Races and their real-life equivalents

[Orby]

Goblins (more so Kezen Goblins) remind me more of the industrial New York era. Just look at Kezen itself rising smokestacks compared to New Yorks own industrial era.

[ProphetFlume]

Glad I got to read this, one of the best things I've read in any WoW forum. Great job OP.

Totally unrelated but I watched 12 Angry Men earlier and it was interesting how focused the jury was concerning talking about things without assertion, always circling back to the original intent.

[username993720]

I gotta clear up some.confusion in the OP about Troll culture. It's not quite accurate to label them as dominantly Mesoamerican. It's actually quite linked to the real world history of the Caribbean.

Trolls are meant to be a mix of Mesoamerican and African - thus Caribbean and South American. They have Afro-Caribbean accents, they have Afro-Caribbean masks, the males' dance is Capoeira (an Afro-Brazilian martial art), and their homes are more reminiscent of early Afro-Caribbean huts than mainland African huts.

The Zandalari are likewise a mix, but they lean more heavily toward Mesoamerican with their cities, masks, clothes, and overall aesthetic. However, their accents, dances, and wooden buildings are meant to be more mainland African, to seem fancy (and in fact, most of the Zandalari were voiced by African people or people with African parents).

The thing that all Trolls share is Loa, which is a word from Lousiana and Haiti originally ("lwa"). The word was originally olúwa, meaning "lord" or "god" in Yoruba. However, when slaves were taken to the "new world" many African religions became homogenized into different types of Voodoo, with the original religion being called vodoun in Africa. Today, voodoo is mixed with Catholicism and other religions among many places in the Caribbean, North America, and South America.

As for Loa themselves, in WoW they're a mix of three different things: Lwa/Loa, Mesoamerican deities, and southern Native American deities and spirits. That's why there are Troll Loa of African/Caribbean inspiration (Bwonsamdi = Baron Samedi), feathered serpents of Mesoamerican cultures (Hakkar/Quetz'lun = Quetzalcoatl), as well as general animal spirits/Loa representing different parts of nature.

And, to clear up something else:



Yeah, no. Cinco de Mayo means "fifth of May" which is a celebration of the Mexican army's victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.

Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) is an Aztec holiday to the goddess Mictecacihuatl that was homogenized with All Saint's Day when the Spanish colonized Mexico. This holiday lasts from October 31st to November 2nd.

As far as the new body paint, it has more in common with West African Vodoun/Haitian Voodoo than Day of the Dead. It's more reminiscent of images of Baron Samedi than it does body paint for Day of the Dead, which is meant to mirror a Calavera. The image you showed was basically a cheap Halloween costume version of it, and not accurate. This is traditional Day of the Dead body paint, notice the difference from the one in the OP:

And here's an example of West African body paint:


As you can see, Trolls have a much more monotone type of face paint, similar to Voodoo face paint. Calavera face paint is intricate and full of colors.

So, I hope that clears up some things about Trolls.

That's what i like to see. Some answers with actual evidence backing.

You're right about african slaves being brought to south america and, therefore, the influence such as voodoo and accents. I just had to choose one ethnicity over the other, which i felt was stronger.

I'll fix the whole mix up with cinco de mayo and day of the dead. My bad.

But, i do feel their body paints are more south american than african, because of the whole body representing a skeleton, not just the face.

Goblins (more so Kezen Goblins) remind me more of the industrial New York era. Just look at Kezen itself rising smokestacks compared to New Yorks own industrial era.

Great comparison.

[Syegfryed]

I thought Silvermoon was practically Rome?

in what world

The Zandalari are likewise a mix, but they lean more heavily toward Mesoamerican with their cities, masks, clothes, and overall aesthetic. However, their accents, dances, and wooden buildings are meant to be more mainland African, to seem fancy (and in fact, most of the Zandalari were voiced by African people or people with African parents).

it was because blizzard wanted to board in the success of black panther movie, so they made then more heavy african in the accent, but everything else was already done to be mesoamerican

[CheckThyself]

I browse the warcraft lore subreddit and this person made up a very good post about orcs and the parallels between Hungarians:

As the title says, I realized the Orcs' lore is very similar to Hungarians' history. Maybe Blizzard got inspired by their history? I list all the similarities between Orcs and Hungarians. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong in any subject I am not a big loreguru nor historian.

