Arrogant elves

[Akisa]

I was wondering if Arrogant elves are common for stereotype for people and if so where do people get the idea elves are arrogant?

[taltamir]

they are prettier, smarter, more magical, and live for almost a thousand years...
henceforth they must be really arrogant. (because, apparently, recognizing your superiority means you are arrogant)

[Drakevarg]

dey iz also squishier, whiches why da orcz think they stoopid.

[leon666]

And I will call him Squishey and he will be my Squishey <3

[awa]

its just something you see a lot in fiction. Although often its that the elves get to tell every one else how much better they are then humans (often times humans agree becuase the elves are just so super special awesome) This was often then subverted.
see
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...ArgueWithElves
and
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...ElvesAreBetter

[Foryn Gilnith]

{Scrubbed}

[Dienekes]

The Silmarillion and Tolkien for me anyway.

It wasn't so much the authors intent that they were arrogant, it is only that there overall demeanor of being a superior people and mistrusting men comes into light when after reading the Sil you realize they've made bigger and worse mistakes than men ever have and still give them crap.

[DabblerWizard]

I imagine Tolkien's influence as a staple magical-fantasy writer, has something to do with the notion that Elves are arrogant.

I like that D&D 4.0 divided elves into down-to-earth woodsy creatures, and left the tingly magical aloof aspect to their Eladrin brethren.

While it does make sense to say that Elves are arrogant for reasons X, and Y, it is also the case that any group of beings can have a strong bias towards their own qualities, on top of snobbery, leading towards arrogance.

The staple elf in my campaign world is more isolationist than pretentious, for instance. It's all in the flavoring.

[Edit]

Ninja'd apparently.

[Mando Knight]

See, Tolkein's elves weren't so much "arrogant" as they were aloof. Then other people, having less finesse with their writing skills, make them arrogant because they can't handle not-arrogant aloof.

[Flickerdart]

{Scrubbed}

The Fey, from which the concept of Elves descends, were incredibly powerful, selfish and downright malicious creatures. Discworld's Elves, for example, harken back to the days when Elves weren't hippies, they would gut you (with magic) for their own amusement. Asking why elves are arrogant is like asking why dragons fly or why Vampires are Always Evil. It's always been like that. Recent literature and "literature" has, perhaps, subverted that expectation, but that's no reason to lose the roots of the species.

[Oracle_Hunter]

Obligatory TV Tropes Links

Our Elves Are Better because they are a Superior Species.

If that doesn't give you enough background, I'm sure I can find more links

[Optimystik]

Dragonlance was definitely a large source of the "elves are greater than thou" stereotype. And Lackey didn't help much either.

[kentma57]

...should only be played with friends who appreciate RPing.

[dragonfan6490]

Obligatory TV Tropes Links

Our Elves Are Better because they are a Superior Species.

If that doesn't give you enough background, I'm sure I can find more links

CURSE YOU AND YOUR TV TROPES!

[Dimers]

A group that is not merely different but recognizably better, and doesn't deny their advantages, will come across as arrogant. Separatist cultures are often seen as a sign of arrogance. And elves are often portrayed with mild expressions, which many people infer to mean that they're intellectually arrogant and will look down on anyone emotional. Since any given elf has at LEAST one of those traits in any game system or world, on the whole they've got quite an arrogant vibe.

Oh, and arrogance is a survival trait within drow society.

It's funny ... orcs and dwarves are also often portrayed as arrogant, but less stylishly and intelligently so. Gnomes and halflings are pretty much immune to it, though.

[Temotei]

Psh. Any race can be arrogant. Go play an evil arrogant gnome. And make sure they're really evil. Enough so to make me reconsider ever playing a gnome.

[Optimystik]

Psh. Any race can be arrogant. Go play an evil arrogant gnome. And make sure they're really evil. Enough so to make me reconsider ever playing a gnome.

