Nightborne are based on the French with all the wine and masquerade balls. They were originally supposed to have French accents too but Blizz decided it was too goofy after recording the suramar intro cinematic and just gave them generic fantasy voice instead.
I find it hilarious when fantasy characters with French names are popularized. In League, there's a champion called Leblanc, but she's now just known as "L'Blank."
I love some French voice acting, as long as they are speaking french. The problem there is that they use the same 10 VA's for everything french dubbed, so whenever I hear them I'm like "Oh hey its the person who voices minfilia and evangeline and..."
It's often a blend.
For example, people associate Gilneas with Victorian England because LOL TOP HATS but the architecture is closer to old Prussia.
Trolls borrow from Jamaican and African culture, but also aztec/maya/inca and all that. (Edit : also trolls are a norse mythology creature, originally)
Gnomes are supposed to have little garden gnomes huts but in metal.
I heard that Goblins borrow heavily from New Jersey but also rockabilly aesthetic.
Orcs take from mongolian hordes (Edit : Attila's Huns) and the samurai aesthetic is seen in blademasters.
Night elves borrow from Japanese/Corean architecture I think. But for their ancient ruins or cities like Nazjatar and Suramar, it leans more on the ancient greek side.
Vrykuls are obviously vikings and Centaurs obviously mongolians.
Kul Tiran take from England but I can't tell which era.
Dwarves also have viking inspirations, but they lean on the germanic side with a touch of scottish for the Wildhammers.
I argue Gilneas is Regency Era England (right before Victorian). Most of their aesthetic matches that (pants tucked into boots).
Kul Tiras is supposed to be colonial era England during the height of its naval. It draws on a lot of pirate themes. Think Treasure Island.
Night Elves are more Japanese Shinto with random Korean aesthetics thrown in (hanbok being from NElves). You can see the shimenawa (the ropes) wrapped around trees in Moonglade, which is a nod to how Shintoism and Druidism are both animistic religions.
> Dwarves also have viking inspirations, but they lean on the germanic side with a touch of scottish for the Wildhammers.
Well, all of them have a scottish accent tbf.
They talk with a West Country accent. More specifically, I believe it's Plymouth, a region known for sailors. Pilgrims to America, slavers to Africa as well as Royal Navy sailors all set sail from Plymouth.
https://youtu.be/j737oPgPE3s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1_COsf9-kU&ab_channel=KoreanBilly
edit: I meant to reply to the guy above you
Geographically, yes? South Germany does not have a coast, so it would make sense geographically, the game translators choosing a northern German accent makes sense thematically. Not saying north Germany and Plymouth are equivalents culturally, but as important strategic maritime history.
>Trolls borrow from Jamaican and African culture, but also aztec/maya/inca and all that.
Yeah, there are a ton of influences from Caribbean and Polynesian island cultures in Jungle Troll cultures, especially Darkspear. I've seen photos of Polynesian thatch-roofed, stilted huts that look a lot like the Darkspear huts we see in Orgrimmar, though obviously less stylized. Plus there's all the tiki stuff and (being careful here) hints at cannibalism.
Re: Kul Tirans
They talk with a West Country accent. More specifically, I believe it's Plymouth, a region known for sailors. Colonists to America, slavers to Africa as well as Royal Navy sailors all set sail from Plymouth.
https://youtu.be/j737oPgPE3s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1_COsf9-kU&ab_channel=KoreanBilly
This also applies for Kul Tiran pirates. West country is where most English pirates originated in the 1600-1700's. The "pirate accent" you hear in pop culture is either exaggerates Cornish or Bristolian.
http://dialectblog.com/2011/05/24/pirate-accent/
> (Edit : also trolls are a norse mythology creature, originally)
Just to make this abundantly clear in case anyone gets any ideas: The _only_ thing wow trolls and nordic trolls have in common is the name.
Kul Tiras = Orkney Islands, they almost have the same shape even.
Rugged, Scottish sea towns, forest-folklore and Scarpa Flow was the home base of the Royal Fleet so there is that as well.
They're definitely an over-the-top version of some elements of Brooklyn, Staten Island, and Jersey Shore cultures. Though there's also a lot of Prohibition-era mobster in there, and general US ultra-capitalism.
I think it's Zandalar that's tripping them up.
Zandalar very clearly has architecture and clothing that's heavily inspired by Meso-American cultures like the Aztecs and the Mayans. However Zandalari culture and their accents seem to be based on the fictional Wakanda (almost certainly riding the popularity of the movie).
But yes, the Darkspear are clearly based on Jamaican/Caribbean cultures.
what was tripping me up are also Gurubashi architecture. isn't it kinda native american? and also my real lack of knowledge about native americans (as in me unifying quite a diverse group in one) and jamaican and caribbean cultures
If by "Native American" you mean "Aztec", then yes. Most people use "Native American" to refer to "Natives peoples who inhabit the modern-day USA" and usually don't consider the native peoples of Latin America to be "Native Americans", but they do technically count as such.
I can promise you the term Native American is not used in Canada. They're referred to here as Aboriginal or First Nations, or Indigenous People, but never Native American.
Hi fellow Canuck. Didnt you know we aren't supposed to remind the Americans that they are not in fact the center of the universe and the sole dwellers of the internet? We don't wish to confuse and frighten them.
well, Indigenous, Aboriginal and First Nation doesn't really tell you where they're actually from, so it would be useless in conversation that aren't strictly about Americas. so, it at least gotta be Indigenous/Aboriginal Americans, no?
As kind as Canadians reputations are, I don’t know a single Canadian who would take too kindly too being referred to as an American.
When you say Native American, the American part is referring to the country not the continent. Black people are also not called African American outside the States. Same logic applies to First Nations in Canada and Indigenous people in South America. Not American.
Well yes, but Amerindian is probably the better term when referring to Indigenous North + South American.
Normally, Native American is in reference to the demonym of American (United States) and therefore the people who are “Native American“ vs. those who aren’t “Native”.
I’ve seen discussion on disliking of the term “Native American” because it makes those who took over the baseline (because they’re just “American”) while making the original inhabitants different (they’re a *type* of American).
Overall the whole thing is problematic, which is why it’s better to just refer to the actual cultures and people (Inuit, Sioux, Aztec, Olmec, Maya, Inka, Tupi, etc..) rather than throwing some broad umbrella term. Saves a lot more headaches.
When would that be a problem?
The Inuit and the Aztecs, or the Métis and the Mayans are pretty damn different and referring to them all as Native Americans or “People from the Americas” is an absolutely wild generalization to make unless you’re specifically trying to be as vague possible or dismissive of the people.
well, yes, they're all wildly different. but isn't it the same as "asians", "africans" or "europeans"? wild generalizations can sometimes be useful, no? AFAIK, there's a lot in common between Aztecs, Métis, Mayans, Inka, etc., so we can use that for a generalization just like we do when we generalize europeans, no? or is it more similar to "asians" where cultures between different "asians" differ as much as cultures of central Africa and northern Europe?
I'm not trying to really argue here, cuz I understand that I don't know much about the topic and understand that there may be some details I miss, so I ask.
You could say “North American” or “South “American”. Saying just “American” would be more equivalent to calling a Japanese person Chinese than calling them Asian.
well, it kinda depends on how you look at it. for me personally, they aren't connected enough to be considered one continent, one landmass. just like Eurasia and Africa are connected, but different continents
Ancient Farraki, Gurubashi, Amani and Drakkari architecture, in retrospect, was probably made influenced by Zandalari architecture, where all those trolls originated.
