Discussion Novel slavery...

Fertility is the excuse normally used
Since humans outnumber elves a gazillion to 1

 

Slavery is not bad thing if it's jp novel
Here some example

1. Slave can eat together at the same table with master, not in the floor
2. Master will treat slave nicely (polite talk, ask slave opinion, order slave to sleep in warm bed while master sleep at the cold floor)
3. Master will save slave in dangerous situation even there is death risk

 

Slavery is not bad thing if it's jp novel
Here some example

1. Slave can eat together at the same table with master, not in the floor
2. Master will treat slave nicely (polite talk, ask slave opinion, order slave to sleep in warm bed while master sleep at the cold floor)
3. Master will save slave in dangerous situation even there is death risk

 

Okay most people said that human race breed like crazy and the other races are being outnumber, and my question is this, are the other race just sit on their fucking ass and did nothing?
The elves is said to live longer, did they become stupider as they aged... They seriously cannot think of any way to solve the problem of being outnumber?
New magic, new weapon, form a coalition with the other race or so on. They seriously cannot think any of this? If they really can't then the only thing that i can said is that their life is wasted.
And about pride, what, being a slave is better than be dishonored? Seriously??

 

Typically the other races have some sort of great weakness to make up for their great strength (arrogance, low birth rate, not wanting to stay together, etc) while the humans don't have any great strength but no massive weakness either which allows them to create (in most novels) massive empires full of lots of people and power. In the end because of the other races either being arrogant enough to believe themselves far above humans until humans become too strong for them to fight or their self imposed isolationism humans are allowed to spread and become massively powerful and thus able to subjugate the other races. Thus even though the other races are far advanced in some subject compared to humans they simply can't compete because of the massive weakness their strength leaves while humans can do just about anything with just a lower efficiency.

 

The issue is that elves aren't stupid, usually the opposite in fact. And archery and magic make for just about the best ambush tactics in any setting. How long would the elves watch on? Not even a decade, despite their long lifes and apathy. Villages would dissappear deep into magic forests where entire fortress cities would be build. Legions would be formed and every elf would learn martial arts and magic to defend himself or herself. The elves are usually one with the land, and in a medival tech level setting nothing is more lethal than that if it is used for war. And it takes little magic to lay waste to medival economy. Poison wells, burn and salt the fields etc.

 

Or in the case of the skaven the ultimate and almost perfect race just slightly below dogs. The fact that they will backstab anyone at anytime for any reason~

 

People have already addressed some aspects, the fact that humans tend to reproduce faster than many of the long lived races so they win out in numbers.

Another thing to note is perception of time. If you remember as a child, your day seemed to have gone forever, but as you got older, the day passes quicker and quicker. That is because with age, we find things we already know and filter them, thus our perception of time changes. To an elf, 20 years might seem like 1 year to us. So their reaction to issues can be much slower than they should be as they don't perceive the urgency of time in the same way humans do.

Now in case of beastkin races, often times they reproduce just as fast or faster. But they often time lack civilization and broken down into tribes. That is because of their warrior/feral like instincts. Thus humans that utilize technology, cheap trickery and taking out 1 tribe at a time can achieve beating them as well.


One important thing is that humans unlike other races are not adapt to the environment. Thus the need for adaptation drive progress. If we look at human history, countries with high resources get overtaken by those with low resources because those with low resources are forced to adapt and make due. While those who don't take things more leasurly.

 

In human history the high civilizations rekt everyone else by sheer difference in technology, knowledge and resources.

 

Your last point is not clear. Is the bolded text a typo?

 

But how did they get to become high civilizations? It isn't a coincidence. While resources help a lot, they also hinder. Why? Because when resources are abundant, people tend to sit on the resources and rely on them. It's like would you be more efficient at a job if its optional or if your life dependent on it?

Lack of resources have prompted civilizations to use resources more efficiently, and the more efficient you are, the higher your civilization is.

It isn't. Elves have natural adaptation to any forest. Beastkin's feral instincts, coats, good hearing, good smell, sharp claws and etc.

If I were to leave an elf child, a beastkin child and a human child in the wilderness, who has the least chance of surviving?

For the beastkin and the elf, that is like leaving them in their own backyard, they will survive without any issue unless they have bad luck. For the human, they are pretty much dead as humans have no natural weapons and our senses are no way as good as the other 2.

BUT, let us say all 3 did survive. Which of the 3 would you say progressed the most? That's right, because for the human, a lot more effort and a lot more creativity would be needed to survive and that need spurs growth as a civilization.

To put it simply, humans have the worst starting specs, but have the most potential for growth.

 

I think I misread your post and thought you said those with high resources overtake those with low resources.
I would argue that is because humans can adapt to all everything while elves are only suited to specific environments.
By the way, if thinks work the way I am planning. I will adapt your Truck-kun story into a full-blown comic.
Cheers!

 

Depends what age we are talking about and whether or not the beastkin is herbivorous.
Herbivorous beastkins are as you said are the most likely to survive by far!
Carnivorous beastkin on the other hand are in much the same state as that of a human. However when they reach maturity their aggressive natures is generally their downfall.
Elves are equally fucked as humans as they generally are similar to humans if maybe a bit stronger/faster/magical however at the age we are talking about he elf is screwed.
Human is screwed.

