Wednesday, November 5, 2008

WASP #4 - The Fantasy Art of Heroes V

(This was originally posted at WordPress before we moved to Blogger)



Wednesday Art Showcase Presents - The Fantasy Art of Heroes V



Ever since Tolkien (was there fantasy before Tolkien?), orcs have been a mainstay of fantasy as a generic and conveniently not-human-enough adversary. Their biology has been variously cast as fallen elves, pig-men, and even a fungal lifeform that sprouts from spores (WH40K).



Today's fantasy art showcases Orcs from Heroes of Might and Magic, where they are cast as backward and exploited half-human half-demon barbarians, with a basic sense of honour and spirituality. The half-human and unpredictable demon angle lets them be mirrored strongly off the Heroes 5 demon units, and yet retain a lot of variation and individuality. On the surface, the wide variation may seem to make the overall Stronghold faction a mishmash, but I think if you compare them with demons' Inferno faction, you'll see a "method to the madness".



Stronghold Warrior



Stronghold Shaman



Stronghold Slayer



Barbarian



Click image for full-size image at Flickr. Link to Flickr is mandatory per Flickr terms of use. All images are copyrighted by their respective owners.



Fantasy Art and Portraits: A showcase of the fantasy art of computer games

No comments:

Post a Comment