History Main / OurElvesAreBetter

** Methods include outright {{immortality}} to reincarnation to simply [[LongLieved significantly longer than humans]].

** Methods include outright {{immortality}} to reincarnation to simply [[WizardsLiveLonger significantly longer than humans]].

* If we ever get good human genetic engineering, elves might be a realistic outcome. How would lots of people [[DesignerBabies engineer their children]], or themselves? Tall, pretty, thin, smart, and as long-lived as we can manage. The main aesthetic competition might be from designs with exaggerated sexual characteristics: manly Conan men and busty women vs. the {{Bishonen}} androgyny of most elves.
* In the family of ape and hominid species, humans are the elves, in a way: 'gracile' vs. 'robust' bodies, weak, neotenous, longer-lived, much swifter runners (other great apes have a slow and clumsy walk on land) and much much smarter. And we act [[HumansAreCthulhu as arrogant and snotty (not to say plain genocidal)]] towards them as any good elf would be to humans.

* For those who missed [[Creator/JRRTolkien The Last Ship]], there is [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4057782/Body-modification-fanatic-ears-reshaped-look-like-ELF.html elven ear cosmetic surgery]] available.

* '''[[HalfHumanHybrid Half-Elves]]''': Since all elves are (or think themselves to be) more attractive than humans, they tend to be found attractive by humans. On top of that elves, despite themselves, also seem to have a habit of being drawn to humanity. as a result, members of the two races often develop intimate relations, and the results of all this canoodling are Half-Elves. These guys have half the coolness of their elf parent, but half the suck of their human side (including mortality, or worse by far, facial hair). They are usually outcasts, or if not, they have embraced one of their parentages to the exclusion of the other (usually the Elf part, because humans suck). Living in human society gives them a {{Angst}} rating on par with the FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire.

** ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': The Mintakans are a Vulcanoid people at a Bronze Age-level of development (so that would make them the Trek equivalent of Wood Elves) who have embraced rationality (although not to the exclusion of emotion) and, to an extent, pacifism. They also use bows and arrows.

** On the half-elf front, we have Mr. Spock (half-Vulcan, embraced the Vulcan side), who had nothing but contempt for human weaknesses like "[[TheMcCoy emotion]]".
*** Spock also fulfills the [[AllGenesAreCodominant "half-human means half-suck"]] rule. Vulcans are actually far more emotionally volatile than humans, and require their discipline and adherence to logic to control themselves. ''Logically,'' a human/Vulcan hybrid would experience emotions more strongly than a pure human, but ''less'' than a full Vulcan. So, being raised under Vulcan discipline and adherence to logic, as Spock enthusiastically did (choosing his "elf" side), Spock should have been LESS emotional and more logical and controlled than any pure Vulcan, ever. But no; Elves Are Better.
*** 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 likes pretending to be an Elf rather than a Vulcan.
*** WordOfGod is that the author based her on an old D&D character of his. File this under "Things You Should Not Ever Do In Professional Work (and if you do, never admit to it)".
** The Romulans, who are the descendants of Vulcans, are the Franchise/TrekVerse iteration of [[EvilCounterpartRace Dark Elves]]. They're xenophobic and view themselves as being better than everyone else.

* ''{{Webcomic/Erfworld}}'' has the Royal Crown Coalition ([[PunnyName get it?]]) made of the classic "Good Guy" fantasy races. Their elf allies are divided into: Woodsy (tall), Shady (goth), Luckless (die offscreen), Eager ([[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Link]]), Schlemiel (Jewish), Altruist (nurses), Lofty (aloof), and Superfluous (emo). There's also the Tardy Elves, but we don't get to see them because they move too slowly to get to the battle in time.

* ''{{Webcomic/Oglaf}}'' has elves, most prominently Sandoval, the Xoan ambassador to Mistress.

* Ben, the creator of ''WebVideo/PuffinForest'', discusses this in ''"My favorite classes to play in D&D"'' and concludes that what makes elves so simultaneously appealing and aggravating is that they just like humans, but ''better at everything''. They have all the benefits of being very old and very young with the drawbacks of neither. To make a true pop-culture "superior" elf character, a player would need to use ''TabletopGame/MutantsAndMasterminds''.