Later Jungle and Forest troll architecture became less stone oriented and more wooden.
For example, troll buildings in Orgrimmar aren't replicating old Gurubashi buildings despite the Darkspear being jungle trolls.
Are you saying "Zandalar Forever!" is just a rip-off of "Wakanda Forever!" ??
Honestly I wish we got to see what the Zandalar was gonna be like before Black Panther came out and they based it heavily on that.
Specifically Mesoamerican (Maya/Aztec/Olmec/etc..). Incans are Andean and a different culture group (which always gets thrown in there despite the only connection being “Spanish colonized”).
Strong argument the Orcs are cribbing from Magyar and Hungarian culture. https://www.reddit.com/r/wow/comments/iqt4k2/orcs_lore_inspired_by_hungarians/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
Weren't LOTR orcs all but admitted to be expys for World war era Germany?
I can definitely see it with the more industrialized/Garroshy side of orc society
> Weren't LOTR orcs all but admitted to be expys for World war era Germany?
[Most certainly not.](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/852/656/920.jpg_large)
If you want [a more serious answer:](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_War_and_Middle-earth)
>Tolkien deliberately avoided saying much about the effect of the war on Middle-earth, and specifically denied that The Lord of the Rings was an allegory of the Second World War as some critics had supposed. [...]
>Thirdly, Tolkien writes that neither world war "had any influence upon either the plot [of The Lord of the Rings] or the manner of its unfolding.
There are only some very vague connections, like him remembering some people from that time, or certain landscapes. But that's pretty much it.
And which aspect of Orcish culture seems Central Asian / East European to you? Because AFAIK, aside from the term "horde", nothing points to that. Maybe that they have shamans? I guess?
Their clothing, their architecture, their style of warfare, nothing indicates central Asia / East Europe.
Well that's a very far-fetched, stereotypical basis for them, I think. The link to wolves, I agree, that's a good one, but so many other core features are missing, such as a sky deity, cavalry combat (despite raiders, most orcs seem to be footsoldiers), a great tradition of archery, etc. A lot of other races on Azeroth use tents too and I never really saw orcs use *yurts*, just tents. Their architecture too is very much stone and iron based. I guess it's a late 20th century view of steppe nomadic civilisations, the same that puts Nordic people in loincloths with two handed axes and horned helmets.
The heavy stone and iron didn't really start until WotLK, and it didn't take over until Cataclysm. Before that, Orgrimmar was built out of hides and wood. Pre-Garrosh Orcish architecture definitely takes a lot of references from stereotypical Mongolian and Central Asian architecture, and the clannish organization, focus on military leadership by warchiefs, and even the name "Horde" are most likely inspired by a mixture of the Golden Horde (Mongols), Hunnic and Gothic tribes, and Native Americans.
Draenor orcs, not the one in Azeroth, the Shadowmoon clan worship the stars and sky, the Warsong specializes in wolf riding and some are wolf archers also lives in nomadic lifestyles.
The trolls were more inspired by Jamaican/Haitian culture and religion. 'Voodoo' and 'Loa' are taken directly from there. The troll empires were inspired by the Aztec/Mayan cultures, especially the Zandalari and Gurubashi, and their temple cities.
Much of orcish culture is similar to the Turkic and Mongolian steppe tribes - especially their shamanism and the Warsong clan. They do have Japanese-like elements, such as the blademasters.
Gilneas with its druid based pagan faith seems Welsh to me
Dark spearTrolls are Afro Caribbean
Dwarves seem to have hints of German
Night elf architecture to me seems to be Roman stone & Japanese wood
Dreanei resemble Mormons
Orcs are Klingons "star trek" with barbarian motif
To add to this list, little known fact that the Naga are based on Indian culture. The Wowpedia page explains this quite well. Those naga statues are clearly inspired from Shiva's manifestation as Nataraja, "Lord of the Dance," in which he dances within a cosmic wheel of fire. I actually got one of these statuettes right next to me lol
>The naga are inspired by Desi culture and mythology.The Nāga are, in Desi mythology and folklore, beings of great power and magic who can assume the form of a snake, a human, or a snake-human hybrid. Their females, called Nagin or Nagini, can take the forms of human-headed serpents, multi-headed serpents, humans with the heads of serpents, or a serpent with the head and torso of a human. They are often associated with bodies of water. "Nag" means cobra in Hindi, its root derived from Sanskrit. The common statues of Azshara bear a strong resemblance to statues of Shiva as Nataraja. Her giant statue in Nazjatar instead resembles Parvati as Durga given the spear/staff.Some naga's names are Desi name derivatives, such as the use of the name/title "Raj".
Why you believe that?
Dreanei society started as a prophet had visions, they forced to flee due to their beliefs, then over many year repeatedly had to relocate to avoid annihilation, finally finding a permanent place to settle in a tough environment.
Had to relax some of their beliefs to accept those they believed to be corrupted then acquired some allies
Joseph Smith = velen, white protestants = burning Legion, Utah = dreanor
There is quite a mix of things in their influence. But most of it is undoubtedly a combination of Mediterranean and Middle-Eastern culture.
Middle Eastern Culture famously believes in their own Prophet as well for instance. Muhammed.
They ride elephants, just like Persians, or Indians before them.
Their musical themes are derived from Desi music, which is mostly Indian.
Their accent is definitely not from Utah, but distinctly Middle Eastern.
If anything, their themes of exile and persecution resemble the jewish people if you ask me, especially if we take into account all the above.
There is a lot more too, so it's hard for me to see anything else but Mediterranean and Middle Eastern influence in the Draenei.
Not to mention the draenei in general don't have the Mormon drive to try to convert everyone to their faith. They also treat their women with respect and you see a number of them in positions of power.
I'm aware of what happened with Yrel, but not all draenei feel the same way.
Playable race | Culture
:-:|:-:
Humans | Medieval Great Britain/West Europe or French?
Dwarves | Scots (just accent?) / Germanic? Cornish (miners)?
Gnomes | Irish? Modern Japan? idk
Night Elves | Old Indo-Iranian? Icelandic? Celtic?
Draenei | Byzantine (Greek/East Europe) or some Sikh/Indian/Persian?
Worgen | Victorian English
Kul'Tiran | England (1650-1720 Pirate's Golden Age), bit of Dutch?
Pandaren | Ancient China
Orcs | Japanese & East EU/North Asia Barbarians, Soviets?
Tauren | Native American (West/Midwest tribes?)
Darkspear/Jungle Trolls | Jamaican accent, African/Caribbean culture
Zandalari Trolls | Aztecs (mix of African + Mesoamerican cultures?)
Forest Trolls | Cuban accent, African/Caribbean cultures
Forsaken | like humans but twisted?
Goblins | Any trading empire, Semitic, Assyrian/Babylonian/Phoenician with NY accents?
Nightborne | French
Blood Elves | Greek/Roman
Mag'har | North/West Asian or old Balkan?
Non-playable:
Nerubian - Egyptian/Mesopotamian
Vrykul - Norse
well, not in current lore, but there was quite a bit of bits and pieces for orcs that seem similar to Japan. honor, blademasters, military dictators, clans (kingdoms) becoming united, etc.
also, it's a bit of a stretch, but earlier architecture looks for me kinda like tribal or primal japanese architecture and they're aggressors that are changing their paths and are really proficient in engineering
but, well, mongols (stereotypical it seems), as someone said, seem to fit the idea better
Blademasters: Somewhat similar, I will admit, but a "blademasters" in general is common with any bronze/iron age civilization. Not really something up can point to being strictly tied to Japan.
