I usually love to play Western fantasy type RPG games, whether it is World of Warcraft, Diablo, Winter’s Night, Elder Scrolls or Invincible Heroes, are my favorites. In the game, players often have to control and play multiple characters, such as paladins, death knights, mages, druids ……, and so on. So what is the historical origin behind these fantasy professions?
1. Druid
In games like World of Warcraft and Diablo, there exists a profession called Druid. This profession is close to nature, proficient in natural spells, able to control vines, turning into various animals such as bears, wolves, leopards and birds. They can even summon heaven-destroying lightning to wash away the evil in the world.
Historically, the Druids originated from the Druidism of the ancient Celts, and the Druids were an important social class of the Celts. In ancient times, the Celts had spread throughout Europe, and Druidism spread throughout Europe with their footsteps. The Druid class included poets, lawmakers, and doctors, and the most famous of these were the Druids as priests.
From the etymology of Druid, the root word dr, in the Indo-European language family, often stands for tree. And Druid, also known as “oak prophet”. The status of the oak tree (oak) in Druidism is immeasurable, as a symbol of the highest deity. Mistletoe, which is parasitic on the oak tree, is regarded as a cure for all diseases. Druids of many ritual activities, often rely on the oak tree as a medium. In the world of warcraft, the world tree located in Hagar, in fact, is an oak tree.
In the druid class, the strongest are known as archdruids, or Arch-druid, and they use many magical spells. For example, control vines to wrap around opponents, change into a giant bear to tear apart the enemy, transform into a bird overlooking the enemy, very powerful. And these magical spells, but also become today’s fantasy game druids in the master spells. In the recent hit American drama “A Song of Ice and Fire”, Stark Bran was taught to become the so-called “Green Prophet”. And from the spells that Bran has mastered, it is actually the ancient druids.
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In European history, the records of Druidism mainly come from the Greek and Roman records, including Caesar’s “Gallic Wars”. In Caesar’s eyes, compared to the nobility and civilization of the Romans, the Druidic traditions of the Celts and Gauls were undoubtedly superstitious, even barbaric. In Caesar’s view, the most barbaric and cruel act in Druidism was undoubtedly “human sacrifice”. In Caesar’s account, the Druid mage would plunge a sharp blade into the chest of a sacrificial victim, and then predict the future by his convulsions before death, and the blood flowing around. In addition, the druid would put the poor victim into a huge pre-tied straw man. At the time of sacrifice, the druids will set the straw man on fire and burn the victim alive to sacrifice to the gods. This scene is shown in the famous movie “The Heretic” starring Nicolas Cage.
Under the iron heel of the Roman legions, Druidism suffered a heavy blow. Druids, as high priests, would often appear on the battlefield of the Tuomans. In the battle, even black-clad, they jumped up and down, constantly cursing and terrorizing the Romans. However, under the short swords of the Romans, the “spells” of the druids did not seem to work. In the end, the Celts were conquered by Rome and their Druidism was strongly attacked by the Romans. When Christianity ruled Europe, there was no room for Druidism as an evil pagan religion. Druidism was gradually wiped out and even absorbed by Christianity, and finally tended to die out. It was only in the 18th century that the new Druidism was reestablished, and of course the doctrine was significantly different from the previous one.
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2. Paladin
Paladin, or paladin as we often call it, is basically a knight with a monastic nature. They often wear heavy armor, with a devout faith and weapons in hand, and the world’s evil battle. On the battlefield, the paladin is the bravest warrior, a shield for his comrades, but also a powerful healer. So what is the history of paladins?
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Paladin, formerly translated as Ranger Knight, was not translated as Paladin until later. The name, Paladin, mainly highlights their religious nature and can be said to be the warriors of God. The earliest Paladin, came from the Twelve Horsemen under the tent of Charlemagne. They were also known as the “TwelvePeers”, or the Twelve Servants, and the most famous of them was undoubtedly the knight Roland. In the Middle Ages, the “Song of Roland”, based on him, was quite popular. Roland had a loyal Christian faith, he was faithful to the king, fought bravely against the pagans, and was the most typical Palatine. After Emperor Charlemagne, the knights of Europe formed a special kind of chivalry. The chivalric way preaches light and righteousness, praises the spirit of helping the poor and the needy, emphasizes the protection of women and children and the weak, and advocates the eradication of evil with the sword of justice, which is a rather noble spirit. In the game, the paladin generally adheres to the “knight’s way”, appearing very great and righteous.
