Why authors love to genocide goblins?

[kunyka]

No, I am not a goblin fan (but I don't hate them neither), I am not a goblin human right defender.
But why almost every single fantasy series feature goblins as rapists (twice shorter than waifus they are trying to rape) with 100% male ratio (unless an author makes goblins look like green-skinned elfs, like in From a Goblin into a Goblin God), slaughtered by a main character with joy?
And why orcs, way uglier and more dangerous creatures, also popular as enemies to slay - are not only portrayed having both males and females, but also being shown as "noble barbarians" sometimes? Same with trolls and ogres. Not like I hate these creatures (I find them ugly though, but it is my personal view).
I just find it weird how "Goblinslayer" made everyone portray funny-looking small humanoids with big noses and ears as rapists, whose only role is to make everyone hate them and kill instantly for what they are doing.

 

[Robinisback]

 

[5hijima]

god forbid men have a hobby smh

 

[Robinisback]

I think all Goblin sucks and should be killed equally. The only time I like seeing a goblin is in my exp bar.

 

[BakedBanana]

Maybe if you stop acting like a goblin you would understand, @kunyka.

 

[Angry_Panda]

I just find it weird how "Goblinslayer" made everyone portray funny-looking small humanoids with big noses and ears as rapists, whose only role is to make everyone hate them and kill instantly for what they are doing.

No. This goes back much further. D&D has been doing basically this for decades (albeit without the rapey bits).

 

[dino]

No, I am not a goblin fan (but I don't hate them neither), I am not a goblin human right defender.
But why almost every single fantasy series feature goblins as rapists (twice shorter than waifus they are trying to rape) with 100% male ratio (unless an author makes goblins look like green-skinned elfs, like in From a Goblin into a Goblin God), slaughtered by a main character with joy?
And why orcs, way uglier and more dangerous creatures, also popular as enemies to slay - are not only portrayed having both males and females, but also being shown as "noble barbarians" sometimes? Same with trolls and ogres. Not like I hate these creatures (I find them ugly though, but it is my personal view).
I just find it weird how "Goblinslayer" made everyone portray funny-looking small humanoids with big noses and ears as rapists, whose only role is to make everyone hate them and kill instantly for what they are doing.

Their existence is a problem, their death is the solution.

 

[Painasbread]

I prefer to kill dragons
Goblins are also good.

If you could tell me before your next thread which species I should start loving to eradicate, that'd be welcomed, thanks.

 

[colorlesseatstomboys]

I prefer to kill dragons
Goblins are also good.

If you could tell me before your next thread which species I should start loving to eradicate, that'd be welcomed, thanks.

Leave my tomboy dragon waifus alone

Fixed your reply. Your welcome!

 

[Hicleric]

Short answer is: because pulp storytelling requires reliance on standardized tropes.

Mid-length answer is: Goblins are a convenient way to introduce a disposable enemy that is human enough to trigger disgust* but inhuman enough to avoid moral issues with killing them. Once someone cough*TolkienandTSR*cough successfully sold the public on that particular portrayal, successor authors copy that portrayal as a convenient way to tell the audience "hey, these guys are bad" without having to spend too much time and effort doing so. Because writing compelling villains is hard, over time these convenient enemies become crystallized as mindless brutes.

Longerish, incomplete answer written from memory and half baked assumptions: Goblins and orcs are examples of convergent evolution of storytelling tropes. IIRC traditional folklore goblins are more like conventional house or land spirits (like brownies, dobbies house elves, dwarfs, that sort of thing), basically the beings responsible for odd sights and sounds and capricious fortune. Small beings who are never seen but whose presence can be felt. I'll readily admit I have little knowledge of where orc mythology comes from but the idea of a savage almost-human enemy goes back to, well, the origin of storytelling. Portrayal of other humans as lesser beings allows our tribal instincts to override any moral quandaries about wholesale murder, after all. It shows that we're better and have culture.

Enter Tolkien and later D&D, the former who chose to evolve common folklore into something unique and popular enough that it effectively created an entirely new folklore, and the latter of who crystallized that portrayal (especially the artistic representation of them) and created a framework for it to be used across all popular culture. Now any aspiring storyteller can rely on those basic tropes to communicate certain foundational understandings to the audience without actually having to go into details, and consequently saving the author time and energy to do something more productive. Some choose to add more plot, some choose to subvert those tropes with intricate and detailed worlds, but they're fundamentally relying on the same foundations. Over time those foundations evolve with language and culture, and the cycle continues.

