Use the Ethnicity template to write about people who share a common ancestry or culture. This includes people with the same social and cultural characteristics, backgrounds, or experiences.
Contents
What should I use this template for?
The ethnicities of your world are an important part of your worldbuilding. They are the product of your world's history, laws and foundation. Here are some example uses of the Ethnicity template!
Nationalities
Groups of people with the same ethnicity often share the same nationality. The place they were born, brought up or have lived in, can form connections between them and make them a distinct group. For example, the people of the desert planet Arrakis, in Dune or the people from Westeros, in Game of Thrones, can be classified as ethnicities.
Communities
You can use the Ethnicity template to also write about smaller communities in your setting. These are extremely important, allowing you to differentiate a group of people based on a common goal, a characteristic or conflict. Think about how or why this community was formed, adding layers to your world. A community like that can be a nomadic group, the followers of a god or a secret cult.
Subcultures
Even though a subculture is generally not considered an ethnicity in the real world, on World Anvil, the Ethnicity template covers all kinds of cultural expressions. That might be a social or artistic movement or any kind of distinct subculture.
Template walkthrough
Remember that all template prompts are optional! In fact some prompts might not be relevant to you. As always, there's a free-writing section at the top (which we call vignette) and the prompts are under the Expand prompts & connections button.
The prompts are organized into four tabs:
- Naming Traditions
Use this tab to write about the naming traditions and practices of this ethnicity. What are some common family or first names? - Ideals
Here you can write about the ideals of this ethnicity. Are there any beauty standards? How are relationships and courtship viewed? - Customs
Here you can describe all the cultural and traditional aspects of the ethnicity, like the traditions, rites, the cuisine and the art. - Connections & Relations
In this tab, you can link the ethnicity to other articles you've written, such as the Geographical location that the people of this ethnicity can be found and the Ethnicity which this one diverged from.
Step-by-step guide to writing an ethnicity
Here are some steps you can follow to write an ethnicity article:
- Why is it in your world?
The most important question you need to answer is: what's the role of this ethnicity in the worldbuilding/story you're writing? This is a meta question (i.e. it's out-of-world information), but it's very useful and will guide you through the rest of your creation process. By thinking about this first, you'll make sure that everything else (the ideals, traditions, history...) are all well-integrated into the story. - What is it trying to achieve?
Or, in other words, what's the ethnicity's motivation and goals? Do these people simply wish to survive, maintain their lifestyle or bring about change? Make sure that some of the things they cause or try to achieve are not part of the main plot; real-world ethnicities are multidimensional, so adding unrelated behaviors and goals will make your ethnicity feel more real. - What is its impact?
How are the relations with other ethnicities? Is this a solitary community or a wider influential one? Make sure to establish interactions with other ethnicities, which is essential to create rich and engaging worlds and stories that feel realistic.
Need more pointers? Take a look at these guides:
- Populating Your World: Sapient Species, Cultures & Commerce
- Adapting Real-World Cultures for Worldbuilding
Community examples for inspiration
Need some inspiration? Here are some ethnicity articles written by our amazing community!
