The "Heroes Invincible" series is a classic in the hearts of many players, in addition to the epic plot, interesting and brain-friendly gameplay and just the right soundtrack, the strange creatures in the game must also leave a deep impression on you.
And these creatures basically have their own archetypal origins, or from epics, or from folklore, and even some from real history. Today, I will introduce the creatures of the stronghold (Savage) City in "Heroes 5", and what their backgrounds and origins are.
<h1>1. Goblin (Goblin).</h1>
The original painting of the goblin in "Ying 5" cannot be found, so I am very sorry that I can only replace it with this one.
Goblins (Goblins) are a first-class class in Stronghold City, with good yield and initiative, and are often used to deceive counterattacks and add blood rage. The upgraded Trap Goblins and Goblin Witch Doctors have their own uses, and are generally good first-class classes.
Although goblins (goblins) are now classic monsters in fantasy literature and magic games, their history is not as "long" as that of centaurs and cyclops. Most people believe that the prototype of the goblin (goblin) is the "red hat" of Viking mythology,
The Viking legendary "Red Riding Hood"
Like the Goblins, they are small in size, prefer to live in shady places, and are weak enough to drive them away by simply reciting the Bible. Although not strong, the "Red Riding Hoods" still have strange and special abilities, and it is said that these creatures have the ability to create nightmares and like to engage in many pranks of the whole people, which is reflected in the advanced class of goblins (goblins) - "The main duty of the goblin traprs is to place all kinds of insidious traps, causing great trouble to the enemy to hinder the enemy's advance." (The Trap Goblin in Heroes 5), "These shamans know how to beat tambourines, how to dance around a fire, how to tell horror stories." They give headaches to enemies trying to cast spells, and nothing annoys the magician more than squibs and effects. (Description of the Goblin Witch Doctor in Heroes 5)
Trap Goblin (left) and Goblin Witch Doctor (right)
But earlier, both Homer and Herodotus had a record of "dwarf freaks" in their works, pygmies, now translated as "pygmies" (referring to the diminutive humans of central Africa, which we can see on the map of O'Damm in World of Warcraft). The ancient Greeks believed that pygmies were generally only about 50 centimeters tall, that they domesticated a variety of livestock that were scaled down in size, and that they did not have any weaving skills, and most of the time they could only wear rudimentary clothing woven with hair.
Several dwarf pygmies in the carving
Herodotus believed that such dwarfs lived in Africa, while Meccastini believed they lived in India. Subsequently, with the intertwined influence of European culture, the legends of diminutive inhumans and goblins became more and more abundant. Then Tolkien read the work that had an extraordinary influence on him, The Princess and the Goblin, which still portrayed goblins (goblins) as malevolent, underground creatures; and then the image of goblins (goblins) became what we see now, even in different game works, they are almost the same.
<h1>2. Centaurs</h1>
Centaurs are the second-level troops of the stronghold, although the long-range troops in the stronghold are very rare, but the centaurs are generally damaged, the health is low, and the most important thing is that he is still a large-volume unit (in-game), so it is not very good before upgrading. But it works well after upgrading to a Centaur Predator.
Myths and legends of centaurs have a saying that in ancient times, the Mediterranean people mistakenly regarded the warriors riding on horses as the original imagination of the human head horse body, that is, the earliest "origin" of the centaur.
Gilded copper engravings of centaurs inside the Louvre
This creature usually refers to a creature that is human above the waist and a horse in the lower half. The centaurs in ancient Greek mythology were quick-witted, good at archery, and fond of music, but they were usually cruel by nature. This point of proficiency in archery is not well expressed in "Ying 3", because in that generation of games, the centaur was a level 1 melee class, so relatively speaking, the centaurs that appeared as a ranged unit in "Ying 5" were more in line with the original appearance of myths and legends. The shades of red and brown highlight the tyrannical character of the Centaur family, which is also a point of restoration of centaurs in "Ying 5".
The most famous figure of the Centaur clan is Achilles' mentor "Kailon", who is somewhat different from the other Centaurs because of his good nature, proficiency in medicine, and wisdom. However, later, Hercules accidentally injured Kailon with a poisonous arrow in a fight, resulting in Kailon's death, and Zeus was very sorry for this, so he raised Kailon into the sky and became the constellation of Sagittarius.
