Orcs

Orcs are perhaps one of the most common fantasy races. It's rare to find a book that doesn't use them.

The appearance of orcs is typical - green or red skin, fangs, tall stature. Physical strength is usually greater than that of the average human or elf.

Most often, armor is neglected, with an emphasis on speed and disregard for danger. They can fight on horseback or simply as a horde of foot soldiers. At the same time, battle tactics are built not on group work, but on a fierce onslaught, the number of soldiers and disregard for losses. They often go into battle on horseback (like real nomads). At the same time, each individual warrior primarily fights for himself, which does not allow him to fully reveal his quantitative advantage and superiority in physical strength.

In general, orcs are rarely made attractive by conventional standards of beauty. Rather, they act as "barbarians" who do not pay attention to appearance at all or consider scars and a menacing appearance to be the main advantages.

The culture of the orcs is most often copied from the nomads. They do not build cities, but roam the endless steppes with their herds. Instead of one state, there are many tribes, warring among themselves. But who, nevertheless, can unite under the leadership of a single military leader to raid their neighbors.

Orc magic is most often far from classical. Shamans communicate with spirits, control wild animals, or use blood sacrifices. Often magic (as well as small arms) is completely neglected; the main emphasis is on melee combat.

Orcs most often side with evil or are chaotically neutral. At the same time, they always willingly attack their neighbors and often act as one of the main dangers to a more civilized world.

On the other hand, orcs are not characterized by complex intrigues - they are as straightforward as possible and treat with contempt those who try to resolve the issue not in battle. Therefore, victory in direct confrontation most often solves the problem and allows smaller and weaker, but civilized races to hold back the hordes of invaders.

The main character appears as an orc, although not very often. Most often, he will move through the plot in a straightforward manner and without complex multi-move combinations. At the same time, the culture and customs of orcs, which are not entirely familiar to us, can significantly diversify the familiar and stereotyped medieval setting used in fantasy.