I probably missed something in the general Shaman lore that explains the connection between Shamans and wolves.
I searched but couldn’t find any “official” info about it. Can someone more knowledgeable about the lore shed some light on this?
I mean, I understand that wolves are important animals for Orcs (Warcraft’s first mentioned Shamans) and that they have a strong bond with them (Frostwolf clan stuff).
But the figure of the wolf is abundant in everything related to Shamans, especially in the cosmetics of their sets and abilities (Ghost Wolf form, Feral Spirits). (Including with other races besides Orcs btw)
So, what’s really the deal between Shamans and wolves?
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This is just my head-canon, but I thought it was just because Shaman were just a Horde-only class (in the beginning), and Orcs had a whole wolf theme.
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It’s less about shamans specifically and more that they stem from Orc culture in the game, which had a whole thing about wolves.
When shamanism spread to the other races, they just sort of kept the wolf stuff.
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I have always thought the idea of the wolves was they were your animal spirit and guide, and they drew inspiration for it from Natives.
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As others have said, it’s because Orcs were the original Shamans, and they had a big thing with wolves, and when Blizzard gave Shamans to other classes, they didn’t change the wolves stuff. No one has made a big enough fuss about it for Blizzard to change it.
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And yet Worgen Shamans when?
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Have you ever wondered if like Shaman couples, y’know?
Anyways, yeah Ghost Wolf definitely feels orc, though I’ve come to love it on Draenei too!
This. Native Americans (especially the western part of the US) are heavy in their culture and faith.
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Shamans need customizable ascendant forms and ghost wolf forms like druids do
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There are a few ghost wolf glyphs.
I personally love the fox/vulp one on my Vulpera shaman.
I agree there could be a lot more when you look at Druids, and even Warlock’s pets.
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Shamans draw inspiration from those cultures for sure, and spirit animals specifically, yes. But it’s not just wolves that are spirit animals for those cultures, there are a ton of different animals that can serve that purpose.
The prevalence of wolves specifically in the WoW form of Shamans is because it started with Orcs, who do have a heavy focus on wolves, and Blizzard never changed it to give each race their own animal after that.
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It’s really just because Orcs were the original Shaman race and wolves are a big part of the Orc aesthetic. Blizzard just has never bothered to actually expand on Shaman’s customization options beyond a couple glyphs. Mages can have like a dozen different water elementals and Druids can have like 50 different animal forms… but gods forbid Shaman get more than like three or four spirit forms.
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Was going to say the same thing. It’s just using lore from different cultures as templates for styles.
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Orcs just really like wolves, and they want Orcs to be the prototypical shaman.
I use the raptor form for my zandalari. Such a shame that blizzard as nearly abandoned glyphs as a whole
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The Wild God Goldrinn is one of the few spirits that kind of associates with mortals from my understanding. Shamans tap into him for extra combat power.
It’s a Frostwolf clan thing and Blizzard was too lazy to get each race their own totem animal.
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A spirit guide can take many forms, not always a wolf.
But I get what you’re saying and agree, I think Blizzard borrowed the ghost wolf from NA and then just never bothered to change it up for the other races when shaman class was made available to other races.
