The Sylvari Redesign: Taking a Leaf out of Guru's Book

One of the largest threads on GW2Guru's Tyrian Assembly board is the one focused upon the redesign of the Sylvari. Every player seems to have an idea of what they want (and do not want) the race to end up looking like. The original Sylvari design gave them an appearance which very much reflected the innocence of their character:

Notice: childlike appearance, "Elf" like pointed ears and green complexion.Whilst I see why ANet went down this route, I believe that they can do far more with the race than simply depicting them as "green elves" or "children" of Guild Wars 2, which is what I see above. Whilst the Sylvari are essentially a "new" race in Tyria, they are borne from the Pale Tree with all the working wisdom of their race and I think this needs to be communicated in their appearance.

There are several routes ANet could go down with the redesign, each with their benefits and their downsides:

Make them more "Planty"


Perhaps Avatar of Melandru
could act as inspiration?



This is an idea I really like. In order to distinguish them from humans it might be a nice idea to play on their horticultural origins and give them a far more plant based look than before. With branches and leaves for hair, and stems and shoots growing from the skin, they would be a truly unique MMO race - one which would stand out amongst all the dark elves, dwarves and goblins out there. Quoting Kymeric:

As far as innocence goes, I don't see the need to make them look like wide-eyed children. In fact, I like the tension between something that looks woody and gnarled, but is innocent in heart and mind... A race that looks as ancient as the tree they were born from would make it interesting when they are actually childlike and filled with wonder.

There is, however, a balance to be found - it would be difficult to fit armour over all those branches and twigs. Similarly, we already have a decent description of the Sylvari from Ghosts of Ascalon and Edge of Destiny, so we can't stray too far.

Make them more "Nightmare Courty"



Look at me, I'm a badass.



One of the most interesting elements of the Sylvari culture is the shady Nightmare Court. The Sylvari are guided by dreams and visions from the Pale Tree, within these dreams there also exists nightmares. These nightmares go largely unexplained by the Sylvari - the Nightmare court embrace the nightmares and attempt to understand them. Their embracing of this terrible way of life corrupts the Sylvari who choose to join the Nightmare Court, and their appearance is suitably changed.

Some players have asked whether some of the concept art for the Nightmare Court might act as inspiration for the Sylvari redesign. Giving them a wholly more dark and gothic feel.

Whilst it might be interesting; there are obvious problems with this suggestion. There is a need to visually distinguish the Sylvari from the Nightmare court, in the same way as we need to distinguish the Sons of Sanvir from the regular Norn. Without this distinction, it would be difficult to tout the Nightmare Court as truly corrupted. They might appear to be nothing more than Sylvari with a different point of view.

Make them more "Elfy"

Ever got halfway through a forest walk
and realise you've forgotten your trousers?

The Elves have been a staple of fantasy stories since Tolkien said "Hey, wouldn't it be cool if there were people who were like humans, right? But better. And with pointy ears". The original Sylvari design was pretty "elfy" to begin with, and a number of players are hoping that ANet haven't totally axed the Elf root entirely. I can see the attraction, the standard fantasy elf has a great deal in common with the Sylvari - an innocence, a connection with nature and a lithe, quick and lean air about them.

The Sylvari could easily be akin to "Wood Elves" or even "High Elves" of Elder Scrolls fame.

ANet have always cleverly danced around the subject of Elves in the past and I've always respected them for that. I believe that going further down the Elf route would be a bit of a cop-out. I hope that ANet have balls enough to do something a little more daring and not pander to the crowd (plus, can you imagine the Charr on Sylvari Elf-porn? No thanks).

Make them more "Bowie"

Have you seen his codpiece in Labyrinth?
 Jesus.

Just kidding.

That would be awesome though, right?

In the end, the new Sylvari design is likely to be an amalgamation of all of these ideas, at least I hope. Players have come up with some really interesting and innovative ideas for the race over the past few months, from TedTheShred's pollen roots whereby the race would have a constant pollen trail leading into the ground to symbolise their link to the Pale Tree, to Ammanelle's photosynthesis depicting flowers and leaves opening up on their skin whilst under the sun to invigorate the Sylvari with greater health regeneration. ANet would do well to listen to their community as they consider where they want to go with the race, they have a real opportunity to do something very exciting with them, I hope they don't pass it up.