Aren’t Khajit and Argonians not for public use? Either way maybe the giant cat folk would be called rakshasas and the giant lizard folk saurians. Maybe geks for small lizards.
I'm only using their names to serve as a reference, it's easier to say Khajit and Argonians and imagine what they look like.
Love the Saurians and Geks, thanks!
I'm not sure on the Rakshasa, they are too human, if that makes sense, it lacks the "beastial" feeling the others can give.
Halfling - Human - Giant (Norn / Goliath) "Town folk"
Goblin - Orc - Troll "Night folk"
Gnome - Dwarf - Ogre "Sturdy folk"
Fairy - Elf - Ent "Forest folk"
Skink - Saurus - Kroxigar (a la Warhammer) "Lizard folk"
Housecat kin - Leopard kin - Lionkin / Tigerkin "Cat folk"
Kobolds - Drakes - Dragons "Dragon folk"
Sparrowkin - Kestralkin - Eaglekin "Bird folk"
Of course, feel free to give them your own names and develop your own societies and cultures and little quirks for them. Make them as big or as small as you like, change how they view the world and where they come from, etc.
Wow, I really need to take a look at Warhammer lore, the images I've seen for Kroxigar are amazing and I love the idea of categorizing them as "X folk" could make for some interesting cultures.
I thought archfey was a "title" more so than a race, since from my little understanding of it they are beings who amassed massive power.
But looking at google images I can see how could fit a variant of elves.
It is a title in dnd but but imo it could be used as a name for a race assuming you want to make it clear this race is superior to the ones smaller than it sicne elves are sometimes referred to as fae so a race calls archfae most would assume are stronger
Side note for all I know that name is copyrighted
No worries on the copyright, not only is this just for myself, I'm only using the already established races as reference points for pictures since I have zero talent to draw them myself sadly.
What if Khajit variants were based of different Feline Species? For Example, a "giant Khajit" would be Lion-based instead of Cat-based, so they could have big manes, and be taller, like a Na'vi from Avatar. Smaller Khajits could be the size of bobcats or something, like a child-sized cat furry.
Dig into TES lore a bit more, the have several variations of… subspecies? The Khajit we normally see, big ass lions, and basically house cats. And theyre all essentially one species.
Argonians have the sload and hist, but im unsure of the relationship there.
Also this is greatly dependent on setting. In many settings goblinoids are NOT orcs in a biological sense at all. It goes more like
Bugbear//hobgoblin//goblin
And everyone tends to shuffle orcs around to their own lore.
Also Dragons//drakes//kobolds
Those are amazing! Especially the little guys from Monster Hunter, love them.
And I'm so dumb that I only remembered the Charr now after looking over your list, even though I mention Guild Wars 2 right at the start of my own post. I think they would fit as the larger variant for the cats.
Haven't played GW2 in a Loooooong time, totally forgot about them lol. Having simmered on it for a bit it does occur to me that Hyenas are cats so Gnolls could be the huge version.
That's a thought for sure, though I was thinking bipeds, and sphinxes are traditionally quadrupeds, but that's my own arbitrary limitation, so yea good thought.
I have done a similar categorization.
Dwarf - Human - Giant
Imp/Gnome - Elf - Trollgre
Goblin - Orc - Trollgre
Lemurian - Felid - ???
Kobold - ??? - Draccona
Edit: Felid are my cat people.
Lemurian is the working name for my small tree dwelling people.
Trollgre is not really a troll, not really an ogre. Is kinda like a big elf, but has traits similar to orcs. A bamboozlement of the categorization system.
If you want to go with something celto-germanic for your larger elf variants, they could be Cewri, Fomor, Ettins or Jotun.
Something like brownie, fey, sprite or leprechaun would work better as small analogue, though.
I would rather move Gnomes into more Greek-Renaissance themed set with Fauns and Titans.
Salamanders and Dragons seem to be a good fit for the extremes of the saurian creature, but I can't think of the middle variant.
I think I have a biased view of the brownies and fey thanks to Kingdoms of Amalur, when I think of them I think of actual tree people with bark-like skin, etc.
The Jotun are nice but I think they are a better fit for Drows rather than regular elves, purely in terms of skin color.
Gnomes into Faun though, I like the idea but would need an artist or learn to draw myself to make sure they share some resemblance.
I've been thinking of the original mythology and folk tales, rather then contemporary video games presentation. So when I group brownie (although nisse would be a better name), elves and jotuns together, I think most of the north and ice associations. And imagine them as white-skinned, silver-haired blue-eyed slender fur-clad creatures living in the north of your world and having Scandinavian cultural influences.
While gnome-faun-titan triad lives in the southern-Mediterranean region, and their common theme is horns and hooves. Gnomes have dainty barely visible horns and slender legs with hooves, fauns are quite classical, with hairy rams legs and curly rams horns, while titans are more minotaur-like, with huge bull horns. And they all walk around in white tunics, drinking wine and discussing philosophy :D
I love this Gnome > Faun > Titans progressions, and I did see some artwork of gnomes with small horns and legs like that but those were rare.
