Da Biggest n Da Strongest! Origins of the Orks – PRIME
Even da ‘umies ‘ave a good idea sumtimes!
Love’em or hate’em, the Greenskins of both the fantasy realms and the 41st millennium have been one of the primary antagonists of the genre since the game’s inception. Brutish, powerful, and possessing a surprising amount of intellect, the Greenskins love nothing more than fighting to prove dominance, fighting for territory, or just fighting because they want a good scrap. Though the origins of orcs have been a bit of a shady issue, the eventual inspiration of the space boyz is not only accurate but…kind of hilarious.
Full disclosure, there will be discussion of racism and racist rhetoric in the following passages, so viewer discretion is advised.
As with most fantasy races in modern media and literature, the origins of the Orcs begins with the world of Tolkein. Unfortunately, Tolkien was a product of his time, and when he was writing his genre-defining series, the Yellow Peril was in full swing in the UK. Anti-Asian propaganda painted Eastern people as slant-eyed, barbaric warmongers to demonize migrant workers, justify unfair trade and colonization practices, and paint wartime enemies as subhuman. This led to several other harmful stereotypes besides the orcs, such as the “mystical Oriental” who possessed otherworldly powers or the “Dragon Lady” who could seduce white men to acts of debauchery.
As such, the orcs evolved as a primitive warrior race with similar features as those described in the propaganda (long hooked noses and pointed ears, slanted eyes, yellow or greenish skin), and though Tolkein would likely update his work given modern awareness, the inspiration has carried through (to say nothing of the anti-Semitic depiction of Goblins, but that’s another article). A cursory glance at the Warhammer Fantasy Orcs (pre-AoS) will show that the old ways die hard, with both the Orcs and smaller goblins wearing Mongolian or primitive Eastern-styled armor and riding boars and wolves into battle. Thankfully the modern Orruks share very few of these traits, and the depiction of orcs in the LotR films seems to have similarly moved away from stereotypical depictions. If you can stomach it, look up Tokyo Kid propaganda, and you’ll see how a comparison can be made between the hateful rhetoric and orcish features.
On the other hand, the futuristic Orks are inspired by a much more local and far less exaggerated stereotype. Fighting every chance they get, slamming into planets on asteroid-forts, and yelling to inspire their allies to greater heights of violence; all these are inspired by both the punk revolution of the late 1970s and the modern “football/soccer hooligan” subcultures. With the Cockney accents and half-English, the brutish and war-like demeanor, and the general disregard for civilization and order, they are a perfect, albeit unflattering, parallel to the punk subculture, which sought to tear down “the establishment” and cause anarchy wherever possible. The perfect example of this is the retired Goff Rockas, who are almost the spitting image of several underground punk rock groups of the era.
As for the football comparison, one simply needs to watch a modern football or rugby match, especially between bitter rivals like Liverpool and Manchester United, and then the aftermath. Thankfully fans have become a bit tamer in recent years, but die-hard football fans will still start fights at the drop of a hat should their team be insulted, their team lose, or they just happen to see someone wearing the wrong jersey in one of their club pubs. Though the same trend can be found here in the US with NFL fans, I would be more cautious about wearing a Real Madrid jersey to Barcelona than a Steelers jersey to Baltimore.
Even with all the stereotypes, the Orcs/Orks have established themselves as a much-beloved and integral part of GW canon, and they have far risen above their somewhat harmful origins. There are few things more satisfying than yelling out a good “WAAAAGH” and having your fellow gamers cheer you on.
Just make sure you don’t pull that in a library.
