what are orc creatures ??

[Mary Hoffman]

It was the Uruk-hai that Saruman was breeding in Isengard, the larger, more war-like version of orcs, used in the Battle of Helm's Deep.

But my question is: where are the female orcs?

And I find them less than satisfying, like Sauron himself, because they are undifferentiated evil creatures, i.e. there is no such thing as a good orc, only degrees of evil.

This is a/racist
and
b/not interesting.

So one of the reasons that Tolkien is very, very good but in my opinion not a great writer.

Mary

[devilsgrin]

just on the green-skin thing... tolkein refers to orcs/goblins as being grey-skinned, not green...
Even in DnD they're skin-tone varies from reddish, yellowed, greenish, purplish... in other words variable skin tones.
It was Games Workshop who made them green, as theirs were among the first Orcs and Goblins to be physically represented. DnD back then didn't have miniatures as such... being a pen and paper game, miniatures were rare, and when used they came from other company's ranges... and primarily Citadel Miniatures (ie: Games Workshop).

[Sephiroth]

Actually, on the only occasion when we really get up close and personal with Orcs (as opposed to Uruk-hai, which may be considered separately), they are anything but undifferentiated. In The Choices of Master Samwise (The Two Towers) and The Tower of Cirith Ungol (The Return of the King), the Orcs Shagrat, Gorbag and Snaga each have a great deal of personality, and are portrayed as having independent thought, hopes and dreams of their own, even. They are not stupid.

They are portrayed as evil, but one could argue not irredeemably so.

Quote - Gorbag to Shagrat:
'What d'you say? - if we get a chance, you and me'll slip off and set up somewhere on our own with a few trusty lads, somewhere where there's good loot nice and handy, and no big bosses.'

'Ah!' said Shagrat. 'Like old times.'

[sarakoth]

Tolkien's orcs are grey-skined, bow-legged, humanoid creatures slightly shorter than men. However, the Uruk-hai Saruman breeds and the uruks Sauron breeds are stronger, and more resistent to day light. The weaker, worker orcs known as snaga can only function in darkness.

The modern idea of orcs as big, buff, militant, barbaric, green orcs with goblins as their smaller cousins were created by the original Warhammer tabletop game. It has been popularized by Warcraft and its sequals and spinoffs.

[Giovanna Clairval]

Originally Posted by Mary Hoffman

And I find them less than satisfying, like Sauron himself, because they are undifferentiated evil creatures, i.e. there is no such thing as a good orc, only degrees of evil.

This is a/racist
and
b/not interesting.

Although I love Tolkien, I've always thought that he was unfair with orcs.

Former elves transformed into monsters, they had no choice in the matter. Nonetheless, they were stripped of their free will.

It looks like predestination.

This is all about Manicheism and the vision of a world where Good and Evil are two opposite fields. It annoyed me when I was twenty-one; it annoys me now.

[Rinion]

Although I love Tolkien, I've always thought that he was unfair with orcs.

Former elves transformed into monsters, they had no choice in the matter. Nonetheless, they were stripped of their free will.

It looks like predestination.

This is all about Manicheism and the vision of a world where Good and Evil are two opposite fields. It annoyed me when I was twenty-one; it annoys me now.

Yes, Tolkien was pretty firm in this and it is what sets him apart from all other writers. There -is- true good and bad in Middle-Earth. It isn't all based upon subjective morality, but the fact that Elves were created to do good and Orcs were 'created' to destroy. This is a good thing, I feel, for Tolkien doesn't want the reader to get sentential about orcs. They are corruptions, and it's Morgoth's doing. As for predestination... well, Tolkien never says much on the state of the Elves' spirits. I think it is possible for the spirit of the elves to have left the bodies and arrive at Mandos while the shell, now corrupted into the figure of an orc, was filled with the malice of Morgoth. I'm unsure... maybe someone else could elaborate.

[The Ace]

Tolkein was out to create a straight good/evil divide because that was what the story required. A humanoid and completely evil race was just what he needed. And, of course by making his chief villains non-human he was making a determined effort to remove himself from the racism that had so recently flowered in Europe.