History Main / OurOrcsAreDifferent

* Have an animist and/or shamanistic religious structure. In the case of Blizzard's Orcs specifically, this is very important to them. Individuals who are very secular by Orcish standards, will still regularly mention the spirits. Said religion is also largely considered to be a matter of obvious reality to them; knowledge, rather than faith.

Although the two groups are significantly different, they usually share both a monstrous, primitive appearance and conflict with humanity and the other FiveRaces. The author's choice of which model to emulate usually depends on whose perspective the story is written, the story's relative position on the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism, and whether the author intends to explore [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman ramifications of killing sentient beings]]. In any case, expect humans to treat "Blizzard" orcs as if they were "Tolkienian" orcs, at least initially. ''[[OurElvesAreBetter Yrch!]]''[[hottip:*:Sounds like a noise of disgust, and it is, but it's also the Sindarin plural of the word "orc".]]

* The Orcs in Benjamin Epstein's ''Literature/{{Captive Of The Orcs}}'' have inklings in both. No one kills more Orcs than other Orcs. And the combination of tribal wars mixed with an aggressive religion could conceivably lead to resembling the Tolkien Orcs, were they somehow able to unite under one banner.

* Although not strictly orcs, the tribe of the main characters of ''[[Webcomic/{{Goblins}} Goblins: Life Through Their Eyes]]'' fits the Blizzard model almost perfectly; other tribes and races of "savage" species (including actual orcs) have varying degrees of conformity to this model, but even the evil groups aren't exactly Tolkienian. The one orc who's appeared so far ''is'' a big hulking brute... who speaks politely and takes TheStoic personality up to eleven: Tribe been dead for 600 years? "Meh." Apparently they get raised that way.

*** There's a picture floating around the internets showing an Orc facing off against an Elf. The text says "One is from an ancient druidic culture dedicated to preserving the world from nameless horrors. The other is a roving marauder looking for a fight." The humor comes from the fact that in Eberron, the "obvious" answer to "Which is which?" is reversed.

*** Falmer in [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]] stand in for Tolkienian Orcs, both in appearance and in backstory (they used to be a race of Elves called "Snow Elves", but were enslaved and mutated by the Dwarves).

* [[TabletopGame/LegendSystem Hallow Orcs]] were originally the shock troops of chaos gods, kept stupid and unquestioning to serve their gods' purposes. Once introduced to Hallow, they were freed from their mental shackles and started their own (still militaristic) society, becoming Hallow's most prominent mercenaries. In other words: Blizzard orcs who were forced to act like Tolkienn orcs for most of their history.
* The roleplaying game Ork! has all player characters be Orks. In this game, the Orks are boar-faced, green and furred humanoids that usually go naked aside from armor they scrounge off of killed opponents (or eachother). They live in tribes ruled by a Shaman and have strange biology - baby orcs burst out from growths on an Ork's body, a process known as "The Urg!", for instance. They are also mostly omnivores, but [[WeaksauceWeakness they explode if they eat Broccoli.]]

* In the ''{{Gothic}}'' series Orcs are intelligent, nomadic members of a ProudWarriorRace. They attack Myrtana (the land of the Humans) to capture slaves and perform archeological excavations on the sites that bear religious importance to Orc Shamans.

* The orcs of ''VideoGame/DungeonMakerTwoTheHiddenWar'' are neither Tolkienian nor Blizzard variety. They're actually [[PettingZooPeople humanoid boars]] with a [[BladeOnAStick love of spears]]. They also like to hang out in kitchens, since in orc culture using metal cookware is considered a sign of sophistication.

* Are sometimes made [[SendInTheClones solely as artificial creatures]] rather than reproducing biologically, thus explaining the aforementioned lack of females. It was implied in LOTR that Morgoth created them as "a mockery of the Elves."

* Have an animist and/or shamanistic religious structure. In the case of Blizzard's Orcs specifically, this is very important to them. Individuals who are very secular by Orcish standards, will still regularly mention the spirits.

* Are more likely to have a civilization.

* Have an animist and/or shamanistic religious structure.

* Have intelligence on par with humans and other races (though other races [[FantasticRacism might not see it that way]]). Their technology and magic might even be on par with humans and elves, but would have developed along a different path. They often still do, however, use HulkSpeak; and given their level of cultural emphasis on warfare, Orcs with proficiency in non-martial trades will generally have to work harder to earn social respect.

