Guild Wars 2 lets you choose between five distinct races. Each comes with its own lore, and developer Arenanet is highlighting those stories by releasing the opening cinematics for three of the races--Humans, Norn, and Charr--along with blurbs of their plots. Intros for the other two races will come later.

ArenaNet's blog outlines the races. Humans were once the predominant race, but has fallen into decline now. The Norn are shape-shifters who have been pushed south slowly, out of their snowy home. The Charr are a younger race, and extremely militant. Check out the intro videos below.