In the game, the paladin will generally take religion as a bond, grouped together to form a knight group. For example, in “World of Warcraft”, there is the Order of the Silver Hand; in “Diablo”, there is the Order of the Holy Church Knights of the Holy Church Army. These Orders not only provide force support for the state and civilians, but also provide medical care for others. In fact, there is a historical prototype for this. During the Crusades, the Pope had established three major orders of monk knights. They were both heavily armored and invincible soldiers on the battlefield, and also monks spreading the way of Christ, their characteristics coincide with the game’s paladins. At the same time, there is a hospital knight order among the three major knight orders. This order is not only warlike, but also has a passion for charity. The Order was founded in a hospital in Jerusalem, specializing in caring for the wounded and the charitable, hence the title Hospital Knights. This is supposed to be the origin of the healing properties of the paladins. To this day, the Knights of the Hospital have lost their attributes as soldiers, but are still dedicated to charitable work, such as providing medical care to others, seeking asylum for refugees, and so on.
3. Various Mages
In the fantasy game of sword and magic, mages are undoubtedly a very important corner. They have powerful spells in their hands and use them for the cause of good or evil. In fantasy games, mages have many names. According to their professional direction, can be divided into magician, warlock, necromancer and other kinds of mages.
Magician, that is, what we often say mage. The most famous mage is undoubtedly the guide next to King Arthur – Archmage Merlin. Merlin as a template, the mages are more than the image of a very learned white-bearded wise man. Like Dumbledore, Gandalf, Saruman, are such an image. In games, mages also look largely like this, such as the Archmage in Warcraft and the Mage of the Tower Clan in Heroes of Might and Magic 3. For mages, magic is not innate, but takes a long time to learn. Therefore, in their early years, mages must go to a magic academy to further their studies in order to learn and refine their magic. In novels such as Harry Potter and Earthsea, and in games such as World of Warcraft and Invincible Heroes, there are such magic schools. In games and novels, mages are generally representatives of justice, often providing guidance to the protagonist or the protagonist’s team with their wisdom. The following types of mages, however, are not so righteous.
Warlock is a derivative of the Old English wǣrloga, which means “liar”. In the European legends, Warlock and the devil always have an unexplained relationship. In their pursuit of power, they are willing to sign a contract with demons at the cost of their souls and become their slaves. In Warlock for evil, often summon their demon master for support. In the Middle Ages, the Warlock, who was close to the devil, was naturally the object of the Inquisition’s efforts to combat it, causing many people to die, including a large number of innocent people. In World of Warcraft, Warlock is generally translated as Warlock. In fact, from the type of spells they have, it seems more apt to describe them as demon warlocks.
Necromancer, also known as Necromancer, they mainly study death mages and are good at manipulating undead and zombies. Necromancer is derived from the Greek νεκρομαντεία, which refers to a sorcerer who manipulates the undead and uses them as a medium to foretell the future, somewhat similar to the Chinese Goddess. In Homer’s Odyssey, the Odyssey had used the necromancer as a medium to visit the world of the dead. Necromancers have existed widely throughout history and throughout the world. However, in the Christian view, necromancy is undoubtedly a deviant and demonic sorcery. Its ability to manipulate the dead and to foretell the future has always been the most committed objection of Christianity. In the medieval witch hunts, the necromancers, as street rats, were undoubtedly the main target of the fight. But today, the necromancer still exists in the form of a psychic, becoming a medium to communicate with the living and the dead. In the game, quite gothic color necromancer, is undoubtedly the most loved object of the players, and exist in several games.
In addition to the above three mages, there are sorcerer (alchemist), witch (witch), Illusionist (illusionist) and many other kinds, I will not count them one by one.
4. Death knight
There is light and there is darkness, there are paladins, there are also death knights. Death knight often fallen from the paladin, such as the protagonist of “Warcraft” – Prince Alsace.
The setting of the Death Knight is mainly derived from the famous chapter of the Bible, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in the Book of Revelation. St. John had written that at the time of the imminent end of the world, four great judges on horseback will descend, and they will blow the trumpet of death. These four horsemen ride white, red, black and gray horses, representing pestilence, war, famine and death. They will kill a quarter of the people on earth with disease, sword, hunger, and the devil. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, in turn, became an important source of the image of the Horsemen of Death. They are both heavily armored, sword-wielding weapons masters, but also master the power of death, frost and pestilence caster. Death knights often ride skeletal war horses, wearing a black armor. A pair of cold, glittering eyes, in a deadly silence and darkness that appears. Death knight through the place, leaving behind all the blood, white bones and desolation.