Mag'har/Magyar: Hungarians call themself Magyar/Magyars which looks like Mag'har, furthermore the word magyar pronunciation is almost the same as Mag'har.

The 7 Warlords/The 7 Chieftains of Magyars: Although both Orcs and Hungarians had a lot of minor clan, there are 7 bigger clans which were the leading force, and one person controlled/led the 7 clans aka. the Warchief. It was Blackhand in WoW and Álmos in the hungarian history.

Culture: Same as Orcs, Hungarians strongly believed in shamanism. They lived in huts, hungarians were extremely good archers, warriors and they respected their companions (horse) as Orcs respected their wolves.

The story: Orcs when Draenor (another world) was dying, they came to Azeroth through the Dark Portal, and raided countless towns, villages until the humans were able to push them back and later on Orcs made their home in Durotar. Hungarians came from Asia to Europe ( for Europeans it was like Hungarians came from another world ) in hope for a better future. They did the same what Orcs did in the lore. Raided countless towns, until European countries stopped them so they made their home in the Carpathian Basin.

The dream of Thrall/The Dream of Emese: In Warcraft 3 Thrall had a dream where a crow told him to go west and he'll find there a destiny a home for his people. In hungarian history Álmos (the leader of the 7 clans) mother called Emese had a dream where a Turul bird (mythological bird looks like an eagle) told her that she'll have a son, who will lead their people to a better world and great destiny awaits them.

[Destinas]

That's what i like to see. Some answers with actual evidence backing.

You're right about african slaves being brought to south america and, therefore, the influence such as voodoo and accents. I just had to choose one ethnicity over the other, which i felt was stronger.

I'll fix the whole mix up with cinco de mayo and day of the dead. My bad.

But, i do feel their body paints are more south american than african, because of the whole body representing a skeleton, not just the face.

Well, skeleton body paint isn't only found among Day of the Dead, and it's far more.common for people to paint only their face during DotD as well. Most people don't paint (or show) their whole bodies since it's a Catholic holiday in Mexico. They'll mostly wear traditional clothing, which most often does not have bone motifs, and usually has flowery designs, like marigolds.

Body paint is often accompanied by face paint in Africa and the Caribbean. It's not uncommon for witch doctors in Vodoun/Voodoo to have skeletal face and body paint, if it's not another meaningful design. The image I showed was just a good comparison for the face paint itself.

In Haiti, Louisiana, and some other parts of the Caribbean it's used like that in relation to Baron Samedi, which is likely Blizzard's intent with skeletal body paint on the Darkspear and their relation with Bwonsamdi.


Baron Samedi is even portrayed this way in Bond movies.


You didn't have to choose one culture over another at all - Caribbean is the culture.

All Trolls are a good mix of several things from the Caribbean, Africa, and South America, just like the people of the Caribbean in real life. As such, they're not really dominant in one regard or another, since they're inspired by the real world Caribbean history. It wouldn't be accurate or fair to say that they're one specific culture, other than generally "Caribbean" in the end.

in what world



it was because blizzard wanted to board in the success of black panther movie, so they made then more heavy african in the accent, but everything else was already done to be mesoamerican

The Zandalari had accents leaning toward generic African in MoP, though still with a bit of a Caribbean flair in some spots.

[Orby]

All Trolls are a good mix of several things from the Caribbean, Africa, and South America, just like the people of the Caribbean in real life. As such, they're not really dominant in one regard or another, since they're inspired by the real world Caribbean history. It wouldn't be accurate or fair to say that they're one specific culture, other than generally "Caribbean" in the end.

That's the thing with trolls all of them cannot be considered one culture. Each tribe is slightly more different than the other. Darkspear and Zandalari and Amani are all very different while also keeping very samey as well.

I think for trolls you are going to have to look at each tribe individually.

