Sometimes it's incredible the kinds of disconnect Fantasy races can have from their source material—for example, Kobolds. When someone says Kobold, chances are pretty high the first thing you'll think of is the gnome-sized lizards in D&D or the gnome-sized ratfolk-esque things in the Warcraft franchise; ironically, both have some connection to mining. For those out there wondering why, I will give a brief summary. The Kobold originates from German folklore and mythology; in German folklore and mythology, the Kobold is a sort of fey or spirit that can inhabit one of two places, the mines or homes of workers (usually they are found in mines), and most people don't really know what they look like since they have the ability to look like tools when in the mines or appliances when in the homes of workers. They're not necessarily malicious, but they are known for pulling pranks on workers that can easily annoy them; they find the frustration of mortals amusing in quite a few renditions but usually do things to help out miners and workers when they aren't looking, like directing them to a rich vein of metal in a mine or making sure their work clothes have a bit more life to them. In German lore, if you're extremely lucky, you'll get to see a Kobolds in their natural form, something resembling an elderly man with a considerable white beard that stands less than a foot high on average but seems to cap out at just under two feet in height.
As far as I can tell, D&D has kept Kobolds close to their roots while doing something completely different with them, mining is a major part of Kobold culture in most accounts of their lore for D&D, the whole dragon connection was something created by the writers for one of the prior editions of D&D that they decided to keep, possibly to better explain in-universe why mining was such an important cultural component for Kobolds (but I'm just speculating there).
That all said, both WotC and Blizzard went their own ways with the lore of Kobolds, but at least they kept the barest pieces of the foundation on which the creatures come from. That isn't always the case though, Japanese media that seems to take quite a few cues from western Fantasy has their own rendition of the Kobold. In Japanese media, Kobolds are humanoid canines (either modeled after a domestic breed or having an appearance somewhere between a wolf and a similarly built domestic breed) and usually have no connection to mining or laborers, instead, they seem to be portrayed as living in forests and in a pack structure; the closest you usually get is the race being characterized with a strong work ethic. I don't fully blame the Japanese; most of what they seem to appropriate from the western world is disjointed or lacking the clear connections to its cultural origins that almost seem instinctual to those in the western world.
I've also been wondering, if the Japanese Kobolds were to be brought into D&D would they still be called Kobolds? Would they have some sort of signifier to distinguish them from standard Kobolds? Like being called 'Forest Kobolds', 'Eastern Kobolds' or something like that. Or, would they have a completely different name as a race?
Part of this is simply lost in translation - general (not D&D-specific) French translations for "kobold" include gnome and gobelin, for instance, so merely linguistically switching between languages turns one D&D race into two others. I don't have any French versions of the D&D books (though they exist) so I can't say what the French D&D terms for kobold, gnome or goblin are, but that's not really material. The point is that languages don't always provide exact analogues for everything.
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Translation errors are often the cause for quite a few things we take for granted. For example, Napoleon Bonaparte was actually pretty big for his day, the belief he was a small man trying to make up for his own deficiencies mainly comes down to the conversion of French inches to English inches and British propaganda. Granted, he is on almost every record someone who couldn't stand losing so much he would literally cheat to make sure he was doing better, and his tantrum over having lost to the first mechanical chess game is also on the record, even if some of the parts were exaggerated and embellished. Not to mention, the term Troll in Scandinavian lore and Faerie in several parts of Europe (including Ireland) is a bit more expansive than categorical boxes we use in the modern era.
Slightly off-topic, didn’t Kobolds used to be dog-men?
Dog headed in AD&D and 2nd ed at least. The Draco thing confused me a bit when I got into 5e. They were quite literally the "runts" of the D&D Monsters, though a lot of the pejorative insinuations have since been abandoned or retcon ennobled in official lore and mechanics.
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
In Japanese media, Kobolds are humanoid canines (either modeled after a domestic breed or having an appearance somewhere between a wolf and a similarly built domestic breed) and usually have no connection to mining or laborers, instead, they seem to be portrayed as living in forests and in a pack structure; the closest you usually get is the race being characterized with a strong work ethic. I don't fully blame the Japanese; most of what they seem to appropriate from the western world is disjointed or lacking the clear connections to its cultural origins that almost seem instinctual to those in the western world.