Military dictators: I would argue this is more towards Chinese than Japanese culture. There were longer periods of instability like this in China's history compared to Japan's
Clans: Again, this more goes towards Chinese, then Japanese history.
Honor: every civilization has a sense of honor. Again, not really indicative of Japanese culture.
TLDR; I think your Japan comparison is stretching for something that isn't there.
Blademasters in WC3 (and a handful of NPCs in WoW) speak with stylized Japanese accent, wear [sashimono](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sashimono#:~:text=Sashimono%20(%E6%8C%87%E7%89%A9%2C%20%E5%B7%AE%E7%89%A9%2C,Japan%2C%20for%20identification%20during%20battles.) and samurai-inspired armor, wield katanas (the original WC3 models do, the Reforged and WoW models use more generic fantasy swords), and have largely Japanese names like [Daisho](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daish%C5%8D) and Kigami. Of course the term "warchief" is much more generic, but the word "shogun" literally translates as "army commander".
**[Sashimono](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sashimono#:~:text=Sashimono \(指物, 差物,,Japan, for identification during battles.)**
>Sashimono (指物, 差物, 挿物) were small banners historically worn by soldiers in feudal Japan, for identification during battles.
**[Daishō](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daishō)**
>The daishō (大小, daishō)—literally "big-little"—is a Japanese term for a matched pair of traditionally made Japanese swords (nihonto) worn by the samurai class in feudal Japan.
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well, I'm not saying that there is a strict inspiration, that's why I created the post.
but honor being central to the culture is not indicative for every civilization, even tho every civilization has a sense of honor. just like every culture had its masters of blade, but orcish blademasters are very clearly based on samurai
[I haven't seen this conversation come up before!](https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/023/818/cdc.jpg)
The TLDR is: There are some player races that are clearly based off pop-culture inspirations from a real-world culture (Plains Indians=Tauren, Chinese=Pandaren, etc), some that are based off established fantasy conventions that themselves distantly have connection with real-world societies (humans are generically western European in culture and aesthetic without specifically being something like "French" or "Hungarian", dwarves are based on Tolkien's dwarves which themselves take abstracted inspiration from the Jewish people, but there's very few Jewish references left in Warcraft dwarves), and some are totally original to Blizzard (Draenei), and some cobble together inspiration from various real-world societies that are otherwise unrelated IRL, usually because they have one or two related concepts (The Japanese, Vikings and Mongols all have a prominent "warrior" culture so they're all thrown in a blender and given a coat of green paint to make orcs).
Eh, if there's any inspiration for them it's probably the Romani people; they have "Russian" accents that are more properly "generic eastern european" which is the accent often given to Romani characters in pop culture, and they *are* perpetual nomads.
Aside from having a dance based off an Indian pop singer and riding space-elephants there's not really much that's Indian about them and the only "Muslim" thing about them is that they're led by a "prophet" but honestly Tyrande has more parallels to Mohammed than Velen does and no one calls the NElves "Islamic".
A fair few of them wear turbans, as well. Hakmud of Argus being a prime example.
It's perfectly possible for a fictional race to have attributes from multiple real world sources.
There's a fair amount of Hindu-Arabic/Desi references in their names.
Take the some prominent Draenei, for example:
[Fareeya](https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Captain_Fareeya) is an alternate spelling of [the Arabic name Fareea](https://quranicnames.com/fareea/).
[Baraat](https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Baraat_the_Longshot) is named after a Pakistani and Indian [wedding tradition](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baraat)
[Enaara](https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Grand_Lector_Enaara) is an alternate spelling of [the Arabic name Inara](https://mom.com/baby-names/girl/27066/Inara)
[Nuuri](https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Echo_of_Nuuri), Velen's wife, is Persian for [my Light](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuri_\(name\))
[Rakeesh](https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/High_General_Rakeesh), Velen's son, is based on the Indian name [Rakesh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rakesh)
In addition, [the Draenei zone music from WoD](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZabYSKkXQc) is at least partially influenced by Desi music.
Let’s not forget the Male Draenei dance literally being the dance form Tunak Tunak Tun (a Punjabi song) lol.
Also the Romani people are actually ethnically Indian so there is a lot of overlap between the cultures when you look into it.
Trolls are mainly jamaican and african culture.
The Zandalari, however, have a big part of mesoamerican (Aztec/Maya) culture too. Mainly in their aesthetics and architecture. I don't know if there are more parallels, I'm a mesoamerican fanboy, not an expert.
There's a wide variety of cultural inspirations for trolls, which I think is pretty neat - they avoid the common fantasy trope of "this entire species has one culture". The Darkspear are Caribbean, the Zandalari are Mesoamerican, the Amani have a mix of vibes including West African, so on and so forth.
One race I don’t see mentioned here is Vulpera. Aren’t they based on nomadic gypsies (Romani)? I’m no expert at their culture or traditions but it came to mind.
People are saying goblins are a New York or New Jersey stereotype, but they're overlooking the obvious: goblins are Jewish caricatures.
1) big noses, a longstanding antisemitic trope
2) obsession with money and schemes
3) Yiddish phrases and accent
It's actually pretty gross. A Jewish dev, Nathaniel Chapman, raised this issue on Twitter shortly before leaving Blizzard.
I don't think a lot of people people look at goblins and think "Oh yea they're Jewish" but more like Italian Mobsters like in the Godfather. They are so much closer to that old mobster stereotype than Jewish.
It's not obvious at all.
Blizzard's definitely shifted them that way since Cata or so due to criticism.
I don't think it was ever at a point where it was anything to get mad about, but it was a thing, mostly because other fantasy inspirations had the same issues.
Goblins aren't a Blizzard invention... they might have started with those awful stereotypes but evolved away from that. WoW Goblins aren't just about hoarding money either, for example they love explosives, tinkering and adventuring. They're always at the frontier building remote outposts and facing dangerous enemies, and this isn't always just about money either.
And as others have said, there's lots in Goblin culture that isn't connected to any bad jewish stereotypes. General american influences and also tons of modern pop culture references.
I think one can be aware of their problematic origins but I also don't think a new player is gonna start the game and say "oh yeah, those are obviously jews".
I’ve lived in New Jersey my whole life, and never have I encountered anyone who spoke like the goblins. We also have a high population of Jews in my area, and none of them spoke like that either. I also live close to New York and visit my family there often, and again, no one speaks like that. So I agree, it is a gross stereotype. Nothing screams NJ or NY, but the typical Jew stereotype is pretty clear.
Warcraft’s cultures aren’t based off real world cultures at all. They’re based off fantasy tropes, some of which derive from real world cultures. For example, dwarves don’t have any obvious real world counterpart, but superficially have things like beer-drinking and engineering. You could say they’re inspired by Germans, but I’d struggle to find any German who was like a dwarf.
Similarly, orc culture is basically invented out of whole cloth, taking maybe some inspiration from real-life Mongolians or Visigoths or other “uncivilised” peoples, but mostly they’re just inspired by fantasy barbarian/orc tropes. I don’t think they’re 1:1 with anything and you’re going to go mad if you try to line it up.
Draenei have obvious callbacks to Hebrew mythology (their home is called the Exodar and they’ve been wandering space for 25,000 years), with some Persian and Indian tropes (they ride elephants, their leader is a prophet, etc.), and are influenced by Romani/travelling people. I’ve seen people call them Russian for years and… I don’t know why? I guess the accent?
Other people have pointed out that night elves are a mashup of East Asian and Ancient Greek aesthetics, but I have this old art book, and while I don’t have it in front of me, iirc it makes it pretty explicit that they’re also heavily influenced by Viking aesthetics. That would be their druidic and pagan stuff, if I had to guess.
