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<blockquote data-quote="Dannyalcatraz" data-source="post: 8323036" data-attributes="member: 19675">Sure- I’ve done it before in another thread on ENWorld when this came up before.&nbsp; I don’t remember the thread or details from back then, though.However, decades ago, a priest gave a sermon at my church that opened with, “Satan…is beautiful!&nbsp; If he looked like a monster, we would all run from him. But we don’t. We go TOWARDS him. We find him attractive.”Etc.An always evil race could just as easily be incredibly gorgeous.&nbsp; See Michael Moorcock’s Melniboneans.&nbsp; Even the Pan Tangians looked like normal humans, despite their association with the darkest lords of Chaos.D&amp;D halflings could be the Uber-evil race without any visual changes.&nbsp; Borrow a page from Dark Sun and make them into carnivores with a taste for sentients.&nbsp; Maybe even domesicatirs of burrowing creatures, like bulettes… explaining their preference for elves.Ignoting that because you WANT to telegraph their inner nature?&nbsp; You can still use words like “brutish” and “savage” if they’re not ALSO used with other terminology associated with bigotry, like “dark-skinned” or what have you.Making them non-mammalian would be a great way to avoid unfortunate RW parallels.The same all goes for cultures.&nbsp; Your baddies don’t have to be the barbarians at the gate.&nbsp; If the 20th century taught us anything, it’s that advanced societies can commit great evil within the world.&nbsp; See also the colonial era.&nbsp; Or think about how the subjugated people in the New Workd viewed their Incan, Mayan, etc. overlords.Look at one of the species in the sci-fi show, Defiance. The Omecs are feared by everyone- super advanced, physically powerful, attractive, looked like purple Drow/vampires, considered other sentient species livestock- fit for servitude or sauces.&nbsp; Not a stereotype.I could keep pointing at sci-fi, too.&nbsp; Stephen Donaldson’s Amnion are scary as hell, but tick no RW stereotypes.What were the main enemies in Stargate: Atlantis?&nbsp; An advanced race of corpse-white creatures.The Borg.&nbsp; Replicators.The Kromags from Sliders invert the brutish stereotypes, again by being a technologically advanced race.The Dominion.&nbsp; The Ori.Etc.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dannyalcatraz, post: 8323036, member: 19675"] Sure- I’ve done it before in another thread on ENWorld when this came up before. I don’t remember the thread or details from back then, though. However, decades ago, a priest gave a sermon at my church that opened with, “Satan…is [I][B]beautiful[/B]! [/I]If he looked like a monster, we would all run from him. But we don’t. We go TOWARDS him. We find him attractive.” Etc. An always evil race could just as easily be incredibly gorgeous. See Michael Moorcock’s Melniboneans. Even the Pan Tangians looked like normal humans, despite their association with the darkest lords of Chaos. D&D halflings could be the Uber-evil race without any visual changes. Borrow a page from Dark Sun and make them into carnivores with a taste for sentients. Maybe even domesicatirs of burrowing creatures, like bulettes… explaining their preference for elves. Ignoting that because you WANT to telegraph their inner nature? You can still use words like “brutish” and “savage” if they’re not ALSO used with other terminology associated with bigotry, like “dark-skinned” or what have you. Making them non-mammalian would be a great way to avoid unfortunate RW parallels. The same all goes for cultures. Your baddies don’t have to be the barbarians at the gate. If the 20th century taught us anything, it’s that advanced societies can commit great evil within the world. See also the colonial era. Or think about how the subjugated people in the New Workd viewed their Incan, Mayan, etc. overlords. Look at one of the species in the sci-fi show, [I]Defiance.[/I] The Omecs are feared by everyone- super advanced, physically powerful, attractive, looked like purple Drow/vampires, considered other sentient species livestock- fit for servitude or [B]sauces. [/B]Not a stereotype. I could keep pointing at sci-fi, too. Stephen Donaldson’s Amnion are scary as hell, but tick no RW stereotypes. What were the main enemies in [I]Stargate: Atlantis? [/I]An advanced race of corpse-white creatures. The Borg. Replicators. The Kromags from [I]Sliders[/I] invert the brutish stereotypes, again by being a technologically advanced race. The Dominion. The Ori. Etc. [/QUOTE]

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