Elder Dragons, Demons, and dinos
General forum
Posted on Oct. 23, 2018, 12:49 p.m. by pearl-of-dragons
What other specific creatures do you think could have the Elder subtype? So far we have 15 dragons, 6 dinos, and 1 demon
I moved your thread to a more appropriate forum. Taken from the Social Forum's description, that subsection is to:
Organize meet-ups, ask about where to play, tell your random Magic stories, and more!
I didn't think this was quite a Lore topic, as it seemed a bit less lore-specific, and more focused on the general characterization of monster types based upon real-world mythology, legends, and history, and thus would be based mostly on non-canon sources (which the Lore forum is not designed for).
So, lacking a more specific topic, I ended up placing it in General. I know that's a long explanation, but I wanted to walk through my thought process for any future posts you might make.
Back on topic, I think there are a number of creature types that would be deserving of the Elder subtype.
I think Elder Wizard might make sense flavourfully, particularly for cards like Jodah, Archmage Eternal. However, since Wizard is a class, then you're running into a three-word problem (race + class + Elder), which starts to get a bit cluttered. "Legendary Creature - Elder Human Wizard" just would be a bit excessive on the typeface.
To go with the obvious, I think Elder Angel is a decent concept, in line with the archangels of Western lore.
Related to the above, Elder God could be kind of interesting, particularly on Theros. This would be quite in-line with the Greek mythology Theros is based on--after all, the current pantheon rose to power by overthrowing the titans, who, themselves, had risen to power by overthrowing their progenitors.
One more non-obvious answer--I think it would be kind of neat to see a creature typed Elder Plant. Many cultures have certain beliefs and traditions surrounding extremely old growths, so the idea might not be as far-fetched as it initially sounds.
October 23, 2018 1:33 p.m. Edited.
I think there are two ways to look at "Elder".
1: Old for your race; this means for Human someone who is over 100 years would fall into this class (based on it being used only in the rarest of times).
2: It is more meant to be ancient and has been around a thousand+ years.
I think the second term is inline with what Wizards has been doing and I prefer this as it makes it cool when it does show up and disregards the age with in any race but more on an overall scale.
that being said:
Elder Vampire
Elder Turtle
Elder Kraken
October 23, 2018 2:20 p.m.
I think Elder Leviathan would be cool. Or Elder Horror would be interesting to see, following thle western ideas of monsters who live forever. Like Gorgons etc. Timeless beings. Just my opinion.
October 23, 2018 2:49 p.m.
Wizards has stated they use Elder not necessarily to define age but to draw attention to the importance of the depicted creature; specifically, how powerful they are compared to others of their race.
Often this means age, but the Elder Dragons of Tarkir are not stated to be the oldest living dragons--they emerged from Ugin's dragon tempests at the same time as others of their brood--they're just the most powerful currently living, and earned their title through that power and the subsequent subjugation of humanity.
The Elder Dinosaurs were ancient, yes, but Belzenlok was no older than any other demon, as they are ageless beings and pure manifestations of mana, like angels. Belzenlok was just the mightiest of the four that bargained for Liliana's soul, so they slapped Elder on him.
Since Elder can be put on anything that creative deems important, every race is fair game. Actually ancient things are certainly more viable, such as powerful archangels or vampire patriarchs/matriarchs, but immortal humans generally have other classes that they need associated with them, as was acknowledged regarding Jodah.
October 23, 2018 7:53 p.m.
pearl-of-dragons says... #9
kanokarob I am aware of the use of Elder in card types, but I probably should have stated that in my description, but you do have a point with Benzelok
October 24, 2018 9:08 a.m.
I'm stating it to point out that any creature type could feasibly have Elders.
I'm basically answering your call-to-action with "everything" in more words and more logic.
October 24, 2018 5:57 p.m.
pearl-of-dragons says... #11
kanokarob Im not really looking for creature types that could have elders, just what already existing cards should have Elder slapped on
October 31, 2018 9:24 a.m.
Perhaps that should have been made more explicit before now, given I'm not the only one who's been listing only types.
Caerwyn says... #2
This thread was moved to a more appropriate forum (auto-generated comment)
October 23, 2018 1:18 p.m.