[TWW Spoilers] The missing link!

[Aucald]

I like this theory. However with current lore nelfs evolve from dark trolls but I would not mind that much if they would change it your way.

I think the biggest issue here would be that the quillboar themselves are most likely to be descendants of the Wild God Agamaggan, a primordial boar that was killed during the War of the Ancients and whose blood appears to have given rise to both the quillboar and the immense thorny vines that created the Razorfen that the quillboar came to call home. Since Night Elves were already around during the War of the Ancients and the quillboar didn't appear until after Agamaggan's death, it seems unlikely they'd fall into the troll -> elf genealogy very well.

[Enrif]

I think the biggest issue here would be that the quillboar themselves are most likely to be descendants of the Wild God Agamaggan, a primordial boar that was killed during the War of the Ancients and whose blood appears to have given rise to both the quillboar and the immense thorny vines that created the Razorfen that the quillboar came to call home. Since Night Elves were already around during the War of the Ancients and the quillboar didn't appear until after Agamaggan's death, it seems unlikely they'd fall into the troll -> elf genealogy very well.

Well, depends. We saw with the centaurs of DF that blizzard could spin a way to have different ways to create the same race. Perhaps, there was another primal race of quillboar, which evolved into the elves and troll in the end. and the current quillboars are a fresh batch of these.

[Maljinwo]

Hmmm, I wasn't aware those were different trolls - they all look similar to me

*dramatic gasp*
Aucald, how could you!?


This might not be one particualr troll, but a render used by many of the trolls present in the cinematic. There's a pink haired one near Saurfang, then one dead on the ground, another one with purple hair, Zekhan, two trolls running behind Zekhan when he does his zappy thing, several on a panoramic shot, the white haired troll that is killed by Anduin and... Oh hey. I actually found the model guy in the cinematic by comparing their lower bodies because I might actually be insane:




At least until we get another troll cinematic model (not counting the zandalari in the dragonflight one)this is their most detailed appearance yet

[Aucald]

Well, depends. We saw with the centaurs of DF that blizzard could spin a way to have different ways to create the same race. Perhaps, there was another primal race of quillboar, which evolved into the elves and troll in the end. and the current quillboars are a fresh batch of these.

True, if there's shown to be extant quillboars before or during Agamaggan's lifetime. Until that is the case, though; I'd say this particular theory would still need to be consigned to the "unlikely" bin.

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*dramatic gasp*
Aucald, how could you!?


This might not be one particualr troll, but a render used by many of the trolls present in the cinematic. There's a pink haired one near Saurfang, then one dead on the ground, another one with purple hair, Zekhan, two trolls running behind Zekhan when he does his zappy thing, several on a panoramic shot, the white haired troll that is killed by Anduin and... Oh hey. I actually found the model guy in the cinematic by comparing their lower bodies because I might actually be insane:




At least until we get another troll cinematic model (not counting the zandalari in the dragonflight one)this is their most detailed appearance yet

I have to admit I never really paid much attention to their exacting detail - I thought it was just different sequences of Zekhan. However on a rewatch I saw their armor, hair, and even their masks are a bit different, showing that there are at least three different trolls in the cinematic.

[Ramz]

Well, depends. We saw with the centaurs of DF that blizzard could spin a way to have different ways to create the same race. Perhaps, there was another primal race of quillboar, which evolved into the elves and troll in the end. and the current quillboars are a fresh batch of these.

Now that you describe it as it is, it sounds like a much bigger leap than from Trolls to nelves.

But I'd say that this new NPC race is in a way good example on why trolls and elves should never mingle together. What an eyesore.

[SinR]

I can't wait for the "ERMERGERD GIVE ALLIED RACE" posts

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Allied race for sure, they've been added to the allied race manifest file alongside Earthen. Earthen appears twice, once each for Alliance and Horde versions, but Harronir only appears once, which makes me think they could be a Horde allied race. Which would make the most sense, Night Elf is one of the most played races, Horde players would appreciate having their familiar/preferred avatar as a choice if they needed to play on the other faction for server or guild reasons. After 20 years player attachment to things like how their avatar looks matters a lot.

And here it is.

Also, Horde have Night Elves. They're called Nightborne

[Ramz]

Also, Horde have Night Elves. They're called Nightborne

Regrettably. :/

[Cheezits]

I'm pretty sure the quills are just to make them look cool and less like a nelf/troll, even though they are just dark trolls.

