I feel the same. They say fiction reflects reality- and I’d argue that the various series of genocides in TES (and their “justifications”), or- as someone mentioned, the settler-colonial nature of the elves in the Simarillion/LoTR, is from the perspective of white, western- particularly Anglophone if not just outright Anglo-Saxon- writers, almost glorifying or finding ways to justify the actions of their ancestors- whether it was the genocides of the indigenous peoples of much of North America and Australia (among many other, far smaller regions), or it was the (granted, far less genocidal and more assimilationist) actions of their ancient Germanic ancestors against the indigenous Celts. I’m saying this as someone who generally enjoys both universes…

Another fictional genocide that I really dislike, is that of the Uchiha in Naruto- their systemic discrimination is waved away, the involvement of the village in the massacre of their population, when discovered, is knowingly and comfortably swept under the rug by the protagonists, and the last Uchiha (Sasuke) is pretty much vilified for his entirely understandable and even agreeable actions of, after learning the truth, seeking the destruction of the hidden villages’ nigh fascistic political systems. Once again I’d argue that the mentality presented in Naruto reflects the mentality of the society, and particularly the author who wrote it- as someone who enjoys (with mixed feelings) the series, I would posit that it probably says a lot about the unwavering nature of Japanese ultranationalism, the sometimes violent conformity it espouses, and it definitely is greatly influenced by Japan’s own mainstream mentality in regards to minimizing or dismissing the crimes of its past.

In both cases, those portrayed as “protagonists” and “heroes” by and large, are the perpetrators- and the writers are descendants of perpetrators, themselves. These fictions expose biases that can’t help but expose themselves when given a fantasy outlet with few repercussions- celebrating blatant genocide and war crimes in real life can have repercussions, and for the somewhat more decent folk, they’re also capable of realizing how fucked up it all is when looking at the undeniable results of their beliefs. Fiction allows them to justify it all, to write “their team” out to be the heroes no matter how it all goes, and it gives them a lot of societal leeway for presenting even the most horrible things in a positive light.

seeing someone say “They deserved it” even in regards to a fictional species hurts in a deep way.

That’s how it should be, tbh. I’d argue that someone who loses that- or even glorifies it- also becomes more likely to lose it in regards to reality as well. Fiction also has its impacts in the real world- and that’s not to say all fiction or even most should be banned, or that those who glorify even fictional genocides are necessarily genocidal themselves- but there’s certainly some degree of damage being done by all these works, if not to all those who consume them, to at least some small portion- whether the damage be the glorification or apologia of genocide and settler-colonialism, the vilification of “darker,” “evil,” “less human,” or “less western-adjacent” races, etc…

I’d even go so far as to say that the portrayals of genocides, settler-colonialism, war crimes, and other atrocities like slavery in most western and Japanese media comes with a underlying political bent deeply rooted in reality- one sometimes intentional, other times the result of being deeply propagandized, but often simply the result of the natural desire to want to paint those they identify most with- western-adjacent or Japanese-adjacent civilization and characters- in a good light, to see themselves as the heroes rather than the products of the worst, vilest genocidal empires in history.

(Edit) Also, hell if I know the answer to such works that have such references- intended or otherwise- and implications in reality, and possibly on those who consume them. Personally I don’t like arbitrary censorship, think in excess it winds up being dangerously counterproductive, and have a distaste for censorship even as a concept though I realize its absolute necessity (particularly for any societies seeking to defend themselves against the destabilizing, chaotic, and often even malevolent nature of western media- talking more about propaganda, proselytizing, etc) yet I wouldn’t blame any country for banning or restricting works such as Naruto- or worse yet, Attack on Titan, for their apologia-adjacent (if not just straight up apologia, debatable) content, even if I might not enjoy any such hindrance.

Yeah it bothers me. /r/Stellaris likes to make xenocide jokes and it makes me uncomfortable because I feel it hides a desire in the real. Threads like this: https://www.reddit.com/r/Stellaris/comments/18fvk6p/do_you_think_the_north_sentinelese_people_and/ reveal that people aren’t able to joke about genocide given their views on real world people.

Heh, when I read ‘fictional genocides’ in your title I though you were gonna talk about Xinjiang

Its almost as if entertainment creates the socio-cultural tropes to uphold exploration and capitalism. Most people solely lay the blame on STEM for building the weapons that kill, but forget that the social sciences create the ideas that kill.

How do you feel when it’s treated in a more sensible way by the narrative? For example, in Fire Emblem Path of Radiance

Also if you read the Silmarileon critically you’ll notice that elves are basically settlers in whole constructions made by and for dwarves, who had been driven out. Several of their halls are passingly mentioned to have been built by dwarves, and there are even stories where jealous dwarves are portrayed as “greedy” for wanting the fruits of their labour for themselves.

Goblin Slayer is 1000% Day of the Rope for weebs.

Frieren is interesting. I can’t tell if it’s progressive or the most fascist animation ever put to screen. It is worth noting that while GS goblins are basically rape-focused chimpanzees, the Demons in Frieren are much closer to an antisemitic stereotype, it literally being said that they only learn human language so that they can use it to lie, etc., with the merciful and humane people who say “surely we shouldn’t kill demon toddlers, right?” being proven wrong and renouncing their view after their tolerance enables the Demons to infiltrate society and do more harm. Waiting to see if there’s any kind of twist or if it’s just that fash.