Redcloak's failed characterization, and what it means for the comic as a whole.

[pendell]

Indeed, the idea that fake monsters are inherently the same as real people seems fallacious to me. At best (or worst, as it were) we could suppose that they are symbolic stand-ins for real groups of people, caricatures if you will (which WOULD be racist), but I don't see any evidence for that. An orc doesn't much resemble any real ethnic group to me, nor does its culture (what little there is) or characterization.

I agree. The reason Tolkien invented orcs was specifically to create an enemy that was evil incarnate -- an enemy all mankind, German and Russian and American and English, could band to fight together. A world where evil and good are visibly different and incarnate, unlike the real world.

A world where evil really could be fought with visible weapons in a physical contest. Where you really could literally punch the devil in the nose. On some levels, that is much more satisfying than fighting real evil in the real world, which is often internal and invisible.

I grew up in that environment, and I never once leaped to the conclusion "it's okay to kill humans indiscriminantly because it's done to orcs in fiction." Humans are not orcs. It's the same thing as suggesting that eating chicken implies that you're willing to eat a human. Of course not. Humans are not chickens or cows. Humans are humans.

The main lesson I learned is, in every setting, to learn what the lay of the land is. There are species who are created as XP fodder who will always try to kill you and with whom it is not possible to establish peaceful communication, no matter how hard you try. Which means I will kill Shivans on sight in Descent: Freespace and howl with laughter at the fools who try to establish diplomatic communications with them and who subsequently get turned into dinner for their silliness.

Kind of like Tsukiko was hoist on her petard by her wights.

In the real world, there are creatures I try to live at peace with and creatures I will kill on sight. The first group includes all humans, of whatever race, creed, color, or sexual orientation. The second group includes the cockroaches and mice that infest my apartment. I don't care about the backstory of a mouse. From my perspective, the only good mouse IS a dead mouse, and showing mercy to them means an even larger infestation later. "Mercy" to roaches is misguided, because a roach will not promise only to eat food you leave out, and not to reproduce like mad. No, a roach will do what a roach does, and their individual differences are irrelevant to me. No mercy to baby roaches, because they are guaranteed to grow up into adult roaches. No mercy to female roaches, because they are the primary reproductive engines. In fact, make a special point of killing them, because one female is worth many times its number in terms of males. Kill them all.

When dealing with fantasy creatures, the question is entirely setting- dependent. In OOTSworld, orcs are humanlike and I will treat them as I would any other human. In another world, orcs are essentially two-legged vermin who cannot be reasoned with, and I will respond accordingly.

ETA: And I sincerely hope Mr. Burlew understands that I enjoy his comic precisely because he makes us think, and that we have these discussions.

Respectfully,

Brian P.