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Elf
Elf image
Tao the Mage
Vital statistics
Habitat Varies
Eye color Varies
Hair color Varies
Skin color Pale
Unusual features No aging beyond adolescence
Long, pointed ears
Lanky, underdeveloped bodies(pre-Shining Force III)

Elves (エルフ, Erufu?) are among the most populous races in the Shining series, and are represented in a majority of the games.

Race[]

In the earlier games of the series, elves are instantly recognizable by their slender, underdeveloped bodies. Even males have little to no musculature, and females have very small breasts. Their faces and extremities also tend to be lean and narrow.

These defining traits were largely done away with in Shining Force III Scenario 1: God Warrior of the Kingdom and Shining Force III Scenario 2: Target: Child of God. In these games the series gradually adopted an overt Hentai influence in the character designs, with most of the female characters plainly intended for sex appeal. To accommodate this, female elves were given human-sized or even exceptionally large breasts, and a shirtless male elf displaying a hefty amount of muscle was introduced. After Shining Force III Scenario 3, the games of the series are set in alternate universes from the earlier games, ones where elves with human proportions are apparently normal. The appearance of these bulked-up elves in the Shining Force III scenarios, however, has no explanation in context of the game world. It is tempting to suppose that they are the result of elves breeding with humans and dwarves (like Produn's and Stella's unborn child), but the Shining Force III elves all have their race listed as "Elf" rather than "Half Elf", "Elf/Dwarf", or any such thing.

The most consistent feature of elves are their pointed ears. Elves can be relied upon to have pointed ears in every game of the Shining series. Most have very long ears, though some have more subtle pointed ears. They also tend to have brightly colored hair (green, blue, pink and white), though there are so many exceptions to this rule that it cannot be said for certain that it is a species trait and not simply coincidence.

A less superficial trait is their unusual life cycles. Their life span is roughly 200 years, and they do not age after they reach adolescence. Because of this, elves look like teenagers for the vast majority of their lives, and those who survive to the end of their life span die suddenly of old age, without warning.

Though pre-Shining Force III elves are obviously too scrawny to wield most weapons, they make up for this with their sharp eyesight and strong aptitude for magic. Throughout the series, the majority of playable bow-users are elves, as their eyesight gives them such a leg up in archery. Elves are also frequently seen as magic-users, usually of the offensive variety. From Shining Force III onward they can be seen in more physically demanding roles in well, but archer and mage are still the most common roles for elves.

Examples[]

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