* Have intelligence on par with humans and other races (though other races [[FantasticRacism might not see it that way]]). Their technology and magic might even be on par with humans and elves, but would have developed along a different path.

* The Gamoreans of ''Franchise/StarWars'' are brutish, strong, green, pig-snouted and tusked, matriarchal, violent brutes with low intelligence.

* Creator/JRRTolkien's ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' is, of course, the TropeMaker. Although the orcs are cannibals in TheFilmOfTheBook, accusations of cannibalism are actually seen as a grave insult, demonstrating that EvenEvilHasStandards. Ironically, Tolkien's orcs are described as actually of human intelligence (making "no beautiful things, but many clever ones"), at least insofar as it comes to weaponry, and as a devout Catholic who believed all beings could be redeemed their AlwaysChaoticEvil status was something Tolkien could never quite make up his mind on; while no "good" orcs appear in the story, the possibility is never quite ruled out. (Tolkien's orcs descend from corrupted ''elves'', at least according to one MultipleChoicePast, so some Tolkien fans speculate that an orc that wasn't AlwaysChaoticEvil might stop ''being'' an orc.) Not to mention there is a very specific passage in ''The Fellowship'' where Elrond states that (paraphrase) "during the last battle, all living things were divided between whether they fought for Sauron or freedom except for the elves". This would ''require'' there to be a tribe or clan or something of orcs who weren't dicks, at least at one point in time.
** One should however take note that Tolkien never gave any porcine feature to his orcs, whom he gave little physical description. The only feautures he mentions -elongated arms and hunched back- suggests a simian rather than porcine countenance. It was ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' which initiated and popularized the latter.

* ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'' starts out looking like Tolkien orcs, but it's revealed in the climax of book one that they were under mind control by the Shade Durza. In book 2, they prove to be more civilized an honorable than they originally seemed, and ally with the Varden against Gallbatorix. The "Urgals" do not have tusks, but have fur and horns, and also come in an oversized variety called Kull.

* Usually have oppressive, patriarchal societies, with females being treated as property, provided if female orcs [[MonoGenderMonsters are shown or mentioned]] (in Tolkien, female orcs were never shown or discussed, though it seems they must have existed). It's possible that orcs in this case exhibit no sexual dimorphism, and so males and females could not be distinguished without taking a look under the hood. (the film bypassed this by having the Uruk-hai 'created' whole from the earth).
* Are sometimes made [[SendInTheClones solely as artificial creatures]] rather than reproducing biologically, thus explaining the aforementioned lack of females. It was implied in LOTR that Morgoth created them as, "a mockery of the Elves."

* Are AlwaysChaoticEvil. However, Tolkien's Orcs are of debatable morality. While not 'peaceful', they are mostly driven by their fear of Sauron or Morgoth.

!!Examples

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* The Orcs in Benjamin Epstein's ''Literature/{{Captive Of The Orcs}}'' have inklings in both. No one kills more Orcs than other Orcs. And the combination of tribal wars mixed with an aggressive religion could conceivably lead to resembling the Tolkien Orcs, were they somehow able to unite under one banner.

* Falmer in [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]] strongly resemble Tolkienian orcs.

* Creator/JohnRingo's ''CouncilWars'' series features Tolkien orcs created in a future Earth using genetic modification and nanotech. The 'orcs' are the villains' idea of {{Super Soldier}}s. It doesn't work out very well, because the orcs are too aggressive to organize or train efficiently.

Although the two groups are significantly different, they usually share both a monstrous, primitive appearance and conflict with humanity and the other FiveRaces. The author's choice of which model to emulate usually depends on whose perspective the story is written, the story's relative position on the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism, and whether the author intends to explore [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman ramifications of killing sentient beings]]. In any case, expect humans to treat "Blizzard" orcs as if they were "Tolkienian" orcs, at least initially. ''[[OurElvesAreBetter Yrrch!]]''

* Are of below-average intelligence, although there are exceptions. Though Tolkien's Orcs did have superior technology matched and exceeded only by the Numenorians and Dwarves.

* Usually have oppressive, patriarchal societies, with females being treated as property, provided if female orcs [[MonoGenderMonsters are shown or mentioned]] (in Tolkien, female orcs were never shown or discussed, though it seems they must have existed). It's possible that orcs in this case exhibit no gender dimorphism, and so males and females could not be distinguished without taking a look under the hood. (the film bypassed this by having the Uruk-hai 'created' whole from the earth).

* Are carnivorous, often even cannibalistic.