History Main / FiveRaces

** Mundane=Solimani and Vilani

* In ''Alternity'' (a short-lived TSR project whose material was recycled into d20 Modern/Future), there were a number of races, including one clear stout (primitive, clawed brutes) and one clear fairy (light-weight psions). Humans were mundanes, while the other races didn't fit the standard categories: techies with scaly armor, agile fliers, and ''{{Neuromancer}}'' style cyborgs.

** Subsequent games based off of the system - Gamma World and Dark* Matter - follow a similar pattern, which is usually just the races mentioned above mechanically with different fluff.

* JustForFun, let's attempt this with the Origins of ''CityOfHeroes''- almost purely aesthetic descriptions of how your SuperHero got their powers...
** Stout: Technology- In the style of IronMan or Manga/AstroBoy, these heroes were built to be, either using technology or ''being'' it (as in, being a robot). Thus, they often relate to engineers and computer scientists, and [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters a looong history of weapons technology]].

** The Elves themselves are subdivided, with the Vanyar[[hottip:*:Fair Elves]] who stay in the Undying Lands once there and play little role in the books as the Fairies, Noldor[[hottip:*:High/Deep Elves]] as the High Men, the Teleri (including the Falmari[[hottip:*:Sea Elves]], Sindar[[hottip:*:Grey Elves]], Laiquendi[[hottip:*:Green Elves]], and Silvan Elves) as the Mundane (relatively speaking), and the Avari who also play little role in the books as the Cute.

** The Canim are the Stout, as only the smallest of the [[FantasticCasteSystem castes]] can use magic. The Icemen are another flavor of Fairy. The Vord ''would'' fit somewhere in the FantasyAxisOfEvil, except that they ate everyone that came within arms' reach.[[hottip:*:The Eldritch, for the record.]]

** '''Fairy:''' Alfar (Elves) and Dvergar (Dwarves)[[hottip:*:While the traits of metalworking and living underground come from the earliest Norse conceptions of Dwarves, the smaller size and gruff nature is a later invention. The original Dwarves were also capable of magic.]] - The most magical of the races.

** High Men: Alicorns have both flight and magic; the more powerful ones are {{Physical God}}s able to move the sun and moon, though their rareness might preclude them from being considered an actual race in and of themselves.[[hottip:*:A grand total of four have appeared onscreen, and two were magically created.]]

** Stout=Aslan
** Fairy=Ancients, Droyne, and Hivers. The Ancients are closer to {{Eldritch Abomination}}s.
** Cute=No major races(Vargr definitely are not cute). Some minor races would qualify.

* ''TheLordOfTheRings'' may be the TropeMaker here, with Elves (High Men), Dwarves (Stout), Ents (Fairy), Men (Mundane/High), and Hobbits (Cute/Mundane). However, the situation gets a bit murkier once you look deeper into the mythology, with several alternative arrangements and even subsets of the races themselves.

* In Creator/NealStephenson's ''Literature/{{Cryptonomicon}}'', Randy Waterhouse divides humans into groups based on the races from ''LordOfTheRings''. Hands-on geeks (including Randy himself) are Dwarves, ivory-tower academics are Hobbits, brilliant {{Bunny Ears Lawyer}}s are Elves, normal people are Men, the enigmatic, [[{{Immortality}} immortal]] [[TheMentor mentor]] Enoch Root is a Wizard, CrazySurvivalist Andrew Loeb is Gollum, etc.

* ''MassEffect'': Some are a bit of a stretch, but the playable races fall into these types.

** Mundane: [[BadassNormal Natural]]- Characters of this origin are usually normal humans, [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower keeping up with superfolks through sheer skill]]. Alternatively, they can be non-human but using powers that are entirely natural for their species. Two examples that exemplify each type: {{Batman}} and {{Superman}}.

** Stout: {{Pegasi}} used to be a ProudWarriorRace before the founding of Equestria and are now doing jobs such as weather managing while Earth ponies develop great physical strength, and their magic makes them superior farmers.

[[VideoGame/GuildWars2 http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/five-races_guild-wars-2_5959.png]]

* Cute ([[{{Hobbits}} Hobbit]] or [[OurGnomesAreWeirder Gnome]]): The fifth, increasingly common group, and becoming more popular in modern gaming. They may seem weak, but have a sort of closer-to-Earth spiritual purity and inner strength that allow them to succeed in the face of adversity. Tends to either overlap with Mundane (to produce {{Hobbits}}) or Fairy (to produce gnomes), but usually designed with a larger dose than usual of FunPersonified.

