Elves are a mythological/folkloric creature that currently belongs among the most famous and infamous fantasy races.
This refers to the Nordic/Germanic Elf prior to their syncretism with fairies.
There’s some possible overlap with Dwarfs. I’m not 100% sure about the details, but there’s apparently a debate over whether the Dwarfs and Elfs are the same race or not. One possibility (and this is explicitly my speculah) is that ‘dwarf’ is a job title or class, rather than a race. So a particularly talented elf blacksmith might just be called a ‘dwarf’.A)
There’s also a lot of overlap with the Fey.
In fact, let’s see if this doesn’t sound familiar:
Elves are supernaturally beautiful, usually taller and don’t really care about what humans think about them.
This is to specifically refer to the post-Norse and pre-Tolkien elves.
It’s this elf that the Christmas Elf probably derives from.
I believe that the modern elf ultimately derives from Tolkien‘s Legendarium…but, well, ‘ultimately’. I actually think that the majority of modern elves derive from D&D and Warhammer.
My reasoning is that Tolkien‘s elves actually look very different from modern elves. They’re more angelic than arrogant immortal jerks.
But this fits the elves from D&D and Warhammer.
Even generic categorizations of elves derive more from these two, rather than the Legendarium. Tolkien does have High Elves, Wood Elves, Sea Elves and the Dark Elf…but D&D/Warhammer have the Dark Elves for example. Actually, I may need to think about this a bit more.
I realize just now that I forgot to describe the modern elf. I’ll do that later.
The Japanese Elf is a more ambiguous case and, in all honesty, I’m not sure where this one comes from. My best guess is that it started with Record of Lodoss War…which derives from D&D, so the connection remains.
I think that the stereotypical elf in Japan is Deedlit. This may explain why you basically never see elves in Japan without blonde hair…or blonde-adjacent hair, while this isn’t quite as rare in the West.
Overall, I’d say ‘the elf’ in Japan is way more uniform than the elves in any other setting. This may also explain why the elf seems to be treated with a unique contempt by many a Japanese story – the West has pretty assholish and generic elves, but it’s not as bad as in Japan. As in, Japan has more generic elves.
The Japanese also like Dark elves – typically tan skin and white hair. Though they aren’t usually evil.
The Christmas Elf is probably derived from the Folkloric Elf. Notable because Christmas Elves are radically different from Modern Elves (though there might be some overlap considering sexy elf girls who often show up with Santa).
Also, amusingly, Tolkien once wrote Christmas Elves.
I heard that the Eddas syncretize the Nordic Elves (specifically the Light Elves) with Biblical Angels.
Tolkienien Elves are also very angelic, though not actually angels.
I’m not aware of anything more specific.
The Fae of the British isles were definitely influenced by the Elves of Nordic Mythology…and probably vice-versa.
Read “Relation with Elves” on the Fae page.
Elves were syncretized into – really more like categorized as – faires at some point. This resulted in the image of the elf changing as well.
I think it’s related to the previous syncretization/conflation with the Fae.
The elves here are much closer to the Tolkienien Elves, though they take a lot more inspiration from the Fey and fairies.
I’ll elaborate on this later, when I actually bother to play the game again.
It could be argued the Vortixx are ‘Dark’ Elves or derived (somehow) from the Drow.
I don’t know that much about D&D, but I know enough to be sure that this (together with Warhammer) is where all the modern fantasy elves derive from.
Since the White priestesses are closer to Fae than elves, I suggest reading the section on the Fae article.
Both ‘regular’ elves and dark elves exist beyond the Gate. More later.
It’s pretty clear that the…uh…I don’t know what they’re called, but Jak & Co. are definitely elves: pointy ears and all.
Though it’s only really the pointy ears.
I don’t remember whether elves are a thing here or not. If they are, I remember literally nothing.
Elves are antagonists here and I’m not gonna reveal too much since that’s a big spoiler.
Zelda and Link are usually Hylians and Hylians have pointy elven-ears. This is a sign of their connection to the divine.
That’s mostly it, though. Though I think there’s some overlap with folkloric elves, so I’ll write about that later if I remember to.
The elves in NGNL are the third most powerful magic-wise and are basically the dominant species – they own the largest country and are closest to conquering the entire world.
One of the main characters is an elf named Deedlit who is almost certainly the progenitor of all other elves in Japanese fiction.
The Protoss in Starcraft are probably originally derived from Elves somehow, but they’re probably based on the Tau. Tau themselves might be elf-based, though I know almost nothing about the Tau.
Elves appear several times in SAO, though they’re not really that noteworthy since they are technically fictional within the context of their universe.
In the Aincrad Arc(s), they mostly appear as background props.
In the ALfheim Arc(s), they have a more prominent role, technically, though these are more fairies rather than elves specifically. So see that on the Fairy page.
Past the second season of SAO, I know little, so let’s pivot to Progressive.
SAO Progressive is notable for a bunch of reasons, though one of the big ones is that Kirito and Asuna have an NPC elf companion. She’s a Dark Elf and has booba, which is all you really need to know.
Also, there are some hints that she’s become or becoming self-aware.
Tolkien‘s elves are a vision of humanity without original sin, though besides that I think they actually take more inspiration from the Fey rather than the Norse Elves. Sure, the term ‘elf’ is used, but that doesn’t necessarily mean Tolkien got his inspiration there (though I think he got some inspiration). Keep in mind that Tolkien used the term ‘fairy’/‘faery’ for basically his whole life and, in the earliest versions of the Legendarium…yeah, the elves were just fairies.
The Valkyrur from Valkyria Chronicles are vaguely elf-shaped. Yup, that’s all I’m saying. Actually, I realized that my criteria determine that the Valkyrur are Fey. So once I have the motivation, I’ll probably describe them there instead.
Warcraft‘s elves are obviously derived from the D&D/Warhammer elves. This is obvious from the fact Chris Metzen keeps repeating D&D terminology when talking about the story.
Though they differentiate themselves in the form of the Blood Elves and Night Elves. I don’t care about the void elves. The High/Blood Elves both suffer from magic addiction, which adds an extra layer of uniqueness.
I know a tiny bit more about the elves that appear in Warhammer than those that appear in D&D, which is why I’m convinced most modern elves come from here.