I have to admit I thought that the concept of an "orc" was fairly limited to Tolkien and Lord of the Rings....and then suddenly, they pop up everywhere in both literature and movies.
What is an orc? I'm not familiar with that concept.
It's a fictional creature -- humanoid, but more like a goblin.
ooo ok, yeah not too many stories with those kind of creatures.
They seem to pop up in movies and fiction and even games -- like Dungeons & Dragons, Warhammer and Warcraft. Do you play any of those games?
No, but Gears of War has orcs or creatures like it and I do enjoy that game.
generally serving an evil power. Tolkien's concept of orcs has subsequently been adapted and imported into other works of fantasy fiction as well as role-playing and strategy games (such as "Dungeons & Dragons", "Warhammer", and "Warcraft"), broadening the recognition of the creatures in popular culture.
Earlier references to creatures etymologically or conceptually similar to orcs can be found in Anglo-Saxon sources; including "Beowulf" and 16th-century Italian folk tales, in particular those of Giambattista Basile.
Orc
An orc (also spelled ork) is a fictional humanoid creature that is part of a fantasy race akin to goblins. 
While the overall concept of orcs draws on a variety of pre-existing mythology, the main conception of the creatures stems from the fantasy writings of J. R. R. Tolkien, in particular "The Lord of the Rings". In Tolkien's works, orcs are a brutish, aggressive, repulsive and generally malevolent species, existing in stark contrast with the benevolent Elvish race and