Guild Wars 2

A discussion about Tengu and everything Tengu related!

Tengu are an avian race of Tyria that was found in both Tyria and Cantha in Guild Wars 1 who have lost their ability to fly long ago. There were five tribes of tengu, Angchu, Avicara, Caromi, Quetzal, and Sensali. The Angchu who lived on Shing Jea Island and The Roost, which are led by Soar Honerclaw, were friendly towards humans thanks to the efforts of Master Togo who created a treaty with them. Not much is known about Tengu religion other than about going to the Sky above the Sky when they die, which is likely referencing the Mists. There was also a legend about eventually finding the promised land which would finally bring humans and tengu to peace, which sounds like a reference to Domination of Winds.

In the events leading up to Guild Wars 2, the tengu have been driven out of Cantha which unsurprisingly made them weary of other races. For their own protection, they created a giant wall to gate themselves from the outside world. The tengu normally only leave for trade, but some have been sent out to take care of the destroyer problem. The destroyers are burrowing under the wall and attacking Domination of Winds, the tengu have mentioned that they are already starting to have a problem dealing with them. Tengu know about the last time the dragons awoke which hints that Tengu are a very old race, what they tell us is that this is only the beginning and that the dragons haven’t even actually started their attack yet and when that happens, they will be forced into working with other races, which hints that they will eventually be playable as well. Inside the wall the tengu are grouped up into four houses, North, East, West, and South which represents the winds.

Other fun facts:
Tengu were originally going to be a playable race, but the idea was scrapped (Cries!) after creating the lore and Domination of Winds for Guild Wars 2.

Their names seem to be based off of words for wind, birds, sky, flying, ect. The last name is two words, the second word seems to be almost always bird/air related while the first appears to describe the second. Such as Soar Honorclaw.

Lapsed tengu that were not in the DoW to begin with are not allowed inside. They also speak a different language, which is believed to be Canthan. They can also speak New Krytan however.

The model for Tengu changed from Guild Wars 1, they are now more slender and hunched back, they now have hair, and they have fangs instead of tusks.

Mad King Thorn does not like Tengu, the Priory have mentioned it was even a bad idea to mention them to him.

Some tengu links, and new playable race hints:

Every tengu related thing I have ever seen in GW2: http://www.imgur.com/a/z0Zqy
Wiki for Tengu (GW1): http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Tengu
Wiki for Tengu (GW2): http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Tengu
Wooden Potatoes – Tengu Spotlight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_DTL2WSaMY
Tengu discussion on GW2Guru (some interesting facts can be found here): http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/146-what-happened-to-the-tengu/
New playable race hints (old): http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/2094-room-for-future-races-and-classes/page__st__60#entry89820

Looking for:
Video for this: http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/4225/tengu2f.jpg

Any pictures not found in my album that involves Tengu.

More Tengu facts or any incorrect facts found above.

Discussion on Tengu.

Here’s to hope they are a playable race in an expansion… Tengu are REALLY cool, and they seem to have all the lore set up for it.

Yes there’s even mention of an asura gate being commissioned to connect Lion’s Arch with the Dominion of Winds, so hopefully sooner rather than later we will get to see more of them.

So… what would be their evil counterpart, a la Nightmare Court/Separatist/Flame Legion/Inquest/Svanir? Maybe a resurgence of the Caromi?

Nah, I don’t really think of the Caromi as evil, just hostile toward humans. If anything, There should be a faction of super-militant xenophobic Tengu who were descendants of the Tengu exiled from Cantha wanting to go all genocidal on the human race

Gulbrandr.9047:

So… what would be their evil counterpart, a la Nightmare Court/Separatist/Flame Legion/Inquest/Svanir? Maybe a resurgence of the Caromi?

I’m assuming one of the houses, North, East, West, or South will disagree with the alliance, separate and create trouble for everyone.

I really like what they’ve done with the Tengu for GW2, both in terms of appearance and in terms of culture. We could do with an Asian-inspired bushido race, and a bird-woman samurai is something I could get into

There should be a faction of super-militant xenophobic Tengu who were descendants of the Tengu exiled from Cantha wanting to go all genocidal on the human race.

