What are the non-European properties of Pixies, Vampires, Banshees, Cyclops, Chimera, Dryads, Pegasus, Gargoyle, etc.?
I'm talking about a transformation that occurs between OD&D (1974) and the 1e AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide (1979) that affects bugbears, ettins, giants, gnolls, goblins, hobgoblins, kobolds, ogres, orcs, and trolls.
In OD&D only orcs have tribes. Gnolls and hobgoblins are led by kings. Goblins have a "goblin king" in quote marks. Kobolds are treated the same as goblins. Frost and fire giants live in castles.
The only hint of a non-European association is the orcish "tribe". In Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings the appearance of orcs is based on Asian peoples - "swart", "sallow", "slant-eyed", "squint-eyed" (LotR), "least lovely Mongol-types" (letter #210). The goblins in The Hobbit have one minor non-European association - their use of scimitars.
In the 1e AD&D Monster Manual (1977), hobgoblins, kobolds, ogres, and orcs live in "tribes". "Bugbears live in loose bands". "Goblins have a tribal society" though they still show "fealty to the goblin king". Gnolls live in "rapacious bands". "They have a so-called king… but his authority extends only as far as his reach."
The hobgoblin is depicted wearing the armour of a Japanese warrior. "There is a great resemblance between gnolls and hyenas." The hyena is an African animal.
Skin colours of the monsters under consideration are predominantly yellow, red, brown, and black:
"The skin of bugbears is light yellow to yellow brown — typically dull yellow."
"Hill giants have tan to reddish brown skins"
"Goblins range from yellow through dull orange to brick red in skin color."
"The hairy hides of hobgoblins range from dark reddish-brown to gray black. Their faces are bright red-orange to red."
"The hide of kobolds runs from very dark rusty brown to a rusty black."
"The hide of ogres varies from dull blackish-brown to dead yellow."
"Orcs appear particularly disgusting because their coloration — brown or brownish green with a bluish sheen — highlights their pinkish snouts and ears."
Half-orcs, new to the AD&D MM, are "mongrels", a racial slur directed at people of mixed race -
On Twitter, Jeremy Crawford discussed the treatment of orcs, Vistani, drow and others in D&D, and how WotC plans to treat the idea of 'race' in D&D going forward. In recent products (Eberron and Wildemount), the mandatory evil alignment was dropped from orcs, as was the Intelligence penalty...
www.enworld.org
Orcs outbreed other races and have 'genetically' dominant traits. Both were believed to be true of black people by early 20th century race pseudoscientists -
"Half-orcs tend to favor the orcish strain heavily, so such sorts are basically orcs although they can sometimes (10%) pass themselves off as true creatures of their other stock (goblins, hobgoblins, humans, etc.)."
On Twitter, Jeremy Crawford discussed the treatment of orcs, Vistani, drow and others in D&D, and how WotC plans to treat the idea of 'race' in D&D going forward. In recent products (Eberron and Wildemount), the mandatory evil alignment was dropped from orcs, as was the Intelligence penalty...
www.enworld.org
In the AD&D DMG bugbears, ettins, giants, gnolls, goblins, hobgoblins, kobolds, ogres, orcs, and trolls have shamans. In the reading material of Gary Gygax and other TSR staff shamans would’ve been associated with Africans such as Solomon Kane’s friend, N’Longa and Native Americans - L Sprague de Camp, The Reluctant Shaman and Other Fantastic Tales (1970).
TSR’s RPG Metamorphosis Alpha (1976) may have been a significant influence here in making the connection between backwardness, tribes, and shamans. It is set on board a futuristic starship that has suffered a disaster. PCs live in tribes, which are led by shamans. "Radiation has caused all knowledge to be 'lost' and humans are in a state of semi-barbarism." "Later generations of humans lost all sense of identity, with the ship regressing into a state of savagery… The humans settled into a tribal way of life". A shaman also features in Sterling Lanier’s post-apocalyptic Hiero’s Journey (1973).
In the 1e AD&D DMG bugbears, gnolls, goblins, hobgoblins, kobolds, and orcs have witch doctors, which in popular culture are sub-Saharan African magicians. The clerics of 1e MM tribesmen are also called witch doctors. "Primitive tribesmen are typically found in tropical jungles or on islands. They use large shields... These men dwell in villages of grass, bamboo or mud huts."
I conclude therefore that a number of humanoid monsters which in 1974 OD&D possessed almost no non-European associations have, by the 1979 1e AD&D DMG, been expelled from Europe.