So, it’s pretty well accepted I believe, that Trolls are one of the original natural species of Azeroth who came to being through natural means on Azeroth. Are there any theories out there as to which creature on Azeroth could have spawned the first Dark Trolls, from whom do they receive their prominent tusks, their 3 fingers & their toes? Are there any creatures we currently know of that could have have naturally evolved into the currently humanoid & intelligent species we know? Additionally is there any reason we know of as to why Jungle Trolls (Darkspear, Amani, Revantusk.) have hunched backs (and why they’re actually taller than the Zandalari sub-species on average, I assume.), and why they’re more lean? Do they typically stand up-right and what we see in the games are simply a representation of convenience? I have similar questions towards the Tauren but I feel like that’d deserve a thread on it’s own. All discussion is welcome, and I’m glad to be back.
The first Trolls were Zandalari.
Hunched backs are also not really a thing in lore, or never touched upon. Examples:
https://preview.redd.it/57ym1c12w2a51.jpg?width=728&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9a44d1bc5b4af4f6fc04fd91ecd53e1b600008f5
https://preview.redd.it/h5u8dxyay2a51.jpg?width=423&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3753a8821808d88ce2da79375fcd9d930e6efd00
Kaja’mite gorillas. Evolve enough and you’re a troll.
My theory is that they are from Earth Elementals.
Dude, congrats on snagging that name.
The Zandalari seem really like they could have ben elemtal at one point.
Darktrolls were not the first.
We only know Trolls evolved from natural creatures and the well of eternity accelerated their evolution.
It seems that way at times at least.
https://wow.zamimg.com/uploads/screenshots/normal/880964.jpg
Where does the information come from that Dark Trolls weren’t the first? The last time I was active in the lore community, the general consensus was that Dark Trolls were first, and the various other sub-species, aswell as Elves & their subsets were spawned from them.
Edit: Yeah I’ve played HoTS, and I like Zul’Jin upright, maybe it was just convenience that Jungle Trolls are hunched so that they could easily fit through doorways without clipping, otherwise they’d be much taller than Tauren. But I believe the WC3 models had their backs bent aswell, so what was going on there? Besides all of that, though I want the discussion to be about Troll evolution and where they might’ve come from. I’m digging the elemental theory, and I want to dive abit deeper into that.
From every little bit of lore. They were never the first, never ever. Not during the day of WC2, not during the Troll compendium, never.
Chronicles 1 describes the evolution of the Trolls. The Zandalari were the first Trolls ever. Darktrolls evolved later. All Trolls came from the Zandalari.
It’s simple to link the page, but it sadly doesn’t really answer your other questions.
On one hand, I’d like for this to be explored further and for us to get some concrete answers, but I’m afraid of the lore Blizzard might cook up.
I almost feel like it’s better not knowing.
I’ve been around for a LONG time. Thank you.
Probably some kind of tusked ape analogue. They’re basically the human of the setting evolution wise.
I like to think trolls evolved from some kind of regenerating reptilian creature. Dragons are native to Azeroth as well…
I link you what we know from Chronicles.
https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/401408743511818241/452503757402406932/1.PNG
https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/401408743511818241/452503764029669377/2.PNG
There is one bit of old, interesting lore. Doohammer remarked once that Forest Trolls are almost Ogre height and stand upright.
I think the Darkspear were more hunched to separate them even more and to give them a hunter feeling. There is a lot of art depicting Jungle trolls upright and a lot with hunched backs it’s… hm not clear.
https://wow.zamimg.com/uploads/screenshots/normal/876253.jpg
https://wow.zamimg.com/uploads/screenshots/normal/887613.jpg?maxWidth=2400
That makes sense, but we don’t really see any prominently tusked apes in the game anywhere that Trolls are prominent, theoretically if that’s what they evolved from we’d see Large tusked ape~ analogues on Zandalar & in Stranglethorn Vale, but we don’t. We have Mammoths, Elekk’s & Various dinosaurs, but none seem likely candidiates for the primordial cousins of the Trolls. Not even elementals have many similarities other than the stone-like scales present on the Zandalari, whom I now believe to be the first ancestor of the various Troll sub-species.