** Link's original design looked rather elf-like due to his fairy-like clothes and PointyEars. According to Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto, this came from ''Disney/PeterPan.'' All subsequent games show Link is a Hylian, who despite their pointy ears aren't actually elf-like, but are very much [[FiveRaces mundane]] humans. Occasionally the elf confusion slips into advertising, as a UK advert for ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening Link's Awakening]]'' described Link as a "medieval elf." Don't actually ''call'' them "elves", though; while its not so severe a misstep to be a considered FandomEnragingMisconception, it'll earn you a few confused looks and a hasty correction, at the very least.

** The Romulans, who are the descendants of Vulcans, are the Franchise/TrekVerse iteration of [[EvilCounterpart Dark Elves]]. They're xenophobic and view themselves as being better than everyone else.

** Link's original design looked rather elf-like due to his fairy-like clothes and PointyEars. According to Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto, this came from ''Disney/PeterPan.'' All subsequent games show Link is a Hylian, who despite their pointy ears aren't actually elf-like, but are very much [[FiveRaces mundane]] humans. Occasionally the elf confusion slips into advertising, as a UK advert for ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening Link's Awakening]]'' described Link as a "medieval elf." Don't actually ''call'' them "elves" unless you ''want'' to bring up a FandomEnragingMisconception.

** A number of distinct elven ethnicities exist separately from the main elven culture, and largely descend from groups of elves who chose not to flee to Castrovel alongside the bulk of their civilization but who were not corrupted as the drow were. These include the highly reclusive Ilverani, also called the Snowcaster elves, whose ancestors sought refuge in the far north of the world; the aquatic elves who live in seclusion beneath the oceans; the elves of the Mordant Spire, who left and returned alongside the rest of their kind but cut themselves off in the eponymous fortress-tower soon after the elves' return and now guard ancient secrets; the elves of Jinin, descended from the same group that fled underground to become the drow but split off early on, traveled east to emerge in [[{{Wutai}} Tian Xia]] and eventually forged a Lawful civilization based on the traditions of the {{Samurai}} of Minkai; the dark-skinned Mualijae wild elves whose ancestors sought refuge from Earthfall in the jungles of the Mwangi Expanse and who are in the modern day split between the Alijae, Ekujae and Kallijae tribes; and the desert elves descended from wild elves who traveled north to settle Garund's deserts.

** ''Series/StarTrekPicard'': The Romulan WarriorMonk Elnor is a [[SpaceElves Space Elf]] whose elven attributes are cranked UpToEleven, so he's essentially a ScienceFantasy character in a ScienceFictionSeries. He's {{Elfeminate}}, his name is [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings Sindarin]] for "Star-Run" [[note]]which is another way of saying "Star-Trek"[[/note]], he has SuperReflexes that no other non-Qowat Milat Romulans or Vulcans possess in the Franchise/TrekVerse [[note]]while it can be argued that Romulans outside of the Qowat Milat don't have the mental discipline to achieve those high speeds, Vulcans do exert great control over their minds and bodies, yet we've never seen a Vulcan move as fast as Elnor[[/note]], plus he [[ArchaicWeaponForAnAdvancedAge wields a sword instead of an energy weapon]]. Although Elnor is a NiceGuy who doesn't look down on humans like most Romulans and Vulcans, he's still arrogant about his battle prowess (e.g. "[[BadassBoast Fight a Qowat Milat and the outcome is not in doubt]]"). He warns his rivals to "[[DontMakeMeDestroyYou choose to live]]" because he ''will'' cut them down with his [[AbsurdlySharpBlade tan qalanq]] if they don't withdraw.

* ''Franchise/StarTrek'': Vulcans are rather elf-like. Pointy ears, long-lived, super strong, spiritual, and mildly telepathic, with names that make liberal use of the PunctuationShaker. The whole [[TheStoic stoic]] persona is a bit un-elfin, but their vegetarianism does make them pretty green. (Or perhaps that's just their [[AlienBlood copper-based blood]], which might be [[BlueBlood symbolic color-wise]].)

