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Aeonna — What Drow ought to look like
Published: 2007-08-30 18:03:44 +0000 UTC; Views: 14720; Favourites: 152; Downloads: 176
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To my mind, it would be logical if the Drow were all albino, as many cave-dwelling creatures are.In this picture I have also given the Drow girl large, bat-like ears as I assumed that her hearing would need to be excellent in such dark surroundings. She may even be blind. I postulate this with the assumption that the Drow, after thousands of years in the Underdark, cut off from the Surface, would adapt to their environment.
Further comment: Thank you for some great discussions on this subject! Some of the comments contained points so important that they ought to be mentioned here.
1) Talking of evolution in this context in misleading, as the process takes a lot longer than the few thousand years I mentioned. This becomes even more true if one assumes that the Drow have a longer life-span and reach maturity later than Humans.
2) A self-contained world COMPLETELY without sunlight is not orthodox D&D, whichever version of the rules one looks at. I know this and I only discuss the make-up of life without sunlight because it is an amusing theoretical dilemma.
3) There are several different versions of the D&D world. In one early version, the Drow were in fact pale and in another, dark only refers to their moral alignment.
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Comments: 178
You know... There's an OOOOOOOLD problem with the Drow being called "dark elves". They always had, Old Tolkien kind of always had. Here you see, the previous illustrations on drow... well...
[link]
[link]
[link]
[link]
[link]
Can you get the vibe? Hehe. They went a long way from Africa to sun deprived elves.
Hey, I broke my 6 months record just to post here. You should be honored. :3 Hehe Als: I love your comics. Gonna donate whenever I can, gotta keep it running.
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Thanks for posting those links. It's very interesting to see early depictions. I've heard a lot of different views on the origin of the Drow, so many that I thought that Dark elves and Drow are completely separate. I think they are now in many versions of D&D? (Though I base this on hearsay.)
Was that a six month record of staying away from Deviantart? That's like six years in Internet time!
If it's CornerAlley13 you like then I'll have to disappoint you. I don't plan on making any more pages any time soon. But thank you for the thought!
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Hey, I'm an account necromancer. Six ears are like six days for me. Mwahahaahaha. You should be honored, tho. I wouldn't do this if I didn't really think you was worth it (oooh but the password hunting is always fun).
And yeah, Dark Elves, Gray Elves, Drow and whatyouhave. They are nameless thousands, but the consensus is more or so the same. Spider (b*tch) queen and evil and underground. Some tend to get around that, like yours truly. What brings me to the point:
What?! I am baffled that you suggest that YOU, one of the best fantasy comics author I had the delight to meet this past few years, can disappoint me. If you had the ability to disappoint me, darling, you would already have done that.
This month I read all your comic and I must say it did not disappoint. Actually I'm happy it came to a halt. Some authors don't see the need for an end to what they do, but without an END there is no STORY. There is no EPIC. And yours, my truly, is an epic story worth reading and reading again.
You don't disappoint me, honey. You enspell me.
But don't get me wrong, I wish for it a glorious return. I know that someday that little fey inside you will scream for freedom and criativity will flow again, for it must always flow. As I said, I'm an old guy with eons for a life-spam. I have all the time at my leisure. I can wait and I will.
Just when it happens watch for me, so I can be again chained by your charms, o' might lady.
Thank you, o' so very much.
Yours only and ancient,
Bavette of Agony, Planewalker.
PS: Sorry about the wall of text and I hope my humble writing is of your liking, you deserve a better and bigger one...
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Wow! Thank you for the long message - truly I am touched.
My creativity has not disappeared and I hope to upload some more comic material soon. It probably won't be CA13-related but perhaps you will be able to enjoy it anyway ^^
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There you go again, using words like "probably" or "able to enjoy" and "perharps" when referring to my taste for your work.
I can asure you there will be no "perharps", when you finish whatever your beautiful mind is brewing I'd like very much to enjoy it, O Alchemist of Tales.
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Then I shall present my work with confidence ^^
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This is actually very good.But,still... 👍: 0 ⏩: 1
The drow have actually adapted.Their eyes are usually red,and they see in both normal and in heat.If their is any light,such as candles--yes,drow have them--then they see normal.But,in the darkness,they see heat.Their ears can already hear extremely well.Cat's don't have large ears at times,yet they still hear very,very well.That's kind of how the drow hear.
