D&D General Why are "ugly evil orcs" so unpopular?

[Bird Of Play]

Isn't it interesting to notice how, in the course of the years and in each further D&D edition, the pop culture definition of orcs has changed so much?

Orcs over time became less and less evil, more and more intelligent, more and more goodlooking. Essentially, they now are sexy greenskinned bodybuilders with a noble warrior nature. Sometimes, I feel I'm the only one who doesn't like this rewriting of orcs as goodlooking and smart and noble.
They went from a monster archetype to a "death by snusnu archetype". They're the archetype of the buff tough individual just like elves are the archetype of the lithe elegant individual.

I'd like to hear your comments and opinions on this!

The orcs I like are like this:

You want something more goodlooking? Half-orcs can look like the uruk-hai of LOTR. In fact, it's a good solution for someone who wants to play an halforc while not looking like a full monster.




But you know what I absolutely draw the line at? This kind of stuff:

 

[NaturalZero]

Is there a serious question about whether people, in general, prefer sexy people over ugly people?

 

[Mordhau]

Because they're boring?

I mean there's always been the political objections too. But I think a key problem with Orcs has always been the fact that they just aren't alien enough to be really scary. And you want the horrible monster that's an existential threat to be at least a bit scary. Look at the White Walkers in Game of Thrones. They kind of fulfill the original function of Orcs but they're scarier.

And because they're too human to be scary, people will want to drift them into something playable. In D&D they're was never really a clear reason why they're evil. In Lord of the Rings they are servants of evil, and in the derivative fat fantasy of the 80s and 90s something similar was usually the case (See Trollocs in Whee of Time), but in D&D they were always just evil because they were, which clearly, once people started to think about worlds beyond the dungeon, started to become disatisfying.

 

[Tonguez]

Because today the core races include lizards, cats, dragon people and actual Spawn of Asmodeus, in a world where the local Inn keeper is a half-demon with horns and your best friend has scales and breaths fire, its hard to justify Orcs being inherently evil and monstrous.

But yeah my first Orcs were the piggish brutes and thats how I prefer them, although having them be stand-ins for Neanderthals is okay too. The Pretty Orcs of Warcraft are my least favourite

 

[Yora]

Because it perpetuates the idea that some group of people have no meaningful individuality or personality, and if you know one, you know all of them. Also, there's not really anything to know about them, because they are just evil and have no motivations.

 

[tetrasodium]

In addition to all the great reasons mordechai mentioned worf from star trek TNG and world of warcraft along with eberron where orcs are different have no small impact on it. The noble savage trope is something that can be fun and interesting to explore and has been proven on depth as a result of those things. The always evil d&d orc by comparison tends to be quite a bit more bland & uninteresting as red shirt number 42. The fact that there are so many awkward racial stereotypes attached to those always evil orcs to boot gives people incentive to actively look for other alternatives that aren't present with other less common always evil races like certain giants & such

 

[Shiroiken]

I blame World of Warcraft.

 

[Leatherhead]

There are dozens of "big dumb ugly and evil" creatures and orcs had virtually nothing to distinguish them from the herd. No gimmicks, no special powers, not even being actual pig-people.

 

[Lyxen]

But I think a key problem with Orcs has always been the fact that they just aren't alien enough to be really scary.

You don't need to be alien to be scary. powerful pillaging hordes are perfectly fine.

And you want the horrible monster that's an existential threat to be at least a bit scary.

Not all threats need to be existential, physical is perfectly fine as well.

In D&D they're was never really a clear reason why they're evil.

Initially, they were Chaotic and not Evil: "They have bad tempers and do not like other living things; they will often kill something for their own amusement... The orcs are satisfied by being allowed to kill and burn as much as they want."

They became Lawful Evil in AD&D: "Orcs are cruel and hate living things in general, but they particularly hate elves and will always attack them in preference to other creatures. They take slaves for work, food, and entertainment (torture, etc.) but not elves whom they kill immediately."

But let's face it, they were evil at start because they were like LotR, with Sauron replaced by evil orc gods. And this has been perpetuated even down to 5e: "The evil deities who created other races, though, made those races to serve them. Those races have strong inborn tendencies that match the nature of their gods. Most orcs share the violent, savage nature of the orc gods, and are thus inclined toward evil. Even if an orc chooses a good alignment, it struggles against its innate tendencies for its entire life. (Even half-orcs feel the lingering pull of the orc god’s influence.)"

 

[Mecheon]

I blame World of Warcraft.

Warcraft 3 was when orcs went good, not WoW.

But yeah, ultimately the ugly, evil orcs just, aren't interesting. Other fictional universes did them better, whereas D&D orcs had barely anything to them making them evil, let alone making them interesting. D&D orcs were just always boring compared to other universes, so other universe's interpretations overtook them.

Also half orcs being a race as compared to just, adding orcs in the first place