Forum:Orc physiology
Probably the right place to put this, and not in the Orc discussion page. I'm arguing that orcs come in all shapes and sizes, and that WoW's representation of them should probably be discounted as a limitation of the game.
If we take all the orcs' representations over the various games and other sources into account, shouldn't we conclude that orcs really come in all shapes and sizes, rather than the cookie-cutter way they're portrayed in World of Warcraft? This has always bugged me that people think male orcs are all hulking hunchbacks and females are all... less hulking, and upright. I've noted some examples for consideration, and my conclusions are below.
Posture: Grom Hellscream - he stands perfectly upright in artwork and in Warcraft III, where he both has his own model and is shown in the orc cinematic. Thrall - Thrall is also shown to have perfect/human-ish posture in Warcraft III, as well as most artwork since then. I assume that his in-game incarnation in WoW was the inspiration for the contradicting art - this seems to be very common among artists that don't actually work for Blizzard (Sons of the Storm), and are contracted for TCG or draw the comics. Grunts - Grunts in all games have been shown as hunchbacked to various degrees, with the exception of female grunts in WoW. Peons - In written lore, peons are the most hunchbacked of all orcs due to their back-breaking labour. Raiders - Hunched in Warcraft 1 (according to the artwork, and dubiously in-game), upright in Warcraft 3. They are shown in a few cases in-game to be upright, such as in Warcraft 1 and Warcraft 3. Rexxar - Although a half-ogre, Rexxar appears to have gained his notable hunch from his orcish ancencestry, as Ogres are not generally shown as hunched.
Overall - Orcs in Warcraft 1 - In the in-game art they have a slight hunch, but far less than in WoW. Griselda, the female orc, appears to stand straight, as do all male orcs, with the very noticeable exception of grunts. Orcs in Warcraft 2 - More noticable hunch in-game, but most human units also appears hunchbacked and broadshouldered, notably the peasant and footman. In the cinematics, grunts are shown alternatively as standing upright and hunched. In one cinematic Ner'zhul, being the only Orc shown that isn't a grunt, stands perfectly straight. Orcs in Warcraft 3 - Orcs appear to stand straight more than they are shown hunchbacked. The Shaman stands straight, as does the Far Seer, Wind Rider, Raider and Peon. The Grunt (to a small, perhaps arguable degree), as well as the ancient Stormreaver units are the only Orcs shown to be hunchbacked.
Size and physique:
Grom - Universally shown as tall with herculean muscules. Peon - Universally shown as small, with varying degrees of musculature; almost always less than that of other orcs, even spellcasters such as Warcraft 3's Shaman. Peons in WoW are also generally shown as much smaller than their warrior counterparts. Grunts - Generally shown with the hulking muscles seen in WoW's male orcs. Far Seers - Warcraft 3's Far Seers are shown as very lean and wiry, both in-game and in their concept art. This is a marked difference from the Shaman and Ner'zhul's appearance in Warcraft 2, another caster, both shown as highly muscular. Obviously this difference in physique is not due to age; Saurfang likely has at least the physique of a younger warrior, and nor is it due to being a spellcaster.
Conclusions:
If we take all that into account as equal lore, most orcs do not have a noticable hunch, even if they are represented that way in World of Warcraft. The model for male orcs in WoW seems to have been based on the grunt; the stereotypical, but not average, orc. Despite the wide variety of orc sizes and physiques in lore, Blizzard was obviously restrained for budgetary and time decisions (as is obvious due to the ammount of the world at first inaccessible) and chose to make it the cookie-cutter mold for all male orcs. It could therefore be considered non-canonical, which is the conclusion I draw - male orcs are not always as muscular or tall as the WoW model (as such, the same almost surely applies to female orcs). Blood Elves may have a seperate model for their city guards, but this is clearly an inelligant choice, disregarding gender, skin colour, differences in armour etc. A choice to have two or more different models for orcs would also leave orc warriors unable to use the grunts' model. Furthermore, it is far more time consuming to animate a new skeleton than to make a new model with the same skeleton (see Garrosh Hellscream and Thrall's new model with Cataclysm resembling little beyond their facial structure to Grom Hellscream, or Thrall's incarnations in Warcraft 3 or in art). Exercise and muscle building is probably more of a cause of the hulking physiques of most Orcs that any biological disposition towards growing muscles through puberty, for instance. As an additional conclusion, the sexual dimorphism of orcs is infact less that the article states - it is the orcs' racial polymorphism that is most responsible for their various physical differences between orcs. It is plausible that a male peon outwardly has more in common with a female peon than he does with Saurfang or Thrall.
The orc on the cover of Warcraft 1 has the most extreme differences from WoW's orcs... On a closer inspection, he has horns. No, not coming out of his helmet, but visibly protruding from his skull. His ears are also tufted, and are pointed forwards. This is intriguing, and could be explained in a number of ways: perhaps he is a rare kind of orc, or perhaps this is a view of an orc a set period after becoming a fel orc on Draenor - he has lost his red skin hue by now, but the demonic horns and spikes of a fel orc have remained (perhaps to drop off later). This is particularly appealing, as while Fel Orcs in WoW have varying degrees of demonic features, old orcs like Grom and Saurfang who first drank the blood of Mannoroth show no sign of this corruption beyond their green skin, and Mannoroth's blood was likely even more potent than that used to corrupt the modern orcs of Outland - Magtheridon's.
Thoughts, comments?--Weasel (talk) 02:37, 8 September 2011 (UTC)