[Destinas]

I browse the warcraft lore subreddit and this person made up a very good post about orcs and the parallels between Hungarians:

As the title says, I realized the Orcs' lore is very similar to Hungarians' history. Maybe Blizzard got inspired by their history? I list all the similarities between Orcs and Hungarians. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong in any subject I am not a big loreguru nor historian.

Mag'har/Magyar: Hungarians call themself Magyar/Magyars which looks like Mag'har, furthermore the word magyar pronunciation is almost the same as Mag'har.

The 7 Warlords/The 7 Chieftains of Magyars: Although both Orcs and Hungarians had a lot of minor clan, there are 7 bigger clans which were the leading force, and one person controlled/led the 7 clans aka. the Warchief. It was Blackhand in WoW and Álmos in the hungarian history.

Culture: Same as Orcs, Hungarians strongly believed in shamanism. They lived in huts, hungarians were extremely good archers, warriors and they respected their companions (horse) as Orcs respected their wolves.

The story: Orcs when Draenor (another world) was dying, they came to Azeroth through the Dark Portal, and raided countless towns, villages until the humans were able to push them back and later on Orcs made their home in Durotar. Hungarians came from Asia to Europe ( for Europeans it was like Hungarians came from another world ) in hope for a better future. They did the same what Orcs did in the lore. Raided countless towns, until European countries stopped them so they made their home in the Carpathian Basin.

The dream of Thrall/The Dream of Emese: In Warcraft 3 Thrall had a dream where a crow told him to go west and he'll find there a destiny a home for his people. In hungarian history Álmos (the leader of the 7 clans) mother called Emese had a dream where a Turul bird (mythological bird looks like an eagle) told her that she'll have a son, who will lead their people to a better world and great destiny awaits them.

That's an awesome parallel! Blizz was likely inspired by this for the Orcs as well as other warrior cultures.

- - - Updated - - -

That's the thing with trolls all of them cannot be considered one culture. Each tribe is slightly more different than the other. Darkspear and Zandalari and Amani are all very different while also keeping very samey as well.

I think for trolls you are going to have to look at each tribe individually.

This is very true. For instance, the Drakkari had some minor East Asian designs and influence. Their stone lanterns hanging in their buildings have a Chinese symmetrical design, while looking like a stone version of a paper lantern.

The Drakkari and Gurubashi also have a mixed Mesoamerican and Roman design to their arenas.

Sand Trolls were inspired less by a real world group, and more by the Fremen in Dune. Until their model updates in WoD, Sand Trolls were the only Trolls with bright blue eyes. Though, they did have black tusks/teeth as well, which is a nod to many cultures, including the Shuar people of Peru and Ecuador. Otherwise, most of their stuff looked similar to stuff in Stranglethorn.

I think that if Blizzard made all the Troll tribes/Empires now, it would be a bit more varied. But, sadly, for most tribes in Vanilla and BC they all had pretty similar vibes and archirecture. Maybe we'll get more development in that as time goes on!

[Bodakane]

I agree with a lot of it. However.......

- I don't think Goblins are New Yorker, I think they embody American overall.
- I think mechagnomes embody Germans (not Nazi).
- I think Gnomes embody the Swiss.
- I think Zanadalri should the mezoamerican.
- i think trolls should be the caribbean.

[StillMcfuu]

OP SNIP

This was actually a really great read an appreciate the effort you put into it.

I really only would say that Gnomes come off as being Norwegian influenced to me. The general mythology for Gnomes is predominately from the area, and the Gnomes themselves share some character stereotypes of how outside groups view the region. They also seem pretty far from Irish, which is basically just Celt based anyway.

That and I would say the overall Dwarf vibe is Celt and Pictish. The Dark Iron are one part of overall Dwarf population and they do seem to be that base Celt, war like, even shamanistic. The Wildhammer are also very reminiscent of that Celt/Pict early england flair. Even the circular stone towers used in may Dwarf settlements are very reminiscent of Broch's which are communal spaces but seemed militaristic. If anything I'd say the Bronzebeards are the furthest removed from the other Dwarf clans, they are the Romanized southern Celts, basically based on Arthurian legend.

