Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 9,10 (click to see context) from:
* The [[TheFairFolk People]] in ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'' call humans "[[FantasticSlur Mud Men]]", and the few human characters they interact with never really call them out on it. This is somewhat justified as fairies, as a species, are more environmentally minded and peaceful than humans are and [[MagnificentBastard Artemis]] gives them credit for that. Individually however, there are plenty of shady and some downright evil fairies, and for all their advanced technology, Mud Boy Artemis can rival the best fairy scientists.
to:
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* In ''Literature/TheDeathMageWhoDoesntWantAFourthTime'', it's mentioned that [[FantasticRacism a lot of people hate elves]] because they often go for high-ranking positions and then [[TheAgeless never leave, spending thousands of years]] as dukes and viscounts while humans only get a few decades if any. Imagine applying for a job with two years' experience, only to get screwed over by a guy with ''two hundred''.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 37 (click to see context) from:
** Frodo himself in ''[[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings The Fellowship Of The Ring]]'' gently mocks Gildor for answering a question with a vague proverb by coming up with another proverb that one should not ask elves because they will they say yes and no at the same time. Averted because Gildor himself thought it was ActuallyPrettyFunny.
to:
** Frodo himself in ''[[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings The Fellowship Of The Ring]]'' gently mocks Gildor for answering a question with a vague proverb by coming up with another proverb that one should not ask elves because they will they say yes and no at the same time.time[[note]]Due to their long lifespans and long memories one would expect elves to look at a problem from all sides before deciding on a course of action. This must be infuriating for more hasty folk like men and hobbits[[/note]]. Averted because Gildor himself thought it was ActuallyPrettyFunny.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 37 (click to see context) from:
** Frodo himself in ''[[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings The Fellowship Of The Ring]]'' gently mocks Gildor's NonAnswer to his question by coming up with a fake "proverb" that one can't ask an elf anything, because they say yes and no at the same time. Averted because Gildor himself thought it was ActuallyPrettyFunny.
to:
** Frodo himself in ''[[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings The Fellowship Of The Ring]]'' gently mocks Gildor's NonAnswer to his Gildor for answering a question with a vague proverb by coming up with a fake "proverb" another proverb that one can't should not ask an elf anything, elves because they will they say yes and no at the same time. Averted because Gildor himself thought it was ActuallyPrettyFunny.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 10 (click to see context) from:
* The [[TheFairFolk People]] in ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'' call humans "[[FantasticSlur Mud Men]]", and the few human characters they interact with never really call them out on it. Possibly because said humans (especially [[MagnificentBastard Artemis]]) tend to notice that the People are the ones [[TheMasquerade hiding from the humans]], so what are they so proud of? Also because Artemis agrees that humans fight too much and ruin the ecosystem, the People's most common arguments.
to:
* The [[TheFairFolk People]] in ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'' call humans "[[FantasticSlur Mud Men]]", and the few human characters they interact with never really call them out on it. Possibly because said This is somewhat justified as fairies, as a species, are more environmentally minded and peaceful than humans (especially are and [[MagnificentBastard Artemis]]) tend to notice that the People Artemis]] gives them credit for that. Individually however, there are the ones [[TheMasquerade hiding from the humans]], so what are they so proud of? Also because plenty of shady and some downright evil fairies, and for all their advanced technology, Mud Boy Artemis agrees that humans fight too much and ruin the ecosystem, the People's most common arguments.can rival the best fairy scientists.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 54 (click to see context) from:
to:
* Lampshaded in ''Literature/TheWasteLands'' when Eddie sees the city of Lud in the distance and muses about finding some "wise fuckin' elves!" who would give the ka-tet some food and supplies and maybe tell them the best route to the Dark Tower. He's in an AfterTheEnd CrapsackWorld, so he's not surprised when this doesn't happen.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Alphabetized examples.
Added DiffLines:
%%%
%%
%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks!
%%
%%%
Times where you CantArgueWithElves in {{Literature}}.
----
* The [[TheFairFolk People]] in ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'' call humans "[[FantasticSlur Mud Men]]", and the few human characters they interact with never really call them out on it. Possibly because said humans (especially [[MagnificentBastard Artemis]]) tend to notice that the People are the ones [[TheMasquerade hiding from the humans]], so what are they so proud of? Also because Artemis agrees that humans fight too much and ruin the ecosystem, the People's most common arguments.
* Kitai of the Marat in ''Literature/CodexAlera'' often talks about the shortcomings of the human Alerans, but she avoids the usual problems of this trope because: she herself is a likeable and sympathetic character, her exclamations of "_____ is/are insane!" are usually a RunningGag played for comic effect, her observations take the form of "your people are crazy" rather than "my people are awesome" and her criticisms are of social institutions that are either harmlessly ridiculous (the prudishness about nudity and sex) or clearly immoral (slavery), so she has a point. Any annoyance is also reduced by the fact that her people are clearly ''not'' intended by the author to be a perfect SuperiorSpecies; in the first book they are TheHorde of savage cannibals whom the BigBad easily manipulates into doing his dirty work with the intention of crushing them afterwards, and though they quickly show themselves to be a complex people their society clearly has a host of its own problems, even if they're different problems from the "civilised" Alerans.
* The Abh in ''Literature/CrestOfTheStars'' and its sequels, being essentially SpaceElves, fits this trope perfectly, to the point that the Abh Empress can arrogantly proclaim to a group of human ambassadors that if they win the interstellar war that is brewing behind the scenes, there will be permanent peace within the galaxy because there will no longer be any more petty disputes amongst humans that can escalate into all-out war. And then the trope is subverted by the other half of the humanity (notoriously, Abh ''do not'' [[ProHumanTranshuman consider themselves a different race]]) basically saying "ScrewYouElves", and going to war. Both societies are shown as seriously flawed, though Abh still come out as ''less'' of the {{hypocrite}}s somehow.
