History Literature / Orcs

* BigBad: The EvilSorceress [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Queen Jennesta]] is the ruler of the polytheistic Manifold Path religion and leads their war against the monotheistic Unis. She forces the orc heroes, her slaves, to recover AncientArtifacts created by her father Seraphim, then turns on them when she mistakenly believes they betrayed her, forcing them to fight off her army.

* BigBad: The EvilSorceress [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Queen Jennesta]] is the ruler of the polytheistic Manifold Path religion and leads their war against the monotheistic Unis. She forces the orc heroes, her slaves, to recover ancient artifacts created by her father Seraphim, then turns on them when she mistakenly believes they betrayed her, forcing them to fight off her army.

During one mission, where Jennesta commanded them to retrieve an ancient artifact, the warband falls into misfortune: a group of kobolds steals the artifact. The Wolverines' search for it (and, eventually, others) becomes a bloody trip through Maras Dantia, where they encounter religious fanatics, trolls, and three very determined bounty hunters.

* FiveManBand: The officers in the Wolverines:
** TheHero: [[TheCaptain Stryke]]
** TheLancer: Jup, the only non-orc
** TheBigGuy: Haskeer
** TheSmartGuy: [[TheMedic Alfrey]]
** TheChick: [[TokenGirl Coilla]]
* GeneralFailure: Jennesta.

* HumansAreUgly: not quite name-checked, but close.

* OurMermaidsAreDifferent: And how! The Nyadds are at war with the Merz, who are generally peaceable -- unless you fuck with them.

* BigBad: The EvilSorceress [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Queen Jennesta]] is the ruler of the polytheistic Manifold Path religion and leads their war against the monotheistic Unis.

* BigBad: Jennesta.
* BigBadWannabe: Kimball Hobrow could be a contender for Big Bad status, but his plans are built more on zealotry rather than competence and are quite easily undone. [[spoiler: He himself dies unceremoniously before the end of book three, knifed in the gut by Jennesta's orcs while pathetically pleading for mercy.]]

* BigBadWannabe: Kimbal Hobrow could be a contender for Big Bad status, but his plans are built more on zealotry rather than competence and are quite easily undone. [[spoiler: He himself dies unceremoniously before the end of book three, knifed in the gut by Jennesta's orcs while pathetically pleading for mercy.]]
* BigGood: [[spoiler: Seraphain, Jennesta's father and the creator of the Instrumentalities.]]
* TheBigGuy: Haskeer. Out of the three bounty hunters, Blaan also qualifies.

* EvilMinions: The orcs under Jennesta, as well as Kimbal Hobrow's followers.

* CombatTentacles: the Sluagh have them.
* CoolOldGuy: Alfray.

* DarkIsNotEvil: A must when ''orcs'' are your protagonists.

* DumbMuscle: Blaan.

* EvilMinions: Especially {{Mooks}}.

* FantasticRacism: Both against the orcs and against the humans.
** The dwarves, too.

* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: You ''really'' don't want to be under Jennesta or Adpar's rule.

* HalfHumanHybrid: Jennesta and her sisters are half-human, half-nyadd.

* HumansAreBastards: Averted on several occasions by showing that the Orcs simply can't understand a lot of human customs and nature, just as the humans can't understand the Orcs' obsession with fighting one another. This is further enforced by the fact that while there is a [[FantasticRacism hyper-racist faction]] of humans there is also a faction who wishes to undo a lot of the damage they have done and make peace with the other species.

* {{Jerkass}}: Haskeer, on occasion, although sometimes he comes across as more of a JerkWithAHeartOfGold.
* McGuffin: The Instrumentalities or stars.

* NeckSnap: The Watchers do this at one point.
* OurDemonsAreDifferent: the orcs have the Sluagh, which they believe inhabit an Orc hell.
* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: the only non-orc Wolverine is Jup, a dwarf. The dwarves are said to fight for anybody who pays the best, but Jup is the more honorable kind.

* PsychicPowers: all of the elder races except for orcs have them to a degree. Dwarves have a talent called "farsight," although it is diminished by the dying magic.

* TheChosenOne: There are hints that Stryke is chosen to lead the orcs in rebellian against Jennesta, but he refuses to be a leader of anything other than his warband.