The trouble with arrogant gnomes - they are usually portrayed as very curious and open to other societies, where elves tend towards insularity and seclusion. A xenophobic gnome is like a xenophobic kender - possible, but highly unlikely.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

Another part of the issue is that they're wrongfully arrogant. They've got a society that has existed since the creation of the world and they're barely up to the same tech level as the inferior humans. They're magical...in no appreciable way. They're smarter than us, but they require 100 years to graduate high school. And they're generally the ones behind the ancient cataclysm, the evil warlord, or the sealed evil in a can. And yet they're pissed at us for cutting down trees.

[JonestheSpy]

Elves seem arrogant to humans for similar reasons that adults seem arrogant, bossy, know-it-alls to teenagers.

The difference is that most humans don't live long enough to experience the shift in perspective most ex-teenagers do...

[TheCountAlucard]

Dwarves, unlike elves, are awesome. According to the book, I've been a dwarf for a minimum of 140 years, and I've never had any complaints. And we have beards, and axes, and beards! And we invented booze.

Elves cause cancer. Yes, my grandmother died of elven cancer; it was given to her by an elven witch. Elves are liars as well; they'll go on and on about how they're not ruled by an immortal council of evil elven witches who drink the blood of dwarven children and spit it on each other, in villainous orgies of hellfire and hatemongering. Elves have leprosy.

[Crow]

It wasn't so much the authors intent that they were arrogant, it is only that there overall demeanor of being a superior people and mistrusting men comes into light when after reading the Sil you realize they've made bigger and worse mistakes than men ever have and still give them crap.

Got that right!

[Optimystik]

Another part of the issue is that they're wrongfully arrogant. They've got a society that has existed since the creation of the world and they're barely up to the same tech level as the inferior humans. They're magical...in no appreciable way.

This is generally the reason dwarves look askance at them, according to Races of Stone. They believe elves are irresponsible given the length of their lives and the perspective it should provide. Not to mention, few dwarves (or humans) understand the importance of venerating nature to the detriment of progress.

Although, on the flip side of the coin, an elf might argue that technological advancement is not the evolutionary path intelligent races should be striving for, but rather integration with nature - which has existed before, and will exist after, sentient life fades.

[Pharaoh's Fist]

I was wondering if Arrogant elves are common for stereotype for people and if so where do people get the idea elves are arrogant?

From Eragon.

[Eldariel]

Dwarves, unlike elves, are awesome. According to the book, I've been a dwarf for a minimum of 140 years, and I've never had any complaints. And we have beards, and axes, and beards! And we invented booze.

Elves cause cancer. Yes, my grandmother died of elven cancer; it was given to her by an elven witch. Elves are liars as well; they'll go on and on about how they're not ruled by an immortal council of evil elven witches who drink the blood of dwarven children and spit it on each other, in villainous orgies of hellfire and hatemongering. Elves have leprosy.

I think this is a perfect example of why Dwarves have a racial Charisma-penalty.

From Eragon.

Yet another thing wrong with it.

[FuegoAzul]

Its to balance out the fact that their freaking awesome, what with the immortality and magic affinity and all. They need some disadvantage.

[Eldariel]

Its to balance out the fact that their freaking awesome, what with the immortality and magic affinity and all. They need some disadvantage.

Their disadvantage is living too long. Duh. I mean, you'd have some degree of detachment to other races too if you were three thousand years old.

[golentan]

"Elves are not arrogant. As an elf, I can assure you of this from the perspective of my superior intellect and experience. Now, how about you take your army elsewhere and let the 15 of us deal with the orcish menace."

Quote from a game.

[FuegoAzul]

Their disadvantage is living too long. Duh. I mean, you'd have some degree of detachment to other races too if you were three thousand years old.

That's true. Tolkien tried to balance that out with the sailing away from the world and all but that was more annoying then anything. its like "Oh look the world is getting screwed over... Whatever."

[Longcat]

I was wondering if Arrogant elves are common for stereotype for people and if so where do people get the idea elves are arrogant?

I always assumed it was designer's intent to portray them as snobbish, better-than-though, wine-sipping aryans.

[Dienekes]

Their disadvantage is living too long. Duh. I mean, you'd have some degree of detachment to other races too if you were three thousand years old.

Ah yes, the great disadvantage there, living too long. It's a wonder anyone ever plays them with such a massive weight around their skinny necks.