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' uses this with TheFairFolk, whose glamour produces a crushing inferiority complex in others. Readily averted by cats, bees, and any character that thinks like a witch (that is: very, very hard). Also by dwarves and trolls, whose instinctive reaction on meeting an elf is to bash it with something hard, heavy and/or sharp.
* Creator/StevenBrust's ''Literature/{{Dragaera}}'' novels are built on the question of "if elves are so amazing and perfect, how come they aren't dominating the world?" In Dragaera, they ''are''. However, this comes not from any moral superiority: just the advantages of a greater size, a much longer lifespan and a culture that integrates 100,000 years of study in magic and strategy. It's even suggested they were ''made'' so by their AbusivePrecursors. As a result, they're often outrageous bastards who consider everything they do to be in the right. Humans residing in the elven lands suffer a stigma like that of immigrants, restricted to lower-class jobs and expected to stay out of the way.
* In ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' the Qualinesti elves and especially the Silvanesti elves. Their common belief is that they are the chosen race of the god of good, Paladine (despite [[InformedAbility failing in actually doing something good to the world]]), they're the best in everything, and they blame humans for every single bad thing happened to Krynn, especially the Cataclysm and the return of the chromatic dragons. Oh, they're also so arrogant that they'll enslave their less advanced cousins, the Kagonesti. [[spoiler:They eventually pay for their hubris by losing their homelands (Silvanost's taken by minotaurs, while Qualinost is destroyed by a giant dragon)]].
** What makes things worse is that, according to all lore on the setting, elves genuinely were created by the Gods of Good, led by Paladine. Then again, as has been noted, The Gods of Good [[DesignatedHero really aren't that convincing at being forces of good]]...
** Let's really be clear here: the awfulness of the elves can be summarized quite simply in the fact that ''they caused the Cataclysm''. Elven bigots who served as councilors to the King-Priest were secretly goading him along the whole time, planning on basically using humans united by the King-Priest to exterminate first the creatures of Evil (goblinoids, ogres, etc)... and then [[FantasticRacism to wipe out fellow creatures of Good and Neutral who they found unpleasant]], such as [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame dwarves]], [[OurGnomesAreWeirder gnomes]] and [[{{Hobbits}} Kender]]. As we all know, this led to the destruction of the Old World. In fact, making things worse, the story of [[OurLichesAreDifferent Lord Soth the Death Knight]] explicitly calls out that he was manipulated into abandoning his quest to ''stop the Cataclysm'' by three elven priestesses who were in on the conspiracy and, with typical elven arrogance, didn't believe the Gods of Good would actually agree to destroy the world to preserve the BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil. About the only silver lining is that at least those three priestesses found themselves damned to an eternity of torment as [[OurBansheesAreLouder banshees]] for their sins.
* Various magical species (including [[TheFairFolk the Sidhe]]) in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' have this attitude towards themselves, but it's an unusual example of this trope because the various species are not seen as such by humans; [[DeadpanSnarker Harry]] defies the hell out of the "don't mock them back" aspect of this trope (and says ScrewYouElves at every available opportunity) and the fact that no other humans do it is more because the elves are incredibly dangerous rather than because the humans agree with their declarations of superiority. Clearly an example where the author fully intended them to be annoying even when they aren't being openly antagonistic.
* A mild example, but in ''[[Literature/TheElminsterSeries Elminster: The Making of a Mage]]'', Braer gently lectures Elminster (when he's become a [[GenderBender female version]] of himself named Elmara) on how elves live in tune with nature, while humans destroy everything which they can't control.
* The gnomes of the ''{{Literature/Gnomes}}'' faux field guide are quietly disapproving of humanity for the way we despoil nature, in comparison to their own ways. When the authors try to defend the human race, they are quickly embarrassed into stopping. This irritates many readers in regards to what is otherwise a very fine book, because the fact that the gnomes have one-thousandth our mass (and therefore require one-thousandth the resources to feed), can perfectly control their (already low) fertility, live for hundreds of years, can understand animal speech, and have access to ''magic'' probably makes it a ''little easier'' for them to live in harmony with Mother Earth, y'know? But they're never called out on this.
* The antihero of Creator/JackVance's ''[[http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/green.htm Green Magic]]'' is a master of the Black and White Arts who discovers the existence of an even more powerful form of magic. He actually ''does'' argue with elves, or rather the sprites of the Green Plane, and makes himself such a nuisance to them that they eventually give up and teach him Green magic, although they repeatedly warn him it's a terrible idea. They were right: it turns out that human beings are just too primitive to ever become competent in Green magic... oh, and once exposed to the indescribable beauty of the Green plane, no human will ever again be content with anything on Earth.
* There's a rather interesting twist on this trope in Kathryn Lasky's ''Literature/GuardiansOfGaHoole'' books, in which all the main characters are owls. The owls consider themselves superior to other birds because most other birds ''don't regurgitate pellets''. The other birds never take offense.
** Neither do the nest-maid snakes, who are defined entirely as servants to owl families.
* The Houyhnhnms of Swift's ''Literature/GulliversTravels'' are about as bad as it gets. They aren't a magical race, but they fill this trope quite well. Then again, considering that Gulliver is an UnreliableNarrator who worships any backward race he encounters, there's much literary debate over whether the reader is actually expected to have such an adverse reaction to the Houyhnhnms and their hypocrisy.
* ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
** Wizards themselves: they restrict contact with normal people, and consider the problems of the country they live in to be nothing to do with them. They are shown as superior (and arrogant because of it) all the time. However, this is ultimately averted. A recurring theme of the series is that wizard culture is heavily flawed, featuring casual FantasticRacism and a comically incompetent government. The one time a character does get to argue with wizards, it's the Prime Minister of the UK, who is bewildered at how badly they've been managing the war with Voldemort, and it's pretty clear that he's got a point.
** The centaurs refuse to accept any sort of human dominion over themselves, and indeed even contact with humans is seen as a crime. Though it ends up being averted, as Hagrid, arguably the character who has the most contact with centaurs, regularly gets frustrated with them and considers them to have their heads in the clouds. Neither the narration nor other characters consider him wrong. In fact, Firenze, a centaur who is eventually banished for continued contact with humans, is treated as the most heroic and open-minded of his kind. Ironically, the only elves we do see in the series avert the trope entirely, as they have a psychological compulsion to serve their master's wishes.
* ''Literature/TheHouseOfNight'' provides us with a serious in-universe example. Vampyre society is considered- both in-universe and by the authors- to be completely perfect. The narrative ''explicitly states'' that vampyres are smarter, hotter, stronger, and more creative than humanity. The only good humans in the story all assist vampyres in some way. Any humans who don't like vampyres are invariably hateful, murderous people who are [[YoureJustJealous hopelessly envious]] of the vampyres' perfection and probably serving evil.
* The Elves of Christopher Paolini's ''Literature/InheritanceCycle''. The protagonist Eragon, who ''lives'' with them for quite a while, doesn't seem to notice (and also ''becomes'' elven later on). The text makes it apparent that the elves are more in tune with nature, more logical, more attractive, more graceful, more physically capable, more intelligent, more magical, and even more ''sexually liberated'' than humans are. It runs so deep in this series that non-Elves will regularly point out their own inferiority to Elves (usually along the lines of "We're not as good as you elves at this, but we manage"). The Elf being spoken to always accepts this as indisputable fact, and never disagrees.
* In ''Literature/JonathanStrangeAndMrNorrell'', the gentleman with the thistle-down hair is absolutely convinced that his beloved humans enjoy his games as much as he does. The idea that they are consistently horrified by their slavery on his account is so far removed from his own frame of reference that they just can't convey the notion to him.
* Averted in Shannon Messenger's ''Literature/KeeperOfTheLostCities'' where Elvin society ends up not being as perfect as it seemed at first glance, with elves practicing a form of eugenism called Matchmaking and any elf that does not fit their ideal is shunned and condemned to live their whole life as a second-class citizen. Still, they are eternally young, beautiful, have no concept of racism by ''WordofGod'' and are seemingly unable of violence, to the point where they keep looking down on humans who are constantly at war with each other -- [[spoiler:though the Big Bad admires humans for this feature, as elves literally die from hurting others because their minds are too fragile to handle culpability]]. They all possess superhuman abilities beyond human grasp such as telekinesis, thermal regulation, super strength and most of them possess an extra Superpower (called a Talent), such as Invisibility, Technopathy, or Telepathy, that they unlock in their teenage years. They are also heavily implied to be much smarter than humans, as one of the main characters openly mocks ''Einstein'' saying he's "not very smart" and tells the main character, who is in 12th grade at 12, she's average by Elvin standards as the dumbest elf ever would outmatch the smartest human with little to no effort. They are also much more advanced technologically than humans, as they have achieved teleportation and claim they could expand human lifetimes, treat cancer and infertility, but choose not to because they believe humans would abuse their technology or find a way to make it harmful. Thus, nuclear bombs were derived from humans corrupting Elvin technology - at a time elves decided to "monitor" humans and help them from the shadows - and things as mundane as chocolate cake and electricity were gifted by the elves. Plus, it doesn't help that every human that encounters them is in awe of their beauty and perfection and does not call them out for being condescending toward humans and being arrogant in general. They literally had a giant statue of a human with "rough features" kneeling in front of a perfectly beautiful elf built in a city they intended to be primarily inhabited by ''humans''. [[spoiler:And once it was discovered that the reason why humans tried to overthrow them millennia ago -- which is also the reason why elves choose to abandon them and hide themselves in their sheltered world -- was because a group of elves were kidnapping them and conducting experiments on them while the Elvin Council refused to address the problem, Elvin authorities and the main character, even though she was raised by humans, decide not to reveal the information in fear of causing a riot.]]
* The Adem from ''Literature/TheKingkillerChronicle'' are this, effortlessly better than every other society martially, socially, musically, morally, and able to refute any objection the protagonist has to them.
* The Next in Creator/TerryPratchett and Creator/StephenBaxter's ''Literature/TheLongEarth'' series come across as this. Aside from the usual traits associated with this trope (sexual liberation, preposterously advanced intelligence, perfectly logical, almost perfectly utopian society, outward condescension to regular humans), regular humans routinely talk up their superiority and are even implied to be on the path to completely replace humanity in the future.
* Creator/JRRTolkien's Elves (of ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' and ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'') aren't really like this, but some of the second-hand false impressions of them by people like Boromir and [[ElvesVersusDwarves dwarves]] (as well as false portrayal in adaptations) fit the trope. It very much depends on the Elf. Thingol starts out as a straight example, but the trope is totally averted with [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething Finrod]] [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Felagund]], who's prepared to risk his life to help out the son of his human friend/fellow warrior.
