Why do the Dwarves never change?

[Hazzardevil]

In media there are various kinds of elves and orcs, each Author generally changes them for his/her own world, can anyone tell me why this doesn't seem to be the case for dwarves?

[DomaDoma]

Well, some time after Tolkien they stopped speaking Semitic languages and started speaking with Scottish accents.

Basically, dwarves aren't pretty like elves, and there's no compulsion to change them up the way there is with villains. I think that's the long and short.

[Devonix]

Simple you don't mess with perfection.

[DomaDoma]

Also a good answer, but for that writers can and do mess with perfection, and often.

[hamishspence]

Our Dwarves Are All The Same, indeed. There are the occasional subversion, but they seem to be the exception rather than the rule.

[Spiryt]

Same reason they usually don't change skeletons or mountains I guess - they feel that 'standard' archetype fits their story.

If some author would like some different dwarves (s)he would try, I guess....

[Omergideon]

Well, some time after Tolkien they stopped speaking Semitic languages and started speaking with Scottish accents.

Basically, dwarves aren't pretty like elves, and there's no compulsion to change them up the way there is with villains. I think that's the long and short.

Pretty much.

As an attractive race, and at times uncomfortably sue-ish in a lot of works, people have a strong incentive to make more varied and interesting varieties of Elves. People can want to be an elf and so seek to make a lot of varieties to cover every type of human we could encounter. Wish fulfillment.

And Orcs, as an antagonist race, are as varied as the kind of enemy you want in your work. If you want your enemy to be chaotic, lawful, noble, fallen, tragic or brutish (depending on what you think evil should be) your orcs will reflect that.

But dwarves are neither a race you would want to be like an elf (being short hurts them there), or an enemy you want to mold to your personal bias. So they get into fantasy based on the prestige of Tolkien (whose dwarves are much more nuanced than most modern ones), but noone can be bothered to do much work on them. Hence the stock dwarf character based on a flanderised notion of Tolkien's versions.

[Morty]

The thing with the dwarves is that they tend to be just... there. The hardy, respectable folk yadda yadda. You don't see dwarves in the spotlight very often compared to most other races, Discworld being a notable exception - but Discworld dwarves are, while entertaning, not very original either.

[Sunken Valley]

Well, some time after Tolkien they stopped speaking Semitic languages and started speaking with Scottish accents.

Basically, dwarves aren't pretty like elves, and there's no compulsion to change them up the way there is with villains. I think that's the long and short.

Fixed that for you.

[dehro]

elves, pixies, fairies and such have a large variety of sources to fish from, literary, mythical and folkloristic. many countries have their own version of elves..
dwarves, not quite as many.. they're pretty specific.. creatures that vary from the standard dwarf tend to be given different names altogether.

[Traab]

I have read a few variations on the basic dwarven character, but its generally minor changes to the same basic concept. For example, mining. Some dwarves are just miners. They live in mountains, thats where their metals and gems are, so thats that. Others have an actual sense for the earth, they can actually feel where there are mineral deposits, and things like that. Still others can actually manipulate stone as a form of magic. Bottom line though, they are pretty much ALWAYS deeply involved with the earth.

Personalities can change a bit. Gruff is always there, but there have been outright xenophobic dwarves, secretive dwarves, as well as open and friendly dwarves. Dennis Mckiernan for example, writes his dwarves as being heavily honor bound warriors, who treat virtually everything that isnt common knowledge about them as a deep dark secret that only the most loyal friends are allowed to know.

Oh yeah, and they are pretty much always ass kicking warriors. It doesnt matter if the dwarf in question is a miner, a soldier, or a merchant, when a fight breaks out, they yank out some sort of axe of hammer and start killing.

[T-O-E]

Because they're written by authors who think that giving dwarves Russian accents is the height of originality and wit in fantasy.

[dehro]

one funny variation that, I figure, is designed specifically to subvert canon, is the dwarf in Artemis Fowl's books

[Prime32]

one funny variation that, I figure, is designed specifically to subvert canon, is the dwarf in Artemis Fowl's books

You succeded in ninja'ing me only because of server problems. *shakes fist*

Anyway, yeah, Artemis Fowl dwarves = best dwarves. They're basically Wario as a race.

[T-O-E]

Just noticed the ad for the Vodka drinking dwarf... That's odd.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Because they're written by authors who think that giving dwarves Russian accents is the height of originality and wit in fantasy.

Just noticed the ad for the Vodka drinking dwarf... That's odd.

He's based off a Russian mercenary archetype. But the author admits that the personality type overlaps with the standard dwarf bruiser a lot.

[dehro]

this is relevant

[t209]

There's one difference in Elderscrolls, the dwarves are just a translation for "Dwemer" (in ES verse, Mer is elf while dwe is deep). They're just elves with beards and machines.

[Terraoblivion]

Dwarves. Dwarves never change.

And with that joke out of the way, I think that it is mostly because they hit the niche appeal perfectly. People who like tough, gruff, manly types pretty much have it all there already, while if you take that away you're left with short people who tend to be hairier than most. Not much to work with outside the archetypes and those who don't like the archetype probably aren't the people who would particularly care to work on developing a species that is defined solely by being short.

