I personally think that orcs in fantasy media have become way too watered down. They were created by J.R.R. Tolkien to be a pure evil, and brutish race, representing the horrors of war. Many people have tried to give orcs more nuance by being like "what if they weren't that evil" and then fantasy writers just kept watering them down until they just in alot of instances became regular guys with green skin, and i just feel like thats the wrong way to do it. If you want to get orcs nuance, instead of giving a monster morals, maybe try to explore why they are evil.
Imagine this. Orcs are born with a very different physical, and mental biology from humans. Not only are their brains smaller than a human's, but they are also born without the part of the brain that makes them experience empathy. Both male and female orcs are also born with an absurdly high amount of testosterone, and along with them being carnivorous, is why they are so aggressive, and violent. Orc society also prioritizes strength and deadlyness over everything. They kill for food, they kill for sport, one orc might even kill another, if they think they are too weak, or if they dont like each other. Orcs never questions if killing is wrong, because they literally lack the ability to see the world from any other perspective than their own. There is one way to get an orc as an "ally".
-if you are stronger than the orc
-if an alliance with you somehow benefits the orc more than an alliance with other orcs
-if you can continuously keep the orc in check
-if the orc is still allowed to kill people while allying with you
If you cannot forfill all 4 of these requests, the orc will stap you in the back