That would certainly be interesting, and would work pretty well. I guess it will depend on the reasons for the tengu coming more to the fore if they become a player race. Now I’m trying to think of how to twist a bushido/samurai code of honour (like the Inquest twist the progressive science of the asura)…

I’m really wondering what the Dominion of Winds will look like.

Something like Shing Jea Monastery with snow, cherry blossoms, and Chinese/Japanese-inspire infrastructures? Or something very green, like Kryta? (Or much like the Dominion of Winds wall itself.)

And what about Tengus participating in the Zhaitan personal-storyline? Surely the script will be slightly altered to allow them to join their order and such?

Also, Talon Silverwing? He was always the coolest henchie in GW1, so what legend di he make?

Another issue that many people don’t realize when it comes to introducing a new playable race is where to situate them. Even if the Dominion of Winds was opened up and allowed as a playable area for the Tengu capital city, where is their starter zone? Each race currently has their own starter and secondary zones before they begin intermingling with the rest of the races of Tyria and other regions.

As the Dominion of Winds sits A. Right next to Lion’s Arch and B. Right next to Caledon Forest, there’s no room at all for a starting zone of their own, and thus they would have to borrow someone else’s, which seems a touch unfair for a new race.

And while I don’t necessarily like the idea of Tengu being playable (for whatever reason the idea just doesn’t sit right with me) I think it would be fairly easy to come up with their renegade counterparts. The trope Honor Before Reason comes to mind almost immediately. Certain Tengu may feel that working with other races is a slight on their honor, and thus attempt to remove their honorless brethren (the playable). As a result, you’d probably end up with a very feudal warlord style setup in regards to who and what you fight.

Freya Norgarde.4517:

Another issue that many people don’t realize when it comes to introducing a new playable race is where to situate them. Even if the Dominion of Winds was opened up and allowed as a playable area for the Tengu capital city, where is their starter zone? Each race currently has their own starter and secondary zones before they begin intermingling with the rest of the races of Tyria and other regions.

As the Dominion of Winds sits A. Right next to Lion’s Arch and B. Right next to Caledon Forest, there’s no room at all for a starting zone of their own, and thus they would have to borrow someone else’s, which seems a touch unfair for a new race.

And while I don’t necessarily like the idea of Tengu being playable (for whatever reason the idea just doesn’t sit right with me) I think it would be fairly easy to come up with their renegade counterparts. The trope Honor Before Reason comes to mind almost immediately. Certain Tengu may feel that working with other races is a slight on their honor, and thus attempt to remove their honorless brethren (the playable). As a result, you’d probably end up with a very feudal warlord style setup in regards to who and what you fight.

Domination of Winds is the territory the tengu own, chances are the actual city is only the island beyond the gate in Caledon forest or the area west of the Wizard’s tower. So they really have a huge area to work with.

That would certainly be interesting, and would work pretty well. I guess it will depend on the reasons for the tengu coming more to the fore if they become a player race. Now I’m trying to think of how to twist a bushido/samurai code of honour (like the Inquest twist the progressive science of the asura)…

It could actually make for one of the more compelling conflicts. Imagine a fight where the other side wasn’t outright evil, but just violently disagreed with yours. The Tengu decide to join with the other great races, to help them against the dragons. One of the houses goes rogue and refuses. This leads to dissent, and inevitably in a bushido-driven culture, to duels and bloodshed. This spirals out of control, and both sides find themselves grimly determined to fight the other, even where they would rather not, because their honor demands that they not back down from the insults of the opposing side.

In terms of difference from others.

They do seem to be an honor-driven race that resembles Feudal Japan. I don’t see any other race like this, save for the Charr, who are nothing like them. The Charr have honor, yes, but don’t all warrior Races?

Will the Tengu even be a warrior race? They don’t seem too hostile to me to show that, they just don’t trust others because of how they were treated in the past.

They can really work with this, and with the Setup they gave the Tengu, and the original intention, after they fix the bugs in the game they will now have time to focus on new content, or complete the Tengu race.

Heck, I noticed this:

We have arctypes (Warrior, Scholar, Adventurer) Schoalrs and Adventurers have 3 classes in them:

Warrior: Warrior and Guardian
Adventurer: Engineer, Ranger, Theif
Scholar: Mesmer, Necromancer, Elementalist

Maybe with the tengu, they can add a 3rd warrior ‘archtype’ class based after the Japanese Samurai or something else if that does not work! (not to mention Katanas, Nodachis, Tantos, and Wakasashis! )

Just my two cents!

