Trolls: A Monster Romance Field Guide
We cannot figure out what these things are for some reason.
Screw you, cold! It is troll time!
Trolls are somehow both creatures of an afterthought and yet required to describe the vastness of European folklore. They are man-eating savages and tantalizing specimens of modern fantasy. They are cute, small, giant, ugly, scary, and all manner of other conflicting portrayals. They defy classification. No one can agreed what the fuck trolls are.
Trolls in Monster Romance
At the time of this writing, trolls are just not common yet in Monster Romance. In fact, if it weren’t for Lyonne Riley’s prolific writing, the list of troll representation I have built would be much shorter.
In response to this and possibly in hopes more writers would take up this market gap, I have broken out some of the most significant examples of trolls in modern folklore and entertainment.
Trolls of Pop Culture
Like many things, we can partly blame the Americans. I say this as a proud American who isn’t afraid of honesty. Our pop culture did a number on trolls to make describing what they are difficult.
Troll Dolls
The American company Dreamworks created a movie franchise in 2016 based on an older toy brand the company acquired from the Danish company Dam Things. The dolls had become an iconic toy in American culture in the decades previous. The movie was a reboot of the IP.
For more reading on this recent history, check out this article: DreamWorks Animation Acquires IP For Trolls With Plans To Take Iconic Dolls' Brand (And Hair) To New Heights
Observation Notes
Cute, colorful, and musical.
Their voices sound like famous American celebrities who can sing like Justin Timberlake.
Would feel wrong somehow to be used one day in monster romance, but perhaps niche erotica.
World of Warcraft Trolls
Besides some parts of traditional Scandinavian trolls, WoW trolls make the most sense as main character candidates for the Monster Romance genre. Unsurprisingly, Lyonne Riley’s trolls in her trollkin world are comparable.
Observation Notes
Possessing tusks
Blue
Slim, clever, tough motherf*ckers
Made to be made even sexier by monster romance novelists
Dungeons and Dragons Trolls
Dungeons and Dragons uses trolls as sentient beings with lower intelligence and savage personalities. They are both powerful but can be controlled as servants to more powerful beings like wizards. They may be comparable to Tolkien’s portrayal of orcs.
Observation Notes
Always hungry
Quick-to-heal
No family groups
Green
Could use a female gaze makeover
Middle Earth Trolls
Tolkien almost certainly pulled his thoughts of trolls from northern Scandinavia. Like DnD trolls, the trolls of Middle Earth are sentient but controllable.
Observation Notes
Giant
Lower Intelligence
Adverse to the Sun
Rough, gray skin
Trolls of Scandinavia
An imprecise observation of Scandinavian trolls is that the farther north you go, the bigger they get. For example, Danish trolls are usually smaller and cute. The highly profitable Trolls franchise owned by Dreamworks was originally created by a Danish toy company that pulled their idea from local folklore. Further north, the trolls get bigger and scarier. The Norwegian films Troll (2022) and Troll Hunter (2010) set up trolls as a sort of Scandinavian Kaiju.
The stories surrounding trolls in folklore are not unlike fae lore further south in the UK and France. They are brutal, clever, and made into about any type of creature a storyteller needs. It is this latter observation that makes me think monster romance novelists need to wrap their hands around this version of trolls.
Culture(s) of origin
Scandinavian
Notable Cultural References
Troll Dolls
World of Warcraft
Dungeons and Dragons
Middle Earth
Peer Gynt
Human-Like Scale
[ ] 1 - Almost indistinguishable from humans
[ ] 2 - Subtle differences present (such as pointed ears)
[x] 3 - Clearly different from humans (possessing some non-human body parts)
[ ] 4 - Completely different from humans (very few or no relatable body parts)
Common Attributes
lolz
Recommended Monster Romance Reading…
Anthologies
Novels
On my personal TBR…
Housekeeping
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