Wounded Centaurs by the Florença painter Filippo Lippi in the fifteenth century
In the Middle Ages, centaurs began to be given more negative meanings. Because they possess the qualities of man and horse, they also have two souls at the same time, man represents reason and thought, and the horse represents wildness and instinct, which is described in the French version of The Fable of medieval animal stories as follows: the body and mind are always in opposition; harmony can never be achieved. The mind wants to be the master of the body, and the body must be the master of the heart, because it craves the pleasures of the world. A short description of the centaurs in Ing5 shows their brutality— "The best reward for them is to allow them to charge forward, to allow them to get more of the enemy's heads for skinning." ”
<h1>3. Shamanic witches</h1>
Shaman Witch is the 4th level class of Stronghold City in "Heroes Invincible 5", the only spell casting class in the stronghold, the advanced acceleration and deceleration that comes with it are quite good, and the upgraded Daughter of the Heavenly Spirit and the Daughter of the Earth Spirit are even more powerful, and unlike the "Orc" soldiers, the Shaman Witch and the Daughter of the Earth Spirit are basically the same as the normal female human appearance.
Shamanism, one of the oldest religions on the planet, dates back to the ancient days of mankind's fishing and hunting, and its teachings are similar to those of the "World of Warcraft" - the belief that all things have a spirit. The shaman witch, the daughter of the celestial spirit, and the daughter of the earth spirit in "Ying 5" also interpret this point in place. According to the description of the class, the daughter of the earth spirit and the daughter of the heavenly spirit, one worships "Mother Earth", the other worships the "Father of Heaven", and the shamanism in reality will also "worship the mountain", worship the "sun, moon and stars" and "wind and rain and thunder", and indeed choose the internal organs of animals and animal blood for sacrifice, which can also correspond to the mechanism of "sacrificing goblins" in the game.
The original "shamanic witch", who did not upgrade, wore an animal skin hat (bearskin on the outside), showing the worship of animals. In reality, the shamans of Evenk and Orenchun are also very much in awe of the creature, and even believe that the bear is their ancestor. In ancient times, humans would want to gain the power of animals due to fear or worship, so they would directly cover and decorate a certain part of the animal wreckage, such as teeth, horns, and fur, to obtain the protection of animals or the transfer of power, or they thought that wearing animal wreckage could transform human identity into beasts. This may indicate the bear's agility and the bear's huge body slowing down enemy movements, but this is not specifically shown in the spell casting animation.
Finally, when the "Shaman Witch" in the game is upgraded to "Daughter of the Earth Spirit" or "Daughter of the Heavenly Spirit", the bearskin decoration will disappear and the oil paint and livery on the body will change, which represents a change of faith - from believing in animals to believers in heavenly fathers or earth mothers. The designers of the "English 5" game should think that this is a sublimation of faith.
Two upgrades of the shaman witch, The Daughter of the Celestial Spirit (top right) and the Daughter of the Earth Spirit (bottom right)
<h1>Fourth, orcs</h1>
"Fighter" and "Chief" belong to the stronghold's Level 3 and Level 5 soldiers, respectively, and they both belong to the "Orc" (orc), so they are combined. Whether it is a "chief" or an "executioner" in the 5th level class, one is very comfortable, one can shout 666 ~ and the "berserker" in the third level class is to interpret his name to the fullest - a completely offensive class, which can cause effective damage to the enemy after the opponent is deceived.
In the English-Chinese dictionary, orc has long been used in the English vocabulary as the name of a sea monster or demon. But the orcs in "England 5" obviously have nothing to do with these two, and it is almost certain that they borrowed from the "orcs" in Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" series.
Orcs in the Lord of the Rings movies
However, Tolkien himself did not give a definitive answer - whether orcs originated from elves or humans. But the character of the orcs is very simple and clear, they are fierce, even killing each other, full of hatred, dominated by evil. There is no such extreme expression in the orc description in "England 5", more of a fearlessness - "there is never the word "retreat" in the dictionary ( the description of "fighter" in Heroes 5); and a passion for war - "Warriors will not hesitate to fight with the chief, they know that under such a chief they will create countless legends and win themselves eternal honors." (The description of the "chief" in Heroes 5) does not discuss the orcs' concepts of good and evil in depth.
So, what creatures does Tolkien's "orcs" refer to in folklore and legend? The information I have personally found indicates that the "orcs" in the magical world are related to the legendary creatures that were popular in Europe in the 15th century, the wildlings.
The painter Dürer painted a savage in the collection of the Ancient Art Museum in Munich, Germany
Before Columbus discovered the New World, European myths and legends had all kinds of fantasies about people in foreign lands, believing that they looked strange and had unusual personalities and habits, such as the "Bigfoot" who only had one foot and had huge feet, and they would hold big feet as umbrellas to cool off. After Columbus returned from his voyage, their disillusionment with "strange" humans was shattered, so after the 15th century, Europeans' fantasies about strange races were all classified as one - savages. Except for the hairy body and the holding of very primitive utensils, the general outline of the wild man is no different from that of a normal person - he has limbs, five features, walks upright, and has no exaggerated parts of the body.