Really, REALLY want them as a playable race.

Especially if they /dance Gangnam style.

I am always drawn to non-human races (the less humanoid the better) so I would like to play as a Tengu (although I don’t think heavy armor would look good on them)

Anyway, every lore thread can use pieces of dialogue: (this happens at the gate in Caledon Forest)

Hayato: Here’s an idea: let’s knock on the humongous gate door, then hide and see what they do when they open up and no one’s there.
Caromi Scout: Please don’t talk to me for the remainder of the shift.

Sialor.7396:

I am always drawn to non-human races (the less humanoid the better) so I would like to play as a Tengu (although I don’t think heavy armor would look good on them)

Anyway, every lore thread can use pieces of dialogue: (this happens at the gate in Caledon Forest)

Hayato: Here’s an idea: let’s knock on the humongous gate door, then hide and see what they do when they open up and no one’s there.
Caromi Scout: Please don’t talk to me for the remainder of the shift.

Oh woops, I forgot to add in the tengu gallery! Thanks for reminding me.

Darmikau.9413:

Really, REALLY want them as a playable race.

Especially if they /dance Gangnam style.

YES!! The Tengu would be perfect for Gangnam Style

Darmikau.9413:

Really, REALLY want them as a playable race.

Especially if they /dance Gangnam style.

This, this, and this a thousand times!

I’m really new to the Guild Wars games and I ran into a Tengu; instant love. I love bird races – they’re so underdone. I even adored the Arakkoa in WoW but of course, they got pandas instead. I’d insta-buy an expansion that’d let me play a Tengu, so long as they weren’t made more humanlike (waters down the uniqueness of the race)!

I was quite upset to hear that the Tengu were planned to be one of the original playable races but were dropped, but what we have so far is fantastic. Still. Tengu! <3

Just putting in a post here as well that I would absolutely love playing as a Tengu as they are my favorite race to date. Got a soft spot for Sylvari admittedly, but would love to roll as a Tengu as well.

I’d insta-buy an expansion that’d let me play a Tengu, so long as they weren’t made more humanlike (waters down the uniqueness of the race)!

I’d be very interested to see what they did to make tengu more customisable and different from each other if they became a playable race (different breeds of bird seems the obvious starting point). I don’t think you have to worry about watering down though, because a) well, ArenaNet, and b) the tengu look less humanoid in GW2 than they did in GW1 (more of a unique body shape), I can only assume their design here was quite intentionally more bird-like.

I’ve found another tengu in the personal story “Thrown off guard” named Caromi Merchant, the tengu is unfortunately not there in the main world. He is now in the tengu gallery.

Also I found out that Mad King Thorn does not like Tengu, and I will be adding that to the list. During Halloween I will try to talk to him about Tengu to see what he says/does.

I like the idea of the bad guy group of the Tengu not be evil, just violently opposed to what you believe. ANET already has gone with some controversial choices regarding the Tengu. In Factions if you chose to be an assassin you killed Swift Honorclaw, Soar Honorclaw’s father and the leader of an Angchu tribe. The Angchu were friendly towards the human’s, and you were tricked into killing him. Controversy is nothing new to ANET regarding the Tengu.

Well, I have some bad news, according to a friend that has a few dev friends tengu will not be playable anytime in the near future, if ever. They said that there are tons of bugs to fix, lots of updates for the future, but tengu being playable isn’t even planned at the moment. Why does Arena-Net hate tengu so much? T-T

In less gut wrenchingly depressing news, I also added another tengu in the gallery.

^ don’t be so negative. they said they don’t want to follow GW1’s model of shoving new campaigns every 6 months, so an update as big as a new playable race would take a few years to pop at best. doesn’t mean it won’t happen.

I’d have to agree, expansions such as this would take loads of work, obviously not as much as the world itself in the beginning, but still. And it would more than likely include an in-game expansion, and based on what they are seen doing, it is very likely that the tengu will be involved in the expansion dealing with Primordius, seeing as they are fighting destroyers, supposedly, on both sides of the wall.

