by JR Cook - 11 years ago     show comments

Perhaps the most controversial race in World of Warcraft is the Draenei.  Many players felt that these “space goats” felt forced when added to the otherwise highly fantasy-centric lore already in the game, or that the changes in their backstory from their first mention in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne to their inclusion as a playable race with The Burning Crusade expansion are an example of egregious retroactive continuity.  For purposes of analysis, however, we will be focusing on the current version of Draenei lore found within World of Warcraft, as that is arguably the most widely recognized version at this point in the Warcraft timeline.

The word “Eredar” is now used almost exclusively to refer to the corrupted Draenei that fought alongside the Burning Legion, but at the beginning of their story was the preferred name for the race that would one day become known as the Draenei.  This was during the golden age of their home world, the planet Argus, where they used their affinity for magic to create an advanced civilization like no other.  The Naaru, ethereal beings made of pure light energy, appear before the Eredar of old and bestow upon them sacred Ata’mal crystals which can be used to further their own capacity for knowledge and assist them in understanding the universe around them (likely explaining not only the crystalline architecture of the Exodar, but also the association between Draenei and the Jewelcrafting profession which allows players to modify crystals and gems to enhance their own abilities).

Argus shares its name with the Latin form of the Greek Argos, a name that features heavily in ancient Greek mythology.  Worth noting is that Argus was the builder of the famous ship Argo, used by Jason and his Argonauts as they sailed in search of the Golden Fleece.  After the Eredar leaders Kil’Jaeden and Archimonde allied themselves with the evil Sargeras, Velen, the third leader, gathered his people and, with the help of the Naaru, fled from Argus in a ship called Oshu’gun.  Argonaut translates to “Argo sailor”; the Draenei, setting sail for the stars from Argus, may then live up to this name as well.  In yet another link, Argos was the dog of Odysseus, a Greek hero who found himself washed ashore in a strange land, not completely unlike the shipwrecked Admiral Odesyus of Odesyus’s Landing in Azuremyst Isle.

These comparisons to Greece can be strengthened by looking to the Draenei language.  Their accent’s origin has been hotly debated, with some parties insisting that they are Greek, and others declaring that the accent is Arabic.  Much of their spoken language sounds closer to Greek than Arabic (the ubiquitous greeting “kronakai kristor!”, for instance, shares some syllabic features of the Greek language when spoken aloud), but the written language makes heavy use of Arabic double vowels (Tuurem, Halaa, Enkaat, etc.).

More confusion between the two arises in regard to the racial Draenei mount, an elephantine creature called the Elekk.  Elephants were tamed and used in battle throughout the world, with perhaps the most famous war elephants being those of Hannibal of Carthage.  The Greek military leader Alexander the Great used elephants in his campaigns, as well, but only after being inspired by the elephants already employed by the armies of the Persian Empire, which once covered not only much of the Middle East, but also the northeastern border of Greece.

An Elekk mount (top) compared to a modern depiction of what an ancient war elephant may have looked like (bottom).

But let’s not forget about Carthage entirely;  in addition to using war elephants, it encompassed most of Northern Africa, including Morocco, Libya, Tunisia, and Algeria (all of which are frequently mistaken for “Middle Eastern”).  They spoke a version of the Phoenician language called Punic which has long since died out, but may have sounded very similar to Arabic or Greek, or a combination of the two.  A common title for their provincial leaders under the Byzantine Empire was Exarch, a title also used in the Draenei culture to refer to the leaders of a particular zone.  To top it all off, Carthaginian trade dealt heavily in silver, lead, copper, and tin which were obtained from neighboring city-states and used in the manufacture of artisan jewelry and ornate, jewel-encrusted mirrors, furniture, and other trinkets.  From this information, it seems that the Draenei may not be inspired by Greece or Arabic cultures at all, but by ancient Carthage!

The religion of the Draenei dictates that they follow the ephemereal beings known as the Naaru, of which no clear leader exists — many named Naaru feature prominently in Draenei lore, such as A’dal and Mu’ru, but none are clearly delineated as a “supreme deity” — in hopes that their prophecy surrounding an Army of Light will one day come to fruition and defeat the Burning Legion once and for all.  The concept of a divine or holy light was already popular in Azeroth before the arrival of the Draenei and their Naaru benefactors, utilized especially by Paladins and many Priests to power or enhance their spells and attacks.  It is closer to a philosophy rather than a deistic religion that stresses virtue and awareness of the connection between oneself and the universe.  At its core, it is similar to the real-world Pantheism, a belief that there is not an anthropomorphic deity, or even multiple deities, but that the universe itself is divinity.

Draenei architecture is something that cannot be truly compared to anything existing in the real world either today or at a point in history.  Despite their similarities to Carthaginian civilization, they are, by and large, a love letter to science fiction.  Their history is nothing short of a space opera full of intergalactic travel and the exploration of new worlds, perhaps a bit like the starship Enterprise — though their wanderlust originates from survival and necessity, rather than academic study or pleasure, after crash-landing on Azeroth, they seek out the new world around them and study it, rather than staying huddled inside their destroyed ship.  There are tongue-in-cheek references to famous sci-fi works throughout their questlines, perhaps most famously the timed Kessel Run task that seems to have been inspired by Han Solo’s famous brag in Star Wars Episode IV.

If you missed Honorary Lorewalker Bunny’s inaugural Behind the Lore article, you can read it here or monitor the Behind the Lore tag to see what you’ve missed.  Be sure to check back next Wednesday for a brand-new installment to see a whole new side of your favorite Warcraft races, quests, and locations!