How would you guys feel if the Xel'Naga were such as illustrated in the image below?
Can't really tell where there eyes and other facial features are supposed to be...
EDIT: Here are some more possibilities I imagined for Xel'Naga designs or that could inspire the Xel'Naga's design. Most of them are water/bug based, if not a mix of both.
TBH, I think Blizzard's idea is not necessarily bad, but I don't like their design. Blizzard's Xel'Naga look like giant bloated space whales, like something that came out of Star Wars or Star Trek. I'd rather have something more brooding, beautiful, yet alien, yet somewhat menacing, but advanced-looking. Something that actually doesn't look like a Zerg unit or like it's weak. Something that has some finesse to it, that doesn't look too bulky, either.
Updated my post/reply with a bunch of design suggestions/ideas/inspirations. I personally don't fancy Blizzard's design for them, and I agree with changing them. Heck, the Protoss Hybrid already looks like a better Xel'Naga than Blizzard's final design.
I'm thinking of mixing the Cthulhu head, add a slug tail, have the prothean as host body, and the Psion Mother for the silhouette for a female host Xel'Naga.
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Whatever you do, wholeheartedly, moment by heartfelt moment, becomes a tool for the expression of your very soul.
I'm thinking of mixing the Cthulhu head, add a slug tail, have the prothean as host body, and the Psion Mother for the silhouette for a female host Xel'Naga.
Keep in mind we only saw their original bodies and not the hosts that were supposed to be there physically back when they interacted with protoss and zerg. Amon's host was a hybrid and Narud's host was a shapeshifter (we have no idea where that comes from). If anything they don't seem to be literal hosts, they are made to house a Xel'naga's mind from the start, more like avatars than hosts.
Keep in mind we only saw their original bodies and not the hosts that were supposed to be there physically back when they interacted with protoss and zerg. Amon's host was a hybrid and Narud's host was a shapeshifter (we have no idea where that comes from). If anything they don't seem to be literal hosts, they are made to house a Xel'naga's mind from the start, more like avatars than hosts.
Actually, you see the dead Xel'Naga inside the Ulnar in LotV, alongside Artanis, and they look just like Ouros and Amon.
EDIT:
An even more interesting idea for a Xel'Naga/Hybrid:
Actually, you see the dead Xel'Naga inside the Ulnar in LotV, alongside Artanis, and they look just like Ouros and Amon.
Yes, but Ulnar is a direct link to the void inside an astral anomaly that "should not exist". So maybe it doesn't count as our standard universe for that.
My take is Ouros/Amon and the bodies we see are possibly the forms from the PREVIOUS cycle. I think the Hybrids are a perversion of what the Protoss and Zerg would have come together as naturally as the Xel'Naga planned, but odds are the unified race would have still resembled the Hybrids - in other words Amon forced their coming together.
Yes, but Ulnar is a direct link to the void inside an astral anomaly that "should not exist". So maybe it doesn't count as our standard universe for that.
But keep in mind that Bipedal and quadrupedal creatures are those most capable of evolving highly advanced and specialized brains, so it makes sense, in a way. Not to mention many Zerg creatures, as well as the Protoss, are all bipedal.
However, they can always look like the Psion Mother I posted or like the Void Thrashers. Those are not bipedal, but they don't look "fat and weak", either. I would also imagine transposing Xel'Naga Duran's face and extra arms on a Void Thrasher body, that could work, too.
But keep in mind that Bipedal and quadrupedal creatures are those most capable of evolving highly advanced and specialized brains, so it makes sense, in a way.
you are basing this on earths biology. in any case, its an aesthetic choice, not a form of accuracy by the author tbh
edit: I find it difficult to think how the Xel'Naga would use their tech if they had the Cthulhu bodies though. They had world ships, and the Xel'Naga temples, the tech the protoss and Dark Templar were able to extract from them.
edit: I find it difficult to think how the Xel'Naga would use their tech if they had the Cthulhu bodies though. They had world ships, and the Xel'Naga temples, the tech the protoss and Dark Templar were able to extract from them.
