🥓 Worgen Lore - Ask me questions!

Raedolf-wyrmrest-accord · February 7, 2020, 1:44am

On worgen tails

Pasted from General Discussion

I acknowledge that [some players] want tailed worgen, and [some] are willing to break lore to justify it. I am not. Worgen are worgen, and worgen do not and never have had tails, nor do they need tails to be worgen. However, if tails must be added to satisfy the vocal minority, then there is a tasteful and appropriate way to do so, as long as it meets certain criteria.

1. Lore

Lore should matter. And it does matter. For one, Blizzard Entertainment has “Lore Historians” employed as a full time position to keep track of it all, they have paid several professional authors to write novels to better depict events and scenarios that cannot be done justice with a questline.

Money spent on lore

DC comics and Dark Horse comics, and more were hired to write books on past events in the timeline. Not simply for entertainment, but to explain lore. It is through Curse of the Worgen that we discover what really happened in Gilneas, in Dark Riders that we learn what feral worgen are truly like, and in Wolfheart that we are shown how Gilnean worgen have adapted to the worgen lifestyle. All this was founded in these works, and used as the foundation for even more, such as the Legion Scythe of Elune questline. In fact, World of Warcraft cares about lore so much, that they spent two years working with Dark Horse comics to create the three part Chronicle series as lore bibles and official timeline of events.

Between employees, companies, and time, Blizzard has devoted quite a lot of money into lore, and therefore considers it greatly important. The few things that they may do against it are few and far between, and are done for different reasons.

2. Standards

Lore should be followed, and can be used to support creative ideas. It is true, Moonguard has quite a lot of creative and lorebreaking ideas, and when I had to choose between the lorebending moonguard and the loreabiding wyrmrest accord, I chose the latter. Worgen do not have tails, that is lore, and therefore on the rare occasion that someone walks up with a tail, or wings, or another mutation, they are expected to have a good reason. Some can call it elitism, I call it standards. Even so, when someone attempts to join the guild with a crazy idea, I do not shut them down. Rather, lore itself can be used to offer explanation, if you know where to look.

Canonicity and creativity

Instead of rejecting a crazy idea, I delve into the appropriate lore, and find something to explain how the idea could be supported in a canon way, so they do not have to make vast changes to their backstory. And if not, then something to the same goal. No, Steve, worgen aren’t allergic to silver, but you could have been cursed by a mage with a sense of humor. No, Bob, humans aren’t immune to the worgen curse, but those memories of having been bitten with no effect could have been implanted. No Jefferey, worgen don’t have super healing, but perhaps you could have been blessed by a loa.

In the case of tails

In the case of tails, this “use lore to explain it” stance still stands, and there are some good possibilities. There is absolutely no need to disregard the game, disrespect its creators, and discredit lore, and an explanation can be found. But it does have to meet certain criteria.

Unnatural
- There is no lore saying worgen cannot have tails. But there is all lore showing that they do not, and never have. The natural state of worgen is tailless, that is fact, and so a tailed worgen is unnatural. The first worgen were normal, Alpha Prime was normal, Halford, Genn, Ivar, Gervase, Shagra, Eadrik, Mardigan, Sven, Whal, Ulricha, were all normal worgen. The addition of a tail option would be exactly that, an addition.

Acceptable
- The Pack Form is considered forbidden magic to the Cenarion Circle, and the Worgen Curse is considered a curse by the Alliance. The worgen player character is a Gilnean and a member of the Alliance, which is a big reason why playable worgen use cat form instead of Pack Form; you are not allowed to. No matter how you twist it, becoming more wolf would be frowned upon, like becoming corrupted.
- The only reason Gilnean worgen are tolerated to begin with - unlike Nightbane or Bloodmoon worgen - is because their affliction was unintentional, and something that has befallen them. Intentionally becoming an undead or void corrupted is frowned upon, but deathknights and void elves are accepted because they are unfortunate victims. In this way, a mutant worgen may be acceptable as well, if it was not their intention.

