Other Fictional Orcs

Orcs From Near and Far

Orcs first appeared in the fantasy series by Tolkien set in Middle Earth. The orcs of Middle Earth were a numerous, twisted race that were employed in the armies of the Dark Lord Sauron. They were smaller and weaker than humans (ignoring of course the later created Uruk Hai) and unlike many of the variations of orcs that followed in other fantasy settings did not have the characteristic green skin which earns most orcs the nickname ‘greenskins’.

Orcs played an important role in Blizzard’s Warcraft series, being in the first few games the major ‘evil’ force. In this setting they were portrayed as a proud and strong warrior race that sadly fell afoul of demons that caused them to invade Azeroth. In Warhammer (and the futuristic Warhammer 40k) orcs also play as one of the evil armies although in this setting, while strong and large, they are portrayed as single minded, savage killing machines that will happily turn on each other if there isn’t enough to kill. In Dungeons and Dragons orcs make another appearance but less prominently due to the preponderance of other races that are evil and in large numbers (such as Kobalds and Gnolls).

There are several reasons that orcs have become so popular as antagonists to the good races and characters but the main one is probably this. There are lots of them. Orcs in nearly all settings breed faster than nearly every other race and so very quickly can build up numbers large enough to cause a serious threat. This enables the humans or elves or any other arbitrary good race to have to beat them back again and again, providing lots of action and a limitless supply of evil things to stab. The fact that they are generally portrayed as evil and not very bright also means that even though the good races may dirty their blades, they can at least fight with a clean conscience.