I’m not a lore buff by any means. I’m actually about to take on that hour long lore video on youtube.
But I was wondering, why don’t Draenei have orc like legs? To me, that’s the one thing that separates them from one of the best looking races in all of fantasy. At least for me. I dunno, it just seems like a missed opportunity and it doesn’t make sense to me from an evolutionary standpoint, especially since they’re from Draenor.
Like, face tentacles and hooves? An apex life form wouldn’t need both, they’re so far apart evolutionarily (is that a word?) Especially since they’re so top heavy; at least the males.
Anyway, I’d love to hear what your guys’ thoughts on this are.
edit: Oh, I guess they’re from a world called Argus. And they aren’t Draenei? They’re Eredar? Huh?
They’re not from Draenor. They originate from Argus, thousands of years ago, and Draenor was one of the planets they stayed on - in this case, for a long time. Evolution is also not the best way to argue for how a species adapted or came to be, as magic can and does affect mutations and the way creatures change - and it can be far more rapid than evolution.
Draenei means, “exiled ones” in the Eredar tongue. Man’ari means “twisted ones” or something of the sort. The two races diverged when Sargeras (the leader of the Burning Legion) corrupted 2/3 (under Archimonde and Kil’jaedan) of the Eredar people, the remaining third came with Velen as they escaped with the Naaru’s help. The Naaru are embodiments of the Light, so the Light changed the now-Draenei over the 20,000 or more years they fled, and the twisted fel magic changed the now-Man’ari.
The Draenei came to be as a retcon actually, as prior to TBC the Man’ari were just considered Eredar - and the Draenei were what we now call the Broken, twisted and malformed.
Yeah, I did an edit when I did some more research; learning that they are actually uncorrupted Eredar. Which makes them way cooler Paladins than I originally thought.
Pretty much, they’re far closer to the Light than any other Paladin. They also see the Light as not an ethereal, disembodied force but as one that originates from the Naaru.
They naturally did not particularly endear themselves to humans/dwarves - who have a deep belief in a mystical Light - and the Night Elves - whom worship Elune, and who Velen suggested that she may be a Naaru.
I’m just in love with the idea of a race who typically fell to evil influence but not only overcame that but then became the antecedent of that.
Aesthetically though, I just can’t get over the look of their lower halves. It makes no sense to me. But, they’re still super cool. They fix their proportions at least in retail.
Draenei aren’t from Draenor? They are from Argus and are in no way, shape or form related to Orcs. That’s why they don’t have “orc like legs”. They were orginally called Eredar, however after Sargeras’ “gift”, those who refused it fled & renamed themselves. Draenei means “Exiled Ones” in their native language; Draenor means “Exiles’ Refuge”. Orcs are native to Draenor & had their own name for the world, I’m sure.
And no, their legs are quite fine just the way they are.
With Draenei meaning “exiled ones”, it is possible that “Draenor” simply means where they exiled to. Orcs don’t look like they would grasp what a planet was so likely had no name for it. So outsiders like us just adopted the only established word for it