Kobolds in 1e and 2e very much looked like little dogmen. Also in terms of appropriation, most of the things western countries appropriated from other places (or each other) is incredibly disjointed and lacking connection to it's cultural origins. In fact I can remove "western" and just say "most countries" and it's still true.
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Sometimes it's incredible the kinds of disconnect Fantasy races can have from their source material—for example, Kobolds. When someone says Kobold, chances are pretty high the first thing you'll think of is the gnome-sized lizards in D&D or the gnome-sized ratfolk-esque things in the Warcraft franchise; ironically, both have some connection to mining. For those out there wondering why, I will give a brief summary. The Kobold originates from German folklore and mythology; in German folklore and mythology, the Kobold is a sort of fey or spirit that can inhabit one of two places, the mines or homes of workers (usually they are found in mines), and most people don't really know what they look like since they have the ability to look like tools when in the mines or appliances when in the homes of workers. They're not necessarily malicious, but they are known for pulling pranks on workers that can easily annoy them; they find the frustration of mortals amusing in quite a few renditions but usually do things to help out miners and workers when they aren't looking, like directing them to a rich vein of metal in a mine or making sure their work clothes have a bit more life to them. In German lore, if you're extremely lucky, you'll get to see a Kobolds in their natural form, something resembling an elderly man with a considerable white beard that stands less than a foot high on average but seems to cap out at just under two feet in height.
As far as I can tell, D&D has kept Kobolds close to their roots while doing something completely different with them, mining is a major part of Kobold culture in most accounts of their lore for D&D, the whole dragon connection was something created by the writers for one of the prior editions of D&D that they decided to keep, possibly to better explain in-universe why mining was such an important cultural component for Kobolds (but I'm just speculating there).
That all said, both WotC and Blizzard went their own ways with the lore of Kobolds, but at least they kept the barest pieces of the foundation on which the creatures come from. That isn't always the case though, Japanese media that seems to take quite a few cues from western Fantasy has their own rendition of the Kobold. In Japanese media, Kobolds are humanoid canines (either modeled after a domestic breed or having an appearance somewhere between a wolf and a similarly built domestic breed) and usually have no connection to mining or laborers, instead, they seem to be portrayed as living in forests and in a pack structure; the closest you usually get is the race being characterized with a strong work ethic. I don't fully blame the Japanese; most of what they seem to appropriate from the western world is disjointed or lacking the clear connections to its cultural origins that almost seem instinctual to those in the western world.
I've also been wondering, if the Japanese Kobolds were to be brought into D&D would they still be called Kobolds? Would they have some sort of signifier to distinguish them from standard Kobolds? Like being called 'Forest Kobolds', 'Eastern Kobolds' or something like that. Or, would they have a completely different name as a race?
Part of this is simply lost in translation - general (not D&D-specific) French translations for "kobold" include gnome and gobelin, for instance, so merely linguistically switching between languages turns one D&D race into two others. I don't have any French versions of the D&D books (though they exist) so I can't say what the French D&D terms for kobold, gnome or goblin are, but that's not really material. The point is that languages don't always provide exact analogues for everything.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
Translation errors are often the cause for quite a few things we take for granted. For example, Napoleon Bonaparte was actually pretty big for his day, the belief he was a small man trying to make up for his own deficiencies mainly comes down to the conversion of French inches to English inches and British propaganda. Granted, he is on almost every record someone who couldn't stand losing so much he would literally cheat to make sure he was doing better, and his tantrum over having lost to the first mechanical chess game is also on the record, even if some of the parts were exaggerated and embellished. Not to mention, the term Troll in Scandinavian lore and Faerie in several parts of Europe (including Ireland) is a bit more expansive than categorical boxes we use in the modern era.
Slightly off-topic, didn’t Kobolds used to be dog-men?
Mystic v3 should be official, nuff said.
Dog headed in AD&D and 2nd ed at least. The Draco thing confused me a bit when I got into 5e. They were quite literally the "runts" of the D&D Monsters, though a lot of the pejorative insinuations have since been abandoned or retcon ennobled in official lore and mechanics.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Kobolds in 1e and 2e very much looked like little dogmen. Also in terms of appropriation, most of the things western countries appropriated from other places (or each other) is incredibly disjointed and lacking connection to it's cultural origins. In fact I can remove "western" and just say "most countries" and it's still true.