Maybe their skin is so dark because if it wasn't,they could be mistaken as another kind of elf.Or maybe,its because of their evil Goddess Llolth
Just to clarify the title of this piece: I am not trying to replace the canonic Drow saga. This is just a thought experiment of how they could have looked if they were an evolutionary product of the Underdark.
In this thought experiment, I tried to adhere to what would be biologically possible in our world. Heat-vision just seems odd to me. To my knowledge there is no animal in the world with this type of sight.
Cats' ears can adjust direction and catch up sound waves. The ears I've drawn here aren't supposed to give superior hearing by virtue of size, but are larger to allow echolocation by sonar.
I don't think the Drow would develop dark skin just to distinguish themselves from other elven races. How would they get such control over their natural appearance? The premise of this piece was to disregard the classic cause - a curse - and instead try to see what the Drow would look like if they were shaped by their environment, meaning magic is not a valid factor.
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Perhaps the Underdark produces enough Vitamin D that its inhabitants don't NEED to become pale to catch sunlight, or skin "dark as obsidian" is actually desirable for camouflage (since it's such a cut-throat environment), or aesthetics, or both. *shrug*
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My guess is that the Drow can only get vitamin D through meat. If not that they they would have to synthesize vitamin D themselves, like most animals.
Aesthetics aside, dark skin for camouflage seems reasonable.
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Well, there you go!
(There are apparently rare cases of Alblino Drow with bone white skin and hair and red eyes, so your image is still accurate and lovely. ^^ )
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She's a very pretty Drow and I too have thought "Why aren't Drow all chalky white with matching hair?"
But I do love the contrast of their dark skin against their white hair.
I think the white hair has something to do with the fact they worship a spider goddess. I'm not sure though: I don't know much about DnD Drow. All I know is that like the Drow of folk tales, they are a matriarchal society.
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I like the contrast look too, it does make them look very "spidery". It's just nice to try other ideas sometimes.
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It is. Which is why I love yours
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Most of the works on Drows are largely inspired by Norse mythology. The fact they got black skin is related to that inspiration. In Norse mythology, mining/smith would be the cause of their dark skin.
But true, some versions of the Dark Elves are albinos. In some other versions, "dark" is only related to their alignment, and nothing to do with their skin.
In a more artistic sense, I believe your perception of a Drow -along with your artistic work- is really well done. I do enjoy the dark-skinned version of the Drows myself, though.
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I live in Sweden, so I am quite familiar with Norse mythology, but I have not previously heard anything about dark skinned miners. The only thing I can think of are the dwarves, and if they had dark skin it is likely to be due to uncleanliness.
I too like the Drow look with dark skin and white hair. This piece was merely a speculation about an alternative appearance.
Thank you for the comment!
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What I've heard is that there are no real differences between Dark elves and Dwarves in Norse Mythology. Is it such? I dunno.
Either way, nice pic.
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I've always thought of them as just dwarves, I didn't realize they had elements of drow in them, but then again I am no expert.
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It's funny what you can manage to find on Wikipedia nowadays.
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So you did find an article about it?
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Of course, I didn't find all that out of nowhere. I think I could have checked a book on mythology, but I'm not sure if Dwarves and Drows from Norse culture would be covered.
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Their skin pigmentation is a visual reflection of the curse of Corellon Larethian - the elven god that banished Lloth and her people - so it isn't about logic, it's about showing the rest of the world their traitorous nature.
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You are right that a curse is the official explanation. What I am trying to explore is what the Drow would look like if their appearence did follow logical adaption to their environment.
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I often have thought about this. I agree, they should be albino. I know they were cursed and blah blah...but albino drow should exist
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It would be logical wouldn't it? Even if not all Drow were albino there should at least be some.
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Well in that case, they could lose pigmentation if they stayed only in places that had no light - but if you use the Underdark as they're home, then there are several areas where fungi and magical creatures cause light - meaning drow might have black skin to blend in with the rocks around them. But they also age really slowly, so evolution would take longer for them. But I'm also a bit biased for the original take
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Being partial to the original take on the Drow is quite alright. This is just a mental experiment : )
I don't think that luminous fungi and magical creatures would cause so much light that the Underdark would be lit up, but that is a valid point. I suppose it all depends on how the Underdark denizens' vision works. If they, like us see by light then artifical light, and thus camouflage, would have uses. But if they see with infra-red, then blending in with the background is impossible. I've heard different versions on this, and I'm not sure which type of vision is the officially accepted.
