As the header says, I’m just looking for media with cute goblins or goblins that are not overtly evil bloodthirsty freaks made for the sole purpose of being slaughtered by the protagonist. Preferably some story where one or multiple goblin(s) are the protagonist or one of the essential characters to a storyline. I’m open to looking at books, graphic novels, movies, TV shows, really anything. Thank y’all in advance! 🧝🏻♀️🧌
Maybe too obvious, but in "The Goblin Emperor," goblins and elves are different ethnicities of the same species. The POV character, Maia, is a biracial character who's a minority half-goblin in elf society. He is about as far from evil and bloodthirsty as it is possible to get.
It’s a great book!
While Maia is an innocent soul, the book definitely delves into racism as the elves definitely think of goblins as barbaric.
T. Kingfisher's "9 Goblins"
Edit... I haven't read it but I think Jim Hines' "Goblin Quest" series including Goblin Hero is worth a look!
I was about to suggest maybe the gnoles from her White Rat universe would scratch the itch. They're weird, cute, intelligent little creatures with their own society. Some of the best characters are gnoles.
Yes! It has adorable goblins and adventure and childlike wonder and really horrible gory horror bits and I love it!
Kingfisher does tend to write books with an odd mix of ingredients and components! It's a good thing, I think, but it must challenge her agent!
I think a lot of her more recent books are more cohesive in tone but honestly I love the mixture... You're right though, it must make them difficult to sell!
Came here to request this. Freaking loved this book!
Alright, I have to preface this rec; the way the gobbos are treated is bloody horrible, but the hero isn't having it!
Snuff by Terry Pratchett is an amazing novel
If you haven't read his books yet, and don't like jumping into the middle of a series, consider reading just the "city watch" books starting with "guards! Guards!" Then men at arms, then night watch.
"Thank you, Mr. Po-leess-maan of the dark."
'I'm afraid I've only just starting to investigate this crime."
"I meant, Mr. Po-leess-maan, than you for believing that goblins have names."
I love this book so much
Also, Raising Steam has a delightful goblin sidekick named Of the Twilight the Darkness.
Mighty Nein
No comma
The Wandering Inn.
Pebblesnatch the goat
Brigands & Breadknives - Travis Baldree Has a really cool (and adorable) Goblin as one of the main protagonists.
Zyll is awesome.
I'm hoping Zyll becomes a recurring character, it sounds off her own series.
I loved Zyll! The mayhem.
I'm sure you've seen Labyrinth, but you should watch it either way!
This! Labyrinth was my first thought when I read the post.
Jim C. Hines has a great little goblin trilogy with a sympathetic goblin hero < https://www.goodreads.com/series/52486-jig-the-goblin >. It's older, so it might be hard to find. There is also a sympathetic goblin character in the Orconomics trilogy by J. Zachary Pike, but they are not the main focus of the storyline.
Kid's picture book: Nobody Likes a Goblin. Very sweet book, great story.
Came here to make sure this got a mention! The Julia's House... series of picture books by the same author (Ben Hatke) are just as lovely and also feature cute goblins (they are in charge of mopping.)
The Blacktongue Thief
I kid, I kid.
Fancy a game of tug of war?
Noooooo!!
Dang, I just suggestedThe Daughter's War thinking I was clever and original
the "gabital" webcomic
Zell in Brigands and Breadknives, by Travis Baldree.
Orconomics and sequels have some unique takes on otherwise’evil’ races.
Alfie, Incase.
Had to see if someone wrote this. You did not disappoint!
Nobody here has read or is even going to recommend the Goblins webcomic? Seriously? You can find it here - https://www.goblinscomic.com/comic/06252005
Goblins comic is great, but it might be a bit much to call them cute.
Well, they're not overtly bloodthirsty and evil so they kind of fit in with what the OP wants.
Because while it treats them sympatheticly it gets really dark at times?
Jim Hines Goblin Quest.
The goblins are a lot of fun in A Practical Guide to Evil, even if they aren't cute by any means. They're still murderous little bastards, but they're loyal in their own way.
