Mythical creatures you want in GW2

[The Greyhawk.9107]

6 hours ago, Danikat.8537 said:

I think those are all depictions of Dwayna, who is one of the gods.

The nearest Tyrian equivalent of an angel would be the avatars of the gods, and their appearance varies depending on their role, origins and the god they serve.

Mostly agree, with exception of the statues in the Hall of Heroes from GW1, those appeared to be based off angels but not Dwayna or her avatar.

[Bast.7253]

11 hours ago, Danikat.8537 said:

I think those are all depictions of Dwayna, who is one of the gods.

The nearest Tyrian equivalent of an angel would be the avatars of the gods, and their appearance varies depending on their role, origins and the god they serve.

Not all of them are depictions of Dwayna though. Even still Dwayna and Abaddon both had wings. I'm more or less wanting to find out what their origin story is. 

[Kalavier.1097]

Dwayna and Melandru are the oldest gods IIRC, and the only two depicted as winged humanoids.

[Ausar.9542]

Horses 

[SoulGuardian.6203]

6 hours ago, Kalavier.1097 said:

Dwayna and Melandru are the oldest gods IIRC, and the only two depicted as winged humanoids.

Melandru, Really?

Isn't it Lyssa? 

I'm not being funny or anything, but I just popped in gw1 yesterday to refresh my memory, and it's the spirit of Lyssa that floats with wings.

Even in the respawn pedestals, when you /kneel and they spawn, Melandru... if my memory doesn’t fail, spawns one of those tree creatures.

I may be wrong, but I'm very tight for time to check in this instance. 

[Fueki.4753]

40 minutes ago, SoulGuardian.6203 said:

I'm not being funny or anything, but I just popped in gw1 yesterday to refresh my memory, and it's the spirit of Lyssa that floats with wings.

Even in the respawn pedestals, when you /kneel and they spawn, Melandru... if my memory doesn’t fail, spawns one of those tree creatures.

I think the comment was about their statues, not their NPC avatars that spawn from the statues.

That aside, I remember Lyssa's Muse being no more than a floating face in a ball, no wings attached. The woman with turquoise wings is the Avatar of Dwayna.

But I remember Melandru's Watcher being a Druid as well.

 

Edited July 29, 2022 by Fueki.4753

[Kalavier.1097]

3 hours ago, SoulGuardian.6203 said:

Melandru, Really?

Isn't it Lyssa? 

I'm not being funny or anything, but I just popped in gw1 yesterday to refresh my memory, and it's the spirit of Lyssa that floats with wings.

Even in the respawn pedestals, when you /kneel and they spawn, Melandru... if my memory doesn’t fail, spawns one of those tree creatures.

I may be wrong, but I'm very tight for time to check in this instance. 

Melandru is the oldest of the god, and Dwayna is the only other one depicted with wings.

https://wiki.guildwars.com/images/2/2d/Statue_of_Melandru_Normal.jpg

https://wiki.guildwars.com/images/6/63/Dwayna_statue.png

https://wiki.guildwars.com/images/d/df/Dwayna_mural_(Ascalon).jpg

https://wiki.guildwars.com/images/1/1e/Melandru_mural_(Ascalon).jpg

Their avatars are not replicas of their actual being, as seen by Lyssa's avatar who is a face in a wreath.

It's been implied at places that all the other gods had replaced somebody, besides those two, as they share very similar body-types (similar to the winged humanoid statues in the hall of heroes and other places), which may be of the same race/group as them.

3 hours ago, Fueki.4753 said:

I think the comment was about their statues, not their NPC avatars that spawn from the statues.

That aside, I remember Lyssa's Muse being no more than a floating face in a ball, no wings attached. The woman with turquoise wings is the Avatar of Dwayna.

But I remember Melandru's Watcher being a Druid as well.

