History Main / OurOrcsAreDifferent

*** Early orcs don't fit the Tolkensian archetype or the ''Warcraft'' archetype very well. Rather, they are sort of "goblins, but bigger (and somehow even dumber)". Their primary distinguishing characteristics are their supreme cowardice and [[HarmlessVillain complete incompetence]]; early orc cards were printed with abilities that made it difficult or impossible to force them into any combat that would kill the orc, while others had ridiculous drawbacks for minor effects that made them a bigger liability to their controller than the opponent outside of overly complicated combos.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': The Turok-Han are basically Tolkenian Orcs crossed with vampires.

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' uses Orks, which are [[RecycledInSPACE Orcs from Warhammer IN SPACE]] with {{Funetik Aksent}}s and XtremeKoolLetterz. ''40K'' is such a CrapsackWorld that, due to their straightforward attitudes, [[FootballHooligans hooligan]]-style {{Funetik Aksent}}s, and InsaneTrollLogic, these bloodthirsty, amoral monsters are the ''comic relief''. Although they are Tolken style, 40k Orks can be considered to be the prototype of the Revisionist Orcs and among the very first non ChaoticEvil Orcs albeit a violent BlueAndOrangeMorality brand ChaoticNeutral.

* ''VideoGame/Lineage2'': Orcs are both Tolkenien and Blizzard-type. The player controlled orcs generally follow the Blizzard version closely, being [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Proud Warrior Race Guys]] and following a shamanistic culture based around their progenitor Pa'aagrio, god of fire. There are some aesthetic differences, mainly that they don't generally have horns or tusks or really big teeth, just hairstyles that look like horns. Their melee classes essentially fill the role of the big, muscular ScaryBlackMan, except with green skin. Their women are something else entirely. Only Dark Elf women are bustier. The orc Mooks you fight, which by the way the player orcs HATE, are nearly always Tolkenien in most ways, being mostly dumb, savage tribal guys who generally pillage their neighborhood.

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyroDawnOfTheDragon'' features Orcs as the main servants and army of [[BigBad Malefor]] in a pure Tolkenian role. They however differ in appearence, being a race of grotesque lizard-like humanoids with elongated heads, gangly limbs and bodies made of earth, grass and rock and armed with either axes or crossbows attached to their arms. Stronger and bigger variants known as Orc Heroes also exist. Other creatures in Malefor's army include the goblinesque Grublins and the humongous Trolls, all made from earth and vegetation like the Orcs.

The word ''orc'' comes from [[UsefulNotes/AngloSaxons Old English]] and shares linguistic roots with ''[[OurOgresAreHungrier ogre]]'', borrowed from French. Both terms are related to the Latin word Orcus, the name of an Etruscan/Roman god of TheUnderworld which came to denote the place itself (like Greek ''Hades''). Later, ''Orcus'' was [[EverybodyHatesHades glossed as a term for a]] [[HijackedByJesus demon or hell itself]]. Thus, the Old English word ''orc'', as attested by medieval glossaries -- as well as cognates in other languages like French ''ogre'', Italian ''orco'' and Portuguese and Spanish ''ogro'' -- denoted a kind of demon or monster. However, the only appearance of ''orc'' in surviving Old English literature comes from ''Literature/{{Beowulf}}'' in the form ''orcnéas'', "demon-corpses", sometimes translated as "living dead" -- [[OurGhoulsAreDifferent ghouls]], perhaps? ''Orcnéas'' are said to be evil creatures descended from [[TheDescendantsOfCain Cain]], together with ''eotenas'' ([[OurGiantsAreBigger giants]]), ''ylfe'' ([[OurElvesAreDifferent elves]]) and ''gigantas'' (giants, again, so ''eotenas'' is sometimes translated as ogres or [[AllTrollsAreDifferent trolls]]). [[note]]Confusingly, a homonym of ''orc'' also exists in Old English with the meaning of "cup" or some other sort of "vessel", with the plural ''orcas'' appearing in ''Beowulf''. This is also derived from Latin, but is completely unrelated to ''Orcus'' since it comes from ''urceus'', much later ''orca'' -- which itself has a homonym meaning "whale", hence killer whales are called orcas.[[/note]]

