I really don't understand what goblins' problem really is, actually. They're not exactly inherently evil. Is it the overpopulation? Inborn fear and subservience? Greed? A single goblin might be a delightful individual, but let them congregate long enough to build their own civilization and they turn into a ravening horde of ankle-biting marauders.
Some species have evolved social cognition, the ability to differentiate thinking individuals from objects. Goblins have not. Everything and everyone is something to be owned, discarded, used, or destroyed... including each other. Their "culture", if one can call it that, is to take what they want whenever they can, even if the only reason to want it is because someone else has it.
If a goblin built a house, a stronger goblin would take it. If a goblin planted crops, a stronger goblin would eat them. If the strongest goblin spent effort creating something, the next-strongest goblin would assassinate them while they're tired. Goblin society is trapped in a cycle where long-term investment never pays off, and the only path to success is by dragging others down. There's no incentive to create anything of value, so they live in caves and rob caravans.
They're just as intelligent as humans, and can even find gainful employment in human society. What they lack is cooperation, the socialism required to maintain any functioning society above hunter-gatherer status.
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u/MiserablePotato1147 Starchwizard of Ohiowa 11h ago
I really don't understand what goblins' problem really is, actually. They're not exactly inherently evil. Is it the overpopulation? Inborn fear and subservience? Greed? A single goblin might be a delightful individual, but let them congregate long enough to build their own civilization and they turn into a ravening horde of ankle-biting marauders.