(Or really a phylogenetic tree. I just liked the sound of family tree more in the title.)
So, in reading a post by James over at Grognardia, about Dragon articles on fantasy languages, I started to wonder if sometimes I just don't fly my geek flag high enough. As in...maybe I'm not appropriately minmaxing the fun I could get out of the RPG hobby by not allowing myself to just go nuts like I want to as a nerdy scientist who also loves games about elves and goblins.
James posted a tree of language families, originally appearing in Dragon #66, that shows the development of the Middle Elfin tongue into a variety of fae languages. And it's awesome. I love that sort of stuff, so why don't I do more of it? I wonder sometimes if I remain so focused on having an "anything goes" attitude about the world(s) I game in (like the setting for the Monstrous Matters campaign) that I miss out on creating things that would genuinely make me smile, even if I don't completely buy into all of the specifics.
With that in mind, I'm going to consider this a worthwhile way to spend a few minutes. Here's a phylogenetic tree of a few goblinoid species, along with a few creatures from that galaxy far, far away that I suspect might be closely related. (If you have access to genetic data, please let me know; this is just based on physical characteristics.)
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Images from the Forgotten Realms Wiki, Wookieepedia, and Scryfall |
I feel like this just opens up a whole world of stories for how these species became distributed as they are. Maybe I'll follow up there. (If you'd like to see some of my related ramblings, please check out the stuff I've written about the Fantaspora Hypothesis and #WookieesAreBugbears.)
Thanks for looking! Now, for a character (cribbed from RPGGamer.org):
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Image from Wookieepedia |
Wicket
Full name: Wicket Wystri Warrick
Dexterity 3
Knowledge 2
Presence 4
Skills: Survival +4, Thrown Weapons +3, Languages +2, Climb +1
Goals: Helping and protecting his friends
Quote: "Goodbye. Good-bye."
I grew up with Fighting Fantasy and Warhammer, so this idea of goblins and hobgoblins and bugbears being different versions of the same thing strikes me as very rum indeed.
ReplyDeleteEveryone knows that it's goblins and orcs that are related!
A very legitimate objection! (I did, of course, have to double-check the meaning of "rum" to make sure I understood it was an objection. ;)
DeleteI actually really like the goblin/orc connection as well (and in fact was pretty happy to see it formalized in MTG in their LOTR sets...since the goblin/orc distinction is apparently pretty fuzzy there). I would even say that at one point in time, the idea of Greenskins as an evolutionary clade was probably my favorite take on orcs and goblins. (I do still like green-skinned orcs the best!)
Now that I reflect, I think I was taken in by the bugbear connection, at least in part, because I love goblins and liked the idea that a tall ugly hairy mofo like me could be one of them! :)
In all seriousness, thank you for the thought! I shall incorporate orcs in here soon. You're definitely helping me refine the shtick I'll fall back on to justify my evolutionary trees. (Hey, you can't really argue with genetics... ;)
Ha! It wasn't meant to make you revise your diagram!
DeleteAlthough, if you're going to include orcs, you may need to make space for Gamorreans...
Hey, it's science, I have to be ready to revise my views as new data become available. ;)
Delete(But really, I am planning on continuing to build on this. I just have to transfer it to some sort of actual cladogram software, as I learned with this one that ANY little changes to it are a pain, with my inexperience with Google Slides...!)
I also wonder where bigfoots (bigfeet?) and sasquatches (sasquatchii?) fit? Are they related to Wookies?
ReplyDeleteGreat point! According to that one Star Wars comic with Indiana Jones, Chewie's presence on Earth inspired Sasquatch lore (sorry if that's a spoiler!). And if Yetis come into play also...well we may have to include the Wampa (and the Bumble from Rudolph).
DeleteI'm pretty sure Gigantopithecus is involved somehow with those. Back to the lab...
(Thanks!)