* Are a ProudWarriorRace with an extensive honor system partially inspired by the Japanese, the Norse, or other "warrior" cultures. They've been referred to as "green [[Franchise/StarTrek Klingons]]" in the past.
* 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, though their magic will be more shamanic than arcane, and their technology will be more "earthy".
* Are far more likely to have a more fully fleshed-out culture than Tolkienesque orcs. But unlike other races, they rarely have a direct [[FantasyCounterpartCulture real-world counterpart]], but are instead a mishmash of various tribal cultures, although most can be summed up as a ProudWarriorRace.
* Have an animist and/or shamanistic religious structure.

* May appear rugged and violent to other races because historically they [[HadToBeSharp lived in dangerous environments]] that have very few resources available so they resort to a spartan way of life.

* Are larger than humans and [[PunyEarthlings nearly always stronger]]. An Orc will be probably about 6-8 feet tall, and much more stocky and robustly built. Limbs are close to a foot thick. CompetitiveBalance usually ensures that this does not make them superior to other races in battle: elves are still much more agile and attuned to nature or magic, dwarves have comparable strength, toughness and superior equipment, and humans have [[SoldierVsWarrior superior logistics, tactics, and coordination]] on the battlefield.
* May have incredibly thick muscle, broad chests and shoulders and somewhat elongated arms, but generally stand upright and appear undeniably humanoid.

Orcs typically share a close relationship with [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent goblins]], and indeed Tolkien originally used the words "orc" and "goblin" more or less interchangeably. Modern fantasy typically separates them into distinct species, with goblins usually being smaller and more lightly built. Orcs are also frequently associated with other monstrous humanoid races. See: OurOgresAreHungrier, AllTrollsAreDifferent and OurGiantsAreBigger, as well as StandardFantasyRaces. The trope often overlaps with PigMan, especially in Japanese media, though the pun on "pork" is linguistically coincidental. They are often the "adopting" parent when a child is RaisedByOrcs. In many cases, SpaceOrcs will literally be fantasy orcs InSpace, although it's somewhat more common for them to be an original species with a Tolkienian orcish personality added on.

* Aren't necessarily [[BeautyEqualsGoodness repulsive]]. They can even be quite attractive, with the women shown as {{Amazonian beaut|y}}ies and the men [[{{Hunk}} burly and ruggedly handsome]].

* Often have [[PigMan pig-like snouts]] or upturned noses that resemble pig snouts. (Sometimes taken one step further by actually giving them ''pig heads'', like in early editions of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''.) May have tusks. This is possibly drawn from the fact that "orc" is Welsh for "pig", and Welsh was the inspiration for Tolkien's [[{{Conlang}} Sindarin]]; alternately, it comes from the illustrators misunderstanding Creator/GaryGygax who supposedly told them to make the orcs look [[LiteralMinded "pig-headed"]]; or, simply, that "orc" rhymes with "pork". This look was popularized in Japan by [=RPGs=] like ''VideoGame/DragonQuest.'' Often called "Porcs" on the internet.

* ''Manga/MonsterMusume'' being a Japanese work, the orcs are {{Pig M|an}}en of human-level intelligence. [[MostWritersAreMale Typical]] for the series, while the males closely resemble the "Boar-men" orcs of ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'', the [[SexyDimorphism females]] shown in spinoffs are attractive, [[BigBeautifulWoman curvy]] humanoids who are a LittleBitBeastly instead. The first orcs shown in the series are the first truly hostile liminals introduced; terrorists who take a comic book store hostage to make ridiculous demands for the publication of orc-centric pornography.

** Early editions of the core game follow Tolkien model fairly closely. Orcs are violent humanoids who dwell underground and find sunlight uncomfortable. They are said to be highly competitive and good tacticians. Earlier editions had them as LawfulEvil, but later editions made them ChaoticEvil. Half-orcs are also a playable race, receiving extra strength but lower charisma. In the first edition, Orcs were drawn as piglike creatures despite the description not mentioning this. As many early and popular [=JRPGs=], most notably ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'', based their monsters off of first edition ''D&D'' illustrations, this helped popularized the "porc" look in Japan.

* ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'': Orcs are often found as random encounters and default to the Tolkienian model, being humanoid boars with spears. Interestingly, they ([[UndergroundMonkey and their variations]]) tend to be rather powerful, usually being encountered mid- to late-game.

** The Parshendi who form the antagonists of ''Literature/TheWayOfKings'' are of the ProudWarriorRace variety mixed with BlueAndOrangeMorality, with skin that is marbled red-and-white or red-and-black. They are ferocious warriors who are physically stronger than humans and grow natural armor, and are attuned to naturally-occurring music and rhythms native to the planet of Roshar. Much of the series' plot is kicked off by them having the king of Alethkar assassinated and admitting to the act and then fighting an extended defensive siege on the Shattered Plains for seven years against the massed armies of Alethkar. Though their initial portrayal shows them as a Tolkien-like orc -- savage and merciless -- as the books progress it is shown that they are a mixture of both the Blizzard and Tolkien takes. They are largely honorable and driven to protect themselves, and have the ability to change their bodies to different "forms." One of which, warform, is the typical orc-like shape, while other forms include intelligent scholar forms or stout and squat worker forms. They are also revealed in the third novel, ''Literature/{{Oathbringer}}'' to have been [[{{AntiVillain}} anti-villains]], as the reason that they assassinated King Gavilar was [[spoiler:that one of them learned that he was planning to bring back the Parshendi's "old gods" who had enslaved and controlled them in the past.]] Furthermore, [[spoiler:they were manipulated by the god [[GodOfEvil Odium]] into their position as part of his long-term plan to restart the [[RegularlyScheduleEvil Desolations]].]]

* In ''Literature/{{Victoria}}'', "Orcs" is an in-universe term of {{dehumanization}} for roving packs of black and Latino {{gangbangers}} who terrorise the New England backwoods and rural communities inhabited by the protagonists. Yeah, it's [[AuthorTract that]] [[ValuesDissonance kind]] of book.

** They come in two broad groupings, differentiated by what specific strain of mutagen was used to make them and by where that strain originated from: [[VideoGame/Fallout3 East Coast]] [[VideoGame/Fallout4 Super Mutants]] are almost always vicious Tolkien-esque monsters, while [[VideoGame/{{Fallout}} West]] [[VideoGame/Fallout2 Coast]] [[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas Super Mutants]] are more likely to be Blizzard style.
** The art book for ''Fallout 3'' puts even more emphasis on the Tolkien part as well as the [[OurOgresAreHungrier "ogre"]] aspect as they are shown to make their own cobbled-together armor and guns, as well as forge melee weapons such as axes, [[{{BFS}} swords]], [[CarryABigStick maces]], and [[EpicFlail flails/meteor hammers.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}}'': Most of [[BigBad Prince Phobos's]] minions are orc-like humanoids; they're initially portrayed as the Tolkien variety. They are revealed, though, to have been fed on propaganda and aren't necessarily that bad; most of them do a collective HeelFaceTurn after Phobos is defeated, and the main orc who remains villainous, Raythor, is nonetheless an honorable NobleDemon. The lurdens, Phobos' more monstrous and bestial minions, are Tolkien orcs played straight.

** Orcs seem to ''look'' more like the Blizzard variety. However, to say that they act like the Tolkien variety would be to vastly underestimate their [[AxCrazy sheer batshittery]].