Powerful
- The worgen curse is a powerful thing. It draws directly on a wild god, as well as the one true deity of Azeroth. In fact, it was done directly by Elune, without Goldrinn’s permission (kinda like how she blackmailed Malorne), shown in Curse of the Worgen. It is able to spread to others, persists through death and to the afterlife, and there is no cure. These are facts, and a testimate to just how powerful the worgen curse is. No one has altered it. If it was possible, Gilneans would have altered it to be less bestial. Therefore, any kind of direct alteration to the worgen curse on any worgen would have to be more powerful than Elune, by Elune herself, or with her support.

Personal
- Preferably, the reason behind a tail mutation should be personal to be believable, to explain why most worgen are normal and have been normal throughout history, and why the individual is an outlier. But not so personal - like being the chosen one - that others cannot use the reason as well. For example, the Night Warrior scenario occurred to a small number of kaldorei, the Horns of Eche’ro to a small number of tauren, and Durzaan’s void curse on the small number of elves.
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Tail possibilities

Half worgen form, half Pack Form
- The worgen form is half wolf and has no tail, in mind body and spirit. The Pack Form has a tail, and is fully wolf and has a tail, and is fully wolf in mind and body. If one were to balance between them, being 25%-75% man-wolf, like the Might of Grizzlemaw form, one could become a more bestial worgen with a greater hunch, bestial eyes, a feral mind, and a tail. While easily possible, it would be a druid form only usable for short periods of time, would likely be frowned upon by Gilneans and Cenarions, and most people advocating for tails do not want to be more bestial to do it, so a sub-form would not work for most players.

Some always had tails
- As said with the added lorebreaking skincolors, going back and re-writing that “this was always the case” is not fair to the playerbase, and is a major continuity error. Whatever possibilities there are, it should be an addition, and explained.

Emerald Dream Corruption
- I will mark this one as a maybe. On one hand, we have seen in lore that sleeping and dreamwalking for overextended periods of time can - in the case of Malfurion Stormrage the chosen one - alter your body to grow clawed fingers and feet and feathered arms. On the other hand, it is unknown what exactly caused Malfurion’s mutations, since other druids have dreamwalked with no side effects, and Malfurion may just simply be nature’s chosen one. On top of that, worgen have slept in the Emerald Dream physically for over nine thousand years with absolutely no side effects besides hunger pains and a bad attitude.

Curse of Omen
- Goldrinn is not the only lupine wild god. Lycanthoth, his alter ego, exists somewhere in the shadows, and Omen is a wolf god driven mad and corrupted after the War of the Ancients. Once a god of wisdom that guided hunters and gatherers and blessed with immortality by Elune, he is now no more than a rampaging spirit. Lycanthoth or Omen could easily place a curse of lupine imbalance on a small group of worgen opposing him. The Cenarion Circle may be able to lift most of the omen curse, but not all of it, and a tail remains unless further measures are taken. Questline complete, criteria met, optional tail gained.

Horns of Eche’ro
- We have seen in lore where a wild god can be pleased with a person, and bless them with an animal feature. Huln Highmountain and his followers were blessed by Cenarius, giving them moose horns. Theoretically, a small group of worgen could do something for Goldrinn, and earn a token of his appreciation in return, being a tail.

Gift of Ardenwaeld
- I cannot say much about this concept, while we still know so little, but the magics of the Shadowlands, Ardenwaeld, and Tirna Scithe are certainly weird, and each of the covenants are set to give you special abilities in return for your allegiance.

I support creativity, and I support lore, and lore can be used to justify quite a lot without having to break it.

3. Pigment vs Appendage

World of Warcraft will be adding dark skin options in Shadowlands, not just to humans, but to dwarves, gnomes, and blood elves as well. I would say that the addition of real-life human racial skin colors to ingame races are done for real life reasons.