The Drow do live longer, so I suppose evolution would be delayed, but that also depends on whether the Drow mature at a time in their life proportional to Humans or whether it may in fact be earlier.
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Drow can (and have in Faerun) live to 2000 years. Generally speaking, all elves are considered young adults at about 80. Being considered a grown adult would be around 120-130.
But in Drow society, you generally don't have children until you're a Matron Mother, and that could be well into 800-1000 years of age.
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Thank you for that information! Is this the official D&D version? As I've mentioned before, my understanding of the Drow is based mostly on snippets of second-hand information.
I have assumed that most Drow have children, and that they reach maturity sooner than humans if their lifespans are compared proportionally.
Know I understand I should revise my interpretation.
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Not exactly, since there are so many different worlds in D&D. That's based on the most popular world in D&D, Forgotten Realms. The standard world in D&D is Grey Hawk, and I think that's also their age in that world, so I suppose that's the real standards. But it doesn't apply to all D&D worlds.
In Dragonlance, dark elves are simply white skinned elves who have turned evil and been cast out from society. All elves in Dragonlance live to an average of 300 years, and reach maturity at 80.
So it really just depends, but the official D&D is Greyhawk, and people love Forgotten Realms, so, yeah.
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I didn't even know about Greyhawk! I took Forgotten Realms to be the standard.
I guess I should do more research.
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Thank you for drawing this! I totally agree, they should be albino. But nobody seems to listen to logic. Great job BTW.
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You do have a very valid point, but it is possible for them to be such dark skinned if you think about it because a lot of creatures also develop camouflage for their surrounds. Admittingly if humans lived underground for as long as the drow i think they'd look like that. The ears is a nice touch though because good hearing would be very useful.
Plus I don't know what they looked like before they lived in the underdark. Plus albino's are very rare so if they are isolated then the race would find it very difficult to develop into albino's because of the very limited number, plus albino's is a lack of being able to process certain proteins. Another reason for the rareness of the albino animals in most cases they get eaten quickly because predictors can see them more.
And i noticed a few people point out they have a drow character ^^ recently i have made a lawful good drow paladin that is very interesting for a drow ^^ here she is if your curious -> [link]
Any way your picture looks very awesome and it is a very cool idea to bring up the discussion, it is very interesting.
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Albinism is a lack of pigmentation (melanin). I didn't know there was an inability to process certain proteins involved. Unless melanin is a protein, but that would really confuse me.
You are correct in saying that creatures adapt to their surroundings, but the important point that I am trying to make is that in a hypothetical cave world with no light whatsoever, no creatures will be able to use their eyes anyway, not the Drow nor their natural enemies. Camouflage then becomes redundant, as does the sun protection provided by melanin.
The disadvantages of albinism, photo sensitivity and reduced vision, are cancelled out. Granted, from an evolutionary perspective, albinism isn't an advantage either and would not lead to greater survival chances for the creatures carrying the hereditary albinism strain. And, as has been mentioned earlier in the discussion, evolution takes a lot longer than a few thousand years. It has been observed though, that creatures living completely or mostly in caves (troglobites) have a higher degree of pigmentation loss than there sun-exposed counterparts. Some are also completely blind. This can not only be explained by genetics and albinism. Admittedly, this has been observed mostly in smaller creatures such as insects.
The heightening of other senses would be what determines survival in a darkened world. Bats' "sonar" would also be very useful.
The problem here is, that life in a world completely without sun is not possible. There has to be some way of introducing plants into the food chain for the environment to be able to sustain creatures as developed as the Drow. Either these plants, in the form of algae, come from the outside, though rivers or passages to the Surface, or the Drow have a method of producing light through magical means (not fire, it consumes too much oxygen). And if the Drow have light, then clearly they will need vision, camouflage and melanin!
It's a complicated business, but oh, so fascinating!
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I think the lack of melanin is a side effect, i briefly did about it at uni quite a few years ago, so i remember the general gist of things. You do bring up so very valid points, in total darkness eyes as we know it couldn't see because our eyes need to reflect some light to be able to work.
But i think one DnD book says they have infra red vision and thats how they do it. But i can't fully remember.
