History Main / OurElvesAreBetter

* TheDreamlandChronicles has pleasant enough elves, except when Nastajia is being TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask (and that trope would explain her attitude).

* '''[[ProudScholarRaceGuy Space Elves]]:''' A newer variation, Space Elves can be a straight up copy of any aforementioned variants, but [[RECYCLEDInSpace ''In SPACE!'']] Usually, they are also notable because their technology is either [[OrganicTechnology organic]], [[CrystalSpiresAndTogas crystalline]], or otherwise very pretty and completely renewable/in tune with nature (and can probably blow ''your'' ships right out of space [[LensmanArmsRace before you can even see them]]). And of course, replace a bow with a laser gun (or better yet, ''[[RuleOfCool laser bows]]!'') and you're in business.

* '''[[RecycledINSPACE Space Elves]]:''' A newer variation, Space Elves can be a straight up copy of any aforementioned variants, but ''In SPACE!'' Usually, they are also notable because their technology is either [[OrganicTechnology organic]], [[CrystalSpiresAndTogas crystalline]], or otherwise very pretty and completely renewable/in tune with nature (and can probably blow ''your'' ships right out of space [[LensmanArmsRace before you can even see them]]). And of course, replace a bow with a laser gun (or better yet, ''[[RuleOfCool laser bows]]!'') and you're in business.

* ''TheInheritanceCycle's'' elves are basically ''LOTR'' elves with MAGIC! and vegetarianism. And atheism. And the ability to beat the most well-trained human in a fight as kids. Oh, and even more haughty and elitist. And [[AuthorAppeal the author is apparently too enamored of them]] to notice [[CantArgueWithElves how obnoxious they are]]. An entire race as TheWesley.
** The author seems to have noticed in Brisingr, since he had Eragon very definitively point out that the whole vegetarianism thing just doesn't work out that well unless you were born an elf, and is silly even then.
** He says nothing of the sort. Eragon and other elves are psychological disgusted by hunting (etc.) due to their telempathic connections with animals (and thus also tend to avoid meat in general). He does say doesn't resent those that do eat it, though.
*** YMMV on how wellhe did this. In the same book, Eragon has an encounter with... ''something'', most likely divine. Despite being told for the last book and a half by the elves that there are no gods, Eragon has yet to call the out on this. Even more [[TVTropesDrinkingGame egregrious]] by the fact that both the city of Tronjheim and the elves have been around a '''''long''''' time. And an elf has ''never'' been present for this event? ''Ever?'' In over two thousand years?

*** On the half-elf front we also have a character in the novels, T'Ryssa Chen, who embraced her human side so much that she got told she was working too hard at acting non-Vulcan. She also like pretending to be an Elf rather than a Vulcan.

** a few mods feature elves with metal. most often this means that you end with extremely small human/dwarf/goblin civs with two elvish gigantic world spanning empires dominating everything

** He says nothing of the sort. Eragon and other elves are psychological disgusted by hunting due to their telempathic connections with animals (and thus also tend to avoid meat in general). He does say doesn't resent those that do eat it, though.

** He says nothing of the sort. Eragon and other elves are psychological disgusted by hunting due to their telempathic connections with animals (and thus also tend to avoid meat in general). He does say doesn't resent those do eat it, though.

*** We eat our own young, and slaughter the young of previous dominant males, much less frequently than apes, so they kinda CantArgueWithElves.
**** Hey, who said [[HumansAreBastards we don't?]]
* And lets not forget old [[GodwinsLaw Addie Hitler]] probably had wet dreams about a world full of elves... which brings in all kinds of UnfortunateImplications about the use of the trope.
** Heck, [[HitlerAteSugar even sugar is evil.]]

* No facial hair. Period. They don't grow it and never have to shave. This is pervasive to the point a PermaStubble or ''[[GoodHairEvilHair beard]]'' on an elf would be near mind shatteringly weird. Still, there are a few aversions, most notably in ''LookingForGroup'' and the ''{{Warcraft}}'' universe; half-averted in ''{{ElfQuest}}'' (only male Wolfriders who've lived long enough grow beards). Rather surprisingly, ''{{Lord of the Rings}}'', which pretty much invented this trope, is another example of elves with facial hair; Cirdan of the Grey Havens is explicitly described as bearded. Half-Elves can often grown facial hair to show how inferior they are. If they do, it'll probably be a fashionable, ErrolFlynn-esque business. Averted in Dark Elves since all [[BeardOfEvil goatees are evil]].