The group who progresses the most is the elf. Elves have a natural connection to the forest only rarely generally they are able to create a niche where they can survive within the forest however don't have to destroy everything and respect everything whereas humans destroy and burn everything down! Humans have the easier job. However the elves stagnate cause they can't make more destructive stuff or they will have to rapidly change how they live.

 

The reasons as to why other races are enslaved are the same as to why human are considered the dominant species:

1. Human Recovery: Unlike long living races (Elves,...) human live shorter lives, which causes them to reproduce more often then Elves. Given the sheer quantity of humans, loosing 1000 human soldiers to kill a single elven warrior will hurt the elves more in the long run, especially because training those soldiers can be done in a few months/years, while said elven warrior took decades to get to his skill.
Since humans can recover their losses in manpower more quickly than elves, they tend to win drawn out conflicts simply by whittling away their opponents forces.

2. Human Adaptability: Unlike dwarves and other races that are specialized towards one type of environment (underground, ocean, etc.), humans can prosper nearly anywhere. More variety of space leads to more inventions to tackle problems, allowing humans to even prove a challenge for other races in their specialized environment.

3. Humans Drive: Unlike truly powerfull races (Giants, Dragons, ...), humans are driven for improvement and survival. Said strong races however have a problem: To improve, they'd either have to challenge equally strong foes (thus cutting down their numbers), destroy everything around them (and starving to death) or simply sleep away the time to allow new food to come, thus limiting their achievements.
Dragons still are considered fearsome apex creatures, but their limited activity makes it less likely to rule the whole world, whereas humans can thrive even in the most desolate places, growing their strength and pushing towards better places.

4. Human Intelligence: Any race that falls behind in an arms race will lose sooner or later

5. Humans Control of their Instincts: While still driven by instincts, human tend to be a lot less influenced by them than Orcs, Trolls, etc. allowing them to take different approaches to a problem instead of falling into a fight, flight or f*ck mindset.

6. Human Base Stats: While other races (depending on author gnomes, kobolds, goblins, ...) fulfill many of the above criteria, their base stats tend to be lower than human, making their starting point even harder than for their human equivalent.

As a school allegory:
- Dragons know it all, never learn, sleep all day, ace all tests, and maybe fail the finals
- Elves ace all tests and the finals, but repeat each year ten times to do so.
- Dwarves ace their blacksmith and mining exams but fail all others
- Giants get by on a PE scholarship
- Orcs get thrown out of school for beating up the teacher
- Goblins get thrown out of school for trying to r*pe the teacher
- Humans study everyday, work their a** off and pass the final only to continue improving until they either die or become successful
- Lizardmen usually got lost in the swam and never made it to school
- ...

 

isn't it just authors wish fulfillment and the desire of the targeted readers to have a character that can't say "no" to anything and will serve the MC's every whim gratefully since they were "saved"?
logic has nothing to do with it, thus the "whys" and "hows" don't matter.

 

it's standard fantasy setting ever since tolkien that humans outnumber all the other major intelligent races: elves, dwarfs, halflings (I think, I need to check), beastkin/lizard-kin, etc.: being balanced (no major weaknesses), adaptable, etc.: so survival of the fittest.

Being balanced, humans are also good at negotiating with other races, and getting more benefits from trades (like getting dwarven weapons), whereas elves' pride means they can't take advantage of these benefits. humanity's balance: means we develop in all areas: magic, metal-work like weapons, all elements, etc. whereas elves only develop magic/nature, and dwarves only only metalwork, halflings mostly develop only rogue skills (and don't work on magic at all), and beastkin/lizard-kin only develop fighting/hunting techniques.

you can think of isekai slavery setting as the point in which humanity's development has overshadowed the the other standard races (except for demon kind with its demon lord) too much that humanity will definitely win against them if war breaks out. many of the more prideful races like elves still cling to their (past) pride, but the wiser individuals already realize it's too late to beat humanity, so even if they know about the enslavement of a some members of their race, they don't actively start wars against humanity.

if you think that the other races are too stupid or something, please remember that the novels we read are written by humans for humans, and that isekai novels with slavery are often supposed to be wish-fulfillment. Also, note: japan is a pretty homogenous country: elves with their pride is like their metaphor for caucasian foreigners, other races is like a metaphor for other types of foreigners (except more beautified for the japanese readers' wish fulfillment), so japanese readers probably identify with humanity more

 

I haven’t really thought about that. In novels that I buy at a local bookshop, usually the elves and other races are usually above the humans on the food chain. While the novels here, as you said, they get enslaved. Maybe it’s just a cultural thing? Idk

 

The most simple reason actually. Have you ever heard of the saying 'Deus VULT'. In this case its the author.

 

There is a limit to how often you can pull a new weapon out your ass, sooner or later you will hit a plateau technologically (which is why we are still using M-16s and their M-4 spinoffs). And remember, one person can only use one main weapon at one time. So what if you got a "Bow of Insta-death +200" when there are 3-4 people shooting at you? At best you'll kill one of them before they pincushion you.

Sometimes, there simply is no getting over a numbers disadvantage. Even Germany with all its technological poweress simply got steamrollered by Allied numbers in WWII. Russia demonstrated it even more so.

 

Most of them became high civilizations by abusing a natural advantage to snowball their neighbours.