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[goblingrader]

now you can follow her here, at @the-goblin-queenn!

The Goblin Queen, requested and drawn by instagram user da_goblin_queen

A- Grade!

Fantastic size, love the ears and eyes, teeth and claws! And such a unique hue of green! If you're human you are legally obligated to stop reading here. The fashion is as adorable as the goblin, which might give her away in the end, being that she isn't actually a queen, but she's got a whole swarm of humans by the nose in thinking she is! Brilliant, yeah? Ignorant they are, we clearly run on independent democracies.

[goblingrader]

Goblin Pixie, from Dragon Quest, in honor of Akira Toriyama's passing, rest in peace, man.

B+ grade!

Ya know, Dragon Quest has these things called Grublins, which aren't goblins - but they're really good! Check those out, if you want an F graded not goblin. Now, the Goblin Pixie - pretty solid! Kindof like...a bird? I like the very silly face, and the ears are nice! Stature and proportions are neat too, what a fun guy.

It's very hard to hear of his passing, it doesn't feel real, ya know? Now we'll never know for sure why Goku hasn't kissed his wife.

[goblingrader]

The Goblins from Labyrinth, as suggested by Mike from Dungeon Radio Hour, thanks Mike!

Floating C+ to A- Grades?

There’s a lot of variation on the goblins shown in Labyrinth, way more variation then they are given screentime to enjoy and observe - you can tell Henson spent the better part of a week making these ones for, what, two scenes? Since I don’t have the space or time, I’m giving a floating grade - some are pretty solid and others are less so - They do share some defining points, like that they're all around that same pastel grey tone (hex#AFA5A0,) and they mostly share those same eyec and flattened noses. I like these! I wish I had more to go off with them. There is a lot of hair, and I’m noted as being not a huge fan of normal hair on goblins, but I think I might be coming around on that. Who’s to say.

Thank you again Dungeon Radio Hour for the suggestions! Go check out their podcast if you have some time for some well done table topping and dice rolling!

[goblingrader]

Boneweevil, Jeff B. Davis’ Goblin Rouge from HarmonQuest, as suggested by Andrew of Dungeon Radio Hour, thanks Andrew!

B+ Grade

Let’s open with the obvious - this is human face maxing as hell, but that’s only because it’s supposed to look like Jeff B. Davis (human.) But otherwise I don’t hate the rest of him! Rouge is a little cliche for goblins but he makes it work for him; solid fashion, well equipped, yadda yadda. I really like the posture and proportions - this design had some thought but into it; lanky, crooked, and with a safe green (hex#B2C96F.) This was in the era of overly simple borderline boring adult animation stuff, there’s a hundred shows with this exact art style, and even so this goblin design is nice, and evocative.

[goblingrader]

We’re doing something special this weekend; same thing as always but more of it at once! I’ve had the Hosts of Dungeon Radio Hour (an actual play D&D podcast with a focus on character development, where the characters are the hosts themselves in a mystic fantasy setting - it’s a D&D isekai, what’s not to like) recommend me one goblin each, and I’m gonna shoot all four out over the weekend! Thanks for the suggestions, guys, I really appreciate it! Without further ado, let’s start alphabetically with…

The Goblins from the Spiderick Chronicles, as recommended from Alissa, of Dungeon Radio Hour, thanks, Alissa!

A- Grade!

I’m going off the concept art from the books, not the live action ones (yucky, but I’ve included them here for reference sake.) One of the more unique goblins that we’ve seen here, they’re like…frog, bat, flies? Whatever, it’s cute, cute passes the sniff test here. They have some variations but they’re mostly the same; bat face, weird wing ears, and bulbous frog bodies. As far as fashion goes, there isn’t any, and they’re designed to look like maybe there should be, they look like they’d get cold easily, given the paleish green-brown tones (hex#7F6B40.) Let’s get these dudes a sweater!

[goblingrader]

This Goblin Plushie of a Pathfinder Goblin

B- Grade!

It’s on record that we don’t love the pathfinder designs, but this guys nice, he’s fine. The proportions are silly, the fashion is simple and well executed, and he looks nice, not quite friendly but nice. Like he’d make a good salesperson but not a good roommate; ya know? His color is solid, consistent - right around that inky pine (hex#536C57) that’s a little darker than their standard design in concept arts. Not bad!

[goblingrader]

Grit and Hüd, from the webcomic by Jeeaark, Dear Rider

B and B+ Grades

Jeeaark does a good job of making their goblins visually distinct, which I like - that break in uniformity is nice. They are similar enough that I’ll grade them together, though, these two were recommended to me as a pair from someone a while ago, I’ve since lost who (sorry!) Hüd’s got a murkier shade of green (hex#A5C9B5) and Grit comes in closer to a sky blue grey (hex#A8B8B7,) both are lovely. Grit’s features are a little sleeker, less rugged than Hüd, who has some more blocky shapes in his chin and nose - I do like the ears on Hüd better than Grits. Fashion wise they are pretty similar, but Hüd is sporting more plate and fur, a nice aesthetic. They make a good pair!

[goblingrader]

CUTE!

my design gob girl

[goblingrader]

Trauco, Chilean Folklore Goblins (depicted here by Pulga Borracha and Fieg Felipe Perez)

C- Grade

These guys are mildly problematic; it’s theorized that these were used to explain pregnancies that the mother didn’t want to denounce the father of, “I was taken by a trauco and now I am pregnant” and “trauco baby” come to mind with this. They’re said to be irresistible, as well as very strong. Not feeling these ones, guys, kinda yucky. They’re often compared with creatures like Incubus, and some more common folklore say there is only one, who can break a man's bones by looking at them, and is apparently also married to its daughter. Not here for all that, man! Appearance wise; they're pretty consistent depiction to depiction, a little ugly but usually masculine and strong, often with a hide tunic and a straw hat (fashion, baby!) More of a lore post then a grade, but I’m not here for it regardless.