[Ihazpaws]

Very interesting read. Nice job OP!

Wondering if there will ever be one race based on Finnish people. Their racial would be something like:

- When there is no other humanoids in 50 yard range, you will feel at ease and regenerate health 3% every 2 sec (out of combat).
- Every enemy (when fighting alone) in 20 yard range increases your critical strike chance 0.5%, stacks up to 10 times.
- When in wilderness, moment speed is increased by 20%.
- Others forget your existence when you stand still for 20 sec (turn invisible, out of combat).
- Active skill: Yell "PERKELE!" causing every enemy targets to run away in fear for 2 seconds with increased speed (3min CD).

[Beloren]

Very interesting thread. Blizzard takes inspiration from real world cultures for their races' own cultures, so parallels can definitely be drawn in terms of accents, architectures, clothing, and even behavior. Draenei to me sound Russian, but have what appears to me like Indian dances, especially the females belly dancing. Great thread nonetheless.

Definitely. They do mix and match. But the genius is producing something unique and original out of it. Regardless of where the inspiration was from.

Some
Packages are more unique than others are - like Draenei, Night Elves (whole thing not just wood elf part, I’m including Night/Highborne and Moonguard/Illidari types), Forsaken zombies, others are because of the focus and depth they take certain aspect. Orc’s and Thalassians elves are one such

[username993720]

I browse the warcraft lore subreddit and this person made up a very good post about orcs and the parallels between Hungarians:

As the title says, I realized the Orcs' lore is very similar to Hungarians' history. Maybe Blizzard got inspired by their history? I list all the similarities between Orcs and Hungarians. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong in any subject I am not a big loreguru nor historian.

Mag'har/Magyar: Hungarians call themself Magyar/Magyars which looks like Mag'har, furthermore the word magyar pronunciation is almost the same as Mag'har.

The 7 Warlords/The 7 Chieftains of Magyars: Although both Orcs and Hungarians had a lot of minor clan, there are 7 bigger clans which were the leading force, and one person controlled/led the 7 clans aka. the Warchief. It was Blackhand in WoW and Álmos in the hungarian history.

Culture: Same as Orcs, Hungarians strongly believed in shamanism. They lived in huts, hungarians were extremely good archers, warriors and they respected their companions (horse) as Orcs respected their wolves.

The story: Orcs when Draenor (another world) was dying, they came to Azeroth through the Dark Portal, and raided countless towns, villages until the humans were able to push them back and later on Orcs made their home in Durotar. Hungarians came from Asia to Europe ( for Europeans it was like Hungarians came from another world ) in hope for a better future. They did the same what Orcs did in the lore. Raided countless towns, until European countries stopped them so they made their home in the Carpathian Basin.

The dream of Thrall/The Dream of Emese: In Warcraft 3 Thrall had a dream where a crow told him to go west and he'll find there a destiny a home for his people. In hungarian history Álmos (the leader of the 7 clans) mother called Emese had a dream where a Turul bird (mythological bird looks like an eagle) told her that she'll have a son, who will lead their people to a better world and great destiny awaits them.

Hungarians are said to be descended from the Huns (especially because of the name similarity: Hun - hungarian). But, i'm not sure how historically accurate that is.

Well, skeleton body paint isn't only found among Day of the Dead, and it's far more.common for people to paint only their face during DotD as well. Most people don't paint (or show) their whole bodies since it's a Catholic holiday in Mexico. They'll mostly wear traditional clothing, which most often does not have bone motifs, and usually has flowery designs, like marigolds.

Body paint is often accompanied by face paint in Africa and the Caribbean. It's not uncommon for witch doctors in Vodoun/Voodoo to have skeletal face and body paint, if it's not another meaningful design. The image I showed was just a good comparison for the face paint itself.

In Haiti, Louisiana, and some other parts of the Caribbean it's used like that in relation to Baron Samedi, which is likely Blizzard's intent with skeletal body paint on the Darkspear and their relation with Bwonsamdi.


Baron Samedi is even portrayed this way in Bond movies.


You didn't have to choose one culture over another at all - Caribbean is the culture.

