Race vs Species in Speculative Fiction

[YorkNecromancer]

So this is something I've been thinking about more and more when it comes to speculative fiction.

I don't like the way a lot of writers - especially game writers - use the word 'race' when they mean 'species'. Now, I don't mean that I'm offended by it. I don't mean I'm accusing them of racism or anything like that.

The concept of race is kind of an old one - outdated. Its origins in speculative fiction seem to come - as do most things - from Tolkein, who used it because that was simply how the world was seen then. Nowadays, we have a more nuanced understanding, with ideas like ethnic origins, culture, gender identity, sexuality, etc... As a result, whenever I hear the word 'race' used to describe a species, I feel kind of like when I'm reading Sherlock Holmes and Conan-Doyle uses the word '*********d' to mean 'shouted'. yeah, I know what he means, and it's technically not incorrect... It just sounds unintentionally hilarious/dumb, because words evolve to mean different things over time.

I also think it encourages a weird (and not entirely helpful) was of perceiving the world. Because, say, Elves have such significantly different traits when compared to humans, they are functionally a different species. However, by calling them a 'race' there's a whole lot of implication that, actually, they're not. That they are just, well, humans but more perfect (Bloody Eton wankers that they are).

I feel that, as our understanding of intersectionality and real-world racial identities grow, it's just kind of lazy to use the word 'race' as a synonym for 'species'. If you're not discussing actual race issues, why are you using it? To sound like Tolkein? Is that really justification enough for such imprecise word use?

Note that I'm not saying 'wrong', or 'immoral', or 'offensive'. If a writer is actually using the word and then goes on to tell a story that, say, explores the way racial politics affect people in the real world through use of fantasy as a metaphor, then there's no issue. Allegory can be an exceptionally powerful tool for discussing real-world issues that are simply too incendiary in real-life.

But personally, I think geek culture need to stop using it in favour of something like 'species', simply because that's a much more precise definition.

What do people think?

[Charistoph]

Synoposis: Race is just a finer distinction than Species and not really misused in these cases, especially when different races of a species may be represented.

Longer version: In some cases, "Race" is as good a term as "Species" because the Races are still different because they come from different Species.

In other words, a cherry tomato and an granny smith apple are both different species AND different races.

World of Warcraft uses "race" properly since two of the species are represented by two different races each as well. Night Elves and Blood Elves, and Stormwind Human and Gilnaes Human (aka Worgen).

Same could be said of Dungeons and Dragons.

40K, it is still valid. Eldar and Dark Eldar are the same species, but different races. Space Wolves are a different race (all those thousands of years on that ice hell of a world will do that) from Ultramarines, and so on.

Yes, there are different species and yes, that is also correct in many sci-fi/fantacies that they are different species, but that still doesn't mean that "race" isn't also accurate. What they use to define race, may need to review, though.

[Mud Duck]

I'm thinking that the use of 'race' would be correct in the case of many fantasy settings, as the they seem to be biologically compatible. Or that in some some way they have a common ancestor, Homo Erectus becoming Man, Elf, Dwarf, Orc, etc. or some veneration of that.

[Charistoph]

I'm thinking that the use of 'race' would be correct in the case of many fantasy settings, as the they seem to be biologically compatible. Or that in some some way they have a common ancestor, Homo Erectus becoming Man, Elf, Dwarf, Orc, etc. or some veneration of that.

If they can cross breed and their children can breed, it is indeed the same species and a different race.

[Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer]

I only find it jarring when race is used to refer to fantasy races and "human" races simultaneously - Elder Scrolls being the biggest user of this method to my knowledge. That's where it starts to get awkward in my view - especially when the Black/Middle Eastern Redguard featured below average Intelligence & Willpower paired with superior Strength and Endurance!


If they can cross breed and their children can breed, it is indeed the same species and a different race.Rule o' thumb, but doesn't always hold true. Fertile ligers exist, for instance, and there are odd cases of "circular" sub-species - A can breed with B, B with C, C with D, D with A, but B cannot breed with D.

[Morgrim]

Yeah, it tends to be used unthinkingly in fantasy because of first Tolkein then DnD. And doesn't help that so many of the playable 'races' are actually interfertile. At the very least they're all the same genus, but in many cases almost certainly different species.

