Long living Elves don’t make sense to me

[RootBeerBert]

Elves who live hundreds of years are nonsensical to me because of how overpowered they should be but aren’t. Like an Elf who’s been training for hundreds of years but loses or only matches up to someone who’s only been training for few does not make sense to me. I could understand if long living Elves weren’t talented (something I plan for my story) but when they’re portrayed as geniuses it makes even less sense. Any thoughts?

 

[Macha]

Train smart, not hard. Centuries of training is wasted if what you get is only fatigue and no experience.

 

[NotaNuffian]

Also, didn't some novels justify that elves are tree hugging pansies who can't do shit?

 

[CupcakeNinja]

Elves who live hundreds of years are nonsensical to me because of how overpowered they should be but aren’t. Like an Elf who’s been training for hundreds of years but loses or only matches up to someone who’s only been training for few does not make sense to me. I could understand if long living Elves weren’t talented (something I plan for my story) but when they’re portrayed as geniuses it makes even less sense. Any thoughts?

For example, sword fighting and other martial arts has a plateau. Hundreds of years of experience doesnt matter much. What, you think you can achieve better than perfection? Transcend bodily limitations? Two masters of any martial art or weapon are not much different even if one has more years being a master. Skill and technique stagnate. Theres a point where you can't go further no matter how many eons you spend training and fighting because theres simply nothing beyond the perfect thrust angle. The perfect kick, punch, whatever.

Other things determine a victor, like will or physique. Not every perspn has the same body. Some people will naturally be stronger or faster. and no amount of training will change your innate physique compared to another master.

 

[Alaska]

Elves who live hundreds of years are nonsensical to me because of how overpowered they should be but aren’t. Like an Elf who’s been training for hundreds of years but loses or only matches up to someone who’s only been training for few does not make sense to me. I could understand if long living Elves weren’t talented (something I plan for my story) but when they’re portrayed as geniuses it makes even less sense. Any thoughts?

“Just say elves have a mental defect” - my friend

but seriously I think their body going bad would make sense

 

[Jemini]

Elves who live hundreds of years are nonsensical to me because of how overpowered they should be but aren’t. Like an Elf who’s been training for hundreds of years but loses or only matches up to someone who’s only been training for few does not make sense to me. I could understand if long living Elves weren’t talented (something I plan for my story) but when they’re portrayed as geniuses it makes even less sense. Any thoughts?

It's actually easy to justify. Due to their long lives, the elves feel no sense of urgency. This means they just live life slower and spend more time playing and messing about. Maybe the reason why an elf who has trained for decades can be matched by a human who has trained for years is because the human has trained 6 days a week for the entirety of those years of training, while the elf has only trained 1 day a week and maybe hasn't even kept that light schedule consistent.

So, yes, the elf lives longer. However, the human is living 6X faster and focusing their efforts on a single subject, allowing them to match the elves in that one subject they focus on.

You see this difference in life approaches among different people in the real world. Imagine just how much more pronounced the effect would get if you effectively remove the urgency of getting old and having a tight time limit to get things done.

Basically, elves are just lazy.

 

[Plantorsomething]

Elves who live hundreds of years are nonsensical to me because of how overpowered they should be but aren’t. Like an Elf who’s been training for hundreds of years but loses or only matches up to someone who’s only been training for few does not make sense to me. I could understand if long living Elves weren’t talented (something I plan for my story) but when they’re portrayed as geniuses it makes even less sense. Any thoughts?

you might find this fun then.
Or this with with similar themes

 

[Ilikewaterkusa]

Elves who live hundreds of years are nonsensical to me because of how overpowered they should be but aren’t. Like an Elf who’s been training for hundreds of years but loses or only matches up to someone who’s only been training for few does not make sense to me. I could understand if long living Elves weren’t talented (something I plan for my story) but when they’re portrayed as geniuses it makes even less sense. Any thoughts?

In another story I will make all the elves into weed smoking hippies.

 

[Kenjona]

Also they are suppose to develop physically slower than humans. So a 100 and something is still physically and mentally equivalent to a 15 year old. With perks for their actual age in bonuses to certain skills.

 

[MisterSyafiq]

you might find this fun then.
Or this with with similar themes

I personally thing these 2 videos have enough explanation for the current problem

 

[Schultz_von]

Well time is your ally so there is no sense of urgency when doing something, and also because you are immortal you basically have less attachment to the world. Like the Elves in the "Lord of the Ring" where their choice is stay and watch the world wither away, or sail to the west.

you might find this fun then.
Or this with with similar themes

I also highly recommend you watch this. It will give you a perspective on how immortal ones like elves see the world.

