Bog beast
- For the Revendreth rare mob, see Bog Beast.
Bog beasts, also known as fen creepers,[1] spore beasts,[2] or cave beasts,[3] are large plant creatures often found in the temperate marshes and damp sun-starved caverns of Azeroth, Deepholm, Outland, alternate Draenor and Argus. They have been described several times as elemental beings.[4][5][6]
Biology
Bog beasts are weak to fire and fear the suffering it causes them.[7][8]
Tiny Bog Beasts are described as small elementals clinging to the backs of larger mire beasts, picking off nasty bugs and mites.[5]
A bog beast's roots, which grow on the outside of their bodies, are suitable for consumption.[9] The moss from bog beasts in Silverpine Forest proved to be useful for the creation of the New Plague.[10] The fungus that also grows on them can be combined with the heart of a panther and the blood of a green dragon to make a truth serum,[11] while dew glands found within the bog beast can be used as a makeshift water sac.[12]
Since they have no traditional method of excreting their waste, they produce misshapen pieces of mushroom-like fungus with an overwhelming stench.[3]
With the exception of Rethiel the Greenwarden who can speak Common, bog beasts do not appear to communicate through regular language. However, when Rethiel met the Alliance adventurers, he told them that "the roots and ferns speak well of [them]",[13] implying that bog beasts commune with nature, and therefore in this way with each other.
Depending on their environment, bog beasts can appear in different color variations; some are covered with foliage, others with mushrooms; while their mouths are either covered with foliage or tentacles.
- Covered with foliage
Corrupted variant.
In The War Within.
- Covered with mushrooms
In World of Warcraft.
Variants
Loatheb is an undead bog beast as the hideous result of fusing the living Plague of Undeath of the Plaguelands with the bog beasts of Azeroth in Naxxramas.[14] In a twisted mockery of the plant kingdom's natural ability to regenerate, it summoned deadly spores that quickly spread a sickening miasma that turns magical healing arts against those who wield them.[15] Its body was covered in small pods capable of spreading blighted fungal spores up to 1000 yards given proper wind conditions.[16]
For ages, fungi and other benign forms of life have thrived in Ahn'kahet's damp sun-starved caverns, until Yogg-Saron spread its oppressive will into this isolated ecosystem. The Old God used its immense corruptive powers to warp one of Ahn'kahet's native beasts into a monstrous creature known as Amanitar, an unthinking terror bristling with the destructive energies of its master.[17]
The mirebeasts of the Wetlands are symptoms of the earth's disturbance, a foulness of rot given form. They take the shape of bog beasts, infested within with decaying spores, forcing out flourished life in the swamp taking all and leaving only rot.[18]
The Fen Creepers of the Wetlands were diseased, fevered blisters on the land, who had to be dispatched and allowed to settle back into the marshes.[19]
Some creatures and elementals in Azeroth and Outland resemble bog beasts but are distinct species:
- The marsh beasts are creatures native to Zangarmarsh in Outland.
- The tar beasts are elementals that live around the Lakkari Tar Pits in Un'Goro Crater.
- The thistleshrubs are creatures that could be found in the Thistleshrub Valley in Tanaris.
- The timberlings were elementals of nature[20] that reflected the natural order of plants and animals on Teldrassil.[21]
Notable
- Main article: Bog beast NPCs
As a companion pet
- Tiny Bog Beast can be captured in pet battles in the Wetlands.
[Everliving Spore] can drop from 
[Damp Pet Supplies].
In the RPG
These massive plants might be mistaken for a thick clump of vegetation if not for their vaguely humanoid shape and surprising mobility. As the name suggests, bog beasts are massive, shambling monsters that are half plant and half beast. Not much is known about these secretive lords of the swamp except that they are territorial and quite aggressive. Explorers have recorded stories of their immense strength and resilience to harm. Bog beasts are known to wander the Dustwallow Marsh south of the Barrens. Bog beasts use their strength to slam into their enemies, crushing opponents' defenses with their fists and whatever large objects they can throw at them.[22][23]
Bog beasts are also found in the Swamp of Sorrows, Ashenvale, and Teldrassil.[24][25][26][27] These creatures are classified as elementals in the World of Warcraft. However in lore depending on type they vary between being elementals ("timberlings", "thistleshrubs", "tar beasts")[28][29][30] and/or ambulatory plants.[22][31] that being the case, the Warlock can use their Banish spell on them. Something one may overlook because they do not look like the usual elementals or demons.
The plant creatures timberlings and thistleshrubs and the conglomerate elemental creatures tar beasts, while using the same model as bog beasts, are each considered separate types of creatures.[28] Bog beast still remains a broad categorization for the various varieties.
Bog beasts in Outland may become fungal horrors.[32]
Notes and trivia
- The twitching cores of Bloodpetal Sprouts in Un'Goro Crater highly resemble the heads of bog beasts.
- In the original appearance of jungle stalkers in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne jungle stalkers resembled the various sasquatch and wendigo units in Warcraft III but living in tropical climates. Warcraft III: Reforged changed them to look like bog beasts.
- The bog beast covered in mushrooms are described as "fungal monster" in the game files.
- With their red eyes and tentacled mouth, they closely resemble that of Marvel Comics' Man-Thing.
Gallery
Loatheb in Hearthstone.
Groddo the Bogwarden in Hearthstone.
Bog Creeper in Hearthstone.
Bogshaper in Hearthstone.
Kelp Creeper in Hearthstone.
Miracle Growth in Hearthstone.
Loatheb in the Trading Card Game.
On the Lolly the Unsuspecting TCG card. Also used for the art of Fen Creeper in Hearthstone.
Loatheb portrait from Heroes of the Storm.
"Fungal monster" concept art.
Patch changes
Patch 11.0.2 (2024-08-13): New model added. Older bog beasts remain unchanged.
See also
References
- ^ WoW Classic: Naxxramas is Now Live!
- ^
[15-40] Vengeance for the Fallen
- ^ a b
[76D] Funky Fungi
- ^ Verdan the Everliving's Adventure Guide description
- ^ a b Tiny Bog Beast's Pet Journal
- ^ [20-30 Daily] Troll Patrol: Couldn't Care Less
- ^ [10-30] The Threat of Flame
- ^ [23] Fire Taboo
- ^
[Bogling Root]
- ^
[18] A Recipe For Death
- ^ [42] Nothing But The Truth
- ^ [49] The Thirsty Goblin
- ^ [21] The Greenwarden
- ^ Commander Eligor Dawnbringer Quotes
- ^ Naxxramas, the Floating Necropolis
- ^
[Blighted Spore]'s Pet Journal description
- ^ Amanitar's Adventure Guide description
- ^ [10-30] Mired in Hatred
- ^ [26] Blisters on The Land
- ^ [1-30] Timberling Seeds
- ^ [1-30] The Vengeance of Elune
- ^ a b Manual of Monsters, pg. 18
- ^ Lands of Mystery, pg. 37
- ^ Lands of Conflict, pg. 59
- ^ World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game, pg. 16
- ^ Lands of Mystery, pg. 7
- ^ Lands of Mystery, pg. 21
- ^ a b Monster Guide, pg. 131 - 134
- ^ Lands of Mystery, pg. 58
- ^ Lands of Mystery, pg. 60
- ^ Monster Guide, pg. 132
- ^ Shadows & Light, pg. 152
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