 

Melandru's watcher/avatar is that of a druid, but her statue/murals are that of a winged woman. Likewise her avatar form for Dervishes has branches in the shape of small wings.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

1. Goblins and Imps: We have these, they're called asura. You think I'm joking but I'm not, the asura were initially conceived as goblins, and were evolved from that point. Underground origins, pale, big eyed, short and mostly lanky, the original concept art shows it. Asura are basically evolved goblins.
2. Faeries and Elves: Sylvari and Largos. Again, not joking. The sylvari have very heavy celtic influences and this is mostly surrounding the original Fae ideas. The Dream/Dreamers vs Nightmare/Nightmare Court even derives from the Seeligh and Unseeligh Courts in Celtic Mythology. As for Largos, look at their visuals - they're underwater drows (aka modern interpretation of "dark elves").
3. Kraken and Sea Serpents: We have these already, and not just "GW's take on them" like above either. Krakens in GW1; Krakens in GW2; Sea Serpents.
4. Angels and (Human) vampires. We have Angels - they're the servants of Dwayna. Harpies are, according to Elonian legends, fallen angels. Depictions of Dwayna, Melandru, Abaddon, and Grenth also resemble angels, as do the statues in the Hall of Heroes. As to human vampires... Technically blood magic necromancers count - there's even some references to Countess Bathory in relation to Blood Magic Necromancers (and Livia).
5. Titans: We technically have titans, though they don't match the original Greek titans, which would more fit the Colossus.

Personally, I say: why keep re-using the same old overused mythological archetypes? They're overused, and as such unimaginative. I like what they did to the dwarves by turning them to stone, both referencing oft ignored parts of original dwarven mythology and giving them a non-standard take.

That said, I would love to see the Sidhe from scrapped Utopia developed. I know their concept eventually evolved into the sylvari, but they still feel distinct enough - same with the Tanneks that became destroyers.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

11 hours ago, Kalavier.1097 said:

Dwayna and Melandru are the oldest gods IIRC, and the only two depicted as winged humanoids.

There is also this depiction of Grenth with wings, and some Chinese/Taiwanese text that describes Abaddon pre-Fall as having blue wings.

5 hours ago, SoulGuardian.6203 said:

Melandru, Really?

Isn't it Lyssa? 

I'm not being funny or anything, but I just popped in gw1 yesterday to refresh my memory, and it's the spirit of Lyssa that floats with wings.

Lyssa is actually the only god who's origins is explicitly stated to be unknown to Tyrians. The implication to me seems to be that she's the real first Tyrian-born god, not Grenth, but like Grenth being born from a mortal father, such is kept secret to most Tyrians.

Lyssa's Muse is just a face, it has no wings.

1 hour ago, Kalavier.1097 said:

It's been implied at places that all the other gods had replaced somebody, besides those two, as they share very similar body-types (similar to the winged humanoid statues in the hall of heroes and other places), which may be of the same race/group as them.

It's not really implied, just widely theorized by players because they're the oldest + leader and share a characterstic fairly consistently (unlike Abaddon and Grenth's wing depictions, which are uncommon).

If Utopia lore is still canon, then Dwayna had a father so she likely replaced a god too.

[Kalavier.1097]

20 hours ago, Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

There is also this depiction of Grenth with wings, and some Chinese/Taiwanese text that describes Abaddon pre-Fall as having blue wings.

Lyssa is actually the only god who's origins is explicitly stated to be unknown to Tyrians. The implication to me seems to be that she's the real first Tyrian-born god, not Grenth, but like Grenth being born from a mortal father, such is kept secret to most Tyrians.

It's not really implied, just widely theorized by players because they're the oldest + leader and share a characterstic fairly consistently (unlike Abaddon and Grenth's wing depictions, which are uncommon).

If Utopia lore is still canon, then Dwayna had a father so she likely replaced a god too.

Forgot about that stained glass, and that's interesting about the translated text describing Abaddon with wings.

Though, I'd say Dwayna's father situation depends if she replaced him, or if he was never part of the six. My personal theory was the "gods" were another race, who shepherded humanity from a shared, but maybe dying world, so the Six were the last ones or the ones who evacuated humanity.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

4 hours ago, Kalavier.1097 said:

Though, I'd say Dwayna's father situation depends if she replaced him, or if he was never part of the six. My personal theory was the "gods" were another race, who shepherded humanity from a shared, but maybe dying world, so the Six were the last ones or the ones who evacuated humanity.

Thing is, the deaths of Abaddon and Balthazar made it clear that when gods die, their magic explodes in very, very violent manners, and fallen god with a bit of power alone was able to nearly wipe out all of Vabbi, while Abaddon seemingly threatened to destroy Tyria from within the heart of the Realm of Torment.

