May the true dark elf please stand up!

[Isilrien]

None of these are true Dark Elves, physical appearance or otherwise. I always think of the Dark Elves from EverQuest where my main character was from when I played it. Unapologetically evil elves twisted from the first king and queen of the high elves by the dark god Neriak. None of the races except maybe vanilla undead are as evil, and it’s a shame.

I played EQ, as well, and agree with you.

[Saltysquidoon]

Ironically, the Dark Elves of Warhammer aren't dark skinned, they are rather pale.

I hate snow...

[Super Kami Dende]

Ironically, the Dark Elves of Warhammer aren't dark skinned, they are rather pale.

I always assumed the "Dark" part of the name for Elves/Eldar in Warhammer was more about their demeanour anyway.

[Venziir]

I always assumed the "Dark" part of the name for Elves/Eldar in Warhammer was more about their demeanour anyway.

Pretty much, might as well have called them evil elves.

[Thage]

The Nightborne are closest to the archetypal drow, being slender, matriarchial elves who were split off from their more traditional kin after a war egged on by a malevolent god and spent generations in isolation nurturing a grudge against their 'pure' kin, with a strong focus on magic in their society, but that's about where the similarities end, and none of the others come close enough to fit the bill.

[RCA]

I guess the op means darkest colored elf, since like said before “dark” before the fraction name equates to being evil not darkly colored.

Going with be. New color has that Anubis vibe to me.

[Venziir]

The Nightborne are closest to the archetypal drow, being slender, matriarchial elves who were split off from their more traditional kin after a war egged on by a malevolent god and spent generations in isolation nurturing a grudge against their 'pure' kin, with a strong focus on magic in their society, but that's about where the similarities end, and none of the others come close enough to fit the bill.

Not to mention, that when exposed to the "right" magic, they turn into litteral Driders.

[Powerogue]

I've got to give it to the new "drow" skin color for night elves with the black eyes, very sinister.

[Cyanu]

They did say they were taking the best bits of the dark elves - I guess being evil wasn't one of them ( but then Azshara and the Highborne palace night elves became pretty evil), but then they turned into Naga and Satyr monsters,

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All the Highborne, Moonguard, Demon Hunter Illidari and Moon Priestesses may disagree, but the druids, hunter amazonian females might agree

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Then I'm sure a few detest at being labelled anything else than what they are. We're kaldorei - children of the stars... we're not wood elves or dark elves or forest elves, or anything like that.

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Surely, black moon elves are closer than Nightborne, and I'm sure story wise, Highborne and some arcane night elf orders are just as dark elf story wise as Nightborne

well when i think of Dark Elves i think of malevolent elven outcasts that practice the foulest of magic, perform the darkest of rituals, practice slavery, human sacrifices, torture, perverted orgies and the likes -not to save the world but to conquer it

they live in a cold and dark place under a tyranical regime which they're happy to spread to lesser races (that's actually all of them) and their primary goal as a civilization is to extract some horrible vengeance on the elvekind for exiling them for crimes they actually commited...

so i think it's fair to say that Night Elves along their forests and Elune are pretty adorable compared to the actual monsters that the Dark Elves are

essentially there are no Dark Elves in WoW but velves are at least goth enough and they practice magic that's messed up enough to claim some similarity

[matrix123mko]

None. Try Warhammer instead

Exactly. To be a dark elf, you don't need a dark skin.

[Beloren]

Not to mention, that when exposed to the "right" magic, they turn into litteral Driders.

In their case it was lack of magic, different thing - but they do seem to have delved a bit further into the drow theme, considering many of the Nightborne were evil in game.

[The Butt Witch]

Nah, Night elf again, they have everything Nightborne have save the actual physical appearance. Don't forget the only difference between Nightborne and night elf is the alteration of the Nightwell and a few extra millennia under the shield and current developments, everything else is night elven.

Night elves have all that arcane magic, lore, civilization, they also have the demon elf side branch too, that's pretty dark as well as the Black moon Night warrior which is also dark.

And if you consider Nightborne as subsidiary night elven, which you should know, it becomes clear from every angle

How exactly do these LITERAL DROW CHARACTERS hint at Night Elves for you, and not at Nightborne?






Nightborne

[ravenmoon]

In their case it was lack of magic, different thing - but they do seem to have delved a bit further into the drow theme, considering many of the Nightborne were evil in game.