** The Romulans, who are the descendants of Vulcans, are dark elves. They're xenophobic and view themselves as being better than everyone else.

* ''Franchise/StarTrek'': Vulcans are rather elf-y. Pointy ears, long-lived, super strong, spiritual, and mildly telepathic, with names that make liberal use of the PunctuationShaker. The whole [[TheStoic stoic]] persona is a bit unelfy, but their vegetarianism does make them pretty green. (Or perhaps that's just the [[BizarreAlienBiology copper-based blood]]. Which might be [[BlueBlood symbolic color-wise]].)

** ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': A Vulcanoid people at a Bronze Age-level of development have embraced rationality (although not to the exclusion of emotion) and, to an extent, pacifism. They also use bows and arrows.

** On the half-elf front, we have Mr. Spock (half-Vulcan, embraced Vulcan side), who had nothing but disdain for human weaknesses like "[[TheMcCoy emotion]]".

** The Romulans, who are the descendants of Vulcans, are dark elves.
** ''Series/StarTrekPicard'': The Romulan WarriorMonk Elnor is a [[SpaceElves Space Elf]] whose elven attributes are cranked UpToEleven, so he's essentially a ScienceFantasy character in a ScienceFictionSeries. He's {{Elfeminate}}, his name is [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings Sindarin]] for "Star-Run" [[note]]which is another way of saying "Star-Trek"[[/note]], he has SuperReflexes that no other non-Qowat Milat Romulans or Vulcans possess in the Franchise/TrekVerse [[note]]while it can be argued that Romulans outside of the Qowat Milat don't have the mental discipline to achieve those high speeds, Vulcans do exert great control over their minds and bodies, yet we've never seen a Vulcan move as fast as Elnor[[/note]], plus he [[ArchaicWeaponForAnAdvancedAge wields a sword instead of an energy weapon]]. Although Elnor is a NiceGuy who doesn't look down on humans like most Romulans and Vulcans, he's still arrogant about his battle prowess (e.g. "[[BadassBoast Fight a Qowat Milat and the outcome is not in doubt]]"). He warns his rivals to "[[DontMakeMeDestroyYou choose to live]]" because he ''will'' cut them down with his sword if they don't withdraw.
** The occasionally mentioned Rigelians are a Vulcan-like species who, according to ExpandedUniverse sources are a clan-based, low-technology, agrarian society, who don't suppress their emotions, but aren't aggressive or militant either. They are essentially the Wood Elves to the Vulcan's High and the Romulans Dark.

** ''Series/StarTrekPicard'': The Romulan WarriorMonk Elnor is a [[SpaceElves Space Elf]] whose elven attributes are cranked UpToEleven, so he's essentially a ScienceFantasy character in a ScienceFictionSeries. He's {{Elfeminate}}, his name is [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings Sindarin]] for "Star-Run" [[note]]which is another way of saying "Star-Trek"[[/note]], he has SuperReflexes that no other non-Qowat Milat Romulans or Vulcans possess in the Franchise/TrekVerse [[note]]while it can be argued that Romulans outside of the Qowat Milat don't have the mental discipline to achieve those high speeds, Vulcans do exert great control over their minds and bodies, yet we've never seen a Vulcan move as fast as Elnor[[/note]], plus he [[ArchaicWeaponForAnAdvancedAge wields a sword instead of an energy weapon]]. Although Elnor is a NiceGuy who doesn't look down on humans like most Romulans and Vulcans, he's still arrogant about his battle prowess (e.g. "Fight a Qowat Milat and the outcome is not in doubt").

** ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'': Tuvok is revealed to have been a professor in archery science. So yeah, Vulcans really do have the whole archery part of elfin-ness down.

