Monday, July 26, 2021

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 fond 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? 

22 comments:

  1. Obviously debatable, but I was always of the mind that Dee's depiction (and DSL's in the same work) were the Half Orcs that were pretty prevalent in A1.

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    1. That's true. There are a lot of half-orcs in A1, so you might well be correct.

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    2. To see Dee's depiction of a (cyclops-) orc, one need look no further than that peerless masterpiece of beauty, Deities and Demigods:

      https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e5/0d/29/e50d2927f05f9ec086827cbff15fc693.jpg

      Because of this image, my PCs wore belts diagonally across their chests for years.

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  2. I was wondering why any sane warrior would crouch with his back to the door.

    And pig-faced orcs for me!

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  3. I suddenly realize that Dave Sutherland's orcs looks quite a bit like the trolls, Uz, of Runequest. I never thought of that before.

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  4. Great topic! I have an irrational fondness for pig-faced orcs, simply due to D&D nostalgia. But not green orcs for some reason.

    When forced to think about it, I really like the depiction of orcs in Jackson's LOTR trilogy. There, every orc is unique just like people. Plus they really embody Tolkien's idea that orcs are just the worst that humans have to offer, in every possible way; cannibals, sadists, rapists, cowards, killers, despoilers of nature.

    I also like Frazetta's simian orcs, even with their scifi samurai helms:

    https://www.syfy.com/sites/syfy/files/styles/syfy_image_gallery_full_breakpoints_theme_syfy_normal_1x/public/tumblr_n1ggjzsyam1rsh9xbo7_1280_3.jpg

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  5. I've never had a clear mental image of what I think orcs should look like... but I dislike the direction GW took them, huge with enormous tusks.
    I think I prefer the more human/simian take... similar to the Sagoths of Pellucidar.

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  6. Prior to the Holmes Basic rulebook, Sutherland had pig-faced orcs in Swords & Spells (1976). See art here on the Old School FRP tumblr. And before that, the Brothers Hildebrandt had green, pig-faced orcs in the 1976 Tolkien Calendar, which would have been published before the end of 1975.

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  7. I just love the idea that gygax wasn't influenced by LOTR... where else was there orcs? I know where tolkien got it, but where else was it?

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    1. Gygax protesteth too much when it comes to his too-cool-for-school attitude about LOTR. He obviously cribbed tons of stuff from Tolkien. Perhaps its the creative content version of how he avoided acknowledging all the people in the war-game community that he raided for basic rules in Chainmail and early D&D.

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    2. You guys go ahead. I'm gonna sit this one out.

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    3. Orc is obviously from William Blake ...

      But there was some sort of lawsuit about TSR using LOTR names, wasn't there? So then we got Treants, Balors, Halflings, etc. Nevertheless, D&D to my mind has a far more Swords & Sorcery feel. Even if Gandalf can be modelled as a Lvl 5 Druid.

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  8. Piggy orcs are the best orcs. It is there in the name ain't it?

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  9. I wonder how much orcish iconography influenced, or was influenced by, Maleficent's pig-faced minions in Disney's "Sleeping Beauty" (1959) and Jabba's Gamorean guards in "Return of the Jedi" (1983).

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    1. The proximate source for DCS’ pig-snouted orcs (1977) was the Brothers Hildebrandt 1976 Tolkien Calendar (in particular, “Captured by the Orcs”). The Hildebrandts were fans of Disney, especially Sleeping Beauty (which was theatrically rereleased in 1970).

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    2. Those Hildebrandt orcs look a bit dragon-ish too.

      I like Franzetta's, but the Bakshi orcs were such powerful imagery. When the animated LotR hit the theaters, it overwhelmed my mental imagery even though I'd already read (and re-read) the books many times.

      D&D's pig-faced orcs---like the spritely elves of the Monster Manual---is a depiction that seems to diminish them to the comically inept. Both are hard for a Tolkien fan to shallow.

      That said, what World of Warcraft has done to romanticize the muscle-bound orcs is a hundred times worse.

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    3. The Hildebrandts' orcs remind me of Alf.

      I agree with Michael. The early D&D pig-faced orcs appear to be inspired by the Hildebrandts' orcs.

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  10. Did you had a look on Tignous art fot the french RPG Rêve de dragon : http://ekladata.com/dNsn91IlGtlKcjCZdhJIOQtBQjE.jpg

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  11. This illustration, made by Swedish RPG artist Nils Gulliksson for the 1987 edition of the BRP-based game Drakar och Demoner, will forever be how I see orcs for my mind’s eye:

    https://www.svenskarollspel.nu/wikia/Orch_%28folkslag%29#/media/Fil:Folkslag_Orch_3.JPG

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    1. Looks a bit like Alan Lee's version --- very human.

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  12. Glad to see someone else mention the Maleficent minion connection with regard to the pig-faced orc!

    Remember that early D&D had heavy Burroughs influence, and included Martian Tharks as possible encounters in some iterations. That got cease-and-desisted, but I think the post-pig orc owes its green skin and tusks to the Burroughs Barsoomian aliens.

    The "modern" orc also owes a lot to Frazetta's grey apelike brutes, but for what it's worth I think the cover art to "Thief of Llarn" had a face that's just beautifully orcish. Surly, beady-eyed, point-eared, lantern jawed, heavy browed, prognathous, with the impression of underbitten tusks. I feel it must have been a very influential illustration for such a forgotten book. (Art apparently by Gray Morrow, though it's Frazettan enough to be misidentified as such).

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  13. I've always pictured the orcs as pig-faced, mainly due to the first image of orcs I was exposed to: the blue-snouted orcs on the back cover of The Keep on the Borderlands. I must say that I enjoy variations on that theme however.

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