[Enrif]

Now that you describe it as it is, it sounds like a much bigger leap than from Trolls to nelves.

eh, leaps are abound in warcraft races. from earthen to dwarfs and troggs (and apparently grumml). Breakers to orcs, covering gronn and ogres, murlocs to jinyu.
Would it be so strange that it would go quillboard -> harronir -> Trolls / Elves -> Naga. And trolls/elves are notorious for being very prone to mutations. Dire Trolls, withered, naga brutes, fal'dorei.

[Ramz]

eh, leaps are abound in warcraft races. from earthen to dwarfs and troggs (and apparently grumml). Breakers to orcs, covering gronn and ogres, murlocs to jinyu.
Would it be so strange that it would go quillboard -> harronir -> Trolls / Elves -> Naga. And trolls/elves are notorious for being very prone to mutations. Dire Trolls, withered, naga brutes, fal'dorei.

There was still some familiarity. This is why Trolls and elves were somewhat reasonable. But from boar humanoid to elf-look alike and then to troll? And then from troll to elf again?
That kind of transition is all over the place.

Especially when you compare it to Eaerthen and dwarf, and gronn and ogre, where you could see the connection.

[Enrif]

There was still some familiarity. This is why Trolls and elves were somewhat reasonable. But from boar humanoid to elf-look alike and then to troll? And then from troll to elf again?
That kind of transition is all over the place.

Especially when you compare it to Eaerthen and dwarf, and gronn and ogre, where you could see the connection.

Eh, wait and see.

The ironic thing is: usually it is orcs that are connected to boar designs: tusks, pig faced. But in WoW they are coming from titan created rocks.
Meanwhile, Elves, usually a close to divine or fey like race, is descendent of trolls, which in turn could be (or not) be coming from boars?

I wouldn't put it past blizzard to do that.

[Ramz]

Eh, wait and see.

The ironic thing is: usually it is orcs that are connected to boar designs: tusks, pig faced. But in WoW they are coming from titan created rocks.
Meanwhile, Elves, usually a close to divine or fey like race, is descendent of trolls, which in turn could be (or not) be coming from boars?

I wouldn't put it past blizzard to do that.

But trolls didn't come from boars. Quilboars are relatively young race. And to be honest I welcome that Warcraft elves aren't tied to any divine creature, their ego is already off the roof.

[Nymrohd]

To be fair, quills are just hair.

[KainneAbsolute]

Iam glad that many are embracing the boar supremacy.

On the other hand, maybe the roots are siphoning a little of the planet's core, and quill-boars evolved into Harronir.

In some way, each expansion brings a new take on the races (ancestor, new branch, other pathway, or cultural influence):

• Pandaria: Jinyu originated from murlocs.
• WoD: Orcs come from Grond
• Legion: New elf branches (Void Elves and Nighfallen), Light Dreadlords, Lightforged Draenei
• BFA: Kultiran and Zandalar
• Shadowlands: Origin of Spirit healers, Dreadlords come from Revendreth, there are strong ties between Maldraxxus and Scourge/Nerubians, the Jailer is behind domination, Ardenweald is behind Wild Gods and Loa
• Dragonflight: the primal dragons, dracthyr, nice centaurs, gnolls, Djaradin

Maybe the Harronir are just evolved quillboar and not related to elves and trolls.

Or maybe Blizzard is playing with the word Harrow

[Syegfryed]

Looks like we have a race stuck somewhere between the evolutionary line of Trolls and Night Elves. Or perhaps Dark Trolls that were never blessed by the Well of Eternity or Elune to give them their final appearance of Elune's chosen..

I said this in the news thread, but this race cannot be, logically, the one "stuck between the evolutionary line of trolls and night elves". For that to happen, these things would need to have troll-ish characteristics, and the only thing remotely alike is the female tusks

As of it is now, its more likely that night elves are the missing link between trolls and this weird thing, as something wrong happened with a group of night elves and they became this.

Of course its more likely that they will end up making "canon", besides making no sense whatsoever.