Since in Middle Earth there were only 3 instances of successful, fertile human-elf couplings it is likely that they're actually two different species. (You cannot honestly believe that in four thousand years only three elves agreed to bonk humans. And humans are humans - we're not exactly prudish as a species.) Occasionally even a mule can be fertile, so this makes sense.

The hobbits claim that the fallowhides - arguably a race within hobbits in the traditional Earth 'slightly different skin colour/hair colour/body shape/culture/geographic range originally' sense - had relations with elves at one point. The elves never say anything so this COULD be local legend, but since hobbits more closely resemble humans it's likely they're either their own species or a sub-species of human.

Amusingly though orks are a race of elf, being the result of modifications and captive breeding programs performed on kidnapped elves in the early days of middle earth. It's entirely likely they're still fully interfertile. Understandably this is never, ever mentioned by the elves.



Humour aside, I do agree that it would be nice if authors stopped using 'race' when they really do mean 'species'.

[Al Shut]

So what is it that Sherlock Holmes does when he's shouting?

[Morgrim]

So what is it that Sherlock Holmes does when he's shouting?

If it's the one I'm thinking of? It's a word now more commonly used to refer to what a man does at the moment of peak sexual arousal. Starts with 'eja'.

[Path Walker]

I only find it jarring when race is used to refer to fantasy races and "human" races simultaneously - Elder Scrolls being the biggest user of this method to my knowledge. That's where it starts to get awkward in my view - especially when the Black/Middle Eastern Redguard featured below average Intelligence & Willpower paired with superior Strength and Endurance!

Rule o' thumb, but doesn't always hold true. Fertile ligers exist, for instance, and there are odd cases of "circular" sub-species - A can breed with B, B with C, C with D, D with A, but B cannot breed with D.

Not fully on on point but Humans in TES can interbreed with Mer and Beast races (the latter only rumoured) and seem to produced fertile offspring, suggesting at least Mer and Men have a common ancestor. In Skyrim, I think they got rid of the negative modifiers for Redguard (not that it changes that they were ever a thing, which they were and its really terrible given how recent it was).

Scientifically, yes, species and race difference has a (sort of murky) biological definition.

In terms of language however, it was at one time not an issue to mix the two terms and race scans a bit easier but as we move on it may be time to be more accurate and sensitive in how we use language to avoid needless offence.

[Charistoph]

In terms of language however, it was at one time not an issue to mix the two terms and race scans a bit easier but as we move on it may be time to be more accurate and sensitive in how we use language to avoid needless offence.

To be fair, at one time those of different races were considered a different species and the children of unions with them were considered mongrels. Yay for tribalism to translate to racial supremism!

We have defined both Race and Species to mean more since then, especially since Darwin. Species is pertinent in many cases because we are discussing venues of change to be recognized as such, and is a perfectly acceptable in most uses of this genre.

However, as I have pointed out already, many such games and fiction do include variants of the species, to which "Race" is attributed. This makes "Race" more specific than species and just as workable to define some differences.

The point about Redguard in the post above is pertinent in this case. There are more Humans in Eldar Scrolls options than any other, so Race is perfectly justifiable term when choosing your character. There are also three kinds of Elves as well. So using Species in this case would be inaccurate unless you selected Race after selecting Species.

However, in a game like Master of Orion 2, where you will not be facing a variant of your own species, using the more general "Species" would be more than fully justifiable. In fact, you could use "Genus" as well since the variants are even more diverse there. Master of Orion 3, however, could have you facing a variant of your species, so calling it "Race" there is actually required to represent the specific point of differences.

[Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer]

In Skyrim, I think they got rid of the negative modifiers for Redguard (not that it changes that they were ever a thing, which they were and its really terrible given how recent it was).Right, sorry, I should've been a lot more clear on the "used to" side of things - don't want to spread accidental misinformation, especially when the developers have taken steps to self-correct!

I guess it's worth clarifying for readers unfamiliar with the Elder Scrolls games - on a game mechanics level, Intelligence and Willpower only effect the use of magic.

(I've always wanted to see a semi-modern day Elder Scrolls game that starts with you filling out an immigration form - tick Men, Mer or Beast, etc)