“Dark skinned elves are lorebreaking”

I agree, dark skinned elves came out of the blue for me. My guild has the Wowhead news bot set up to post into our server’s news channel, and it was jarring to see a dark gnome. I was shocked, taken aback, upset, and scrounging for possible answers. But I came to understand why OOCly, and I’ve made peace with that. For immersion purposes, however, as a roleplayer, I had to find something to make it make sense. And with what I’ve found, it actually kind of does.

Titans are responsible for the creation of the titan-forged, which includes several metallic races. The titans themselves are different colors, and so are their creations. When the Curse of Flesh began to change their soldiers and workers, they became the humans, dwarves, and gnomes we know today.
- Gold (Loken, Auriaya)
- Brass (Eonar, Aggramar, Khaz’goroth, Sargeras)
- Light Grey (Maiden of Valor)
- Dark Grey (Aman’thul, Fallen Avatar)
- Blue (Argus)
- Charcoal-Purple (Golganneth, Norgannon)

Humans have already had some skin color variation, in the form of pale and dark humans. Humans are descended from the Iron Vrykul, made by the titans.
- Blue (Sif, Hodir)
- Gold (Hargal the Bladestormer, Hruthnir)
- Brass (General Bjarngrim, Dark Rune Sentinel)
- Brown (Rajh)
- Silvery (Odyn, Ironaya, Helya, Jotun, Creteus, Nablya)
- Stony (Ra-den, Freya, Archaedas, Stonewrought Guardian)
- Grey (Hymdall, Ammunae, Isiset, Dark Rune Champion)
- Dark (Setis, Setesh)

Dwarves have a rocky history. Literally, with Earthen - exactly what it sounds like - for ancestors. These Earthen come in a variety of colors, and dwarves have been seen to as well.
- Blue (Pyrium Lodestone, Clay Mudaxle)
- Tan (Rocky Cliffedge, Shale Drilldeep, Earthen Dwarf)
- Brown (Earthmender Deepvein, Magorn, Earthen Warder)
- Pale (Earthen Hallshaper, Earthen Custodian, Sandstone Earthen)
- Light (Brangrimm, Catapult Driver, Earthen Warrior)
- Dark (Thelett Shaleheart, Earthen Rocksmasher)

Gnomes have a metallic past as well, having been created as the robotic mechagnomes, which also come in color variations.
- Tan (Fumblub Gearwind, Tinny, Clockwork Sapper)
- Orange (Mr. Fixthis, Jeeves, Mechagnome Curator)
- Brown (SCRAP-E, Walter, Reprogrammed Librarian)
- Dark (Mimiron, Clock’em, Parts Recovery Technician)

Sin’dorei are likewise seen to be fair skinned ingame, and they have no relation to the titanforged, so metal types is no excuse here. However, that does not mean there can’t be dark skinned elves, and there are a few good explainations available I have seen around. Time in the sun over thousands of years, residual kaldorei genetics attributing to darker tones, both are reasonable, but attributing it to human genetics - who have had a dark option from the start - is the best of the three, and would explain the recent appearance.
- Extended Exposure is a popular suggestion. Sin’dorei are descended from kaldorei, which are descended from trolls, which are by nature incredibly physically adaptive to their environment, even becoming sandy or frosty. Even if elves have not inherited this trait, extended exposure does darken skin color. I have known friends who were born pale, and are in the sun so often and are so genetically predisposed that they appear dark. Sin’dorei live for quite a long time, giving time for extended exposure for certain outdoor lifestyles such as architectural or agricultural fields. Besides the sun, elves have been known to be highly susceptible to adaptation through magic influence as well, be it arcane or otherwise, and exposing themselves to magic is something the Sin’dorei in particular do best.
- Kaldorei genetics have been suggested, even going as far back as the darker skinned Dark Trolls the kaldorei came from, and could be a possible explanation for players as well. Though Chronicle says the Sin’dorei gradually lost their purple hues - which included some dark purple tones - there are several cases in real life were genetics skip a generation in the form of recessive genes, or even remain from the olden days, such as the appendix or the pinkie toe.
- Human genetics are another possibility. Firstly, half-elves are possible, that much we have seen. Second, dark humans exist, we’ve seen that too. Humans moved to Tirisfal Glades as far back as 15,000 years ago, and Sin’dorei moved there as well shortly after the War of the Ancients 10,000 years ago. Living in the same general area, there may have easily been couples being formed, even before the two became officially friendly some 2,800 years ago. In theory, Sin’dorei dark skin could be attributed to having some amount of human genetics.

