24
votes
Is there a real-world mythological counterpart to WoW's "kill your gods for power" theme?
I believe at the root of this is the notion of "that which you eat you will gain the strength/speed/inteligence/power of."
Draining the power of Gods in WoW would be the equivalent of eating ...
- 115k
15
votes
Is there a real-world mythological counterpart to WoW's "kill your gods for power" theme?
There is an elephant in the room which I am going to address. Yes, there is an example. Christianity. You may have heard of it.
Christianity believes that through the death of their god, humanity ...
- 22.8k
15
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Is there a real-world mythological counterpart to WoW's "kill your gods for power" theme?
The story of Kvasir comes to mind.
In Norse mythology, Kvasir was a being born of the saliva of the Æsir and the Vanir, two groups of gods. Extremely wise, Kvasir traveled far and wide, teaching ...
- 151
11
votes
Accepted
Can the creator of a fictional universe get their own lore wrong?
Warlords of Draenor involves alternate reality time-travel shenanigans.
World of Warcraft has always played loosely with the lore, and Blizzard is not above retconning something if they think they ...
- 36.6k
11
votes
Accepted
Is there a real-world mythological counterpart to WoW's "kill your gods for power" theme?
In previous fantasy, there's lots of examples, for example from the D&D Forgotten Realms setting from 1990s. During The Time of Troubles, mortals kill gods, in some cases to steal their powers. ...
- 5,709
8
votes
Accepted
Where does Elune fit in the Warcraft cosmos?
Not really known, but probably a naaru.
The answer posted by Auditore is a rough summary of the lore surrounding Elune before recent events. She was a distant diety worshipped by the night elves, ...
- 36.6k
8
votes
Origin of The Well of Eternity
Himarm's answer was the original idea of the Well of Eternity, but it appears to have been retconned, as the recent book World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 1 gives a different explanation.
In this ...
- 499
8
votes
Accepted
Are Warcraft elves descended from humans?
No, they did not originate from humans.
Warcraft: Chronicle, Vol. 1 tells the tale of most of the species origins on Azeroth.
While there were a great many diverse races in the very early days of ...
- 36.6k
7
votes
Accepted
Have there been any dragons in warcraft that took a shape other than elf or human?
Some examples follow.
Blue Dragonflight:
Arygos took the shape of a gnome.
Andorgos took the shape of a gnome.
Kalecgos took the form of a half-elf.
Bronze Dragonflight:
Eternos takes the shape of ...
- 544
7
votes
Accepted
Where are the Forsaken Shipyards?
Per the second edition of the "Ask CDev" (creative development) Q&A series, the Forsaken did not have any shipyards during the time of Cataclysm. Instead, they salvaged the ships (crews ...
- 13k
7
votes
Accepted
Why can't heroes be resurrected in World of Warcraft but players can?
It's just an in-game mechanic, that has 0 effect on the story.
If death wasn't permanent at all then the story would become boring and pointless ... would death be permanent every time a player ...
- 7,017
6
votes
Origin of The Well of Eternity
Alec's answer is mostly correct, but he missed some important details.
The Chronicle Volume 1 introduced the fact that Azeroth's core is a "sleeping" Titan.
When Aman'Thul ripped out Y'Shaarj, the ...
- 61
6
votes
Did Richard A. Knaak get the idea for Warcraft from J. R. R. Tolkien?
aramis hit the nail on the head, in his answer - Warcraft is inspired by Warhammer. Kotaku supports this:
Allen Adham hoped to obtain a license to the Warhammer universe to try
to increase sales by ...
- 6,613
6
votes
At what point did The Lich King spare the player's life?
There are multiple points where you encounter the Lich King and he allows you to escape.
His projection is standing in front of Utgarde Keep in Howling Fjord if you are in the spirit realm, and while ...
- 36.6k
5
votes
Accepted
Why was this individual attempting to defeat the Lich King?
Arthas killed Mal'ganis, as part of his ascension to Death Knight.
This is in one of the last missions in the Human campaign in Warcraft 3. Arthas is manipulated by Mal'ganis into coming to ...
- 36.6k
5
votes
Where does Elune fit in the Warcraft cosmos?
TL;DR: Unknown so far, but she's fairly up there in the cosmic hierarchy... in fact, she may be the source of what everyone calls "The Light".
There is very little in the games or novels about Elune, ...
- 63.6k
5
votes
What is the canonicity of the Warcraft "cinematic universe"?
To my knowledge, Blizzard has not made any attempt to clarify that either version of this story (the 2016 movie, or the original Warcraft I RTS game) should be held as canon over the other.
There ...
- 36.6k
5
votes
Is there a real-world mythological counterpart to WoW's "kill your gods for power" theme?
In mythology:
Explicitly for power by humans, I can't find a direct example , although I have a feeling there must be some Maori, African or American Indian examples. I remember reading a huge 500+ ...
- 1,361
5
votes
Was the Illidan situation in Burning Crusade a metaphor for the Iraq War?
Blizzard did very little coordinated storytelling at all before Wrath of the Lich King, let alone the showing the kind of cohesive plot that could be taken as a political commentary or as a larger ...
- 36.6k
5
votes
Accepted
In what order should I read the Warcraft books?
I would first suggest playing the original Warcraft games starting at the first one. And then go through the books in the order below (based on publication order) seeing as they have a tendency to ...
- 7,017
5
votes
Accepted
WOW Alliance saying equitant to Horde's "For the Horde!"
It is indeed "For the Alliance!"
In the Broken Shore Alliance cinematic we can see Varian Wrynn using it:
And in the Battle for Lordaeron cinematic Anduin ...
- 3,620
4
votes
Accepted
How old was King Rastakhan at the time of Battle for Azeroth?
According to the lore object "For Council and King", found on the Isle of Thunder,
From a golden throne, lording over all of the Zandalari, rests the great King Rastakhan.
Empowered by the ...
- 13k
4
votes
Accepted
Do all Naga serve the old gods?
The only Naga seen to act separately serve the Illidari.
The Coilskar Naga that were part of the tribes that originally responded to Illidan's request for assistance in Warcraft III: The Frozen ...
- 36.6k
4
votes
Accepted
Were the Fal'dorei modified by the Old Gods like the Naga were?
According to Valewalker Farodin, they were transformed by the arcan'dor, the magical tree at the root (aha) of his part in the Suramar quest chain. This occurred some time after the War of the ...
- 13k
4
votes
Are Warcraft elves descended from humans?
Just expanding Radhil's answer:
The tribe of trolls that settled near the Well of Eternity were slowly turned into Night Elves. They nobility - Highborne - started learning to harness the power of ...
- 30k
4
votes
Accepted
Is Chen Stormstout considered a member of the Horde?
While Chen was present during the events leading to the modern Horde's founding, he never swore any allegiance. The graphic novel Bloodsworn revealed that a member of any race wishing to join the ...
- 118
4
votes
Accepted
Are the mightstone and the drogbar related to trolls?
Nothing official has been revealed about the Drogbar race origins yet. That's kind of unusual, given that there was even an explanation for the Broken Isle's variant on Tauren (yes, moose-antlers ...
- 36.6k
4
votes
WOW Alliance saying equitant to Horde's "For the Horde!"
For the Alliance was one of their many rallying calls. But something that a lot of people forget is that the Alliance is actually an alliance consisting of several sub-actions and religions.
The 7 ...
- 7,017
3
votes
Do we have enough information to determine who Garona's father is?
Although there is no specific official statement from Blizzard,
is being taken as the intended implication baring further information, as is being cited in various wiki pages.
This is a major change ...
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Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible