History Main / OrcRaisedByElves

* ''Anime/YuYuHakusho'': [[{{Youkai}} Kurama]], a reincarnation of a silver-haired fox demon that born into a human child called [[JustForFun/OneOfUs Shuichi Minamino]]. He only planned to stay in his human body until he recovered enough power to return to his old ways, but the loving cares of his human mother formed emotional bonds between them. He was at the point of wanting to save her life when she was ill at the start of the series. First appearing as a possible enemy, when he saw the efforts of Yusuke for saving him and his mother at cost of his own life, Kurama decides to join to his side without hesitation, and later convince [[HeterosexualLifePartners demon Hiei]] to do the same.

* ''Anime/YouAreUmasou has a sad version of this. Heart is a T-rex raised by a Maiasaura who found his egg in a river. Her herd is not happy about the situation, and tried to kill him after hatching, but they eventually agree to allow him in when she can't bear to abandon him. Unfortunately, Heart cannot eat leaves so he's left with fruit, the only things he'll eat. When he learns that he's a "Big Jaw", he runs away to live a carnivorous diet. It's later inverted when Heart raises a baby ankylosaur named Umasou, and he has to struggle with raising a son with herbivorous instincts (like always following their parents, making it harder for him to hunt).

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Invincible}}'': [[spoiler:Downplayed with the titular protagonist, since his “orc” father is stil around to raise him. While Nolan Grayson/Omni-Man is from a race of superpowered SocialDarwinists who believes [[HumansAreInsects humans are nothing but animals for conquering]], Mark was raised on Earth as a human for most of his life with an idealistic image of what a hero is. Because of this, he is a firm believer in protecting humanity, and when Nolan reveals his true motivations, he decides that he would rather die protecting humanity than help his father conquer and/or destroy it. This makes Nolan state that he regrets raising Mark as a human.]]

*** Drizzt Do'Urden, a drow. Although technically an "adult" when he makes it to the surface, he is adopted by Bruenor Battlehammer, a dwarf, and taught to be a productive member of society.
** In fifth edition's ''Volo's Guide to Monsters'', players are given the option to select a monster race such as orcs, goblins, gnolls, etc. Being raised by elves (or another friendly race) is one of the exampled reasonings as to why one from a monster race would be helping a group that likely attacks their kind.

Orc Raised by Elves is the [[InvertedTrope opposite]] of RaisedByOrcs. In that trope, someone who is from a good group is raised by villains; this is the opposite, a member of a bad or AlwaysChaoticEvil group being raised by a good or AlwaysLawfulGood group. This trope, like the other one, gets into the nurture/nature issue. Sometimes, the "orc" will [[TokenHeroicOrc turn out good]], thanks to their upbringing, but at other occasions, being evil is [[VillainousLineage hereditary]]. Sometimes the raised orc will confront members of his biological race. Interesting stuff will happen, like the raised orc thinking they're enemies, or potential friends, or wondering why he looks more similar to them than the ones who raised him.

* In ''Manga/BlackClover'', despite being a devil from the underworld, Liebe himself has a hatred for his own race due to their constant torment and abuse of him in the underworld for having no magic, and was later taken in and raised by Licita when he came to the human world. Although he claims that ''all'' devils including himself are scum, Asta points out that Liebe is different, inferring that his inability to kill Asta is because of his compassion, which comes from the maternal love he received from Licita.
* Kakarot from ''Franchise/DragonBall'' was a Saiyan (a [[BloodKnight savage and ultraviolent warrior race]] known for eliminating the populations of entire planets for profit) who came to Earth as a baby and was found by Son Gohan, an OldMaster martial artist. As a result of brain trauma from falling headfirst onto a rock and being raised by the kind Son Gohan, the baby grew up to be a loving and cheerful child, renamed by Gohan as Son Goku.

* in ''Anime/YuYuHakusho'', there's [[{{Youkai}} Kurama]], a reincarnation of a silver-haired fox demon that born into a human child called [[JustForFun/OneOfUs Shuichi Minamino]]. He only planned to stay in his human body until he recovered enough power to return to his old ways, but the loving cares of his human mother formed emotional bonds between them. He was at the point of wanting to save her life when she was ill at the start of the series. First appearing as a possible enemy, when he saw the efforts of Yusuke for saving him and his mother at cost of his own life, Kurama decides to join to his side without hesitation, and later convince [[HeterosexualLifePartners demon Hiei]] to do the same.

