Class inspirations in Warcraft, and yours?

[Mace]

WHat do you think inspired the various classes in warcraft ?

But as this is an mmorpg, I am sure you are inspired to a class based on other things - do you have a fantasy inspiration for your class? Or did you pick it purely because it was the best class/spec at the time? And if so, have any of your characters been based on some popular fiction or inspired trope?



Here are my guesses.


Mage - DnD fantasy [my mage characters are inspired by warcraft lore
Warlock - real life witches/warlock [my warlock is inspired by John Constantine]
Warrior - generic medieval warrior
DK - prob a diablo off shoot? [my DK has no inspiration, although later I wanted to model it after the Witcher]
Druid - Celtic druids mixed with DnD fantasy druids [my druid was inspired by Malfurion]
DH - new concept blizz made up? [mine was inspired by Illidan and Vandin]
Hunter - range of inspirations, largely Ranger and beastmaster [I have hunters in every race except gnome, when I make them, they are inspired by the warcraft fantasy of each race]
Shaman - I think they were inspired by native american shaman elevated to Chieftain/elemental warrior, Thrall was the inspiration in what the wow shaman became - but since then it has diversified. What the shaman is today was fleshed out in WoW, the WC3 shaman are actually far more basic, and many shaman abilities were part of the druid before wow.
Rogue - generic fantasy DnD rogue [mine are insipred by that]
Monk - chinese kung fu oanda mixed with eastern martial arts legends [have no inspiration for monks, I can't even fit them with my fave eastern martial arts actors - because [andas too fat, and animations rather goofy - still i enjoy playing hte monk and like the animations somewhat]
Priest - generic DnD priest - [my priest is inspired by the void elf fantasy - which is weird since they have no notable priest character nor npc]
Paladin - Templar fantasy, Crusader - my Paladin is inspired by the high elf Silver hand fantasy

[Rathwell]

Monk - chinese kung fu oanda

Kung Fu Panda did not exist when Mists of Pandaria released, let alone when Pandaren monks first appeared in WC3.

[Rageonit]

Kung Fu Panda did not exist when Mists of Pandaria released, let alone when Pandaren monks first appeared in WC3.

???
Kung Fu Panda 1 released in 2008, Mists in 2012. Every time we watch KFP with kids, we look for inspirations Blizzard took from the movie :P

[loras]

WHat do you think inspired the various classes in warcraft ?

But as this is an mmorpg, I am sure you are inspired to a class based on other things - do you have a fantasy inspiration for your class? Or did you pick it purely because it was the best class/spec at the time? And if so, have any of your characters been based on some popular fiction or inspired trope?



Here are my guesses.


Mage - DnD fantasy [my mage characters are inspired by warcraft lore
Warlock - real life witches/warlock [my warlock is inspired by John Constantine]
Warrior - generic medieval warrior
DK - prob a diablo off shoot? [my DK has no inspiration, although later I wanted to model it after the Witcher]
Druid - Celtic druids mixed with DnD fantasy druids [my druid was inspired by Malfurion]
DH - new concept blizz made up? [mine was inspired by Illidan and Vandin]
Hunter - range of inspirations, largely Ranger and beastmaster [I have hunters in every race except gnome, when I make them, they are inspired by the warcraft fantasy of each race]
Shaman - I think they were inspired by native american shaman elevated to Chieftain/elemental warrior, Thrall was the inspiration in what the wow shaman became - but since then it has diversified. What the shaman is today was fleshed out in WoW, the WC3 shaman are actually far more basic, and many shaman abilities were part of the druid before wow.
Rogue - generic fantasy DnD rogue [mine are insipred by that]
Monk - chinese kung fu oanda mixed with eastern martial arts legends [have no inspiration for monks, I can't even fit them with my fave eastern martial arts actors - because [andas too fat, and animations rather goofy - still i enjoy playing hte monk and like the animations somewhat]
Priest - generic DnD priest - [my priest is inspired by the void elf fantasy - which is weird since they have no notable priest character nor npc]
Paladin - Templar fantasy, Crusader - my Paladin is inspired by the high elf Silver hand fantasy

Most are fairly self evident, but the following you seem to have missed:
DK - a mix between the trope of the "black knight" and a necromancer.
Druid - actually more inspired by "real life" shamans it would seem, particularly german/nordic ones with indeed some of that distinctive celtic stuff.
DH - A variant of the trope of needing to become like the monsters you fight in order to stand a chance, pretty original take though.