Animals with good dark vision even need some light, but the light of the moon and stars is often enough. Which is why some other DnD creatures like dwarfs and other elves make a little more sense because they have low light. But in the depths of the sea where there is also no light you do get creatures with bio illuminessence where they can make there own light, so if you had creature in the cave that could do that then there would be some light.
And to your point about life can't exist in total darkness comes into this as well, you get micro organisms that provide the lower end of the food chain for bigger animals and so on and they get the things like need from geysers which provide heat and i think nutrients which the heat also lacks because the sun can get down there.
So in a cave if you had nutrients and heat (so if you where close to a magma source because the crust of the earth is thinner in some places, so we can assume that a similar thing happens in a fantasy setting then the primary producer would be bacteria instead of plants or other micro organisms. I think there are examples of these things happening in caves as well but i don't remember that stuff as clearly as the geysers.
The ears are a very good point, and in area's where the cave where in fact total darkness they would be very beneficial and would make a lot of sense.
And some of the disadvantages of anabolism would be cancelled out but there is still the lack of being able to digest a certain protein and in a harsh environment that could prove to be very fetal, i know the protein can be found if baked beans if that helps but they can be given treatment so they can be ok on them.
I do agree it is very interesting and it is good to be able to talk about things like this to someone.
One point i would like to make though i do think that your version of the drow is possible but i don't think it is impossible they look like the do if they would have been in that sort of environment.
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Yes, the Drow may just as well be dark skinned -- we could probably make a good case for that too -- but one wonders why they lack pigment in their hair and eyes (white and red). A head of white hair should betray their presence just as much as pale skin.
As for infra red vision, this is something I don't quite understand. I have heard other versions in which the Drow have heat vision. In both cases camouflage through colour is meaningless, because hues are not what is perceived!
I've done some quick research now and as I've understood it albinos have different types of defects in a certain protein which to varying degrees prevents their bodies from creating melanin. The rest of the protein can be processed however, so they don't have any severe limitations on their diet. Does this sound more or less right? If I've misunderstood, and they have a complete anabolic dysfunction then this would of course be fatal in a harsh environment...
You make an interesting point about geysers and bacteria and how they can contribute to the foundation of the food chain. I know there exist basic life forms who live all their lives in total darkness, as well as some fish and insects. I hesititate to think that creatures the size of the Drow could find enough to eat in a contained cave world though. But maybe I'm just not grasping the scope of the lower end food chain. Maybe it is possible for the Drow to live in total darkness!
Heat isn't such a big problem. The temperature of the earth increases more rapidly than you would think with each mile of depth. If I recall correctly it is 25 degrees Celsius at just 1 km depth.
As I see it we have arrived at three possible versions of Drow biology, dependent on two environmental scenarios:
1. There is no light in the Underdark. The fragile eco-system is sustained by geysers >
A. The Drow are blind, with heightened remaining senses or
B. They have infra red vision, in both cases >
Albinism is not a disadvantage, but nor does it have to be the principal appearance of the Drow.
2. There is some light in the Underdark, created by magic or by luminous creatures and fungi > The Drow see as we do, but with heightened dark vision, and camouflage becomes important. The white hair is not a problem as long as they wear hats.
In most D&D versions I have come across the Underdark cities are lighted, which suggests version 2. Sometimes the Drow are also purported to have infra red vision, which creates a curious mixture (2B) which I see little reason in.
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I agree with pretty much which what you have said actually ^^ i can't explain the eyes and hair to be honest because i have little in nature i can compare it with. And yeah i think the versions where have come up with could all be possible.
But if their is a enough mirco organisms to sustain, fish or small creatures for the fish to eat then the drow could eat fish, or bigger creatures who eat the fish, they'd have to eat some of the mirco-organisms (that some can group together so we can see it) too because they'd need the vitamins from some where.
My point about the heat was in the underwater geysers then the temperature is very cool so most animals like close to the geysers where the temperature is warmer, but that issue would not be as big underground because of the temperature of the surrounding rock. Because other wise the Drow would look very different still because of the cold.
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Oh my YES! In the cold the Drow would be all hairy @.@
...like the abominable snowman...
It's a frightening thought.