** This is something of a JustifiedTrope (to the extent that it even applies) once you read the backstory - the living Elves remaining in Middle-Earth by the time of The War of the Ring are the last survivors of a once-great race who have endured a series of rather catastrophic wars which basically ended their control of the land. As a result, the remainder are a) atypically intelligent, kind, and badass, and b) very much aware of their people's past failings. Basically, all the Elves you Could Argue With were killed or left Middle-Earth for good centuries ago.
** Averted in ''Literature/TheHobbit'', in which the Elves of Mirkwood (and King Thranduil in particular) act more like paranoid rednecks than untouchable paragons of greatness. They live in a dank forest overrun by giant evil spiders, kidnap and imprison the Dwarves for no good reason, and then throw a huge party and get so blackout drunk that the MainCharacters are able to escape. In contrast, the Noldor of Rivendell are portrayed as wise and noble, but they also avert the trope by being friendly and gracious hosts.
** Frodo himself in ''[[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings The Fellowship Of The Ring]]'' gently mocks Gildor's NonAnswer to his question by coming up with a fake "proverb" that one can't ask an elf anything, because they say yes and no at the same time. Averted because Gildor himself thought it was ActuallyPrettyFunny.
* Subverted in ''Literature/MagnusChaseAndTheGodsOfAsgard''. The elves of Alfheim ''think'' this is the case. Most of them have a very high opinion of themselves and believe that they're naturally superior to the other races of the nine worlds. The reality is that they aren't impressive at all. They're mortal, aren't graceful or in tune with nature, and they haven't been able to use magic for centuries. They aren't even attractive, as they're described as being weirdly thin with unsettlingly large eyes. Needless to say, nobody agrees with their perception of themselves nor do they [[ScrewYouElves make any effort to hide it]].
* The ''Literature/MemorySorrowAndThorn'' books by Creator/TadWilliams. The Sithi can't help coming up with subtle put-downs, condescending behavior, and reproaches about old injustices done to them by ancestors who have been dead for centuries. Their high-bred human allies mostly ignore them.
* The Aurënfaie in Lynn Flewelling's ''Literature/{{Nightrunner}}'' novels have this going on in spades. Longer lifespans (and thus perceived greater experience and wisdom) than humans. Innate magical potential (all the more so because human magical potential originates from [[HalfHumanHybrid cross-breeding]] with them). A language that is difficult for most humans to pronounce properly. Plus, a [[OurGodsAreDifferent Monotheistic religion]] while the humans are following their own gaggle of silly gods. All of this leads to a tendency to drag out any kind of decision making for a length of time that makes most humans want to give up and leave.
* {{Lampshaded}} in ''Literature/TheObsidianTrilogy'' by Creator/MercedesLackey and James Mallory. The first human protagonist, Kellen, does quickly come to admire elves and elven culture, and these elves are fairly varied and polite and, well, ''human'', as elves go. He does take minor offense when an older elf telling him some ancient history implies that humans did something or other because it's a natural human failing. A later human protagonist on the same side flatly dislikes elves for their formality and their absolute perfectionist attitude, though since they're all fighting a war he tries to keep it under wraps. It's actually a saying in that 'verse that you can't win an argument with elves since they'll just change the subject.
* It is literally impossible to win an argument with the Lambertians of ''Literature/PermutationCity''. Their [[StarfishLanguage method of communication]] is structured in such a way that any logical error is necessarily a syntactical error as well, meaning that if a group of Lambertians is told a fallacious argument, they will notice the error within a matter of minutes and then tell you what's ''really'' true. This backfires on the outsiders who seek their help to save their own universe, because the Lambertians live InsideAComputerSystem, but are not advanced enough to know that computers can exist. Therefore, they find the claim that they were created to be absurd because they have worked out a theory that explains how their universe could have come into existence naturally. Not only do they try to "correct" their creators and do nothing to help, but [[spoiler:since their creators are also living in a simulation (it's complicated) this somehow makes the first simulation irrelevant, and the other universe collapses]].
* Weirdly subverted in ''Literature/TheRiyriaRevelations''. The elves are better than humans in every way (stronger, faster, tougher, more technologically advanced, and better at magic), but they have a single crippling weakness: their incredibly low birthrate. This allowed the humans to beat the elves in an ancient war by simply [[ZergRush Zerg Rushing]] them until the elves arranged a peace treaty to end the (to them) unbearable losses. As one of the main characters put it, "the elves were drowning in a floodtide of humanity."
* An interesting aversion occurs in Terry Brooks' ''Literature/{{Shannara}}'' series. The elves there are the only sapient race not descended from humanity, and really are older and more naturally magical than humanity or the other races. Interestingly, though, they had, well before the beginning of the first series, forgotten their heritage and the vast bulk of their magical abilities. That is not to say that there were no arrogant elves, but the primary victims of their arrogance were other elves. The elves as a people had no particular sense of superiority, even during periods when they were among the best organized and most powerful factions.
* The ''Literature/StarTrekDestiny'' series features the Caeliar, a race of SufficientlyAdvancedAliens who have evolved almost completely beyond the need for physical bodies, have no crime, poverty, or want, and are devoted completely to artistic and scientific pursuits. They have just enough respect for others' beliefs to not try to convince other races that the Caeliar's way is correct, but no amount of cajoling will convince them that the Caeliar's way is wrong. They are severely isolationist but are {{Actual Pacifist}}s, which leads various characters who stumble upon their home planet to become permanent "guests". Not a bad place to be, all things considered, but don't argue too much. Make too much noise or disrupt their work and the Caeliar will teleport you to a nice uninhabited planet a few billion light-years away, just to make sure you ''never'' get home with information about them.
* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' rarely relies on this trope, but the Caamasi might count. They're basically a martyred race of pacifists who will fight if they must and are tirelessly moral. Still, they don't feature all that heavily, and most of them don't spend their page time lording it over other cultures. When other races try to hold them up as this for political reasons in ''The Hand of Thrawn'' the Caamasi get shouted down for disagreeing.
** In the books by Karen Traviss, [[AuthorAppeal the Mandalorians]]. To most others, they're at best {{Proud Warrior Race Guy}}s, at worst Proud SociopathicSoldier Race Guys.
* In C.L. Wilson's ''Literature/TairenSoul'' books, the Fey are so self-righteous and brash that the "evil/stupid" humans are on the verge of cancelling their alliance. The strange thing is that the author is completely with the Fey on that. The author seems to think it is their natural right to be arrogant. The "good" humans are the ones who don't take offense at being treated with condescension.
* A self-righteous example would be the HeroAntagonist Mizzamir in the book ''Literature/VillainsByNecessity.'' The other elves have all left for a distant world, but he remained behind to guide mankind to a glorious future. No one dares argue with him, even as he [[BrainwashingForTheGreaterGood brainwashes dissident citizens into loyal ones]].
* The Cetagandians in the ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'' are a human variety of this, being obsessed with aesthetic accomplishments and possessing an extreme superiority complex. Naturally Barrayarans have [[ScrewYouElves other ideas]].
** Betans can be kind of like this, everyone making a fuss about how morally superior they are. Mind you this is a planet whose GNP is based on weapons development and sex tourism.
** The Barrayarans themselves are this in matters of war, frequently dismissing other militaries for their supposed lack of discipline (and recruitment of women).
* Creator/TimothyZahn's ''Warhorse'' has the Tampies, who live in complete harmony with all living things and have no trouble being snooty about it.
----
%%
%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks!
%%
%%%
Times where you CantArgueWithElves in {{Literature}}.
----
* The [[TheFairFolk People]] in ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'' call humans "[[FantasticSlur Mud Men]]", and the few human characters they interact with never really call them out on it. Possibly because said humans (especially [[MagnificentBastard Artemis]]) tend to notice that the People are the ones [[TheMasquerade hiding from the humans]], so what are they so proud of? Also because Artemis agrees that humans fight too much and ruin the ecosystem, the People's most common arguments.
* Kitai of the Marat in ''Literature/CodexAlera'' often talks about the shortcomings of the human Alerans, but she avoids the usual problems of this trope because: she herself is a likeable and sympathetic character, her exclamations of "_____ is/are insane!" are usually a RunningGag played for comic effect, her observations take the form of "your people are crazy" rather than "my people are awesome" and her criticisms are of social institutions that are either harmlessly ridiculous (the prudishness about nudity and sex) or clearly immoral (slavery), so she has a point. Any annoyance is also reduced by the fact that her people are clearly ''not'' intended by the author to be a perfect SuperiorSpecies; in the first book they are TheHorde of savage cannibals whom the BigBad easily manipulates into doing his dirty work with the intention of crushing them afterwards, and though they quickly show themselves to be a complex people their society clearly has a host of its own problems, even if they're different problems from the "civilised" Alerans.
* The Abh in ''Literature/CrestOfTheStars'' and its sequels, being essentially SpaceElves, fits this trope perfectly, to the point that the Abh Empress can arrogantly proclaim to a group of human ambassadors that if they win the interstellar war that is brewing behind the scenes, there will be permanent peace within the galaxy because there will no longer be any more petty disputes amongst humans that can escalate into all-out war. And then the trope is subverted by the other half of the humanity (notoriously, Abh ''do not'' [[ProHumanTranshuman consider themselves a different race]]) basically saying "ScrewYouElves", and going to war. Both societies are shown as seriously flawed, though Abh still come out as ''less'' of the {{hypocrite}}s somehow.
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' uses this with TheFairFolk, whose glamour produces a crushing inferiority complex in others. Readily averted by cats, bees, and any character that thinks like a witch (that is: very, very hard). Also by dwarves and trolls, whose instinctive reaction on meeting an elf is to bash it with something hard, heavy and/or sharp.
* Creator/StevenBrust's ''Literature/{{Dragaera}}'' novels are built on the question of "if elves are so amazing and perfect, how come they aren't dominating the world?" In Dragaera, they ''are''. However, this comes not from any moral superiority: just the advantages of a greater size, a much longer lifespan and a culture that integrates 100,000 years of study in magic and strategy. It's even suggested they were ''made'' so by their AbusivePrecursors. As a result, they're often outrageous bastards who consider everything they do to be in the right. Humans residing in the elven lands suffer a stigma like that of immigrants, restricted to lower-class jobs and expected to stay out of the way.
* In ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' the Qualinesti elves and especially the Silvanesti elves. Their common belief is that they are the chosen race of the god of good, Paladine (despite [[InformedAbility failing in actually doing something good to the world]]), they're the best in everything, and they blame humans for every single bad thing happened to Krynn, especially the Cataclysm and the return of the chromatic dragons. Oh, they're also so arrogant that they'll enslave their less advanced cousins, the Kagonesti. [[spoiler:They eventually pay for their hubris by losing their homelands (Silvanost's taken by minotaurs, while Qualinost is destroyed by a giant dragon)]].
** What makes things worse is that, according to all lore on the setting, elves genuinely were created by the Gods of Good, led by Paladine. Then again, as has been noted, The Gods of Good [[DesignatedHero really aren't that convincing at being forces of good]]...