Keep in mind in the stories and such much Protoss technology is described as being controlled telepathically - lack of limbs is not necessarily an issue. For example in the Dark Templar Trilogy a Human pilot is unable to pilot a Protoss ship because she's not a telepath.
Aside from the Cthulhu image (I think we all know blizzard had that in because the fans were asking for it in the forums), did you ever get an idea of what the XelNaga looked like? I mean, as you read the books, were there any ideas thrown in that should help us, at least, form an abstract of what they are or how they appear?
I'm not sure if I should post this in the Xel'Naga thread or this one. Well here we go...
My mind has always gone wild thinking about the Hybrid and Xel'Naga after I first played the game in 98 when I was just a kid. There was so much to imagine. What was Duran's goal? Who does he work for? What does a Hybrid look like? What do the bug statues on top of the Xel'Naga temple mean?
Before StarCraft 2 came out I imagined the Xel'Naga looking very much like Protoss as they had purity of form. They would be more sophisticated though. Maybe more eyes, tentacles or even no legs at all like the dark archon. When StarCraft 2 came along we all knew the Xel'Naga would be addressed in some way since the Zeratul scene was shown. This provided exactly what I imagined and I instantly said "Hey, they just showed a Xel'Naga on that wall!". Unfortunately they went another way but I still think that was the original design.
Now I have some evidence but most of this is theory.
An art guy at Blizzard said no Xel'Naga art has been made just after HoTS was released. Naturally you would think that means the prophecy carving isn't a Xel'Naga but the Hybrid Dominator was actually named "Xel'Naga Destroyer" in the editor on WoL release. Which means at some point the Hybrid was supposed to be Xel'Naga. It's likely this changed as a large portion of WoL changed from 2007-2010. It would be infinitely more expensive to change the look of the possible Xel'Naga in the Zeratul scene that had already been released. Thus it is certainly possible that was a Xel'Naga before they changed it. Some argue it is a Hybrid but the prophecy wouldn't make sense showing a Hybrid and it looks completely different. Also in Blizzcon panels they revealed that the stories for each campaign were made up as they went along. There possibly was an original story for the entire game but when they split into three it must have changed as evident in WoL.
So in my opinion the carving fits how I always imagined a Xel'Naga. I believe it changed from that into the squid thing over time because the writers are fans of Lovecraft. Hell they hamfisted a WarCraft story that doesn't belong into StarCraft so why not something else they like.
I also always thought the Hybrid would essentially be an infested Protoss, but less drone like and more intelligent. The StarCraft 2 Hybrid always felt too much like Xel'Naga to me. In fact the Protoss Hybrid (Dominator) looks much nicer and more advanced than any regular Protoss. I'm confused at how Zeratul thought it was an "Abomination".
Same here. But when I saw the carving on the temple, I thought it was a crude representation of Xel'Naga. Much like how it depicted the protoss and Zerg. They were merely pictographs, like how cave drawings are.
As for Zeratul's reaction, I had these thoughts:
1. He would have known what the Xel'Naga looked like, since he was old enough to have been in the Aeon of Strife.
2. What he saw in the tank was not how the Xel'Naga looked like, but a deformity trying to look like Xel'Naga.
edit: But come to think of it now, duran never mentioned that the creature in that tank was Xel'Naga. He stated it was the culmination of an experiment that started a long time ago.
It never dawned on me that what he saw in that tank resebled a Xel'Naga, but rather a version of his, and whoever his master(s) was trying to accomplish.
Now it makes sense even more, after reading in the manual that the Xel'Naga had actually achieved their goals with the Zerg, before the Overmind destroyed them.
They watched the overmind take other species into its fold, and maybe that tells us what their purposes are for creating this purity of essence and form.
Currently, I've come to the thought that the Xel'Naga wanted all species to be one. In some strange way, achieve harmony or peace throughout the galaxy by putting all under one mind. Communism, in some sense, or the likes.
In contrast, Duran could want change in the same way, but all would be under this Master(s) he mentions.
Can't really tell where there eyes and other facial features are supposed to be...
EDIT: Here are some more possibilities I imagined for Xel'Naga designs or that could inspire the Xel'Naga's design. Most of them are water/bug based, if not a mix of both.
