Why So: Anti-Elf?

[TwiZtah]

I like the sterotypical elves, they make me happy. Especially when they are benevolent like in Eragon. In fact, the one elven race I can't stand are the elder scrolls series elves, those are just evil.

For evil to work, there must be a motto, it can't be just "we want to kill everything for funsies", there is need for a story, like Nagato (Pain) in Naruto.

 

[Nimzabaat]

I don't hate elves. I hate any "perfect race" as Elves are all to often portrayed to be. One of my favourite parts of the Dragon Age settings is that they are far from perfect in that world.

Though, IMHO, Orlando Bloom didn't do anything but hinder Human/Elf relations.

Yes, but the movies made up for that with Liv Tyler being Arwen... mmm.. Human/Elf relations >.>

WHAT?!?

Liv Tyler ruined every scene she was in. Then they put her in scenes that made no sense at all so she could ruin those as well. (oh Frodo don't die... I know I just met you and have no connection to you at all but i'm going to drag down this entire scene with horrible over-acting so you'll forget that the river rising up was actually Elrond and Gandalf being awesome and grrrr)

EDIT: On topic I don't mind elves it's just that they pop up everywhere. So I wouldn't mind a Talislanta video game is what i'm saying.

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

I like Elves when they're handled by people who aren't idiots. I'm so sick and tired of people retreading the same two grounds: Elves as ancient people now dying out and Elves as oppressed minority. Why can't we ever have the Elves at their height? They often make for an interesting contrast to Humanity.

They also need to be reasonable. Any 'superiority' needs to be clearly in their mind. Any places they're actually better than Humanity need to be countered by places where they have clearly faltered. They should not have a single homogenous culture. And while they might be vegetarians in tune with nature, there is a line between 'in tune with nature' and 'if you cut down a tree, you are evil.'

Dwarf Fortress Elves are fine, because they're supposed to be comical.

 

[Bassik]

Purge the xenos! Destroy the unclean! Exterminate the filth!

Spoiler: Groaaargh!

 

[Vampire cat]

Well personally I feel that my fantasy setting need to be a certain way if I'm going to enjoy it. Elves are an important part of that, and I like their inclusion because they are often portrayed a bit exteme in their particular way of behaving. The High Elf are typically very full of themselves, claiming to be the perfect race and more often than not decendants of the gods themselves. The Dark Elf are the gloomy and darker version of the High Elf, though often not with the same tall view of themselves, and the Woodelf become that sort of treehugging naturalist with a somewhat agressive stance towards any sort of industrialization or large-scale organization.

In the same way I like my orcs in fantasy, and I like them portrayed as a demented version of the elf family.

 

[kouriichi]

I hate the tree hugging bow flingers. x: But thats just me.
I didnt mind the Dunmer in Morrowind, but lets be honest, they were all kind of a-holes, and it was their right, being their native home. And now i absolutely hate the way most elves look in Skyrim. Its not terrible, and you can still create good looking elves, but i just dont care for it as much as before.

I think it just tends to be more of what elves represent. "Best at magic", "in tune with nature", "Pure", "Fae". I dont care much for magic even though i love high fantasy settings. And something about the way elves act always gets me. Its..... stuck up. Most wont stand there and say "Im better then you" straight to your face, but a lot of them have that tone of voice, that way they carry themselves. Its snooty, and elvish.

I didnt mind the 40k style Elves, or the ones from The Witcher. But 40k doesnt count so much. Sure, they are still snooty and annoying, but they are also pretty grimdark.

 

[Quakester]

It's said that you respect people for their strengths but love them for their flaws. Elves are generally portrayed as not having any flaws. They are beautiful, immortal, at peace with the world, magically unstoppable, able to see into the future and hundred other positive things. In the end, they usually come off as arrogant and pushy.