* DepravedBisexual: Jennesta.

* EvilOverlord: Jennesta, of course.

* HolierThanThou: Kimball Hobrow.

* OurOrcsAreDifferent: They combine the traditional [[Creator/JRRTolkien Tolkien]] orcs with [[VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} Blizzard]] orcs.

* PsychoForHire: the bounty hunters.
* PuttingOnTheReich: Kimball Hobrow and his followers at Trinity tend to talk a lot about "racial purity" and were intent on [[spoiler:poisoning the water supply to kill off any non-human race]].

* AllTrollsAreDifferent: short, shaggy, and inhabiting a place called Scratch.

* OurOrcsAreDifferent: They combine the traditional [[Creator/JRRTolkien Tolkien]] orcs with [[{{Warcraft}} Blizzard]] orcs.

A series of fantasy novels by Stan Nichols now entering its second trilogy. The first trilogy, called ''Orcs: First Blood'', consisted of ''Bodyguard of Lightning'', ''Legion of Thunder'', and ''Warriors of the Tempest''.

!! This series provides examples of:

* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: Averted ''brutally'' with Jennesta and her assorted victims.

* GeneralFailure: Jennesta.

* OurOrcsAreDifferent: They combine the traditional [[JRRTolkien Tolkien]] orcs with [[{{Warcraft}} Blizzard]] orcs.

* RapeIsOKWhenItIsFemaleOnMale: Averted ''brutally'' with Jennesta and her assorted victims.

* OurOrcsAreDifferent: They combine the traditional Tolkien orcs with Blizzard orcs.

* ScienceFictionVersusFantasy: Orcs in a magical world -- [[spoiler:that is connected to an infinite multiverse via portals]].

* DeathBySex: An interesting inversion: Jennesta ''kills'' people after she rapes them (and then consumes their hearts to replenish her magic).

* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: all the orcs are pretty much like this, with some exceptions. Haskeer fits it like a glove though.

* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: Jennesta among her own army (the orcs even start [[spoiler:deserting en masse]]).

* EvilIsSexy: Jennesta and Adpar.

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: subverted as ''every'' race has its villains and heroes.
* AutomatonHorses: sometimes horses are killed or begin to tire, but most of the time the orcs keep their horses running for long periods without rest or food.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: The infamous rape scene. It shows just how sadistic and evil Jennesta is right from the get-go.

* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil

[[IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused]] [[SimilarlyNamedWorks with the 2011 film]] ''Orcs!''.

For the race this title is taken from, see OurOrcsAreDifferent.

This series provides examples of:

* OurOrcsAreDifferent: they combine the traditional Tolkien orcs with Blizzard orcs. There are also many, many other races in Maras Dantia, so:
** OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: the only non-orc Wolverine is Jup, a dwarf. The dwarves are said to fight for anybody who pays the best, but Jup is the more honorable kind.
** OurDemonsAreDifferent: the orcs have the Sluagh, which they believe inhabit an Orc hell.
** OurElvesAreBetter: subverted: elves are only seen in small, servant roles.
*** Also {{Elfeminate}}
** OurMermaidsAreDifferent: and how! The Nyadds are at war with the Merz, who are generally peaceable...unless you fuck with them.
** AllTrollsAreDifferent: short, shaggy, and inhabiting a place called Scratch.
** OurMonstersAreWeird: [[{{Fartillery}} Pixies]] and [[TheImp Putti]]

* BigBad / BadBoss: Jennesta.

* CareerKillers

* CoolOldGuy / BadassGrandpa: Alfray.

* HumansAreBastards
** Averted on several occasions by showing that the Orcs simply can't understand a lot of human customs and nature, just as the humans can't understand the Orcs' obsession with fighting one another. This is further enforced by the fact that while there is a [[FantasticRacism hyper-racist faction]] of humans there is also a faction who wishes to undo a lot of the damage they have done and make peace with the other species.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters

* RapeIsOKWhenItIsFemaleOnMale / RapeIsOkayWhenItsFemaleOnFemale: Averted ''brutally'' with Jennesta and her assorted victims.

* ScienceFictionVersusFantasy: Orcs in a magical world...[[spoiler:that is connected to an infinite multiverse via portals]].

----
<<|{{Literature}}|>>