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They are a cursed race, so all their physical appearance all of it because they are cursed. They used to look like normal elves but because of how evil they where they where cursed. So there appearance is magical and their is even a epic feat where reformed drow who stood against it all get reborn as in elven bodies to what they would look like without the curse.
Also their eyes can be blue, red or purple, which i didn't know until i read it today ^^
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Hm... so the answer is "it happened through magic"! After our long conversation that's quite unsatisfying.
I had no idea the Drow could have blue eyes!
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I told you are convo was far more interesting ^^ and saying it was magic is kind of cheating. I thought you would like to know out of curiosity and i have really been liking our convo, plus one cool thing is that at least we came up with a conclusion to how they actually survive down there.
I had no idea about the eyes too, i thought they where always red ^^
I also noticed we are the same age ^^ i am 22 as well ^^ i really like your other art work to it is well drawn ^^
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Sorry, I didn't mean that as a put-down to you. I was merely trying to say that our version is more interesting than the official one. But as you say, it is nice to know the official version. Thank you for that.
I just noticed you are based in the UK. I used to live in London, but that was a long time ago.
I like your artwork too!
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It is fine i didn't take it that way ^^ i was a little worried that you didn't like me telling you that 
I live near Manchester in the UK and it's cool you used to live her, so what made you move? if you don't mind me asking of course ^^ I have been to London a couple of times in the past though.
Thanks i like your art work too i think you website looks really awesome as well.
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I was only five years old when I moved away from London, so unfortunately I have very few memories of the city. My mother is from Sweden so that's why the whole family moved here. I think she missed the winter sports and forests.
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I see, i think you do get very attached to some places and they are very nice things about Sweden 
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I was reading a 1980's compy of The Dragon magazine and they described drow as being like the 'negative copy' of a surface elf. My guess is that in their original design they were going for opposites: Black instead of pale skin, white instead of dark hair, red instead of green eyes.
Although your idea makes a great deal of sence I'd like to argue a few point for the sake of conversation. First, arn't they supposed to have magical ways of lighting up their caves? Menzoberranzan sounded pretty advanced. Secondly, wasn't the black-skinned thing part of their banishment? I think they'd stay that way so as not to be confused with albinos of other elf types if they ventured to the surface.
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From a purely symbolic point of view the idea of the Drow being negative copies of Elves makes perfect sense. But this is an author's perspective on his creation. What I am trying to argue for is an internal logic in the fictional world, in which the Drow appearance which would suit or be determined by their environment – the Underdark.
I am only acquainted with D&D through second hand sources, so I am not familiar with Menzoberranzan, but I will try to follow this thread all the same. First of all, I don't see why the Drow would want to light their caves in the first place if they can see in the dark anyway. This would just give equal advantage to invading surfacers. If the caves are lighted for nostalgic reasons or to allow crops to be grown, this would make more sense. For this picture I have assumed that the caves are not lighted, and that the Underdark harbours life without sunlight, which would seem to be impossible. I would be obliged if you would inform me what the official reason for lighting the Underdark is.
Another assumption of mine is that the Underdark is hermetically sealed from the outside world, which means the Drow race would develop in isolation from other races and influences. The Drow skin hue should then be a result of mutations or prevailing albinism and not the result of active choice serving to visually distinguish the Drow from other races.
I haven't heard the real (D&D) reason why the Drow were banished. Was there supposed to be a curse involved which turned their skin ashen?
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Good point.
Most of my Drow info coms from this wikia: [link]
Anything else I've also heard secondhand , with the exception of a few Forgotten Realms books and a D&D rulebook or two. This has always given me the impression that they arn't totally sealed off, but they live by themselves and never leave. With, of course, the exception of the famous Drizzt Do'Urden.
The story of the Drow leaving the surface world varies. Usually it involves them fleeing anfter being quite violent towards everyone else.
All in all you have a very good point. Logicly they would eventually end up like that. I just have trouble wrapping my brain around them living in total darkness.
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Thanks for the link! This wiki is very informative.
I know that the Drow aren't sealed off in the traditional version of the story, that was a detail I added to make the scenario more interesting.
Living in total darkness should be impossible in many ways. In a pet theory which I use in my webcomic, the Underdark does have artificial lighting, but its purpose is mainly to aid photosynthesis, not to give the Drow light to see by. I can never get the particulars of the "Descent" straightened out, so in the same webcomic everyone has simply forgotten what the reason they had to leave the Surface was.
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