If the heroes in this setting form a FiveManBand, there will typically be one of each race represented, since each race can usually "map" to one of the five slots better than any of the others. (Humorously enough, this often means that the Dwarf in the party fills the role of TheBigGuy.)
In the role of a SixthRanger, the 'sixth species' may be a lost or hidden race, namely there's always a LastOfHisKind or some ancient ruins of the once great species. This set up usually enforces HybridOverkillAvoidance to keep [[CompetitiveBalance the balance.]]

* Averted in ''Literature/CodexAlera'', which ''does'' feature five sentient races, two of which fit into the categorization (Alerans/humans are High Men, and Marat, as basically neolithic elves, are Fairy with a ProudWarriorRace flavor of Stout mixed in). The other three races, however ([[WolfMan Canim]], [[AbominableSnowman Icemen]], and [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Vord]]) don't fit in ''remotely''.

* In PhilipPullman's ''HisDarkMaterials'' trilogy, we have:

* ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'': Any citizen of any race could be considered Mundane, but as for the characters of whole civilizations:

** '''Stout:''' Jotunn (Giants) - The most gruff of the races.

** '''Fairy:''' Alfar (Elves) and Dvergar (Dwarves)[[hottip:*:While the traits of metalworking and living underground come from the earliest Norse conceptions of dwarves, the smaller size and gruff nature is a later invention.]] - The most magical of the races.

** The Landvaettir and House Vaettir (Spirits): '''Cute: '''They may appear weak, but they are incredibly powerful and magical.

** Dark Elves (known also as Dwarfs): '''Stout:''' Possibly the most gruff of the races.
** Gods and Goddesses (they comprise of the Aesir and Vanir): '''Fairy: '''The Aesir is not very magical (a member of the Vanir taught the Aesir Spae), but they are by far the most complicated living in various parts of the [[TheWorldTree Cosmic Tree]] and interacting with all the races.
** Humans: '''Mundane: '''We live in the land literally in the middle; most humans don't practice any form of magic.
** Light Elves: '''High Men: '''They have a [[ExactWords radiant]] beauty and are ruled by the brother of the Goddess over the battle-slain.

* ''Teen Titans'' fits the five regular cast members:

** Dark Elves (known also as Dwarfs): Stout: Possibly the most gruff of the races.
** Gods and Goddesses (they comprise of the Aesir and Vanir): Fairy: The Aesir is not very magical (a member of the Vanir taught the Aesir Spae), but they are by far the most complicated living in various parts of the [[TheWorldTree Cosmic Tree]] and interacting with all the races.
** Humans: Mundane: We live in the land literally in the middle; most humans don't practice any form of magic.
** Light Elves: High Men: They have a [[ExactWords radiant]] beauty and are ruled by the brother of the Goddess over the battle-slain.
** The Landvaettir and House Vaettir (Spirits): Cute: They may appear weak, but they are incredibly powerful and magical.

* The UrExample is NorseMythology, with the Aesir and Vanir (gods) as "Fairy", Light Elves as "High Men"; Black/Dark Elves AKA Dwarves as "Stout"; and Humans as "Mundane". Tolkien likely adapted his FiveRaces from these.

* The newly announced ''DragonQuestX: Waking of the Five Tribes'' features (surprise surprise) six races (wait, what?). Breaking with tradition, humans may be the protagonists, but they don't seem to be an actual playable race, and might not even be native to the world of the game. Instead we have:

** High Men: Alicorns have both flight and magic; the more powerful ones are {{Physical God}}s able to move the sun and moon, though their rareness might preclude them from being considered an actual race in and of themselves.[[hottip:*:A grand total of four have appeared onscreen, and one was magically created.]]

** Alternatively, the Elves are the fairies and the role of High Men is filled by the Númenoreans.

** Stout: Technology- In the style of IronMan or Manga/AstroBoy, these heroes were built to be, either using technology or ''being'' it (as in, being a robot). Thus, they often relate to engineers and computer scientists, and [[HumansAreBastards a looong history of weapons technology]].