Narcemus.1348:

I’d have to agree, expansions such as this would take loads of work, obviously not as much as the world itself in the beginning, but still. And it would more than likely include an in-game expansion, and based on what they are seen doing, it is very likely that the tengu will be involved in the expansion dealing with Primordius, seeing as they are fighting destroyers, supposedly, on both sides of the wall.

The first expansion will involve tengu according to an interview with the devs I can’t seem to find again. I believe it was made sometime in 2010 or 2011. It sounds like they may have changed their minds however.

In my mind, the next strategic move would be against Kralkatorrik, seeing as the largest portion of the Pact’s forces are already within Orr and are so close to the heart of Kralkatorrik, and I could see this also involving Joko, though I have to wonder if he will be foe, or possibly an ally against Kralkatorrik. I could easily seeing him playing the lesser of 2 evils card again.

Freya Norgarde.4517:

Another issue that many people don’t realize when it comes to introducing a new playable race is where to situate them. Even if the Dominion of Winds was opened up and allowed as a playable area for the Tengu capital city, where is their starter zone? Each race currently has their own starter and secondary zones before they begin intermingling with the rest of the races of Tyria and other regions.

As the Dominion of Winds sits A. Right next to Lion’s Arch and B. Right next to Caledon Forest, there’s no room at all for a starting zone of their own, and thus they would have to borrow someone else’s, which seems a touch unfair for a new race.

Both Asura and Sylvari go into the same 15-25 zone, and Norn quests go into the Charr’s secondary area.

I saw a red response on the Tengu thread and got so excited. It was only to move it, alas. I’ve been excited for Guild Wars 2 Factions since they announced GW2.

I finally found the interview I was looking for!

“…I just spoke to John Stumme, who heads up the live team, and he told me that their next big project takes place in Cantha and involves the plight of the tengu, the origins of the Ministry of Purity, and the isolation of the entire continent…”

http://www.gamespot.com/special_feature/most-anticipated-2011/day-3/

Esorono, are you sure that isn’t for GW 1:Beyond?

Kain Francois.4328:

Esorono, are you sure that isn’t for GW 1:Beyond?

…I should have played more Guild Wars 1. At the very least it doesn’t bother me every day knowing I couldn’t find it when I wanted it. There is something else I want though, I still haven’t seen the video for http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/4225/tengu2f.jpg and I’m still looking for it.

ANET, we’re all waiting for playable Tengu. Do not disappoint us!

Ps. Y U NO TALON SILVERWING TONIC IN GW1!?!?

I’d love to see the tengu in game!

There’s actually plenty of room for their city and a starter area; not just on their islands, but on that big empty chunk in Kryta…

I am waiting for the tengu to make a warrior. Hopefully their culture armor for the heavy looks Samurai ish and Ninja like for medium and Geisha for lights

I’m excited to see more of the Tengu. It seems as if the design team deliberately left some unused lands in between Dominion of Winds and Sparkfly. There even is a blocked off road in Sparkfly that leads to an explorable that isn’t there… yet. I was able to jump on top of the geometry and have a look behind the road leading to the west. Alas, it just ends at an empty void for now.

Mad Queen Malafide.7512:

I’m excited to see more of the Tengu. It seems as if the design team deliberately left some unused lands in between Dominion of Winds and Sparkfly. There even is a blocked off road in Sparkfly that leads to an explorable that isn’t there… yet. I was able to jump on top of the geometry and have a look behind the road leading to the west. Alas, it just ends at an empty void for now.

Aw, that’s a shame, I’d love to see what the tengu city would look like.

Narcemus.1348:

In my mind, the next strategic move would be against Kralkatorrik, seeing as the largest portion of the Pact’s forces are already within Orr and are so close to the heart of Kralkatorrik, and I could see this also involving Joko, though I have to wonder if he will be foe, or possibly an ally against Kralkatorrik. I could easily seeing him playing the lesser of 2 evils card again.

I’d have to argue differently. with the defeat of zhaitan, it opens up the sea for exploration, opening up the possibility of exploration. while the threat of the elder dragons will always loom about, there is no telling what will come across from the see and the pact would need to maintain some forces near orr to not only make sure the threat of zhaitan doesnt rise again, but also in case threats from cantha arrive on orrian shores. Imagine how devestating that would be with the pact forces concentrating on kralkatorrik and a canthan army invades orr and eliminates all non-humans (and the humans that they would percieve as ‘animal sympathisers’).

while the threats of the elder dragons are prominent, an invading force from cantha would shatter any hope of defeating the elder dragons through rising tensions and the inability to trust humans.