** ''Series/StarTrekPicard'': The Romulan WarriorMonk Elnor is a [[SpaceElves Space Elf]] whose elven attributes are cranked UpToEleven, so he's essentially a ScienceFantasy character in a ScienceFictionSeries. He's {{Elfeminate}}, his name is [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings Sindarin]] for "Star-Run" [[note]]which is another way of saying "Star-Trek"[[/note]], he has SuperReflexes that no other non-Qowat Milat Romulans or Vulcans possess in the Franchise/TrekVerse [[note]]while it can be argued that Romulans outside of the Qowat Milat don't have the mental discipline to achieve those high speeds, Vulcans do exert great control over their minds and bodies, yet we've never seen a Vulcan move as fast as Elnor[[/note]], plus he [[ArchaicWeaponForAnAdvancedAge wields a sword instead of an energy weapon]].

** ''Series/StarTrekPicard'': The Romulan WarriorMonk Elnor is a [[SpaceElves Space Elf]] whose elven attributes are taken UpToEleven, so he's essentially a ScienceFantasy character in a ScienceFictionSeries. He's {{Elfeminate}}, his name is [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings Sindarin]] for "Star-Run" [[note]]which is another way of saying "Star-Trek"[[/note]], he has SuperReflexes that no other non-Qowat Milat Romulans or Vulcans possess in the Franchise/TrekVerse [[note]]while it can be argued that Romulans outside of the Qowat Milat don't have the mental discipline to achieve those high speeds, Vulcans do exert great control over their minds and bodies, yet we've never seen a Vulcan move as fast as Elnor[[/note]], plus he [[ArchaicWeaponForAnAdvancedAge wields a sword instead of an energy weapon]].

* Vulcans in ''Franchise/StarTrek'' are also rather elf-y. Pointy ears, long-lived, super strong, spiritual, and mildly telepathic, with names that make liberal use of the PunctuationShaker. The whole [[TheStoic stoic]] persona is a bit unelfy, but their vegetarianism does make them pretty green. (Or perhaps that's just the [[BizarreAlienBiology copper-based blood]]. Which might be [[BlueBlood symbolic color-wise]].)
** In ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'', Vulcan stoicism is leavened with enough Arrogant Superiority to deposit them firmly in this trope.
** In the [[Film/StarTrek2009 2009 film]] [[spoiler: the Vulcans are on the edge of extinction]]. And many of them are plenty disdainful of humans.
** In ''[[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries The Original Series]]'', Vulcans have plenty of posturing and arrogance to go around; enough that Spock, while rationalizing it quite a bit, seems to very much ''not'' like that aspect of it. Also, Spock knows how to construct a bow.
** In ''[[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration The Next Generation]]'', a "Vulcanoid" people in a "Bronze Age" level of development have embraced rationality (though not to the exclusion of emotion, it seems) and, to an extent, pacifism. They also use bows and arrows.
** In ''[[Series/StarTrekVoyager Voyager]]'', Tuvok is revealed to have been a professor in archery science at one point. So yeah, Vulcans really do have the whole archery part of elfin-ness down.

** And the Romulans are dark elves.

** The Left-Handed Elves, or Sinistral Mer, were the Elven inhabitants of Yokuda, a continent far to the wast of Tamriel. They fought a devastating war against the Yokudans (ancestors of the Redguards) that rendered them extinct. Due to being {{Unperson}}ed by the Redguards, the only unique trait still known about them is that their entire race was [[TheSouthpaw left-handed]].

* On ''Series/TheOutpost'', the Blackbloods have the requisite pointy ears (though Talon mutilated hers as a child to avoid being as easily noticed after her village was slaughtered), have [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin black blood]], are stronger than humans, and can survive injuries that would kill a regular person.

** When introduced in ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}, eladrin weren't elves but instead ChaoticGood [[OurAngelsAreDifferent angels who look like elves]], with a vaguely Celtic theme and each eladrin subspecies being able to shapeshift into an "energy form"--usually a living mass of fire, but the one aquatic species could become a dolphin-shaped mass of golden water and another species could become a whirling mass of snow and ice. 4th edition reinvented them as the most "human" of TheFairFolk, portraying them as the dominant civilized race of [[Arcadia the Feywild]]. In 5th edition, they were brought back with that same interpretation, although now redesigned so that they physically and mentally shift through a set of season-themed subraces.