** Let's really be clear here: the awfulness of the elves can be summarized quite simply in the fact that ''they caused the Cataclysm''. Elven bigots who served as councilors to the King-Priest were secretly goading him along the whole time, planning on basically using humans united by the King-Priest to exterminate first the creatures of Evil (goblinoids, ogres, etc)... and then [[FantasticRacism to wipe out fellow creatures of Good and Neutral who they found unpleasant]], such as [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame dwarves]], [[OurGnomesAreWeirder gnomes]] and [[{{Hobbits}} Kender]]. As we all know, this led to the destruction of the Old World. In fact, making things worse, the story of [[OurLichesAreDifferent Lord Soth the Death Knight]] explicitly calls out that he was manipulated into abandoning his quest to ''stop the Cataclysm'' by three elven priestesses who were in on the conspiracy and, with typical elven arrogance, didn't believe the Gods of Good would actually agree to destroy the world to preserve the BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil. About the only silver lining is that at least those three priestesses found themselves damned to an eternity of torment as [[OurBansheesAreLouder banshees]] for their sins.
* Various magical species (including [[TheFairFolk the Sidhe]]) in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' have this attitude towards themselves, but it's an unusual example of this trope because the various species are not seen as such by humans; [[DeadpanSnarker Harry]] defies the hell out of the "don't mock them back" aspect of this trope (and says ScrewYouElves at every available opportunity) and the fact that no other humans do it is more because the elves are incredibly dangerous rather than because the humans agree with their declarations of superiority. Clearly an example where the author fully intended them to be annoying even when they aren't being openly antagonistic.
* A mild example, but in ''[[Literature/TheElminsterSeries Elminster: The Making of a Mage]]'', Braer gently lectures Elminster (when he's become a [[GenderBender female version]] of himself named Elmara) on how elves live in tune with nature, while humans destroy everything which they can't control.
* The gnomes of the ''{{Literature/Gnomes}}'' faux field guide are quietly disapproving of humanity for the way we despoil nature, in comparison to their own ways. When the authors try to defend the human race, they are quickly embarrassed into stopping. This irritates many readers in regards to what is otherwise a very fine book, because the fact that the gnomes have one-thousandth our mass (and therefore require one-thousandth the resources to feed), can perfectly control their (already low) fertility, live for hundreds of years, can understand animal speech, and have access to ''magic'' probably makes it a ''little easier'' for them to live in harmony with Mother Earth, y'know? But they're never called out on this.
* The antihero of Creator/JackVance's ''[[http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/green.htm Green Magic]]'' is a master of the Black and White Arts who discovers the existence of an even more powerful form of magic. He actually ''does'' argue with elves, or rather the sprites of the Green Plane, and makes himself such a nuisance to them that they eventually give up and teach him Green magic, although they repeatedly warn him it's a terrible idea. They were right: it turns out that human beings are just too primitive to ever become competent in Green magic... oh, and once exposed to the indescribable beauty of the Green plane, no human will ever again be content with anything on Earth.
* There's a rather interesting twist on this trope in Kathryn Lasky's ''Literature/GuardiansOfGaHoole'' books, in which all the main characters are owls. The owls consider themselves superior to other birds because most other birds ''don't regurgitate pellets''. The other birds never take offense.
** Neither do the nest-maid snakes, who are defined entirely as servants to owl families.
* The Houyhnhnms of Swift's ''Literature/GulliversTravels'' are about as bad as it gets. They aren't a magical race, but they fill this trope quite well. Then again, considering that Gulliver is an UnreliableNarrator who worships any backward race he encounters, there's much literary debate over whether the reader is actually expected to have such an adverse reaction to the Houyhnhnms and their hypocrisy.
* ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
** Wizards themselves: they restrict contact with normal people, and consider the problems of the country they live in to be nothing to do with them. They are shown as superior (and arrogant because of it) all the time. However, this is ultimately averted. A recurring theme of the series is that wizard culture is heavily flawed, featuring casual FantasticRacism and a comically incompetent government. The one time a character does get to argue with wizards, it's the Prime Minister of the UK, who is bewildered at how badly they've been managing the war with Voldemort, and it's pretty clear that he's got a point.
** The centaurs refuse to accept any sort of human dominion over themselves, and indeed even contact with humans is seen as a crime. Though it ends up being averted, as Hagrid, arguably the character who has the most contact with centaurs, regularly gets frustrated with them and considers them to have their heads in the clouds. Neither the narration nor other characters consider him wrong. In fact, Firenze, a centaur who is eventually banished for continued contact with humans, is treated as the most heroic and open-minded of his kind. Ironically, the only elves we do see in the series avert the trope entirely, as they have a psychological compulsion to serve their master's wishes.
* ''Literature/TheHouseOfNight'' provides us with a serious in-universe example. Vampyre society is considered- both in-universe and by the authors- to be completely perfect. The narrative ''explicitly states'' that vampyres are smarter, hotter, stronger, and more creative than humanity. The only good humans in the story all assist vampyres in some way. Any humans who don't like vampyres are invariably hateful, murderous people who are [[YoureJustJealous hopelessly envious]] of the vampyres' perfection and probably serving evil.
* The Elves of Christopher Paolini's ''Literature/InheritanceCycle''. The protagonist Eragon, who ''lives'' with them for quite a while, doesn't seem to notice (and also ''becomes'' elven later on). The text makes it apparent that the elves are more in tune with nature, more logical, more attractive, more graceful, more physically capable, more intelligent, more magical, and even more ''sexually liberated'' than humans are. It runs so deep in this series that non-Elves will regularly point out their own inferiority to Elves (usually along the lines of "We're not as good as you elves at this, but we manage"). The Elf being spoken to always accepts this as indisputable fact, and never disagrees.
