Orcs

"**Orcs**" are a race of monstrous humanoids. They were largely derived from the savage, beastly warriors of Tolkien's writings.

## In the Rabydosverse

"Orcs" do not exist in the Rabydosverse per se, but the closest equivalents to orcs are the Arnadjanai and the Kelunne. Both are strong, savage peoples.

### Terrans as orcs

The various Terran armies throughout history may be compared to orcs, due to their destructive, warlike, and insane attitudes. By extension, Terrans and their behaviours are seen as barbaric, the antithesis of humanity and civilisation.

Many behaviours were associated with Terran people, condemned for being selfish, harmful, and obsessive. They are also depicted as turning anyone who practices them into becoming an "orc", no matter what race they are, even if they are Jerdiskar.

For all of his wars against the Terran invaders and their Old Worlder lackeys, Pinto's own people also saw him as an "orc" because of his own corruption and bitterness driving him insane. It was also because the people of the Denlotia did not want their children to end up like him, sacrificing their own dreams for revenge and omnicide.

Wannaenids brought various Terran militants to their colonies to kill each other, viewing all Terrans as the lowest of all humans. So depraved, that Terrans were nothing more than human-shaped weapons, existing only to torture, kill, and die brutally. They were also called "orcs" by their Wannaenid masters.

### Kuelgons as orcs

To some extent, the warlike Kuelgon aliens are also considered as "orcs", as a contrast to their Novantirna relatives, who are more like "elves" due to their beauty and virtue.

Some Kuelgons instead joined the Malendor Supercorporation, such as Anchanok and Rukthan.

### Daleskarnian "orcs"

Some people mocked the Daleskarnian people and the Freyrgardian Empire as "Norse orcs", due to their obsession with militarism being seen as comically stupid as they just march around and brawl all day.

Tyrskans and Qyuvians often stereotyped Daleskarnians as a stupid people, calling them "Bjorks" or "Morlöcks".

### Are Bujanski "orcs"?

The Bujanski people are sometimes called "orcs" by Terrans, who thought they were Russians by their similarity to fairytale characters from Russian books.

In earlier times, the Bujanski Slavs mocked the Darroskei for calling them as "orcs" and "bastards" for renouncing any ties with Darros, by declaring themselves as "orcs on the way to become new elves". It was also why the Bujanski willingly adopted classical Sarmelonid culture, to sever any relations with Darros.

In their love of creativity and humour, the Bujanski enjoyed mocking other people referring them as "orcs". Firstly, though they may be orcs, their love of classical art and noble attitude would make them less like "orcs", and more like a people who combine both their ancestors' culture and Vozonid aristocracy. Secondly, they reinterpreted themselves as a nation of asuras, monstrous people known for their advanced technology and devotion to Lord Shiva - reflecting the Bujanski belief that the Gods inspired them to become more innovative.

During Wannaenid colonial rule, the muscular Arnadjanai were brought to Bujan as slaves. Although the Arnadjanai helped the Bujanski fight their war of independence from Wannaenid rule, their vulgar behaviour led to Bujanski calling them "orcs". It made some Bujanski laugh, or feel sad.

It was like a whole cycle of "orcs", monsters or war criminals.

* Firstly, the Terrans or Darroskei, who were warmongers and imperialists
* Secondly, the Bujanski, associated with Darroskei for their similar appearance or partial descent
* Thirdly, the Arnadjanai, for their stupid behaviour.

This led to some Bujanski deciding to help Arnadjanai instead of bully them. They claimed it is to help them rise together, and end the cycle of "orc-ness" by embracing the Arnadjanai as flawed, clumsy sons.

The mad slaughters of July 1892 also caused some Bujanski to wonder whether have their own people nearly returned to becoming "orcs" again. It led to the creation of opposition groups, fearing that if the Anti-Terran Action successfully took over Bujan, it will lead to their country's annihilation in another age of war and murder.

The fictional town of Orkisk, a stereotypical Arnadjanai slum, was perhaps named after "orcs".

### Orcs and asuras

The "orc" in Bujanski Slavic folklore is a paradox: at once, he is either a heroic monster who can choose to be enlightened by following the Gods' teachings, and also a human who fell so deeply into evil becomes closer to oblivion. The former is more like an "asura", the latter a true "orc".

Because some artists on Jerde enjoyed using orcs to create fictional settings, this continued with the Porasonids, who used the asuras to represent themselves.

In Dharmic scriptures, asuras are a race of monsters, demigods, or demons. Because of their warlike attitude, their wars against the Gods, and murder and cannibalism of saints and holy people, they became the enemies of the Gods. However, they were also an advanced civilisation, with one asura king, Ravana, becoming a gifted writer and musician through his devotion to Lord Shiva.

The Porasonids not only venerated Ravana, but also his brother Vibhishana. More often, Vibhishana is hailed as a role model because of his virtuous character, in spite of his monstrous asura background. He helped Lord Rama defeat Ravana, as he was sad that his brother kept ignoring his warnings and pleas.

Vibhishana became one of the symbols of the Porasonids, representing that anyone, even a monster, can choose to be good. Likewise, the Bujanski also celebrated Vibhishana as a folk hero due to Prisapuran artistic influences. They also used him as one of their symbols, representing refusal to support the Darroskei Empire in spite of partial Darroskei ancestey.

Their love of asuras may be why the Bujanski and Porasonids became closer allies, seeing themselves as civilised monsters, gifted with talents and wisdom from the Gods.