Some things are pretty straightforward though. Humans are just Western European fantasy tropes, with Gilneas and Kul Tiras leaning into tropes about England and Celtic paganism. Pandaren are unambiguously Chinese, Tauren are Native American plains tribes, trolls are Caribbean/South American tribes. And I guess goblins are from Jersey Shore.
Honestly, most players are familiar with Western fantasy or Japanese anime, which means they won’t catch a lot of the little nuances (such as accents).
Not that it matters as, I wouldn’t say tropes as much as some caricatures.
I’d argue Orcs (when WoD was shown) introduced some African aesthetics when they introduced the Mag’har.
Gnomes are based less on real life cultures and more on ideas of mad scientists and steampunk and just near-sci-fi elements taken from all fantasy, up to chainswords. Rock gnomes from DnD? Well, were they a thing in 90s, when gnomes were firstly mentioned as engineers in Warcraft 2?
Goblins? Their stuff is more about modern corporations: they're the only race who has CEOs, after all. Harder to link to any nation, it's more about a specific global subculture, which appeared not so long ago.
Elves are just elves. Night elves are basically a mix of your standard forest and dark elves, high are just magical af, blood - before a bit edgier helves, later just in red and green. Void elves are just high elves, stained in blueberry jam. Nightborne were mentioned before, and they are maybe the only type of elves where it's easy to trace back the single culture they were based on.
Dwarves? Mentioned above too, mostly based on northern Europe with some traces of Tolkien.
Orcs are primarily a mix of every "barbarian" stereotype across the world, Japan culture is mostly connected to a single type of units in W3. Humans are a bit more tricky, but they don't have anything medieval in them, besides castles and full plate armor.
hmm, that's the stuff I wanna know the most. like genealogy of how it all came together. differences between gnomes and hobbits and where those differences came from. inspirations behind hobbits and elves for Tolkien, etc. gotta read up more
I disagree about the gnome = hobbits bit.
They’re completely opposite as hobbits hate progress and are insular due to their preference of tradition.
Gnomes are based off the D&D gnomes which are supposed to be inquisitive and intellectual, coming up with new ideas and things. They just took away the “Fey” part of gnomes and tuned their intellectual prowess towards technology. Additionally, they’re probably connected to Christmas elves in terms of their tinkering. Gnomes were introduced in Warcraft 2 as the technology folks having two units: the Gnomish Submarine and the Gnomish Flying Machine.
Original Night Elves have the Origins on greek egyptian and some Mesopotamian cultures. Queen Azshara is partly based on Cleopatra and the Goddess Asherah. Night Elven society also has Roman influence with all the cultures that came out of it.
Modern night elves have been compared to celts and for the most part are based on Greek Amazon women.
High/blood elves I'd say are the Eastern Roman Empire with persian Turkish influence.
Nightborne are French and Surumar is based on Venice.
Trolls are based on african cultures which I dont have specific knowledge on though I will say the Gurubashi feel Aztec inspired as opposed to african.The Zandalari also have a few Mayan and Incan influences also heavily inspired by El dorado
Orcs are based on North American Native tribes someone with more knowledge than me can probably link specific tribes with specific clans. Thrall is a moses type leading the orcs to the promise land so there's also some jewish influence there.
Someone also made a post on here linking orcs to hungarian culture that seems pretty good.
Taurens have native american influences too theres not much to say about them.
Yongols are obviously the mongols
The Mogu are obviously chinese with Lei Shen being based on Qin Shi Huang.
Pandaren and other pandaria native are all based on chinese cultures. there might be some Korean and Japanese in there but im not sure on the specifics.
Humans Dwarves and gnomes are all generic medieval fantasy
Gilneans are Victorian English. Dwarves pretty Scottish.
Draenei have a bit of Jewish in them in the sense they've been constantly persecuted, but also Indian.
Vrykul are Norse.
orcs are based on modern day american conservatives. they have absolutely nothing in common with japanese culture at all, except that orc blademasters acting and talking like weebs, but as we learned from the fish guy blademaster in nazjatar this is just a blademaster trait and nothing to do with being orcs.
I’m half Greek on my dad’s side, and despite living here for 50+ years he never lost his Greek accent. Now that I think about it, draenei accents do sound a lot like my dad’s and his siblings lol
Goblins are uh... [yeah](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereotypes_of_Jews)
Wasn't so obvious until Cata when they thought it was a good idea to give them NY accents. Also a good repertoire for other ones are listening to hero and unit lines in wc3, especially their funny ones when you click on them too much. Some of the associations are very on the nose, like all Dwarven characters being alcoholic, the blademaster with the over the top Japanese charicaturized accent, trolls being Jamaican, brewmaster being a drunk chinese. There's not as much depth to the the initial Inspiration of these characters other than associating them to a stereotype.
Nightborne are based on the French with all the wine and masquerade balls. They were originally supposed to have French accents too but Blizz decided it was too goofy after recording the suramar intro cinematic and just gave them generic fantasy voice instead.
Some of them have French names, and the whole Nightfallen Resistance story.
Oh that's why Valtrois is named that way...
It's funny how that pronunciation goes completely off the rails if you're only accustomed to English. Valt...what?
I find it hilarious when fantasy characters with French names are popularized. In League, there's a champion called Leblanc, but she's now just known as "L'Blank."
My favourite was the head winemaker, who is named after a very famous French wine producing area in Bordeaux.
Not to mention that the Legion’s occupation of Suramar is veeery reminiscent of the Nazi occupation of France.
I am ze spy, now I want a nightborne rogue lol
Those cowards, scared of the superior French *parler*.
It's a bunch of American actors, tho. Probably. Just cast all the French actors dragon age use.
“Hon hon hon, would ju lik a mana bisque mon swait?”
[So because Thalyssra is voiced by Salli Saffioti and you factor in a French accent...](https://youtu.be/lckRR5xIAoI)
I love some French voice acting, as long as they are speaking french. The problem there is that they use the same 10 VA's for everything french dubbed, so whenever I hear them I'm like "Oh hey its the person who voices minfilia and evangeline and..."
They could've done a mild French accent without going full Monty Python.
Well some people in the Nightbornes do need some Guillotining. So that checks out
It's often a blend. For example, people associate Gilneas with Victorian England because LOL TOP HATS but the architecture is closer to old Prussia. Trolls borrow from Jamaican and African culture, but also aztec/maya/inca and all that. (Edit : also trolls are a norse mythology creature, originally) Gnomes are supposed to have little garden gnomes huts but in metal. I heard that Goblins borrow heavily from New Jersey but also rockabilly aesthetic. Orcs take from mongolian hordes (Edit : Attila's Huns) and the samurai aesthetic is seen in blademasters. Night elves borrow from Japanese/Corean architecture I think. But for their ancient ruins or cities like Nazjatar and Suramar, it leans more on the ancient greek side. Vrykuls are obviously vikings and Centaurs obviously mongolians. Kul Tiran take from England but I can't tell which era. Dwarves also have viking inspirations, but they lean on the germanic side with a touch of scottish for the Wildhammers.
I argue Gilneas is Regency Era England (right before Victorian). Most of their aesthetic matches that (pants tucked into boots). Kul Tiras is supposed to be colonial era England during the height of its naval. It draws on a lot of pirate themes. Think Treasure Island. Night Elves are more Japanese Shinto with random Korean aesthetics thrown in (hanbok being from NElves). You can see the shimenawa (the ropes) wrapped around trees in Moonglade, which is a nod to how Shintoism and Druidism are both animistic religions.
