Orcs / Orks

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About

Orcs, sometimes spelled Orks, are a fictional humanoid race that can be found in several works of fiction such as J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, as well as in tabletop and video games.^[1] However, their form and personality can vary considerably between mediums.

Origins

Orcs In Literature

J.R.R. Tolkien

Orcs in Tabletop and Video Games

The Elder Scrolls

Warcraft / World of Warcraft

Warhammer Fantasy

Warhammer 40,000

Orcs In Japanese Media

Orcs in Japanese media tend to have a more piglike appearance than their western counterparts, and usually feature pinkish skin compared to the green skin of western orcs. Good examples of this can be found in the Dragon Quest video game series (shown below, left), as well as in the anime series Sword Art Online: Alicization (shown below, right). These orcs may also be known as "porcs", "inojin", or "butatō".^[2]

According to Japanese Wikipedia^[3], Pixiv Encyclopedia^[4], accounts by fans of fantasy novels and Tabletop RPGs^[5], and the Japanese TRPG designer Yusuke Tokita's article published on video game news media Famitsu.com in 2018^[6], Japan's pig-like Orcs have their root in the book Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual^[7] illustrated by David C. Sutherland III in 1977. It's also pointed out that the illustration used "Captured by The Orcs," the Brothers Hildebrant's 1976 work for a calendar of the Lord of the Rings, as the reference (shown below, left). Those accounts commonly added that this book inspired many Japanese creators of high fantasy novels, light novels, and JRPG titles because they were enthusiastic TRPG players while using it as the de-facto official reference in the early 1980s. Produced by this generation, the 1985 Japanese book Wizardly Monsters Manual by Game Arts provided an AD&D-inspired Pig-like Orc illustration by the Japanese illustrator Abe Japon (below, center), despite the original video game never depicting the monster in such form. The 1987 video games Dragon Quest II and Japanized version of Wizardly: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord^[8] have pig-faced Orcs, illustrated by Akira Toriyama^[9] (above, left) and Jun Suemi^[10] (below, right), respectively. The former in the historical hit video game has affected the visual image of Orcs in the Japanese media. The online glossary adds that Japanese fantasy titles came to depict Orcs as not just greedy monsters but more intelligent characters with various personalities, similar to other fantasy races, after the early 2000s and explains the 1989 card game Monster Maker 5: Sofia's Holy Knights^[11] is the oldest instance of this kind.

Search Interest

External References