All Trolls are a good mix of several things from the Caribbean, Africa, and South America, just like the people of the Caribbean in real life. As such, they're not really dominant in one regard or another, since they're inspired by the real world Caribbean history. It wouldn't be accurate or fair to say that they're one specific culture, other than generally "Caribbean" in the end.




The Zandalari had accents leaning toward generic African in MoP, though still with a bit of a Caribbean flair in some spots.

You're absolutely right. I'll fix that.

[Frontenac]

Most races are just a mish mash of different cultures and history periods. It's hard to really associate them with one real-world culture. Some are easy to pinpoint:

- The Trolls are a mix of African, Mesoamerican, Polynesian and Haitian cultures.

- The Kul Tirans are mostly British with Renaissance (the plate-wearing guards, the italian city-state style of rule, the venitian canals) and XVIIIth century styles (pirates, riding coats, tricorne hats, ships) and maybe the beginning of the XIXth century. Katherine Proudmoore is dressed like Admiral Horatio Nelson.

- Dwarves are indeed Scottish with some germanic influence.

- Worgen have a strong victorian look about them. At least the kind we see in Hammer Production movies. Although the buildings also look like Tudor-era houses.

- Tauren are North-American natives (d'uh!)

- Stormwind Humans are just generic medieval european fantasy. Yes, you could say it's frankish (what wasn't in Europe in that time), but the political system in Stormwind looks more like absolutist monarchy (17-18th century) than medieval France (no feudal system, no great noble houses who play an important role).


Others are harder to tell. They are more related to generic tropes or subcultures than actual living or vanished cultures.

- I fail to see anything korean, asian or arabic in the Blood Elves. Well, maybe the architecture has some "Arabian Nights" aspects mixed with some fairy tale "celtic" influences. But other than that... I mean, adding some "eastern" flair to a fictional culture is a frequent way to make it look more exotic and mystical.

- Gnomes (all kinds) are even worse. Their sole cultural element is that they are engineers, with cogs and gizmos everywhere. There's a lot of steampunk or retrofuturist elements about them. Get that out of the picture, and there's not much to tell about the Gnomes. Which means that they are more about contemporaneous subcultures than an actual culture. I fail to see anything remotely Irish about them. They don't even have the accent or share the usual Irish stereotypes (you know, irascibility, drunken brawls, potato eaters...).

- Same with undead. They have some steampunk and mad scientists associated with them. And the political system (while Sylvanas was ruling) was kinda fascistic. But I fail to see anything German about them, just because they use chemical warfare and gas-masks. Germans were not the only ones using them. If so, then the Gnomes are Swiss, since they produce clockwork machines (amongst many).

- Orcs do have a mongolian air about them, but that does not say much. To me, they are generic "barbarians," or what we Westerners imagin as "barbarian": mongols, huns, goths, vandals, tatars, you name it, i.e. pretty much everything that was coming from the steppes in the Far-East of the Old World, with all the stereotypes of savagery, lawlessness, bloodlust and leather-harness-and-loincloth-wearing evil worshippers that was associated with that term. And yes, I know that the evil worshippers trope was replaced with the noble savage one in WC3. Add some more spikes, bones and skulls and there you have it. If you want mongolians, look at the centaurs. They have yurts, furred helmets, bows and even the horses...

[Squigglyo]

A lot of interesting looks into the races.

But the undead are German because one of the weapons they use is similair.
Ignoring architecture, how they rule, speak, etc. Every other race went in much deeper, but Undead are Germans because of gas and death?

[darkdude103]

Zandalari I agree with you on the Mayan and Incan assessment there history in Troll timeline points to Mayan and geographically there Incan Inspired.

Gurubashi Now due to their history of sacrifices I lean them more to the Aztecs

Night Elves I'm going with Antiquity Mediterranean Azsharan Night elves have very Greco-Roman inspired Marble architecture is prominent in Night Elven buildings, Azshara herself most likely based of Cleopatra, Nazjatar is inspired by Atlantis, and post sundering their matriarchy is clearly based on Greek Amazons.