You are arguing on the what-if’s and not on the facts that we have. What if Abaddon decides he’s not really dead, corrupts Kormir and turns the whole world into nightfall? What if Aliens invade tyria blowing all of the dragons away with laser beams that put the asura to shame? What if the gods come back with a whole legion of god-like beings and go to war with the dragons, wiping them and the other races out and setting humans up as the only race on the planet?

Seriously though, there is nothing that we have to give us any inclination that the Canthans have any interest in invading Tyria. In fact they let the Tengu choose to leave, in order to make it easier for them to wrangle control of Cantha from the others. Their isolationism doesn’t really set the stage for full scale world domination. It would seem more likely that their military would focus on purifying the entire continent that cantha is located on, then perhaps moving on to smaller locations while building a navy. But Purifying mainland Tyria would be an undertaking that I don’t think any country like Cantha would be stupid enough to attempt.

If you want to talk about invasion from sea the more likely solution would be the introduction of the minions of the DSD attacking and attempting to lay claim to territory once controlled by Zhaitan.

I want to play as the Tengu so bad!

@Narcemus: I thought it’s more like that the tengu’s were hunted down and flet rather than the cantha’s poeple letting them go?

@narcemus: You are definitely right. And since we have no clue as to what the DSD’s plan is or it’s methods, we can’t even begin to predict when, if at all, it will strike. So we’ll leave cantha until something relevant comes up.

And looking at the map, Kralkatorrik is the most logical next step.

With the defeat of Zhaitan, would the tengu be at least more inclined to aid Tyria, or would their destroyer problem have to first be gotten rid of before they join the fight?

That’s something that ArenaNet themselves will have to decide. I mean with the defeat of 1 Elder Dragon, I would think that the races that held back, because of disbelief that such a thing was possible, would be joining up in the fight right and left, but we can’t know this for sure, and also even if they join in the fight it is entirely in ArenaNet’s hands whether they become a playable race or not. I mean there are already quaggan, hylek, skritt, kodan, and a tengu or two already in the pact.

Playable tengu with tonns of bird-esque customization (crow, eagle, hawk, peakitten, parrot etc like faces, colorful feathers) + Gangnam style dance. Make it happen and I’ll be one of the happiest players

Yeah, my top races I’d like to have are Tengu/Hylek/Quaggan, but in terms of actuality, it’s up in there. I’d like to believe that they have plans for more, but only time will tell :/

Narcemus.1348

That’s something that ArenaNet themselves will have to decide.

In a way, we have already decided it for them. The Tengu are the most popular non-playable race, there’s a substantial demand for them and they are the most obvious choice for them in a future expansion along with the Largos. The Tengu even has their own homeland ready. Minor races like the Skritt, Ogres and anyone in the “racial sympathy list” will never become playable.

The Tengu players (and really any new race) will probably act individually for the main campaign. I don’t think Arenanet will retcon the Tengu being anything but isolationist during the main campaign. After that, anything goes, but I doubt they will rework all the world to reflect that Zhaitan is gone. Instead, I expect to see the only those who bought the expansions will be the only allowed to enter the Dominion of the Winds (perhaps as an invitation from the Tengu Emperor, Shogun…).

Then, there’s the question about what happens within its walls. Do we assume that all events within the Dominion of the Winds take place after or before Zhaitan is gone? If it happens afterwards, that means that Tengu players will already know the ending of the main campaign. Not that it is a big surprise Zhaitan dies at the end, but it is still a spoiler for new players who might decide to pick Gw2 along the expansions and chose the Tengu or any non-vanilla race right away.

If they ever reintroduce Cantha, and I’m pretty sure they will do it eventually, I expect them to be characterized as the foil of the Tengu race, and maybe even Kryta’s foil. If the Tengu are isolationist, the Canthans will be expansionist. If the Canthans have an urban culture (megacity really), the Tengu will be close to nature. If the Tengu are honorable and “spiritual”, the Canthans will want nothing but material goods and profit.

