Elves. Out of all the non-human races in Dungeons and Dragons or any other fantasy medium, they're the best alternative to humans. They simply hit the sweet spot between alien and still remotely human. In a sense, they're better humans with no glaring human weaknesses (such as mortality) and are generally prettier beings. That's why they're still familiar and are preferred by many players.
There are, however, some lesser-known facts about elves and how they live or function as a race that might seem too strange. They're still the most "perfect" out of all the D&D races but they come with their own quirks that either make them more interesting or more alienating as a fantasy race. These are just some of the most notable examples.
9 Short Elves Apparently Exist
When one thinks of elves, the initial or usual impression is that they're tall, fair, slender creatures thanks mostly to how Tolkien described them in The Lord of the Rings. That's somewhat true in D&D as well but they actually have a range of heights as well. On the lower end of the spectrum, some elves are a bit lower than five feet tall.
That's around the same height as a tall dwarf, which isn't uncommon. The elven height does range from a little under five feet tall to over six feet tall, according to the rulebook. It's just that there probably aren't many of these vertically-challenged elves roaming around. In any case, that's a good idea for a unique elven character.
8 They Can't Grow Facial Hair
One would think that the elves get all the unfair racial advantage in D&D; they're functionally immortal, have beautiful skin and hair, slender and agile bodies, and darkvision. They're almost perfect! Well, almost. Because it turns out elves can't grow facial hair.
That's their race's limitation it seems. But pure elves— even most of the elven sub-races such as the drow, can't grow a beard even if it meant saving their lives from the chilling winds of Icewind Dale or somewhere cold. They're the opposite of dwarfs in that regard.
7 They Use Magic For Food Instead Of Farming
One might wonder how do elves eat. Unlike humans, they aren't portrayed to have farms or farmers that toil under the boiling sun to produce food. Turns out elves only have a few means of obtaining food. For meat, it's hunting, and for crops, it's either foraging or magic.
Elves, probably out of laziness or practicality, simply rely on their magical predisposition in order to produce their crops or other nature-grown food sources. It helps that their origins take root from the Feywild and the fact that they don't seem to reproduce as wildly as humans.
6 Elves Aren't Considered Adults Until They Reach 100
Speaking of the elven population, one of the reasons why they're not in a hurry to pass on their genes or rush their reproduction is that they tend to live longer than 700 years. With that much lifespan, elves don't mature fast when viewed in the human context.
They only enter the adulthood stage (whether psychologically or physiologically) at around 100 to 120-years-old. Thus, most of the wise and perfectionist elves seen in campaigns or other portrayals are likely more than a century old. Again, this provides a nice idea for another unique elven character.
5 Elves Don't Need Sleep
They got all the luck in Faerun when it came to the gene lottery, didn't they? Elves also do not need to sleep on top of their lengthy lifespan. They have all the time in the world. Still, they have some form of sleep in order to recharge their weary minds in the form of meditation.
This usually lasts for around four hours. This meditation is called a trance, which isn't unlike the rapid-eye-movement stage of the human sleep cycle where dreams become available. It is unknown yet whether an elf's meditation length affects their final physical height.
4 They Can Relive Their Memories
Do elves dream elven sheep? Well not exactly. Their dreams during their meditation periods are more intricate compared to other races' slumber. These trances they undergo tend to be mental exercises. That's because elves can watch their memories through their dreams like television.
This is rather important for them as they get much older because they accumulate so many memories throughout their lengthy lifespans. Centuries of memories can be rather difficult to retain, which is why the elven trance helps them remember and relive their precious memories.
3 Elves Can Reincarnate
Another reason why dreaming in trances is crucial to the elven psyche is that they don't go to the afterlife, unlike other races whose gods sweep them off to their versions of heaven or hell. Elves don't get that treatment when they die, rather their souls simply go through a reincarnation cycle and get chucked back into another elven meat vessel in Faerun.
This has notably happened to some of the most famous elves in D&D literature, namely Drizzt Do-Urden (though that's a special case). In any case, each old elf can dream of their past life in their trances and learn the accumulated knowledge of their previous selves, depending on their mental capacity. As if living for more than seven centuries isn't enough already as an advantage.
2 Half-Elves Get The Best Of Both Worlds
If one wants to have a beard but their DM says no because of their elven heritage, then they can circumvent this by picking the half-elf race. Because half-elves get most of the traits of pure elves and also the advantages of being a human, such as a more versatile disposition, and of course, facial hair.
Impatient half-elves who want to mature fast also get that luxury since they reach their prime at the same age as humans (around 20) but live much longer at that state, pretty much like pure elves. The only downside is that they usually only live for around 180 years which is still less than half of a dwarf's typical lifespan.
1 They Could Theoretically Interbreed With Orcs Or Even Dwarfs
D&D's interbreeding mechanics don't usually venture further than half-elves or half-orcs, but since humans are generally considered as a versatile race that could interbreed well with other species, it stands within reason that half-elves and half-orcs are compatible.
After all, both of them have human components in their genes. So, theoretically, some unusual crossbreed containing elf, human, and orc genes is possible. Heck, even dwelfs, or an elf and dwarf offspring is also possible, according to Wizards of the Coast. So next time one picks a cookie-cutter elf, they might want to spice things up a bit with rare race mixtures. That should also be a good way to give the DM a headache with the stat sheets.