Make An'she/Belore A Thing

tldr:

Make An'she an actual thing in the story

Further elaborations from this thread as folks ask questions:

Visual themes:

Inti

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/61/04/bc/6104bc4c4677eb6e48f36b075841e006.jpg

Illapa

https://cdnb.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/021/845/523/large/cristian-bernales-19-03-illapa.jpg?1573151166

Chango

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f0/01/be/f001be5e2f73703cb6bff486f0a11929.jpg

Tawa

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/Hopi_Tawa_Mural.jpeg/1280px-Hopi_Tawa_Mural.jpeg

Legba

https://i.etsystatic.com/25309379/r/il/c94790/2582710508/il_570xN.2582710508_1i4a.jpg

Ra

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f1/ca/9d/f1ca9daf96bcfddccb7c792b9c8d684e.jpg

and Mandatory Tolkien Reference: Aule

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/ancar-network/images/f/f5/Aulë_the_Smith_of_the_Valar.jpg

Tonatiuh

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/Tonatiuh_6_b.jpg

Tsohanoai

https://pueblosoriginarios.com/norte/suroeste/navajo/imagenes/sol_arena.jpg

Xiuhcoatl

https://mir-s3-cdn-cf.behance.net/project_modules/1400/55aad382938459.5d2d1f68980b8.jpg

Huitzilopochtli

https://www.teahub.io/photos/full/287-2879733_huitzilopochtli-god.jpg

Belenus

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/TXkAAOSwAsRfEzSC/s-l400.jpg

Helios

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e3/b4/be/e3b4bedd8e11ad76a0c799f025b62f19.png

Obatala

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/c5/19/3a/c5193a29b4c50d77f69fa846f85353f1.jpg

Sekhmet

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/1a/1a/68/1a1a68741faa20d4b7cc60561f0b6250.jpg

Amaterasu

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f4/0b/c7/f40bc7714441f6189ae9cdacd63d27a7.png

Svarog

Baldr

Aine

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e3/61/4e/e3614eac5ce0bcad43a00bc9154d6008.jpg

The Dagda (possible Drust tie-in? I mean look at this thicc boy)

Apedemak

Khepri

Balor (traditional and Hellboy)
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ae/50/3a/ae503ad39918c2d19dbcc9e3b49e467a.jpg

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/hellboy/images/8/88/KingBalor.jpg/revision/latest/top-crop/width/360/height/450?cb=20080716031044

Chiminigagua

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/11/27/52/112752afbdcd1afef89fbb92df78af42.jpg

Sué

https://www.biroz.net/visions/visions2017/chiguexica-muisca-detail-2.jpg

Perun

https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/VqbvAcdwsnOOJjZtBPUY5W2_HzA=/768x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/Perun_Battle-892e3bebfc854d6497749f6be175e4d3.jpg

61 Likes

A 1000% this. They need to do this, if blizzard is going to go with Native American and other myths, they can at least do right by them and show some respect just once.

29 Likes

I think the idea is great, but it is also true that it doesn’t have to happen, strictly speaking: An’she doesn’t need to be real, Tauren light-users just need to believe that he’s real for the Light to work. The Light just follows green lantern rules, none of the religions surrounding it need to be true at all.

There is no contradiction in the lore if there is no sun deity. It would be nice to have one, but we shouldn’t twist the truth and suggest that it must happen. In fact they should be careful not to undermine established lore on how Light magic works.

The Light responds to anyone who believes that they can use the Light. There is literally no other requirement.

6 Likes

well it depends on what they do with the “First Ones” IMO, and especially if Elune is one

Sure but that can still be “revealed” to be due to the grace of a Solar First One; all he expects is belief and commitment

8 Likes

Then you propose a complete destruction of the cosmology Blizzard set forward in Chronicles. The six fundamental forces exist independently of any of the “leaders” of those forces. If the Titans die, Arcane still exists; if the Void Lords die, Void still exists; if the Naaru all die, the Light still exists, and so on. Light responding to faith is baked into the physics of the universe itself, there is no deity involved in that stuff.

Secondly, the general consensus seems to be that (assuming Elune is one) the First Ones aren’t really limited to single fundamental forces, since Elune apparently dabbles in at least Light, Arcane, Void, and Death. A Light-based First One probably doesn’t fit Blizzard’s current cosmology.

1 Like

Nobody is saying otherwise lmao

Nah Elune is Life, Light, Order, Shadow, and Death, notably not Chaos. So of 6 Forces, she is 5, and lacks 1.

The opposite of her thus would be a Life, Light, Chaos, Death, Shadow First One. Lacking Order.

Which if you read my OP, I already from the onset tie An’she to Wild Gods (Life), Light (Sun, Sunwell, Tauren Anshe), Death (Tauren Anshe mythos, Troll things, Orc things).

13 Likes

Well, that’s fair enough, I guess. But it does mean that your proposal has a zero percent chance of being true. It will never happen, Blizzard isn’t going to to undo their entire cosmology for this stuff. Literally everything Blizzard is planning depends on their new cosmology, and the mechanics of Light and faith has been rock solid lore for decades.

??? I literally said nobody is suggesting undoing the metaphysics of the Light is WoW, just giving a being “behind” the force lmao

Someone who set up the metaphysics in the first place.

