What colours do orcs and goblins come in?

[Timmity Took]

According to the books, that is. I can`t remember if it is mentioned.

[Timmity Took]

Are we talking green in Middle-earth too, like many other modern versions, or are their complexion more human-like ad they are a twisted parody of men and elves?

[Otaku-sempai]

I'm pretty sure that there are no green Orcs in Middle-earth (unless perhaps one is suffering from some disease). Tolkien went back and forth on the origins of the Orcs, but there seems to be the blood of both Men and Elves in their make up; consider how long-lived was Bolg, the son of Azog. Azog was killed in TA 2799, yet Bolg was a prominent Orc-leader at the Battle of Five Armies in the year 2941--one hundred forty-three years later.

[Stormcrow]

Orcs are undoubtedly people-colored, modified for always living underground and being filthy, etc.

[Timmity Took]

I'm pretty sure that there are no green Orcs in Middle-earth (unless perhaps one is suffering from some disease). Tolkien went back and forth on the origins of the Orcs, but there seems to be the blood of both Men and Elves in their make up; consider how long-lived was Bolg, the son of Azog. Azog was killed in TA 2799, yet Bolg was a prominent Orc-leader at the Battle of Five Armies in the year 2941--one hundred forty-three years later.

One of the things I really love about Tolkien's orcs/goblins are that they have multiple and contradicting origin stories. I like that it is vague and mysterious and as a LM I can be creative with that.
In our last game session my players heard a spooky legend about two woodmen brothers who got lost in the Shadow of Mirkwood and was twisted and corrupted by it, turning them into goblins of the woods. If there is any truth to the legend is up to the characters to choose what they believe..

[Otaku-sempai]

The tale of the two Woodmen brothers sounds like legend, but could be based on truth. Stories of men turning into monsters reminds me of werewolf legends of Europe, but also of folktales of Japanese oni (evidently the basis for the ogre mage of D&D).



Sauron might have used Men to breed his superior Uruk-hai. Saruman used Men to develop his own Half-orcs and Goblin-men (probably the same thing at different degrees of Orcishness).

[DavetheLost]

Orcs have coarse hair and swart complexions. At least the ones whose complexions we are given at all were described thusly. Tolkein didn't really give us much description of orcs and goblins. They have fangs, claws, or at least claw like nails, are sometimes bandy-legged, sometimes stooped, and usually less than man height.

Frodo and Sam were able to pass for small orcs by the simple means of putting on orcish gear, so they can't have been too terribly different in looks to Hobbits, and by extension mannish children to whom Hobbits are often compared.

[Otaku-sempai]

I'm not sure whether or not this contributes to the discussion, but there is a new movie coming out soon, Bright, that provides a modern take on Orc/Human relations. It is effectively a D20 Modern or Shadowrun-type story with Will Smith as a modern cop partnered with an Orc-policeman. The trailer can be viewed here. I'm wondering if this is one of the stories where (as on Terry Pratchett's Discworld) the Elves might be a more dangerous threat than Orcs could ever be.

[DavetheLost]

To make Otaku-sempai's post on topic, the orcs in Bright look like they might not be out of place in Middle Earth.

[Otaku-sempai]

To make Otaku-sempai's post on topic, the orcs in Bright look like they might not be out of place in Middle Earth.

One major difference is that the Orcs of Bright are not automatically assumed to be irredeemably evil, though I expect that they do suffer from prejudice.