“Reasons behind added dark skin”

I do hope it might be explained officially, but I doubt Blizzard will touch that topic, and risk offending one person or another. The reality is that these dark options for elves were added for real life reasons, not lore reasons. I was upset about it at first, but I have accepted it was done for reasons relating to real life. In addition, skin color is not quite such a drastic addition as adding another limb to their anatomy. I have my own theories as to how dark skinned dwarves or sin’dorei could be possible, and I would hope a player would think of his own reasons for his character. Even so, there is an entirely different reason to adding skin colors than to wanting extra tails, and in my mind attempting to compare the two to justify tails is stooping low and grasping at straws. The likelyhood of a race developing another skin color is just as it is in real life, and I would argue the likelyhood of developing a tail by mere genetic mutation would be the same likely hood as in real life as well. Color options need no explanation; anatomy additions do.

“Pigments and appendages”

The Genetic Perspective
- If a person can have a child with a different color, they can have a child with an extra appendage too right? Well yes, but actually no. There are several cases of caucasian couples bearing dark skinned infants and vice versa, which are genetically tested and confirmed to belong to the parents, not the neighbor. Vestigial tails are possible as well due, but are extremely rare and tragic deformities. I planned to go into it on occult spinal dysraphism, but after looking into it, I’d rather not. The point here being that pigment mutation is common, while extra appendage mutation is a rare extreme, and cannot be compared.

The Lycanthrope Perspective
- Now take a look at tales from a shapeshifting perspective. One could argue that sure, tails are genetically extremely rare, but werewolves go through extreme change. That is true! But we also know that worgen shapeshift not in a plume of smoke, but gradually, and feel it happen. To take worgen form, you begin to swell, and human bones and muscles grow and change shape. To grow a tail, however, you would have to grow additional bones out of nowhere, your rear muscles would have to stretch and extend to cover the new vertebrae, covered in new skin. This would make the worgen transformation much more complicated to explain, and likely more painful, and therefore I can see and appreciate that World of Warcraft descided to go with the Stephen King and Joe Dante style lycanthrope when worgen were added in 2004.

The Druid Perspective
- Druids grow a tail without a problem, so why would worgen be different? It is actually just that simple; worgen are different than a druid form. Where druids clothes shapeshift with them, worgen rip out of theirs. Where druids return to elf form if killed, worgen druids return to worgen form, something Jarod Shadowsong noted as particularly peculiar in Wolfheart. Where druids have to be taught to those connected with nature, worgen spread by bite to everyone and their mother. Even Cenarius himself, the god of druidism, says that the worgen curse is in fact “beyond druidism”. I would even say that the worgen features lend even more to the fact that the form is not natural, including the glowing eyes, iconic hunch, humanoid posture, and lack of a tail. Features that Blizzard has kept through three different models in 2004, 2010, and 2019.

Color happens, and needs no expiation; anatomy additions do.

No, worgen do not “need tails”. As said before, worgen are worgen, and worgen do not and never have had tails, nor do they need tails to be worgen. However, if tails must be added, then there is a tasteful and appropriate way to do so, as long as it meets certain criteria. The best way would be to add a Night Warrior like questline where the worgen character is mutated or blessed with a fifth appendage, or even one simple quest text explaining why some worgen suddenly have tails and others don’t. One way other another, unlike simple hair-do’s and colors, a tail requires an explanation.