At that time, in addition to the weapons wielded by the wildlings basically had a strong sense of "primitiveness", there was also a point - most of their bodies were naked, which may be to show that although they had a more normal human appearance, they were still deeply buried in the body of the animalistic and irrational signs. It just so happens that the two orc classes in "Ying 5" have corresponding upgrades that echo this very well, as shown in the following figure.
Naked berserker (left) and executioner (right)
<h1>5. Bipedal Wyvern</h1>
The bipedal wyvern is a level 6 soldier in the stronghold, and there is still a big gap in the strength of the bipedal dragon clan (emerald dragon, black dragon, etc.) that is more "genuine", and whether it is the in-game model or the original painting, we can clearly see that the bipedal wyvern is smaller than the size of the genuine dragon clan, and there is also a pair of front paws missing. In the game, this class is not so popular, although the stronghold ignores the terrain of the class is very scarce, but the Wyvern value is really hard, even after upgrading, it is difficult to compare with the Luosha, Tree Spirit and other classes.
The creature bipedal wyvern, known in English as "wyvern/wivern", is a creature that is legendary to inhabit the central part of England and near France. Its Latin name is "vīpera", which has the same semantics as "viper" (the one in DOTA2), both pointing to "viper". Diplodocus was very similar to dragons, and in many cultures and languages the difference between the two is not even explicitly stated. From the 16th century onwards, it was clearly stated in english, Irish, and Scottish literature that the "wyvern" (bipedal wyvern) had only two legs, while the "dragon" had four, but this description did not spread throughout Europe at that time. So we see that most of the bipedal wyvern artworks full of classical style are handed down from England, Scotland and Ireland.
Bipedal wyverns on both sides
There is also a winged monster basilisk, although it does not directly point to the bipedalosaur, but its unique appearance and habits are worth spending some time on.
This is a very ferocious beast in mythology, the king of all reptiles and snakes, its eyes can be deadly, and its mouth can spit venom (which is basically consistent with the setting of the bipedal wyvern), and the game's "tyrannical temper", "can't stand the reptile kind by his side", and "the ancestors were lizards" These descriptions of the bipedal wyverns, personally feel that some of the settings of Basilisk are referenced.
Basilisk has a rooster-like head and neck in appearance, a snake-like shape below the chest, and a pair of wings; another theory is that the monster is a giant lizard. There seems to be a lot of opinion on their size, with some saying that they are only about half a foot in size, and some saying that they are more than a meter tall. Their origin is very bizarre, a monster hatched by a toad after stealing the egg. The beast's natural enemy is also very strange - the mole. Legend has it that their deadly gaze is also flawed, if you look at it through a smooth glassware in front of Basilisk, it will attack it with a deadly gaze, and then because of the reflection of the vessel, Basilisk will kill himself...
It is worth mentioning that the legendary "giant lizard" look of Basilisk often appears in the magic game as a "petrified lizard".
Baselisk ( left ) shaped like a lizard and petrified lizard ( right ) in Heroes 3
<h1>6. Monocular Giant</h1>
Cyclops is the top class in Stronghold City. When not upgraded, compared to the undelemented top soldiers of other races, it is very strong, but after the upgrade, the value does not show a particularly strong competitiveness, the initiative and speed are also a bit hard, and the wild one-eyed mistaken injury gave me a headache at one time, so I generally choose to upgrade to the blood pupil one-eyed.
From the 6th century BC to the time of ancient Greece and Rome, Europeans have always had various fantasies about distant foreign countries. Ctetheas in Greece in the 5th century BC, Meccastini in the 4th century BC and various legends recorded by Alexander the Great, Pliny the Elder's Natural History, various travelogues and oriental observations in the Middle Ages, and then Marco Polo's oriental travels can be seen that foreigners from the physical appearance, tall and fat, customs and accessories are all places where they play their imagination.
Cyclops is described in the literature as having only one large eye growing in the normal eye position. The Cyclops in Homer's pen lived in Sicily, but at that time there were also legends that the Cyclops lived in India in the east, and even in china's Altai Mountains there were legends and murals of the Cyclops. In most stories, the Cyclops is very greedy and likes to collect all kinds of gold and silver jewelry. Sir Mandeville, an Englishman of the 14th century, mentioned in his travel journal that the Cyclops of India liked to steal protection from griffins, so the Cyclops and the Griffins were at war. And cyclops weapons are often depicted as huge sticks, which has been greatly restored in "English 5",
Cyclops wielding a big stick
And the Cyclops never cook food, they eat it raw, and each individual is very greedy, they don't like to share the spoils with their clansmen, so the Cyclops basically act alone, which is also reflected in the description of the class in the "English 5" game - "They have been living away from the orc blood clan for a long time." The "state of endless hunger" should correspond to the greed and independence of the Cyclops in myths and legends.
The above is the relevant introduction to the stronghold city class in "Heroes Invincible 5", we will see you next time~