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Every Sentient Species in Video Games

So yeah, I'm following through on a threat I made to make a big ol' list of all the fictional races from video games. I'm currently drawing the line at animals and other mindless creatures, since there's a hell of a lot of monsters in the wiki too, but that may change if I become even more insane.

Hopefully this'll be of some use to someone in the future, if only for when a future Quest asks you to name every type of elf. It might be called "Elf Benefits", or "Elf-Obsessed" perhaps.

(Work in progress)

List items

  • (Everywhere) Starting with a classic. The only non-fictional sentient race. We don't have any particularly sweet powers though. At least I don't.

  • (Everywhere) Fairy folk have various incarnations in video games, but they're usually mischievous forest creatures of a very small size. Sometimes live in bottles. Against their will, one would imagine.

  • (Everywhere) Aquatic folk that are half fish (the bottom half, usually).

  • (Elder Scrolls) The Breton are essentially half-elves, but it's a little more complicated than that. Magically-acute humans. From the Elder Scrolls series. For the record: Redguards, Imperials and Nords from the same series are all humans. Unless you want to make the case that they aren't.

  • (Elder Scrolls) A reptilian race. From the Elder Scrolls series.

  • (Elder Scrolls) Khajiit are cat people. Like Malcolm McDowell. Sort of.

  • (D&D) Wood Elves, or Bosmer (Elder Scrolls), are elves that dwell in woods. Generally speaking.

  • (D&D) High Elves, or Altmer, is usually the name given to civilized Elves that live in cities of their own creation. They're usually pretty haughty too.

  • (D&D) Dark Elves, or Dunmer, are elves that live underground. They're usually evil.

  • (D&D) A common race found in Tolkien-inspired worlds, Dwarves love beer, gold and fighting. Not necessarily in that order.

  • (D&D) Half-elves are a "best of both worlds" mix of human and elf.

  • (D&D) Gnomes are like dwarves with slighter builds. They're known for their intelligence and creating inventions. Are occasionally carried around in Valve games.

  • (D&D) Halflings are small humanoids that are generally very nimble and quick. Good choice for rogues.

  • (D&D) Green-skinned menaces, though they have a culture and language of their own. Orks are pretty much the same thing but with space bazookas.

  • (D&D) Most trolls are mindless creatures, though there is the occasional intelligent one. At least in terms of being able to communicate through pidgin English. Trolls are best known for their regenerative ability and for being mean on the internet.

  • (D&D) Another monstrous foe, only occasionally capable of speech beyond "Ugh" and "Smash!". Ogre Magi, however, are considerably more intelligent and are influenced by the Japanese oni.

  • (D&D) Horse people. The original bronies.

  • (Final Fantasy) Moogles display varying levels of sentience in each Final Fantasy game they appear in. They're a mischievous race of a bat/mole mix. Occasionally deliver the post.

  • (Final Fantasy) Eidolons (or Espers) are a race of summoned beings. When they're not taking part in five minute long attack animations, they sometimes have a kingdom of their own to live in. FFIV and FFVI especially made them out to be sentient beings with their own government structure.

  • (Final Fantasy) The Cetra are the ancient people that populated the world of Final Fantasy VII before humans. They were all but wiped out by Jenova. Aerith is the only one thought left to exist (and let me tell you how that turned out...)

  • (Final Fantasy) Hypello are amphibious beings from Spira. They all talk like Jar Jar Binks. Final Fantasy X was made two years after The Phantom Menace. I dunno you guys..

  • (Final Fantasy) Elf-like race from FFX. Very spiritual. Breeds the occasional recurring boss.

  • (Final Fantasy) A blue cat-like race from FFX that live in the mountains. Kimahri is one.

  • (Final Fantasy) A brutish reptilian race capable of a surprising degree of eloquence. When they're not lisping from the fangs of course.

  • (Final Fantasy) An overweight race of porcines. Good at commerce.

  • (Final Fantasy) A lagomorphic race of leggy beauties. One Square-Enix designer's disturbing fetish made last-minute addition.

  • (Final Fantasy) Draconian ladies (at least, all the Gria shown are women) that are introduced in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2.

  • (Final Fantasy) Studious race of long-eared creatures.

  • (Final Fantasy) One of the Crystal Chronicle races. Most similar to humans.

  • (Final Fantasy) One of the Crystal Chronicle races. Despite their short stature, Lilties are natural warriors.