Better than you, me, and even other elves. ''Especially'' other elves.

** The Night Elves turned to Wood Elves to the point where most of their buildings are Ents. They're haughty jerks who ignore massive wars happening on their doorstep, and first announce their existence by trying to kill the desecrators. They are slightly redeemed by their side's protagonist's husband: when she points out that their plan to stop a demonic invasion will cost the Elves their immortality, he replies that if that's a reason to stop, it's high time the Elves got dying. They get slightly better after [=WC3=].

* In ''{{Warcraft}}'', the elven races originated from the Night Elves. The original culture was a mash-up of High and Wood Elven until [[WorldSundering their queen blew up the world]]. The survivors split when the the surviving magic users [[TheDarkSide refused to give up magic]]. The Night Elves turned to a completely Wood Elven society while the quel'dorei, or High Elves, typified that society. Then [[ZombieApocalypse the Scourge nearly exterminate the High Elves]] and a majority of the survivors became Blood Elves, who while reckless and often huge jerks, are not reallly dark elves.
** The Blood Elves are rather haughty, but the Night Elves are less so, as befitting their high elf/wood elf likenesses.
*** The Night Elves are haughty enough to ignore massive wars happening, literally, right in front of them. They get slightly better by the end of [=WC3=]. That's most likely because once they lost their immortality they had to start acting as people again, rather than immortal observers. They're also just a little bit [[FantasticRacism xenophobic]].
**** To sum it all up: Night Elves are Wood Elves with a little bit of Dark Elf, Blood Elves are High Elves with varying amounts of Dark Elf-ness depending on the faction and point in time, and the remaining ones who are actually called High Elves are exactly that, although not as haughty as the other two (except to the [[AcceptableTargets Blood Elves]]).

* ''TheElderScrolls'' features variations on the Tolkienian Elf archetypes. Starting with a Precursor race called the Aldmer, they broke of into groups known as the Falmer (snow Elves), the Chimer ("changed ones"), the Altmer (High Elves), the Orsimer ("pariah folk"), the Dwemer (Dwarves), the Bosmer (Wood Elves), and the Ayleid ("Heartland Wild Elves"). The Falmer were supposedly killed by the Nords; all but one Dwemer was killed off by mass absorbicide (yeah...it's hard to explain) and the Chimer changed into the Dunmer (Dark Elves); and, the Ayleid either slaughtered by humans or assimilated into other elf cultures. Exiles from Altmer society are the Maormer (tropical Elves); the Orsimer were changed into Orcs by the Daedric Prince Boethiah; some breeds of Khajiit are difficult to distinguish from Bosmer; last but not least are the Bretons, who are Man and Mer hybrids.

*S.M Stirling's [[TransplantedHumans Martians]] from In the Court of the Crimson Kings have everything but the pointy ears. Mostly hairless with organic technology and arrogant dismissal of humans.

* [[TheBeautifulPeople Very, very pretty.]] To the point of {{fetish}}ism. (Those pointed ears...)

And whatever you do, don't mention [[ElvesVsDwarves the Dwarves]].

* NorseMythology is where it all started. They were more magically gifted, long lived/immortal, and very beautiful. The [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame dwarves]], in Norse the duergar, were a subrace of elves, and commonly called svartálfar (black elves), who aren't believed to have been a separate race from dwarves. They even mated with humans to create {{Half Human Hybrid}}s. There were some things which didn't make it into modern times: they could also [[IntangibleMan phase through walls]], they lived on [[AnotherDimension their own plane]] called �lfheimr, and they had facial hair.

** The Elves were also minor gods who held power over the lands they inhabited. Humans would hold �lfablót, where they would sacrifice animals, and sometimes slaves to the local elves for the sake of good crops. It was also possible for humans to become elves after death, like King Olaf Geirstad-Elf, and so Elves could be ancestor spirits that look after a people or household.