* In the ''ComicBook/NewGods'' series, Orion is this, being part of an experiment/peace deal that also included RaisedByOrcs. Scott Free was the son of one of the benevolent deities and was given to be raised by the EvilOverlord ComicBook/{{Darkseid}}. Darkseid's son, Orion, was raised in his place. Both of them grow up to be heroes, Orion's rage was given a positive outlet and he became one of New Genesis greatest champions, while Darkseid was not able to stunt Scott Free's underlying nature or crush his hope no matter how much torture he underwent, and he eventually escaped to Earth where he became Mister Miracle (in the process costing Darkseid one of his strongest minions, Big Barda, who fell in love with Scott and escaped with him).
* The eponymous character ComicBook/{{Hellboy}}, a demon considered as the AntiChrist, who was found by humans as a baby to be later raised to become an All-American Hero.
* Damian Wayne, biological son of Franchise/{{Batman}}[=/=]Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul, was raised by his mother and trained by the League of Assassins as a killer at early age. Without knowing a word of his existence, Damian appears in his 10s in Wayne's house as a ruthless and violent kid left there by Talia to disrupt Batman's work. With his mentorship as well as Dick Grayson's (who would become the new Batman when Bruce [[spoiler:temporarily]] died), Damian made a HeelFaceTurn and eventually became the new Comicbook/{{Robin}}, being like an AntiHero version of this KidSidekick.
* Loki from ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'' was a Frost Giant raised by Odin after ([[DeathIsCheap apparently]]) killing his father Laufey. Loki attempts to conquer and destroy Asgard and in general the universe. He also hates his own race, especially his AbusiveParent (who Loki has also killed, twice).
* Subverted/deconstructed in ''ComicBook/RomVsTransformersShiningArmor''; the Space Knights ''think'' they've done this by raising Stardrive, a young Transformer they rescued from a destroyed ship, but in truth they haven't done anything of the sort. Their only real contact with Transformers has been peripheral reports of collateral damage caused by the Great War and the Decepticons attacking organic worlds for resources. Rom is legitimately shocked and disturbed when he realizes that the "evil killer robots" he's been hearing horror stories about his whole life are actually just normal people who happen to be sentient machines. The rest of the Space Knights are even slower to accept the fact that the Autobots are generally good people trying to stop the Decepticons. This all causes Stardrive to suffer not just from discrimination in the Space Knight ranks, but also from [[InternalizedCategorism extreme self-loathing]].
* Ethan Edwards/Virtue, a Franchise/{{Superman}} {{expy}} in the Creator/MarvelComics universe, is a Skrull sent to Earth when ComicBook/{{Galactus}} was due to consume the Skrull throneworld and raised by a kindly Iowa couple.

* Raphael in ''Fanfic/HeroesInTheShadows'' is the biological son of the Shredder. Recognizing the kind of horrors being raised by someone like the Shredder could bring about, Yoshi takes his son and flees with him to America along with Tang Shen, Miwa, and Leonardo. He was raised as a member of the Hamato Clan.

* This is interestingly presented in ''Film/{{Thor}}''. Loki had always felt different among his fellow Asgardians, but he never realized he was a Frost Giant because a {{Glamour}} had disguised his true appearance. When he discovers the truth, he's furious because while Odin did love him, Loki was nonetheless meant to be a political pawn in Odin's attempt to create lasting peace between Jötunheim and Asgard [[note]] which may or may not be the same thing as bringing Jötunheim under Asgard's control by using his adopted son as a PuppetKing who would promote Asgardian interests; Odin's history and character is such that both are possible [[/note]]. Loki then strikes a deal with the Giants which would allow them to invade Asgard -- but Loki [[BoomerangBigot despises the Jötnar]] and, in a twisted way of proving his loyalty to Asgard, had planned to wipe out his own species.
** His eponymous [[Series/Loki2021 show]] features small moments like Loki mentioning an Asgardian proverb, singing an Asgardian song, or [[BrickJoke smashing his cup while calling for another]], all of which demonstrate how he continues to carry his adoptive culture with him.