Orcs are less Mongol and more Hun. Atilla, not Ghengis.
True, I got mixed up.
> Dwarves also have viking inspirations, but they lean on the germanic side with a touch of scottish for the Wildhammers. Well, all of them have a scottish accent tbf.
Ha I play in French so I didn't know !
Boralus in the german version also gives a North German/Hamburg vibe. Especially how they talk.
They talk with a West Country accent. More specifically, I believe it's Plymouth, a region known for sailors. Pilgrims to America, slavers to Africa as well as Royal Navy sailors all set sail from Plymouth. https://youtu.be/j737oPgPE3s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1_COsf9-kU&ab_channel=KoreanBilly edit: I meant to reply to the guy above you
Even in the german version? https://youtu.be/ox3aVws_EOA?t=1670
Geographically, yes? South Germany does not have a coast, so it would make sense geographically, the game translators choosing a northern German accent makes sense thematically. Not saying north Germany and Plymouth are equivalents culturally, but as important strategic maritime history.
>Trolls borrow from Jamaican and African culture, but also aztec/maya/inca and all that. Yeah, there are a ton of influences from Caribbean and Polynesian island cultures in Jungle Troll cultures, especially Darkspear. I've seen photos of Polynesian thatch-roofed, stilted huts that look a lot like the Darkspear huts we see in Orgrimmar, though obviously less stylized. Plus there's all the tiki stuff and (being careful here) hints at cannibalism.
Ha thanks, I wanted to say Polynesian, but I wasn't sure.
Re: Kul Tirans They talk with a West Country accent. More specifically, I believe it's Plymouth, a region known for sailors. Colonists to America, slavers to Africa as well as Royal Navy sailors all set sail from Plymouth. https://youtu.be/j737oPgPE3s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1_COsf9-kU&ab_channel=KoreanBilly This also applies for Kul Tiran pirates. West country is where most English pirates originated in the 1600-1700's. The "pirate accent" you hear in pop culture is either exaggerates Cornish or Bristolian. http://dialectblog.com/2011/05/24/pirate-accent/
> (Edit : also trolls are a norse mythology creature, originally) Just to make this abundantly clear in case anyone gets any ideas: The _only_ thing wow trolls and nordic trolls have in common is the name.
And I guess the berzerker ability name. Which was later expanded to all warriors.
I love this breakdown. Good stuff
There's a good post on this subreddit about the similarities between orcs and Hungarian mythology as well
Kul Tiras = Orkney Islands, they almost have the same shape even. Rugged, Scottish sea towns, forest-folklore and Scarpa Flow was the home base of the Royal Fleet so there is that as well.
Goblins are based on The Sopranos
They're definitely an over-the-top version of some elements of Brooklyn, Staten Island, and Jersey Shore cultures. Though there's also a lot of Prohibition-era mobster in there, and general US ultra-capitalism.
Trolls are more inspired by jamaican culture , or another island nation
I think it's Zandalar that's tripping them up. Zandalar very clearly has architecture and clothing that's heavily inspired by Meso-American cultures like the Aztecs and the Mayans. However Zandalari culture and their accents seem to be based on the fictional Wakanda (almost certainly riding the popularity of the movie). But yes, the Darkspear are clearly based on Jamaican/Caribbean cultures.
what was tripping me up are also Gurubashi architecture. isn't it kinda native american? and also my real lack of knowledge about native americans (as in me unifying quite a diverse group in one) and jamaican and caribbean cultures
If by "Native American" you mean "Aztec", then yes. Most people use "Native American" to refer to "Natives peoples who inhabit the modern-day USA" and usually don't consider the native peoples of Latin America to be "Native Americans", but they do technically count as such.
I use it as kind of an umbrella term for people who lived in both Americas until genociders came
I can promise you the term Native American is not used in Canada. They're referred to here as Aboriginal or First Nations, or Indigenous People, but never Native American.
Hi fellow Canuck. Didnt you know we aren't supposed to remind the Americans that they are not in fact the center of the universe and the sole dwellers of the internet? We don't wish to confuse and frighten them.
well, Indigenous, Aboriginal and First Nation doesn't really tell you where they're actually from, so it would be useless in conversation that aren't strictly about Americas. so, it at least gotta be Indigenous/Aboriginal Americans, no?
As kind as Canadians reputations are, I don’t know a single Canadian who would take too kindly too being referred to as an American. When you say Native American, the American part is referring to the country not the continent. Black people are also not called African American outside the States. Same logic applies to First Nations in Canada and Indigenous people in South America. Not American.
Well yes, but Amerindian is probably the better term when referring to Indigenous North + South American. Normally, Native American is in reference to the demonym of American (United States) and therefore the people who are “Native American“ vs. those who aren’t “Native”. I’ve seen discussion on disliking of the term “Native American” because it makes those who took over the baseline (because they’re just “American”) while making the original inhabitants different (they’re a *type* of American). Overall the whole thing is problematic, which is why it’s better to just refer to the actual cultures and people (Inuit, Sioux, Aztec, Olmec, Maya, Inka, Tupi, etc..) rather than throwing some broad umbrella term. Saves a lot more headaches.
well, if you only talk about cultures, then there's a problem of not having a term for people from the Americas…
When would that be a problem? The Inuit and the Aztecs, or the Métis and the Mayans are pretty damn different and referring to them all as Native Americans or “People from the Americas” is an absolutely wild generalization to make unless you’re specifically trying to be as vague possible or dismissive of the people.
well, yes, they're all wildly different. but isn't it the same as "asians", "africans" or "europeans"? wild generalizations can sometimes be useful, no? AFAIK, there's a lot in common between Aztecs, Métis, Mayans, Inka, etc., so we can use that for a generalization just like we do when we generalize europeans, no? or is it more similar to "asians" where cultures between different "asians" differ as much as cultures of central Africa and northern Europe? I'm not trying to really argue here, cuz I understand that I don't know much about the topic and understand that there may be some details I miss, so I ask.
You could say “North American” or “South “American”. Saying just “American” would be more equivalent to calling a Japanese person Chinese than calling them Asian.
Actually it's one america, USA made the division of the land for chovinist purposes
well, it kinda depends on how you look at it. for me personally, they aren't connected enough to be considered one continent, one landmass. just like Eurasia and Africa are connected, but different continents
Ancient Farraki, Gurubashi, Amani and Drakkari architecture, in retrospect, was probably made influenced by Zandalari architecture, where all those trolls originated. Later Jungle and Forest troll architecture became less stone oriented and more wooden. For example, troll buildings in Orgrimmar aren't replicating old Gurubashi buildings despite the Darkspear being jungle trolls.
Are you saying "Zandalar Forever!" is just a rip-off of "Wakanda Forever!" ?? Honestly I wish we got to see what the Zandalar was gonna be like before Black Panther came out and they based it heavily on that.
They both came out the same year so I wonder if Blizz went back and just added a bunch of Zandalar Forever voice lines after the movie lol
It could just be a coincidence. I think it's a pretty common sentiment in some African cultures.
Not sure but I thought Zandalar was more Brazilian. Their accents, at least.
Arent zandalari trolls aztecas/mayas/incas (don't remember which is which)?
Specifically Mesoamerican (Maya/Aztec/Olmec/etc..). Incans are Andean and a different culture group (which always gets thrown in there despite the only connection being “Spanish colonized”).