Kazthan is correct that the Zandalari were the first Trolls.
The other Trolls: Forest, Jungle, Ice, and Dark descended from the lesser tribes that were part of the original Zandalari Empire who eventually set out on their own after the Aqir Wars with the Drakkari becoming Ice Trolls in the north, Gurubashi becoming Jungle Trolls in the south, the Amani becoming Forest Trolls to the East, and the Dark Troll settling to the West around Mt. Hyjal and the Well of Eternity (Presumably they did this even before the Aqir War). The Sand Trolls later evolved from the Gurubashi Trolls after the Sundering separated them from the rest of their kin.
As for what the Zandalari evolved from? We got no idea, but a theory is that they are of Elemental descent and transformed by the power of the Well, making them truly native to Azeroth.
I’m fully aware of your first paragraph, I was around for a long time, before I got banned for 1 bad post in the general forums, if anyone remembers Idej & Cat, I wasn’t a fan of that little clique and I was abit toxic towards them. I’m more interested in what the origin species might’ve been, and how the Zandalari on Azeroth(Eastern Kingdoms) would’ve adapted to become taller & leaner, becoming ‘jungle trolls’. The similarity we see between the Sandfury & barious Jungle trolls might suggest the Jungle tribes came first before a portion became the Sandfury. Or maybe it was model limitations of the time requiring Sandfury to be represented with the same model as Playable trolls, as the Sandfury are on a separate contient. Or maybe, it was convergent evolution, similar physiological traits for different reasons.
I think there was also something implied in Shadow of the Horde, but it was very subtle.
But I have no idea were it was.
I would love it if someone could find that because I’m too poor to afford books, although I’m aware of the general gist of things through forum osmosis.
It’s really nothing, only a line like “Before the first Zandalari crawled out of the mud” or something like it.
The tribes evolved to fit their climate over time. Azighan is right the Jungle Trolls came before the Farraki, or well, they split. Because of the Sundering the Farraki found themselves in a new dessert, separated from the other Jungle Trolls and adapted to it.
Edit: That’s also mentioned in Chronicles again and confirmed (at least for the Farraki).
I get that, but the Sandfury didn’t really adapt very much other than adopting a more fair skin tone & maybe more cooling clothing(We do see a lot of robes among them.) Their culture, from what we see, which to be fair is mostly in ZF)
is pretty much the same as I imagine darkspear culture to be. There’s a good point there that I forgot about which was that these tribes existed before The Sundering, even though the Drakkari were obviously still living in the North of ‘Pangea’ and the Sandfury in the south & the various ‘Jungle Trolls’ scattered about, which raises more questions about their common ancestor and their supposed adaptability, their regentive properties would suggest some sort of reptilian, their scales & their affinity towards raptors & dinosaurs in general(The same way we’re fascinated with the Great Apes?) Some sort of primordial, Tusked & Feathered raptor ancestor, with 3 talons on their feet & hands spawned the trolls.
They’re bipedal, 3 digits on their 4 limbs, have claws*(which I think trolls have?) Their feathered plumes may have adapted into hair, the brightly colored scales*(which explains the scales we see on the Zandalari) which also could’ve adapted into fur which we see on the jungle trolls*(which might’ve been retconned, last I knew, jungle trolls were covered in moss which gave them their distinct coloration.) And also, that might explained the prominence of hunched backs if you look at the body shape of a raptor.
Maybe it’s solved, boi’s? Trolls evolved from an intelligent, tusked, raptor species, which we know raptors are through Azshara questing.
edit: ALSO, raptors are present on BOTH contients*(So we know they were a world wide species), and multiple islands. Trolls evolved from raptors, CONFIRMED???