This site makes extensive use of JavaScript.
Please enable JavaScript in your browser.
Live
PTR
10.2.7
PTR
10.2.6
Beta
The Worgen Curse – An Analysis and Discussion
Post Reply
Return to board index
Post by
Morec0
WARNING: This discussion contains spoilers for the Worgen Race storyline in
Cataclysm
. You have henceforth been warned.
Inspired by a post that delved into the mechanics of why fire spells do not burn the hands of the mages that use them, I am going to attempt to understand the mechanics behind the worgen curse. Note that I have no major in genetics, zoology, magic, or anything that has to do with what I’m about to try and comprehend, so please point out any mistakes I’ve made in my logic and I’ll see how disastrous they prove to be towards my thoughts.
There are parts to this:
A History and Summery of the Worgen Race
The Worgen Curse/A Cure?
The Worgen Transformation/Children of the Curse
Post by
Morec0
A History and Summery of the Worgen Race:
Early History:
The earliest recorded information on the worgen - in terms of what the younger races of Azeroth know - states that the worgen themselves are not native to Azeroth. It was speculated that they were from another planet located within the Twisting Nether, and were brought to Azeroth through the experimentation of dark sorcery. They are thoroughly evil, as they enjoy torturing other living creatures and love to hear their victim’s screams of agony. They never show mercy or remorse.
However, these same sources claim that the worgen, despite appearing to be little more than bloodthirsty savages, are fairly intelligent creatures with a society all their own. They are divided into separate packs, each led by the eldest male until he is no longer physically capable of doing so. At that point the younger worgen devour their patriarch, which is seen as a great honor and, according to their beliefs, actually makes them stronger and more cunning. Until that time comes, however, they do not challenge the leadership of the pack leader. They dwell in simple huts and wear cured leather as armor, but do not use weapons – save their own claws.
In more recent years, however, these sources have been proven incorrect. The worgen derive their existence not from another world, but from one of Azeroth’s oldest races; the night elves. A group of night elves, calling themselves Druids of the Pack and later Druids of the Scythe, revered and followed the ancient wolf Goldrinn – or Lo’Gosh as he is known to the orcs – and took on the worgen as their chosen form. This means that the worgen themselves are not, or at least did not start out as, a completely different race, but instead are, or were, night elven druids. Druids who later, due to the nature of the “Park Form,” lost themselves to madness and became little more than beasts. These druids were then sealed away from the rest of the world.
Awakening, the Scythe, and Gilneas:
A great deal of time later, the worgen were awoken and summoned not by one, but two distinct forces; in Kalimdor by the Sentinel Velinde Starsong, with the help of an artifact known only as the Scythe of Elune, to assist her against the forces of the burning Legion, and in the Eastern Kingdoms by the Archmage Arugal, with the help of the mage Ur’s research, to combat the undead Scourge.
For a time, the werewolf-like creatures aided those who had summoned them, but eventually they turned against them and attacked. Velinde used what control she had over them to order them to remain in Ashenvale while she went in search of Arugal, who she believed might be able to help her regain control of the worgen. Arugal however, perhaps driven mad by the deaths of so many of his fellow mages caused by the worgen that he had summoned, had fled into the nearby keep owned by Baron Silverlaine – which, like the Village of Pyrewood to the south, had also fallen to the worgen.
It is possible that Velinde and the Scythe never made it to see Arugal, as both disappeared without any mention of where they might be. The Scythe had continued to summon worgen without Velinde’s assistance, however, and Duskwood is filled with the creatures because of it. Arugal was slain by adventurers and later resurrected by the infamous Lich King to continue his work, leading to a new population of worgen that now infest the Grizzly Hills of Northrend, including Arugal’s “Wolfcult.”
The Scythe itself, though, remains to be of interest to many groups and has been claimed to be located in a number of places. A man named Jitters who lives within Duskwood was believed to have found it, prompting the interest of a group known only as the Black Riders and the dark mage Morganth. A group of trappers in Grizzly Hills later was believed to be in possession of it, as a slip of a tongue points out that relic brought to them by the Alliance may, in fact, be the legendary Scythe.