The reason for this goes all the way back to [[Creator/JRRTolkien Papa Tolkien]]. His elves are {{Purposely Overpowered}} in just about every way (not only in the ways that they particularly value). He invented the modern version of Elves, who, Tolkien being a devout Christian, in his works were meant to represent what humans would be like had we remained sinless and [[{{Tradesnark}} Unfallen™]]. Deprived of these theological undertones, the modern image of Elves has since lost its original context.[[note]]However, Tolkien's Elves learned to stop being snooty about it because humans proved to be very good allies against [[TheBigBad Morgoth]]. The relationship between elves and humans is further complicated by the fact that humans can get away from evil by dying while elves can't. This is the cause of much {{Fantastic Racism}} on both sides, but also a major reason why some elves are more humble than one might expect given their inherent powers.[[/note]]

* The Asari in ''Franchise/MassEffect'' are a combination of {{space elves}}, [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe blue-skinned space babes]], and a [[OneGenderRace monogender species]]. Their space elven traits come through in their immense, millennium-long lifespans, their [[PsychicPowers powerful mental]] and [[MindOverMatter biotic abilities]], and their military doctrine of using [[AmazonBrigade small highly trained commando units]] that utilize their natural physical agility and the aforementioned powers to overcome their lack of brute strength. It also helps that they're [[FanService incredibly hot]][[note]]this is implied to be something more than just their character design -- an asari stripper in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' manages to turn on a salarian despite his species' near-universal {{Asexuality}}[[/note]]. They avert the [[CantArgueWithElves arrogance associated with elves]] since their [[PlanetOfHats Hat]] is "Diplomatic".
** Averted and subverted in one respect, as the Asari can [[BizarreAlienBiology mate and reproduce with any other species]], though the pairing gives rise only to Asari. This is their preferred method of reproduction, as "inbreeding" leads to [[OurVampiresAreDifferent unpleasant side-effects]], and is consequently stigmatized.
** [[spoiler:''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' revealed the Asari to have been a special project of the [[{{Precursors}} Protheans]], who gifted them with biotics and left a beacon on their planet. Javik is somewhat appalled to learn that instead of using the knowledge to prepare to fight the Reapers, the Asari instead just used the technology to benefit themselves and refused to do the least bit of prep against the Cthulhu robots who were waiting to kill them all.]]

Compare TheFairFolk, ScrewYouElves (when you don't believe in their betterness), ChristmasElves (for the other kind of elf), OurFairiesAreDifferent, OurNymphsArePrettier, WitchSpecies.

* '''Wood Elves''': [[FriendToAllLivingThings In tune with nature]] and prone to spiritual contemplation and [[TheEmpath empathy]]. All the same, they kick bow-y butt in combat. Generally they're magical in a [[ReligionIsMagic druidic]] rather than wizardly way. They can be found in a HiddenElfVillage in a forest and/or a TreeTopTown. Wood Elves may be good-natured guardians and/or guides for the forest and for people who travel through them, while darker takes on the Wood Elves may present them as either [[HeroicNeutral totally apathetic to anything going on outside the forest borders]], or worse, [[CrazySurvivalist ruthless isolationists]] who view any non-elf in their forest as a trespasser to be hunted down and [[DeadlyEuphemism "removed"]]. Obviously, they favor greens, browns, and flowy billowy clothes when they aren't wearing leaves. They tend to be amazing archers, but will also use [[KnifeNut knives]] and short swords which may not necessarily be made of metal. Sometimes they'll resemble a MagicalNativeAmerican. These guys are among the least stuck up elves and are usually the ones responsible for [[HalfHumanHybrid half-elves]], but they may replace CulturalPosturing with [[GreenAesop lectures on respecting nature]]. They also tend to be close allies with [[OurFairiesAreDifferent Fairies]] (if they, or Elves in general, are not Fae themselves), and may pattern [[TheFairFolk their morality]] from them.

* In ''Literature/SpinningSilver'', the Staryk are a snow/ice elf variation who live in a snowy other realm connected to-yet-apart from the "sunlit" mortal lands. They function via ExactWords and OrangeAndBlueMorality like most [[TheFairFolk Fair Folk]]-style elves, but they also cannot leave their kingdom except in winter, and even then only their King and other high nobility can. They also melt when they're injured, have an aversion to heat, and can be healed with magic ice.

