Line #6 Main/LittlePeople


1	->'''LITTLE PEOPLE''' come in all sizes, from knee-high right up to the shoulder of the average human, and in a variety of breeds. The general Rule is that the smaller kinds are more like humans, while the larger ones get hairier and hairier, beginning with hairy feet and ending with hairy everything. All of them live in secret retired places, in either WOODS or MOUNTAINS, and come out only to join the Tour and help in SAVING THE WORLD. They are surprisingly cheerful, efficient, and brave, and usually win through where humans fail. If you have one or more on your Tour, count yourself lucky. Apart from anything else, Little People are allowed to make JOKES.
2	-->--''Literature/TheToughGuideToFantasyland''
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4	Just about every fantasy world has at least one race whose defining characteristic is that they're not just short, but ''small''. Typically around the size of a human child with an age in single digits. They typically fill the role of "comic relief" in an adventuring group (when they're not the protagonists). If any race of the Little People is to be considered tall compared to the rest of those races, it's most likely gonna be a [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Dwarf]]. Because they resemble a child, there's a good chance the Little People [[ChildMage are magic users]].
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6	[[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Dwarves]], {{Hobbits}}, {{Leprechaun}}s, [[OurGnomesAreWeirder Gnomes]], ChristmasElves, and some [[OurFairiesAreDifferent Fairies]] are specific subtropes. If these people are ''really'' little and are the main characters, it is a MouseWorld; for other mouse-sized people, see {{Lilliputians}}.
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8	Not to be confused with the [[WesternAnimation/LittlePeopleEgmont animated series of the same name]]. Also not to be confused with RealLife little people -- for tropes relating to humans with dwarfism, see LittlePeopleAreSurreal and DepravedDwarf.
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10	----
11	!!Examples
12	[[AC:ComicBooks]]
13	* ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'': The ancestral High Ones were as tall as humans, [[spoiler:being shapeshifting extraterrestrials]], but over the course of time many of their descendants evolved into shorter forms.
14	* ''ComicBook/TheMan'': A young boy has to hide and look after a demanding and bossy little man.
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16	[[AC:FanWorks]]
17	%%* ''Fanfic/TheBlueBlurOfTermina'': The Deku Scrubs and the Fairies.
18	* ''Fanfic/WithStringsAttached'': Although the first story has no race of small folk, ''Fanfic/TheKeysStandAlone'' has a large number of small folk races running around the rebooted C'hou. Some outworlders are small folk as well, such as Theecat.
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20	[[AC:Films -- Live-Action]]
21	* ''Film/TheDarkCrystal'' has two short-ish races, the smallish Gelflings and the even smaller "Pod People" (who look kind of like potatoes and live in big seed pods). Then again, there are no human characters, and everyone else is either a reptilian or a something like a very tall angel, so the scale isn't totally clear.
22	%%* ''Franchise/StarWars'' has Ewoks and Jawas.
23	* ''Film/SupermanAndTheMolePeople'': The beings don't really fit the MoleMen trope because they aren't rodent-like, just like tiny humans mostly.
24	* ''Film/{{Willow}}'': The Nelwyn are a race that average a little under four feet tall.
25	* ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'': The Munchkins were depicted by dwarves and midgets, based on the books' description of them being Dorothy's height, between 3-4 feet high.
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27	[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
28	* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfDorsa'': The small men, a mysterious species which have large owl-like eyes, their features wizened with hands and feet of disproportionate (to humans) size. Most only meet humans to trade with them (but will walk off instantly if the deal isn't what they like) and speak in a strange language. They live under the earth and mine, while they appear to be [[OneGenderRace entirely male]] at first (but small women are shown later-it's the men that venture outside apparently). All of them are later revealed to live in a massive [[UndergroundCity city which they've carved underground]]. They're capable of great magic, especially [[MasterOfIllusion illusions]] and apparently vanishing or appearing at will (it's revealed that's due to [[ShadowWalker traveling in the shadow world]]).
29	* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain'': [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Doli]], [[TheEeyore Gwystal]] and the rest of TheFairFolk are smaller than humans in size.