These accounts are put into question, though, when the Scythe’s real location is revealed; Gilneas, stolen from the druids of Blackwald by the Forsaken. What became of Velinde, though, is a mystery, and, given the murderous nature of the worgen, it may be better that it is not known. Either way, because of it – or maybe simply because of the worgen already present in Silverpine Forest – Gilneas was overrun with worgen and many of its populace – including King Genn Greymane and Prince Liam Greymane – were infected and transformed into the beasts themselves.
A partial cure was developed by the Royal Chemist Krennan Aranas, and the potion is used to give control back to many of the infected. When the Cataclysm opens up Gilneas to invasion, however, the people of Gilneas find themselves under attack by the undead Forsaken. After much work to try and fight back, they find a hope for their state with the night elven awakened Druids of the Scythe and the Alliance. The druids, though a powerful ritual, give the infect Gilneans control over their worgen halves, allowing them to fight back the invading undead and save their kingdom.
Physiology:
The bodies of the worgen are covered in fur that can range from white, to brown, to black. When standing they are six-to-seven feet tall, weigh around 250-to-300 pounds, walk on two legs – although preferring to run on all fours – and even have their own language, although it is made up of little more than barks, growls, and howls. They prefer the darkness of night, but can operate equally well in the light of day.
Most worgen keep their wolf-like form, but worgen human “hybrids” – results of a human being infected with the worgen curse – are able to take on either their human form or the form of the worgen at will, although some are forced into the body of a worgen during the night.
For more, read:
Worgen
Goldrinn
Druids of the Scythe
Gilneas
Arugal
Wolfcult
Velinde Starsong
Scythe of Elune
Post by
Morec0
The Worgen Curse/A Cure?:
Before I go into depth, let us review what we know about the Worgen Curse, which, honestly, isn't much: it can affect humans, transfered through bites, and causes whoever is affected to transform into a feral worgen unless treated.
Now we began to take the information apart. The transfered-by-bite nature of the Curse seems to indicate that it is rabies like, transfered through the saliva of the creature biting to who or whatever the victim is. After it infects a target, it then proceeds to mutate it into a savage, wolf-like creature; the worgen.
So, how does a simple infection almost completely change the race of a victim? The answer for this comes in three possible explanations:
The Worgen Curse is completely natural, and changes whoever is infected on the genetic level.
The Worgen Curse is magical, like the druids-from-which-it-originated's ability to shapeshift.
It, like the Plague of Undeath, is a combonation of both nature and magic.
Origins of the Curse:
Before I go into any further depth on what state of existance the Curse is, however, I must first pose a question: how could such a curse come to be? I have given it some thought, and come up with another three plausible answer to
this
question.
Shapeshifting-magic is so latent in the bodies of the worgen that a simple bite can transfere the ability to transform from one person to another.
Druidic magic was the cause of the original transformation, so maybe druidic magic continues to be the source. Somehow - maybe through the mating of the Druids of the Pack - the magic that caused this transformation became so latent in their bodies, as a result of genes that carry the magica traits, that, with just a bite, the transformation is forced upon the bitten person. The original, wise druids who praticiced the art lost their minds just by staying in Pack form for too long. What would a sudden, painful transformation from man to werewolf-like creature do to an average human's mind?
There are, however, a few problems with this theory. First off, is magical ability, when it comes to nature magic, at least, capable of increasing through genetics? I will admit, I am a slightly partial to the idea of magic or magic-like powers increasing through genetics, it is just seems to be a fitting scientific explanation for it. Whether or not this is true if the cannon of the Warcraft Universe, however, is debatable, and, as such, so is that portion of this first theory.
Secondly, can a druid's shapeshifting ability be forced? Those who read Stormrage may beg to differ - or not, depending on whether it was expressed in the book - but it seems to me that druids have full control over their ability to shapeshift. The only exception to that would be the Druids of the Pack, but that was because they lost their minds.