 

[Lunar Templar]

same problem i have with dwarves.(a part from dwarves just sucking)

a lack of creativity.

every 'fantasy' setting is so busy taking pages from LoTR that they don't bother coming up with any new races to make things interesting. yes coming up with a new race, and the lore for them is hard, but in the end it's far more worth while. i mean i have more respect for WoW in this regard then DA:O, cause at least WoW deviated and came up with or just used a few more races then the standard three

 

[Zack Alklazaris]

Why is there: a colon. I've never encountered elf hate, but it may be because they are the least compelling of all the fantasy races. They're almost always portrayed as a race of uptight pretty people, which is a pretty lame idea.

Whats wrong with reining down destruction and looking hot as you do it?

 

[phantasmalWordsmith]

I dislike them for being the "superior than you"-race. I'm looking at you, Inheritance Cycle Elves. Eldest ruined elves forever for me.

I like the Dragon Age Elves but only when muted (don't like the accent) because they're generally down trodden and are societally lower than the humans (what can I say, I like my species)

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Elves, dwarves......seriously cant someone create a fantasy with brand new races instead of reusing elves again. They are always the bloody same in every game to the point you can already guess what that character will be like based on that they are Elves. Same with Dwarves.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Liv Tyler ruined every scene she was in. Then they put her in scenes that made no sense at all so she could ruin those as well. (oh Frodo don't die... I know I just met you and have no connection to you at all but i'm going to drag down this entire scene with horrible over-acting so you'll forget that the river rising up was actually Elrond and Gandalf being awesome and grrrr)

Actually, it made perfect sense. See, the Nazgul weren't really dead, and they'd gotten themselves a target designator laser to call in a missile strike against Frodo, so Liv Tyler has to wrap her arms around him cause she's so blurry and soft focus that they don't get a good signal off her.

...

Oh, come on, it makes much more sense than a woman who is like 2,700 years old to fall in love with Aragorn, who is like 70. And you'll note that only elf women give up their immortality for human men, not the other way round, and they all have names about how pretty their hair is and stuff, not like the men who have manly man names about being warriors and stuff. Blech.

And all that complaining about how better it was in some mythical old time before all the other races (who, actually, work in mines and farms, as opposed to the elves who just sit around all day in their tree palaces) turned up and they had to share.

Elves would vote for far-right conservative parties. Yes they would.

 

[TheRookie8]

There are several ways to think about this:

The fact that elves are not the strongest means they must rely upon intelligence, speed, and agility to get stuff done. But this can also mean that elves resort to sneaky tactics, which some people find unfair and annoying.

Another reason could be their look. Some people may not like the clean-shaven, skinny, and pointy-eared look because this doesn't scream "strength & power", which in a videogame, most people feel like experiencing.

But recently, I've found that hating elves comes directly from current games we have. In The Witcher 2, elves (and dwarves) are despised and treated as second-class citizens, because it's an interesting plot device which cleverly dodges/addresses racism. This happened in Dragon Age as well. I believe people are hating elves because our perspective of them is changing in the fantasy genre.

 

[Seanfall]

I just wish people would portray elves like they're supposed to be. Underhanded sneaky bastards who will steal your children. World of Darkness has had the best portrayal of them so far. This unknowable eliminate which makes them totally alien. They're too busy going 'fuck you guys' to give a shit about your pathetic little life.

People too often forget that elves are evil and it's a problem, because now everyone expects them to be totally cool and awesome and sexy and wonderful and magical and wise and ancient and all that shit. They completely miss the whole steal your kid away leave a changeling in it's place and rase your stolen baby as a slave to their whims.

In fact it isn't just elves, its all fay-kind. No one knows their fay-lore anymore because people expect them to all be 'good fairies' well guess what. Fairies were evil little shits as well.

Fuck all the fay, no one actually understands any of the supernatural lore and legends. Too much of this god damn twilight-misinterpretation bullshit. Christ Edward Cullen wasn't even a vampire. He's a god damn Sidhe or however it is you spell it.

People are dumb.

Yours.

