Growth rates of fantasy humanoids

There are a number of humanoid creatures in fantasy that we more or less take for granted. Humans are almost a necessity for us to be able to relate to the story and they interact with dwarves, elves, goblins, orcs, and a plethora of other exotic humanoids. One thing often lacking in fantasy stories is how these creatures grow from infancy to adulthood.

Elves suffer the most from this lack, but it exists for most of them. Many humanoid species encountered in fantasy tales live far longer than humans. Elves are often described as living for 300, 700, 10,000 years, or even indefinitely.

Immortal elves are clearly magical, but it also raises an interesting question: How long does it take a fantasy humanoid to reach adulthood? Should this be measured as a certain fraction of their life expectancy, or is there some physical, mundane explanation for why a species achieves a (relatively) early adulthood and ceases to age until late in life?

posted almost 9 years ago

Frostfyre‭

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