So this creates a precedence that a god's divinity must be contained or else total destruction of all nearby. So at most only one such god would have suffered this fate resulting in the exodus to Tyria, since two or more gods suffering this fate would be near cataclysmic.

This is also why there should be a replacement for Balthazar wandering the Mists with the other gods, ala Grenth replacing Dhuum.

 

As to it being another race, this is pretty much debunked by both Grenth and Kormir, who ascend into godhood from being (half)mortal. Even ignoring Dwayna getting it on with a human and having a child (she is the goddess of life) which breaks the rules set by the same writers that cross-species breeding isn't a thing because genetics, the fact Kormir could become a god pretty much says it isn't a matter of genetics. Further, Seasons 2 and 3 both establish that the gods are "not living things", and this coincides with Abaddon's and Balthazar's deaths, in how their bodies break apart (and how Abaddon could even reform a body after his defeat and loss of a body in the war preceding the Exodus):

I risked my life many times for Kormir, but she got what every great warrior deserves. She died courageously.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Koss_on_Koss_(book)

Scanner: No—life—detected. Only—magic—energy—present.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Heart_of_the_Volcano_(story)

And lastly, there's Balthazar's father. When Balthazar came onto Tyria, he carried his father's head (be it in triumph or mourning, we don't know). This very fact, however, proves Balthazar's father was no god - for a god's body breaks apart on death, and Balthazar's father's head did not. At most, Balthazar was a demigod like Grenth, which means he had to replace someone (perhaps his mother, if she was a god).

[Kalavier.1097]

2 hours ago, Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

Thing is, the deaths of Abaddon and Balthazar made it clear that when gods die, their magic explodes in very, very violent manners, and fallen god with a bit of power alone was able to nearly wipe out all of Vabbi, while Abaddon seemingly threatened to destroy Tyria from within the heart of the Realm of Torment.

So this creates a precedence that a god's divinity must be contained or else total destruction of all nearby. So at most only one such god would have suffered this fate resulting in the exodus to Tyria, since two or more gods suffering this fate would be near cataclysmic.

This is also why there should be a replacement for Balthazar wandering the Mists with the other gods, ala Grenth replacing Dhuum.

 

As to it being another race, this is pretty much debunked by both Grenth and Kormir, who ascend into godhood from being (half)mortal. Even ignoring Dwayna getting it on with a human and having a child (she is the goddess of life) which breaks the rules set by the same writers that cross-species breeding isn't a thing because genetics, the fact Kormir could become a god pretty much says it isn't a matter of genetics. Further, Seasons 2 and 3 both establish that the gods are "not living things", and this coincides with Abaddon's and Balthazar's deaths, in how their bodies break apart (and how Abaddon could even reform a body after his defeat and loss of a body in the war preceding the Exodus):

I risked my life many times for Kormir, but she got what every great warrior deserves. She died courageously.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Koss_on_Koss_(book)

Scanner: No—life—detected. Only—magic—energy—present.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Heart_of_the_Volcano_(story)

And lastly, there's Balthazar's father. When Balthazar came onto Tyria, he carried his father's head (be it in triumph or mourning, we don't know). This very fact, however, proves Balthazar's father was no god - for a god's body breaks apart on death, and Balthazar's father's head did not. At most, Balthazar was a demigod like Grenth, which means he had to replace someone (perhaps his mother, if she was a god).

And that is why my theory is the gods brought humanity from a ruined world of imprisoned "gods" and wasteland ruined by magical war, as there is no history from humans before they were brought to Tyria.

This also links to the tale of the six gods leaving Tyria to find a new garden/world for humanity/their followers. They "saved" humanity, but then left to supposedly seek a new world when it appeared that Tyria was doomed to fall again to the Elder dragons, to find a new planet to save their followers.

It's just personal theories, though if Anet does have the gods return (hopefully in a non-hostile way) we may be able to see more mysticalish creatures/people in the avatars and god-realm inhabitants.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

1 hour ago, Kalavier.1097 said:

And that is why my theory is the gods brought humanity from a ruined world of imprisoned "gods" and wasteland ruined by magical war, as there is no history from humans before they were brought to Tyria.