* Veil in ''Outcast of Literature/{{Redwall}}'' is a vermin (and thus AlwaysChaoticEvil) raised by the Abbey Dwellers (generally AlwaysLawfulGood) and is presented as definitely leaning toward evil, but ultimately makes a HeroicSacrifice. It ''may'' be implied that the Abbey Dwellers [[ThenLetMeBeEvil made him morally ambiguous]] by treating him with suspicion since childhood, but since vermin are generally AlwaysChaoticEvil in the series, maybe not.
* Mr. Nutt in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novel ''Unseen Academicals'' actually is an orc and was raised by humans and FriendlyNeighborhoodVampires. He's a stand-up guy, although in this case, it's questionable whether orcs actually were AlwaysChaoticEvil to begin with.
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': A direwolf is a close relative of the wolf, but larger and stronger. Direwolves are extinct south of the Wall, as they are a very large and dangerous predator, and people have probably hunted them out. Robb Stark found a dead female direwolf with a litter of six pups on the path between Winterfell and the holdfast where Gared was executed, these direwolves were raised by the members of House Stark and become mascots and companions of every member of the family. Also, a grey direwolf in a white field is the sigil of House Stark.
* Storm from ''Literature/SurvivorDogs'' is a Fierce Dog who was taken in by the Wild Pack after her biological mother was murdered. She was raised by GentleGiant Martha. Storm brings up the issue of NatureVersusNurture. She still has Fierce Dog instincts, such as her [[CreepyChild love of fighting as a pup]] and [[spoiler:the time she tore a dog's ''jaw'' off in a fight]], but she's also on the "good guys" side and tries her best to fight her violent tendencies.
* Creator/JRRTolkien himself pondered whether orcs were redeemable. His conclusion was that it wasn't very likely, as whatever Morgoth did to them had condemned the whole species to an existence of constant pain and fear, which even a "good" upbringing could not undo.
* Sarah Zellaby of ''Literature/InCryptid'' is one of the only non-sociopathic Johrlac (also known as "cuckoos" for their BackstoryInvader powers), who was raised by the only other non-evil Johrlac, Angela, and her husband Martin, a FriendlyZombie (and frequently spent summers with her human cousins, children of Angela's adopted human daughter). So she's an Orc Raised by a TokenHeroicOrc.[[note]]Johrlac naturally leave their young to be raised by human families, hence the "cuckoo" nickname, but almost always turn out evil (or at least with BlueAndOrangeMorality) once their powers [[HumanAlienDiscovery manifest]]).[[/note]]

** Worf of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' is a Klingon (who were the villains in ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' and only slowly later became allies of the Federation) raised by humans. Unlike most other examples, his adoptive parents made a point of keeping him in touch with his Klingon heritage -- though this leads to his mindset being based on an exaggerated and more idealistic view of Klingon culture (for one thing, the other Klingons in the show, including his biological brother Kern, tend to be more underhanded than Worf, who is a thorough ProudWarriorRaceGuy).
** They tried this with a Jem'Hadar baby in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', but the Founders had genetically engineered them to hate all non-Founders, and the attempt to raise him like Worf failed.
** Odo in ''Deep Space Nine'' is also an example, having been raised by Bajorans while being [[spoiler:a Founder]].
** In addition, Cardassian orphans left on Bajor after the Occupation have been adopted and raised by Bajorans. One such boy grew up with a ''serious'' case of self-loathing.
* There's a ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' episode where a wraith girl was raised by humans. She genuinely tries, is distraught by her need to feed, and desperately injects the untried Wraith retrovirus that would theoretically make her human (she'd [[spoiler:been feeding because her adopted father's serum didn't work]]). This, unfortunately, only magnifies the Iratus Bug aspects of the Wraith heritage, having exactly the opposite effect and turning her into a rampaging monster.

** On ''TabletopGame/{{Mystara}}'' Elves of Alfheim have captured a large number of Orcs after a failed Orc invasion. They were initially considered making them slaves but when the majority rejected the idea as appalling, they decided to just let Orcs go. The Orcs however asked permission to stay and take various jobs. Over the few generations, Alfheim Orcs have gone completely native and their descendants are raised in Elven culture, with Elves considering them a part of their society and defending from outsiders who don't know better.