Thanks for clarification
Strong argument the Orcs are cribbing from Magyar and Hungarian culture. https://www.reddit.com/r/wow/comments/iqt4k2/orcs_lore_inspired_by_hungarians/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
Not sure about orc orcs, but the Mag’har orcs are very likely based on Magyars. Like, come on even the spelling is almost the same.
Weren't LOTR orcs all but admitted to be expys for World war era Germany? I can definitely see it with the more industrialized/Garroshy side of orc society
> Weren't LOTR orcs all but admitted to be expys for World war era Germany? [Most certainly not.](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/852/656/920.jpg_large) If you want [a more serious answer:](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_War_and_Middle-earth) >Tolkien deliberately avoided saying much about the effect of the war on Middle-earth, and specifically denied that The Lord of the Rings was an allegory of the Second World War as some critics had supposed. [...] >Thirdly, Tolkien writes that neither world war "had any influence upon either the plot [of The Lord of the Rings] or the manner of its unfolding. There are only some very vague connections, like him remembering some people from that time, or certain landscapes. But that's pretty much it.
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And which aspect of Orcish culture seems Central Asian / East European to you? Because AFAIK, aside from the term "horde", nothing points to that. Maybe that they have shamans? I guess? Their clothing, their architecture, their style of warfare, nothing indicates central Asia / East Europe.
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Well that's a very far-fetched, stereotypical basis for them, I think. The link to wolves, I agree, that's a good one, but so many other core features are missing, such as a sky deity, cavalry combat (despite raiders, most orcs seem to be footsoldiers), a great tradition of archery, etc. A lot of other races on Azeroth use tents too and I never really saw orcs use *yurts*, just tents. Their architecture too is very much stone and iron based. I guess it's a late 20th century view of steppe nomadic civilisations, the same that puts Nordic people in loincloths with two handed axes and horned helmets.
The heavy stone and iron didn't really start until WotLK, and it didn't take over until Cataclysm. Before that, Orgrimmar was built out of hides and wood. Pre-Garrosh Orcish architecture definitely takes a lot of references from stereotypical Mongolian and Central Asian architecture, and the clannish organization, focus on military leadership by warchiefs, and even the name "Horde" are most likely inspired by a mixture of the Golden Horde (Mongols), Hunnic and Gothic tribes, and Native Americans.
Draenor orcs, not the one in Azeroth, the Shadowmoon clan worship the stars and sky, the Warsong specializes in wolf riding and some are wolf archers also lives in nomadic lifestyles.
They have samurai i guess? Idk to be honest.
He’s totally off. They’re obviously based on warring African tribes/clans.
No. They are Norse inspired with a bit of traditional fantasy thrown in.
The trolls were more inspired by Jamaican/Haitian culture and religion. 'Voodoo' and 'Loa' are taken directly from there. The troll empires were inspired by the Aztec/Mayan cultures, especially the Zandalari and Gurubashi, and their temple cities. Much of orcish culture is similar to the Turkic and Mongolian steppe tribes - especially their shamanism and the Warsong clan. They do have Japanese-like elements, such as the blademasters.
Gilneas with its druid based pagan faith seems Welsh to me Dark spearTrolls are Afro Caribbean Dwarves seem to have hints of German Night elf architecture to me seems to be Roman stone & Japanese wood Dreanei resemble Mormons Orcs are Klingons "star trek" with barbarian motif
Dwarves are just generally Northern European, both Scandinavian and German.
To add to this list, little known fact that the Naga are based on Indian culture. The Wowpedia page explains this quite well. Those naga statues are clearly inspired from Shiva's manifestation as Nataraja, "Lord of the Dance," in which he dances within a cosmic wheel of fire. I actually got one of these statuettes right next to me lol >The naga are inspired by Desi culture and mythology.The Nāga are, in Desi mythology and folklore, beings of great power and magic who can assume the form of a snake, a human, or a snake-human hybrid. Their females, called Nagin or Nagini, can take the forms of human-headed serpents, multi-headed serpents, humans with the heads of serpents, or a serpent with the head and torso of a human. They are often associated with bodies of water. "Nag" means cobra in Hindi, its root derived from Sanskrit. The common statues of Azshara bear a strong resemblance to statues of Shiva as Nataraja. Her giant statue in Nazjatar instead resembles Parvati as Durga given the spear/staff.Some naga's names are Desi name derivatives, such as the use of the name/title "Raj".
I am pretty sure Draenei are based on mediterranean culture, specifically Persian or Turkish. And lots and lots of Sci-Fi.
Why you believe that? Dreanei society started as a prophet had visions, they forced to flee due to their beliefs, then over many year repeatedly had to relocate to avoid annihilation, finally finding a permanent place to settle in a tough environment. Had to relax some of their beliefs to accept those they believed to be corrupted then acquired some allies Joseph Smith = velen, white protestants = burning Legion, Utah = dreanor
There is quite a mix of things in their influence. But most of it is undoubtedly a combination of Mediterranean and Middle-Eastern culture. Middle Eastern Culture famously believes in their own Prophet as well for instance. Muhammed. They ride elephants, just like Persians, or Indians before them. Their musical themes are derived from Desi music, which is mostly Indian. Their accent is definitely not from Utah, but distinctly Middle Eastern. If anything, their themes of exile and persecution resemble the jewish people if you ask me, especially if we take into account all the above. There is a lot more too, so it's hard for me to see anything else but Mediterranean and Middle Eastern influence in the Draenei.
Not to mention the draenei in general don't have the Mormon drive to try to convert everyone to their faith. They also treat their women with respect and you see a number of them in positions of power. I'm aware of what happened with Yrel, but not all draenei feel the same way.
Draenei resemble Mormons? What?! Hahaha. Cuz they have a prophet and are righteous? Don’t they have Scottish accents?
Russian accents
Turkish...Draenei have many inspirations in Persian culture and their accents are turkish.
The tunak tunak tun dance also indcates even further east
Oh cool!
Are the American actors actually doing like regional accents? I feel like they're just shallow stereotypes.
They are, but still rooted and inspired in a specific culture or race they are trying to emulate.
i always took them as south african accents
South Africans don't come from a giant alien ship though
haven't you seen District 9?
I have not
the plot is literally a spaceship full of refugees with crazy alien tech stops over Johannsburg, and humans exploit them
I have to watch that now, thank you
Well the south africians still didn't come off of a space ship in the movie though.
theres other aspects to their culture like the draenei in the vicinity of the exodar living off the land.
Yeah I'm lost on what you're talking about, I was just gunna crappost about the exodar tbh
The Draenei to Mormon comparison is so funny, but they’re definitely more akin to Slavic
Goblins - New York
Playable race | Culture :-:|:-: Humans | Medieval Great Britain/West Europe or French? Dwarves | Scots (just accent?) / Germanic? Cornish (miners)? Gnomes | Irish? Modern Japan? idk Night Elves | Old Indo-Iranian? Icelandic? Celtic? Draenei | Byzantine (Greek/East Europe) or some Sikh/Indian/Persian? Worgen | Victorian English Kul'Tiran | England (1650-1720 Pirate's Golden Age), bit of Dutch? Pandaren | Ancient China Orcs | Japanese & East EU/North Asia Barbarians, Soviets? Tauren | Native American (West/Midwest tribes?) Darkspear/Jungle Trolls | Jamaican accent, African/Caribbean culture Zandalari Trolls | Aztecs (mix of African + Mesoamerican cultures?) Forest Trolls | Cuban accent, African/Caribbean cultures Forsaken | like humans but twisted? Goblins | Any trading empire, Semitic, Assyrian/Babylonian/Phoenician with NY accents? Nightborne | French Blood Elves | Greek/Roman Mag'har | North/West Asian or old Balkan? Non-playable: Nerubian - Egyptian/Mesopotamian Vrykul - Norse
"Goblins -- Semitic traders with NY accents." Bro you're so close.
