The Sylvari were announced a couple years ago during Guild Wars 2’s early development and joined the Asura and the Charr as ArenaNet’s answer to creating its own unique fantasy race. However, when hopeful players first got a good look at them, they were disappointed to find that the Sylvari were nothing more than generic, green humans. As a result, concerns began to erupt that the Sylvari would be nothing more than an elven-themed, human reskin. Luckily, ArenaNet managed to relieve players’ concerns as it continued to flesh-out both the Sylvari’s design and story, successfully bringing the race into a realm of its own.
Nowhere else could we find walking, talking, humanoid plants that played a crucial role in an MMO’s story. Nowhere else could we find a race’s birth as unique as the Sylvari’s. Nowhere else could we find a society quite like that of the Sylvari.
However, did ArenaNet achieve true uniqueness, or is it too often that the Sylvari fall back on standard racial tropes? Are the Sylvari truly one of a kind?
There are many new, refreshing themes the Sylvari adapt—I don’t deny that. After all, Sylvari are born from a tree, die after an indeterminate amount of time (possibly never), and sing clothing, houses, and even weapons into being from nature. They are literally walking salads that players can ravenously sink their teeth into. However, my question is: are the Sylvari too human? Or was their humanity necessary for the success of their design? Did ArenaNet stop too short?
I’ll attempt to explain myself.
First of all, the Sylvari appear human. From a design perspective, I can understand why the developers would do this. People respond positively to something they can relate to. Turning the Sylvari into something that looks like an Oakheart might create some friction with the other races and skew the Sylvari’s popularity. For example, none of the MMOs off the top of my head use a bestial design instead of humanoid for its playable races. This would be why I would argue that the decision to make Sylvari humanoid was largely one of safety. Were alternatives discussed? Most definitely. But I can see why the developers chose to drop the idea. Quite possibly, they compensated for this by giving the Sylvari a unique biology and image.
Second, the Sylvari are either male or female. In a similar way to the Sylvari’s humanoid design, I can understand why the developers would like to create something players can relate to. Players can choose the gender of their character, just like they can with all the other races. Is it the same gender they are? Is it the other gender? Pick one. Players have the freedom. Again, this gives the player something to relate to. Plants themselves have genders, anyway. And even if they didn’t, the reason behind a Sylvari’s gender is implied well enough in the lore to be believable.
However, the Sylvari can also enter into romantic relationships with each other. Now, this is where I lose track of ArenaNet’s reasoning.
Those who have played the game for a while may start to notice something: all Sylvari are born from the Pale Tree. They call “her” “mother”. They may even call other Sylvari “brothers” or “sisters”. From a human’s perspective, this all makes sense. Creatures who are born from the same mother are generally considered “siblings”. However, Sylvari can also enter into romantic relationships with each other. A little bizarre, “incest” definitely comes to mind (although the normal side effects of incest hardly matter as the Sylvari can’t reproduce). As a result of the confusion, the ArenaNet lore team has released an official clarification of this (then common) misconception about the Sylvari:
“Sylvari don’t breed like humans do, so they can’t inbreed like humans do. When they call the Pale Tree ‘Mother’ it’s more like Mother Earth—we are all ‘children’ of this godlike concept, but calling them such does not make us all related by blood.
‘Incest’ is a very mammalian taboo and one that doesn’t apply to sylvari. Because sylvari don’t reproduce in the same hierarchical manner as mammals, they don’t have to worry about reducing a gene pool to dangerous levels. They don’t have brothers or sisters like humans do, nor do they have true parents. They are brothers and sisters in the same way we are all brothers and sisters within the human race, whether of the same parents or not. The Pale Tree calls the sylvari her ‘children’ because they are born through her, but you can’t compare humans with sylvari in that way and extrapolate that all sylvari are siblings.”
(edited by Theundersigned.4761)