In Azeroth, lion lives in Kalimdor, not Eastern Kingdoms.
But how Alliance used lion as its symbol?
Alliance did not even know the existence of Kalimdor until the third war(WC3).
Lions live in the EK. The Alliance guild lion is a tamable hunter pet in the Twilight Highlands.
4 Likes
There actually is a lion in EK, in the Twilight Highlands. There are also mountain lions in Alterac/Hillsbrad, though they lack the mane, they do show breeds of Lions can exist in EK.
Far more likely they just died out like the European lions did. It’s a pretty simple explanation.
12 Likes
coz rule of cool
don’t think too much about it
6 Likes
It’s been the symbol for the Kingdom of Azeroth (which has since been retconned to be the Kingdom of Stormwind), from when it was introduced in WC2.
The original Alliance of Lordaeron formed to regain Stormwind from the Horde, and installed Lothar as Supreme Commander. Seems logical that some of that sentiment would carry on to the modern day Alliance, especially since Stormwind has been directing the Alliance since Varian’s return in WotLK
1 Like
If I recall, the Kingdom of Azeroth’s symbol in Warcraft I was a helmet with a sword going through it.
I had to look it up, and your right. The Lion was then introduced in WC2
It’s their symbol because it was the symbol of Anduin Lothar, the man who almost singlehandedly cobbled the Alliance together to fight the Old Horde and then served as their supreme commander.
Because Lions are a traditional midieval European symbol of royalty. In the middle ages, the Lion was considered an aspect of God’s favor… so it features prominently in royal and noble heraldry.
Since the first Human kingdoms in the RTS were an expy of pseudo-midieval society, the Lion was a natural symbol to include.
1 Like
We are but a few steps now from a Monty Python discussion on Eastern Kingdom lions versus their Kalimdorian cousins.
“A man could be carried by a highland lion.”
“Oh, yeah, a highland lion, maybe, but not a Kalimdorian lion, that’s my point.”
6 Likes
I believe it’s also the Wynn family Heraldric symbol.
There are no Lions in England and Scotland either. Despite that, the Golden and Red Lion was the symbol for those Kingdoms for generations.
Cause they are always lyin’!
I’ll show myself out.
2 Likes
Because Lothar’s a cool dude.
I’d wager there were lions in the area that became the Burning Steppes, north of Redridge, but got wiped out when Ragnaros erupted.
But let’s note that a variety of European heraldry used/uses lions and they’ve never been native to those places, so I’d take the lion thing with a grain of salt. There was probably one somewhere in the Eastern Kingdoms, they heard about it, or got it sent to Stormwind, and went, “dang this is the best animal. I want it on all my flags and stuff”.
1 Like
Similar with the mechano birds in 8.3 (gnome banner has a bird), maybe the lions will appear in some new alliance territory?
Clearly it’s a sign that Night Elves, who are from Kalimdor, and do place a cultural significance on large cats, are the ones who are really meant to be running the Alliance.
2 Likes
Fun Fact, that conversation actually exists in game, in Stromheim at Greywatch (I wanna say Greywatch) with two Worgen talking about Griffons.
From the walkabout with Anduin discussing the war kings of his family’s past, Stormwind has always been ruled by the Wynns and the Lion is their family totem.