* In ''VideoGame/FallFromHeaven'', one leader of the [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Clan of Embers]], Sheelba, has this as her backstory. She was adopted as a war orphan by a [[KnightTemplar Bannor]] soldier who had just lost his own daughter, and was bound with a {{Geas}} by a mage to be obedient, which eventually became her name. However, the spell never worked (what actually made her civilized was [[NatureVersusNurture being treated like a normal girl]]), and when she overhears her father drunkenly admitting that he still doesn't see her as his daughter (which may not be the truth; he may have only said it to avoid getting [[FantasticRacism branded an orc sympathizer]]), she runs away and joins the Clan.

* Deadeye in ''Videogame/OrcsMustDieUnchained'' is an [[NonhumanHumanoidHybrid orc/elf hybrid]] who was raised by elves as one of their own. She was unfortunately driven into exile when she was accused of the murder of her adoptive parent, becoming an outlaw. Temper is a minotaur raised by Dwarves, though unlike Deadeye his upbringing was largely positive.
* Thrall the orc from ''Videogame/WarCraft'' is an interesting case. He was found as an infant after the orcs' defeat in ''Warcraft II'' and adopted by the human Aedelas Blackmoore, overseer of the internment camps holding most of the surviving orcs. While this meant Thrall grew up free of orcish influence, Blackmoore was hardly a good role model, as his whole scheme was first to train Thrall as a gladiator slave ([[BattleThralls hence the name]]), then to use Thrall to lead an orcish army that could overthrow Lordaeron and put Blackmoore in power. Instead Thrall escaped from Blackmoore, linked up with some orcish holdouts, rediscovered the orcs' benign shamanistic heritage, liberated his people from the humans' internment camps, killed Blackmoore, and went on to become the Warchief of a revitalized and redeemed Horde.

* Spike the Dragon in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' was reared as a hatchling by ponies. As an adolescent, he sees the Great Dragon Migration and goes on a quest to learn more about his own kind, where he quickly finds that he prefers to live among ponies. Later episodes further emphasize his pony-like character compared to other dragons, but he forges ties with the Dragon Lord and eventually becomes Equestria's official Friendship Ambassador to the Dragon Lands. [[spoiler:Then he goes through puberty.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'' Mesk is an Orion Starfleet officer who was raised by humans on Earth. Somewhat like Worf he learned about their culture remotely and has a distorted view of its reality (much more so in his case, because he learned about it from trashy holonovels), constantly talking up a fake history of being a pirate and referring to criminal urges, much to the [[StopBeingStereotypical annoyance of Tendi]], a real former Orion pirate who joined Starfleet.

** Worf of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' is a Klingon (who were the villains in ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' and only slowly later became allies of the Federation) raised by humans. Unlike most other examples, his adoptive parents made a point of keeping him in touch with his Klingon heritage -- though this leads to his mindset being based on an exaggerated and more idealistic view of Klingon culture (for one thing, the other Klingons in the show tend to be more underhanded than Worf, who is a thorough ProudWarriorRaceGuy).

** Worf of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' is a Klingon (who were the villains in ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' and only slowly later became allies of the Federation) raised by humans.

* J. R. R. Tolkien himself pondered whether orcs were redeemable. His conclusion was that it wasn't very likely, as whatever Morgoth did to them had condemned the whole species to an existence of constant pain and fear, which even a "good" upbringing could not undo.

[[folder: Films--Animated]]

* Thrall the Orc from ''Videogame/WarCraft III: Reign of Chaos'' was an orc raised by humans as a gladiator slave ([[BattleThralls hence the name]]), who ended up not only escaping his captor but leading the orcs to freedom.
* Deadeye in ''Videogame/OrcsMustDieUnchained'' is an [[NonhumanHumanoidHybrid orc/elf hybrid]] who was raised by elves as one of their own. She was unfortunately driven into exile when she was accused of the murder of her adoptive parent, becoming an outlaw. Temper is a minotaur raised by Dwarves, though unlike Deadeye his upbringing was largely positive.
* ''VideoGame/MassEffect'': The fluff makes mention of some groups of vorcha who were raised by asari. The vorcha, while not AlwaysChaoticEvil, are looked down upon as violent, thuggish brutes by most of the galaxy and most of them don't do anything to help that perception. The diplomatic asari tried to prove that this wasn't inherent in the species by raising some newborn vorcha themselves. These vorcha did indeed turn out to be very stable and productive members of society, proving the asari's point, and these vorcha even attempted to found their own colony of "civilized" vorcha... unfortunately, thanks to their twenty-year lifespans, their reproductive rate outstripped the rate at which their descendants could be educated and "civilized".