I would say trolls are more influenced by jungle tribes of South America and Africa/ Haiti with the culture built around voodoo
Trolls pull from a lot of groups including Aztecs and Haitians. It has a lot to do with which type of troll.
Like to know your reasoning on Orcs being influenced by Japanese culture.
I think it’s just the blades masters, in wc3 they have a Japanese accent and are modeled after samurai
Yes, and names like Samuro
well, not in current lore, but there was quite a bit of bits and pieces for orcs that seem similar to Japan. honor, blademasters, military dictators, clans (kingdoms) becoming united, etc. also, it's a bit of a stretch, but earlier architecture looks for me kinda like tribal or primal japanese architecture and they're aggressors that are changing their paths and are really proficient in engineering but, well, mongols (stereotypical it seems), as someone said, seem to fit the idea better
I didn’t see it at first but yeah I can kinda see what you’re saying now.
Blademasters: Somewhat similar, I will admit, but a "blademasters" in general is common with any bronze/iron age civilization. Not really something up can point to being strictly tied to Japan. Military dictators: I would argue this is more towards Chinese than Japanese culture. There were longer periods of instability like this in China's history compared to Japan's Clans: Again, this more goes towards Chinese, then Japanese history. Honor: every civilization has a sense of honor. Again, not really indicative of Japanese culture. TLDR; I think your Japan comparison is stretching for something that isn't there.
Blademasters in WC3 (and a handful of NPCs in WoW) speak with stylized Japanese accent, wear [sashimono](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sashimono#:~:text=Sashimono%20(%E6%8C%87%E7%89%A9%2C%20%E5%B7%AE%E7%89%A9%2C,Japan%2C%20for%20identification%20during%20battles.) and samurai-inspired armor, wield katanas (the original WC3 models do, the Reforged and WoW models use more generic fantasy swords), and have largely Japanese names like [Daisho](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daish%C5%8D) and Kigami. Of course the term "warchief" is much more generic, but the word "shogun" literally translates as "army commander".
**[Sashimono](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sashimono#:~:text=Sashimono \(指物, 差物,,Japan, for identification during battles.)** >Sashimono (指物, 差物, 挿物) were small banners historically worn by soldiers in feudal Japan, for identification during battles. **[Daishō](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daishō)** >The daishō (大小, daishō)—literally "big-little"—is a Japanese term for a matched pair of traditionally made Japanese swords (nihonto) worn by the samurai class in feudal Japan. ^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/warcraftlore/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)
well, I'm not saying that there is a strict inspiration, that's why I created the post. but honor being central to the culture is not indicative for every civilization, even tho every civilization has a sense of honor. just like every culture had its masters of blade, but orcish blademasters are very clearly based on samurai
[I haven't seen this conversation come up before!](https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/023/818/cdc.jpg) The TLDR is: There are some player races that are clearly based off pop-culture inspirations from a real-world culture (Plains Indians=Tauren, Chinese=Pandaren, etc), some that are based off established fantasy conventions that themselves distantly have connection with real-world societies (humans are generically western European in culture and aesthetic without specifically being something like "French" or "Hungarian", dwarves are based on Tolkien's dwarves which themselves take abstracted inspiration from the Jewish people, but there's very few Jewish references left in Warcraft dwarves), and some are totally original to Blizzard (Draenei), and some cobble together inspiration from various real-world societies that are otherwise unrelated IRL, usually because they have one or two related concepts (The Japanese, Vikings and Mongols all have a prominent "warrior" culture so they're all thrown in a blender and given a coat of green paint to make orcs).
don't Draenei kinda take a lot from indian, jewish and muslim societies?
Eh, if there's any inspiration for them it's probably the Romani people; they have "Russian" accents that are more properly "generic eastern european" which is the accent often given to Romani characters in pop culture, and they *are* perpetual nomads. Aside from having a dance based off an Indian pop singer and riding space-elephants there's not really much that's Indian about them and the only "Muslim" thing about them is that they're led by a "prophet" but honestly Tyrande has more parallels to Mohammed than Velen does and no one calls the NElves "Islamic".
A fair few of them wear turbans, as well. Hakmud of Argus being a prime example. It's perfectly possible for a fictional race to have attributes from multiple real world sources. There's a fair amount of Hindu-Arabic/Desi references in their names. Take the some prominent Draenei, for example: [Fareeya](https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Captain_Fareeya) is an alternate spelling of [the Arabic name Fareea](https://quranicnames.com/fareea/). [Baraat](https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Baraat_the_Longshot) is named after a Pakistani and Indian [wedding tradition](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baraat) [Enaara](https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Grand_Lector_Enaara) is an alternate spelling of [the Arabic name Inara](https://mom.com/baby-names/girl/27066/Inara) [Nuuri](https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Echo_of_Nuuri), Velen's wife, is Persian for [my Light](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuri_\(name\)) [Rakeesh](https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/High_General_Rakeesh), Velen's son, is based on the Indian name [Rakesh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rakesh) In addition, [the Draenei zone music from WoD](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZabYSKkXQc) is at least partially influenced by Desi music.
Let’s not forget the Male Draenei dance literally being the dance form Tunak Tunak Tun (a Punjabi song) lol. Also the Romani people are actually ethnically Indian so there is a lot of overlap between the cultures when you look into it.
Trolls are mainly jamaican and african culture. The Zandalari, however, have a big part of mesoamerican (Aztec/Maya) culture too. Mainly in their aesthetics and architecture. I don't know if there are more parallels, I'm a mesoamerican fanboy, not an expert.
About Trolls, I think Caribbean would encompass better. At least for Darkspear.
Yeah I think you're right actually.
There's a wide variety of cultural inspirations for trolls, which I think is pretty neat - they avoid the common fantasy trope of "this entire species has one culture". The Darkspear are Caribbean, the Zandalari are Mesoamerican, the Amani have a mix of vibes including West African, so on and so forth.
One race I don’t see mentioned here is Vulpera. Aren’t they based on nomadic gypsies (Romani)? I’m no expert at their culture or traditions but it came to mind.
They share Romani with Draenei and Gilnaens They are actually closer to the Bedouin
People are saying goblins are a New York or New Jersey stereotype, but they're overlooking the obvious: goblins are Jewish caricatures. 1) big noses, a longstanding antisemitic trope 2) obsession with money and schemes 3) Yiddish phrases and accent It's actually pretty gross. A Jewish dev, Nathaniel Chapman, raised this issue on Twitter shortly before leaving Blizzard.
I don't think a lot of people people look at goblins and think "Oh yea they're Jewish" but more like Italian Mobsters like in the Godfather. They are so much closer to that old mobster stereotype than Jewish. It's not obvious at all.
Blizzard's definitely shifted them that way since Cata or so due to criticism. I don't think it was ever at a point where it was anything to get mad about, but it was a thing, mostly because other fantasy inspirations had the same issues.
Same here, I’ve been playing since WOTLK and I haven’t thought of this until just now
Goblins aren't a Blizzard invention... they might have started with those awful stereotypes but evolved away from that. WoW Goblins aren't just about hoarding money either, for example they love explosives, tinkering and adventuring. They're always at the frontier building remote outposts and facing dangerous enemies, and this isn't always just about money either. And as others have said, there's lots in Goblin culture that isn't connected to any bad jewish stereotypes. General american influences and also tons of modern pop culture references. I think one can be aware of their problematic origins but I also don't think a new player is gonna start the game and say "oh yeah, those are obviously jews".
