Fan Works
Gai'vahros: A simple haircut and those goblins think they can charge me through the nose for it.
Twilight Sparkle: You... have goblins who fix your hair, Gai'vahros? I don't think I would trust them to open a cupboard door.
Gai'vahros: No. No, neither would I, my Lady Twilight. They would probably find a way to blow it up.
Twilight Sparkle: You... have goblins who fix your hair, Gai'vahros? I don't think I would trust them to open a cupboard door.
Gai'vahros: No. No, neither would I, my Lady Twilight. They would probably find a way to blow it up.
Literature
Now goblins are cruel, wicked, and bad-hearted. They make no beautiful things, but they make many clever ones. They can tunnel and mine as well as any but the most skilled dwarves, when they take the trouble, though they are usually untidy and dirty. Hammers, axes, swords, daggers, pickaxes, tongs, and also instruments of torture, they make very well, or get other people to make to their design, prisoners and slaves that have to work till they die for want of air and light. It is not unlikely that they invented some of the machines that have since troubled the world, especially the ingenious devices for killing large numbers of people at once, for wheels and engines and explosions always delighted them, and also not working with their own hands more than they could help; but in those days and those wild parts they had not advanced (as it is called) so far. They did not hate dwarves especially, no more than they hated everybody and everything, and particularly the orderly and prosperous; in some parts wicked dwarves had even made alliances with them. But they had a special grudge against Thorin's people, because of the war which you have heard mentioned, but which does not come into this tale; and anyway goblins don't care who they catch, as long as it is done smart and secret, and the prisoners are not able to defend themselves.
— The Hobbit, "Over Hill and Under Hill", the main Trope Codifier for most Fantasy goblins
GOBLINS are the smaller unmutated form of ORCS, and quite as unpleasant. They are misshapen (OMT) ugly humanoids with long nails and teeth. Usually they have green scaly skins and pointed ears. They live underground in MOUNTAINS and WOODS and are likely to pour out of these dens in hundreds and attack the Tour without warning. They have a habit of keeping on coming, however many you kill, so you will find you have to keep cutting Goblins to pieces until your arm aches. If there are enough Goblins, they will capture you at this stage and haul you underground. It will be some days before your COMPANIONS manage to rescue you. Be prepared for a bad few days. Goblins enjoy TORTURE and are rather good at it. Some Goblins are cannibals too.
Tabletop Games
"Their character is universally reprehensible. There is no depth of casual cruelty or random violence to which a Goblin will not sink, if it senses that it has the power to do so. Yet in the presence of an Orc or even just a larger Goblin, it will become suddenly servile and fawning, a slinking cur in fear of its master's stick."
— Heinrich Malz, High Priest of Verena, on goblins, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Old World Bestiary — A Compendium of Creatures Fair and Foul.
"Oi! Dey's not propa Greenskins a'tol are dey? Deys an alright shade 'o green I'll grant and dey's shifty enuff fer gobos, but dat's all dat's right about 'em. Dey use poison! Poison! Like one 'o dem stink'n Ratmen! Da miserable gits sneak about and always go in fer two quick shivs in da dark. Never a propa scrap has ever come from dem Hobs, I'll warrant. Dey play at being stuntie lackeys and dey cheat at dice. Still, dey's handy fer soaking up arrers when no others are 'round."
— Warboss Clangor Gorespiller, on hobgoblins, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Old World Bestiary — A Compendium of Creatures Fair and Foul.
Video Games
In any litter of orcs, several are born much smaller and weaker than the rest. These runts are called "Goblins" and are looked down on by the rest of their kin. In battle, these are given the most meager of equipment, and are used as a soak-off force to give the Warlords time to prepare the real assault.
Some speculate that the existence of these creatures is the beginning of a failure of the orcish bloodline, though no one knows enough of their history to state anything conclusive.
Some speculate that the existence of these creatures is the beginning of a failure of the orcish bloodline, though no one knows enough of their history to state anything conclusive.
Web Videos
"Evidence number three: If goblins aren't real, than how come every picture of a goblin is very similar? Ever think about that? How come we, as a human species, all know what a goblin looks like? We all think of this- [Shows small green creature with big ears] -as a goblin. How come? That's because goblins used to exist in medieval times. Look it up."
— videogamedunkey, "Goblins are Real"
