The Perfect Ten: Best non-traditional MMO fantasy races

Elves. Dwarves. Humans. Halflings. Gnomes. Hobbits. Dark elves. High elves. Half-elves. Wood elves. Keebler elves. Elvish impersonators.

Are you as tired as I am of the endless regurgitation of stock fantasy races in our MMOs? It seems inconceivable (I do not think that means what you think it means) for a new fantasy title to come out without most of the above races infesting the character creation screen with moldy unoriginality, putrescent stank, and dusty boredom.

That's why today I'm standing up to praise 10 MMOs that dare to go above and beyond the stale by offering mostly unique and different races than the rest of the market. Hopefully future games will learn from their example and throw off the yokes of generic oppression to give us something bold and refreshing!

1. EverQuest II: Ratonga

Little rat-people aren't a huge staple of fantasy, but they are there -- for example, Narnia's Reepicheep or Warhammer's Skaven. However, most MMO gamers think of EverQuest II's Ratonga first and foremost when anything small, furry and tenacious is mentioned.

Now I'm a little leery of EverQuest's habit of merely anthropomorphizing anything the SOE crew saw at the zoo the weekend before, but I have to admit, rat-people are pretty cool. Really, any victory on your part as a Ratonga means utter humiliation for the forces of darkness -- "Dude, you got your butt handed to you by a RAT!" -- and that feeling never leaves you.

2. Lord of the Rings Online: Spider Weaver

This may be a bit of a cheat for this list, as the Spider Weaver is only playable in LotRO's PvMP (Player vs. Monster Player) area, but it is a character class that can be grown and developed -- so I'll let it slide. I'm so very generous to myself.

While giant spiders are an extremely tired MMO cliche at this point, it's a whole new bag when you're allowed to pilot one. Playing a spider -- is there anything more wicked awesome? Spins a web any size, catches Hobbits just like flies -- look out, here comes a Spider Weaver!

Win or lose in the Ettenmoors, at least you have the knowledge that your mere presence will send a good chunk of the population into arachnophobic fits.

3. Allods Online: Gibberlings

Before gPotato spanked Allods Online players with nasty microtransactions, the Gibberlings were the talk of every pre-launch party, the word on everyone's lips. Sure, that word sounded like you were talking shop with a preschooler, but the concept was -- and is -- pretty far-out for a playable race.

Basically, any player who rolls a Gibberling gets not one, not two, but three playable minions under his control, three minions who fight and act in concert. It's like you have your own party of sword-wielding guinea pigs, and if children's television taught us anything, it's that the smaller the package is, the more unstoppable it becomes.

4. World of Warcraft: Draenei

For such a maligned MMO, World of Warcraft does fairly well in offering up a few interesting alternative races, such as the Forsaken, Tauren and Worgen. But for my money, it topped the charts with The Burning Crusade's Draenei -- space-demon goat-people.

Sure, the Draenei were as much mocked as they were loved, interstellar blueberries they, but they brought an aura of refined technological power and strength to a game populated by mostly naked Night Elves gyrating on postal service property.

5. Dungeons and Dragons Online: Warforged

Constructs. Robots. Golems. Totally boss. DDO's Warforged are all of these and more. While the Eberron campaign setting offered a number of unusual racial choices, Turbine stayed pretty traditional save for the iconic Warforged. Not only does this race have quite a few excellent bonuses (and oddly enough, it's one of the most preferred Wizard races), but the "look" sets these characters well apart from the Elves, Humans and Halflings. They even have a pretty tragic backstory to boot.

6. Dark Age of Camelot: Kobold

Seriously, what's up with fantasy and sci-fi races being blue? I guess green looks too reptile-y, red too demon-y, and yellow too lemon-y, so authors and creators look at the few remaining Crayons in their boxes and pull out blue on a consistent basis.

Even so, the small blue Kobolds of DAoC not only take tiny races in a new, not-photocopying-Hobbits direction, but also give props to one of fantasy's most endearing races. Kobolds are everywhere, from DDO to World of Warcraft, but only DAoC lets you play one. Excalibur!

7. Ultima Online: Gargoyle

Superheroes may perch on them to look all stoic and broody, but gargoyles are spectacular in their own right. Fortunately, Ultima Online took the initiative to make them a playable race, which means that animated dolls (Class Skill: Bed Wetting) are not far behind.

Fun fact: Gargoyles have no hair. Not that you were asking.

8. Asheron's Call: Undead

During the long course of our in-game combat careers, I think that many of us look at the mobs we're fighting and occasionally wonder what it would be like to play as that race instead of the one we're currently manning. Asheron's Call, like most fantasy titles, is replete with undead creatures -- but the game also allows you to become one, full on shambling corpse and everything.

It's nice to see the formerly evil Undead try to become upstanding members of society, but I'd imagine that there are a few stumbling blocks to being truly accepted by those around you. One small misstep by jokingly saying "Braaaains!" at a potluck dinner, and out come the chainsaws and cricket bats.

9. Guild Wars 2: Charr

I wasn't going to include this on the basis that Guild Wars 2 hasn't come out yet, but even suggesting that in the Massively offices sent Rubi into a frothing rage. "CHARR!" she raged on top of her desk, clawing at her cheeks and rolling her eyes back into their sockets. "CHARR CHARR CHARRRRRRR!" Fifteen minutes and two horse tranquilizers later, I relented.

So. Charr. Not much more to add than that.

10. Istaria-formerly-Horizons: Dragons

I'll admit, for an MMO that disappeared off the radar almost immediately after launch, Istaria-formerly-Horizons had one incredibly nifty idea in its noggin: playable dragons. One might think that a Dragon would have a hard time with normal MMO conventions -- wearing armor, visiting gift shops, entering populated areas without becoming the target of a 72-person raid -- but somehow Istaria-formerly-Horizons made it work.

After all, who doesn't want to be Puff the Magic Dragon? Er, bad example. Who doesn't want to be Falcor the Luck Dragon? Er... Spyro? Darn it, aren't there any cool dragons in the world?

Justin "Syp" Olivetti enjoys counting up to ten, a feat that he considers the apex of his career. If you'd like to learn how to count as well, check out The Perfect Ten. You can contact him via email at justin@massively.com or through his gaming blog, Bio Break.