Arashi of Ordo 3. [supernatural enthusiast]

Someone has Played Changeling the lost. Fae are mercurial their emotions shift like the wind. One minute their happy loving, the next they are cruel unmerciful and vile. They are sexy, but only as a way to fool and control others. They can be as monstrous as demons or as good as angels. But make no mistake. They are not trustworthy. Their lives are measured in centuries while ours are in decades. They car nothing for us other then as entertainment or playthings. In short they are not worthy of praise.

That's not just from Changeling I know a lot of stories takes this bent. But it's getting rarer in rarer.

 

[Sarah Frazier]

Elves, dwarves, and even orc types get little love from me because they've hardly changed since Tolkein hit it big.

Elves: Take your pick of the list below.

Much longer lived than other races by centuries or whenever an accident/fight kills them.
Use that time to master one thing after another until they get bored.
Their trash is usually said to be better than what other races can hope to make.
Have some mystical property that makes them resistant/immune to disease or magic.
Have a more innate understanding of magic, if magic exists in the setting.
May share a special bond with an aspect of the world that other races 'will never get'.
Often shown or described as being the most physically attractive of races.
They have found a way to wiggle into settings across time and space in some form or other.

In other words, they're not very good at hiding their Mary Sue levels and people get annoyed the more often the stereotype is used.

 

[ThePenguinKnight]

I'm actually a pretty big fan of Elves, I think people who play them often stick to close to stereotype in games like D&D.

In Skyrim my Wood Elf is a filthy, rugged, murdering alcoholic scumbag with only his loose sense of honor keeping him from driving his sword into the smug characters he despises so much.

 

[SnakeoilSage]

It's just over-saturation. They're in every fantasy, put in the forefront even more than Dwarves (going all the way back to Tolkien), and people are just lashing out at them.

 

[DoPo]

But recently, I've found that hating elves comes directly from current games we have. In The Witcher 2, elves (and dwarves) are despised and treated as second-class citizens, because it's an interesting plot device which cleverly dodges/addresses racism. This happened in Dragon Age as well. I believe people are hating elves because our perspective of them is changing in the fantasy genre.

...are you actually claiming that people don't like elves because of two games we've had so far? (or maybe several more) And that the dislike for elves is a totally recent thing? That is somehow tied to somebody just deciding to portray them negatively? Because I can assure you that the elves have been disliked for a long time with a reason and portraying them negatively is sometimes an expression of that dislike.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I like the God-Children of impossible beauty but, I don't care too much for the cookie-baking tree-dwellers. Ironic when you consider how much I love cookies. I've never had a real problem with either though to be honest. I don't understand why they can't be in other fantasy settings though like in a Sci-Fi fantasy (I suppose for that we have Ugnaughts) or, modern fantasy. That would be pretty bad ass; a modern Elf wearing the latest from (insert label here) shooting a Dragon from the Space Needle with a high velocity sniper-rifle sounds like something we should have seen by now.

 

[Veylon]

Because they are so often depicted as being better than humans. It's almost impossible to love a group whose every act and line is a form criticism. Author often double-down on the offensiveness by also having the main villain be elf-related.

So what you end up with is a group that screwed up the world way back when, wants the (human) hero to fix it for them, can't bring themselves to admit wrongdoing while complaining about everything human-related, and yet we're expected to admire them. Naturally, you'd expect said hero to call them on this, but he almost never does so you don't get to purge the bitterness by seeing the haughty elves taken down a notch.

Once again, this is another one of those things that's lifted from Lord of the Rings but nearly almost fumbled. In Middle Earth, the Elves have a backstory of greed, rebellion, ambition, bloodlust and folly that makes human history look benign by comparison. The only reason the Elves are even in Middle Earth is because they are engaged in a long-standing uprising and rejection of their gods. They are fading away because they made magic rings that linked themselves to Sauron. They've slaughtered each other and the dwarves over shiny gems. So by the time Frodo & co. come by, they've learned to eat some humble pie.