Death knight represents, often the fall of the former warrior of justice, bringing a strong sense of contrast. Just like the “Star Wars”, the fall of Vader.
5. Barbarians
Barbarians, in English is savage. in fantasy games, barbarians do not use magic, but use their muscles like a giant mountain, and powerful as the gods of the enemy.
Barbarians, is quite with the Greek and Norse mythological characteristics of the profession. They are very powerful, even have the power to move mountains and seas; they mainly use melee weapons, and can even destroy the devil and kill the gods. In Greek mythology, Hercules Hercules, as well as the sword and spear Achilles is undoubtedly an important source of barbarian image. The former used to kill many demons and giants with brute force, while the latter even had the ability to call on Apollo, the sun god.
Of course, the most important source of barbarians is still in Northern Europe. In the Dark Ages, the Norse roamed the coasts of Europe as pirates. Among the pirates, there is a powerful warrior known as berserker, which translates to berserker. In the Nordic culture, very revered warriors. All the generals who died in battle will be transformed into spirits and go to Odin’s temple Valhalla, to become the spirit warriors who put the gods to death. In the lure of this honor, many Vikings turned into brave berserker. before the battle, berserkers will drink strong wine or take drugs similar to stimulants beforehand. In the battle, the best of the berserkers, often will not wear a piece of armor, roaring, wielding a heavy battle axe rushed to the enemy. In the Norse language, ber stands for naked. Berserkers use this to show their bravery, hoping to get an invitation to Valhalla after death.
Therefore, in fantasy games, barbarians generally rarely wear armor, holding the general, are such as axes, hammers and such heavy melee weapons. In the famous movie series – Barbarian Curran, Schwarzenegger as Curran is also this kind of naked fierce man.
6. Ranger
Ranger, called range in English, is a proficient in archery, agile fighters. In addition to shooting a good hand in addition to arrows, make a good hand knife method is also very necessary. In the fantasy game, the ranger is generally active in the forest, is the defender of nature and order. This occupation is between the hunter and thief, and he also knows a little bit of spells, basically druidic spells.
In its original historical form, the Ranger originated from the English legendary thief – Robin Hood, a warrior and thief who was an outstanding martial artist who robbed the rich and gave to the poor. Legend has it that he lived in the woods of Sherwood, Nottingham, and often used his bow and arrows to ambush greedy noblemen. How strong was Robin Hood’s bowmanship? The second arrow he shot could split the previous one in half, and a term used in archery to this day is called (Robin Hood). Of course, it is impossible to find out whether there was really a Robin Hood in history, but the forest archer did exist. Forest archers were often marooned soldiers who made their living by looting and hunting, hence the name forest wanderers. To this day, some forest rangers are also called Park ranger.
In the game, the ranger always reminds people of the elven archer. This is because the image of the elven marksman Legolas in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings is too deeply rooted. Therefore, in World of Warcraft, rangers are only produced among the High Elves. They are famous in the battlefield with their wind-like pace and hundred-shot arrows. Although the ranger attack power is not as pure warrior, but has a special killing power to huge creatures. So it is not surprising that in the movie, Legolas shot the giant elephant with one arrow.
7. Amazonian warrior
Amazon warrior, Amazon, a representative of female warriors. In “Diablo”, the Amazon is one of the most popular professions.
Amazon warrior women originated from Greek mythology, is a brave and fierce race. According to legend, the Amazons are tall and can ride and shoot well, and it is said that they invented the cavalry tactics. The Amazons are extremely repulsive to men and never allow the presence of men in the country. In order to pass on their heritage, they would prey on the males of the surrounding tribes and cut off their hands and feet to be used as livestock for “seeding”. When a baby girl is born, she is raised by the tribe; when a baby boy is born, he is killed immediately. To facilitate archery, Amazonian women would cut off their right breast. Legend has it that the Amazons worshiped Ares, the god of war, and were ruled by a queen. In the Battle of Troy, the Amazons followed Ares to join the Trojan side and had caused great trouble to the Greek allied forces. In mythology, the Amazons were the target of the Greek heroes’ practice. Herakles, Achilles and Theseus, all had fierce battles with the Amazons.
In reality, the original form of the Amazons can be derived from the nomadic Scythians. Compared to the farming people, nomadic women have higher social status and are more brave, with many good riders and shooters
