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Yes brute Rogues can work. You can choose to not be half orc. The main reason most people picked Half-orc is because of Darkvision. Before Unchained came along dim lighting would automatically shut off a rogue's Sneak attack. It is also hard to scout ahead in the dark with a light source.
I honestly like the Vivisectionist Alchemist over the rogue. You can easily accomplish a STR rogue with a mutagen class that brings more buffs and utility with it. Rogues suffer from a lot of things...my main beef is the cruddy saves a rogue has. In higher levels the first time your hit with a save or Die you will probably die. My second beef with the Core rogue (unchain excluded) is how bad they are in actual combat as a Dex based class. Thank God Unchained came along tho and lifted them out the dumps. If you have the option for a Unchained rogue I suggest it. I also suggest Butterfly sting and go Critical fishing for your team mates. Your critical will be worthless but if you have a big barbarian with a X3-4 critical weapon then your bringing a lot to the table.
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It can work and it likewise mitigates some rogue's weaknesses such as being unable to deal damage against monsters who are immune to precision damage. It makes you more well rounded also by having slightly better Fortitude Saves, CMD and such. You should pick the Improved Feint though for more reliable sneak attacks. After lv10 or so, consider taking some other Feint feats for additional sneak attacks. Combat Expertise might get in the way also, but if you combine it with offensive defense and/or fighting defensively, you can hit somewhat decent AC.
Wrong!!!!!
Half-orc rogue has been a tradition since first edition!!!
Sneak attack with a greataxe is the "reason", not dark vision or ferocity.
Yes, it can work.
Dwarf, half-elf, and human are also good choices.
Dwarf is probably at least as good a race for this concept as half-orc: Darkvision; Stonecunning has most of the benefits of the Trap Spotter rogue talent, allowing the dwarf to pick another combat-focused talent instead; free proficiency with battleaxe, heavy pick, and warhammer.
Half-elf can use the Ancestral Arms alternate racial trait to pick up proficiency in elven curve blade, falcata (used either one- or two-handed), katana (used either one- or two-handed), or tetsubo (if you want to go the Sap Master route). Taking the Arcane Training alternate racial trait lets the half-elf use certain wands without Use Magic Device checks (depending on what exactly the focus is, either bard, witch, or sorcerer/wizard are good choices*).
Human gets the bonus feat and either extra skill ranks or one of the "Heart of..." alternate racial traits.
*- bard for wands of sift and backup healing, witch for a bit of everything (including cure light wounds), sorcerer/wizard for almost all ranged touch (Sneak Attack within 30 ft) and utility spells.
The reason people take half-orc is purely for a falchion as rogues do not gain martial proficiency. Further, the Skulking Slayer archetype combined with Scout is a great little combo for a STR rogue.
You can still acquire a weapon alternatively though half-elf and ancestral arms, OR as has been mentioned earlier, just don't go rogue. Slayer will get you martial proficiency, and sneak attack. Alchemist won't get you a good weapon, but the benefits of mutagen are quite useful.
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Wrong!!!!!
Half-orc rogue has been a tradition since first edition!!!
Sneak attack with a greataxe is the "reason", not dark vision or ferocity.
In PF prior to unchained lighting conditions effected Sneak attack. Dark vision races where the way to no be " light gibbed".
It has been a tradition since many can remember but it was mostly for the dark vision, 2 handed weapon profiency, and the damage return from power attack and the 2 handed weapon.
Unchained tipped the scales back to dex based because all the freebie you get for being dex and the fixing of Sneak attack wording to not shut off in dim lighting.
The entry for Human has been updated recently from Inner Sea Races, and now you can get 2 Martial or Exotic Weapon Proficiencies in place of your Human Bonus Feat. Since a feat normally only gets you 1 of either, and Exotic Weapon Proficiency has a BAB +1 requirement and this doesn't, this is a steal.
On the other hand, if you want to make a Rogue, Ninja, or Slayer that uses Intimidate a lot (eventually getting Shatter Defenses to make your target flat-footed), Half-Orc's out-of-the-box racial trait Intimidating is useful (strangely, a full-blooded Orc doesn't get access to this racial trait).
most take half-orc for 1) flavor and 2) free weapon proficiency. That being said, as was pointed out above you can achieve the same result with another race.
Dwarf and elf get free weapon proficiencies. Half-elf can use ancenstral racial trait. Humans can use extra feat for proficiency. Remember all rogues are proficient with spears, which are two handed weapons. Difference between spear and falchion is only .5 average damage, and great axe is only 2. Use that extra feat for Iron Will or Toughness or Weapon Focus.
A Good build will be Improved Feint, Furious Focus, and Power Attack. That means that you get all the benefit of Power Attacking with two handed weapon, no penalties, and full sneak attack. This build can be done by human by level 3.
1: Combat Expertise
1: Improved Feint
2: Combat Trick: Power Attack
3: Furious Focus
Starting with 18 Str, your hitting a Flat-footed AC with +6 1d8+9+2d6. For an average of 20.5 per hit.