Where did Stormwind's Lion motif come from?

Community General Discussion
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This is a question I’ve had for a while now. The lion symbol is everywhere on Stormwind, and by extension the entire alliance.

And yet… how did they even know what a lion looked like, let alone know them enough to make it their symbol?

Sure there are big cats in Stranglethorn, but they’re panthers and tigers.

There are lions in Kalimdor, but correct me if I’m wrong, humans never even knew Kalimdor existed until the events of Warcraft 3.

So why in Azeroth has Stormwind had the lion motif for so long if they had never seen one?

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Well Medivh was pretty active in the affairs of Stormwind, along with the other mages of dalaran who i am sure were able to see those types of lions.

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I completely forgot about Medivh, and remembered there were mountain lions in Hillsbrad, although they don’t have any manes that are featured in Stormwind’s motifs.

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It is an interesting question though, I had to pause and think about it. More curiously, why did stormwind choose a lion in the first place?

Of all the mythical creatures and animals, it seems arbitrary to choose a lion.

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There is that rare in Twilight Highlands. And I believe there were some in The Badlands if I remember right.

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6

They could have been native to the Elwynn/Stormwind area before the Kingdom was built.

The bald eagle is the US’s symbol, but how many of those have you seen in the wild?

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Because they used lions since humans started out in WC1 as just generic fantasy humans, with generic fantasy heraldry.

Not having lions on the continent they live in is just because the people who made the game never thought about it because only a turbonerd would.

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I’ve seen about 3 this past year alone.

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9

All things considered, I think a gryphon or a horse would have been a better symbol for them :rofl:

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10

Have you not seen the lion just sitting in front of a shop when you first enter Stormwind? Clearly we have them somewhere…

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I always just thought that lions were a myth to the humans and it turned out to be an animal that actually existed.

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12

Proud, noble, majestic.

That’s why the lion symbol was adopted by human kingdoms. Gravely incorrect given humans are weak and easy to corrupt, but that’s where it came from anyway.

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Lions used to roam the Eastern Kingdoms until Orcs wiped them out in the wild.
Plausible theory.

where else does the guild rep mount come from if not a breeder for tame lions?

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14

Dunno, but I sure am tired of it. Golden lions everywhere, ugh.

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They’re imported from England.

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There’s one three blocks from my house, it ranges up and down the river from what I’ve seen. But on topic, I don’t play Alliance and always liked the Lions head on their armor

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now that is the real mystery. How did England get associated with Lions.

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18

A horse riding another horse.

Wait. Not like that.

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19

Lions are associated with strength and unrivaled courage, so I can see why team blue picked it.

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Where did the spikey toilet seat come from? Orcs don’t have toilets

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