Wyvern AREN'T Wyvern

[Deleted]

I always called it a Lionbat.

[Deleted]

I did say I was being anal, it isn't a big deal I admit however some people seem to be getting highly defensive about my 'pointless' opinion

---------- Post added 2012-11-19 at 03:42 PM ----------

Besides WoW trolls were blatantly inspired by Warhammers trolls

[Deleted]

Trolls are the scariest beings in the entire universe


Too late they already ate your soul.

[Stir]

[/COLOR]Besides WoW trolls were blatantly inspired by Warhammers trolls

Pretty much everything in WoW and Starcraft was blatantly inspired by Warhammer.
And that's not too strange, considering the fact that the original Warcraft RTS game was going to be a Warhammer game... But Games Workshop pulled the plug close to completion, and Blizzard decided to publish it anyway.

As for dragons: Some dragons depicted in older paintings and folklore are tiny, and much like a winged cat. Other dragons are furry. Dragons can be just about anything, really. Now Wyrms; that's a different story.

I personally would have preferred it if the WoW Wyvern was called a manticore. I see nothing wrong with that. But 'Wyvern' isn't completely wrong... The truth is: They use their arms for both walking and flying, and they're poisonous. That's pretty much all you need to justify it being called a wyvern of some sort.

But yeah: Things we assume to be true to myth, while they're not:
Orcs aren't big and green in all myth. Sometimes, the word is used to describe an ogre (surprise, there), while other times, it is used to describe a wraith. The word does translate something to 'menacing thing.' The killer whale, for instance (which is not a whale but a dolphin) was named Orca because it is 'the terror of the deeps.' It, in turn, was named after a mythological being. Just like the Kraken was named after a mythological being. And the Kraken in myth is an octopus, while the real one is a squid.
The 'original' elves were mostly gnome-like. Small, sometimes mentioned as deformed, though sometimes mentioned as beautiful. They didn't use tech, though.
The original Dwarves were human-sized. However, in folklore, 'Duergar' and 'Dun(kel)alv' are sometimes used interchangeably; the first being a 'dwarf,' while the second is an 'elf.'
The image we have now of Elves is mostly inspired by the Celtic Tuatha de Danaan, which were beings of great beauty and wisdom. Or rather: The ones from mythology were beings of great beauty and wisdom; it is possible that they did inhabit Ireland before the Celts arrived (and if so, the Celts probably wiped them out). The Celts weren't the first humans in Ireland, so there might have actually lived people like the Tuatha and Firbuilg.
Which brings us to the Firbuilg. The furbolg. Not very bear-ish at all.
And then we take a look at all the Lovecraftian elements that ooze from every major story-line in the game.
Or Sargeras, who is very similar to the darker sides of Shiva. The Creator that will, ultimately, be the destroyer. The same theme is also used for Deathwing.

Conclusion: World of Warcraft is fantasy that was heavily inspired by all sorts of mythology and folklore... But it is NOT mythology or folklore. That means that they do not need to follow the letter of mythology or folklore.

[Urti]

I am going to sound anal here and for that I apologize BUT something that's always bugged me is the wyvern in WoW! Now I don't know if they were referred to as Wyvern in WC 1-3 because quite frankly RTS games bore the excrement out of me thus I didn't play 'em but I will never understand why Blizzard called wyvern wyvern and not something original. After all they don't even resemble a wyvern of myth, it's like calling a kodo a unicorn, especially considering we have proto drakes which are quintessentially wyvern

/nerd rant over

The wyverns in WoW are much more like what RL myth calls manticores. I'm not super bothered by it though, WoW has shown a tendency to take common fantasy genre tropes and give 'em a tweak to make them stand out, and I see this as no different.

What bothers me are the horns on the new model. WTB hornless version.

[Deleted]

Because this needs repeating : proto-drakes aren't wyverns at all, nor are they "close" to them.

Their tiny T-rex arms are definitely my favorite thing about them.

[Veyne]

amazing how many people even defend blizzard when it comes to this. there is no logical reason wow did this, more than likely the person who named wyverns just fucked up. it happens. not a big deal. but you can't logically defend them no matter how mad it makes you that someone questioned the wow gods.

It's not a matter of "Defending Blizzard," for fuck's sake. No one is saying that Warcraft's Wyverns are what Wyverns typically are. All we're saying is it's just a name and it doesn't matter.

What I find hilarious is how hard so many people (like yourself) try their damnedest to pick apart everything Blizzard does. And anyone who tries to tell you that it's not an issue, is obviously a mindless fanboy. Please...

I shall coin the term "Criticboy."

---------- Post added 2012-11-19 at 06:58 PM ----------

Also, Kobolds. And "Judgement." Point is, does it really matter?

[Golden Yak]

Because this needs repeating : proto-drakes aren't wyverns at all, nor are they "close" to them.

Their tiny T-rex arms are definitely my favorite thing about them.