The ability to transform into the "Pack Form" (as it was originally known) was always a dissease, first gifted to the druids by Goldrinn.
The ability to become a the "Pack Form," the worgen, could have always been a rabies-like dissease. This dissease would have first been administered to the first Druids of the Pack in the form of a blessing - blessing, given by the nature of the Curse, meaning a bite - by the wolf Ancient Goldrinn, or maybe by his fang. Those elder druids would have then administered this blessing to other initiate druids by the same means; a bite or the fang. This might help to explain why they lost their minds. Rabies causes a form mania in those infected, and this dissease would do something similar, corrupting and 'devolving' the minds of the Druids of the Pack.
Again, there are problems. Firstly, Goldrinn died, or at least vanished, after the battle with the demons, possibly before the druids of the pack came to be. This, however, does not rule out that the fang was used, although it seems unlikely, though not impossible, that a lone tooth would be able to carry such an elaborate infection. Secondly, we have Ralaar Fangfire. He appeared out of nowhere to the Druids of the Pack one day, never before having been infected by the Worgen Curse, as far as lore says, but was already capable of transforming into the Pack form.
The inbreeding of Druids of the Pack brought about a dissease or kind of venom that forces a transformation into the worgen in whoever is bitten.
This is the oddest of them all, so bear with me.
The inbreeding of the Druids of the Pack had an effect, as one would expect, on their genetic makeup. Over time, it brought about the infection - in the form of a microbial dissease in their saliva or maybe even some form of venom - in the bodies of the worgen. This dissease/venom carried with it something - maybe magic, maybe a powerfully dominant gene that overwrites the host DNA to an extent - that forces whoever it is administered to transform into a worgen.
There are, once more, problem however. Could such a dissease come to be unintentionally? This may not seem hard to belive, but take to consideration that it is within the bodies of the worgen itself. If that is not enough, take into consideration what it does! The Plague of Undeath has a similar albeit more devistating and wider-spread affect, but it was manufactured by supernatural demons! Lastly, and simply stated; there is no lore to support that theh worgen evolved this kind of trait. Heck, there's no lore to support
any
of this as a matter of fact!
These are just some thoughts of mine, if you have your own I encourage you to post them here for analysis and discussion.
Natural or Magical:
Now we return to whether or not it is magical, or natural, or a combonation of the two.
Note that Druidic transformations themselves are magical whereas the infection-nature of the Worgen Curse's bite/tranformation points at it to be natural. Another point that seems to say that it is natural is that Chemist Krennan Aranas was able to create a partially-successful cure for the Curse, as well as it seems that it is unable to be cured via
spell-based
means - of course, Cure Dissease also cures non-magical disseases. If the phrase "magic must defeat magic" holds any merit in the Warcraft Universe, then shouldn't a spell be able to defeat it? And shouldn't it be able to be cured?
Of course, the fact that Krennan's cure was only partially successful may prove that it is magical, or at least half-magical. Were it not, a mind as intelligent as Krennan's would surely be able to develop a cure. Wouldn't it? Again, it seems to come back to "magic must defeat magic." We will return to this in a little bit, though.
Who can it be Spread to?:
Either way, who can this curse be spread to? So far it seems that night elves and humans can, but can it be spread to any race? Can it even be spread to night elves? Even though the curse originated from them, could the Druids of the Pack have become so genetically different over the years that the magic or dissease that originated from them? Maybe it has certain prerequsosites that dictate who it can be transfered to, or maybe it is simply like many other disseases, able to infect varrying races and species if given time.
However, one thing is for certain; the Worgen Curse originated on Azeroth, so maybe other races native to it are capable of being infected. This would rule out orcs as possible infectees, while leaving gnomes able to be infected by it. Either way, it is clear that we will need to know much more about the Curse in order to determine that.
However, we do know one thing; something about the Curse prevent those infected with it from being raised into undeath. This, actually, makes sense, and is fairly easy to explain; being as the worgen curse originated from nature magic, and nature magic abhors the unnatural, and undeath is as unnatural as you get. So, understandably and perhapes obviously, something about the natural origins of the Worgen Curse remains, even after death, and cancels out the necromantic magic that causes undeath. This in itself may confirm that the Curse is magical in nature.
