The orcs (or sometimes calling themselves "the Bajorans") were agents of the devils who gave the organisms choices and their outcomes (often based on dice rolls).
The canonical Tanakh (= Hebrew Bible), Plato’s Republic, Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment , Shakespeare’s Plays, etc. have likely undergone lengthening and mutation by the Orcs. However, often the originators liked the mutated versions better.
The elves / Cardassians were/are agents of the angels.