Silithid

The Silithids are a race of insect-like creatures inhabiting various parts of southern Kalimdor.

History

Scholars disagree on the origins of the Silithid. Some believe they are an offshoot of the arachnoid Nerubians, an insect race that mostly dwells in the northern regions of Azeroth. Others believe they are a new race heretofore unknown on Azeroth, possibly having arrived from another world elsewhere in the Twisting Nether, much as the orcs once did. Still others posit that they are servants of the qiraji, and that their presence in Southern Kalimdor is a harbinger of the qiraji invasion.Template:Cite

Before the Great Sundering, Kalimdor, the ancient continent of eternal starlight, was a nurturing mother to all of its creatures. At the continent's center was a mysterious lake of incandescent energies, the Well of Eternity. It was the true heart of the world's magic and natural power. From this magical ether the Silithid were born. As the fallen Old God C'Thun recognized their appearance, he attempted to sunder the world that it once held in its merciless grasp. The Old God created avatars from the Silithid in its own image. These avatars were eventually known as Qiraji. Sapient and with thousands of years the Qiraji worked feverishly to build a force capable of laying waste to the world that would betray their god with the Silithids as their minions.

Biology

Their chitinous plating is interlaced in such a way that makes it incredibly strong. These creatures are very powerful and highly evolved.
Silithid can range in size from a normal insect to gigantic. Size seems to depend on how long the Silithid are allowed to develop in their egg stage. It appears that size is also directly correlated with colony size.
It can be inferred that caste is dependent on how the Silithid are "instructed" to develop, since larva forms have been found.
Each of the three Hives in Silithus has a crystalline prism in it. They are apparently a means for the Qiraji and other unknown entities to communicate various messages to the Silithid.

Locations

Silithidactivities — Locations of the Silithids

The Silithids burrow their underground hives all over southern Kalimdor. All of Silithus is under their control, and they have hives in Feralas, Tanaris, Un'Goro Crater, and the Shimmering Flats. They've even been sighted in small numbers in The Barrens. Most of these locations are deprived of water, and Silithid have been spotted at water posts in Tanaris. Perhaps their survival or nutrition relies heavily on water.

Castes

Over the centuries, many castes developed:

In the field of giants, there are other castes which resemble scorpids, surf crawlers, and grubs.

Silithid Creeper (Resembles a teal Scorpid)
Silithid Swarmer (Resembles a teal Scorpid)
Silithid Swarm (Small Minions)
Silithid Protector (Resembles a Crab)(Can only be found during a quest, after digging into an egg mound.)
Silithid Grub

Hives

File:Silithidhive.jpg

A part of the Rustmaul Digsite Silithid Hive

Major Hives

Minor Hives

Speculation

This article or section includes speculation, observations or opinions possibly supported by lore or by Blizzard officials. It should not be taken as representing official lore.

Origin

One theory is that the avatars C'Thun created from the Silithid were the Aqir, with the Qiraji and Nerubians later splitting off and evolving differently. Another is that the Silithid and Aqir are in fact one in the same, and C'Thun directly created the Qiraji from the Aqir. But despite evidence to support it, the latter is often dismissed due to an argument of intelligence and its controversy.

Inspiration

Some believe the Silithid's insect-like appearance is derived from the movie Starship Troopers (1997), where a group of insectoids do battle with humans in space. Similar suggestions have been put forth about the Zerg from [Blizzard]'s Starcraft series. Blizzard has also claimed that they derived some inspiration from the Starship Troopers for Starcraft (most likely the book given that the movie and Starcraft were in production at the same time). However, it has also been suggested that both Warcraft and Starcraft were derived from the Warhammer and Warhammer 40k franchises (which are themselves derived from Lord of the Rings and Starship Troopers respectively).

The Silithid's hives show similarities to the works of surrealist artist H.R. Giger, possibly being inspired by his work.

As A Hunter Pet

Template:Petbox-wotlk Only Hunters with the 51 talent point Beast Mastery will be able to tame these exotic beasts.

Patch changes

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External links

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Template:Hunter Pets

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