* In the 1.16 Nether Update ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' introduced the Piglin, which the closest vanilla Minecraft has to Orcs. They are a race of [[PigMan pig beings]] that live in the hostile dimension. Being barbaric and belligerent, they will attack you on sight, making it an interesting case where the zombie variant is actually ''less'' hostile. Thankfully, they have a [[GoldFever massive fondness for gold]], and wearing any gold armor will make them neutral towards you -- as long as you don't open any chests or mine gold around them. Once neutral, the player can barter items with them using gold ingots.
** Piglin Brutes go a bit further and make them more hostile and aggressive, unwilling to barter and unafraid of the fears of their lesser kin
** Zombie Piglins actually subvert this, being more docile and neutral to the player... [[TemptingFate unless you hurt one of them]]

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' uses Orks, which are [[RecycledInSPACE Orcs from Warhammer IN SPACE]] with {{Funetik Aksent}}s and XtremeKoolLetterz. ''40K'' is such a CrapsackWorld that, due to their straightforward attitudes, [[FootballHooligans hooligan]]-style {{Funetik Aksent}}s, and InsaneTrollLogic, these bloodthirsty, amoral monsters are the ''comic relief''.

* ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'': In Exandria, the standing of orcs and half-orcs seems to depend on the region. In the Mighty Nein campaign, prejudice against orcs and half-orcs was common enough throughout Wildemount that they predominantly live in the drow-ruled Krynn Dynasty with other stereotypically "evil" races, but the villainy of the Dynasty turns out to be a case of GreyAndGrayMorality colored by the propaganda of their enemies.

* ''VideoGame/DungeonMakerIITheHiddenWar'': The orcs are neither Tolkienian nor Blizzard variety. They're actually [[PigMan 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.

* ''Fanfic/TheFall'': [[LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero Louise]] is familiar with the Tolkienesque types, coming from a medieval fantasy world infested with them herself. In [[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas the Mojave]], she's told a story of Super Mutants, a type of big, green, stupid and very violent humanoids. The similarities do not escape her, and she even [[LampshadeHanging lampshades it]].

* In ''TabletopGame/TheChroniclesOfAeres'', orcs are what happens when [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent goblins]] manage to live a particularly long time. They're still MadeOfEvil, but the prolonged lifespan allows them to grow larger and stronger and marginally smarter -- and considering Aeres orcs are still DumbMuscle, that says something for how dumb Aeres goblins are. They're rarely seen, and because lesser goblins obey them instinctively, they're commonly known as "Goblin Kings".

* ''Fanfic/ShadowsOverMeridian'': While there's canonically two different appearances to the Lurdens, they're divided into three different types in this story. The green ones with ogre-like appearance are native to the eastern Swamplands, while the brown ones with beast-like appearance come from the northern mountains. The third type, known as Sand Dwellers, who were only seen in canon in the first season episode "Escape from Cavigor", are the original inhabitants of the southern desert where Cavigor is situated.

* In ''Manga/InterspeciesReviewers'' Orcs are the ruling political party of the setting due to the fact that they apply their lifestyle of "Eat, Sleep and Fuck" to politics (a focus on agriculture, low taxes, public support for sex industry). Otherwise aside from looking like pig men and a high sex drive/stamina there's little separating them from other species. In one notable scene, a "Raid Party" consisting of 100 orcs saves the Reviewers from a quite literal DeathBySex.

* ''Literature/SecondApocalypse'': The sranc are a race of monsters engineered to achieve sexual pleasure from violence and rape. As a homage to Creator/JRRTolkien, they are "corruptions" of the nonmen (the "[[OurElvesAreDifferent elves]]" of this setting) and genetically engineered to have nonman faces. There is even a second, larger, better armored, and more disciplined breed called ursranc, Eärwa's own [[EliteMooks uruk-hai]].

* ''Manga/MonsterMusume'' being a Japanese work, the orcs are {{Pig M|an}}en of human-level intelligence. [[MostWritersAreMale Typical]] for the series, while the males closely resemble the "Boar-men" orcs of ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'', the [[SexyDimorphism females]] shown in spinoffs are attractive, [[BigBeautifulWoman curvy]] humanoids who are a LittleBitBeastly instead. The first orcs shown in the series are the first truly hostile liminals introduced; terrorists who take a comic book store hostage to make ridiculous demands for the publication of orc-centric pornography
* In ''LightNovel/ThatTimeIGotReincarnatedAsASlime'', orcs are initially portrayed as type 1, being an army of over 100,000 savages who trample through the land, killing and eating anyone they encounter. However, it turns out that they were only acting that way due to the influence of their leader Geld's "Starved" skill (which allows them to [[CannibalismSuperpower absorb the power of anyone they eat]] at the cost of feeling perpetual hunger), which Geld himself only accepted to learn because his nation was suffering from a severe famine. Once Geld is defeated, the orcs turn into a rather peaceful people who regret what they did under the influence, and when Rimuru invites them into his nation of monsters, they happily put their physical strength to work doing manual labor like constructing roads and buildings rather than fighting, though their new leader (named Geld II after his father) proves [[BewareTheNiceOnes he's more than capable of bringing the pain when called to war]].