  • (Final Fantasy) One of the Crystal Chronicle races. Selkies are like slighter, smaller humans. They're best suited as rogues.

  • (Final Fantasy) One of the Crystal Chronicle races. Wear metallic helms to conceal their identities. Ideal mages.

  • (Legend of Zelda) Hylians are mostly human, save their pointy ears. Link and Zelda are perhaps the best known examples.

  • (Legend of Zelda) Kokiri are eternally young forest elves. They all wear green and are accompanied by forest fairies.

  • (Legend of Zelda) Goron are burly rock people from mountainous regions.

  • (Legend of Zelda) Zora are slender fish people from watery realms.

  • (Suikoden) Suikoden kobolds are friendly dog people, rather than the yappy humanoid dog monsters of D&D. They have a cat variant too, called Nay-Kobolds.

  • (Suikoden) A sentient race of beavers can be recruited to help the war effort in Suikoden V.

  • (Mortal Kombat) Four-armed hulking brutes of the Mortal Kombat universe. Do not like getting punched in the balls. But hey, does anyone?

  • (Mortal Kombat) Aggressive beings with long claws and sharp teeth. Shao Khan uses them for his footsoldiers.

  • (Mario) Though often a single character of questionable usefulness, the race of mushroom people that comprise the Mushroom Kingdom are said to be all Toads. Mario games rarely delve into specifics though.

  • (Mario) An antagonistic race of militaristic tortoise creatures. Led by the evil King Koopa, or Bowser among friends.

  • (Mario) A race of gregarious and voracious dinosaurs, intelligent enough to be able to speak. Come in all sorts of colors.

  • (Lands of Lore) A race of enlightened rock people. Lots of arms and very buff, but usually quite docile.

  • (Star Control) Creepy alien "greys". Live outside regular space.

  • (Star Control) A wise, crystalline race.

  • (Star Control) The eventual merging of the Chenjesu and Mmrnmhrm. Part crystal, part metallic.

  • (Star Control) Squat little toad critters. Highly intelligent, capable of incredible psychic feats. Also pure evil.

  • (Star Control) A demonic race known for their indentured servants and corporate structure.

  • (Star Control) A genocidal spider-like race.

  • (Star Control) A friendly but avaricious race. Fond of trading.

  • (Star Control) A synthetic intelligence.

  • (Star Control) A fungi-based race. Exceptionally fanatical about their religion, which unfortunately involves destroying Earth-like worlds.

  • (Star Control) A parrotfish-like race. Friendly, though extremely dubious.

  • (Star Control) A race of fortune-telling jokers. Is a pacifistic offshoot of the more war-oriented Yehat.

  • (Star Control) A fierce but loyal race of koala-like warriors. Prone to suicidal courses of action when backed into a corner.

  • (Star Control) A race of well-meaning organisms living inside a gas giant. Is the source of the current scourge of omnicidal exploratory probes.

  • (Star Control) A very callow race of shellfish creatures. Comic relief.

  • (Star Control) A friendly and wise plant-based species. Keeps the depressive Utwig in check.

  • (Star Control) A race of blue-skinned humanoids, currently endangered. Supposedly compatible with Earthlings. And, hey, they're mostly female. Imagine that.

  • (Star Control) A very brutish race of rhinoceros-type humanoids. Have almost wiped themselves out through war many times.

  • (Star Control) An odd-looking race fond of genetic manipulation. Also fond of "pranks", which often result in extinctions and worse.

  • (Star Control) The Ur-Quan sect that believe that all non-Ur-Quan must be enslaved for their own good.

  • (Star Control) The Ur-Quan sect that believe that all non-Ur-Quan must be annihilated, for the Ur-Quan's own good.

  • (Star Control) A race of very miserable creatures currently undergoing an identity crisis after the loss of an important cultural artifact.

  • (Star Control) A hideous, tentacled race that treat humans with the same level of revulsion.

  • (Star Control) The Yehat are a race of pterodactyl like warriors with a rigid hierarchical system. Have Scottish accents.

  • (Star Control) Three races that banded together to eliminate their shared predators, the Zebranky. The three now talk as one. They also love an incomprehensible sport.

  • (Half-Life) A misunderstood race of psychic aliens. Are beholden to "the Freeman", after he defeated the Nihilanth creature that had mind-controlled their entire species.

