For this series of posts, I thought I'd try something a little new. I've looked before (briefly) at some of the mythology in Star Wars, and at the way mythology has influenced pop culture. Now, for the first time, I'm starting a series of posts on the mythology within a video game. Let us turn now to the wonderful:
Some of my readers have likely figured out that I play World of Warcraft (given my oh-so-subtle references to it in a number of posts). I've been a WoW gamer since 2008, and part of what's made me stick with the game is the story. World of Warcraft has a hugely intricate and diverse backstory, explored not only in WoW itself but also in the precursor games (e.g., Warcraft) and a large number of books. One of their most recently released books, called Chronicle, was a comprehensive backstory for the world, beginning with the creation of the universe.
As both a Warcraft and mythology nerd, I totally geeked out over that.
The more I've explored it, the more I've come to realize that the mythologies found within World of Warcraft are every bit as rich as their real-world counterparts. Part of this is because most of the myths and gods of the various races in WoW are based upon real-world religions - a theme I intend to explore in my posts.
So, since the Warcraft movie is coming out soon, I thought I'd start a series of posts about the mythology within World of Warcraft. I'll be taking a look in the next several weeks at the deities and practices of several of the different races in the game - both Horde and Alliance.
I'll do my best to make sure these posts are interesting for WoW players and non-gamers alike. I have a few friends in WoW who haven't known about some of the lore I'm discussing, and I'm running all of my posts through a non-WoW playing beta reader before publishing them (thanks Mom!). If you have questions, please shoot me an email or comment below! I'd love to clarify or discuss anything you'd like to know.
Interestingly enough, several of the races in WoW worship the same deities, just under different names. This is true of the night elves and the tauren, who worship the moon goddess. To the night elves she is known as Elune, whereas the tauren know her as Mu'sha. Mu'sha and Elune share the same stories and powers between the two races, despite their difference in name.
Other races within World of Warcraft worship beings from the same general family. The night elven druids revere the Wild Gods, ancient and powerful deities who take the form of animals. The trolls perform rituals to members of the loa, their own name for the Wild Gods. Even the pandaren worship a group of Wild Gods, though they know the four beings they devote themselves to as the August Celestials.
Then there's the interesting dynamics between the draenei and the human religions. Draenei worship both the Light and the Naaru (who are servants of the Light). Humans, on the other hand, learned about the Light through the Naaru but devoted themselves solely to worship of the former.
All of this and more will be talked about in my posts. I'm super excited for this, guys, and I hope you are too! I'll see you next week!
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