Take away the little arms and they're basically wyverns. That's pretty close.

[Drilnos]

Take away the little arms and they're basically wyverns. That's pretty close.

Replace the hair on a wind rider with scales and it's basically a wyvern. That is also pretty close.

[Deleted]

Because this needs repeating : proto-drakes aren't wyverns at all, nor are they "close" to them.

Their tiny T-rex arms are definitely my favorite thing about them.

Except they're closer to a wyvern than the actual wyvern are so your point?

[Duridi]

Honestly, everything worth saying has already been mentioned, but I just thought I'd just ask a question.

Have you ever seen how the original vampires were visualised? They look nothing at all like the vampires we associate with today, but because they've evolved their apperance over time, we've learned to accept them as they are viewed today.

Fantasycreatures are descibed and formed an image of in each individual's mind, based on a few details it's descibed with. Even with a few pointers, it's quite impressive how different each individual will make it look, if they were just given a blank paper and a pen to draw what they imagine of a creature they had never seen or heard of. This done seperated from everyone else giving their own image of what they have had descibed. However, most people in the past did not get to draw an imagine of these creatures, so the artists image of it set the standard.

Personally, I can see the resemblence of what we see in WoW and the wyern you linked an image of, but I can also see it's a mixture of inspiration, just like every other fantasycreature.

[huth]

Except they're closer to a wyvern than the actual wyvern are so your point?

They still got the legs all wrong. A wyvern has only 2 legs and wings, true, but those legs should be front legs.
The term comes from heraldry, so it's one of the more strictly defined, yet almost everybody gets it wrong.

[Solzan Nemesis]

Blizzard likes to give thing its on twist. They have done this for years. Wyverns being one of the most notes.

[Grocalis]

Except they're closer to a wyvern than the actual wyvern are so your point?

The most defining characteristic of a wyvern, to me, is the fact they have four limbs, the two front ones acting as both legs and wings. That is what makes it a wyvern rather then just a dragon.

Out of the proto-dragon and the wow wyvern, the wyvern is the only one that has that. The proto-dragon does not utilize it's wings for ground movement, instead only using them for balance and flying (try running on the ground sometime, they lift the wings over their heads and run with two legs).

As far as I am concerned the wow wyvern is closer to the regular wyvern then a proto-dragon, unless you think regular dragons are also closer to wyverns then the wow wyvern.

[Zoma]

Clearly, a Proto-Drake must breed with a "Wyvern". The result will either be a true Wyvern, or a Manticore.

[Taygete]

Interesting topic!

Thought I would share: More About Manticores

My favorite part... it's in the Bible, lol! Pretty interesting read.

And, my favorite manticore...



Personal opinion though... it doesn't really bother me, but I do think they resemble manticores more than wyverns. Really, the only similarity is the limbs... It's the body/head of a lion and the scorpion tail that does it though. But anyway, it's like how the world loves football (soccer), and the US loves american football... totally different sports though!

/nerd

Carry on.

[Pachycrocuta]

The most defining characteristic of a wyvern, to me, is the fact they have four limbs, the two front ones acting as both legs and wings. That is what makes it a wyvern rather then just a dragon.

Out of the proto-dragon and the wow wyvern, the wyvern is the only one that has that. The proto-dragon does not utilize it's wings for ground movement, instead only using them for balance and flying (try running on the ground sometime, they lift the wings over their heads and run with two legs).

As far as I am concerned the wow wyvern is closer to the regular wyvern then a proto-dragon, unless you think regular dragons are also closer to wyverns then the wow wyvern.

Have you tried walking while on a proto-drake? They use their wings as front "legs". They even sit/stand with their wings on the ground like arms. And wings make for terrible running apendages with rear legs as long as the proto-drakes have them.

[Kegler]

Wyvern aren't the only things 'misnamed'.

Have the Quilen.
Wow's Quilen look nothing like how the Chinese made them up to be. Quilen are essentially the Chinese Unicorn, which are very thin, and delicate looking. WoW's Quilen are closer to Chinese guardian lions.

Don't agree with you here.

[Firecrest]

I feel the same as you, OP. They more resemble manticore than wyvern. And it always bugged the hell out of me.

And slightly off-topic, but related to your image. It annoys the hell out of me when someone refers to the image you showed as a dragon. Dragons have 4 "legs" (some call the front ones arms, some legs), while wyvern have 2 legs and no arms, using their wings as psuedo-arms.

God forbid we let someone use their imagination when describing a FANTASY creature. It's comforting to know the Fantasy Police are on the case, making sure everyone's imagination comforms to their accepted norm.

Blizzard can call their shit whatever they want to call it and make it look however they want. If I made up my own freaking world where Elves were short bearded creatures and Dwarves were tall and had pointy ears, that would be fucking fine because it's my goddamn world.

[Taygete]

Don't agree with you here.

So compare that picture to what he was talking about, which is this:



Right??