Nightborn Based on names you chose French which is true, but I lean more towards Venetian The canals masquerades Gondolas.

Blood Elves I lean more towards Ottomans based on their architecture, and Geographical position.

Pandaren/Mogu Chinese You already covered the reasons I dont need to add more.

Yungol/Mantid Mongolian considering the name similarities and connection attacking a giant wall

Tauren Northern Native American and also slightly Early hunter-gatherers

Orcs I've always based the Orcs on Native Americans and the Horde on the Iroquois The Warsong clan has recently been portrayed as very Mongolian/steppes horselords like and Thrall is clearly based on Moses however someone on reddit pointed out the similarities to Hungarian Culture I'll Link the post https://www.reddit.com/r/warcraftlor...he_hungarians/

Vrykul They're clearly Norse

Tol'vir The entirety of Uldum is based on Egypt so....

Draenei I agree with your assessment They're definitely based on the Orthodox side of Christian kingdoms.

[Moonrage]

Most of the races are amalgamations of various cultures and time periods. If you look at the food of the Night Elves, for example, some of the items are Korean. Elven architecture varies--Greek/Roman, Middle Eastern, Japanese/Korean/Chinese. The NE language is slightly reminiscent of Arabic. Tyrande's accent is none of these (and why does she talk like this when none of the other NE characters do?). So, I think Blizzard pulls from all kinds of cultures for each race with some races not being as diverse (Gileans seem Victorian English, for example, and not much else).

Tyrande's new accent still baffles me, she didn't sound like that in WC3, and it's even the same voice actress.

- - - Updated - - -

Night Elves I'm going with Antiquity Mediterranean Azsharan Night elves have very Greco-Roman inspired Marble architecture is prominent in Night Elven buildings, Azshara herself most likely based of Cleopatra, Nazjatar is inspired by Atlantis, and post sundering their matriarchy is clearly based on Greek Amazons.

Agreed on everything but Azshara, she was likely based on Asherah, an ancient Semitic mother goddess. Azshara wasn't exactly malevolent up until the War of the Ancients, even Malfurion stated she was a benevolent ruler (at least for her people). Asherah is even called "Lady of the Sea".

[username993720]

Most races are just a mish mash of different cultures and history periods. It's hard to really associate them with one real-world culture. Some are easy to pinpoint:

- The Trolls are a mix of African, Mesoamerican, Polynesian and Haitian cultures.

- The Kul Tirans are mostly British with Renaissance (the plate-wearing guards, the italian city-state style of rule, the venitian canals) and XVIIIth century styles (pirates, riding coats, tricorne hats, ships) and maybe the beginning of the XIXth century. Katherine Proudmoore is dressed like Admiral Horatio Nelson.

- Dwarves are indeed Scottish with some germanic influence.

- Worgen have a strong victorian look about them. At least the kind we see in Hammer Production movies. Although the buildings also look like Tudor-era houses.

- Tauren are North-American natives (d'uh!)

- Stormwind Humans are just generic medieval european fantasy. Yes, you could say it's frankish (what wasn't in Europe in that time), but the political system in Stormwind looks more like absolutist monarchy (17-18th century) than medieval France (no feudal system, no great noble houses who play an important role).


Others are harder to tell. They are more related to generic tropes or subcultures than actual living or vanished cultures.

- I fail to see anything korean, asian or arabic in the Blood Elves. Well, maybe the architecture has some "Arabian Nights" aspects mixed with some fairy tale "celtic" influences. But other than that... I mean, adding some "eastern" flair to a fictional culture is a frequent way to make it look more exotic and mystical.

- Gnomes (all kinds) are even worse. Their sole cultural element is that they are engineers, with cogs and gizmos everywhere. There's a lot of steampunk or retrofuturist elements about them. Get that out of the picture, and there's not much to tell about the Gnomes. Which means that they are more about contemporaneous subcultures than an actual culture. I fail to see anything remotely Irish about them. They don't even have the accent or share the usual Irish stereotypes (you know, irascibility, drunken brawls, potato eaters...).