A Cure:
Lastly, a possible cure for the Curse. Like almost every other question in this post, this comes back to whether the Curse is Magical or natural. If the Curse is natural, then a scientific solution may be possible. This seems to be supported by the fact that Krennan managed to create the potion he did, however it is just as contridicted by this potion, as it is only partially successful.
If the Curse is magical, however, then only a magical solution may be viable (for the third time: "magic must defeat magic). If the curse is a combonation of magical and natural, though, that is a different matter altogether. Besides possibly explaining why Krennan's potion was only partially successful, it may also explain why it took magic to finally give the people of Gilneas control over their worgen halves.
Post by
Morec0
The Transformation/Children and the Curse:
Now for a look at the worgen transformation itself; by which I mean under what circumstances those infected transform into worgen and how this transformation might take place.
A Look Back at Past Transformations:
Looking back, the worgen transformation has been described a number of given ways up till now. In Arugal's original worgen/human hybrids the change only occurred during the night.
The worgen/human hybrids he later created in Grizzly Hills - specifically the more human members of the wolfcult - seemed to have some control over at which points they transformed - at least to the extent they could remain in their human form until being beat down in combat for a while.
Lastly; the Gilnean worgen are capable of changing between their two forms at will, but are forced into their worgen form during combat.
So why the differences in the conditions needed for the worgen transformation to take effect? Perhaps the first worgen/human hybrids Arugal created were imperfect - after all, they were those being experimented on by Arugal's foul magic. More likely, however, it was simply a retconed into the infected having more control over their curse.
What Causes the Transformation:
So, what causes the in-combat worgen transformation to occur? It was speculated at some point that it might be the smell of blood, and that makes perfect sense for being forced into worgen form during combat. However, being as there can be not a drop of blood around for the Gilnean worgen to transform at will there could be another reason.
The second option is one that I prefer for roleplaying, as it allows for more flexibility in RP situations and makes more sense scientifically. This second option is that a increase in heart rate, adrenaline or blood pressure triggers whatever it is that causes the curse - be it magic or a virus (see above discussion) - into a state of hyperactivity, quickly forcing the change in genetic makeup and turning the infected into worgen.
Also, it stands to reason that the transformation would likely be physically very, very painful. After all you have limps and features stretching to the size of a worgen from the size of a human, if that fails to cause you some pain you are much tougher then I am. It also stands to reason, however, that as a person goes through the transformation in his life-time he would become more and more accustomed to the change and the sensations it brings and may even start to like how it feels after some time. On a related note, a similar interpretation - provided magical assistance - may apply to druid transformations.
Children and the Curse:
There is little to discuss with children and the curse, More than likely, children are born either human or worgen, depending in which form they were conceived. I say this because of Ivar Bloodfang and his feral Silverpine worgen, I highly doubt that if a human child were born to worgen parents, or at least feral worgen ones, the parents would do anything but see it as a disgusting creature and, possibly, a snack.
Regardless of being worgen-born or human born, though, I see their first transformation - be it worgen-to-human or human-to-worgen - would be a forced change when adolescent hits, or at least it will be for a human-born child. Adolescence has become the staple point for the unlocking of special characteristics and powers in children when it comes to fantasy, and might be due to the hormonal changes in a child that occur around this time having a similar effect on their body as a increase in heart rate or whatever would in later years. Not only would this possibly explain the occurrences of such in Warcraft, but this may also prove to be a viable explanation for such unlocking of potential in any fantasy universe.
Post by
Morec0
Reserved
Post by
Morec0
Reserved
Post by
barthem
maybe fun to know, worgen cant be raised as undeath, thats why the guys in grizzly hills and half of lordaeron became a worgen, so they couldnt be raised by scourge/forsaken and could defend themself,
maybe a nice fact to mention
Post by
229054
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
457614
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
GVHB
maybe fun to know, worgen cant be raised as undeath, thats why the guys in grizzly hills and half of lordaeron became a worgen, so they couldnt be raised by scourge/forsaken and could defend themself,
maybe a nice fact to mention
Actually, I think the wolfcult was allied to the Scourge.
