Trolls? Orcs? Goblins? Half-Orcs? What do you call'em?

[Sir Vincent]

The big guys are called Kerreks. The little guys are called Johnkas.

[doodstormer]

i call them orcs. orcs are tall, goblins are short. I use the gringotts goblin heads and stubby legs to make goblins.

[Invaderjes]

I have alot of D&D in me, so I'm inclined to call the smaller guys Orcs, the bigger ones Trolls, and tan trolls Ogres.
The orcs could be draconians with the addition of some wings.

[Berstoke]

The Uruk-hai need not be differentiated from other orcs in any way. Uruk was the original language that Morgoth gave to the orcs when he created them. Uruk-hai reffered then to any speaker of the Uruk language. As such, it then meant any orc, really, whether or not they spoke Uruk at all. Calling the Isenguard orcs Uruks as something different was simply a construct of Jackson's so we could tell them apart.

[Sir Lancelot]

The new trolls are definitely orcs, after all what else could they be?

[The_Vanquished]

They are Orcs. Or Orks. Mostly Orcs. Trolls are the big guys, and Goblins are more like Dobby, but they are a full person tall, not stubby. Imps are stubby, although they wouldn't be consittered a race. They are more like beasts.

I suppose this is mostly influenced by Oblivion, though.

Orc

Goblin

Troll

[Norro]

Trolls. I'll go with Lego/a more european legends based interpretation. Either way they won't see the light of day in my non-fantasy legoverse*

*If that's not taken I'm claiming it... ; )

God Bless,

Nathan

[Vastor Peredhil]

Sorry Berstroke, but what you are saying is wrong in many ways

The Uruk-hai need not be differentiated from other orcs in any way. Uruk was the original language that Morgoth gave to the orcs when he created them. Uruk-hai reffered then to any speaker of the Uruk language. As such, it then meant any orc, really, whether or not they spoke Uruk at all. Calling the Isenguard orcs Uruks as something different was simply a construct of Jackson's so we could tell them apart.

as Uruks are

A term for the large soldiers more fully referred to as Uruk-hai

Notes 1 In Appendix A (iv) of The Lord of the Rings, in the section recounting the history of the Stewards, we find an account of the first appearance of the uruks. 'In the last years of Denethor I the race of uruks, black orcs of great strength, first appeared out of Mordor, and in 2475 they swept across Ithilien and took Osgiliath.' This passage seems to imply that the uruks actually appeared shortly before Gondor's great defeat of III 2475.


and Uruk-hai:

The great soldier-Orcs that first appeared in the late Third Age; they were larger and stronger than their forebears, and could withstand the light of the Sun.

see also Great-orcs:

A common name for the large soldier-orcs of Mordor and later also Isengard that troubled Gondor and Rohan in the late Third Age.

In fact, this name is only ever used by Éomer, and may only have been current in Rohan, but the fearsome creatures it described had been known for five hundred years when he spoke these words: creatures whose name in their own Black Speech was Uruk-hai.

a simple i-search prevents you from being mistakes again:

http://www.glyphweb.com/Arda/default.asp

mfg Nicolai

[Berstoke]

Vastor Peredhil, If you're right then my bad.

It's been a long time since I've read the books and appendices and such. If Uruk-hai then referred to great orcs specifically, (isn't orc lord another varient of that?) then I had forgotten that.

You didn't mention the language, though. Isn't the term originally derived from the language they spoke?

When I get a little time I need to look that up.

[rogue27]

Please keep the discussion focused on LEGO "fantasy humanoid monster figures", and not on any specific story or legend.

It's okay to cite where your preferred naming conventions come from, but it's off-topic to begin a discussion about the history of Middle Earth.

[Blue Monarch]

Please keep the discussion focused on LEGO "fantasy humanoid monster figures", and not on any specific story or legend.

It's okay to cite where your preferred naming conventions come from, but it's off-topic to begin a discussion about the history of Middle Earth.

Agreed... this is Lego. It's about you making your OWN world.

[dragonblade24]

i call them orcs because of there face and color i almost thought they looked like goblins but orcs is the most suitable for me

[Heir of Black Falcon]

I call them orcs or goblins but orcs more often. If I had some of those tan goblin faces that Amanda sells (which someday I hope to get!) I may use them as half orcs or goblins- I really like the idea of tan goblin faces she makes for 1/2 orcs.

To me it seems strange to call the small fig's trolls even if lego does. In fact I look at it like this. The big guy clearly is a troll. He is big, he is huge and he could eat a human in 5 seconds. The little guy clearly is not the same as the big figure, (unless they did not get the same growth chemicals growing up- but lets discard that for arguement sake). Maybe the reason it is the troll army and even troll warrior is that they are in the Troll or troll's army, the troll or all the trolls being in charge. I tend to think of trolls as limited in intel, perhaps not dumb, but not of great mind power but it may be otherwise.

R

[The Blue Knight]

What a great topic! Nothing makes for better fodder than opinions on flights of fancy! As Ben E. said earlier, the name is up to us--no right and wrong. I love the new line because is seems to me to be a way to get LOTR-ish stuff into the Lego canon without the license (as Steve alluded to earlier). TLC says trolls for obvious reasons, but I say orcs too!

Count Blacktron pointed out the regional nature of names. A mountain lion is called a puma on the east coast, but a cougar out west here, or one of several other names. But they all mean the same animal. I plan on having orcs (the regular "G.I." of the baddies, the one's discussed here), goblins (mountain dwelling, cave orcs), uruk-hai (half-human half-orc, larger and better able to withstand the sunlight), and Black Uruks (larger Mordor orcs, perhaps more simian depending on how you interpret Tolkien's descriptions).

But all great fun nonetheless. "Troll" battle packs will be most welcome!

[Sir Kohran]

Please keep the discussion focused on LEGO "fantasy humanoid monster figures", and not on any specific story or legend.

It's okay to cite where your preferred naming conventions come from, but it's off-topic to begin a discussion about the history of Middle Earth.

Agreed... this is Lego. It's about you making your OWN world.

Next of all they'll be discussing whether Tolkien's orcs were plastic

Well...88 to 9. Hm, I guess we troll-naming people are in the minority then. However I've gotten used to calling the small guys trolls so I'll stick with it anyway. And if people talk about orcs I guess I know what it means despite that.

- Matt