Is the zergling design based on centipedes?

General Discussion
1

Similarities I noticed:

  1. Both are very fast.
  2. Both are deadly predators.
  3. Both make hissing sounds(harder to hear with centipedes though).
  4. Both have brownish pigmentation.
  5. Both are born from eggs and have a short span of time they remain in their egg state.
  6. Both have chitin armor which is strong against creatures at their level, but very fragile against anything much larger.

Just something I noticed. Infestors also seem like they could be based on a combination between termite queens and the human heart in terms of design.

2

Why not? Inspirations are a good thing, and no one has ever sued blizzard for Zerglings.

1 Like
3

Oh yea. Not saying that such inspiration was a bad thing.

1 Like
4

The Zerg race is based on the Tyranids from Warhammer

5

I think it’s inspired by Starship Troopers movie

1 Like
6

I suspect that both Zerg and Protoss were originated from Alien and Predator Movies, though the Starship-Troopers is a extremely good approximation for Zerg.

2 Likes
7

I believe this is conventional wisdom on the issue of the zerg design.

8

Aliens, Starship Troopers, Tyranids, and Childhood’s End aspects all mixed together to make our lovable Zerg.

9

It is said that starship troopers was the origin of the design, but considering the similiarities of not only Z but also the carbon copy of the marine and protoss kinda similar to Tau, I would think they just heavily homaged warhammer, specially if you look at Chris Metzen drawings, their style is similar to the old games workshop style.Maybe the idea of a bug race came from Starship troopers, but the design probably not.

1 Like
10

yeah i mean Zerglings and centipedes are basically the same thing.

11

Actually all 3 races of StarCraft were directly inspired by Warhammer. SC1 was originally intended to be a Warhammer game but 40k denied Blizzard so they changed the races just enough to be legally different.

That’s why the Terran marines have oversized armor suits like the Ultra-Marines
That’s why the Zerg are an insectoid looking race that adapts genetic abilities from other races, because the Tyranids were exactly that; though Tyranids lack a cognizant mouthpiece like the Overmind or Queen of Blades.
That’s why the protoss armor design looks like the Asuryani (a mix of tech and tribal); same with the over all racial design: expensive but powerful units, power fields, invisible assassin units, warping in structures instead of building them, a focus on psychic abilities, etc were all Asuryani things too

1 Like
12

OK, your argument is overwhelming. I don’t know Warhammer but from what you said there is no place for discussion.

1 Like
13

Interesting. I just had a look and the similarities are uncanny.

1 Like
14

I will always consider Starcraft to be from Aliens (Zerg, Ripley Kerrigan) and Predator (Protoss) instead.
Tried to check dates on wikipedia, and as Warhammer seems to predate the Predator (ironic turn of words) movie by a bit, it could be a chain and both Aliens/Predator and Warhammer would be true ancestors, or I could just be wrong due to not knowing Warhammer thus not giving it the credit it deserves.

edit: back to the zergling specific case, while Zerg end up looking strangely like insects, I don’t think the base are necessarily that. Since the zergling was created based on a “dune runner”, maybe it’s based on a mix of desert animals, like fennecs, suricates, strides (tried to google “desert animals”). Interesting thing is that those animals often burrow (an ability later gifted to most zerg ground units regardless of their origin). But that’s based on a very quick search.

15

Designed off the insect race itself. Came out or was being developed before starship troopers ever came out, it’s not that.

16

Now, the Starship Troopers is much more older than that. The movie is based on a book with the same name from Robert Heinlein writen back in 1959.

17

What would happen if Frost Giant ‘‘homaged’’ Starcraft?, I think Blizzard would go berserker.

1 Like
18

Ok didn’t know there was a book that came first. Was thinking of googling it first before posting for that reason. I just remember when the movie came out, it was late 90’s.