Skin color- how much does it matter?

I think there was some kind of interaction with a really old Troll in the "Final Quest" series.  I haven't much farther than the part in which Ember is captured and rescued.

In any case, evolution is a plot device in Elfquest I find tiresome.  Throw enough years on a situation, and things will get better.

My sister and I once went to Washington, DC on vacation.  We found out that we had to have advance reservations to visit Congress.  So we went to the National Zoo and visited the primate exhibit instead.

I was impressed by the orangutans and their climbing ability.  If apes are lesser eveolved, why don't they get rotator cuff injuries, instead of being able to support their entire body by the weight of a shoulder that rotates 180 degrees?

If monkeys are less evolved, where is my prehensile tail?  A fur coat would be nice, as would an opposeable thumb on each foot.  But I digress.

Fantasy characters could be any color of the rainbow.  I just feel that there should be more characters who resemble humans of African and Australian descent.

Leeth and the Sun Villagers have darker skin, but otherwise resemble all the rest of the Elves.

Kojiyumi wrote:

From what I recall reading... somewhere... Bearclaw's lifespan was close to 1,200 years. Though he was also said to be one of the longest-lived wolfriders at that time (they have to live well over 100 given how many pebbles the Sun Village wolfriders had in their jar at Sorrow's End) And given the evolution of humans from first sight to current, I'd wager there was close to 10,000 years of time for the trolls to natural select to what they are now.

Embala wrote:

You are right, Koji. I remember that it was stated in the timeline that the crash happened 10,000 years before EQ #1.
If I'd need more reason for their developement - it's likely that the Palace fueled their mutation, before and after the crash.
I don't remember any Trolls before Bearclaw's time in the comics, Tymber. No size comparison available.

Prism wrote:

I reckon Firstcomer Troll's size being about the same as modern trolls was a Wendy&Richard retcon,since the Firstcomer trolls were only knee-high to the High Ones. I always thought the trolls grew in size whilst the elves shrunk and as for the humans,well they might'v been australopithecus and around the time of Fire and Flight cro-magnon.

10,000 years would make more sense, for the troll's evolution. Humans evolved from "cave man" to "stone age" pretty much, in ElfQuest, but not much beyond that. I mean, I guess at 10,000 year - we can also chalk up the magic aspect. It certainly wouldn't have changed Greymug / Picknose's folks being close to the Palace, since they were not close (but had evolved the same as the Gutterkraw/frost trolls).

Tymber wrote:

10,000 years would make more sense, for the troll's evolution. Humans evolved from "cave man" to "stone age" pretty much, in ElfQuest, but not much beyond that. I mean, I guess at 10,000 year - we can also chalk up the magic aspect. It certainly wouldn't have changed Greymug / Picknose's folks being close to the Palace, since they were not close (but had evolved the same as the Gutterkraw/frost trolls).

Well, they were both originally the same group. There was a rebellion that split them into the northern trolls and the holt trolls...

Then we saw what happened after another, what... 10,000 estimated years to the holt trolls when left to their own devices without leadership... and probably really bad inbreeding... in SatS.

Kojiyumi wrote:

Tymber wrote:

10,000 years would make more sense, for the troll's evolution. Humans evolved from "cave man" to "stone age" pretty much, in ElfQuest, but not much beyond that. I mean, I guess at 10,000 year - we can also chalk up the magic aspect. It certainly wouldn't have changed Greymug / Picknose's folks being close to the Palace, since they were not close (but had evolved the same as the Gutterkraw/frost trolls).

Well, they were both originally the same group. There was a rebellion that split them into the northern trolls and the holt trolls...

Then we saw what happened after another, what... 10,000 estimated years to the holt trolls when left to their own devices without leadership... and probably really bad inbreeding... in SatS.

Something else happened to cause Guttlekraw's Misshapen trolls to deteriorate so badly,'cause it sure wasn't inbreeding! Picknose's whole clan descend from just him and Oddbit (maybe Maggoty)
and they're genetically sound.

Prism wrote:

Kojiyumi wrote:

Tymber wrote:

10,000 years would make more sense, for the troll's evolution. Humans evolved from "cave man" to "stone age" pretty much, in ElfQuest, but not much beyond that. I mean, I guess at 10,000 year - we can also chalk up the magic aspect. It certainly wouldn't have changed Greymug / Picknose's folks being close to the Palace, since they were not close (but had evolved the same as the Gutterkraw/frost trolls).

Well, they were both originally the same group. There was a rebellion that split them into the northern trolls and the holt trolls...

Then we saw what happened after another, what... 10,000 estimated years to the holt trolls when left to their own devices without leadership... and probably really bad inbreeding... in SatS.

Something else happened to cause Guttlekraw's Misshapen trolls to deteriorate so badly,'cause it sure wasn't inbreeding! Picknose's whole clan descend from just him and Oddbit (maybe Maggoty)
and they're genetically sound.

Happy genetic accident. Guttlekraws clan got all the bad genes.

As a Troll, I have heard a proposal that the Misshapen group came in contact with radiation that exists somewhere on the WoTM. Boarsnout presented this idea in his graduate thesis at Old Maggoty Institute.

Geology students were split on this, as was the medical department. It was a hot topic, with one side upholding radiation as the culprit, while another blamed the Elves and their magic.

Many conservative Trolls equate magic with misfortune. Kings who depend upon enslaved Rockshapers are doomed leaders. Magic can stagnate and create Madcoil. Powerful sorcerers have harmed both Trolls and their own people. This is why one side felt that the mere proximity to a Rockshaper, for so many years, was the culprit.

Incidentally, on the topic of the Troll race, most of us don't have big noses with prominent nose bridges. We are generally neither greedy nor stingy. Our daughters aren't spoiled princesses, and their morals don't sway with the winds of fortune.

Warpstone! I knew the WoTM had it somewhere...

Trolbabe is truely back! SAnd so is Old Maggoty Institute ...

I'm veering so far off topic that I have decided to start a new thread: Troll Culture