| Is this Deedlit's influence? Or maybe Legolas's? Are there any exceptions (other than 'dark elves')? (this looks like a manga exception https://myanimelist.net/manga/120704/Otaku_no_Tonari_wa_Elf_desu_ka) |
| I have been wondering that too. A lot of Tolkien's most beautiful elves are brunettes. |
| その目だれの目？ |
| It is really simple if you think about it. Japan often depicts Europeans with blond hair, blue eyes, regardless of region. Elves in Japanese media are associated with European-based settings. |
 |
| I think it's mostly just that "fantasy" is so often still just used synonymous with "European medieval-inspired fantasy". |
| I think it's just how the Japanese perceive divine/fantastical beauty or sth. Same way westerners perceive angels as being full of bright colors like white and gold. |
 |
| elves = ethereal, elegant, godlike abilities the color white = ethereal, elegant, associated with god/heaven |
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| Because in the German lore, elf meant "white beings". |
 -Tohka is better than Kurumi. You can't change my mind. |
| Originated from Legolas and Galadriel, then made a standard by dnd (drows, high elves). I think dnd is more influential than original Tolkien's books nowdays, it leaked into pretty much all fantasy. |
| Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. |
Reply to DinoNo1
Because in the German lore, elf meant "white beings".
| @DinoNo1 Never heard about that, doesn't feel like a German thing to me. |
| Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. |
| Because the term "elf" is most probably related to some ancient European words that are connected to whiteness (such as Latin "albus", Ancient Greek "alphos" and most similarly Albanian "elb") and they all share a common ancestor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elf#Etymology |
ZarutakuJun 21, 2:32 AM
This dance is the pinnacle of human achievement. |
| Because Elves don't hail from Africa. Slap that on a T-shirt. lol |
| Don't let others ruin things for you. Even if a toxic fan pisses in your cereal, you could just get another bowl of cereal. The 50 Anime You Should Watch Before You Die |
| dark girl characters usually have white hair too and there are lots of blonde girl characters so its just a japan thing i think |
| Because it makes sense visually, otherwise, they would be called dark elves. |
 |
Reply to LoveYourSmile
@DinoNo1 Never heard about that, doesn't feel like a German thing to me.
@LoveYourSmile https://mythicalencyclopedia.com/elf/ |
-Tohka is better than Kurumi. You can't change my mind. |
Reply to DinoNo1
| @DinoNo1 Ok, not gonna argue, will stick to my delusions though. Just a little note: even if it's true, it doesn't necessarily say anything about hair color. For instance, drows are typically white/silver-haired even being dark themselves. |
| Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. |
| Tolkien I guess. I don't think Deedlit had that much influence, at least compared to Tolkien. |
| MEA·MENTVLA·INGENS·EST |
Reply to LoveYourSmile
Originated from Legolas and Galadriel, then made a standard by dnd (drows, high elves). I think dnd is more influential than original Tolkien's books nowdays, it leaked into pretty much all fantasy.
| @LoveYourSmile I've never played that game. Does it really not have other hair colors? |
| その目だれの目？ |
| It's a great question because Tolkien's elves weren't just blond. I think it's like goblins, because the current media only represents them as green, but they're not just green. Many mysteries still unsolved! |
 |
Reply to Lucifrost
@LoveYourSmile
I've never played that game. Does it really not have other hair colors?
I've never played that game. Does it really not have other hair colors?
| @Lucifrost No, it's not that constrained, but it became kind of canone for most campaigns and textual/graphic materials. Wood elves have more Celtic look, for instance, and nothing really prevents the existence of character different from canone. But it's super widespread in dnd to describe elves and drows like that: dnd inspires creativity and diversity, but it gives very solid foundation, which is hard to neglect. And then it just naturally influenced card/tabletop games, comics, video games etc, that's my hypothesis. I don't know the exact reason, someone just wrote first rulebooks and drew first character cards etc. |
| Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. |
| Because that is sexy. That is why. Simple as that. |
| No, Dark Elves are white haired too! |
| It seems you didn't watch Elf wo Karu Mono-tachi . |
 |
| Elves are from European mythology and a lot of Europeans and whities in general are blonde in anime and even Japanese games. Also a lot of Elves are busty and a lot of blondes are also busty in anime. I'm not sure if there's a connection there, but maybe. Would explain why the elf in Goblin Slayer has green hair instead of white or blonde. |
| Because elves are based on Germanic people. |
 |
| Why does it matter that they are? Just curious. |
| I think it's because most Japanese people have dark hair, so white and blond hair make the elves appear more exotic and majestic to Japanese audiences. |
| Casval Rem Deikun (aka Char Aznable) and his sister are blond too...coincidence? |
| they don't want to make dark elves. even dark magician girl is a cute white girl |
| You know, you could have just asked ChatGPT this instead of wasting everyone's time here |
| Because that is considered sexy. That is why. |
Reply to DinoNo1
| @DinoNo1 Interesting... a case where the etymology and the mythology around a certain word disagree. |
| Mene, mene, tekel, parsin |
| Is this thread inspired by the fat elves anime currently airing? |
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