Personally i give just slight twists to my own characters:
Warrior - mercenary, explorer, partially inspired by the french legion
Rogue - Pirate, charlatan, an outcast (worgen) with trouble finding his spot in the world.
Warlock - Researcher, touched by datk powers (void elf), fascinated by them, also researches out of a sense of dread a la Faust; his soul is already theirs, perhaps he can yet subvert his fate?
Mage - Technomagical mayhem in a small pocket size, relentlessly seeks to understand and manipulate just about everything, not into "morality". May start fires just to study the flames.
Paladin - Noble shield against the darkness, seeks to lead through example and strives to inspire others towards the paths of good. Secretly doubts how his fellow lightforged handle their newfound freedom after the Legion's defeat.
DK and hunter are, like the paladin, pretty standard, apart maybe from making them family of one another as both are dwarves.
Druid - Kul Tiran reconnecting with nature (pretty unexplored for me).
DH - generic, but yearning for a new form of normalcy for himself.
Priest - mechagnome with so much faith that he recklessly delves into the void and weaponises it in every way he can.

[deenman]

???
Kung Fu Panda 1 released in 2008, Mists in 2012. Every time we watch KFP with kids, we look for inspirations Blizzard took from the movie :P

pandas existed since warcraft,but i dont remember if they had the kung fu aspect back then,or it was something they saw in the movie and liked

[Rageonit]

pandas existed since warcraft,but i dont remember if they had the kung fu aspect back then,or it was something they saw in the movie and liked

Of course Pandarens existed longer than the movie, but Blizzard only got to truly showcase Pandarens and their land in an expansion released 4 years after the movie. Watch it and I'm sure you'll also notice plenty of inspirations in the art, style, and even comedy aspects (male Pandaren is almost a copy of the movie character with its silhouette and clumsiness).

[Uncia Amethice]

Pandaren Brewmasters (including Chen) were in Warcraft 3 since 2003 - and to be honest, it's not exactly creatively mindblowing for someone to go "Chinese animal+Chinese kung fu movie tropes".

[deenman]

Of course Pandarens existed longer than the movie, but Blizzard only got to truly showcase Pandarens and their land in an expansion released 4 years after the movie. Watch it and I'm sure you'll also notice plenty of inspirations in the art, style, and even comedy aspects (male Pandaren is almost a copy of the movie character with its silhouette and clumsiness).

very likely yeah,but clumsy?have you seen taran zhu?the pandas specialy that faction is pretty clearly portrayed as elite ninjas,not clumsy at all

[Uncia Amethice]

As for the larger topic - pretty much all of WoW's classes (save possibly demon hunter) are heavily rooted in D&D and similar fantasy RPG archetypes, which in turn has drawn from various literary, mythological and folklorish sources. They're archetypes for a reason - some details of how they fit into the world are of course adapted to Azeroth, such as how the very first death knights were shaman, but they're all very much generic fantasy with the occasional serial number filed off.

And that isn't really a bad thing - most broad ideas for RPG classes have been done over and over in the decades of RPGs, digital and otherwise, which in turn built off centuries of fantasy literature and other storytelling. The thing that matters is really the execution, and if and how they manage to make it feel like it fits into the world and is fun and interesting to play and play together with.

[Mace]

pandas existed since warcraft,but i dont remember if they had the kung fu aspect back then,or it was something they saw in the movie and liked

Isn't it a mixture - i mean many of the guys who do the art and creative stuff move between these companies.

Pandas came before KFP movie, and it's possible the KFp was somewhat inspired by the warcraft panda presentation, who in turn then took inspiration from the KFP when they did MoP /shrug.

[Rageonit]

very likely yeah,but clumsy?have you seen taran zhu?the pandas specialy that faction is pretty clearly portrayed as elite ninjas,not clumsy at all

I meant the male character animations and emotes, how they walk, how they run etc. For me, they are downright silly. Check out this concept art of Chen:
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/wo...20180726134608

What we eventually got in game is closer to Kung Fu Panda than that art.

[Sentynel]

Isn't it a mixture - i mean many of the guys who do the art and creative stuff move between these companies.

