What's actually an Orog?

[Yora]

They seem to be some AD&D monster related to orcs, ogres and goblins, and there has been a beefed up orc under the same name in Races of Faerûn. I tried to find out more about the original monster, but my google-fu only uncovered that there is a miniature called orog warlord.

[kamikasei]

Looks like there's what might be an original orog (an orc-ogre) and a different creature of the same name in Faerun (an Underdark orc).

[Gaiyamato]

Just something that was gradually made up over the decades of dnd.
I don't think it has a real life mythology counter-part.

[Rappy]

Indeed, the orog has no mythological counterpart, it's simply the result of an ogre female and orc male getting together and having little orogs. It and its ogre male-to-orc female counterpart, the ogrillion, have 3E updates in the Tome of Horrors.

EDIT: As for the Forgottean Realms orog-in-name-only, I'm not sure where its origin lies. Perhaps as an homage to Tolkein's uruk-hai, perhaps?

[Zeta Kai]

I believe that the orogs were originally a ripoff homage to Tolkien's Olog-Hai, the specially-bred super-trolls of Mirkwood & northern Mordor. I could be wrong, though.

[Schylerwalker]

There were also creatures called orogs in the Birthright Campaign Setting for 2nd Ed AD&D. They lived underground, were mean and nasty, and liked making war with just about everybody. They were essentially orcs who were super sensitive to bright light.

[hamishspence]

Blood orcs, in Unaproachable East- seem a little closer to Faerun's Uruk-hai.

Since Orogs are even more sensitive to light than orcs.

[Rappy]

There were also creatures called orogs in the Birthright Campaign Setting for 2nd Ed AD&D. They lived underground, were mean and nasty, and liked making war with just about everybody. They were essentially orcs who were super sensitive to bright light.

That would make sense. So we simply have the case of two monsters sharing the same name...not that uncommon, really.

[Yora]

Does anyone remember where they were introduced?

[Closet_Skeleton]

I believe that the orogs were originally a ripoff homage to Tolkien's Olog-Hai, the specially-bred super-trolls of Mirkwood & northern Mordor. I could be wrong, though.

Olog is troll, Olog-Hai being super trolls like Uruk-Hai are super orcs.

[Zeta Kai]

Olog is troll, Olog-Hai being super trolls like Uruk-Hai are super orcs.

Yes, thank you, I read the article that I linked too. My point concerning the probability of an homage still stands.

[Thane of Fife]

Hmm.

The 2nd edition Monstrous Manual has them as

Elite orcs, or orogs, are a race of great orcs, possibly mixed with ogre blood.

The ogrillon entry says

Ogrillons are the issue of a female orc mated with a male ogre. Thankfully, it is sterile. The union of a male orc and a female ogre yields an orog, a better class of humanoid monster detailed in the "Orc" entry.

Judging from the wikipedia page on orcs in D&D, this would seem to be their first appearance.

I would suspect, however, that they probably originated in some 1e module.

[Yora]

And looking it up in my 2nd Ed Monster Manual, I realize you are right.

In 3rd Ed. it would probably just be an orc with advanced HD.

[bosssmiley]

Orog = Uruk, changed just enough that the Tolkien estate don't unleash their screaming law harpies.

[Zom B]

Just a point here: Magic: The Gathering's Orgg is most likely an homage creature, although they differ in that they resemble giant goblins with four arms: Two large and two small, although some of the cards depict a creature with only two arms. Whether this is inconsistency (doubted, since the general appearance is consistent) or something like Yuan-ti sometimes having extra heads is unclear. Scanning through the flavor text on these cards, I don't see anything that resembles an explanation of the creature or its history.

[Tiktakkat]

Hmm.

The 2nd edition Monstrous Manual has them as The ogrillon entry says Judging from the wikipedia page on orcs in D&D, this would seem to be their first appearance.

I would suspect, however, that they probably originated in some 1e module.

The ogrillon first showed up in the 1st ed Fiend Folio.
I am pretty sure the orog first showed up in the 2nd ed Monstrous Compendium, Volume 1. (The first version of the Monster Manual for 2nd ed, with the hole punched pages.)

[Harperfan7]

The DMG says that orogs are orc-ogres, so Orc with Half-ogre template.

Orogs in forgotten realms are just underdark orcs.

[Rappy]

The ogrillon first showed up in the 1st ed Fiend Folio.
I am pretty sure the orog first showed up in the 2nd ed Monstrous Compendium, Volume 1. (The first version of the Monster Manual for 2nd ed, with the hole punched pages.)

Tome of Horrors, thank its Wizards of the Coast-forced reference notes, agrees with you.

The DMG says that orogs are orc-ogres, so Orc with Half-ogre template.

If you don't have a copy of the Tome of Horrors, this is a good enough substitution, yes.