 

[BenJepheneT]

Elves who live hundreds of years are nonsensical to me because of how overpowered they should be but aren’t. Like an Elf who’s been training for hundreds of years but loses or only matches up to someone who’s only been training for few does not make sense to me. I could understand if long living Elves weren’t talented (something I plan for my story) but when they’re portrayed as geniuses it makes even less sense. Any thoughts?

There's also the natural trade between age and physique. For an elf to last THAT long of a life would require them to have a body that's low maintenance and sustains on very little, similar to plants. Most of them look like skin-wrapped skeletons because of this, which is why you see them usually depicted with bows and arrows and other discreet weaponry that doesn't need anything above 5 STR to operate.

Mfs are tree huggers because anything harder than a light gust of wind would render their eleventy-hundred years of life, experience, and knowledge, moot in a single swipe.

 

[Deleted member 57675]

Elves who live hundreds of years are nonsensical to me because of how overpowered they should be but aren’t. Like an Elf who’s been training for hundreds of years but loses or only matches up to someone who’s only been training for few does not make sense to me. I could understand if long living Elves weren’t talented (something I plan for my story) but when they’re portrayed as geniuses it makes even less sense. Any thoughts?

Look at how some trees live long if left unattended. Some have lived for over a hundred years, some two hundred. But they all fall to the hands of a human. Elves and fae are made like that, something immortal if left untouched.

Or a reminiscent of a past time and how old disappeared because their stubborn ways led to their demise.

That or elves are just made that way so humans can portray themselves as the heroes. The high and mighty elves are no match for the dirt-crusted, hardy looking humans that can tolerate and with stand any enemy. Actually, the elves were capable, but humans just thought they were rich and arrogant and got tired so portrayed the elves as flailing dying society while humans were the better ones to survive in the humans' version of the lore, sorta like how many of us portray and project ourselves as heroes of a story, triumphant when not always the heroic person really.

 

[K5Rakitan]

Their brains probably take longer to develop than ours do. You know how human babies can't walk until they are about a year old? Depending on the lore, elflings may not be able to walk until they are 3 years old or so. Thus, the old elves may be OP, but an elf who is just 25 years old is a mere child and easy to overpower.

 

[Zirrboy]

Then there's the books I read that either have immortals as passive and bored, or rampant perverts in search to alleviate said boredom.

 

[PancakesWitch]

in what sort of dragon ball world are you putting elves into exactly? also their long lived trope and everythign related to it comes from Tolkien himself, so go blame him for making the staple of fantasy book elves, i'm sure he'll listen your rant about how they should all be super saiyan god blue level of power after living so long because yes while he's inside his grave

 

[Armored99]

Could be a fun way to play with how they're portrayed as being naturally gifted at things when it could really just be that they've lived longer.

Without some counter-balance elves would definitely be overpowered. The most common way I've seen used is that elves have very low fertility and so they both have a smaller pool of talent and less expendable people.

And I do agree with the previous comment about tolkiens elves being way too OP.

 

[ElliePorter]

Since elves are immortal and the concept of time doesn't apply to them. It makes perfect sense that they don't always fight or go outside their sanctuary. They also live a very slow life.

The Elves in The Lord of the Rings have been alive since the beginning of time itself. Imagine fighting and resisting a fallen god like Melkor (he was the God of Order in Middle Earth) who became Morgoth and had a disciple who created the nine rings of power but created a secret ring to override the nine. If you're still not OP by the Fourth Age, which is the War of the Rings (This is supposedly the timeline of LOTR) you must've isolated yourself for too damn long.

Naturally, Elves are curious and prideful beings. If a young elf with a ton of experience with mock battles vs. a human who has achieved peak conditions by training like hell. Of course, the elf would lose because they haven't experienced defeat and their pride only limits them.

The human, on the other hand has experienced that as it is in our nature to win by any means necessary.

 

[Paul_Tromba]

you might find this fun then.
Or this with with similar themes

Maqia was a sad movie with eh CGI but that manga is incredibly good.

 

[greyblob]

slower subjective perception of time will result in more lazy, less inclined demeanor for action and future planning. they are not as haunted by the fleeting years and missed opportunities. their lives should be slower (less productive and less intense). without the looming threat of death, they do not push themselves as much, so they could arguably be less developed than other short-lived species