The comic book series Elfquest, created by Wendy and Richard Pini, features a race of elves on the World of Two Moons, searching for their origins and place in the world.
Origin The elves are descended from a spacegoing race known as the High Ones, who were accompanied by small workers (later to evolve into trolls) and winged flitters (later to become the Preservers). One isolated group of High Ones, seeking a new world to dwell in, encountered an unknown planet with two moons inhabited by humans.
Scanning the planet from orbit, they learned of human legends which suggested that other High Ones had once visited the planet. Intending to communicate with the humans in order to learn more, the High Ones reshaped their bodies into elfin form and their spaceship into a Medieval-style palace. Just as they were about to land, the troll servants rebelled and caused the ship to jump back in time 20,000 years (as stated on the official Elfquest timeline), to an age when humans were at a Paleolithic stage of development. The primitive humans killed some of the elves and drove the rest away. The preservers followed the elves while the trolls, freed from their masters, established underground colonies.
Thus the elves were both the cause and the result of a time paradox, because the legends the High Ones had seen were about their own time-shifted descendants.
Most of the High Ones died out, and their descendants forgot their origins completely until Cutter's quest led to their rediscovery.
Physical characteristics While the Original High Ones (including the partial remnant of High Ones within Glider elves) are only a headlength shorter than humans and much slenderer, the Wolfriders and the Go-Backs tribes are between one half and one third of a human. The elves of Elfquest are broadly human in appearance, but are distinguished from humans by the following characteristics: Ears are the most obvious elfin characteristic. They are much bigger than human ears, and prominently pointed. Their tips are supported by prominent bony ridges on either side of the skull. Eyes are larger than human eyes, with slanted eyelids. Cheekbones are high and prominent. Noses are smaller and narrower. Hair is much finer and silkier than human hair (Wolfriders' hair is coarser than that of pure elves, due to their wolf blood). Facial hair: None, except in the case of male Wolfriders, who develop "face fur" - mutton chops, beards and moustaches - after living for several centuries. Fingers and toes: Only four digits on each hand and foot. Skin color: Elves generally exhibit the same range of variation as humans. The Sun Folk, adapted to desert conditions, have medium to dark brown skin. Wolfriders have adapted to cold temperate climates; they are pale pink or ruddy, but tan in hotter climates. Go-backs have a lighter complexion from living in Abode's northern mountains. Gliders - who mostly lived inside a mountain - are fair to pallid.
Tribes Subsequent to their arrival on the World of Two Moons, the elves splintered into a number of different tribes. These tribes differ considerably in culture and even physical appearance but all of them have some kind of animal that they use and that can be related to a form of tribe totem.
Wolfriders
The Wolf-riders are a hunter-gatherer society of nocturnal elves who possess wolf blood, which gives them characteristics unique from other tribes. In addition to having keener senses, they are mortal. Wolfriders live by a code of conduct called "The Way". It is based on the natural cycle of the wolf; it glorifies the wild freedom of a hunter's life, and the "now" of wolf-thought.
Sun Folk
The Sun Folk are a peaceful, largely agrarian desert-dwelling tribe whose dark skin helps protect them from the powerful sunlight of their home, a village called Sorrow's End. The Sun Folk can work soft metals, such as copper, silver, and gold. They are excellent weavers and are capable of building elaborate homes of sun-dried clay.
Gliders The Gliders are a tall race of elves, almost all of whom possess the power of gliding. To avoid human persecution they have cloistered themselves inside the hollowed-out Blue Mountain, devoting themselves to art and contemplation. In the process they have become arrogant and decadent, none more so than the black-robed Winnowill. Because they had lived so long in claustrophobic isolation, the Gliders ceased to Recognize and therefore ceased having children. Eventually, they found themselves worshiped by a human tribe that dwelt at the foot of Blue Mountain. A race of giant hawks were bred to bear the Chosen Eight, the elfin messengers who bore gifts to the humans, received tokens and live offerings of human tribe members, and hunted for the other Gliders.
Go-Backs
The Go-Backs, as their name suggests, desire to return to the Palace, but the Palace had long been claimed by King Guttlekraw's trolls, enemies of the elves. In response, the Go-Backs have become a race of brutally barbaric warriors, constantly fighting the trolls until the war had become their "meat and milk". Their life was short and harsh, and they opted not to use magic because it made life deceptively soft. They value offspring, but believe in a warrior's early death. The Go-Backs had domesticated giant elks for use as mounts, and primarily dwell in lodges built into the mountains. Unknown to the Go-Backs, their chief Kahvi actually has long hidden Wolf-rider blood.
In the German edition, the Go-backs are called snow-elves.
Wave-dancers The Wave-dancers are a tribe of elves who took refuge in the oceans of the World of Two Moons. Thanks to elfin flesh-shaping magic, the Wave-dancers have in some cases undergone physical alterations such as fins and fish-like tails to help them adapt to an aquatic life.