On the other hand, Porasonids have a similar belief, in the fear of corruption and self-destruction. In their legends, an asura who chose to be evil, or gave in to evil desires, becomes a rakshasa, cursed by his own actions to lose everything for the sake of power.

### Bogeyman

The hatred of war crimes by the Darroskei Empire, and the hypocritical desperation in various Darroskei who lived after the Sarmelonid collapse, angered and saddened the Bujanids. Such deceit and wickedness in Darros and its corrupted children became the "orc", a nightmare representing the evils that lurk in all hearts and souls.

From the youngest schoolchild to the oldest shell-shocked veteran and monk, every Bujanski is reminded of the price of becoming evil. The orc represents the destruction of any person, driven mad by wickedness and power that they will never again think or have any beauty.

To the Bujanski, supporting war criminals and then whining about condemnation and mistreatment were what they considered as "orc-ness", or hypocrisy. It disgusted the Bujanski so much, they declared war on Darros, using the more-advanced Sarmelonid weaponry to instantly bomb hundreds of Darroskei regiments that waged war on its neighbours. This allowed the affected countries to push back the invaders, causing the Bujanski to be welcomed into the international community for stopping war criminals.

Yet even some Bujanski also committed deeds that turn them into "orcs": from the soulless obsession of the Salvationist Party with victory, to the bloodlust of the death gangs, every evil Bujanski has become an example for all others never to become. They transformed into soulless horrors, the very reason why justice must exist, to prevent them from ever having a chance to destroy the world.

The thousands of Internet trolls and extremists during Wannaenid rule became living examples of "orcs". Having lost their humanity for the sake of power, all they did was threaten and glorify the extinction of Bujan, reducing their lives to nothing more than pathetic human weapons. Whether they managed to realise their own threats by becoming terrorists, thugs, and hired murderers; or wasting away on nothing but death threats; most of them were considered as combatants. Many of them were ill-equipped and poorly-trained in the event of a real war, so they met their end in the same violence they wished upon and committed.

Such behaviour is now rejected in modern Bujan, not as "criticism", "freedom", "banter", or "jokes" as the Terran maniacs claimed it to be. But instead, it was an insanity that reduced a self-claimed "hard-working taxpayer" into a shrivelled mockery of a human being, dedicated only to death and destruction.

To ensure that one will never become an orc and lose their own humanity gifted by the Gods - they must resist. They must have faith in what they value, what good that they hold dear. Hence, their dedication to justice and knowledge, to help others find their way in life and avoid suffering. This is to ensure anyone can avoid destroying themselves and becoming orcs, like many others before and around them.

## Comparison of cliches with characters

* Always chaotic
* They are green-skinned
* They look like pigs
* Savage, primitive, even literally stupid
* Warrior culture

## Trivia

* The Arnadjanai were also partly inspired by fantasy orcs, because the author found it amusing that they were meant to be a mockery of Nordic aliens, interpreted as a stupid, barbaric people.
	+ His Arnadjanai were meant to be the opposite of Nordic aliens, so instead of being wise and mystical, they were crude, lecherous, and stupid.
* In 2022, Russian soldiers were mockingly called "orcs" (орк) because of their cruelty against Ukrainian civilians and their vulgar attitude.
	+ Bujanski people sometimes refer Arnadjanai as "orcs" not only for being so stupid, but also because the word resembles "urok" (урок), meaning "a lesson". So the author interpreted it to mean "a big nerd".
	+ This resulted in some amusing logic: if Arnadjanai were the "orcs" of Bujanski society, then the Bujanski would be mockingly called "orcs", perhaps by Terrans, because they look like Russians, one of many invaders from other worlds. Bujan itself *was* inspired by Russian fairy tales, especially Tsar Saltan!
	+ The Trunduki word for "Russia" is "Rawanawot" or "Rawondesa", meaning "land of Ravana". In Hindu scriptures, Ravana is a demonic king who waged war against the world to conquer it, so Lord Rama had to stop and defeat him.
	+ Although the Sevraejans were based on Novgorod and medieval Russia, they are more "elf-like", similar to their Rukanian neighbours, as they shared the same "noble-ness" as their southern counterparts. At the same time, as Terrans were considered as "orcs", Sevraejans being partly descended from Terrans would make them more like "civilised half-orcs".
* In the following year, he developed it further. The author wanted the Bujanski to be the "opposite" of online Russian extremists, or the latter's expectations of their enemies. They wanted to be like other people, as "normal", no longer as masters or slaves.
	+ It is a common trope for the author to depict people who refused to support the wickedness of their society, even though they were also descended from it. So in Bujan, an "orc" was more like a demonic zombie, a person transformed into an abomination closer to the Terrans.
	+ One of the inspirations for the fear of "orcness" was Ginger the cat from Narnia. Just as the Narnian animals were shocked by Ginger's insanity, so were the Bujanski horrified by the descent of their own country back to "orcness" by the July massacres.
* He also noticed that orcs may be somewhat similar to asuras, only more savage and barbaric, as they may be sympathetic.
	+ The celebration of Vibhishana as a folk hero may be inspired by the popularity of Ghatotkaca in Indonesian folklore.
	+ The distortion of orcs into heroes was also influenced by Hinomoto Oniko, a Japanese internet meme mocking Chinese-language insults towards Japan. To some extent, the Slavic and Wonao cultures of Bujan were also influenced by Japan.
	+ The association of orcs with asuras in Bujanski folklore was also influenced by yakshas in Thai art.

## See also

* Dollfolk
* Monsters
* Barbarians
* Novantirna mythology, a similar concept of a civilisation that embraces their "monstrousness" but turns it to a more beautiful form.
* Demons