So I’m just wondering if there’s any explanation, or even convincing head-canon for whether certain races are biologically compatible (can create offspring together)?
Some combinations that do seem verified:
Human / HighElf (Quel’dorei) - verified with Arator
Human / BloodElf (Sin’dorei) - verified with Arator
Human / Drust (Kul’Tiran) - verified with various npcs in Kul’Tiras
Orc / Draenei - verified with Garona
Orc / Ogre - verified with Rexxar
Some combinations that do seem likely:
Human / VoidElf (Ren’dorei) - I would assume so, due to similar Human/Elf compatibility
NightElf (Kal’dorei) / NightBorne (Shal’dorei) - I would assume so
Ogre / Draenei - I would assume so, due to Orc compatibility with both
Some combinations that seem verified to not work:
Human / Orc - doesn’t seem compatible, implied by the retconing of Garona
Human / Draenei - also follows that Orc-compatible races are not Human-compatible
Some combinations I’m not sure about, which I’m curious what others think about:
Human / NightElf (Kal’dorei) - question of big/small elf compatibility
NightElf (Kal’dorei) / HighElf (Quel’dorei) - question of big/small elf compatibility
Human / Dwarf - ?
Gnome / anything else - ?
Goblin / anything else - ?
Any Elf / Any Troll - elves come from trolls, but magically altered, so are they compatible?
Humans / Trolls - relates to same question as above
According to a loreology post any species can potentially yield offspring with any other…because magic. That’s pretty much all the thought the folks in charge put into this subject.
I headcanon a bit more nuance with the former specifically referring to magical intervention; using magic to facilitate otherwise biologically impossible pairings.
A few other notes on the subject:
I’d like verification on this as I can’t recall any hard evidence supporting it. From what I’ve managed to find, the Kul’tiran humans many assume to be the result of interbreeding with the Drust are merely meant to display an alternate body type for humans.
As Drust are a variety of Vrykul, and Humans are descended from Vrykul, I don’t outright deny the possibility of the two being biologically compatible; I just don’t see any notable evidence in support of it.
In regards to Garona and Human/Orc/Draenei compatibility; I wouldn’t rule out Human/Orc because of the Garona retcon as there is likely other reasons behind said retcon, most notably the inclusion/development of the Draenei on Draenor. We also have notable (but in ways debatable) examples of multi-racial characters of both Human and Orc descent, those being the infamous Med’an and a character from the table top rpg.
I assume all Elves are biologically compatible, due to technically being the same general species. I apply the same logic to Dwarves and Trolls for their species. Similarly I’d apply the aforementioned Vrykul/Human logic to Trolls and Elves.
To an extent I’m inclined to believe that a lot of this is moot anyway; essentially seeking logic where there pretty much is none. Regardless I appreciate the effort and, at least partially, look forward to seeing where it goes.
Addendum: I just noticed a lot of small missing parts in the paragraph regarding Humans/Orcs/Draenei. I can only assume I was tired when writing that; usually I catch that kind of thing much sooner. Ah well, better late edits than none.
The Drust aren’t technically Vry’kul anymore either, they’re also affected by the curse of flesh, the same way all humans were created.
I know they technically used a vry’kul model for Garok’Tul, but he was really powered up on their messed up Death Magic… and even with that, he still isn’t as large as most vry’kul in the game typically are.
This point is extraneous. Regardless of whether or not Drust are divergent they’d still share that same ancestry. This also doesn’t change my original point of there being no hard evidence, at least that I am personally aware of, pointing to Drust and Humans having kids with each other.
They’re probably possible, but cultural differences should keep most of that from happening. Usually.
Then again, the fantasy idea of “anything can mix with humans” has been done to death and it’d be cool to see a place where this isn’t the case.
…
edit to add more thread-relevant stuff:
I buy into the idea that void elves (and possibly demon hunters) can’t easily reproduce… without magical intervention… because of how corrupted they are by forces generally opposed to life. Wait; succubi exist. Does that mean anything?
It generally makes sense that anthropomorphic animal races - tauren, vulpera, gnolls - wouldn’t mix with other races naturally.
I’m just wondering which races are naturally compatible though… not through whatever magic intervention you’re referencing.
What about humans and dwarves? They’re both very prominent in the Alliance, and even in Stormwind.
Or dwarves and gnomes? They both live in Ironforge.
There’s clearly no cultural differences there… not any more than humans and high elves, which do have children together.
But I have yet to even hear mention of any human/dwarf or dwarf/gnome hybrids. So I’m wondering why not?
I’d assume trolls and elves, so troll x nelf, nelf x belf, so on. I don’t think velfs can reproduce, and if they can it’d be incredibly rare. Humans and elves/trolls might be lumped into the magic intervention category, but Turalyon and Alleria’s son throws this into question. There could also be the possibility that half-elves like Arator cannot have children themselves, like Ligers.
I think humans x dwarves, humans x gnomes, and gnomes x dwarves should all work.
Humans and Worgen are a given. I’m pretty sure the Worgen curse isn’t genetic.
Draenei and Mag’har/Orcs should not be compatible with any playables outside of magic.
All animal-based races, like tauren and pandaren, I highly doubt are compatible, with the exception of worgen since they’re technically human.
In WoW’s universe, it’s safe to assume just about everything can hybrid with just about everything else.
All versions of humans, elves, orcs, ogres and draenei are so far compatible. There are orc/ogres and humans/everything else, so… yeah…
Only a few things I’d hope would remain a hard “No” are Tauren, Goblins, Vulpera and Gnome hybrids (not just them together, but them and anything else). Maybe a Gnome/Goblin hybrid, but I highly doubt that would happen due to cultural differences and their competitiveness with engineering.
…but… that’s not the question you asked in your title, nor is it the question you started off with in your original post.
You can’t get away from “magic intervention”. Magic doesn’t need to intervene. It’s already there. It permeates this universe. Nature is magical and magic is natural. Magic is in everything and everything is magic. Even the seemingly mundane. Anything and everything is possible. Everything is compatible.
If you’d like to discuss “most likely to interbreed” or “most likely to produce offspring” then that’s a different question. Incidentally, this is the discussion you’re having right now. You asked one question and are answering a different one.
The answer to your thread question is: Everything.
In Arcanis, gnomes are the result of human/ dwarf mating. But since Dwarves are cursed storm giants, their curse manifests in their gnome children as hideous deformites which put thema the bottom of the social ladder.