* In ''Literature/JonathanStrangeAndMrNorrell'', the gentleman with the thistle-down hair is absolutely convinced that his beloved humans enjoy his games as much as he does. The idea that they are consistently horrified by their slavery on his account is so far removed from his own frame of reference that they just can't convey the notion to him.
* Averted in Shannon Messenger's ''Literature/KeeperOfTheLostCities'' where Elvin society ends up not being as perfect as it seemed at first glance, with elves practicing a form of eugenism called Matchmaking and any elf that does not fit their ideal is shunned and condemned to live their whole life as a second-class citizen. Still, they are eternally young, beautiful, have no concept of racism by ''WordofGod'' and are seemingly unable of violence, to the point where they keep looking down on humans who are constantly at war with each other -- [[spoiler:though the Big Bad admires humans for this feature, as elves literally die from hurting others because their minds are too fragile to handle culpability]]. They all possess superhuman abilities beyond human grasp such as telekinesis, thermal regulation, super strength and most of them possess an extra Superpower (called a Talent), such as Invisibility, Technopathy, or Telepathy, that they unlock in their teenage years. They are also heavily implied to be much smarter than humans, as one of the main characters openly mocks ''Einstein'' saying he's "not very smart" and tells the main character, who is in 12th grade at 12, she's average by Elvin standards as the dumbest elf ever would outmatch the smartest human with little to no effort. They are also much more advanced technologically than humans, as they have achieved teleportation and claim they could expand human lifetimes, treat cancer and infertility, but choose not to because they believe humans would abuse their technology or find a way to make it harmful. Thus, nuclear bombs were derived from humans corrupting Elvin technology - at a time elves decided to "monitor" humans and help them from the shadows - and things as mundane as chocolate cake and electricity were gifted by the elves. Plus, it doesn't help that every human that encounters them is in awe of their beauty and perfection and does not call them out for being condescending toward humans and being arrogant in general. They literally had a giant statue of a human with "rough features" kneeling in front of a perfectly beautiful elf built in a city they intended to be primarily inhabited by ''humans''. [[spoiler:And once it was discovered that the reason why humans tried to overthrow them millennia ago -- which is also the reason why elves choose to abandon them and hide themselves in their sheltered world -- was because a group of elves were kidnapping them and conducting experiments on them while the Elvin Council refused to address the problem, Elvin authorities and the main character, even though she was raised by humans, decide not to reveal the information in fear of causing a riot.]]
* The Adem from ''Literature/TheKingkillerChronicle'' are this, effortlessly better than every other society martially, socially, musically, morally, and able to refute any objection the protagonist has to them.
* The Next in Creator/TerryPratchett and Creator/StephenBaxter's ''Literature/TheLongEarth'' series come across as this. Aside from the usual traits associated with this trope (sexual liberation, preposterously advanced intelligence, perfectly logical, almost perfectly utopian society, outward condescension to regular humans), regular humans routinely talk up their superiority and are even implied to be on the path to completely replace humanity in the future.
* Creator/JRRTolkien's Elves (of ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' and ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'') aren't really like this, but some of the second-hand false impressions of them by people like Boromir and [[ElvesVersusDwarves dwarves]] (as well as false portrayal in adaptations) fit the trope. It very much depends on the Elf. Thingol starts out as a straight example, but the trope is totally averted with [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething Finrod]] [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Felagund]], who's prepared to risk his life to help out the son of his human friend/fellow warrior.
** This is something of a JustifiedTrope (to the extent that it even applies) once you read the backstory - the living Elves remaining in Middle-Earth by the time of The War of the Ring are the last survivors of a once-great race who have endured a series of rather catastrophic wars which basically ended their control of the land. As a result, the remainder are a) atypically intelligent, kind, and badass, and b) very much aware of their people's past failings. Basically, all the Elves you Could Argue With were killed or left Middle-Earth for good centuries ago.
** Averted in ''Literature/TheHobbit'', in which the Elves of Mirkwood (and King Thranduil in particular) act more like paranoid rednecks than untouchable paragons of greatness. They live in a dank forest overrun by giant evil spiders, kidnap and imprison the Dwarves for no good reason, and then throw a huge party and get so blackout drunk that the MainCharacters are able to escape. In contrast, the Noldor of Rivendell are portrayed as wise and noble, but they also avert the trope by being friendly and gracious hosts.
** Frodo himself in ''[[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings The Fellowship Of The Ring]]'' gently mocks Gildor's NonAnswer to his question by coming up with a fake "proverb" that one can't ask an elf anything, because they say yes and no at the same time. Averted because Gildor himself thought it was ActuallyPrettyFunny.
* Subverted in ''Literature/MagnusChaseAndTheGodsOfAsgard''. The elves of Alfheim ''think'' this is the case. Most of them have a very high opinion of themselves and believe that they're naturally superior to the other races of the nine worlds. The reality is that they aren't impressive at all. They're mortal, aren't graceful or in tune with nature, and they haven't been able to use magic for centuries. They aren't even attractive, as they're described as being weirdly thin with unsettlingly large eyes. Needless to say, nobody agrees with their perception of themselves nor do they [[ScrewYouElves make any effort to hide it]].
* The ''Literature/MemorySorrowAndThorn'' books by Creator/TadWilliams. The Sithi can't help coming up with subtle put-downs, condescending behavior, and reproaches about old injustices done to them by ancestors who have been dead for centuries. Their high-bred human allies mostly ignore them.
