Origins of Warcraft 3 Names

[Knight7770]

I've decided to make a thread about the origins of certain names in Warcraft 3. I will try to add at least one name each day (or week); but if you have your own insights, please submit them. Here we go:

• Uther: From Uther Pendragon, father of King Arthur.
• Lich: A fantastic undead being; also a town in Germany; also an archaic word for 'corpse' (possibly).
• [Anything containing] Anub: From Anab, a grape; a knot; or: from Anubis, an Egyptian god.
• Arthas: From King Arthur (possibly).
• Samuro: "An actual Japanese praenomen."
• Taunka: From the Sioux word for 'buffalo:' 'tanka.'
• Tauren: From the Minotaur or Taurus.
• Murloc: From mermaid and/or morlock.
• Treants: From Ents (if you look in the World Editor at the raw code of the model, it will be called Ent.)
• Troggs: From troglodytes.
• Mal'ganis: From mal, meaning bad, and Ganis, a knight.
• Balnazzard: From Balthasar.
• Archimonde: From arch and monde.
• Sylvanas: From a charactar of Arthurian legend of the same general name.

 

[Cryo]

Isn't anub for Anubis, cause all the cryptlords and narubians seem to have the Egyptian theme.

 

[ReVolver]

Arthas comes from King Arthur?

 

[Knight7770]

Isn't anub for Anubis, cause all the cryptlords and narubians seem to have the Egyptian theme.

Possibly.

Arthas comes from King Arthur?

Also possibly.

 

[Dakho]

I wouldn't put that much stock into the origin of warcraft names, seeing as Blizzard usually doesn't base much of its material off of other things. They're probably just made up names that the devs thought sounded cool.

 

[Knight7770]

I wouldn't put that much stock into the origin of warcraft names, seeing as Blizzard usually doesn't base much of its material off of other things. They're probably just made up names that the devs thought sounded cool.

That's actually not true. If you've ever played StarCraft, you would see that there are many strange names for the Zerg broods. Those are based off of some obscure language.

 

[Marsmallos]

I think the Zerg Broods are named after monsters of Norse mythology or something

 

[Asehujiko]

Zerg broods are named after norse mythological creatures.

 

[WastedSavior]

[*]Lich: A fantastic undead being; also a town in Germany.

Lol

 

[Lobster]

sheep: a real creature

seriously though: my 2 cents
theres a weird blademaster dude in campaign units called samuro. possibly samurai?

cool subject btw

 

[Knight7770]

sheep: a real creature

seriously though: my 2 cents
theres a weird blademaster dude in campaign units called samuro. possibly samurai?

cool subject btw

I added yours. Thanks :thup:

 

[Nudl9]

Lol Samuro is doubtfull, its simply Samurai > Samuro.

 

[Knight7770]

Lol Samuro is doubtfull, its simply Samurai > Samuro.

What is so doubtful about that?

 

[Tharius]

Samuro is an actual Japanese praenomen.

On a separate note, I feel that listing "lich" is similar to listing something like "goblin" or "dwarf". It's less a "name origin" and more of an extrapolation of a type of fantastic creature (as opposed to the names of individual beings/places).

 

[Lobster]

according to wikipedia, lich is an old word for a corpse. Like REALLY old, as in my god, noone has talked like that for over 200 years old.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lich_%28disambiguation%29

also says a lich in modern fantasy is a magician who binded himself to a corpse or something.

I did my research, and forgot to take notes

So, ya i guess that tharius is right

 

[Knight7770]

Samuro is an actual Japanese praenomen.

Fixed :thup:

according to wikipedia, lich is an old word for a corpse. Like REALLY old, as in my god, noone has talked like that for over 200 years old.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lich_(disambiguation)

also says a lich in modern fantasy is a magician who binded himself to a corpse or something.

I did my research, and forgot to take notes

I prefer not to use Wikipedia, but I'll add that :thup:

 

[BlargIAmDead]

I hear that one of WoW's new non-player races is going to be called the "taunka"; that's probably lifted from the Sioux word for buffalo, "tanka". Their relatives the "tauren" are probably derived from "minotaur" or "taurus", from the Greek and Roman mythology.

I'd guess the "murlocs" are some combination of "mermaid" and "morlock", from medieval legend and H.G. Wells respectively. The "naga" are obviously a reference to the Indian serpent-spirits of the same name, who were also often associated with water.

Equally obviously, "worgen" are a reference to J.R.R. Tolkien's "wargs" (though they look and act more like werewolves). And his "ents" are the inspiration for both the "treants" and "ancients" (maybe through Dungeons and Dragons, which also has "treants"...although rumor has it that they were called "ents" before Tolkien's family sued D&D).

"Troggs" are maybe based on the "troglodytes" of Greek legend, a tribe of Africans who supposedly lived in caves. (It's now used as a word for cavemen and chimpanzees. Also, the Greeks were horrible racists, apparently.)

 

[Knight7770]

I hear that one of WoW's new non-player races is going to be called the "taunka"; that's probably lifted from the Sioux word for buffalo, "tanka". Their relatives the "tauren" are probably derived from "minotaur" or "taurus", from the Greek and Roman mythology.

I'd guess the "murlocs" are some combination of "mermaid" and "morlock", from medieval legend and H.G. Wells respectively. The "naga" are obviously a reference to the Indian serpent-spirits of the same name, who were also often associated with water.

Equally obviously, "worgen" are a reference to J.R.R. Tolkien's "wargs" (though they look and act more like werewolves). And his "ents" are the inspiration for both the "treants" and "ancients" (maybe through Dungeons and Dragons, which also has "treants"...although rumor has it that they were called "ents" before Tolkien's family sued D&D).

"Troggs" are maybe based on the "troglodytes" of Greek legend, a tribe of Africans who supposedly lived in caves. (It's now used as a word for cavemen and chimpanzees. Also, the Greeks were horrible racists, apparently.)

Thanks; the list has been updated :thup:

 

[thewrongvine]

I read in a book that Troggs/Troglodytes were actually like troggs from World of Warcraft. They were EVIL creatures with no eyes or something... and if you disrespected a higher being like a tribe chief or something, it would be sent to destroy your house and anything in its path. The only way to counter it was to put 4 bricks at each corner of your bed and it would be a safe place.

Something like that.

 

[Knight7770]

Bump.