Race (fantasy)
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Many fantasy stories and worlds call their main sapient humanoid species "races" rather than species. In most such worlds, these races are related, typically having evolved from one root species (most often either elves or humans) by magical or divine influence. The usage of the term in this context was popularized by J. R. R. Tolkien and was further adapted and spread by the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. Nowadays, many imaginary universes use the terms "race" and "species" interchangeably.
In role-playing games, "race" typically refers to any species that can be played as a player character. In older editions of Dungeons & Dragons, the primary non-human player races (dwarf, elf, gnome, halfling [originally hobbit] and half-elf) were called "demi-humans".
See list of species in fantasy fiction for a listing of fictional fantastic races and species.
On the race vs. species issue, one might note that the most commonly used definition of a species is that creatures of the same species are capable of interbreeding, creatures of different species are not. But fantasy literature (from Tolkien till today) is full of half-breeds between races, of which the half-elf (human/elf hybrid) is probably the most common. On this grounds, one might argue that the two terms are not interchangeable at all, but that the races of elves and humans should be considered subraces of the same species.
See also
- Character class
- Legendary creature
- List of character classes
- List of species in folklore and mythology
- List of species in fantasy fiction
- Monster
