The Messy History of Fantasy Races

Typical fantasy racial alignment chart (source: r/AlignmentCharts on Reddit).

Introduction to the Races in Fantasy topic

Racism is a legacy of the colonial era. It has shaped the world into the unequal system we see today. This ideology has been so thoroughly engrained in our minds, that we often reproduce systemic racism within fantasy. Some stories attempt to create social commentary on the problem, while others unwittingly propagate racist ideas and stereotypes.

One of the most obvious offenders is a childhood favorite of mine- World of Warcraft. WoW is infamous for its cultural insensitivity when type-casting factions and its outrageous racial serotypes embodied within its fictional races. There has been much criticism levied at the franchise for these crude depictions. Although WoW is one of the more overt examples of fantasy racism, it is not the worst example. Strangely enough, WoW actually does a good job of exploring the material and historical conditions that leads to animosity between different peoples and competing political factions.

To be fair to WoW, numerous other fantasy series have also been guilty of racism and are simply less blatant in their depictions. One of the more insidious versions of fantasy racism is the racial alignment system in the Forgotten Realms series. This system essentially sorts entire races into morally good, evil, or neutral. Characters who ventured outside of their racial alignment were seen as "outliers", an explanation that is eerily similar to the biological determinists of the past. It is worth mentioning that Forgotten Realms eventually discarded racial alignments, however, the long existence of such a system and its influence on fantasy is worth exploring.

The Elder Scrolls is often lauded for avoiding the cultural insensitivities that commonly plague other series. The cultures of each civilization certainly draw inspiration from real world examples, but do so in a respectful manner. No race is evil or forced into a particular role. There is some light social commentary on the evils of discrimination, subjugation, and slavery. However, this approach is "safe", offering a thin analysis of what might realistically lead to conflict between races, which is a prevalent theme in fantasy.

If all three of the above mentioned series were relatives at a family gathering, WoW would be one's loud and obnoxious uncle who frequently made inappropriate jokes, Forgotten Realms would be the quieter cousin who has disturbing ideas regarding "race realism", and the Elder Scrolls would be the timid aunt who tries to steer the conversation away from politics. I maintain that the opinions of these various fantasy worlds are often skewed by fandoms. A deeper exploration of each is valuable when trying to understand our own world.