Are the Drust based on Native Americans(no racism intended)(speculation)

[Psykho]

Yes, I believe that the enemies within Drustvar are based on Native Americans, I might sneak a few memes into this

For one thing the Wickers that the Drust and witches employ, have quills on their backs slightly resembling humanoid porcupines, something a native American cryptid known as the Pukwudgie was known to be able to transform into, a creature that could also create fire at will and if annoyed would kidnap, push people off cliffs, or

also the creatures are said to have once been friendly to mankind but


You might say they are actually based on the Norse, since their concept art has buildings reminiscent of the vry'kul, but I have also seen these images and many of the pillars on them, have patterns that make me think of Native Americans, they don't look Norse to me

Their is also the fact that certain groups of native americans were hostile to early settlers in and around revolutionary war era Massachusetts(an area which Kul'tiras seems to take heavy inspiration from) for example Pocahontas' tribe(at least I think so, I'm not entirely sure) were only stopped from executing John Smith, because of Pocahontas' intervention, what happened back during early Kul'tiran settlement is sort of what might've happened if John Smith was executed

[KrakHed]

Hrm. I'd say there's a similar general theme, but you've got the people wrong. "Drust" is a Celtic word, as is the name of the local stag spirit Athair. Their concept art gives them stylized blue skin and body paint, like that associated with the Picts. To be more specific about "Drust", it's a common name to many Pictish kings. Back in the day, the Picts were the hostile natives to the conquering Romans who set themselves up in Scotland. Eventually, the Picts were brought to extinction.

"Wickermen" are of course associated with the supposed sacrificial practices of the Celtic people.

Of course, you can draw similarities to Native Americans if you like. Many peoples have gone through similar circumstances at different periods of time.

[Steampunkette]

This is the only concept art of drust that exists.



This is their Witches and their Wickerbeasts.



Some of their larger Wicker Monstrosities.

To me? They scream Germanic. MAYBE Slavic if you go for a more "Baba Yaga" with the witch more strongly.

[Throren]

The Drust are heavily themed off of Celts/Picts/etc. And I believe they have some relation to the Vrykul. You can find their ruins and they are covered in celtic/norse knotwork and patterns and their stone constructs have germanic/Vrykul runes on them.

The witches that are possessed/worship the Drust and the wickermen they create are in contrst, very Slavic, with a havy 'baba yaga' theme

[Khaza-R]

Definitely not Native American

The first clue should be that Blizzard isn’t super creative with names and the Drust are likely named after the ancient Pict King of the same name

The aesthetic definitely more European than Native American. In my opinion it’s a mix of Celtic, Germanic and Slavic motifs

[Steampunkette]

I definitely agree with the references in this thread to the Celts, Germans, and Slavs.

It's a very cool mix, if you ask me!

[KrakHed]

The Drust are heavily themed off of Celts/Picts/etc. And I believe they have some relation to the Vrykul. You can find their ruins and they are covered in celtic/norse knotwork and patterns and their stone constructs have germanic/Vrykul runes on them.

The witches that are possessed/worship the Drust and the wickermen they create are in contrst, very Slavic, with a havy 'baba yaga' theme

I'm not sure how strong the actual Slavic influence is. The Witcher has it's very own aesthetic. The Leshen from the Witcher do not actually closely resemble their counterparts from actual Slavic folklore, and the Wickermen in BfA clearly only use the visual design. So I guess it's kind of second or third hand Slavic influence. It's based on something that is based on Slavic mythology.

[Psykho]

This is the only concept art of drust that exists.



This is their Witches and their Wickerbeasts.



Some of their larger Wicker Monstrosities.

To me? They scream Germanic. MAYBE Slavic if you go for a more "Baba Yaga" with the witch more strongly.

There is no reason for their not being the possibility of having both Slavic and Native American influence, the whole Drustvar story sounds sort of native American death curse, built their town on an indian burial ground kind of stuff
Also that Drust concept art looks Native American to me
and it'd make sense the Wickers were made by the Drust to resemble them, both the concept art and the Wickers have antlers for example maybe, Blizz decided after making that concept art, they wanted the Drust to be more in the background, and started saying to themselves that the Wickers are made to look like them, I wouldn't be surprised if a living Drust model popped up and it has a beak or a deer like head

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The Drust are heavily themed off of Celts/Picts/etc. And I believe they have some relation to the Vrykul. You can find their ruins and they are covered in celtic/norse knotwork and patterns and their stone constructs have germanic/Vrykul runes on them.

