Races real world cultural equivalents

Community General Discussion
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Feel free to add your observations, but here are mine:

Pandaren = Chinese
Night Elves = Japanese
Kul Tirans = 1700s Europe
Orcs = Mongols/Turkic
Trolls = Cambodia (Angkor Wat)/ Jamaican/ Inca
Tauren = Northern Amerindian (Native North American)
Dwarves = Scottish/Germanic
Vrykul = Scandinavian
Humans = Medieval English/French plus American “Oaklahoma” rural Americana, plus some pirates
Goblins = Kinda Caribbean… mixed bag
Gnomes = Children ?
Worgen = “Age of Enlightenment” European
Undead = Campy Halloween “Goth” (the subculture, not the Germanic tribe)
Blood Elves = American “Hair metal” bands. :wink: Classical Arabic (Arabian Nights).

Have I missed anyone?

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Did you know that if you’re born Irish, you generally have bad teeth, bad skin, smell funny and have a taste for alcohol plus, if you live to be about 60, you turn into a leprechaun.

So Dwarf = Scots/Irish, I can see it.

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This I don’t agree with. I think BE’s get the Arabian Nights shtick from all those stupid curtains and cushions in Silvermoon but that’s not how all BE’s live.
Just Silvermoon BE’s and because the fashion designer was a cousin or some relative of Lor’themar and was usually drunk.
Or high.
Or both. Usually both.

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Good job with most, but I think I can nail a few better. Goblins are New Yorkers, from their accents to their love of money. Gnomes are probably closest to Industrial Revolution Americans.
Darkspear trolls are mostly Jamaican, while Zandalari are Aztek/Mayan witha African accents. Good job though, always liked this topic.

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Well Draenei sound Russian in the accent to me, though their names are often somewhat Arabic in nature.

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Night elves are more Korean.

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Why are night elves Japanese or Korean? I’ve never felt that when I looked at them or their culture. They come off kind of like the tauren with a native American feel or even African (I think?) Because of their whole matriarch thing.

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The architecture and their use of water, the cadence and timbre of the male’s speech in particular. Very Zen Japanese.

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I don’t find any elves to resemble real world peoples that much… like, they haven’t been “coded” nearly as hard, for whatever reason.

For example, every sees Night Elves’ Shinto-styled gates and goes “Japanese!” but their cuisine is Korean and the history of their race points at ancient Greece/Rome. They’re a mashup.

Meanwhile, our dearest Sin’dorei are some indistinct, snobby sort of Westerners that like to give avant-garde furniture designers too much money while swigging French wine even though the stuff from Napa is cheaper and tastes better.

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Good call about NYC. I guess that’s the Caribbean thing I mentioned. New Yorican. In some respects.

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Night elves, as said by the developers are a mix between nordic, japanese and celtic culture.
World Tree and runes - Nordic
Lifestyle - Celtic
Architecture - Japenese

Also, the highborne seems to have a Greek lifestyle.

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Goblins are new yorkers. In the mob.

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We wuz Vrykul

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Also think Gnomes are just steampunk.

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Well, to begin with, I’m not sure where you have the idea that Native American tribes were matriarchal. Perhaps a few were, but in general, the chief was a male… pretty much like almost any tribal culture throughout Earth’s history. Same in Africa. Right or wrong, men have been the bosses in almost all cultures. Sometimes that worked, sometimes it didn’t.

Also, Night Elf diet (Yes, diet!) as shown in their cooking and fishing dailies is very much Korean influenced. Rice cakes (tteok), various meats, fish, and the ever popular kimchi are what we see there.

The architecture of Teldrassil and it’s surrounding environs has a definite blend of classics Korean/Asian and fantasy Elf styling. Not exactly anything you’d have found in any African or Native American culture.

For that matter, there are a LOT of African cultures and styling-- it’s a freaking continent, not a single culture by any means. Same in the Native American history-- there’s not a lot on commonality between Cherokee and Apache, for example. VERY different cultures, society, law, etc.

So, that’s part of why.

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Sorry for missing Draenei! Yeah they’re kinda alien. Offworld.
I realize Night Elves have some Greek elements to the ruins, and the Druid stuff draws on some Celtic aspects. But for me the Japanese (or Korean if you prefer) leaps out at me more. I mean even the Druid stuff isn’t really aligned with the Celtic Druids at all… but it’s cool.
I do like the cultural elements.

I love the whole Chinese aspect to Pandaria - Tibetan in the mountains, Turkic for the plains, even the “red flying cloud” from Monkey Magic (the kitch 70s TV show about the Journey to the west of the Monkey god), Han for the central parts, and very southern chinese or Vietnamese for the “jungle” area. Loved it.

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All I know is dreanei are russian space goats.

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Draeneis are based on both Arabic and Persian cultures. Their accent is Arabic.

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I didn’t say native American tribes were matriarchal. I was referring to the African side of things, I was pretty sure there was at least one that worked that way, but I’m not a history major or anything close.

As far as their diet goes… fish and rice are pretty common across the world, right? I guess the kimchi (which I haven’t seen) is a good indicator though.

And the architecture I have zero observations on. I see tree house type buildings and that’s that because that’s what “wood elves” would probably live in.

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Nah, I’m not falling for the bait.

Anything said could be reported, then getting a forum vacation again for “racial hatred.”