  • (Mass Effect) A race of Imperialistic warriors that got (mostly) wiped out by the Reapers 50,000 years ago.

  • (Mass Effect) Blue ladies. Long lived, skilled in biotics.

  • (Mass Effect) Bird-like race of staunch warriors. Had a scuffle with humans upon first contact.

  • (Mass Effect) Highly intelligent reptilian/amphibious race. Never stop talking.

  • (Mass Effect) Techie space nomads. Wear environmental suits almost constantly.

  • (Mass Effect) Brutish race of reptilian warriors, all but extinct. They got quite a quad on them.

  • (Mass Effect) Jellyfish. Very pious towards the Protheans, who they believe helped bring them into sentience (and they'd be right).

  • (Mass Effect) An aquatic race. Dwell with the hanar. No, that isn't a space mafia euphemism.

  • (Mass Effect) A race of four-eyed dudes who think humans are jerks. Have a isolationist government that's suspiciously similar to North Korea.

  • (Mass Effect) A race of large quadrupeds that all talk like Eeyore.

  • (Mass Effect) A race of short, mercantile-minded beings. Also require environmental suits.

  • (Mass Effect) A synthetic hive mind race. Antagonistic, but only because they were forced to become so.

  • (Mass Effect) A rather unpleasant race of very resilient warriors. Have low intelligence, tend to be hired goons.

  • (Mass Effect) A once-extinct hive mind race of insects. Very susceptible to Reaper indoctrination, or at least the younger members of the race are.

  • (Mass Effect) A synthetic race of giant monsters that routinely eliminate all sufficiently advanced organic life. Do not get invited to birthday parties often.

  • (Metroid) An extinct race of bird-like aliens. Raised Samus. Loooove them ball technologies.

  • (Metroid) The Chozo's buddies and the once-dominant species on Aether. Currently facing extinction because of the Ing.

  • (Might & Magic) The demonic Kreegan are actually extraterrestrial invaders that have been slowly conquering the multiverse. For an unstoppable alien scourge, they're surprisingly susceptible to swords and magic.

  • (StarCraft) The noble Protoss are the most advanced alien race left in the galaxy, yet are besieged on all sides by xenomorphs and rednecks.

  • (StarCraft) The Zerg are a Swarm-based alien lifeform that like to conquer and devour everything. They take orders from a chick in dreadlocks.

  • (Warcraft) Wolf people. Fierce warriors, agile scouts, passable basketball players.

  • (Warcraft) Cow people. They charge too much, not unlike Blizzard. Burn?

  • (Warcraft) Evil elves, addicted to magic. Maintain your blood elf with low cholesterol food and iron supplements.

  • (Warcraft) Mystic blue people. Not the fantasy version of Protoss. They're also extraterrestrial and non-native to Azeroth. But still not Protoss.

  • (Warcraft) Undead people who escaped the influence of whatever big evil thing is raising the dead and mind-controlling them. Usually melee or magic-users, but a Forsaken can also be an underrated shooter.

  • (Warcraft) Panda people. All talk like Jack Black. Okay, no they don't, but can you imagine a whole server of that?

  • (Everywhere) Where there are nukes, there are mutants shortly after.<br>(Fallout) Super Mutants were created post-nukes, however, and are actually the result of genetic manipulation.

  • (Fallout) Ghouls are the irradiated denizens of the pre-apocalypse world, living in an endless state of half-death and half-life. A little radiation zombie humor there.<br>(D&D) Usually mindless carrion feeders.<br>(Persona) Ugh, so annoying.

  • (Everywhere) Vampires, occasionally Vampyr, are former humans that have been granted eternal life in exchange for a debilitating chemical dependency. Writing bad poetry seems like a prerequisite, but really isn't.

  • (D&D) Sentient undead, usually the result a mage's morally grey decision to indefinitely extend their own life. Or if they're desperate to lose weight.

  • (D&D) An ant-like race of nomads from the Dark Sun campaign. Use psionics. Like picnics.

3 Comments

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shroudofsorrow

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Well done cataloguing all these different races. I appreciate your sense of humor too.

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Mento

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Edited By Mento  Moderator

@Sparky_Buzzsaw: Yeah, I'm going to be at this for a while. It would probably go faster without my colorful commentary.

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sparky_buzzsaw

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Hot damn, Mento!