Still they weren't undead, just cursed humans inhabitants of the Grizzly Hills (supposedly, humans lived there before the factions expedition arrived in the continent, probably remnants of Arthas expedition to kill Mal'ganis).
Post by
Monday
maybe fun to know, worgen cant be raised as undeath, thats why the guys in grizzly hills and half of lordaeron became a worgen, so they couldnt be raised by scourge/forsaken and could defend themself,
maybe a nice fact to mention
Actually, I think the wolfcult was allied to the Scourge.
Still they weren't undead, just cursed humans inhabitants of the Grizzly Hills (supposedly, humans lived there before the factions expedition arrived in the continent, probably remnants of Arthas expedition to kill Mal'ganis).
I thought they were trappers who went to Northrend for furs, kinda like old Mountain Men and most of Western North America.
Post by
355559
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
GVHB
They are referred as "locals" by one of the Alliance leaders at Amberpine Lodge. Silverbrook is also not an Alliance town, humans sent an envoy there and you are also told to help him is his "diplomatic efforts".
Post by
Morec0
Updated with a second and more open for discussion section. Let the flaming begin.
Post by
Aimsyr
Wasn't it mentioned somewhere that the curse is also transferred by coming into contact with worgen blood? I think it was in the lore to do with how the curse spread unintentionally from wounded worgen that Arugal had summoned through humans coming into contact with their blood. I am not really sure if this is true, but I recall seeing it stated somewhere.
Post by
Morec0
Wasn't it mentioned somewhere that the curse is also transferred by coming into contact with worgen blood? I think it was in the lore to do with how the curse spread unintentionally from wounded worgen that Arugal had summoned through humans coming into contact with their blood. I am not really sure if this is true, but I recall seeing it stated somewhere.
I think that was from the early beta/alpha models of the worgen 1-5 starting zone, in which they player character would be infected by worgen blood while fighting them and then change into a worgen him/herself by the end of it. However, I'm fairly certain that this was later changed back into being bitten.
Post by
Aimsyr
Wasn't it mentioned somewhere that the curse is also transferred by coming into contact with worgen blood? I think it was in the lore to do with how the curse spread unintentionally from wounded worgen that Arugal had summoned through humans coming into contact with their blood. I am not really sure if this is true, but I recall seeing it stated somewhere.
I think that was from the early beta/alpha models of the worgen 1-5 starting zone, in which they player character would be infected by worgen blood while fighting them and then change into a worgen him/herself by the end of it. However, I'm fairly certain that this was later changed back into being bitten.
Okay, so the only method of getting the curse is through a bite now then?
Post by
Morec0
Wasn't it mentioned somewhere that the curse is also transferred by coming into contact with worgen blood? I think it was in the lore to do with how the curse spread unintentionally from wounded worgen that Arugal had summoned through humans coming into contact with their blood. I am not really sure if this is true, but I recall seeing it stated somewhere.
I think that was from the early beta/alpha models of the worgen 1-5 starting zone, in which they player character would be infected by worgen blood while fighting them and then change into a worgen him/herself by the end of it. However, I'm fairly certain that this was later changed back into being bitten.
Okay, so the only method of getting the curse is through a bite now then?
To the best of my knowledge, yes.
Post by
Adamsm
It's probably hereditary as well; Worgen parents will end up with Worgen children, with the Curse activating either at birth or at puberty.
Post by
Morec0
It's probably hereditary as well; Worgen parents will end up with Worgen children, with the Curse activating either at birth or at puberty.
My thoughts exactly, and I'll be touching on that in the third section. I wanted to cover the immediate matter of the infection form of the Curse, its origins, and its nature first.
Post Reply
You are not logged in. Please
log in
to post a reply or
register
if you don't already have an account.