Every forsaken has some characteristic that he/she's dead. Rotten, maybe a broken jaw, missing eye, bones showing etc.
But not Sylvanas. She just looks like a purple elf.
Is it just coomer bait, or is there some lore reason I've missed?
Every forsaken has some characteristic that he/she's dead. Rotten, maybe a broken jaw, missing eye, bones showing etc.
But not Sylvanas. She just looks like a purple elf.
Is it just coomer bait, or is there some lore reason I've missed?
It's never explicitly explained, but as Arthas had taken her body away after killing her, and had it locked away in a coffin, it could have been something he did. Preserve the body to torment her with later.
Her Valkyr's magic has preserved and enhanced her appearance
It's explicitly stated in the Dark Mirror book
It could be that elves decompose differently than humans, but then we have some instances like Nathanos as counterexamples. I believe there was a mention in lore of some necromantic energy being used to better preserve them, so it's possible that Sylvanas and the other elves are just vain, going to greater lengths to preserve their appearances.
Sylvanas' vanity is remarked on in Edge of Night as a personality trait when she was alive, and the recovery of her corpse was detailed in Dark Mirror. Sylvanas has used a good deal of Necromantic effort to both restore and strengthen her vessel, giving it at least the semblance of life (although it's easy to tell she's dead up close) and making it much more durable than the standard issue undead corpse.
"We're more of the love, blood, and rhetoric school. Well, we can do you blood and love without the rhetoric, and we can do you blood and rhetoric without the love, and we can do you all three concurrent or consecutive. But we can't give you love and rhetoric without the blood. Blood is compulsory. They're all blood, you see." ― Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
Some kind of death magic thing I guess. Advanced Necromancy maybe?
Also, look at Bwonsamdi. He looks rather good for a "dead" troll
And because of fan service I guess
I don't play WoW anymore smh.
shes supposed to appease the emo male fan base
The same reason Argonians have tits and Death Knights all look like living people with bad eyesight. Fanservice. If you're asking in lore, Arthas kept her body around to torture her with it, keeping it in an iron coffin to preserve it. Given he kept a vial of her blood around to take into his Jeffrey Dahmer trophy cabinet it necessitated it be kept in good enough shape to allow this. When Arthas was distracted by Illidan attacking the Frozen Throne, she nabbed the body back and then maintained it to sell figurines look good because she's vain and if you were a zombie you'd prefer to look like a (morally) grey model instead of a shambling corpse.
Dickmann's Law: As a discussion on the Lore forums becomes longer, the probability of the topic derailing to become about Sylvanas approaches 1.
Tinkers will be the next Class confirmed.
Basicallly the same Sylv did to Nathanos in that short story. She found a new body for his soul et voilá. In the case of Sylv, I think Arthas kept her body around so once she got free from the LK I suppose she just returned to her body or possesed her old body since I think Banshees can posses other people.
Fun fact, this is one of numerous retcons surrounding Sylvanas. When Sarah Pine's In the Shadow of the Sun was made canon as Lor'themar's leader story, the narrative mentions the cracked, decaying skin around her lips as she speaks. Her fanservice upgrade was just that, fanservice, and over time they've smoothed out her rougher edges (physically speaking) until she just looks like a grey elf with glowy eyes and now a cool glowy scar over one eye like an early 2000s teen's original character, Donut Steele.
In-lore, Dark Mirror mentions she went to no small lengths to keep her body well-preserved, long after her earlier depictions were discarded in favor of her current look.
Be seeing you guys on Bloodsail Buccaneers NA!
Sylvanas looking like a general forsaken female would not appeal to... a certain group of people.
I've always been of the mind that the differences in depiction between Shadow of the Sun and Dark Mirror were as a matter of context, in this case of the observer(s). Lor'themar, as a fellow High/Blood Elf, looks at Sylvanas and sees all that she has lost, especially from his own memories of her as the living, breathing Ranger-General of Silvermoon. When Lor'themar looks at Sylvanas as she is now he sees all that she's lost, all that separates her from what she was - emphasis on her undead nature, the uncanny valley essence of her body, etc. etc.
That being said, both contexts demonstrate she's not a decaying wreck - but also very obviously not alive, either.
"We're more of the love, blood, and rhetoric school. Well, we can do you blood and love without the rhetoric, and we can do you blood and rhetoric without the love, and we can do you all three concurrent or consecutive. But we can't give you love and rhetoric without the blood. Blood is compulsory. They're all blood, you see." ― Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
(Viciously points at male WoW players)
Marketing
/thread
This world don't give us nothing. It be our lot to suffer... and our duty to fight back.
People dont want to bang a corpse as much as a hot purple elf
Not lore or anything but real life history- the Victorians used iron coffins in brothels to simulate necrophillia with very still and quiet prostitutes ( sorry if tmi but sexy dead people with iron coffins are not a new idea is my point)!
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best reply ever!
I love how on the 1st page there are people literally typing out how it’s explained in the book, in decent detail, and others are just straight up ignoring them.
Yes, there’s fan service going on, but that’s not what was asked. It was asked “why doesn’t she look dead,” not “why is she dressed in skimpy clothing for most of her written existence?”