The issue is the intensity of such a calamity based on Abaddon's death. If there were many gods, let alone a full species, of gods that died... there would be nothing and no one to escape to Tyria. Not unless we're talking about a whole solar system worth of planets that combined have only a nation's worth of gods population in them.

Maybe a species of demigods (for lack of a better term) all on par to former-godhood/PoF Balthazar at most, but even that seems improbable based on what lore we do have - the whole "no life detected" and Kormir ascending via blessing implies that godhood (and "former godhood") is not a biological thing but magical state of altered existence. Can't have biology involved if a human "trans-species" into an empty husk that only contains magical power.

Edited July 30, 2022 by Konig Des Todes.2086

[The Greyhawk.9107]

I'd still like to see some more Ancient Celtic creatures, like the aforementioned Nuckelavee.  The Celts could come up with some gnarly stuff.

Edited July 31, 2022 by The Greyhawk.9107

[sorudo.9054]

all of them....

[DexterousGecko.6328]

T-rex

[Susy.7529]

None, just because a mythical creature is "cool", it doesn't mean it has to be forcefully put in a world who has never had anything to do with it.

Except for imps maybe, who were part of gw1 if I remeber correctly, also titans were part of gw1 but they were greatly different from the common titans (they were more like golems).

Edited July 31, 2022 by Susy.7529

[Ashen.2907]

20 hours ago, Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

the whole "no life detected"

To be fair, "no life detected," is not synonymous with, "no life present."

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

15 minutes ago, Ashen.2907 said:

To be fair, "no life detected," is not synonymous with, "no life present."

You're not wrong, but it also says present as I quoted in the previous post:

Scanner: No—life—detected. Only—magic—energy—present.

[Ashen.2907]

1 minute ago, Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

You're not wrong, but it also says present as I quoted in the previous post:

Scanner: No—life—detected. Only—magic—energy—present.

Indeed. I expressed my point poorly. It was meant to point out that the scanner's failure to detect life does not mean that life was not present, merely that the scanner didn't detect it. Without establishment of infallibility all that we can say for sure is that the fallible scanner did not detect life. A failure to perceive something is neither proof nor solid evidence of that thing's lack of existence.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

1 minute ago, Ashen.2907 said:

Indeed. I expressed my point poorly. It was meant to point out that the scanner's failure to detect life does not mean that life was not present, merely that the scanner didn't detect it. Without establishment of infallibility all that we can say for sure is that the fallible scanner did not detect life. A failure to perceive something is neither proof nor solid evidence of that thing's lack of existence.

Which is why, the first time I mentioned it, I presented it alongside with the statement that Kormir died to become a god, and that the gods' bodies themselves are visibly shown to be just shells that break apart on death unleashing that magic.

You can pretty cleanly see the inside of Balthazar as he breaks apart, and there are no bones (besides a "skull"), no organs, no blood - just magic within the shell of a body.

 

It isn't just the scanner. The scanner is just the most blatant bit of it. And that scanner is shown to be pretty good at its job, with being able to accurately described everything else (except Taimi due to programmer bias).

[Danikat.8537]

1 hour ago, Susy.7529 said:

None, just because a mythical creature is "cool", it doesn't mean it has to be forcefully put in a world who has never had anything to do with it.

Except for imps maybe, who were part of gw1 if I remeber correctly, also titans were part of gw1 but they were greatly different from the common titans (they were more like golems).

Are you saying they should only use original creations with no clear roots in real life mythology? Or that after some point no new creatures of any kind should be added to the game, only variations on the ones which already exist? 

The first one I could understand (although ensuring nothing added ever resembles any real mythology would be difficult because there's so many real life myths) but never adding anything new would get pretty impractical if we're going to keep exploring more of Tyria. 

[DaFishBob.6518]

Why do so many posters ask for imps like they're not already in the game?

[SoulGuardian.6203]

6 hours ago, DaFishBob.6518 said:

Why do so many posters ask for imps like they're not already in the game?

Ah right.

Those flying ones.

I was kinda imagining those from GW1 myself.

https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Imp

[Linken.6345]

13 minutes ago, SoulGuardian.6203 said:

Ah right.

Those flying ones.

I was kinda imagining those from GW1 myself.

https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Imp

How are those different then the flying ones?