History Main / TokenHeroicOrc

* Literature/TheBible:
** In the Literature/BookOfGenesis, Noah and his family are this to the corrupted antediluvian human race, hence why {{God}} spared them from TheGreatFlood.
** In the Literature/BookOfJoshua, [[HookerWithAHeartOfGold Rahab]] and her family are the only Jerichoians spared from the Israelites' takeover, because she aided their spies.

* In the Literature/BookOfGenesis, Noah and his family are this to the corrupted antediluvian human race, hence why {{God}} spared them from TheGreatFlood.

* Creator/JossWhedon's ''[[ComicBook/XMen Astonishing X-Men]]'' includes a notable [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstruction]] of this trope, where we learn that the character who's set up as the Token Heroic Orc is actually the arc's true BigBad. It turns out that the prophecy that kick-started the story's events (that one of the X-Men would [[EarthShatteringKaboom destroy the home planet of that story's "Orcs"]]) was actually planted by said character, who ''wanted'' [[OmnicidalManiac it to come true]] because she thought that living under her [[EvilOverlord Emperor]]'s barbaric rule was a FateWorseThanDeath. The story points out that, even in an alien culture that seems evil to us, a person willing to completely reject every underlying value of their species' culture probably wouldn't be a paragon of mental health.
* Rook in ''ComicBook/{{Birthright}}'' is a literal Token Heroic Orc. Most of his people fight in [[EvilOverlord God-King Lore's]] army, but Rook not only leads one of the resistance cells opposing Lore, he summoned and trained the ChosenOne prophesied to defeat him. [[spoiler:Though, [[{{Deconstruction}} given the nature of the series,]] the results weren't entirely what he was hoping for.]]
* ComicBook/{{Blade}} is a half vampire who hunts vampires, his ally Hannibal King is a friendly vampire who steals blood from blood banks in lieu of killing humans.

* Karkas is a friendly but monstrous-looking Deviant who hangs out with his people's traditional enemies, the ComicBook/{{Eternals}}.

** John the Skrull and Skrull Beatles from Creator/PaulCornell's ''Wisdom'' and ''ComicBook/CaptainBritainAndMI13''

* Purity Brown in ''ComicBook/NemesisTheWarlock'' is a prominent member of the pro-Nemesis faction on Termight, and one of Nemesis' closest confidants; due to being a human, she is often mistrusted by the Cabal. Notably, when Nemesis flies into a rage after hearing that [[spoiler:his wife and son have been murdered]], she along with Hammerstein calls out Nemesis on his intention to kill every human, citing herself as an example of a human who isn't evil.
* Orion, son of ComicBook/{{Darkseid}}, raised by the ''ComicBook/NewGods'' of New Genesis. Also Big Barda, a former fury of Granny Goodness who helped Scott Free escape and eventually married him.
* No-Name in ''ComicBook/PlanetHulk'' is member of the Brood, a race of evil bug aliens and [[{{Franchise/Alien}} Xenomorph]] {{Exp|y}}ies that fight against the Franchise/XMen on regular basis. No-Name on the other hand is a RogueDrone that fights alongside the Hulk as a Warbound member. She proves to be an exceptional individual unlike the rest of her race (who are by large sadistic and evil) during ''ComicBook/WorldWarHulk'' when she shields civilians from the impacts of Hulk's blows against Sentry, stating that they only came to make the people responsible for their home's destruction would pay, not to destroy another world.
** On the topic of the Brood, there's also Broo, a member of the race born with a mutation that gave him intelligent thought. He became a student at Xavier's academy and an ally to the X-Men.
* The two orc main characters in ''ComicBook/RatQueens'', Braga and Orc Dave, are heroic but have different origins:

* ''ComicBook/SupermanUnchained'': [[MilitarySuperhero Wraith]] is an alien that was raised by the U.S. military and has helped protect Earth since 1938. He serves as a HeroAntagonist to Franchise/{{Superman}} due to their ideological differences. [[spoiler:In the finale, Wraith sacrifices his life to save Earth from his own people.]]

** Raven is the daughter of the demon Trigon but has long been an ally of the Titans, not counting the occasional FaceHeelTurn.
* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'':

* ''Series/{{V|1983}}'' has Willie who is a Visitor, but plays on the humans' team, as did Ryan from the new series. It turns out, though, that there is an entire underground of Visitors who resist the leaders from within.

* ''[[Fanfic/StarWarsVsWarhammer40K Star Wars vs Warhammer 40K]]'': Trandoshans are a race of vicious LizardFolk who are infamous for [[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame hunting Wookiees for sport on their homeworld]], and the ones seen in both ''Franchise/StarWars'' canon and ''[[Franchise/StarWarsLegends Legends]]'' are usually either criminals or bounty hunters. One of the major heroes of Season 1 is a Trandoshan Jedi Knight named Renphi, who is no less noble or selfless than any other member of his order. Throughout his appearances, he is unwavering in his commitment to establishing a peaceful relationship between the Galactic Republic and the Imperium of Man, even when {{first contact}} is sabotaged by the Sith and war seems inevitable.

* ''[[Fanfic/StarWarsVsWarhammer40K Star Wars vs Warhammer 40K]]'': Trandoshans are a race of vicious LizardFolk who are infamous for [[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame hunting Wookiees for sport on their homeworld]], and the ones seen in both ''Franchise/StarWars'' canon and ''[[FranchiseStarWarsLegends Legends]]'' are usually either criminals or bounty hunters. One of the major heroes of Season 1 is a Trandoshan Jedi Knight named Renphi, who is no less noble or selfless than any other member of his order. Throughout his appearances, he is unwavering in his commitment to establishing a peaceful relationship between the Galactic Republic and the Imperium of Man, even when {{first contact}} is sabotaged by the Sith and war seems inevitable.