Without going into too much detail, I’ve been studying lots and lots of fantasy elements lately, and I’ve noticed something interesting.
There’s a certain amount of consensus on what most standard fantasy creatures are.
Elves look like pretty people with pointy ears, they like beauty and they live a lot. Sometimes they are immortal, sometimes they are just long lived, sometimes their ears are basically human-like just a little bit pointy, sometimes they are dagger-shaped. But that core of “pretty, pointy and long-lived” is omnipresent.
Orcs are savage, war-like and humanity hates them. Sometimes they are super evil, sometimes they are noble but misunderstood, sometimes they are gray, sometimes they are green. Sometimes they are large and stronk, sometimes they are basically Goblins. But the core remains.
Dwarves are stronk, short, drunk and hairy, with a taste for mining and metal-working.
Et cetera.
But Trolls…
There’s no consensus on Trolls.
Sometimes they are dumb, sometimes they are human-smart, Sometimes they are hairy, sometimes they are bald, sometimes they are good, sometimes they are evil, sometimes they are super ugly, sometimes they are cute, sometimes they turn into stone, sometimes they have nothing to do with stone, sometimes they heal fast, sometimes they don’t, sometimes they are particularly weak against fire, sometimes they just burn like anybody else, etc.
Compare the WoW Troll to any other Troll in fantasy. Each setting’s Troll is essentially it’s own creature sharing a name.
I just find that very interesting and I wanted to share 