30	* ''Literature/CirqueDuFreak'': The Little People, created from the souls of the dead by Mr. Des Tiny to be his servants, are the true source in the setting of all of these legends around the world. They have stitched-together grey skin, glowing green eyes set too high on their faces, no hair, no eyelids, no sense of smell or taste, no speech unless Tiny decides to bless them with it, and they must wear special masks because if they breathe the air, they'll die. Multiple main characters are transformed into these over the course of the series.
31	* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' has dwarfs, pictsies (ViolentGlaswegian smurfs), goblins (mostly peaceful edge folk with a surprising talent for mechanisms), and gnomes (the least detailed, although [[Literature/TheLightFantastic the first to appear]], but known to be good shoemakers).
32	* ''Literature/TheMarvellousLandOfSnergs'': The proverbial Snergs are a race of short, stout humanoids.
33	%%* ''Literature/{{Mithgar}}'': Warrows.
34	%%* ''Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium'': Hobbits and Dwarves.
35	* ''Literature/TheToughGuideToFantasyland'': There's a wide assortment of minute races running about in various sizes and levels of hairiness. Some will likely be copies of Tolkien's {{Hobbits}}. They live in hidden places in woods and mountains, and tend to be cheerful, brave and stalwart. They are also the only group that the story will regularly permit to have a sense of humor.
36	* ''Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz'':
37	** The Munchkins are noted to be among the shortest tribe of Oz, although later appearances in the books note that they're sometimes as tall as any other resident of Oz.
38	** There's also the people of China Country who are said to be no larger than a baby doll.
39	%%* The Little People in Robert E. Howard's and Arthur Machen's fiction (not related, but have very similar, if vague descriptions) are AlwaysChaoticEvil creatures that form a degenerate civilization in places where the Celtic people believed TheFairFolk to dwell, and occasionally kill people or rape women crossing their territory for [[ForTheEvulz no particular reason]]. The [[HalfHumanHybrid offspring]] born from the latter cases are always mentally retarded and physically [[BeautyEqualsGoodness at least slightly deformed]], and they seem to [[GeneticMemory subconsciously know the language of their fathers]] though how that is possible is never actually explained. There's more than a sprinkling of ReptilesAreAbhorrent associated with them as well, especially in the Howard story "Worms of the Earth".%%If they're not related they're not one example. Sort them out.
40	* ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'': Koehnes (and the race of Sidhe she's from). She has just showed up on [[SuperheroSchool campus]] and set herself as servant to [[TheFairFolk Fey]] despite the fact that Fey has a roommate and lives in a dorm.
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42	[[AC:Live Action TV]]
43	* ''Series/BlakesSeven''. In "The Web", the characters encounter the Decima, a genetically-engineered ServantRace four-feet high on a planet [[DidNotThinkThisThrough covered in five-foot high bracken]]
44	* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': The Harfoots invoke this more so than the Third Age Hobbits in that their talent for hiding makes them mysterious creatures of legend to the other races of Men, akin to beings from folklore such as fairies or leprechauns. Their segments are also the most lighthearted parts.
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46	[[AC:Mythology and Folklore]]
47	* Many mythical depictions of [[OurElvesAreDifferent elves]] were like this ([[ChristmasElves Santa's elves]], for instance), until [[Creator/JRRTolkien Tolkien]] repopularized the 'tall' elves of ancient myth into modern fantasy.
48	* {{Leprechaun}}s.
49	* There are a number of stories of little people in Myth/NativeAmericanMythology, such as the pukwudgies of the Delaware and Wampanaug tribes.
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51	[[AC:Tabletop Games]]
52	* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':%%Halflings and gnomes serve this purpose.
53	** The Dragonlance setting has the Kender, which served as a different take on the Little People at the time (even if it was considered the [[TheScrappy Scrappy]] race due to annoying players playing up the kender's natural curiosity, fearlessness, and kleptomania). This helped evolve the Halfling in later editions past "hobbits with the serial numbers filed off".
54	** Dwarves are short, but they don't fit the cute or childlike part of the trope. They tend to be characterized as dour, tough, and warlike, and they tend to make good fighter characters.
55	* ''TabletopGame/TheSmallFolk'' is (strangely enough) about (very) little people, living secretly on the margins of the modern world.