TBH, I think Blizzard's idea is not necessarily bad, but I don't like their design. Blizzard's Xel'Naga look like giant bloated space whales, like something that came out of Star Wars or Star Trek. I'd rather have something more brooding, beautiful, yet alien, yet somewhat menacing, but advanced-looking. Something that actually doesn't look like a Zerg unit or like it's weak. Something that has some finesse to it, that doesn't look too bulky, either.
I made a thread in the general discussion here:
https://www.sc2mapster.com/forums/general/general-chat/131342-the-xel-naga/#p1
the eyes of the host (pale brown) is closed, just below the brow ride of the creature. The blue part is the Xel'naga.
edit:
Those would be nice to add.
Whatever you do, wholeheartedly, moment by heartfelt moment, becomes a tool for the expression of your very soul.
Updated my post/reply with a bunch of design suggestions/ideas/inspirations. I personally don't fancy Blizzard's design for them, and I agree with changing them. Heck, the Protoss Hybrid already looks like a better Xel'Naga than Blizzard's final design.
I'm thinking of mixing the Cthulhu head, add a slug tail, have the prothean as host body, and the Psion Mother for the silhouette for a female host Xel'Naga.
Whatever you do, wholeheartedly, moment by heartfelt moment, becomes a tool for the expression of your very soul.
I'm all for it! I agree with the idea :)
Keep in mind we only saw their original bodies and not the hosts that were supposed to be there physically back when they interacted with protoss and zerg. Amon's host was a hybrid and Narud's host was a shapeshifter (we have no idea where that comes from). If anything they don't seem to be literal hosts, they are made to house a Xel'naga's mind from the start, more like avatars than hosts.
Actually, you see the dead Xel'Naga inside the Ulnar in LotV, alongside Artanis, and they look just like Ouros and Amon.
EDIT:
An even more interesting idea for a Xel'Naga/Hybrid:
http://mavros-thanatos.deviantart.com/art/Tentacle-Alien-375809247
That reminds me of Cloverfield.
Whatever you do, wholeheartedly, moment by heartfelt moment, becomes a tool for the expression of your very soul.
Yes, but Ulnar is a direct link to the void inside an astral anomaly that "should not exist". So maybe it doesn't count as our standard universe for that.
EDIT: I'm tired of all the bipedal aliens already. So even if the cthulhu thing is a well known cliché I'd rather have it than another bipedal alien species like 99% of everything else out there.
My take is Ouros/Amon and the bodies we see are possibly the forms from the PREVIOUS cycle. I think the Hybrids are a perversion of what the Protoss and Zerg would have come together as naturally as the Xel'Naga planned, but odds are the unified race would have still resembled the Hybrids - in other words Amon forced their coming together.
But keep in mind that Bipedal and quadrupedal creatures are those most capable of evolving highly advanced and specialized brains, so it makes sense, in a way. Not to mention many Zerg creatures, as well as the Protoss, are all bipedal.
However, they can always look like the Psion Mother I posted or like the Void Thrashers. Those are not bipedal, but they don't look "fat and weak", either. I would also imagine transposing Xel'Naga Duran's face and extra arms on a Void Thrasher body, that could work, too.
you are basing this on earths biology. in any case, its an aesthetic choice, not a form of accuracy by the author tbh
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small update on the Consular:
edit: I find it difficult to think how the Xel'Naga would use their tech if they had the Cthulhu bodies though. They had world ships, and the Xel'Naga temples, the tech the protoss and Dark Templar were able to extract from them.
Maybe they had limbs.
Whatever you do, wholeheartedly, moment by heartfelt moment, becomes a tool for the expression of your very soul.
For what it's worth, I agree with you :)
Keep in mind in the stories and such much Protoss technology is described as being controlled telepathically - lack of limbs is not necessarily an issue. For example in the Dark Templar Trilogy a Human pilot is unable to pilot a Protoss ship because she's not a telepath.
That is a nice point to take note of.
Aside from the Cthulhu image (I think we all know blizzard had that in because the fans were asking for it in the forums), did you ever get an idea of what the XelNaga looked like? I mean, as you read the books, were there any ideas thrown in that should help us, at least, form an abstract of what they are or how they appear?
