Why are some Orcs very dumb and other very inteligent?

[Elfezen]

Was there ever any explanation on this gap? Why are some orcs born stupid and some times they can't even talk correctly and they become peons/servants while other are not only clever but even more inteligent than humans, predicting all the moves of their enemies in the quest logs, they communicate with advanced language and they become generals/protagonists etc. Also i noticed this happens only with male orcs while the females are normal

[Kaldriss]

pretty sure some people are smart and some people are stupid regardless of their species

[Deleted]

Because magnaron -> ogre -> orc

Same as why some ogres are really intelligent and some others are dumb as fuck.

[Kryn]

pretty sure some people are smart and some people are stupid regardless of their species

Actually its kind of interesting that with other races on Azeroth none have been shown to have characters who share the same mentality of an orc peon except ogres. So orc genetics maybe.

[bmjclark]

Same reason some people are very dumb and others very intelligent.

[Deleted]

How about the human (wood) workers? They are not much different from the work-work-work peon.

I think it's just a nice reference to early WC games in which the builder/gather isn't very bright

[Deleted]

It's part of a giant retcon that happened between Wc2 and Wc3. In Warcraft 1 orcs were a lot less brutish but more "demonic evil". While still very primal that did not cause them to go into bloodrage/have their savage image. They were always aggressive and quiet brutal in their world even before the dark portal opened. They waged war against each other with the same "evil" touch as they fought the alliance on azeroth later.

Only with Wc3 blizzard adjusted them to be more "human", expanding their shamanism as tranquilizer who would bring forward orcs like thrall. Also they created the excuse of a burning legion that gave them blood to drink which then even would change their skincolor. As result a complete new race of "orcs" was born, that never really fit the image of their history and their current behavior. Worst examples are the Hellscreams - just compare the hyperd hellscream from beyond the dark portal to whatever orc looks now dumb but brutal.

Blizzard might thought that nobody wanted to play bloodhungry barbariens who would jump into every battle like crazy drug addicts, backed by some warlocks and necrolytes who were about the same on an intellectual manner but still perverse. So they reconnected the race into this bad shape we have today.

[Auggers]

Actually its kind of interesting that with other races on Azeroth none have been shown to have characters who share the same mentality of an orc peon except ogres. So orc genetics maybe.

The Human starting area, the peons are all appear to be stupid. "Mo werk?", "wha is it?". Though to call them stupid would be an insult to the English, as they are one of the few English voices in the game.

[Golden Yak]

I always thought of peons as a sort've sub-species that pops up from time to time within orcish populations, there are a population of orcs that can do manual labour while the stronger warriors focus on fighting/hunting. Like they would forage for roots and edible plants in the woods while the warriors would hunt clefthooves or whatever. Kind've like an ant colony, with different castes.

[Kalmakk]

I always thought of peons as a sort've sub-species that pops up from time to time within orcish populations, there are a population of orcs that can do manual labour while the stronger warriors focus on fighting/hunting. Like they would forage for roots and edible plants in the woods while the warriors would hunt clefthooves or whatever. Kind've like an ant colony, with different castes.

You know I always wondered why no one ever talked about the whole Peon caste thing. I tend to agree, I always assumed that the Orc race had a rare genetic throwback in some of their children that made them utterly simple and only capable of manual labor. The horde uses them for it simply because they don't mind, maybe? Like, give the simpletons something to do so that everyone else can do the complex work? I always felt a bit weird about it but never thought too deeply on it.

It's the same with Human peasants, except perhaps a little more on the nose about it. I mean... they're clearly just dribbling drudges, like a neanderthalic version of actual Warcraft Humans. It's like the Warcraft universe just accepts that some people are born less intelligent or disabled and this is what's done with them. Kinda dark, really.

[Golden Yak]

You know I always wondered why no one ever talked about the whole Peon caste thing. I tend to agree, I always assumed that the Orc race had a rare genetic throwback in some of their children that made them utterly simple and only capable of manual labor. The horde uses them for it simply because they don't mind, maybe? Like, give the simpletons something to do so that everyone else can do the complex work? I always felt a bit weird about it but never thought too deeply on it.

It's the same with Human peasants, except perhaps a little more on the nose about it. I mean... they're clearly just dribbling drudges, like a neanderthalic version of actual Warcraft Humans. It's like the Warcraft universe just accepts that some people are born less intelligent or disabled and this is what's done with them. Kinda dark, really.

They aren't necessarily that dull - after all, they're the ones who build everything. Peons could be quite capable, they're just unmotivated and lazy without other orcs around to crack the whip and keep them focused. For all we know, every mason, blacksmith, and engineer in the Horde could be a peon. Certainly every farmer is, they run the pig farms and keep the non-hunted food supply going. They simply lack the passion, ferocity, and physical strength to be grunt-level warriors.

[Reyzzz]

You know I always wondered why no one ever talked about the whole Peon caste thing. I tend to agree, I always assumed that the Orc race had a rare genetic throwback in some of their children that made them utterly simple and only capable of manual labor. The horde uses them for it simply because they don't mind, maybe? Like, give the simpletons something to do so that everyone else can do the complex work? I always felt a bit weird about it but never thought too deeply on it.

