Guild Wars 2

One may note that they finally added a new destroyer model (to make a grand total of 5 destroyer models in GW2; 9 if you differentiate between fire colors). But what’s most notable is that these two new champions are rather unique in their appearance. Though they use the adult wyvern frame, their appearance is very insectoid.

This combined aspect makes them strongly resemble the mantids of Factions.

This is particularly interesting because of the nature of destroyers’ creations. Though they are created from rock and lava (as opposed to being corrupted beings like most other dragon minions), they are shaped in mimicry (and mockery) of existing races.

Does this mean that Primordus, in his years of tunneling, had accessed Cantha?

As your link points out Mantids did not only live in Cantha. They also lived in the charr homelands.

I’m also quite sure I have seen few of these in elona too

Lord Trejgon.2809:

I’m also quite sure I have seen few of these in elona too

There were no Mantids in Elona in GW1. There were insect enemies, though, such as rollerbeetles, grubs and lances.

DarcShriek.5829:

As your link points out Mantids did not only live in Cantha. They also lived in the charr homelands.

True, some did (and I had momentarily forgotten about those annoying handful of bugs), not many though. But the one that (IMO) resembles the destroyers the most is the Mantis Mender which was Canthan only. Though I suppose that’s just too hard to tell.

Still worth the question, given how much more prominent the mantids were in Factions over the handful in the charr homelands, and we know that Primordus tunneling could have gone far outside continental Tyria in over 200 years (especially since tunnels made by the dredge already led to the Echovald Forest, where mantids were most common).

The resemblance to insectoids is undeniable, from the face to the exoskeleton, but the wing-like appendages are very different from those of a mantid, and they definitely appear to be a mimicry of wyvern’s wings in my opinion–this destroyer appears to be a mixed creation.

On the other hand the tail is very peculiar, presenting a green purulent swollen sack similar to that seen on a couple of chak, which are also insects–what better way to mock a chak than to infuse its destroyer counterpart with death magic (which the chak filter out)?

Still, given the vicinity to the sea, part of Primordus’s inspiration could have arose from a crustacean-like creature.

Neilos Tyrhanos.5427:

Lord Trejgon.2809:

I’m also quite sure I have seen few of these in elona too

There were no Mantids in Elona in GW1. There were insect enemies, though, such as rollerbeetles, grubs and lances.

kitten :|
I messed up mantids with mandragors xD

I wanted to fight one of them for myself before I commented. Now that I have…

The Destroyers have always had a bit of an insect theme to them – this is directly commented on in the magazine that PCGamer put out which was a combination Utopia concent art, EOTN guide, and GW2 teaser in 2007. So an insectoid look on a Destroyer is probably just part of the Destroyer theme.

Personally, I found that they had a strong Great Destroyer vibe, apart from being bipedal instead of having multiple insectile legs like the Great Destroyer had. Instead, the insectoid aspect of Ignis and Aestus comes more from having an arthropod-like head, where the Great Destroyers was more draconic.

I’d like to add that both Ignis and Aestus have latin names, similar to the Titans from GW1. We first encounter the Titans in GW1 in the Ring of Fire Islands which is also where Ignis and Aestus are located. Wondering if there is a connection between them, if at all. Seems like a far stretch but then why give the destroyers latin names?

draxynnic.3719:

I wanted to fight one of them for myself before I commented. Now that I have…

The Destroyers have always had a bit of an insect theme to them – this is directly commented on in the magazine that PCGamer put out which was a combination Utopia concent art, EOTN guide, and GW2 teaser in 2007. So an insectoid look on a Destroyer is probably just part of the Destroyer theme.

Personally, I found that they had a strong Great Destroyer vibe, apart from being bipedal instead of having multiple insectile legs like the Great Destroyer had. Instead, the insectoid aspect of Ignis and Aestus comes more from having an arthropod-like head, where the Great Destroyers was more draconic.

In the official anet booklet they referred to destroyers as mimickers, or rather, parodies of living things with no restriction whatsoever, from plants, to insects, to fungi, they copy everything in a twisted way.
You can tell that the GW1 destroyers look typically like cave and underground organisms, while the gw2 destroyers have mimicked a lot more surface creatures

In the artistic design process, the Destroyers started off as a race for Utopia called the “tanneks”, which in the first concept art pass were fairly close to classical demons. They wanted something more alien, so they were redesigned into faceless, insect-like creatures with glowing guts. When development shifted fro Utopia to GW2 through EOTN, they got used as the minions of the Great Destroyer and, therefor, Primordus.

The point is, the insect-like aspect has been part of the artistic design of Destroyers as far back as they’ve been called Destroyers, likely before they became minions of an Elder Dragon (what we know of Utopia indicates that the story there was going in a different direction). So the legendary wyverns having insect-like features is just a continuation of that.

What I suspect is going on behind the scenes lore-wise is that since Primordus largely makes his own minions rather than corrupting existing creatures, he has the ability to assemble whichever features he feels are going to make them the most effective. So they all have an armoured exoskeleton, because that makes them harder to kill, and that’s ultimately where the insect-like part comes from. If he thinks a Destroyer will be more effective with mandibles or sensory antennae, there’s nothing stopping him adding them on, even if the form is broadly based on something else such as a wyvern, troll, or harpy.

The achievements do refer to them as destroyer wyverns. Unless we’re given some concrete reason to believe otherwise, the model is close enough that I’m willing to take them at their word, and mark up the differences to the magma bug aesthetic.