Whatever you do, wholeheartedly, moment by heartfelt moment, becomes a tool for the expression of your very soul.
Your concept looks a lot like what I imagined
four heads in one. i thought the consular as a renditio of the vision of isiah: a mix of the faces of a man, eagle, lion, and ox.
Whatever you do, wholeheartedly, moment by heartfelt moment, becomes a tool for the expression of your very soul.
I'm not sure if I should post this in the Xel'Naga thread or this one. Well here we go...
My mind has always gone wild thinking about the Hybrid and Xel'Naga after I first played the game in 98 when I was just a kid. There was so much to imagine. What was Duran's goal? Who does he work for? What does a Hybrid look like? What do the bug statues on top of the Xel'Naga temple mean?
Before StarCraft 2 came out I imagined the Xel'Naga looking very much like Protoss as they had purity of form. They would be more sophisticated though. Maybe more eyes, tentacles or even no legs at all like the dark archon. When StarCraft 2 came along we all knew the Xel'Naga would be addressed in some way since the Zeratul scene was shown. This provided exactly what I imagined and I instantly said "Hey, they just showed a Xel'Naga on that wall!". Unfortunately they went another way but I still think that was the original design.
Now I have some evidence but most of this is theory.
An art guy at Blizzard said no Xel'Naga art has been made just after HoTS was released. Naturally you would think that means the prophecy carving isn't a Xel'Naga but the Hybrid Dominator was actually named "Xel'Naga Destroyer" in the editor on WoL release. Which means at some point the Hybrid was supposed to be Xel'Naga. It's likely this changed as a large portion of WoL changed from 2007-2010. It would be infinitely more expensive to change the look of the possible Xel'Naga in the Zeratul scene that had already been released. Thus it is certainly possible that was a Xel'Naga before they changed it. Some argue it is a Hybrid but the prophecy wouldn't make sense showing a Hybrid and it looks completely different. Also in Blizzcon panels they revealed that the stories for each campaign were made up as they went along. There possibly was an original story for the entire game but when they split into three it must have changed as evident in WoL.
So in my opinion the carving fits how I always imagined a Xel'Naga. I believe it changed from that into the squid thing over time because the writers are fans of Lovecraft. Hell they hamfisted a WarCraft story that doesn't belong into StarCraft so why not something else they like.
I also always thought the Hybrid would essentially be an infested Protoss, but less drone like and more intelligent. The StarCraft 2 Hybrid always felt too much like Xel'Naga to me. In fact the Protoss Hybrid (Dominator) looks much nicer and more advanced than any regular Protoss. I'm confused at how Zeratul thought it was an "Abomination".
I apologize for the wall of text.
Same here. But when I saw the carving on the temple, I thought it was a crude representation of Xel'Naga. Much like how it depicted the protoss and Zerg. They were merely pictographs, like how cave drawings are.
As for Zeratul's reaction, I had these thoughts:
1. He would have known what the Xel'Naga looked like, since he was old enough to have been in the Aeon of Strife.
2. What he saw in the tank was not how the Xel'Naga looked like, but a deformity trying to look like Xel'Naga.
edit: But come to think of it now, duran never mentioned that the creature in that tank was Xel'Naga. He stated it was the culmination of an experiment that started a long time ago.
It never dawned on me that what he saw in that tank resebled a Xel'Naga, but rather a version of his, and whoever his master(s) was trying to accomplish.
Now it makes sense even more, after reading in the manual that the Xel'Naga had actually achieved their goals with the Zerg, before the Overmind destroyed them.
They watched the overmind take other species into its fold, and maybe that tells us what their purposes are for creating this purity of essence and form.
Currently, I've come to the thought that the Xel'Naga wanted all species to be one. In some strange way, achieve harmony or peace throughout the galaxy by putting all under one mind. Communism, in some sense, or the likes.
In contrast, Duran could want change in the same way, but all would be under this Master(s) he mentions.
Edit: I had just found this browsing now:
Whatever you do, wholeheartedly, moment by heartfelt moment, becomes a tool for the expression of your very soul.