* M.A. Foster's "ler" series (''TheGameplayersOfZan'' in particular) shows what happens when humans try to genetically engineer elves that are better (starting from themselves) but, being that this is their first go at creating a human descendant species, they get [[OurElvesAreDifferent elves that are different]] instead.

* The elves of James Barclay's ''Chronicles Of The Raven'' and ''Elves'' series come in several different flavours, but special mention must go to the Tai Gethen, an elite order of [[WarriorMonk religious warriors]] who protect the jungles of Calaius from intruders (even though [[EverythingTryingToKillYou most people die within days of entering anyway]]). They will hunt you down like prey, only to [[AllMonksKnowKungFu kick your teeth through the back of your head]] with one foot, crush your throat with the other, and then [[EverythingsBetterWithSpinning spin around in mid air]] and stab you in the eye just for good measure.

* Podcast/{{RPGMP3}}: The ''Runepunk'' podcast series features a character called Kieron Hammerfall, an [[OurElvesAreDifferent Andari]] [[InstantRunes Rune]][[SquishyWizard caster]]. Kieron is imbued with [[LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards momentous arcane power]], as well as the [[GlassCannon durability of a dry twig]]. He's a member of the Andari race, which means he's [[TheAgeless blessed with immortality]] (barring any unfortunate accidents -- which, considering his [[OneHitPointWonder virtually non-existent toughness]], could involve [[ScratchDamage being knocked over by a stiff breeze or something]]). Furthermore, [[WalkingTechbane Andari and technology don't mix]].

* TabletopGame/RuneQuest Elves aren't that much better than anyone else, but they're ''plants''.

* ''VideoGame/AgeOfWonders'' has both the Wood and Dark Elf variants, both of which tend to have their share of attention over the series despite the existence of up to 13 other races (as of ''Shadow Magic''). Wood Elves are good and like Light Magic, Dark Elves are evil and like Death magic. Go figure. The "[[OurElvesAreDifferent High Elves]]" and "SpaceElves" roles are filled by the High Men/Archons and Syrons, respectively. Perhaps.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'', on the other hand, clearly took the basic idea of elves and hammered it into the RuleOfSexy mold as fiercely as possible: the Viera are a race of magical, [[WeAreAsMayflies nigh-immortal]], [[OneGenderRace all-female]], [[DarkSkinnedBlond dark-skinned blondes]] with [[PlayboyBunny bunny ears]] who [[SexyWhateverOutfit wear lingerie all the time]]. The result is a race of {{Ms Fanservice}}s.

** They also all tend to be innately magical, with Gwyn creating a whole series of [[ReligionIsMagic miracles]], the [[WitchSpecies Witch of Izalith and her daughters of chaos]] created a whole entire school of [[PlayingWithFire magic]] [[PoisonousPerson called]] [[WildMagic Pyromancy]] , and [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Seath, the Scaleless]] , despite being a dragon and not a lord soul bearer is usually considered part of the group, invented a [[MagicIsMental school of magic called Sorcery]].

* ''Webcomic/GarnetAndGure'' mocks this dynamic in [[http://www.bonedragoncomics.com/html/garnet_and_gure_40.html this strip]].

** Moonshadow elves, the first ones seen, have skin in a range of human skintones and white hair ,and can become invisible and extremely fast and powerful under the light of the full moon. For self-evident reasons, they are known to be fearsome assassins. Some also possess illusion-based magic, as the moon arcanum focuses on manipulating appearances and blurring the line between the real and the illusory. They also tend to have noticeable Scottish accents.

The reason for this goes all the way back to [[Creator/JRRTolkien papa Tolkien]]. He invented the modern version of Elves, who, Tolkien being a devout Christian, in his works were meant to represent what humans would be like had we remained sinless and [[{{Tradesnark}} Unfallen™]]. Deprived of these theological undertones, the modern image of Elves has since lost its original context.[[note]]However, Tolkien's Elves [[UnbuiltTrope were not in the least snooty or arrogant about being better]], as that would be a sin, now wouldn't it?[[/note]]