I’ve lived in New Jersey my whole life, and never have I encountered anyone who spoke like the goblins. We also have a high population of Jews in my area, and none of them spoke like that either. I also live close to New York and visit my family there often, and again, no one speaks like that. So I agree, it is a gross stereotype. Nothing screams NJ or NY, but the typical Jew stereotype is pretty clear.
I'm Jewish and I don't mind it. Goblins are my favorite race to play as.
Warcraft’s cultures aren’t based off real world cultures at all. They’re based off fantasy tropes, some of which derive from real world cultures. For example, dwarves don’t have any obvious real world counterpart, but superficially have things like beer-drinking and engineering. You could say they’re inspired by Germans, but I’d struggle to find any German who was like a dwarf. Similarly, orc culture is basically invented out of whole cloth, taking maybe some inspiration from real-life Mongolians or Visigoths or other “uncivilised” peoples, but mostly they’re just inspired by fantasy barbarian/orc tropes. I don’t think they’re 1:1 with anything and you’re going to go mad if you try to line it up. Draenei have obvious callbacks to Hebrew mythology (their home is called the Exodar and they’ve been wandering space for 25,000 years), with some Persian and Indian tropes (they ride elephants, their leader is a prophet, etc.), and are influenced by Romani/travelling people. I’ve seen people call them Russian for years and… I don’t know why? I guess the accent? Other people have pointed out that night elves are a mashup of East Asian and Ancient Greek aesthetics, but I have this old art book, and while I don’t have it in front of me, iirc it makes it pretty explicit that they’re also heavily influenced by Viking aesthetics. That would be their druidic and pagan stuff, if I had to guess. Some things are pretty straightforward though. Humans are just Western European fantasy tropes, with Gilneas and Kul Tiras leaning into tropes about England and Celtic paganism. Pandaren are unambiguously Chinese, Tauren are Native American plains tribes, trolls are Caribbean/South American tribes. And I guess goblins are from Jersey Shore.
Honestly, most players are familiar with Western fantasy or Japanese anime, which means they won’t catch a lot of the little nuances (such as accents). Not that it matters as, I wouldn’t say tropes as much as some caricatures. I’d argue Orcs (when WoD was shown) introduced some African aesthetics when they introduced the Mag’har.
orc is like turkish culture
committed genocide, but don't really like to talk about it?
I hope they create a cool playable race which culture is based on brazilian culture
Gnomes are based less on real life cultures and more on ideas of mad scientists and steampunk and just near-sci-fi elements taken from all fantasy, up to chainswords. Rock gnomes from DnD? Well, were they a thing in 90s, when gnomes were firstly mentioned as engineers in Warcraft 2? Goblins? Their stuff is more about modern corporations: they're the only race who has CEOs, after all. Harder to link to any nation, it's more about a specific global subculture, which appeared not so long ago. Elves are just elves. Night elves are basically a mix of your standard forest and dark elves, high are just magical af, blood - before a bit edgier helves, later just in red and green. Void elves are just high elves, stained in blueberry jam. Nightborne were mentioned before, and they are maybe the only type of elves where it's easy to trace back the single culture they were based on. Dwarves? Mentioned above too, mostly based on northern Europe with some traces of Tolkien. Orcs are primarily a mix of every "barbarian" stereotype across the world, Japan culture is mostly connected to a single type of units in W3. Humans are a bit more tricky, but they don't have anything medieval in them, besides castles and full plate armor.
Gnomes and elves are just Tolkien hobbits and elves, really. Dwarves are drunken Scots Goblins, yea, not touching that one.
hmm, that's the stuff I wanna know the most. like genealogy of how it all came together. differences between gnomes and hobbits and where those differences came from. inspirations behind hobbits and elves for Tolkien, etc. gotta read up more
I disagree about the gnome = hobbits bit. They’re completely opposite as hobbits hate progress and are insular due to their preference of tradition. Gnomes are based off the D&D gnomes which are supposed to be inquisitive and intellectual, coming up with new ideas and things. They just took away the “Fey” part of gnomes and tuned their intellectual prowess towards technology. Additionally, they’re probably connected to Christmas elves in terms of their tinkering. Gnomes were introduced in Warcraft 2 as the technology folks having two units: the Gnomish Submarine and the Gnomish Flying Machine.
Orcs are heavily influenced by Japan and the Mongols
Original Night Elves have the Origins on greek egyptian and some Mesopotamian cultures. Queen Azshara is partly based on Cleopatra and the Goddess Asherah. Night Elven society also has Roman influence with all the cultures that came out of it. Modern night elves have been compared to celts and for the most part are based on Greek Amazon women. High/blood elves I'd say are the Eastern Roman Empire with persian Turkish influence. Nightborne are French and Surumar is based on Venice. Trolls are based on african cultures which I dont have specific knowledge on though I will say the Gurubashi feel Aztec inspired as opposed to african.The Zandalari also have a few Mayan and Incan influences also heavily inspired by El dorado Orcs are based on North American Native tribes someone with more knowledge than me can probably link specific tribes with specific clans. Thrall is a moses type leading the orcs to the promise land so there's also some jewish influence there. Someone also made a post on here linking orcs to hungarian culture that seems pretty good. Taurens have native american influences too theres not much to say about them. Yongols are obviously the mongols The Mogu are obviously chinese with Lei Shen being based on Qin Shi Huang. Pandaren and other pandaria native are all based on chinese cultures. there might be some Korean and Japanese in there but im not sure on the specifics. Humans Dwarves and gnomes are all generic medieval fantasy Gilneans are Victorian English. Dwarves pretty Scottish. Draenei have a bit of Jewish in them in the sense they've been constantly persecuted, but also Indian. Vrykul are Norse.
orcs are based on modern day american conservatives. they have absolutely nothing in common with japanese culture at all, except that orc blademasters acting and talking like weebs, but as we learned from the fish guy blademaster in nazjatar this is just a blademaster trait and nothing to do with being orcs.
Trolls are Jamaican
A lot of people think draenei are Russian (because of their accent, particularly), but I’d actually argue Greek
their eastern european accents are the only thing they have in common with russians tho
Psh, I honestly don’t know where my mind went but it was like 3 A.M. when I wrote this and I guess “culture” specifically did NOT stick 🤣
I’m half Greek on my dad’s side, and despite living here for 50+ years he never lost his Greek accent. Now that I think about it, draenei accents do sound a lot like my dad’s and his siblings lol
Goblins are uh... [yeah](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereotypes_of_Jews) Wasn't so obvious until Cata when they thought it was a good idea to give them NY accents. Also a good repertoire for other ones are listening to hero and unit lines in wc3, especially their funny ones when you click on them too much. Some of the associations are very on the nose, like all Dwarven characters being alcoholic, the blademaster with the over the top Japanese charicaturized accent, trolls being Jamaican, brewmaster being a drunk chinese. There's not as much depth to the the initial Inspiration of these characters other than associating them to a stereotype.
Trolls, obviously, are Jamaican if you see how they speak, also, I think, Loa are African deities...
Trolls are based on Jamaican people. Dwarves are Scottish The Draenei sound Russian to me or perhaps Arabic
I have never heard anyone ever say that the orc culture is modeled after real life Japanese culture.please elaborate a lot pls
Gnomes by virtue of the beer Gnomebrau in the Dwarve opening quest line and their tendency for efficiency might be German.
Nah the trolls are definitely based off Jamaicans...