56	* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': The Ratlings, though they don't have much presence in the game besides being specialist snipers for the Imperial Guard. They're essentially grimdark hobbits, being kleptomaniac little fornicators.
57	%%** Also the Squats.
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59	[[AC:VideoGames]]
60	* ''VideoGame/ArcanumOfSteamworksAndMagickObscura'' averts the comic relief bit. Gnomes are {{Corrupt Corporate Executive}}s who [[spoiler:organize the mass kidnapping and rape (by ogres) of human women to breed [[HalfHumanHybrid half-ogres]] for use as a bodyguard race]].
61	* ''Videogame/{{Arknights}}'' has the Durin, a diminutive underground race who are a fusion of [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame classic dwarves]] and {{Hobbits}}. They're incredibly skilled engineers and shockingly good fighters but also completely carefree and love to do nothing but party, drink, and eat.
62	* ''VideoGame/DarkChronicle'': The Firbits are half the size of the protagonists, addicted to [[FrothyMugsOfWater grape juice]], and their eyes are always covered with hair or [[OpaqueLenses glasses]]. While relatively mature, they have a habit of lapsing into childish responses, not unlike the Moon Folk from the [[VideoGame/DarkCloud previous game]].
63	* ''VideoGame/EverquestII'' has a vast array of little folks for players to take on, including five races (Fae, Arasai, Froglok, Gnome and Ratonga) who are half the height of humans or less!
64	* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
65	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'': Tarutaru take the cuteness factor, throw in some {{Verbal Tic}}s, and aim for being as adorable and sweet as possible. This naturally results in plenty of {{Narm}} whenever they try and act serious.
66	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'': The Lalafell are a diminutive race of adorable childlike people that love their AddedAlliterativeAppeal. The Plainsfolk have a more standard history of being farmers and shepherds, but much like the Lilties, the Dunesfolk of Ul'dah live in a WretchedHive of a MerchantCity filled with [[GladiatorGames blood sports]], vicious gangsters, corrupt merchants, {{Loan Shark}}s, and {{Dirty Cop}}s that is run by TheSyndicate in a DecadentCourt that undermine their PuppetKing. They also have an added bonus of having a history of violent racial strife. Both versions, however, have a history of being carried off by {{Giant Flyer}}s and are [[RunningGag often noted]] to be the favorite food of larger monsters.
67	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChronicles'': The Lilties are a very small and cute race. They're also super-adorable (and can [[NoBiochemicalBarriers crossbreed with people]]). Oh, and they used to be TheEmpire and can be extremely hardy and gruff, are incredibly strong for their size, can forge some mean weaponry, and can hold a grudge with the best of dwarves. Do ''not'' cross a Lilty of you know what's good for you.
68	* ''Videogame/GranblueFantasy'' has the Harvins. They're about half the height of a human adult, with PointyEars and childlike faces even as adults. They're portrayed as [[ShorterMeansSmarter having a natural affinity for magic and academics]] though they're no slouches when it comes to weapons.
69	* ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'': The yordles are short humanoids who come in a number of variants; some are furry and animal-like, such as Teemo and Rumble, while others are more like small humans, such as Corki and Poppy.
70	* ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'' has gnomes and dwarves as its Little People. Also goblins, but their only comic trait is their tendency to make things go boom. The Battle for Azeroth expansion adds the FoxFolk Vulpera, based on Fennec Foxes.
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73	%%[[AC:Webcomics]]
74	%%* ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'': Elves (both Christmas- and cookie-based).
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76	[[AC:WebOriginal]]
77	* ''WebAnimation/LuckyDayForever'': The Proles. This trope is used to show that they are the lower class of a society ruled by tall, rich Whites.
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79	[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
80	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': Frogs are larger than their Earth counterparts, but still only a few feet tall. Even a pre-teen human girl like Anne towers over most of them. Newts and toads are bigger, but still generally shorter than adult humans (though the latter are often larger overall because they're so stocky). Olms and giant salamanders are genuinely enormous even compared to humans.
81	* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': Several of the [[HiveCasteSystem gem castes]] are about the size of young children, including Rubies, Sapphires, Peridots (at least the ones made in Era 2), Aquamarines, and Larimars. A few are even ''[[{{Lilliputians}} smaller]]''.

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