History Main / OurGnomesAreWeirder

That began to change with the ''{{Dragonlance}}'' setting and the tinker gnomes of Mount Nevermind: descendants of humans cursed by the god of the forge for being petty and small-minded, the ''minoi'' shunned magic in favor of the sciences, particularly engineering... and were [[BunglingInventor completely incapable of approaching these rationally]], compelled to make everything they built as complicated and [[RobinsonGoldbergContraption Goldbergian]] as possible, and ''valuing failure above success'' because you couldn't learn anything new once you'd got it right. Tinker gnomes were [[PlanetOfHats played for pure comedy]], and proved fairly popular. Since then, engineering prowess has become a recurring trait for gnomes in various universes. Some of them are as inept as the original tinker gnomes, but other versions are actually much more competent.

* Gnomes in ''HarryPotter'' are barely-intelligent garden pests with potato shaped heads.

** Not to mention that they were originally ''robots'', until the [[EldritchAbomination Old Gods]] gave them the "Curse of Flesh."
*** Similar to how the [[OurDwarvesOurDifferent dwarves]] were originally made of clay until their millennia-long slumber, which caused them to grow skin and lose their rock-manipulating abilities.
**** Just to clarify, if its not an Elf, a Troll, or an Orc, it PROBABLY came from the Titans somehow... [[OurHumansAreDifferent Yes, even the humans. They evolved from a sub species of Giant who, guess what? Got hit with the Curse of Flesh]] The Goblins might just be the exception, but we'll see how Cataclysm pans out.

* Gnomes in KingdomOfLoathing are drawn as circles with arms and legs, rather than traditional stick figures like everybody else. They're technologically a bit advanced, but their main [[PlanetOfHats hat]] is that they use "gn" in place of "n" in all their words. Gnorm the Gnome teaches the skill "Torso Awaregness", for example. Also, [=KOL=] being drawn as stick figures, its gnomes are just heads with arms sticking out of the sides and legs sticking out of the bottom.

* in {{TalesOfTheQuestor}} gnomes, also known as brownies, are small bald humanoids, barely six inches tall, with an apparently primitive tribal culture and fantastic, magically enhanced leaping ability. They live in the walls of larger creature's homes and hunt rats and mice as part of their tribal tradition.

* Gnomes in ''HarryPotter'' are barely-intelligent garden pests.

* ''TheChroniclesOfNarnia'': [[TheVamp the Green Witch]] uses gnomes, who the protagonists at first think are demons but turn out to be a type of earth elemental, as her slaves.

* ''[[WhatsNew What's New]]'' offers us [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20100124 this take on exactly why there's no consensus on gnomes]].

* ''TheChroniclesOfNarnia'': TheVamp uses bizarre, space-alien-esque gnomes as her slaves.

* The roaming gnome played by a gnome statue. He has a nice british accent.

That began to change with the ''{{Dragonlance}}'' setting and the tinker gnomes of Mount Nevermind: descendants of humans cursed by the god of the forge for being petty and small-minded, the ''minoi'' shunned magic in favor of the sciences, particularly engineering... and were [[BunglingInventor completely incapable of approaching these rationally]], compelled to make everything they built as complicated and [[RobinsonGoldbergContraption Goldbergian]] as possible, and ''valuing failure above success'' because you couldn't learn anything new once you'd got it right. Tinker gnomes were [[PlanetOfHats played for pure comedy]], and proved fairly popular.

* ''{{Runescape}}'', Gnomes are masters of TreePunk or BambooTechnology rather than steampunk; Dwarfs are the steampunk masters. Gnomes make up for it with magic and [[PowerCrystal crystal tech]].

** As stated, ''{{Dragonlance}}'' minoi gnomes are more or less the TropeMaker. Of note are the "original" ''gnomoi'' to be found on the [[ExpansionPackWorld continent of Taladas]], ''sane'' tinker gnomes who regard the minoi as slightly retarded cousins to be cared for and kept from hurting themselves (conversely, the minoi think the gnomoi are insane for ''not'' being manic inventors and call them "mad gnomes").

* In [=~Magic: The Gathering~=], Gnomes are [[{{Golem}} artifact creatures]]: automata created by the dwarves.

* Gnomes in KingdomOfLoathing are drawn as circles with arms and legs, rather than traditional stick figures like everybody else. They're technologically a bit advanced, but their main [[PlanetOfHats hat]] is that they use "gn" in place of "n" in all their words. Gnorm the Gnome teaches the skill "Torso Awaregness", for example.

* The book ''{{Gnomes}}'' by Wil Huygen and Rien Poortvliet, and its AnimatedAdaptation ''The World Of David The Gnome'' details the society and history of, well, garden gnomes.