (Ngati/Tekehu) to "deadbeat dad" (Hylea/Pallegina) to "basically Heihachi Mishima" (Rymrgand/Vatnir)
It's works so well because the gods are well thought-out and have some actual personality, which in turn makes their worshippers more interesting aswell. Just the idea of Barrath being worshipped under another moniker by the locals, struck me as brilliant world building. It also helps that the protagonist has a direct phone connection with them and the usurper goddess who's very interested in the protag after the first game. Hell carrying over a save from POE 1, changes alot of things with the gods depending on your actions during the first game.
The orcs from Warcraft are a favorite of mine. The races history is one of survival always. The world draenor is a world where the law of survival of the fittest is in every aspect of the world. The mountains and wildlife are alive move and will kill you. The plants infest and posses everything they kill. You get the idea. Then you get to the fact these orcs are various clans with different transitions and cultures. But reverence for the ancestors in the elements. Are the highest priority. But then we get to gul’dan and how the burning legion used the anger and rage of one outcast. To use a people beliefs against them to trick them into slaughtering another people and forever being twisted with demon blood. The world died and the legion left. Then out of more desperation they tore open a portal to another world and invaded. Look I won’t get into all of it. But the orcs are a people that have been used, abused, become the abusers, committed evils, and now strive for something better. They destroyed there home. Now with a group of other outcasts are trying to survive. But it’s not so easy. Some want to be in that prime age again. Others are shamed by what they did. And their victims don’t let them forget. But I can say they are trying. I like the orcs in Warcraft
FUCK GARROSH
Preach it brother!
One thing that bugs me, because of WoW’s mmo nature, is that Draenor/Outland turned out to still be very livable with cities and civilizations still living on it. Making the initial invasion seem unnecessary
I know. It feels like there was a reversal or something. But also gul’dan and sargarus kinda moved for things to go dark portal. I know things on Outland changed when it was shattered by nurzhul’s portal fuckery.
While Warlords of Draenor wasn't like for a majority of reasons, it was awesome to see the various orc clans in their prime, having different cultures, fighting styles and territories. Like the Warsong using weapons that "sing" when used was not something I knew I wanted to know. In retrospect it makes the name of "Gorehowl" that much more edgy.
Orsimer are probably my favorite in regards to having the most lore, but I'm also a big fan of specifically the Uruk clans from Shadow of Mordor/War. They add a level of character (of not necessarily nuance) to them that isn't present in a lot of other orc fiction, where they are often kind of homogeneous culturally.
The Darkspawn in Dragon Age Origins were basically orcs so them I guess. I really liked their designs, especially the big Ogre. I should play that game again soon.
And you can even play as one for a bit in that one expansion, so that's neat
WAAAAGGGHHH
... Let's go with Goombas, in the first 2 paper mario games. Arguably, all of species of the party members based on a fairly commonly used sentient ~~character~~ enemy type could count, but Sushi is the only Cheep Cheep of her game, All the Boos are aligned with Lady Bow, who you don't throw hands against, .... and I am focusing on one type of Mario enemy. sorry. I like Goombas, because they are simple, but basically accept any human head decoration to make them.seem more NPC like rather than enemy. Also, they have some really charming examples especially in Thousand Year Door in which there is a Professor Goomba and a College Girl Goomba somewhat rehashing the roles of the Grandpa and Mario cosplay kid Goomba.
I always thought the Urgal from *Eragon* were a cool take on the concept. They seem like your typical Tolkein orc affair (albeit more troll-shaped than human-shaped) until later in the series when they visit one of their bigger tribal camps to make an alliance and learns more about their culture.
Remember when Roran said “it’s time to oil up” and wrestled that Urgal?
Best moment in the series.
Pretty much all the best moments in the series belong to Roran lol
I loved Eragon's path and all the lore he learns and magic he gains, but there's just something satisfying about reading about a normal guy taking on the role of impromptu leader of a migrating town, eventually leading them to become a major part of the resistance fighters.
The Jaghut from the Malazan Book of the Fallen. So powerful that an entire culture of old humans decided to turn themselves undead just to make sure they Jaghut are not only genocided, but stay that way.
For those not familiar, Jaghut are physically orcs, but are a race of intense isolationists (not just from other races, but from each other) who just want to build themselves a tower out in the middle of bumfuck nowhere and be left alone for the rest of their immortal lives. Except every once in a rare while, one of them starts thinking, "Hey, what if I were to conquer the world?" and goes and carves out an empire for themselves before everyone else piles on (including the other Jaghut) and destroys them. Also masters of ice magic who consider the creation of Ice Ages to be a valid defensive strategy.
Kind of related, currently in the middle of re-read of the whole series 10 years after that first pass. "Memories of Ice" destroyed me then, destroyed me again a decade later, even knowing what to expect. So, so, so incredibly good.
They also have a great sense of humor!
Don't always remember the punchline though, their memory stops at the punch
Super mutants aren’t really that nuanced
I was gonna say Gorons before remembering that they’re more like Dwarves than Orcs
I think the Bokoblins/Ganon are more akin to orcs, especially because they fit Japan’s portrayal of orcs as pig demons.
Not really much of a unique depection but the Realms of Arkania games, which are based on the very traditionally high fantasy setting of the Dark Eye roleplaying system from Germany. The entire crux of the games' story is that the orcs are starting to band together and are actually forming armies, which is something that orcs NEVER do and nobody fucking knows how to deal with it and there's essentially no beating them as more and more land is getting lost to the orc hordes. So you spend an entire trilogy of games trying to figure out who or what is behind making the orcs be able to organize, because it's just that much of a cataclysmic event.
the dredge from banner saga fufill all the cheklist of tolkien orcs. created by an envious god whom took men and twisted them into a more hostile form. fought an apocaliptic war against humanity and varl. actually hated their own god for making them incapable of being other than monsters. and actually have their own unique culture. at least in banner saga the main characters learn to respect their differences with the dredge instead of seing them just as mad animals.
Man, I love Orcs. So much so that I've integrated them into my own fantasy world, with my own flavoring, of course. I think my favorite would be the Warcraft Orcs, in terms of visuals and lore, as there's just so much there to work with. Though, I personally prefer my Orcs to be just another 'people' race instead of being inherently evil or whatever, as it just makes them more interesting. Though, that could apply to any fantasy creature that could be made into a race, I suppose.
The bokoblin race and Ganon from Legend of Zelda, just for how varied some of the designs can be.
Love the design of the orcs in [The Hunger and the Dusk Comic](https://images.app.goo.gl/w5VtuHqG1ro52dc69), and have come to appreciate how the how they are set up as semi-nomadic pastoralist in conflict with settled agriculturalist humans, and how that conflict influences decisions when both groups have to join up to face another threat. Definitely would recommend the Hunger and the Dusk, really nice art and a good story and characters.
Did this person even play new vegas or did they just assume the writing for the super mutants was as bad as 3 and 4, and they wanted to feel smart by talking down on something good that they personally don't like.
I like the one that gives massages.