Longevity Most elves are effectively immortal unless killed in battle, or by disease or misadventure. The oldest known elf, Timmain, has lived at least 20,000 years by World of Two Moons' reckoning (the length of the elves' presence on the planet), and for countless time before her arrival on that planet. Wolfriders, however, because of their wolf blood, will eventually grow old and die - something that was forgotten during their conflict with humans because of the high mortality rate in that period. It is not known just how long a Wolfrider can live, but some have been known to survive for 3,000-3,500 years. This wolf trait can be removed by a healer, but such a profound excision of an inherent element of themselves is an option few Wolfriders find desirable. So far the only 'reverted' wolfriders are Skywise, in an act of desperation, and Windkin, who had his wolf blood removed in infancy without consent, and more recently, Moonshade, after a certain time of living in near proximity of the Palace of the High Ones, which altered her perceptions of life. Suntop (later renamed Sunstream), though of Wolfrider descent, never had wolf blood; his twin sister Ember 'called' the wolf blood to herself in the womb.
After death an elf's immortal spirit survives. Most elfin spirits journey to the Palace of the High Ones, but the descendants of Timmorn Yellow-Eyes, due to their wolf blood, can choose to remain to watch over their people. It has been stated that they are the only elves who are able to go where they wish after death, while all others are involuntarily drawn back to their ancestral home.
Magic Many elves have some magic, or psi powers. These include the following abilities, most of which are never given a name within the comic itself. Many of these are rare talents: Animal-bonding: The ability to develop an empathic or telepathic connection with an animal. Only Wolfriders are able to bond with wolves, and have a particularly close connection with them thanks to their wolf blood. A similar power exists among other tribes, such as the Gliders, who bond with giant birds. Animal control: Teir's skills with animals go considerably further, allowing him to be considered part of any pack of animals. Astral projection: The ability to 'go out' and communicate with other magic-users in a bodiless psychic plane. Mind-snare: The ability, possessed by strong astral projectors, to 'trap' other projectors in the astral plane, preventing their return to their bodies. Fire-starting: The ability to start and control fires. This ability is very rare; among the Wolfriders, the last known possessor who was able to control this magic was Zarhan Fastfire, in the time of the Wolfriders' second chief. It may have been a failed firestarting attempt by him that created the bad magic pool that spawned Madcoil. Per the novelizations, both Savah and Winnowill also have this ability, but Winnowill has never been shown using it in the comic itself. Savah has only rarely done so, as when she magically lights the lanterns for the Sun Village's annual festival.Elfquest: Hidden Years #2, Wendy Pini, Warp Graphics, July 1992. Freezing stare: The ability to paralyze an animal or intelligent being with a stare, a kind of hypnosis. It was introduced by Rayek in the Original Quest. Force shield: The power to create a magical barrier capable of holding back magical attacks or physical objects. This is most effectively demonstrated by Zhantee of the SunFolk in the Forbidden Grove when he shields Krim and Skot from a falling branch and again when he keeps the Djun's tower from crushing the others as they escaped. Gliding: The ability to 'fly' or self-levitate, allowing an elf to glide with the winds or with an initial kick-off. Strong gliders use the power more fully for self propulsion, at high speed and maneuverability. Tyldak of the Gliders had Winnowill reshape his body into a bat-like structure so to be able to truly fly with his own propulsion. Gliding is a very deeply innate ability - the Glider elves of Blue Mountain are shown to glide while unconscious, sleeping, or having sex. The magic-user Rayek doesn't actually glide - rather, he uses powerful telekinesis to move himself, somewhat lacking in finesse. Healing: The ability to heal injury or disease. Unscrupulous healers can invert the power by violently stimulating pain nerves to make the target experience agonizing pain. Conversely, the pleasure nerves can also be stimulated with equal strength, producing intensely pleasurable sensations that can dramatically enhance sexual experiences. Healers can also induce Recognition, with varying degrees of success. Go-backs stigmatize healers, believing they make warriors soft and careless. It is possible for an elf to heal a non-elf (such as a human) but this is significantly more difficult as their bodies are much less malleable. Flesh-shaping: The ability, possessed by sophisticated healers, to manipulate flesh to shape it to their desires. This can be done on a large scale, such as Winnowill's reshaping of Tyldak into a birdlike being, or on a very subtle level, such as the removal of 'wolf blood' from Wolfriders. Shielding: The ability to protect another from magical attack using one's own healing power. Levitation: The ability to telekinetically manipulate objects. Magic feeling: The ability to detect past and present use of other psi powers. Rock-shaping: The ability to sculpt and mold solid rock, but generally this power cannot affect refined metal. This ability is most notably used by the Gliders Egg and Door, as well as firstborn to the High Ones, Ekuar. Sending: The ability to exchange thoughts and feelings by telepathy. All elves appear to have the capacity for sending, but some tribes use it more often than others; the Wolfriders send frequently, whereas the Go-Backs send very rarely and the Sun Folk hardly at all. Wolfriders can send to their wolves (only the original wolves and their offspring, due to being descendants of Timmorn Yellow-Eyes) but the wolves communicate in images more than words.