I don’t think we will go all overdrive on getting rid of the Elder Dragons. Nothing so far about the ED makes them interesting enough to justify a whole new campaign centered around them. Perhaps as background for other developments, like justifying the actions of a new antagonist or something similar, but I don’t think they will ever get the kind of spotlight that Zhaitan received during the main campaign for a long time.

I think any future races would be added in buyable expansions only. If they were just in-game updates for new content, well…it’s pretty obvious. But keeping with how they did it in GW1, they can justify new maps and professions (races) with a new expansion, and if you don’t want to pay for it, then you don’t have access to it.

I’m waiting on the Tengu race to make my Assassin (Thief)

Cmon ANET… Do it for us fans of GW Factions! Make Tengu playable!

Legion.4198:

Narcemus.1348

That’s something that ArenaNet themselves will have to decide.

In a way, we have already decided it for them. The Tengu are the most popular non-playable race, there’s a substantial demand for them and they are the most obvious choice for them in a future expansion along with the Largos. The Tengu even has their own homeland ready. Minor races like the Skritt, Ogres and anyone in the “racial sympathy list” will never become playable.

The Tengu players (and really any new race) will probably act individually for the main campaign. I don’t think Arenanet will retcon the Tengu being anything but isolationist during the main campaign. After that, anything goes, but I doubt they will rework all the world to reflect that Zhaitan is gone. Instead, I expect to see the only those who bought the expansions will be the only allowed to enter the Dominion of the Winds (perhaps as an invitation from the Tengu Emperor, Shogun…).

Then, there’s the question about what happens within its walls. Do we assume that all events within the Dominion of the Winds take place after or before Zhaitan is gone? If it happens afterwards, that means that Tengu players will already know the ending of the main campaign. Not that it is a big surprise Zhaitan dies at the end, but it is still a spoiler for new players who might decide to pick Gw2 along the expansions and chose the Tengu or any non-vanilla race right away.

If they ever reintroduce Cantha, and I’m pretty sure they will do it eventually, I expect them to be characterized as the foil of the Tengu race, and maybe even Kryta’s foil. If the Tengu are isolationist, the Canthans will be expansionist. If the Canthans have an urban culture (megacity really), the Tengu will be close to nature. If the Tengu are honorable and “spiritual”, the Canthans will want nothing but material goods and profit.

I don’t think we will go all overdrive on getting rid of the Elder Dragons. Nothing so far about the ED makes them interesting enough to justify a whole new campaign centered around them. Perhaps as background for other developments, like justifying the actions of a new antagonist or something similar, but I don’t think they will ever get the kind of spotlight that Zhaitan received during the main campaign for a long time.

while im sure that there is enough lore on the largos that Anet have up their sleeve, from what we currently know, largos rarely interact with other races. Sure they have a popular demand, but if we were going to face an attack from the DSD, then that would be the perfect time to add the largos. Other than that though, i doubt we’d see largos for a long long time, due to their very quiet nature and their tunnel vision on assassination techniques, making it difficult to imagine largos that would go into more protective professions such as guardians. Their culture also considers any form of ‘resurrection’ as an insult to the house that assassinated it, making necromancers more than likely banned from largos society. Unless there would be a very visual change in culture, gradual and visible, i doubt we’d see largos necromancers or guardians for a long time yet. And with Anets focus on having all races having access to all classes, it would take some work to allow largos unusual professions.

I’m starting to wonder if the Sparkfly Fen blocked exit will have something to do with the incoming Sea of Sorrows event, rather than anything overtly to do with DoW. It’s far from guaranteed though – ANet have any number of other ways they could do this.

While I don’t expect anything regarding the tengu to happen this year, I’d figure it’s going to have to be addressed eventually – Primordus is sending plenty of his minions in that direction, so it’d be a pretty odd choice not to clean it up on the way to defeating him. No idea whether he’ll be our first target though, so it may not make sense to bank on the very first expansion – but then… isn’t patience one of the tenets of bushido anyway?

FYI on largos – I would point out that there are other “not-really-matches” in other races, e.g. sylvari engineers. ArenaNet’s philosophy on that was that even though it might indicate a race would rarely or never (well I guess there are the trainers) have NPCs of a particular profession, they still wouldn’t prohibit players from picking them. I figure largos could follow the same rule? Though it sounds like a necromancer PC would be more persona non grata than most.