Fantard Meme

1. Caranoctian troll / World of Warcraft troll

Okay, fair enough. They're both trolls, and we're both ripping off the same source, Dungeons & Dragons. And D&D is, of course, swiping from Poul Anderson's "Three Hearts and Three Lions" and L. Sprague DeCamp and Fletcher Pratt's "The Roaring Trumpet". Steal from the best!

Caranoctia started as my D&D "world", and my trolls began as as homebrew troll-human hybrids because I wanted them as a playable character species. I came up with them back in the late 80's/ early 90's, long before Warcraft. Before the internet, even! If you've ever read any of my current Caranoctia stuff, trolls have gotten a LOT weirder and more unique since then (there is a racial variant with blue-grey skin and orange hair, but I don't draw that often because of this). So, pointy ears and pointy noses aside, the similarities are superficial. And at least mine don't have those stupid-looking tusks.


2. Vargr / Gorilla

Vargr are my take on werewolves, and basically they're a U-turn in human evolution - what we'd have looked like if Australopithecus evolved fangs and claws instead of tool use to compete against lions, hyenas, leopards and all. So obviously vargr and gorillas are both anthropoid apes. The resemblance wouldn't be nearly as close if it were a full body shot.

This concept really seems to confuse and enrage people who think werewolves are only allowed to look like Rob Bottin's design (wolf head on furry human body, or whichever ripoff version they're most familiar with - Van Helsing, Underworld, etc). Their confusion and rage amuse me.

Plus, hell, I really like gorillas.


3. Elliot Sangrail / dog

Elliot is a lemur. Specifically a Sclater's or Blue-eyed Black lemur* - not a dog, or a fox, or a weasel. I've gotten a bit better at drawing lemurs since.


4. Sean Connery werewolf / Na'vi

Um . . . they both have yellow eyes?

Seriously, wtf people? A furry wolfman and a blue cat-elf-alien? You do realize WOLVES have yellow eyes? People have also said it looks like a tiger because, as I mentioned above, werewolves are only allowed to look exactly the same as Goldenwolf draws them, otherwise they're not really werewolves. Because werewolves are totally real and Serious Business.

On the other hand, I originally just drew this as a random wolfman. Foxhack on FA pointed out that he looked like Sean Connery and damned if he wasn't right. I swear to god that never crossed my mind before that.


5. Ratha from Clare Bell's "Ratha's Creature" series / Warriors cats

I had never heard of the Warriors books before someone made the comparison. I hate to break it to you, kids, but if anyone is ripping off anyone, it's the other way around. Ms. Bell's book came out in 1983. If anything, the Warriors series sounds a lot more like "Tailchaser's Song" by Tad Williams (1985) or "The Wild Road" . . . or Rudyard Kipling's Cat who walked by himself, or Puss in Boots . . . yeah, intelligent, speaking cats aren't exactly a new concept in fiction.



Blank meme: [link]



* Yes, the coloring is "wrong". Usually male blue-eyed lemurs are black, and the females are orange. This should tell you something about Elliot.