They look as much like Zandalari as they do Night Elves. They have the Elven number of digits which is curious.

how so? apart from prob using the same rig they don't look alike, and they can't even be, since the night elves came from dark trolls, which was from a group of either forest or jungle trolls, and they were not bulky like other trolls such the ice trolls

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While not a definitive proof by any means, here's an HD render of one of the troll warriors from the BfA cinematic

https://www.zbrushcentral.com/t/trol...r-model/207868

I would give him a 10/10, but he missed the fucking heel toe the trolls have(the on the back of the foot), it fucking drives me nuts when blizzard forget this important piece of troll lore/aesthetic. It shows the lack of care in their stuff and i will die in that hill

I remember they forgot to do that for the zandalari and i had to make a lot of noise in the official forums until they just added a toenail in the back of the feet and called a day.

[Great Skycaller]

Quillboar and trolls both have tusks... and Quillboars and trolls have the same amount of fingers and toes...

U know the more I look at them the more I think they might be evolved quillboars due to either Xal's corruption or exposure to Azeroth's blood. Because weirdly both seem to have similar affects if we look at the new nerubians or trolls -> elfs

Highly unlikely, trolls were already a thing within a thousand years of the aspects being uplifted with their true origin date unknown, so they're ancient ancient. We also have several lore sources that the night elves came from trolls, especially the dark trolls. And we are told that the dark trolls came from the zandalari.
We also know from Season of Discovery that the Dark trolls worship Aggamagan as the greatest loa. It's very unlikely that this information was just added at the same time as we get to meet a creature that looks like the missing link between dark troll and night elf but with quills.
So more than likely these are dark trolls that moved away from the well of eternity into the depths of Azeroth before they fully transformed into elves, and they have some form of blessing from Aggamagan for the quills, just like the highmountain tauren have antlers instead of horns after being blessed by Cenarius.

Changing the evolution tree would require a ton of retcons compared to them "just" being a population that never "finished" their evolution into elves.

[ChronoSul]

Highly unlikely, trolls were already a thing within a thousand years of the aspects being uplifted with their true origin date unknown, so they're ancient ancient. We also have several lore sources that the night elves came from trolls, especially the dark trolls. And we are told that the dark trolls came from the zandalari.
We also know from Season of Discovery that the Dark trolls worship Aggamagan as the greatest loa. It's very unlikely that this information was just added at the same time as we get to meet a creature that looks like the missing link between dark troll and night elf but with quills.
So more than likely these are dark trolls that moved away from the well of eternity into the depths of Azeroth before they fully transformed into elves, and they have some form of blessing from Aggamagan for the quills, just like the highmountain tauren have antlers instead of horns after being blessed by Cenarius.

Changing the evolution tree would require a ton of retcons compared to them "just" being a population that never "finished" their evolution into elves.

I never claimed trolls evolved from Quillboars. What I was claiming was the Xal's corruption / Azerite empowerment for some reason BOTH make things look more like elfs. Look at the new nerubians for Xal & Jinyu , Elfs as examples for Azerite. What I was saying is these new beings are just a mutation of a branch of Quillboars who either got to close to Azerite or Xal experimenting on them.

Again this wouldnt require u to retcon anything just be like o these Quillboar got mutated due to x thing. Similar to Trolls & Murlocs into Elfs & Jinyu respectively

[Ramz]

We also know from Season of Discovery that the Dark trolls worship Aggamagan as the greatest loa. It's very unlikely that this information was just added at the same time as we get to meet a creature that looks like the missing link between dark troll and night elf but with quills.
So more than likely these are dark trolls that moved away from the well of eternity into the depths of Azeroth before they fully transformed into elves, and they have some form of blessing from Aggamagan for the quills, just like the highmountain tauren have antlers instead of horns after being blessed by Cenarius.

Changing the evolution tree would require a ton of retcons compared to them "just" being a population that never "finished" their evolution into elves.

I really hope that it's not the case and these are just some mongrel night elves. If we get these instead of the real deal that is actual Dark troll I'd be livid.

Before anyone would jump on me with information that Dark trolls are believed to be extinct - ye, the shadowtooth clan that was residing in Hyjal. But in WoW Magazine Magni believed that there might be Dark Trolls living deeper underground.

And I'd rather have Dark trolls than furry night elves.

And I believe Shatterspear tribe should've been Dark Trolls as well. Them being Jungle trolls from STV is such a lorelol.

[Maljinwo]

What if a Quilboar just got funky with some elves and we got these things

[Biomega]

What if a Quilboar just got funky with some elves and we got these things

Who's to say it wasn't the other way round.

Elves live forever. After thousands of years, I bet you're game to try anything to add some spice.

You don't want to know what went on in Darnassus after dark.