Pandas came before KFP movie, and it's possible the KFp was somewhat inspired by the warcraft panda presentation, who in turn then took inspiration from the KFP when they did MoP /shrug.

So DreamWorks or whoever the fuck owns the right to KFP took inspiration from a single NPC from a video game released 5 years prior? Sure man, whatever you're smoking

[deenman]

I meant the male character animations and emotes, how they walk, how they run etc. For me, they are downright silly. Check out this concept art of Chen:
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/wo...20180726134608

What we eventually got in game is closer to Kung Fu Panda than that art.

doesnt work

[Rageonit]

doesnt work

Now it should.

[deenman]

Isn't it a mixture - i mean many of the guys who do the art and creative stuff move between these companies.

Pandas came before KFP movie, and it's possible the KFp was somewhat inspired by the warcraft panda presentation, who in turn then took inspiration from the KFP when they did MoP /shrug.

we cant rly know for sure unless someone behind it confirms it,ofc there always is the posibility they both came up with the same concept,its not like chinese+kung fu isnt an old stereotype

[Mace]

So DreamWorks or whoever the fuck owns the right to KFP took inspiration from a single NPC from a video game released 5 years prior? Sure man, whatever you're smoking

Ever created stiff before? Inspiration can come from anywhere. I was speculating, not making an assertion though. There is a difference.

[deenman]

Now it should.

lol dude,that picture makes him look like a badass,more worgen than pandaran,thats how i wish pandas looked,kinda like in those art story they released

[Rageonit]

lol dude,that picture makes him look like a badass,more worgen than pandaran,thats how i wish pandas looked,kinda like in those art story they released

Well that's what I'm saying - they steered away from that concept and made the actual model a bit silly and clumsy - like the main character of the Kung Fu Panda movie.

[Mace]

As for the larger topic - pretty much all of WoW's classes (save possibly demon hunter) are heavily rooted in D&D and similar fantasy RPG archetypes, which in turn has drawn from various literary, mythological and folklorish sources. They're archetypes for a reason - some details of how they fit into the world are of course adapted to Azeroth, such as how the very first death knights were shaman, but they're all very much generic fantasy with the occasional serial number filed off.

And that isn't really a bad thing - most broad ideas for RPG classes have been done over and over in the decades of RPGs, digital and otherwise, which in turn built off centuries of fantasy literature and other storytelling. The thing that matters is really the execution, and if and how they manage to make it feel like it fits into the world and is fun and interesting to play and play together with.

Well one of the things many people like about Warcraft was how they adapted these common well known concepts too.

Also we have to remember that a lot of younger people might actually have first been introduced to these via wow, instead of DnD. What Warcraft did well was flesh out many of these races and class concepts to a detail most fantasy games and universes never do. They end up feeling shallow, where Warcraft has more depth.

it is also why many people resent it when blizzard just bunches everyone together in the horde and alliance, and just don't develop anything else - for so long they ignored developing class and a race lore. Like completely ignored - it was just the main stage story which sometimes was relevant to a particular race or class.. until Legion came and they did a class focus which was good, but never continued it.

Races get good introductions when they do something new, but hardly anything after, they also need what they did for classes in legion.. both classes and races should get continuous quests and campaigns imo, keep that thing developed, alongside the main one.

[Linkedblade]

Most are fairly self evident, but the following you seem to have missed:
DK - a mix between the trope of the "black knight" and a necromancer.
Druid - actually more inspired by "real life" shamans it would seem, particularly german/nordic ones with indeed some of that distinctive celtic stuff.

DK in wow is the antithesis of a Paladin. Although necromancy and the light aren't actually opposite forces. You've missed the bit about runemaster as well. But that seems to have gone away, not sure if DK still self enchant their weapons.

Druid gets even stranger if you incorporate the original two races. You have the class being a cross between DnD and celtic mythos. The night elves are what i want to say middle eastern? in culture, lots of moon symbolism and their architecture is far eastern? And then Tauren culture and architecture are based on North American natives.

It's such an eclectic mixture.

- - - Updated - - -

we cant rly know for sure unless someone behind it confirms it,ofc there always is the posibility they both came up with the same concept,its not like chinese+kung fu isnt an old stereotype

Chinese + kung fu + pandas + whimsical drunken monkey kung fu + eastern mythos. It's really an entire bag chinese or asian ideas. I'm sure there is some cross pollination.