* The Aurënfaie in Lynn Flewelling's ''Literature/{{Nightrunner}}'' novels have this going on in spades. Longer lifespans (and thus perceived greater experience and wisdom) than humans. Innate magical potential (all the more so because human magical potential originates from [[HalfHumanHybrid cross-breeding]] with them). A language that is difficult for most humans to pronounce properly. Plus, a [[OurGodsAreDifferent Monotheistic religion]] while the humans are following their own gaggle of silly gods. All of this leads to a tendency to drag out any kind of decision making for a length of time that makes most humans want to give up and leave.
* {{Lampshaded}} in ''Literature/TheObsidianTrilogy'' by Creator/MercedesLackey and James Mallory. The first human protagonist, Kellen, does quickly come to admire elves and elven culture, and these elves are fairly varied and polite and, well, ''human'', as elves go. He does take minor offense when an older elf telling him some ancient history implies that humans did something or other because it's a natural human failing. A later human protagonist on the same side flatly dislikes elves for their formality and their absolute perfectionist attitude, though since they're all fighting a war he tries to keep it under wraps. It's actually a saying in that 'verse that you can't win an argument with elves since they'll just change the subject.
* It is literally impossible to win an argument with the Lambertians of ''Literature/PermutationCity''. Their [[StarfishLanguage method of communication]] is structured in such a way that any logical error is necessarily a syntactical error as well, meaning that if a group of Lambertians is told a fallacious argument, they will notice the error within a matter of minutes and then tell you what's ''really'' true. This backfires on the outsiders who seek their help to save their own universe, because the Lambertians live InsideAComputerSystem, but are not advanced enough to know that computers can exist. Therefore, they find the claim that they were created to be absurd because they have worked out a theory that explains how their universe could have come into existence naturally. Not only do they try to "correct" their creators and do nothing to help, but [[spoiler:since their creators are also living in a simulation (it's complicated) this somehow makes the first simulation irrelevant, and the other universe collapses]].
* Weirdly subverted in ''Literature/TheRiyriaRevelations''. The elves are better than humans in every way (stronger, faster, tougher, more technologically advanced, and better at magic), but they have a single crippling weakness: their incredibly low birthrate. This allowed the humans to beat the elves in an ancient war by simply [[ZergRush Zerg Rushing]] them until the elves arranged a peace treaty to end the (to them) unbearable losses. As one of the main characters put it, "the elves were drowning in a floodtide of humanity."
* An interesting aversion occurs in Terry Brooks' ''Literature/{{Shannara}}'' series. The elves there are the only sapient race not descended from humanity, and really are older and more naturally magical than humanity or the other races. Interestingly, though, they had, well before the beginning of the first series, forgotten their heritage and the vast bulk of their magical abilities. That is not to say that there were no arrogant elves, but the primary victims of their arrogance were other elves. The elves as a people had no particular sense of superiority, even during periods when they were among the best organized and most powerful factions.
* The ''Literature/StarTrekDestiny'' series features the Caeliar, a race of SufficientlyAdvancedAliens who have evolved almost completely beyond the need for physical bodies, have no crime, poverty, or want, and are devoted completely to artistic and scientific pursuits. They have just enough respect for others' beliefs to not try to convince other races that the Caeliar's way is correct, but no amount of cajoling will convince them that the Caeliar's way is wrong. They are severely isolationist but are {{Actual Pacifist}}s, which leads various characters who stumble upon their home planet to become permanent "guests". Not a bad place to be, all things considered, but don't argue too much. Make too much noise or disrupt their work and the Caeliar will teleport you to a nice uninhabited planet a few billion light-years away, just to make sure you ''never'' get home with information about them.
* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' rarely relies on this trope, but the Caamasi might count. They're basically a martyred race of pacifists who will fight if they must and are tirelessly moral. Still, they don't feature all that heavily, and most of them don't spend their page time lording it over other cultures. When other races try to hold them up as this for political reasons in ''The Hand of Thrawn'' the Caamasi get shouted down for disagreeing.
** In the books by Karen Traviss, [[AuthorAppeal the Mandalorians]]. To most others, they're at best {{Proud Warrior Race Guy}}s, at worst Proud SociopathicSoldier Race Guys.
* In C.L. Wilson's ''Literature/TairenSoul'' books, the Fey are so self-righteous and brash that the "evil/stupid" humans are on the verge of cancelling their alliance. The strange thing is that the author is completely with the Fey on that. The author seems to think it is their natural right to be arrogant. The "good" humans are the ones who don't take offense at being treated with condescension.
* A self-righteous example would be the HeroAntagonist Mizzamir in the book ''Literature/VillainsByNecessity.'' The other elves have all left for a distant world, but he remained behind to guide mankind to a glorious future. No one dares argue with him, even as he [[BrainwashingForTheGreaterGood brainwashes dissident citizens into loyal ones]].
* The Cetagandians in the ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'' are a human variety of this, being obsessed with aesthetic accomplishments and possessing an extreme superiority complex. Naturally Barrayarans have [[ScrewYouElves other ideas]].
** Betans can be kind of like this, everyone making a fuss about how morally superior they are. Mind you this is a planet whose GNP is based on weapons development and sex tourism.
** The Barrayarans themselves are this in matters of war, frequently dismissing other militaries for their supposed lack of discipline (and recruitment of women).
* Creator/TimothyZahn's ''Warhorse'' has the Tampies, who live in complete harmony with all living things and have no trouble being snooty about it.
----