Sure they will. They’ve been changing, retconning, and rewriting lore for decades. It’s not a matter of if so much as to what ends they’ll do it for.

13 Likes

I think the idea of some sort of solar/fire entity being at least marginally on the Horde’s side would be something. The Blood Elves have had a whole “sun” theme for a while. The Tauren have their Anshe stuff.

It is possible that a Naaru is inside Azeroth’s sun, and fused with it. Maybe someone put a Naaru in there a long time ago, or a Naaru got stuck there. The Naaru and their Light already acts as a sun of sorts in Revendreth.

The Horde needs something. Phoenixes made of Holy Light and Sun Fire patrolling the skies of Silvermoon after it gets updated would be nice.

23 Likes

Or all suns are actually Naaru prototypes, just fountains of Light with no will

1 Like

I like the idea of using An’she and/or Belore so by all means make them a thing. But it does lead to some important questions from there.

What story or stories should they be introduced in?

Would they be the equal to Elune as in a rival in some form?

What about a celestial force or being that represents the other races, Gnomes and Goblins for example?

How would this relate to the Light followers such as the Draenei and the Humans?

The Light is a fundamental force. There could easily be some form of celestial being that grants power in the form of a Light variant to their followers, to be entirely honest. Look at Odyn, for instance, who wields Light but grants power to his worshippers and those worthy directly. They don’t worship the Light, they worship him, same concept.

I do personally prefer Sunwalkers to be more Sun Druids in plate, because that adds more diversity in terms of their lore, but adding An’she would also be interesting. Belore is a tad different because of the sheer power we’ve seen Elune toss around, I don’t think the Blood Elves would worship an inferior force. Hell, I don’t think they’re of the mindset to worship anything at this point, but since Blizzard went and got rid of their interesting traits in the same expansion they were introduced, Belore might be a good way to make them more… not High Elf again.

1 Like

As of right now, based on what we have what we have:

  • An’she taught the Tauren to Spirit Walk and commune with the ancestors, and gives the Sunwalkers power. Attribute more to him. There is the “Path of Anshe” that is the road that connects Valsharah with Highmountain, and there is the “Field of An’she” that connects Trueshot Lodge with the rest of the zone. Much can be done here.
  • Rezan has the “power of the sun”. We know his mother Xibalba was a terrible wild god of rot and death, but we have no knowledge of his father. Have An’she be the father of Rezan, a sort of anti-Cenarius. This would give Trollish ability to regenerate and Rastakhan’s long life the origin of An’she.

What they could do:

  • Make Phoenixes creations of An’she. The Blood Elf phoenixes haven’t been really explained; we did not see any when we went to the Firelands, but the Draenor Rukhmar mount is called a phoenix and the Castle Nathria Kael’thas uses the Rukhmar Phoenix model. Rukhmar was blessed with “primordial light”; this is never explained.
  • Similarly, attribute Rukhmar and Anzu to An’she; thus the Apexis and Arrakoa would be one of his people.
  • The evolution of Ogre to Orc is likewise not given a reason; why did Ogres turn into smaller, more intelligent beings? Make An’she the reason Ogres evolved into Orcs.
  • Orcish bloodlust is also not explained; it is just a thing that is. Along the lines of the above, reveal Orcish bloodlust was a double edged blessing of An’she.
  • Troll origins are still not explained. We know they look like Mueh’zala, but we don’t know if that’s Mueh’zala’s true form. Reveal that Trolls were created by An’she, and likewise Mueh’zala was originally created by An’she
  • There’s a recurring use of a “Blood Moon” among the Trolls. It is used by Hakkar, and it is used by Bwonsamdi. In real life, Blood Moons are Lunar Eclipses, an effect of the Sun. Reveal that Mueh’zala and thus Bwonsamdi’s powers, and the Troll Red Moon stuff, finds its root in An’she darker side

etc

Well in my proposal/idea/concept, Anshe is the smith of the First Ones. He is the inventor, the one who creates things. He would’ve been the First One who created Norgannon, who in turn created Mimiron, who in turn created the Gnomes.

I’d say Belore is An’she, and An’she is his real name, to oppose how Musha is Elune, but Elune is her real name.

Just have Liadrin/Rommath be getting visions from the Sunwell, or A’lar starts talking to them, “It is time.” etc

14 Likes

Hear me out…

what if An’she is the Father of the universe and the personification of The Light

and Elune/ Mu’sha is the Mother of the universe and she’s the personification of The Shadow./Void

From them was born the entire cosmic chart.

2 Likes

I think it’s possible, but having only two First Ones when it’s been implies to be a group (at least 3-4 imo) would be too small

Not really, it would follow real world mythology. Shu and Tefnut, Tiamat and Apsu etc.

across all comparative mythology there is only two creation deities, one male and one female.

3 Likes

Oh for sure, almost all peoples agree there is usualy 1 supreme creator or at most 2 supreme creators

But I’m saying it’s too small a group for the name “First Ones” within WoW

I’m expecting a few. At most 6. more than 2.

Well put together, Baal. If the next expansion is Light themed like some people predict it would be the perfect time to introduce such a character.

6 Likes

While I liked the rest of your post I think this has some of the most potential. Anshe could also have a link to the Dwarf’s with their emphasis on crafting. Further more have Anshe be a figure that creates the structures of the universe, physical laws and such.

5 Likes