It's the same with Human peasants, except perhaps a little more on the nose about it. I mean... they're clearly just dribbling drudges, like a neanderthalic version of actual Warcraft Humans. It's like the Warcraft universe just accepts that some people are born less intelligent or disabled and this is what's done with them. Kinda dark, really.

Whereas retarded and disabled children would be left to the animals in the woods. Warcraft is much less benevolent than humans say a few hundred years ago.

[anaxie]

Was there ever any explanation on this gap? Why are some orcs born stupid and some times they can't even talk correctly and they become peons/servants and grunts while other are not only clever but even more inteligent than humans, predicting all the moves of their enemies in the quest logs, they communicate with advanced language and they become generals/protagonists etc. Also i noticed this happens only with male orcs while the females are normal

Really? Do you ever go outside IRL and look at society to answer your question?

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You know I always wondered why no one ever talked about the whole Peon caste thing. I tend to agree, I always assumed that the Orc race had a rare genetic throwback in some of their children that made them utterly simple and only capable of manual labor. The horde uses them for it simply because they don't mind, maybe? Like, give the simpletons something to do so that everyone else can do the complex work? I always felt a bit weird about it but never thought too deeply on it.

It's the same with Human peasants, except perhaps a little more on the nose about it. I mean... they're clearly just dribbling drudges, like a neanderthalic version of actual Warcraft Humans. It's like the Warcraft universe just accepts that some people are born less intelligent or disabled and this is what's done with them. Kinda dark, really.

Peons can't be drooling retards if they are the carpenters.

How are your carpentry skills?

[Deleted]

It's quite simple; Orcs aren't somehow immune to this thing called IQ.

On the other hand; how do you know they aren't just acting like that cause society expects them to, and just conforming to this expectation makes life easier for them?

This might seem unrelated, but: Check out VanCleef and his brotherhood and why they went rogue.

[Deleted]

Wanna hear the boring Lore reason, it was Gul'dan back in the day of W1 and W2 Gul'dan used FelMagic^TM to speed-up the development of orc children so they could serve as cannon fodder in his fight versus other orc clans, draenei and humans. Some of them became warrior others didn't develop properly so bam "peons".You could argue that Gul'dan may have purposely made them simple since some of them might have been "political adversaries" before the transformation.

[Tokas]

you mean just like humans irl ?

[Kokolums]

I always assumed that the Orc race had a rare genetic throwback in some of their children that made them utterly simple and only capable of manual labor.

Technically, a species needs LOTS more peons than leaders. Too many leaders is actually a bad thing. The "rare" genetic condition is an intelligent leader. So the correct breeding strategy is to favor idiot brutes and if one in a thousand happens to roll intelligence and leadership qualities, awesome. Even in modern human society, hot women aren't flocking to universities drooling over brainy guys....they tend to look for a "real man" defined as brutish and fearless. That's genetics at play, pushing the human race to breed a thug army to conquer rivals in war.

[Fabinas]

It's part of a giant retcon that happened between Wc2 and Wc3. In Warcraft 1 orcs were a lot less brutish but more "demonic evil". While still very primal that did not cause them to go into bloodrage/have their savage image. They were always aggressive and quiet brutal in their world even before the dark portal opened. They waged war against each other with the same "evil" touch as they fought the alliance on azeroth later.

Only with Wc3 blizzard adjusted them to be more "human", expanding their shamanism as tranquilizer who would bring forward orcs like thrall. Also they created the excuse of a burning legion that gave them blood to drink which then even would change their skincolor. As result a complete new race of "orcs" was born, that never really fit the image of their history and their current behavior. Worst examples are the Hellscreams - just compare the hyperd hellscream from beyond the dark portal to whatever orc looks now dumb but brutal.

Blizzard might thought that nobody wanted to play bloodhungry barbariens who would jump into every battle like crazy drug addicts, backed by some warlocks and necrolytes who were about the same on an intellectual manner but still perverse. So they reconnected the race into this bad shape we have today.

Thing is, Blizzard didn't want one faction to be the "good guys" and the other the "bad guys". Mostly for commercial and population balance reasons. They wanted to have a war but with no edge moral adversaries. There are good and evil people in both factions. Kinda how like the movie is gonna portray them.

[Low Hanging Fruit]

Most the smart ones were of a ruling class. Or were "house slaves" to humans. Think very Middle Ages here. Education is trash and only a certain few get it. Some though wealth/power and others through experience. Most without either. So the masses a pretty dumb and it isn't just orcs. Humans, drawfs, and trolls are about the same. Just less in your face and not the central race in like the past 3 expansions. Only high science level races like gnomes and goblins avoid it being huge. Also of course you can included the highly spiritual races as well with night elfs and cows. A few outliners exsist of course because of recently fallen civilizations like blood elfs and Draenei. You also have some exceptions with the rules when it comes to individuals.

[edw]

Was there ever any explanation on this gap? Why are some orcs born stupid and some times they can't even talk correctly and they become peons/servants and grunts while other are not only clever but even more inteligent than humans, predicting all the moves of their enemies in the quest logs, they communicate with advanced language and they become generals/protagonists etc. Also i noticed this happens only with male orcs while the females are normal

Well it's like with us humans, some are smart a lot are average and a lot are stupid, it has to do with genetics (better /roll ), what parents they had, the environment they grow in and the direction they choose.