Actually some animators categorically refuse to use motion capture because they think it lacks style (I think you'll find, for example, that Pixar doesn't use motion capture at all).
For game animation it's quite possible to reuse animation sequences with a bunch of characters that have similar geometry (so, for example, your orc, elf, goblin, human, demon, etc. can all use more-or-less the same animations). Note that mid-high end tools such as 3D Studio Max provide tools for reusing animations and character rigs pretty conveniently; with CharacterFX you pretty much need to start over from scratch with each character.
For game animation it's quite possible to reuse animation sequences with a bunch of characters that have similar geometry (so, for example, your orc, elf, goblin, human, demon, etc. can all use more-or-less the same animations). Note that mid-high end tools such as 3D Studio Max provide tools for reusing animations and character rigs pretty conveniently; with CharacterFX you pretty much need to start over from scratch with each character.