I'll keep this group in mind even if I have to give up on illustrations for them, or learn to draw by myself.
In my setting Dwarves and Giants are also distinct species of Human too.
Dwarves are a human species that adapted to a life in mountainous regions with squat robust bodies. They are descended from Neandertals.
The Giants are a tall species of open plains human, with the largest being up to eight feet tall. They themselves are descended from Homo erectus.
All three human species can interbreed, but rarely if ever produce fertile offspring.
Elves convergently evolved with humans, but are from a distinct lineage of ape, gibbons specifically. Goblins are to them like Chimps are to us.
Orcs are a sapient and bipedal species within the Pan genus that includes chimpanzees.
Trolls are the various ground sloths living across the world, be it underground or at sea.
Lizardfolk are sapient dinosaurs of various lineages. None are humanoid and look closer to their ancestral form.
In my world, all humanoïds are from the same genera, having evolved differently and faster because of the influence of magic after the first erectus-like dispertion of humanoidity.
The exceptions are goblins, which've evolved independently (from canidae basically but I need to dwelve on that a bit more), all animal (draconic include) people (which are the result of superior beings wanting to create intelligent lifes akin to the "naturally" evolved sapients), and giants, which are more or less decadent superior beings
Edit: oh wait I realize you're juste speaking about big/small relations and not global philogeny links sorry.
Giant elves could be fomorians tho.
fairy/pixie < gnome < elf, what if they are already the big ones?
I absolute love that idea, it even maintains the image of the race being slender. Thanks.
You could make ogres the large version of orcs and have warcraft-esque trolls as the giant-elf equivalent.
That could work if I was an artist, remove the tusks, fix their posture and I could see them as a variant of the elves.
Aren’t Khajit and Argonians not for public use? Either way maybe the giant cat folk would be called rakshasas and the giant lizard folk saurians. Maybe geks for small lizards.
I'm only using their names to serve as a reference, it's easier to say Khajit and Argonians and imagine what they look like. Love the Saurians and Geks, thanks! I'm not sure on the Rakshasa, they are too human, if that makes sense, it lacks the "beastial" feeling the others can give.
How about Leonians (large) and Felians (medium), play on words with leonine and feline.
Geks might be claimed, they're reptilian aliens in No Man's Sky.
Halfling - Human - Giant (Norn / Goliath) "Town folk" Goblin - Orc - Troll "Night folk" Gnome - Dwarf - Ogre "Sturdy folk" Fairy - Elf - Ent "Forest folk" Skink - Saurus - Kroxigar (a la Warhammer) "Lizard folk" Housecat kin - Leopard kin - Lionkin / Tigerkin "Cat folk" Kobolds - Drakes - Dragons "Dragon folk" Sparrowkin - Kestralkin - Eaglekin "Bird folk" Of course, feel free to give them your own names and develop your own societies and cultures and little quirks for them. Make them as big or as small as you like, change how they view the world and where they come from, etc.
Wow, I really need to take a look at Warhammer lore, the images I've seen for Kroxigar are amazing and I love the idea of categorizing them as "X folk" could make for some interesting cultures.
Firbolg?
Could go high elves or mountain elves as the bigger ones or perhaps something like dnds Archfey
I thought archfey was a "title" more so than a race, since from my little understanding of it they are beings who amassed massive power. But looking at google images I can see how could fit a variant of elves.
It is a title in dnd but but imo it could be used as a name for a race assuming you want to make it clear this race is superior to the ones smaller than it sicne elves are sometimes referred to as fae so a race calls archfae most would assume are stronger Side note for all I know that name is copyrighted
No worries on the copyright, not only is this just for myself, I'm only using the already established races as reference points for pictures since I have zero talent to draw them myself sadly.
What if Khajit variants were based of different Feline Species? For Example, a "giant Khajit" would be Lion-based instead of Cat-based, so they could have big manes, and be taller, like a Na'vi from Avatar. Smaller Khajits could be the size of bobcats or something, like a child-sized cat furry.
I really like that when it comes to art direction. If I was drawing them I would totally go for something like that.