The witches that are possessed/worship the Drust and the wickermen they create are in contrst, very Slavic, with a havy 'baba yaga' theme

*Deep Breath* just because 2 races share the same general look, doesn't mean their related, are the Trolls related to the Furbolgs, no Just because the concept art supposedly looks like a pale hunched over vry'kul doesn't mean it is one

[Steampunkette]

There is no reason for their not being the possibility of having both Slavic and Native American influence, the whole Drustvar story sounds sort of native American death curse, built their town on an indian burial ground kind of stuff
Also that Drust concept art looks Native American to me
and it'd make sense the Wickers were made by the Drust to resemble them, both the concept art and the Wickers have antlers for example maybe, Blizz decided after making that concept art, they wanted the Drust to be more in the background, and started saying to themselves that the Wickers are made to look like them, I wouldn't be surprised if a living Drust model popped up and it has a beak or a deer like head

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*Deep Breath* just because 2 races share the same general look, doesn't mean their related, are the Trolls related to the Furbolgs, no Just because the concept art supposedly looks like a pale hunched over vry'kul doesn't mean it is one

There's no reason they "Can't" be. But there's no reason FOR them to be.

Blizzard has not been Coy with it's depiction of Native American Culture. The Tauren and Pharah's "Thunderbird" skin make that -super- clear.



I think you're misplacing native stylings, here, is all. Otherwise they'd be all feathers and warpaint.

[Psykho]

There's no reason they "Can't" be. But there's no reason FOR them to be.

Blizzard has not been Coy with it's depiction of Native American Culture. The Tauren and Pharah's "Thunderbird" skin make that -super- clear.



I think you're misplacing native stylings, here, is all. Otherwise they'd be all feathers and warpaint.

They seem to be Native American thematically, just with Germanic/Slavic/Celtic visually, then again I don't really know Native American style beyond a few cryptids and a few tribe names

[ls-]

After reading your replies, OP, I think that you desperately want them to be based on Native Americans for some reason.

[KrakHed]

There is no reason for their not being the possibility of having both Slavic and Native American influence, the whole Drustvar story sounds sort of native American death curse, built their town on an indian burial ground kind of stuff
Also that Drust concept art looks Native American to me
and it'd make sense the Wickers were made by the Drust to resemble them, both the concept art and the Wickers have antlers for example maybe, Blizz decided after making that concept art, they wanted the Drust to be more in the background, and started saying to themselves that the Wickers are made to look like them, I wouldn't be surprised if a living Drust model popped up and it has a beak or a deer like head

- - - Updated - - -

*Deep Breath* just because 2 races share the same general look, doesn't mean their related, are the Trolls related to the Furbolgs, no Just because the concept art supposedly looks like a pale hunched over vry'kul doesn't mean it is one

Here's the thing. Native Americans aren't the first people to receive that kind of treatment. Do you know just how many different peoples have had their ancient burial grounds built upon? How many people whose spirits were believed to still haunt the land? I mean, isn't that basically what the thing with Fomorians is?

And that Drust art? It resembles other video game depictions of Picts, though not real Picts. We already have a complete model for the wicker-body made for Gorak Tul, and the more lively parts of his body look human.

[G3 Ghost]

They are not. One thing I have noticed is that Blizzard doesn't really duplicate real world cultural references all that often. The Tauren are most definitely the Native American reference in Wow and that includes the Taunka and Highmountain.

[Psykho]

After reading your replies, OP, I think that you desperately want them to be based on Native Americans for some reason.

I think maybe internally I just jumped to assumptions and I want a violent cultural counterpart to the Tauren that isn't an actual Tauren, also I saw a video about Native American Cryptids, and when I heard of the Pukwudgie turning into a humanoid porcupine, I connected that to the quills on the Wicker, also the whole Pocket sand thing seemed funny

[G3 Ghost]

The in-game violent reference to the Tauren and Native Americans would be the quill boar (Pukwudgie).

[Vonazak]

The Kalimdor native races (Tauren and Quillboars) are based on native american culture.
The Drust are based on pagan central, north and eastern european cultures, your conception of native american is pretty deformed by american pop culture.

[Psykho]

The in-game violent reference to the Tauren and Native Americans would be the quill boar (Pukwudgie).

Those bois are more like Tolkien Orcs, and besides, the base form for the Pukwudgie is a gray human about the size of a dwarf, with big ears, nose and fingers

[Super Kami Dende]

Far FAR more Celtic and/or Slavic than Native American.

[Psykho]

The Kalimdor native races (Tauren and Quillboars) are based on native american culture.
The Drust are based on pagan central, north and eastern european cultures, your conception of native american is pretty deformed by american pop culture.

I'm sorry, I guess I just jumped to conclusions

[ls-]

I'm not sure how strong the actual Slavic influence is. The Witcher has it's very own aesthetic. The Leshen from the Witcher do not actually closely resemble their counterparts from actual Slavic folklore, and the Wickermen in BfA clearly only use the visual design. So I guess it's kind of second or third hand Slavic influence. It's based on something that is based on Slavic mythology.

TBF, Leshy has quite many different depictions in Slavic folklore, e.g., nearly stationary talking tree (something like Vydhar in Stromheim), giant treant, or even basic old man w/ some mushrooms and other plants growing on his body, head in particular o_O