- Same with undead. They have some steampunk and mad scientists associated with them. And the political system (while Sylvanas was ruling) was kinda fascistic. But I fail to see anything German about them, just because they use chemical warfare and gas-masks. Germans were not the only ones using them. If so, then the Gnomes are Swiss, since they produce clockwork machines (amongst many).

- Orcs do have a mongolian air about them, but that does not say much. To me, they are generic "barbarians," or what we Westerners imagin as "barbarian": mongols, huns, goths, vandals, tatars, you name it, i.e. pretty much everything that was coming from the steppes in the Far-East of the Old World, with all the stereotypes of savagery, lawlessness, bloodlust and leather-harness-and-loincloth-wearing evil worshippers that was associated with that term. And yes, I know that the evil worshippers trope was replaced with the noble savage one in WC3. Add some more spikes, bones and skulls and there you have it. If you want mongolians, look at the centaurs. They have yurts, furred helmets, bows and even the horses...

The Spanish also had sailors of sort:

(Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides)

(Assassin's Creed: Black Flag)

I know Centaurs are based on the mongols as well:
"The nomadic centaur culture and the term "khan" have their roots in the culture of the Mongols. Centaur villages resemble traditional Mongol yurts." https://wow.gamepedia.com/Centaur#Notes_and_trivia


But, so are the Yaungols:
"Their name is a portmanteau of "yak" and "Mongol"." https://wow.gamepedia.com/Yaungol#Notes_and_trivia


Perhaps they represent different tribes or clans within the Mongolian Empire.

Zandalari I agree with you on the Mayan and Incan assessment there history in Troll timeline points to Mayan and geographically there Incan Inspired.

Gurubashi Now due to their history of sacrifices I lean them more to the Aztecs

Night Elves I'm going with Antiquity Mediterranean Azsharan Night elves have very Greco-Roman inspired Marble architecture is prominent in Night Elven buildings, Azshara herself most likely based of Cleopatra, Nazjatar is inspired by Atlantis, and post sundering their matriarchy is clearly based on Greek Amazons.

Nightborn Based on names you chose French which is true, but I lean more towards Venetian The canals masquerades Gondolas.

Blood Elves I lean more towards Ottomans based on their architecture, and Geographical position.

Pandaren/Mogu Chinese You already covered the reasons I dont need to add more.

Yungol/Mantid Mongolian considering the name similarities and connection attacking a giant wall

Tauren Northern Native American and also slightly Early hunter-gatherers

Orcs I've always based the Orcs on Native Americans and the Horde on the Iroquois The Warsong clan has recently been portrayed as very Mongolian/steppes horselords like and Thrall is clearly based on Moses however someone on reddit pointed out the similarities to Hungarian Culture I'll Link the post https://www.reddit.com/r/warcraftlor...he_hungarians/

Vrykul They're clearly Norse

Tol'vir The entirety of Uldum is based on Egypt so....

Draenei I agree with your assessment They're definitely based on the Orthodox side of Christian kingdoms.

The French also held Masquerades:
"The "Bal des Ardents" ("Burning Men's Ball") was held by Charles VI of France, and intended as a Bal des sauvages ("Wild Men's Ball"), a form of costumed ball (morisco). It took place in celebration of the marriage of a lady-in-waiting of Charles VI of France's queen in Paris on January 28, 1393. Such costumed dances were a special luxury of the Ducal Court of Burgundy."

Masquerade ball at Château de Hattonchâtel, France.

"Masquerade balls were extended into costumed public festivities in Italy during the 16th century Renaissance (Italian, maschera). They were generally elaborate dances held for members of the upper classes, and were particularly popular in Venice."

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masquerade_ball

I agree, however, on the canals and Gondolas thing.

[Omedon]

This thread is going places...

I'm kind of amazed it's still open! I kept thinking "that's a long and deeply considered OP to be so doomed!"

[Syegfryed]

The Zandalari had accents leaning toward generic African in MoP, though still with a bit of a Caribbean flair in some spots.

right but not that much, Zul by example didn't had heavy African accent, only now they had because black panther., plus "wakanda forever/Zandalar forever"

i can even recall early in beta the zandalari having a generic accent before going heavy african