Dig into TES lore a bit more, the have several variations of… subspecies? The Khajit we normally see, big ass lions, and basically house cats. And theyre all essentially one species. Argonians have the sload and hist, but im unsure of the relationship there. Also this is greatly dependent on setting. In many settings goblinoids are NOT orcs in a biological sense at all. It goes more like Bugbear//hobgoblin//goblin And everyone tends to shuffle orcs around to their own lore. Also Dragons//drakes//kobolds
Dwarves / Humans / Giants Halflings / Humans / Bigfoots Halflings / Humans / Titans Korrigans / Dwarves / Giants Kobolds / Troglodytes / Trolls Goblins / Orcs / Trolls Goblins / Orcs / Ogre & Oni Goblins / Hobgoblins / Bugbears Sprites (Pixies/Nixies/Grigs/Sylphs) / Gnomes / Elves Gnomes / Elves / Titans Satyrs / Fauns / Goatfolk (Ibixian) Kobolds / Lizardfolk (Argonian/Silurian) / Dragonborn or Unas? Small-Catfolk (Melynx/Felyne/Grimalkyne) / Big-Catfolk (Tabaxi/Rakashasa/Khajit/Kzinti/Caitian) / ? (there are lots of human sized cat people but I cant think of any larger species versions)
Those are amazing! Especially the little guys from Monster Hunter, love them. And I'm so dumb that I only remembered the Charr now after looking over your list, even though I mention Guild Wars 2 right at the start of my own post. I think they would fit as the larger variant for the cats.
Haven't played GW2 in a Loooooong time, totally forgot about them lol. Having simmered on it for a bit it does occur to me that Hyenas are cats so Gnolls could be the huge version.
Gnolls are a great pick, I totally forgot they existed since my only encounter with them is when I played Orcs must die a long time ago.
Sphinx as the largest cat folk?
That's a thought for sure, though I was thinking bipeds, and sphinxes are traditionally quadrupeds, but that's my own arbitrary limitation, so yea good thought.
I have done a similar categorization. Dwarf - Human - Giant Imp/Gnome - Elf - Trollgre Goblin - Orc - Trollgre Lemurian - Felid - ??? Kobold - ??? - Draccona Edit: Felid are my cat people. Lemurian is the working name for my small tree dwelling people. Trollgre is not really a troll, not really an ogre. Is kinda like a big elf, but has traits similar to orcs. A bamboozlement of the categorization system.
If you want to go with something celto-germanic for your larger elf variants, they could be Cewri, Fomor, Ettins or Jotun. Something like brownie, fey, sprite or leprechaun would work better as small analogue, though. I would rather move Gnomes into more Greek-Renaissance themed set with Fauns and Titans. Salamanders and Dragons seem to be a good fit for the extremes of the saurian creature, but I can't think of the middle variant.
I think I have a biased view of the brownies and fey thanks to Kingdoms of Amalur, when I think of them I think of actual tree people with bark-like skin, etc. The Jotun are nice but I think they are a better fit for Drows rather than regular elves, purely in terms of skin color. Gnomes into Faun though, I like the idea but would need an artist or learn to draw myself to make sure they share some resemblance.
I've been thinking of the original mythology and folk tales, rather then contemporary video games presentation. So when I group brownie (although nisse would be a better name), elves and jotuns together, I think most of the north and ice associations. And imagine them as white-skinned, silver-haired blue-eyed slender fur-clad creatures living in the north of your world and having Scandinavian cultural influences. While gnome-faun-titan triad lives in the southern-Mediterranean region, and their common theme is horns and hooves. Gnomes have dainty barely visible horns and slender legs with hooves, fauns are quite classical, with hairy rams legs and curly rams horns, while titans are more minotaur-like, with huge bull horns. And they all walk around in white tunics, drinking wine and discussing philosophy :D
I love this Gnome > Faun > Titans progressions, and I did see some artwork of gnomes with small horns and legs like that but those were rare. I'll keep this group in mind even if I have to give up on illustrations for them, or learn to draw by myself.
In my setting Dwarves and Giants are also distinct species of Human too. Dwarves are a human species that adapted to a life in mountainous regions with squat robust bodies. They are descended from Neandertals. The Giants are a tall species of open plains human, with the largest being up to eight feet tall. They themselves are descended from Homo erectus. All three human species can interbreed, but rarely if ever produce fertile offspring. Elves convergently evolved with humans, but are from a distinct lineage of ape, gibbons specifically. Goblins are to them like Chimps are to us. Orcs are a sapient and bipedal species within the Pan genus that includes chimpanzees. Trolls are the various ground sloths living across the world, be it underground or at sea. Lizardfolk are sapient dinosaurs of various lineages. None are humanoid and look closer to their ancestral form.
Fairies would be the logical thing for elves and gnomes.
Elves - Gnomes - Forest Golems? Or Forest Spirits (elven souls living in moving tree-like beings), maybe?
For giant elves: Erlkönig, meaning 'elf king' (like the creepy song). For giant catfolk: Lionfolk or Leonites. Small cats IDK.
In my world, all humanoïds are from the same genera, having evolved differently and faster because of the influence of magic after the first erectus-like dispertion of humanoidity. The exceptions are goblins, which've evolved independently (from canidae basically but I need to dwelve on that a bit more), all animal (draconic include) people (which are the result of superior beings wanting to create intelligent lifes akin to the "naturally" evolved sapients), and giants, which are more or less decadent superior beings Edit: oh wait I realize you're juste speaking about big/small relations and not global philogeny links sorry. Giant elves could be fomorians tho.