Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General Elves are not Elven - Tel-quessir feed back ;)

The Evermeet book there is a bad example. The Prince there on the cover's father was noted in-universe for being a particularly abnormal Arnold Schwarzenegger of an elf, the other character is a human.

D&D art is all over the place, because artists often had quite a bit of leeway in what they did. In the case of drow for instance, early art often depicts them with mustaches or pale skin because of a misinterpretation of the original artwork for them (mistaking the lighting on the upper lip for facial hair, thinking they were pale skinned because it was a black and white drawing)

In the case of elven features, it was 3.X that really nailed down the appearance though. IIRC there was a particular art piece that broke down how elves were drawn vs humans and half elves. It's in the first post on the first page. That's what they are supposed to look like in the Realms.