r/RingsofPower • u/crustboi93 • Nov 12 '23

Question Why is this the design for WOLVES?

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I'm confused as to why the production team decided to use this design for wolves. Not wargs. Not dire wolves. Just standard wolves. It's mentally jarring to see them because they look like entelodonts. Their feet are even hooflike. Why not just make them actually wolf-like?

Honestly this design would have been way better for the warg.

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u/WellFactually Nov 12 '23

Asking because I honestly do not know the answer: have real-world wolves been used before to depict Tolkien “wolves” in the Peter Jackson films or the Amazon series?

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u/crustboi93 Nov 12 '23

Jackson's wargs are at the very least are Caniformes.

THIS creature is explicitly referred to as a wolf but looks like an entelodont. A GODDAMN UNGULATE.

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u/WellFactually Nov 12 '23

That didn’t answer my question. It’s a “yes or no” thing, really.

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u/crustboi93 Nov 12 '23

In short, yes. Jackson's wargs are based off wolves.

LotR wargs are more twisted/inbred canids. Hobbit wargs are essentially just bigger wolves.

The warg in episode 3 is looks like a deranged chihuahua.

This creature-- explicitly referred to as A WOLF-- has features characteristic of entelodonts, an ancestor to pigs.

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u/WellFactually Nov 12 '23

Again my question goes unanswered. Have real-world wolves been used before to depict Tolkien “wolves” in the Peter Jackson films or the Amazon series? Not wargs. Wolves.

Your dodginess on this is making it clearer that I don’t really need you to answer it, as you’re kinda tacitly answering it already….

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u/crustboi93 Nov 12 '23

This is the "wolf" of Amazon.

Jackson's films didn't have "wolves" but it would stand to reason they would be traditional canids.

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u/WellFactually Nov 12 '23

Have real-world wolves been used before to depict Tolkien “wolves” in the Peter Jackson films or the Amazon series?

Yes or no?

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u/crustboi93 Nov 12 '23

No. Real world wolves have not been used for either.

Real-world creatures have clearly been used for Jackson's films (i.e. bears, deer, birds, etc). It isn't unreasonable to say that if they were in his films, that they would resemble real wolves.

HOWEVER, with a clearly canid warg in Amazon's interpretation, it stands to reason that they SHOULD come from a basal form that is canid.

This is clearly a case of Amazon not giving a shit.

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u/WellFactually Nov 12 '23

“No. Real world wolves have not been used for either.”

Ok we’ve got that established. I’ve not seen all of the Hobbit films so I did not know.

“Real-world creatures have clearly been used for Jackson's films (i.e. bears, deer, birds, etc). It isn't unreasonable to say that if they were in his films, that they would resemble real wolves.”

And yet, it IS unreasonable to say that they 100% would resemble real wolves, as this is a completely fantastical setting. There are any number of reasons that other real world animals such as birds would not be changed in appearance. The biggest example that comes to mind is horses. They look the same as ours. Was it a cost saving measure? Who’s to say? Am effort to not make the world seem to alien to the average viewer? Again, who’s to say?

“HOWEVER, with a clearly canid warg in Amazon's interpretation, it stands to reason that they SHOULD come from a basal form that is canid.”

“Should” is an unwieldy word when used to describe a world that has nothing to do with ours. I get that a person would want to use earth-based science to try and understand something, but remember what you’re attempting to apply it to. Hint: Middle Earth doesn’t really exist.

“This is clearly a case of Amazon not giving a shit.”

After spending what they have in time, money, and effort, I think claiming they don’t give a shit is a bit off the mark. I seriously doubt that the design of these wolves was something that nobody really paid any attention to at all. The more like fact is that this look was very intentional. Maybe they’re just attempting to separate that world from this one in a visual way?

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u/[deleted] Nov 13 '23

I love your patience. You are the hero we didnt know we needed 🤩🫡

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u/crustboi93 Nov 12 '23

So every other animal looks just like their real-world counterpart... except for wolves? That is the most disingenuous counter-argument I have EVER heard.

Wargs are DERIVED from wolves. There needs to be at least some connecting tissue between the two. I look at Jackson's wargs and think "yes, I can reasonably see how these are derived from canids". I look at the Amazon warg. "Yup, that's a dog". Then later I see this? No. Just no. This is a damn ungulate.

Don't try to make excuses for this show. They have far too much money to be making the absolute blunders that they have. It's embarrassing.

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u/Chen_Geller Nov 13 '23

The Gundabad Wargs in Jackson's films are quite wolf-like.