Kingfisher's Nine Goblins is about to be published and has some very cute goblins in it.
Jim Hines too. And Pratchett.
The Goblin General by Brazee is on my TBR
Edit : forgot Lisa Shearin's Raine Benares series. She has sexy goblin mages if those count.
The Mighty Nein Amazon series.
And I guess the source material for it, through it’s less visual.
You want cute goblins? Brigands & Breadknives by Travis Baldree. They don’t come much cuter.
I also remembered that there is a band themed around Goblins too called Nekrogoblikon. They're pretty damn good if you like metal performed slightly tongue in cheek.
u might like the wandering inn
Maybe the Doctor Who episode The Church on Ruby Road?
You should play the Dungeons videogames where you are the overlord and have to manage your little goblin and orc companions and protect them from invaders (heroes)
The love interest in the Frotwoot's Faerie Tales series is a goblin.
An older cartoon movie named Little Nemo. Not the protagonists, but they are important IMO.
Calling "Little Nemo In Slumberland" a cartoon movie is really underselling how incredibly influential this early newspaper comic was. Its part of the background noise of modern culture even though most people have never heard of it. We possibly wouldn't have cartoons without it for one thing
Didn’t know the bit about it being a newspaper comic. I grew up watching the movie and I’ve only met a couple of other nom-relatives who know about the movie.
The Dark Profit trilogy by J. Zachary Pike
The ones in Magic: the Gathering are often silly or mischievious. Some of them like Squee are even protagonists of the main storyline. Check out the trailer for the forthcoming Lorwyn Eclipsed set for a fun Jim Henson Company-puppet song by one of the goblins ("boggarts") from the sunny Lorwyn and his counterpart (alternate self?) from the dark and twisted Shadowmoor.
There is a Pathfinder roleplaying module called We Be Goblins that is kid-friendly and a lot of fun.
Sugoll's Howlers from the Golden Torc are very cute goblins
you say that like mainstream goblins aren't cute? being "evil bloodthirsty freaks" doesn't mean they can't be cute and look amazing while they kill/are killed by the protagonist.
If you are ok with kids books, you could try Philip Reeve’s Goblin trilogy, although some of the goblins are definitely cuter than others! The goblin is really the secondary MC though.
For a non-cute but also not evil goblin MC, you could try the Iron Teeth trilogy by Scott Straughan (first book is A Goblin’s Tale). The first book starts out with a human as the MC because goblin is very young; the goblin takes over as MC when he is older.
9 Goblins by Ursula Vernon/T Kingfisher. It also has an overworked elven vet, because most elves dont want to deal with the realities of fantasy creatures.
Not exactly a series or anything but the artist "Pocketss" has some really cute goblin comics!
Blue Moon Rising by Simon R. Green has em, they don't play a super big role though
The goblins in Cursed Cocktails are inventors. Nothing bloodthirsty about them.
The Bookshop and the Barbarian by Morgan Stang is a cozy fantasy where the recurring goblins are sometimes a nuisance and sometimes a boon, but are always cute.
Jig the goblin trilogy.
The audiobooks are pretty good.
Wriggly Little Hands by Alex Knight ! One of my fave reads from last year
Dreadful by Caitlin Rosakis might fit this. Also seconding Brigands and Breadknives.
Have you read Snuff and Raising Steam by Sir Pterry Pratchett?
There is a cute goblin in books 3 and 4 of the Chronos Chronicles. Helps the main character solve mysteries.
nobody mention world of warcraft???
There's a tabletop rpg I like called Goblinville Gazette where you play bumbling goblins.
There's a video game called Trash Goblin where you clean and mend items and sell them
Hi! A bit of self-promotion, but it could not be more on topic :)
- I made a game where you play a god fallen in a goblin world, and hire a band of goblins: in "Gobs and Gods", Goblins are not really "good", but they certainly are the main characters.
- And a gamedev friend of mine made a RPG where you play a cute goblin which need to save his tribe.
And we have just made a bundle! https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/66338/Goblins_Number_One/
The Daughter's War has some really cute lil guys