Don't be fooled by the title, this isn't about the entire corpus of fantasy literature, which goes back as long as people have been making stories about the magical and supernatural. This is about the body types of fantasy. As in those slender elves, those perfectly proportioned humans, those stocky dwarfs, those skeletal wraiths, those bulky orcs, those snake-shaped lizard things... All those hokey physical stereotypes that are the real thing holding modern fantasy back in the visual medium.
It hit me while I was playing a session of Dragon Age: Inquisition. It's one of the most traditional fantasy universes out there in terms of the physical builds of its peoples. I've always had an uncomfortable relationship with the game. I loved my playthrough as a British-accented Qunari Rogue who freed the mages, brought peace to an empire, had all companions friends and surviving by the end, and romanced the character Cassandra, but there was always an underlying discomfort that had nothing to do with its perversely addictive nature or criminal loading times. It was only when I was playing as a human mage that it hit me. Everyone looks the same!
In this universe, humans are a particular type of well-muscled but not bulky type with mostly rounded faces, Qunari are walking tanks that look like bodybuilders with angular faces, dwarfs are stocky with square faces, and elves are slender-framed with vaguely oriental teardrop faces. Females are all slenderer and often shorter variations on these themes. There's no fatties, no emaciated figures, no odd facial shapes with a few exceptions within the main cast. There's plenty of ethnic and sexual diversity, and more gender equality than you find in most sci-fi, but the world looks like they share the same pair of parents across an entire nation. Or five.
While this works in some instances in visual fiction, it only really works for me when coupled with a stylised fantastical art style. Dragon's Crown uses physical fantasy tropes a lot, but its exaggerated and fantastical art gives it a unique excuse. Dragon Age doesn't have that excuse, as it seems to aim for a realistic style. That visual clash in my mind makes me unwilling to invest in this world, as in other respects they seem to be aiming for a realistic depiction of the great tapestry that is "people".
This is a problem that besets much mainstream traditional fantasy. Orcs have the same problem as Qunari of all being large hulking whatsits, and when they're smaller they tend to be shunted into being goblins or similar. I know for a fact that those idealised figures aren't healthy, as their fat distribution is completely skewed and they have an unhealthy lack of the stuff. But I know for a fact that someone wielding a large weapon, whether they be and elf or a human or whatever, can't be a slender little thing. The weight proportion would be completely off. Call me picky, but I'd prefer some physical realism even in deep stylization, or magic allowing the blade to hover without needing to be held at all.
This whole thing is similar to the old argument of women in realistic armour, or just armour in general in fantasy, but physical stereotyping of peoples is more perverse as it reinforces several ethnic stereotypes. During a test piece I did that may yet create something, I deliberately broke away from these physical stereotypes. One of the main characters was an orc, a bookish type who doesn't fight and thus has a very different physique to the stereotype.
I know there are plenty of examples floating about that counter this stereotyping, but it's still common and pervasive enough that the issue should be raised. This most influential of fantasy visual codes needs to bend to modern life and allow something more into its standard, rather than confine this variation to special exceptions. Which would you rather see in your apparently grim and realistic fantasy universe? An elf greatsword wielder who was a slim little thing, or an elf greatsword wielder who could actually use the thing without shredding their muscles?
Please, please point me to any examples you know that defy this physical stereotyping in an appealing, original way. If you can find them...
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