Which Fantasy World Has the Best dwarfs, Overall?

[Halicia]

I feel Tolkien best showed the 'spirit' of dwarves, and their Will to Create. That simple stone and rock would not stand in their way, as they shape the earth to something majestic and beautiful...

Works following Tolkien typically either show the majestic works (Ironforge) but not the Will that got it there... or deride dwarves as 'dirty little kids that like to dig in the sand to no real consequence.'

RA Salvatore's series where they retook Mithril Hall possibly comes the closest to the spirit I felt in 'The Hobbit', but even that was more of a watered down 'salute' to Tolkien, then an original spirit.

[Stir]

Svartálfheimr. Hands down.
I'm sorry; I don't like Tolkien's dwarves (or elves). They feel empty and unreal; like husks. A pretty picture, but no actual content. Not fleshed out. While Tolkien's written a lot about their likes, dislikes and history, they still feel more like a children's faerie-tale than real people. They're not real people, of course, but I am of the opinion that an author should try to make their characters feel as realistic as possible... And Tolkien really failed at that. Rather than people, the characters protrayed are pawns. And the races portrayed are more akin to buildings than to people. Carefully constructed, beautifully adorned, but ultimately hollow.

Strangely, I really love the dwarves from the Dragon Age games. They're gritty, stubborn, lawful to a fault, but also diverse, and their individuals tend to surprise. Their physique is far better portrayed than that of the Warhammer dwarves, and they share the blocky, angular architecture that is so popular for dwarves in general (and which I like).

[Deleted]

Tolkien followed closely by Dragon Age universe.

---------- Post added 2012-01-09 at 03:10 PM ----------

A song of ice and fire

That's not a dwarf, that's an imp:P

[Deleted]

Without question from my part. Warhammer. No doubt in my mind . But then again i love warhammer.

[Draqson]

from my knowledge:
Elder Scrolls.

in any other franchise dwarfs are just drinking hairy robust tiny people...

[Slummish]

J.R.R Tolkien.

[Kulthor]

Lotr has pretty nice dwarves but the elder scrolls dwemer are pretty awesome... If you haven't gotten that deep into skyrim yet just keep on the main quest line and it will lead you to a VERY cool place... They're one amazing race.

[kivipää]

Definitely Tolkien's universe.



That's precisely why I dislike the "dwarves" from the Elder Scrolls universe, they (Bethesda) used that word for them explicitly because they are elves and not "traditional" dwarves. Why couldn't they just stick with dwemer?

Why are High elves called Altmer, wood elves Bosmer, dark elves Duunmer and orcs (who are yet another type of elf) orsimer? i suggest you read some elder scrolls lore, there is much more ot these names than just them not being "traditional" copy-paste versions.
Granted, I would gladly say Tolkiens dwarves, but everybody has done them to death so much I cannot force myself to prefer them.

[Duridi]

I am not that well-travelled in the dwarven world, but I gotta say the WoW dwarves seems to have set the standard for me, so I vote for WoW's!

---------- Post added 2012-01-09 at 05:48 PM ----------

I would gladly say Tolkiens dwarves, but everybody has done them to death so much I cannot force myself to prefer them.

I can't even remember those...

[starlord]

discworld dwarves

[Kerath]

discworld dwarves

Damn beat me to it!

Rat Kebab anyone?
Perhaps afterwards we could indulge in a bit of traditional Dwarven singing. The words are really easy, anyone can join in.
Altogether now:
Gold gold gold gold gold gold gold
Gold gold gold gold gold gold gold

[Adam Jensen]

I am not that well-travelled in the dwarven world, but I gotta say the WoW dwarves seems to have set the standard for me, so I vote for WoW's!

---------- Post added 2012-01-09 at 05:48 PM ----------



I can't even remember those...

Bring your brutish face to my axe!

There is still one dwarf yet in Moria who still draws blood!

Legolas! Two already!

We dwarves are natural sprinters! Very dangerous over short distances!

How can you not remember Gimli son of Gloin?

I dun't care if they became cliche, Tolkien Dwarves > All.

WoW dwarves come to a close second though.

[Deatheryn]

r u kidding me? J R R Tolkien's ofc. richest culture, architecture and character

^I have to agree because that is where I first realized they are by far my own favorite race, being that they are very sturdy, hardworking, artistic craftsmen, w/ great love for alcohol!

[Marimba]

Its hard to say argue against anything tolkien, everything just has so much depth in his universe. Also the fact that they made entire countries underground is pretty badass.

---------- Post added 2012-01-09 at 09:08 AM ----------

Bring your brutish face to my axe!

There is still one dwarf yet in Moria who still draws breath!

Legolas! Two already!

We dwarves are natural sprinters! Very dangerous over short distances!

How can you not remember Gimli son of Gloin?

I dun't care if they became cliche, Tolkien Dwarves > All.

WoW dwarves come to a close second though.

I think its breath, and one thing I always thought was kinda interesting was that I think the part about sprinting was the other way around iirc.

[Duridi]

How can you not remember Gimli son of Gloin?

I dun't care if they became cliche, Tolkien Dwarves > All.

Look at it this way, any dwarf that sat the standard would have been called cliche... Something has to define a dwarf, and Tolkien won.

And no, I honestly could not remember Gimli. It's been 10 years +/- since I saw Lord of the Rings. I had to YouTube him to refresh my memory. When I saw him, I realised why I like the WoW dwarves(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LDJzksLB_0). It's really not that much of a difference.

[Duncanîdaho]

For those saying Tolkien has the best dwarves. Are they more prominent in other book's next to the original trilogy? Correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I remember when I read it like a decade ago, there were not many dwarves around during the original trilogy. I mean you go into the mines and get to read about all the amazing architecture, but I don't remember much cultural wise. You get to draw some conclusions from Gimli, but I don't remember any dwarf civilization that hadn't been annihilated by goblins.

Are they featured more prominently in books like the hobbit and what not? Or am i just forgetting something.

[namelessone]

Well, since most fantasies just outright copy LOTR dwarves, I'll go with LOTR. I like the Dragon Age take on the dwarfs though.

[Draenox]

I think the Dwemer from Elder Scrolls are the most interesting since everything about them is so mysterious and unknown, but the dwarves from LotR and WoW are just what dwarves should be like.

[Adam Jensen]

For those saying Tolkien has the best dwarfs. Are they more prominent in other book's next to the original trilogy? Correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I remember when I read it like a decade ago, there were not many dwarfs around during the original trilogy. I mean you go into the mines and get to read about all the amazing architecture, but I don't remember much cultural wise. You get to draw some conclusions from Gimli, but I don't remember any dwarf civilization that hadn't been annihilated by goblins.

Are they featured more prominently in books like the hobbit and what not? Or am i just forgetting something.

Well, I wasn't specifically saying "LotR" but Tolkien in its entirety. The Hobbit put in a very good picture of dwarven culture and Gimli and the chapter in Moria explored that culture rather extensively too.

[Deleted]

From what I can tell they're all pretty much the same. Short, beardy, and raging alcoholics.

The only exception to this I can think of are Elder Scrolls dwarves, which are technically Elves. Any other exceptions to this rule?

Then orcs are elves as well.
I'd say Lotr dwarves. About any fantasy universe including dwarves nowadays is basically a copy of the Lotr dwarves.