[goblingrader]

The goblins from Loop Hero

A- Grade!

I like these! We don’t get much of a look at them, they’re sprite work is a little limited - but we do have a gorgeous character portrait available to us for a more detailed look, and these are great! I really like the nose, and the ears are a stand out as well - that triangular shaping to the whole head shape is very fun. I’m loving the teeth and yes as well. What we can make out from the sprites, though, leaves me happy with the size and proportions. Nice rusty (hex#7F5B38 guy!

[goblingrader]

Okk, a 4/4 Goblin - because this page is four years old today!

B+ Grade

Little guy is SHREDDED, and has some big aspirations, he will not fight unless the odds are absolutely against him. His fashion is wack, though. It’s an older design, so it’s holding more to some of those older classic MTG designs; you’ve got your classic man face with the extreme nose and ears. We’ve also got that classic color, a vibrant fern (hex#D47D47.)

Thanks, everyone who’s still here. Let’s try to kick it for another, yeah?

[goblingrader]

The Goblins from Bungie’s Destiny

D- Grade

This is admittedly one of the weaker vex designs, visually. I get that I shouldn’t expect much from them for being expendable grunt units, to be plowed through in the hundreds like fresh powdered snow, but I’ve never been a fan of this design, period. Very shootable, I’ll give it that much. Also this is not a goblin, this is a robot that was called goblin to keep up a naming convention, I think gremlin would've been a better fit here, Bungie.

[goblingrader]

The Goblins from Secrets of Mana

B+ Grade

These are fun! The model art differs a little from the concept art, but not enough to be considerable. It’s a little hard to get a read on how they actually look, since they’re almost completely covered with many layers. From what I can pick up, I like the ears a lot, and the proprietors are fun as well. The layers make for a really fun fashion aesthetic, though. Well covered, well armored, good dudes. Solid, overall!

Welcome to 2024, Folks and Yolks alike! I’m a little behind on getting some of these written, and my motivation feels a little low, but I’m gonna be working on getting something out every week this year, with occasional random posts outside of the normal scheduling. Hope to see you all make it through this one with me!

[goblingrader]

The First Goblins in Doctor Who, from The Devil Goblins From Neptune, by Keith Topping and Martin Day, illustrated by Paul Griffin.

B- Grade

I’m doing this in a separate post because these are silly and I want you to see both lol. These are fun designs, what little we can make from them. I like that we have a more rugged design with the ears that stretch the whole head while still maintaining the length, LOVE that. The rest of the face is fine as well, the teeth are prominent, but the eyes and nose aren't, we might actually have a flat nose similar to the new ones. They’ve got extraordinarily long claws on both their feet and hands, which is kindof fun. Colorwise I can’t say much since our only references are in black and white, but we can tell that the size is on a better note, we can compare in the shot where they are assaulting Doctor3. They show some ingenuity as well, I imagine they created these glider wings they have, which add to the look, for sure.

[goblingrader]

Goblins from, who would've guessed, Doctor Who

A- grade

These? They’re fine. We do this same dance we do every time we introduce something new in Doctor Who, we have the companion (Ruby Sunday, played by Millie Gibson) as the audiences representative to ask “What are these things” and for once in a major sci fi setting, we had the balls to just say “These are goblins” introduced in a way that shows that Doctor15 (now played by Ncuti Gatwa, an excellent choice in our opinion, from the limited screen time they’ve shown at this time we really think they’ll work out great. They look like they're leaning into a bat-like depiction, which is fun, albeit a little unsettling; they’ve forgotten the classic point for a flattened noseleaf shape of a bat, the ears are shaped a little like bat wings, the eyes look like a bats. Just a weird observation that I’m sure is as intended by the lore masters. They’ve got pirate-like fashion, and wonderful size and proportion. The claws and teeth are splendid, and the skin tone (hex#E6B689, under low warm lighting) is an appropriate pick as well. But, this is, in fact, the third time we’ve had goblins in Doctor Who. The second was in the comic The Warkeepers Crown, we have exactly one image of them and it isn’t helpful at all; just a close up of their face, I’ll attach it for whoever cares but I don’t have enough for a grade. The first appearance we’ll fire up after this!

[goblingrader]

Christmas Patrol Goblins, made by Plushplex, on Flickr.

A+ Grade!

Happy holidays, fiends and creeps alike, I bring to you the obligatory christmas post! These are cute, we like these guys. It’s simple, but effective; not a lot to say beyond that. They’ve got festive apparel that doesn’t discredit their goblin dispositions too much, warm but practical. We like the ears and the teeth, as well as the beady eyes. Size and proportions are solid, the colors are lovely as well, the green (hex#969368) is classic and the orange (hex#94612D) isn’t far from it. If you want your own, check out their spot on Flickr! (not an ad, I just like these)

[goblingrader]

Thank you so much for sticking around with us for Bokoblin Grader! It was a little niche, and a lot of writing, but I’m glad we stuck this one out, and I appreciate everyone who followed along with us. I’ll be taking December off from posting, but I’ll be back in full swing in January. We're gonna try to make that new schedule I’ve been using prior to the event months consistent. Thank you everyone for another great year of grades, and thank you to everyone who continues to support this page and me! I wish you all a wonderful holiday, and we’ll see you in the new year!