D&D General D&D Archetypes that spread out to other settings and media

[Reynard]

I believe D&D orcs were first green in the 2nd edition monster manual 1993. Warcraft came out in 94. However, Warcraft was an unlicensed Warhammer game, and Warhammer had green orcs since the early 80s, and is almost certainly the original source for the green WoW orc look.

There is the slight wrinkle of Star Wars gammorians, also from 1993, who closely resemble 1st edition/Basic orcs and are decidedly green.

There are WWI propaganda posters that depict German soldiers as pig-like and grey skinned, these are likely the original source for the orc look.

1983.

Sure, Gammorians are in there somewhere.

I find it interesting that for the Lord of the Rings movies, Jackson went with a very traditional goblin look for Moria orcs, but not the "D&D orc" for the rest.

 

[Stormonu]

Green orcs is more of a Warhammer Fantasy thing, I believe.

Color-coded dragons - and metallic dragons certainly comes from the popularity of D&D.

 

[Remathilis]

I think a better question is whether we are talking in the sense of broad archetypes, or specific implementations.

It's a chicken or the egg scenario. As mentioned later, D&D absorbed a lot of myth and fantasy and regurgitated it into other media. For example, the monk class is clearly based on all manner of kung fu pop culture, but unarmed Eastern fighting types being common in all manner of RPGs from Final Fantasy to Warcraft comes from their inclusion in D&D.

Like here - this only holds if you are considering those roles very specifically - most notably about the healer. The "quartet with different abilities giving them iconic roles and dynamics in conflicts" goes back to the Fantastic Four, at least.

Yeah I'm specific idea of a guy who tanks/fights, a healer/white mage with some holy aspect, a magic user focused on damage magic, and a sneaky dps guy are pretty much a given in almost any RPG that has classes or defined roles. I rarely see a fantasy RPG that doesn't use that dynamic.

Again, only if you are being very specific. Otherwise, Celtic mythology would like a word.

Popularized rather than invented, but even the fact druids have moved from Celtic pagan priest to generic shape changing nature mage is due to D&D's influence.

Ringwraiths. The Witch King of Angmar is not impressed by Lord Soth.

Ringwraiths are the inspiration for D&D's normal wraiths. I was speaking how death knights were pretty tied to Dragonlance but expanded to other D&D settings and beyond (WoW being an example)

That one I'll give you.

I was mostly trying to look at the specific D&D interpretation and how that (rather than the sources) inspired other media. Minotaurs are ancient but WoW's Taurens owe more to Dragonlance than Minos.

 

[Cergorach]

Dragonlance Draconians => 3.5e as an option in an expansion book => 4e as a core race in the PHB and came to all D&D settings, including FR...

 

[Corinnguard]

Color-coded dragons - and metallic dragons certainly comes from the popularity of D&D.

And 4e had several metallic color-coded dragons. The Cobalt Dragon- Metallic Blue, the Orium Dragon-Metallic Red, the Iron Dragon- Metallic Black.

 

[Reynard]

Dragonlance Draconians => 3.5e as an option in an expansion book => 4e as a core race in the PHB and came to all D&D settings, including FR...

Dragonborn are not draconians. Like, not even a little.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Dragonborn are not draconians. Like, not even a little.

I agree with this, at least in terms of concept space. I know that 5e lore makes them the same, but that's a retcon. Draconians are orcs wearing dragon-suits to make Dragonlance look like less of a Tolkien rip-off. Dragonborn are evolved from the playable dragons in Council of Wyrms.

 

[Umbran]

Lord Vader finds your lack of faith disturbing.

Star Wars was probably as big an influence on Dragonlance as Tolkien was. But the general point is that none of this stuff happens in a cultural vacuum. D&D is in a constant dialogue with popular culture.

And, I'm fine with that.

But then you have an issue of tracing. Someone saying that, though media had barehanded martial artists aplenty for years, Final Fantasy got its version specifically from D&D, and not also from those other sources? That's a hard claim to substantiate.

 

[Corinnguard]

Dragonborn are evolved from the playable dragons in Council of Wyrms.

If there was a 5e version of Council of Wyrms, WoTC probably would insert the Dragonborn into that setting's species line-up.

 

[TwoSix]

Star Wars was probably as big an influence on Dragonlance as Tolkien was. But the general point is that none of this stuff happens in a cultural vacuum. D&D is in a constant dialogue with popular culture.

For sure. I mean, in '77 D&D was still just Humans, Elves, Dwarves, and Halfling Hobbits. I'd be willing to bet that the aesthetic of having a Mos Eisley cantina worth of different races in a setting was a direct result of the popularity of Star Wars.