The Nightborne, even their legion affliating actions are based on the night elves WotA - which is also what the TBC blood elves were based on as a Thalassian version. The original story is in the WotA trilogy and is a core part of the history of the night elves. The Suramar story line is a replay of this event without doing a time travel or AU which didn't go down too well.

well when i think of Dark Elves i think of malevolent elven outcasts that practice the foulest of magic, perform the darkest of rituals, practice slavery, human sacrifices, torture, perverted orgies and the likes -not to save the world but to conquer it

Most dark elf portrayls are primarily their dark skin, greater sorcery /arcane magic expertise, matriarchal hierarchy also shows up with high priestess, and then evil - It's obvious when blizzard said the best bits the evil part doesn't survive, but it's there in the story of the Queen and her court who go all evil on us.

they live in a cold and dark place under a tyranical regime which they're happy to spread to lesser races (that's actually all of them) and their primary goal as a civilization is to extract some horrible vengeance on the elvekind for exiling them for crimes they actually commited...

Yes, I think that was one of the not so good bits about the dark elves they also swapped out for the dark of night under a moon and star lit night. Starlight instead chosen as a core theme, giving their race it's name Kaldorei - it was an excellent swap - as deep dark cave (reminding of NWN dark elves) is very creepy esque.

so i think it's fair to say that Night Elves along their forests and Elune are pretty adorable compared to the actual monsters that the Dark Elves are

essentially there are no Dark Elves in WoW but velves are at least goth enough and they practice magic that's messed up enough to claim some similarity

Night elves adapt both the dark elf and forest elf - both renditions via their arcane civilization and casters as well as the long vigil are actually quite unique. Being good instead of evil was the twist, having and advanced civilization under the star lit night sky is the best of the dark elves, and doing the same but in a forest setting is the best of the wood elves.

Notice how the dark elf female matriarchal theme runs simultaneously in the arcane civilization and forested Long vigil. The priesthood is active in both dark elf and wood elf settings.

[Venziir]

In their case it was lack of magic, different thing - but they do seem to have delved a bit further into the drow theme, considering many of the Nightborne were evil in game.

It wasn't the lack of magic that turned them into Fal'dorei but "The arcan'dor became unstable and died, and in a flash of wild magic the elves were twisted into spider-like creatures, becoming the fal'dorei".

[TheFirstOnes]

Probably because Night Elves can look like that too, Butt Witch?

[The Butt Witch]

Probably because Night Elves can look like that too, Butt Witch?

Night elves don't have short and perky ears. Night elf ears are long and floppy, for starters.

[Mace]

Nightborne

Easy, that picture of the Nightborne there could just as easily be a night elven noble or Highborne if the ear tips taper out. You do know the Nightborne are based on the night elven pre-sundering era, and arcane wielding night elves who are still alive and well, trying to reclaim their city and maintaining some of the kaldorei traditions the Darnassians abolished but you still see in the Nightborne.

In fact the only major difference between Nightborne and Highborne is that Nightborne are horde and their ears turn upwards. Their Nightborne activity is entirely a few thousands years into life under the shield where their excessive use of the nightwell for food (of all things) changes their night elven bodies into what they call the Nightborne.

There is very little that's dark elf about Nightborne that isn't night elven too. You could literally apply all the qualifies in the Nightborne to some of the Night elves. Remember Night elf is a much bigger group than Nightborne, Nightborne only have the arcane side of the night elves, night elves have that also, but in addition the priestly matriarch side, the demon elf side, the Amazonian warrior side, the druidic forest elf side and the ranger wood elf side.

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Night elves don't have short and perky ears. Night elf ears are long and floppy, for starters.

Haven't seent he new customisations then, but if the ear angle is your qualifier, then surely the void elf fits.

I mean it's not like any of these races are drow copies or dark elf copies, but the closest to the dark elf from main stream fantasy tropes is found in the night elf. - and since it has more dark elf themes than the Nightborne, because it has all the Nightborne themes, plus the black moon dark theme and then demon elf dark theme. It races ahead. Void elf is also a good candidate, as an adaptation.

NElvs also have more skin tones that match dark elves, including both the black and greys albeit their's have purple tinges. Void elf and Nightborne have similar.

But the truth is both void elf and Nightborne come from night elf, and the parent elf race has all these things in it, so it better matches the theme. Yeh, the void is even in the Black Moon Night warrior theme

[TheFirstOnes]

Night elves don't have short and perky ears. Night elf ears are long and floppy, for starters.

That I agree with, but there is a shorter, more perky ear option for Night Elves coming in Shadowlands. We could MAYBE get more later on down the line? Maybe not? Idk...

[Beloren]

THE VOID ELVES! That's easy.

Agreed there @Melusine the void elves fit that theme much better, i can only imagine void elves living here:






Very drow this, Not night elf/nightborne

[Melusine]

THE VOID ELVES! That's easy.

My point is, dark isn't a race, it's a social class of exiles. I'll give you this, though, the number of "exiles" suggests void elves, because almost 100% of them are exiles from the high elves.