Since we're on a somewhat goblin kick, the goblins and goblinoids in my Ku'lown setting are strange.

First off, bugbears. They're a strange case, in that instead of being a distinct race, they're the result of a natural bio-magical process inherent in all goblinoids. If a goblinoid becomes infected with lycanthropy, vampirism, ghoul fever, or is affected by the bite of an abhorrent scourge, their body launches an all out war on the offending infection. Should the disease/curse take hold and manifest, the goblinoid is immediately killed and a barghesti revenant (zombie with the stats of a skeleton and the fiendish template along with the outsider type) rises in its' stead. Should the goblinoid fight off the infection, the latent magic forces a metamorphosis into a bugbear with special traits based off of the trigger disease, lycanthropic bugbears being the most common. Strangely enough, this process seems to invert the nature of the goblinoid that produced it. Goblinoids are a fairly servile group, even more so than kobolds and blightlings, but the bugbear is fiercely independent and will eagerly attack and attempt to kill anyone giving it orders or seek to impose its' will on goblin tribes and the like.

The appearance of a bugbear is dependent on the appearance of the goblinoid they used to be, but are still altered by this change. Lycanthropic bugbears are covered in fine hair, have massive teeth and claws, and stink to the depths of baator along with their surly dispositions and craving for the tearing of flesh. Vampiric bugbears are gaunt, much paler, with saber-like canines and an affinity for vermin that goes against their newly regal disposition and thirst for fresh blood. Ghoulish bugbears are hairless, have multiple rows of shark-like teeth and long serrated claws, appear to be perpetually starving with saran wrap skin covering bones with little muscle and a distended gut, and are constantly hungry. Finally, abhorrent bugbears are twisted, almost demonic looking, beings covered in spiny scales, constantly leaking blood and pus from between its' scales, with massive curled horns and wicked talons on all appendages, they subsist on the pain and fear of other creatures and love to torture their prey physically before extracting the sensations with their talons.

Hobgoblins are up next with a subdued form of weird. Hobgoblins are rare, and are often times mistakenly assumed to be a Goblin King and killed at birth, making them even more rare than they would normally be. They have vibrant metallic skin and glistening, jewel-like eyes with hair that seems to have been sculpted perfectly to fit the statuesque figure of the hobgoblin. However, they are very, very dumb and physically inept. Pretty to look at, yes, but too fumbling and inane to really do anything else but stand there and look pretty. They follow orders unquestioningly and make excellent sycophants for any king or liege lucky enough to find one in their charge. Strangely enough, they make amazing magic users when they can actually learn it and would be terrifying if they could actually do much.

Unbeknownst to the wide world, hobgoblins are free of the taint of barghest blood. They are the truest expression of goblinkind, untainted by the ancient curse that plagues their smaller kin. This could be considered a blessing, where it not that other goblinoids have an innate sense of loathing for the hobgoblins.

Finally, the OG goblins. Goblins are a cursed race. Long ago in ancient times they pledged themselves to a barghest lord in exchange for power. The first recipients of the power were insanely powerful and were seen as gods by the other goblins who quickly fell into line beneath them. Over generations, however, this power has gotten so diluted that it doesn't blip on the radar. Before the events of The Waking, not a single person could tell you what the bargest lord would have gained from its' pact other than servants. After that event, every single lord or lord-to-be can tell you exactly what the fiendish lord got out of the deal.

See, goblins aren't an evil race. Sure there are a few bad apples here and there, but in general they're a good people. Kind, good natured, willing to fall over themselves to help their liege or fellow man. You'd be hard pressed to find a person who couldn't enjoy the antics of the goblins or at least isn't openly hostile to them. But the barghest blood in the goblins is a clear and present threat to the world, one that strikes a dark undertone to the insanely useful and helpful goblins.

At one point in time, goblins were the most numerous race in the world, numbering in the upper millions easily. When a certain threshold of population was reached, a goblin was formed in the deepest pits that was the perfect ruler for their lord's cause. Upon the eve of his birth, the world shuddered as the first instance of a Goblin King was unleashed on the world. Over the years he grew and attained the status of highest lord over all goblinoids. The goblin king was taller, stronger, smarter, and far more commanding than any other goblin could have possibly been. On the night before the planar convergence, the goblin king enacted a ritual that bound all goblins together in mind and soul and leashed them to his will in order to enact the role he was born to fulfill.

The night of the planar convergence was still and clear before a beam of pure white light erupted from the site of the goblin castle. The beam tore the very fabric of the surrounding world apart and caused a massive titan to emerge from the opened rift. Powered by the unified souls of the goblins and controlled by the goblin king, it sought to tear the world asunder. The greatest of heroes, most powerful of titans, fantastical of beasts, and most stalwart defenders of the realms showed up to do battle but nothing seemed to harm the great being, until a group of nobodies made pacts with great beings from beyond and within the world itself. The first warlocks and avowed did battle with the hordes of goblins besieging the realms and one managed to wrest control of a company from the goblin king, forming the first fealty. A mass extermination was done in the glow of a burning white pillar and a mad titan kept busy until the goblin king could no longer hold the being in the world, and it vanished.

When the titanic being vanished, the beam snapped off and the goblin king laid dead and half disintegrated against the smoking hole of nothingness that was where the castle once stood. The lands surrounding the hole were twisted, barren, partially disintegrated, and resembled a bad wireframe model on a computer with almost all detail having been stretched towards the pillar or deleted by it. The system of fealty was instituted and goblin villages became status symbols and a way to keep the goblin population at reasonable levels.

In the current point in the setting, there is an avowed that is worshipped as a god emperor by his goblin village for bringing them prosperity unlike any in their history. He takes a small tax of living goblins for use as personal servants, harem members, and sacrifices in order to feed the domesticated spiders he gave them and to please his patroness (she likes the taste of goblin flesh, especially of females with little or no offspring). He is also funding the research to figure out a way to break the curse on the goblin race, due to him having a high love for the little green beans.