* Cacame Awemedinade, a legendary character in the ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' community, is considered perhaps the mightiest king of the dwarves... despite being an [[ElvesVsDwarves elf]]. While adopted later than most examples at age 7, he considers himself no less of a true dwarf, as evidenced by his [[BoomerangBigot immense hatred of other elves]]. His reputation as a paragon of dorfiness is enough that even [[DefectorFromDecadence other elves]] and [[AlwaysChaoticEvil goblins]] have sworn fealty to him, and not even [[spoiler:[[PhysicalGod demons]]]] can best his axedwarfship.

* On ''TabletopGame/{{Mystara}}'' Elves of Alfheim has captured a large number of Orcs after a failed Orc invasion. They were initially considered making them slaves but when the majority rejected the idea as appalling, they decided to let Orcs go. The Orcs however asked permission to stay and take various jobs. Over the few generations, Alfheim Orcs have gone native and their descendants are raised in Elven culture, with Elves considering them a part of their society now.

* Sarah Zellaby of ''Literature/InCryptid'' is one of the only non-sociopathic Johrlac (also known as "cuckoos" for their BackstoryInvader powers) who was raised by the only other non-evil Johrlac, Angela, and her husband Martin, a FriendlyZombie (and frequently spent summers with her human cousins, children of Angela's adopted human daughter). So she's an Orc Raised by a TokenHeroicOrc.[[note]]Johrlac naturally leave their young to be raised by human families, hence the "cuckoo" nickname, but almost always turn out evil (or at least with BlueAndOrangeMorality) once their powers [[HumanAlienReveal manifest]]).[[/note]]

* This is interestingly presented in ''Film/{{Thor}}''. Loki had always felt different among his fellow Asgardians, but he never realized he was a Frost Giant because a {{Glamour}} had disguised his true appearance. When he discovers the truth, he's furious because while Odin did love him, Loki was nonetheless meant to be a political pawn in Odin's attempt to create lasting peace between Jötunheim and Asgard [[note]] which may or may not be the same thing as bringing Jötunheim under Asgard's control by using his adopted son as a PuppetKing who would promote Asgardian interests; Odin's history and character is such that both are possible [[/note]]. Loki then strikes a deal with the Giants which would allow them to invade Asgard -- Loki [[BoomerangBigot despises the Jötnar]], and in a twisted way of proving his loyalty to Asgard, he had planned to wipe out his own species.

Orc Raised by Elves is the [[InvertedTrope opposite]] of RaisedByOrcs. In that trope, someone who is from a good group is raised by villains; this is the opposite, a member of a bad or AlwaysChaoticEvil group being raised by a good or AlwaysLawfulGood group. This trope, like the other one, gets into the nurture/nature issue. Sometimes, the "orc" will [[TokenHeroicOrc turn out good]], thanks to their upbringing, but at other occasions, being evil is InTheBlood. Sometimes the raised orc will confront members of his biological race. Interesting stuff will happen, like the raised orc thinking they're enemies, or potential friends, or wondering why he looks more similar to them than the ones who raised him.

* Deadeye in ''Videogame/OrcsMustDieUnchained'' is an [[NonhumanHumanoidHybrid orc/elf hybrid]] who was raised by elves as one of their own. She was unfortunately driven into exile when she was accused of the murder of her adoptive parent, becoming an outlaw.

* Raphael in ''Fanfic/HeroesInTheShadows'' is the biological son of the Shredder. Recognizing the kind of horrors being raised by someone like the Shredder could bring about, Yoshi takes his son and flees with him to America along with Tang Shen, Miwa and Leonardo. He was raised as a member of the Hamato Clan.

* Kakarot from ''Franchise/DragonBall'' was a Saiyan (a [[BloodKnight savage and ultraviolent warrior race]] known for eliminating the populations of entire planets for profit) who came to Earth as a baby and was found by Son Gohan, an OldMaster martial artist. As a result of falling headfirst onto a rock and being raised by Son Gohan, the baby grew up to be a loving and cheerful child, renamed by Gohan as Son Goku.