A (Very) Partial Pictorial History of Orcs

Whatever one thinks of Gary Gygax's claims about the influence of J.R.R. Tolkien on the creation and development of Dungeons & Dragons, there can be little question that the orc is one of the game's iconic monsters. Despite this, D&D has never provided a consistent picture of just what an orc looks like. The earliest illustration of them in the game is this one by Greg Bell, appearing in Volume 1 of OD&D (1974):

Leaving aside its lack technical skill, what stands out to me is that this orc looks little very human in appearance – a little more bestial perhaps but not that different from some crazed barbarian. The orcs of the Monster Manual (1977) look very different, being the pig-faced humanoids of which I am so fond.

This depiction of orcs by David C. Sutherland III was very influential and can found throughout the AD&D line, as well as on the title page of the Holmes rulebook (one of my all-time favorite pieces in all of D&D) from the same year as the Monster Manual. 

Interestingly – and oddly – the Games Workshop version of the Holmes rulebook includes a different interpretation of this scene, one with idiosyncratically one-eyed orcs, something I don't believe I've ever seen anywhere else.

Dave Trampier drew some orcs in module G1 (1978) and clearly took his cue from Sutherland.

Sometime around 1980, the pig-faced orc seems to have fallen into disfavor, as we begin to see a variety of other types, such as this one drawn by Jeff Dee for Slave Pits of the Undercity. 

Just a short time later, Grenadier Models depicts orcs on one of its boxed miniatures sets in yet another style.

These orcs are green-skinned and more generically monstrous. Interestingly, Timothy Truman seems to have taken elements from several of these depictions with this illustration, which served as the basis for the LJN orc toy.

This in turn influenced the design of the orcs that appeared in the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon.

Since we're on the subject of cartoon-y orcs, I would be remiss if I did not include Clyde Caldwell's cover to the 1988 The Orcs of Thar.

The foregoing only barely scratches the surface of this topic, which reveals, I think, that TSR had no consistent idea of what orcs looked like. Each artist had his own interpretation of them and, while certain characteristics sometimes carried over between the depictions, there is hardly enough continuity to settle on a "canonical" notion of these monsters' appearance. 

Had I the time and patience to do so, I could no doubt have found many, many more illustrations of orcs in TSR products. Instead, I'll leave that to you. Do you have any favorite orc artwork from the days of TSR?