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AimOfDestiny — Warg-Rider

Published: 2011-08-19 16:09:11 +0000 UTC; Views: 2431; Favourites: 31; Downloads: 64
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Description Wargs get a bad rep.

A lot of the time, they are only seen as mindless killers and mounts for those creatures who would eat a milder-mannered mount, like Tolkien's orcs and Uruk-hai. I don't think they deserve this.
Wolves, who Wargs are most often likened to, are not mindless, slavering killers. I don't have to tell you that; you probably know it already. They have interesting hierarchical sturctures, they kill only to eat, they care for their young and even for the sick or weak members of the pack.
However.
You can't ride wolves.
Bear with me here; I have a point.
Wolves are not anatomically suited to having anything sit on their backs. No matter how big you make them, a rider is going to have a damaging impact to a wolf's back. Their spines are just not built to be loadbearing. They bend too much. (Horses' spines, and cows' or camels' for that matter, don't bend nearly as much in motion as a wolf's or a cat's does.)
So if you're going to ride a carnivore? Better make it a bear or a hyena. Both of those have massive, muscular shoulders that can, if the proportions fit, bear enough load to carry a rider. (That's why my Warg-Rider's saddle is way in the front: this is the only area where a giant hyena can carry extra weight.)
Why did I pick the hyena?
Well, bears aren't really known for being very social creatures. Hyenas ARE. They have a female-dominated pack structure and therefore are probably easier to tame than solitary, terrirorial bears.

In other words, wargs that can be ridden must be physically and mentally suited for the job - they must respond to authority and follow orders, just like a riding horse would. A mindless killing machine is just not suited to the task.

Art and characters belong to .
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Comments: 9

wyky [2018-12-08 19:17:17 +0000 UTC]

Great analysis and drawing !

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masonday [2011-12-02 01:44:54 +0000 UTC]

COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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AimOfDestiny In reply to masonday [2011-12-02 06:47:05 +0000 UTC]

Why thank you! ^^

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Esherymack [2011-09-11 05:57:45 +0000 UTC]

in lord of the rings online the wargs that warg-riders ride are pretty freaking huge, but like the ones on the moors (the Player versus monster player area in case you don't know) they're pretty small. they're also a bit of a pain in the arse for the regular players on there because they can stealth and ambush you, usually in packs -.-
lol, nice job though o3o i like this version of a warg rider lol

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AimOfDestiny In reply to Esherymack [2011-09-11 09:47:23 +0000 UTC]

Yes, LotR gets them right. Both in the movies and in the game.
Hey, nobody said that all wargs have to be ridden! IIRC, the books have several mentions of wargs in packs, with nary an orc in sight.

Thanks!

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Esherymack In reply to AimOfDestiny [2011-09-11 15:40:39 +0000 UTC]

no problem o3o lol

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AimOfDestiny In reply to Esherymack [2011-09-11 16:10:06 +0000 UTC]

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Doresh [2011-08-19 19:29:00 +0000 UTC]

Actually, increasing the size of a wolf makes things WORSE, thanks to the Square-Cube-Law (if you increase something's size by x, its surface area will increase by x² and its mass by x³). A wolf that big would have a hard time carrying its own weight.

That's the reason why insects have exoskeletons and amazing physical abilities: because their almost non-existant mass allows it.

Anyways, an awesome pic - especially since I could see you coloring it ^^ !

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AimOfDestiny In reply to Doresh [2011-08-19 20:02:17 +0000 UTC]

Exactly! You can, however, get away with a hyena the size of mine up there: predators with similar body plans/feeding habits used to be that size (short-faced bear [link] , American lion [link] , giant polar bear [link] and the liger exists today, even though those are sterile hybrids [link] ). Also, there are plenty of animals that are big enough to carry a human AND their own weight.

If spiderman's abilities had been scaled using the square-cube-law, he'd be significantly weaker than any normal human.

Thanks! ...the photo ate most of the colour. :C

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