*I've seen some literature suggesting the close proximity to "human" facial appearance triggers a neurological revulsion response. Consider that chimps and other great apes were long held as demonic perversions of the perfect human form, or how people tend to treat those with physical or mental disabilities (particularly those that can be seen in the face). It's our better angels that allow us to get past that instinct and actually see what's underneath.

Same logic applies to dragons. And slimes ('cept that JRPGs are what made 'em cute and not fetid slime molds).

But really, someone needs to tell me how the Japanese decided that orcs are basically just big pigs and therefore delicious. I always get a strong whiff of cannibalism whenever I see that trope come up

 

[AnonymousContributor]

Short answer is: because pulp storytelling requires reliance on standardized tropes.

Mid-length answer is: Goblins are a convenient way to introduce a disposable enemy that is human enough to trigger disgust* but inhuman enough to avoid moral issues with killing them. Once someone cough*TolkienandTSR*cough successfully sold the public on that particular portrayal, successor authors copy that portrayal as a convenient way to tell the audience "hey, these guys are bad" without having to spend too much time and effort doing so. Because writing compelling villains is hard, over time these convenient enemies become crystallized as mindless brutes.

Longerish, incomplete answer written from memory and half baked assumptions: Goblins and orcs are examples of convergent evolution of storytelling tropes. IIRC traditional folklore goblins are more like conventional house or land spirits (like brownies, dobbies house elves, dwarfs, that sort of thing), basically the beings responsible for odd sights and sounds and capricious fortune. Small beings who are never seen but whose presence can be felt. I'll readily admit I have little knowledge of where orc mythology comes from but the idea of a savage almost-human enemy goes back to, well, the origin of storytelling. Portrayal of other humans as lesser beings allows our tribal instincts to override any moral quandaries about wholesale murder, after all. It shows that we're better and have culture.

Enter Tolkien and later D&D, the former who chose to evolve common folklore into something unique and popular enough that it effectively created an entirely new folklore, and the latter of who crystallized that portrayal (especially the artistic representation of them) and created a framework for it to be used across all popular culture. Now any aspiring storyteller can rely on those basic tropes to communicate certain foundational understandings to the audience without actually having to go into details, and consequently saving the author time and energy to do something more productive. Some choose to add more plot, some choose to subvert those tropes with intricate and detailed worlds, but they're fundamentally relying on the same foundations. Over time those foundations evolve with language and culture, and the cycle continues.

*I've seen some literature suggesting the close proximity to "human" facial appearance triggers a neurological revulsion response. Consider that chimps and other great apes were long held as demonic perversions of the perfect human form, or how people tend to treat those with physical or mental disabilities (particularly those that can be seen in the face). It's our better angels that allow us to get past that instinct and actually see what's underneath.

Same logic applies to dragons. And slimes ('cept that JRPGs are what made 'em cute and not fetid slime molds).

But really, someone needs to tell me how the Japanese decided that orcs are basically just big pigs and therefore delicious. I always get a strong whiff of cannibalism whenever I see that trope come up

Tolkien had moral issues when thinking about the Orcs and kept flipflopping the origin story numerous times


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolkien's_moral_dilemma

 

[UnnamedPlayer]

Goblins are ugly, so that's fine.

 

[Hicleric]

Tolkien had moral issues when thinking about the Orcs and kept flipflopping the origin story numerous times


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolkien's_moral_dilemma

I stand corrected, I hadn't realized the term "orc" is entirely his creation. Interesting that the etymology has ties to Beowulf and Roman mythologies but no real parallel in execution.

Still gonna blame the good folks at TSR for making 'em convenient eeeevil baddies tho

 

[kn4ll]

 

[Cloverfieldo]

I like goblins

 

[panzerkampfwagyu]

I like gobbos. In fact, I will send a bunch to your location, OP, I hope you enjoy the stabbing robbing and being turned into soup. Goblin activities.

 

[panzerkampfwagyu]

View attachment 21384

Sauce?

 

[BakedBanana]

Sauce?

Saucenao says Seijo no Kyuusai The Holy Virgin's Salvation, it's NSFW.

 

[Greenfrost]

All these replies are terrible, guys. The real answer, OP, is that everything that isn't cute and fluffy should be unalived, immediately.

 

[panzerkampfwagyu]

Saucenao says Seijo no Kyuusai The Holy Virgin's Salvation, it's NSFW.

Sadly it's been a generic one that didn't do anything cool with the stuff. Just generic evil orc rape. Thanks for sharing though.