[Weezer]

There's one difference in Elderscrolls, the dwarves are just a translation for "Dwemer" (in ES verse, Mer is elf while dwe is deep). They're just elves with beards and machines.

They turned their dwarves into elves, that's practically sacrilege.

[Selrahc]

Little creatures in mythology have a hundred different names. The only way to tell a dwarf is a dwarf is by the archetypes they fulfil. If they don't fulfil a large portion of those archetypes, odds are they'll be called something different.

There's one difference in Elderscrolls, the dwarves are just a translation for "Dwemer" (in ES verse, Mer is elf while dwe is deep). They're just elves with beards and machines.

That's old school Norse stuff. Dwarves used to be Dark Elves. Or at least, when they weren't busy being the maggots that wriggled out of a god corpse.

[McStabbington]

If I had to guess, I would say that the reason the characteristics of the dwarves rarely change is because the characteristics of your average Hufflepuff faction rarely changes. Basically, in any situation when you have the protagonist's faction facing off against an Evil Empire, any third faction has to fit in that narrow slot where they're combat capable, but no so obviously capable that we stop thinking of the Evil Empire as a threat. So they turn into Hufflepuffs: strong tough budgers in a fight, but stodgy and small-c conservative so they have to get their dander up before they fight.

You'll notice that given the above description, dwarves are basically Hufflepuffs with ranks in Craft (smith) and Craft (stoneworking). Which is precisely how most fantasy writers use them: they're tough budgers who can lay some serious wood when they come out of their mountain halls in numbers and fight, but getting them to do anything is usually pretty tricky to do. I suspect that if more fantasy writers actually used dwarves as the protagonists, it would force them to come up with more varied accounts of dwarves and dwarven societies.

[Lord Raziere]

This reminds me; I should get around to How I Do Dwarves thread in World-Building….

[MammonAzrael]

If I had to guess, I would say that the reason the characteristics of the dwarves rarely change is because the characteristics of your average Hufflepuff faction rarely changes. Basically, in any situation when you have the protagonist's faction facing off against an Evil Empire, any third faction has to fit in that narrow slot where they're combat capable, but no so obviously capable that we stop thinking of the Evil Empire as a threat. So they turn into Hufflepuffs: strong tough budgers in a fight, but stodgy and small-c conservative so they have to get their dander up before they fight.

You'll notice that given the above description, dwarves are basically Hufflepuffs with ranks in Craft (smith) and Craft (stoneworking). Which is precisely how most fantasy writers use them: they're tough budgers who can lay some serious wood when they come out of their mountain halls in numbers and fight, but getting them to do anything is usually pretty tricky to do. I suspect that if more fantasy writers actually used dwarves as the protagonists, it would force them to come up with more varied accounts of dwarves and dwarven societies.

I think what you meant to say there was "Hufflepuffs are basically dwarves."

[Pokonic]

I think what you meant to say there was "Hufflepuffs are basically dwarves."

Yeah, Ravenclaws are Elves, Griffondor are humans, and Slitherin are... Drow?

[Traab]

Yeah, Ravenclaws are Elves, Griffondor are humans, and Slitherin are... Drow?

Id say ravenclaws are the tinker gnomes. The ones always inventing and researching everything they can without caring much about the consequences. The most standard type of elf is one that does know a lot, tons of wisdom and such, but I always pictured the stereotypical ravenclaw as the bookworm that learns for no other reason than to learn. No thought about applications of the knowledge, just assimilating every fact they can get their mitts on. Not very elvish really.

But yeah, slytherins are definitely drow. Both the best and the worst. After all, while most drow are evil bastard dedicated to attaining more power and control at whatever the cost, they also have numerous morons in their ranks who trade off family names to get what they want. Plenty of ambition, but no real cunning.

[Jaros]

One factor I think could be the emphasis for Dwarven cultures on tradition. In most works I can think of with Dwarves in, they tend to have beliefs on duty and How Things Should Be Done, and will tend to be resistant, or even hostile, to change. Two main examples I can think of are Discworld and OotS, can anyone else think of works that look at Dwarven culture where this is the case? I can't remember if the same is true of LotR or not.

[Dr.Epic]

Basically, dwarves aren't pretty like elves

Speak for yourself.

[Ravens_cry]

I have a campaign setting I am working on where the dwarves are based on Babylonian culture, or at least Mesopotamian, where most live on the surface with the classic mountain fortresses been just that, fortresses for time of troubles.
On the other hand Semitic influences has some unfortunate implications. Big beards and large, often hooked noses on a people that are often shown as close fisted and greedy?
I seriously doubt this was Tolkiens intentions, it certainly isn't mine, I just think Babylonians had the rockenist beards ever, but it does resemble some rather unfortunate older stereotypes of a certain people.

[hamishspence]

I have a campaign setting I am working on where the dwarves are based on Babylonian culture, or at least Mesopotamian, where most live on the surface with the classic mountain fortresses been just that, fortresses for time of troubles.

Warhammer's Chaos Dwarfs have a strong element of this- right down to the beard shapes.