Fantasy "races" - stereotypes vs. cosplay

A quick thought (maybe continued form here; maybe only vaguely related).

Fantasy "races" are usually different creatures: elves, dwarves, dragon-people, cyborgs, mantis-men, etc. You can have half-elves, etc., but these cases are in the minority. So "races" is not the most adequate term.

Anyway.

On one extreme, you can treat these creatures as stereotypes: all dwarves have big personalities, carry axes, speak with a Scottish accent, etc. At best, you treat them as archetypes instead (the gold-loving dwarf representing human greed, ec.). At worst, you fall into fantasy clichés.

On the other extreme, every dwarf is an unique individual with no distinguishing traits. You don't even get a Constitution bonus, because your dwarf PC might be frail, smart and really fast. This is basically cosplay; different species are like different hairstyles, clothes, or tattoos. 

Most people prefer something between the extremes, of course.

Mechanically speaking, I prefer the modern "any one can be anything" over "you choose a race OR a class" of my beloved B/X, or the "certain combinations not allowed" of older D&D. The B/X version, however, has the advantage of quick character creation (see Shadow of the Demon Lord for another interesting take).

However...

I still like different creatures having different habits and mindsets, in some settings. They still have their own physiology. They are different from humans - a different species.

When dealing with different creatures, some stereotypes would be justifiable. "See those guys with horns, big claws, and sharp teeth? Yeah, they tend to be aggressive". Sure, if a player really wants to play a vegetarian shark-woman, I don't see a problem; she is just different to most creatures of the same kind. But the "kind" means something.

(I can also see some settings where elves are agnostic and cannot be clerics; or maybe the Goddes of Healing is bigoted against them.)

Do not judge a book by its cover. He is a really nice guy.

It all depends on the setting - but even is cosmopolitan Ravnica, creatures have certain tendencies. And there is something interesting about a character fighting his own natural (or cultural) tendency towards evil - think of Hellboy or Drizzt (or, better yet, Elric). 

Of course, this can be reminiscent of real world problems. In the first Ravnica novel, IIRC, the protagonist attacks a minotaur for no reason; in the first Elric novel, human pirates feel justified in killing and pillaging Melniboné since melniboneans are so evil. if you want to AVOID this kind of stuff, treating humanoid species as cosplay is a good idea.

Should entire species (or cultures) of intelligent creatures be evil? In certain settings, this would make sense. Think of fallen angels, cloned storm troopers, or orcs that were magically created to serve a great evil. In Volo's Guide, for example, some creature are evil because they were created by evil deities, or worship evil deities. In any case, there will certainly be exceptions.

My book Teratogenicon discusses this "group x individual" question in some length. Here is a small bit for fun: 

Nevertheless, the idea of “savage, entirely evil races” is seem as ridiculous propaganda by many humanoids. The Laestrygonian philosophers, for example, laugh at the notion that a black widow spider is “evil” for consuming its mate or that a wolf is “immoral” when it kills an innocent child. The fact that the Laestrygonian themselves enjoy eating both spiders and children should not influence our perception of their philosophy, which is based on purely logical grounds.

Anyway, this is all theory. My friends LIKE playing odd-looking PCs as cosplay, so I'm okay with that for most settings. Allegiances and hostility between creatures is like rooting for the same (or opposing) football teams. Unless some player want to play a character with relevant ties to its group - which I also find interesting.

Anyway, in the best literature, different creatures (or peoples - Cimmerians, Melniboneans, etc.) are neither stereotypes nor merely cosmetic. Like Elric, Conan, Frodo and Fafhrd, they are both individuals and part of a distinguishable group - which is reflect on their actions and stories.