* ''LightNovel/TheDeathMageWhoDoesntWantAFourthTime'': Orcs look like bipedal pigs and are a OneGenderRace that needs to use females of other races to reproduce. While lesser orcs are generally mindless beasts who are spawned by Dungeons, the Noble Orcs, who were created to control the lesser ones in the distant past, can be just as intelligent and civilized as humans. Our protagonist ends up creating a new variant of orc with his magic by accident named Orcus, black orcs who are just as big and intelligent as Noble Orcs.

* ''LightNovel/KonoSuba'': Orcs are shown to be a race of [[MonoGenderMonsters all-female]] {{Pig M|an}}en with a taste for BlackComedyRape (since all their males died out centuries ago). In the movie, Wiz accidentally teleports the heroes into a pack of them, leading to Kazuma running for his life while Darkness has a HeroicBSOD after learning there are no males to [[CombatSadomasochist abuse her in and out of combat]].

* Often have [[PigMan pig-like snouts]] or upturned noses that resemble pig snouts. (Sometimes taken one step further by actually giving them ''pig heads'', like in early editions of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''.) May have tusks. This is possibly drawn from the fact that "orc" is Welsh for "pig", and Welsh was the inspiration for Tolkien's Sindarin; alternately, it comes from the illustrators misunderstanding Creator/GaryGygax who supposedly told them to make the orcs look [[LiteralMinded "pig-headed"]]. This look was popularized in Japan by [=RPGs=] like ''VideoGame/DragonQuest.'' Often called "Porcs" on the internet.

* ''Literature/APrincessOfMars'': The Green Martians predate Tolkien's orcs, and it's hard to say how much of an influence they had on him, but it's safe to say they were a ''big'' part of the basis for the revisionist model of the NobleSavage orc -- tough-as-nails nomads with a rich, if [[ProudWarriorRace violent]], culture of their own, and just as capable of heroism -- or villainy -- as the more "civilized" races. They're also likely the TropeMaker for SpaceOrcs, being from Mars. Like many later revisionist orcs, they are also a FantasyCounterpartCulture for Native Americans, with the human protagonist, John Carter, at one point comparing them to the Plains Nations (though ironically it's the city-dwelling, technologically-advanced Red Martians who [[HumanAliens more physically resemble]] Native American people). The story kicks off with Carter [[TheCaptivityNarrative being held prisoner]] by a [[TheHorde nomadic following]] from the Green nation of Thark. Initially he hates them, seeing them as brutal and thuggish, but he gradually starts to admire their martial character and undeniable valour in spite of himself, even befriending a Thark chieftain, Tars Tarkas, and helping him become high chief, or [[{{Conlang}} jeddak]], of the entire Thark nation. At the climax of the novel, Tars Tarkas and John Carter [[TheCavalry lead the Tharks to war]] against the real villains. In the sequels, Tars Tarkas remains one of John's best friends and strongest allies, and is a fan favourite character.

** One abandoned film treatment turned orcs into avian-like creatures with wings and beaks, prompting Tolkien to comment that "Orcs is not a form of Auks." They also apparently spend time not fighting in a form of suspended animation, likely forced on them by Sauron.

** The [[Script/JohnBoormanLordOfTheRings abandoned film treatment]] turned orcs into avian-like creatures with wings and beaks, prompting Tolkien to comment that "Orcs is not a form of Auks." They also apparently spend time not fighting in a form of suspended animation, likely forced on them by Sauron.