Real life comparisons
 

I've noticed that in Oddworld, most or all of the creatures have real life comparisons. For example, a slog is a dog, a fleech is a leech. I've made a list of some of the creatures with comparisons, but some of them I don't know.

Slog - dog (obvious)
Fleech - leech (also obvious)
Slig - slug (sluglike tail, and 9 mouths)
Glukkon - glutton (greedy person)
Scrab - scarab (I'm not sure about this one)
Paramite - parasite (like a spider)

If I've missed any, please tell. I'd also like to know what the Scrab's comparison is (or why it is a scarab), and what a mudukons comparison is.

PS. I read somewhere that slugs have 9 mouths. Please forgive me if this is incorrect.

Gabbit - Rabbit <.<

This has been done before.

Scrab is officially known to be a mix of scab and crab.

...since when did Sligs have nine mouths? Tentacles are rather different to mouths. Slugs have 9 mouths? Where the hell you get that insane idea?

Not sure about Gabbit however. I'm fairly certain it's not intended to have anything to do with rabbits.

Spiders are not parasitic.

meeps - sheeps
and i think slurgs resemble slugs more

Octigi - shellfish.
Ratz - rats.
Paramites - spiders.
Slurgs - snails.
Meeches - a sort of dinosaurs.

Abe is now!, I think he meant name similarities, rather than appearances. Meech = Leech.

Ah, so I don't know. I think appearances are easier to be found for everyone, because for who doesn't speak English, it's hard to find a comparison.

Oddly enough, the very first designs for Munch was in fact experiment rabbits.

Octigi = Octipi
Elum = Mule
Mongo = Congo


Oddworld is intended to merely be a twist off of our own world, so it would make sense if a lot of things had real life resemblances. Not just by name, but what they represent themselves in appearance. For example, Steefs look just like gorillas mixed with rams, maybe horses.

These names call upon the association, emotion and "flavour" of their constituent words, and therefore come ready to impart the desired emotive impact before we even know what they are. In some cases, anyway. Others can be more obscure, but still have valuable etymology, or may be humorous reference or puns.

Gruppy < groupie + guppy

Nope, I meant anything which might have inspired it, or what it resembles in real life, hence the name of the thread. So I don't know what Meech would be.

As I said, could be wrong. But I vividly remember reading it somewhere, I think it was one of those trivia books.

Also:
Vyker - alien, also may be a reference to war of the worlds (three legs)
Intern - intern (trainee doctor)

As the resident authority on molluscs, I can confirm that slugs do not in fact have nine mouths.

but leeches have 34 brains encase you didn't know :tard:

what about a Mudukon?

Human, obviously. Particularly representative of native and indigenous peoples that live off the land in settlements not much larger than villages, especially native American and African tribes. Biologically, they evolved from birds, with whom they share a number of characteristics such as lightweight bones, feather‐like hair, and a gizzard. They have visually evolved to appear somewhat reptilian, and have chameleonic skin that changes colour to express their mood.

There are hundreds of correlations between Oddworld’s species and Earth’s creatures and cultures. Threads like these never get tremendously comprehensive before they perish. Good luck, though!

I remember someone comparing Oddworld to Africa. Mudokons are like native Africans and African slaves, glukkons are the big mean rich people and the bees seem like African or killer bees to me. Plus meeches supposedly ran around in packs like wolves.

Meech's are one of the more curious cases as they are not immediately linkable to most creatures in RL. It seems that not all of Oddworld's inhabitants were based off of real life ones or cases. Obviously design will have been based upon what is wanted and intended of the creature, in gameplay and the way it is wanted to behave, come across to the viewer etc. anyway, rather than suitable for fitting in to a slot such as slavery with Mudokons. They must also attempt to make the creature still seem odd, overworldly, though recognisable. Elum is more relatable to camels or mules, but walks on two legs, and has a completley different body shape to either of these animals, bearing more similarity to dinosaurs. Scrabs, also, are highly peculiar due to their as of yet unseen anatomy, particular having a strange armless body on top, though obviously this was designed with the Shrykull in mind. The Paramite wasn't as limited in this case.

The Meech seems most closely comparable to a cross between armadillos and raptors (the dinosaur kind, not the bird kind), though they have been described by Oddworld Inhabitants as being similar to hyenas, though this seems more likely to refer behaviour rather than appearance.

mudokon-human, because they have bad mood swings, one minute they throw tantrums and the next they are depressed. Hang it all. bwhaha

I would say slogs where more african-like, as they have African Wild Dogs that eat their prey alive, like slogs do. Yummy.

That is a comparison that works with most cultures and habitats around the world at some point in their history.

Mongo River - Lake Mungo.

Slogs are more like domesticated dogs, as they are refinely bred versions of the more wild Slegs. Slegs seem more comparable to wolves due to their larger bulk, as African wild dogs are rather slim and built for speed more than strength.

Both Mudokons and Glukkons are comparable to humans, and likely more, other races, at the very least Clakkerz, Vykkers and likely perhaps the as of yet unseen Quanzumerz. Mudokons are like the african mine workers (slaves), Glukkons are the corporate, heartless wealth seeking people, employers and businessmen. Clakkerz are likely hillbillies and rednecks living in remote areas, Vykkers are the mad scientists and doctors, and Quanzumerz are likely to be similar to the middle class, those who live in cities etc. and purchase Glukkon products.

Well, as mentioned in the OW art book, the artists are inspired by real creatures, and incorperate their recognisable features with completly new ones, so you end up with a unique, imaginative and altogether odd creatures, whilst people still recognise main features of it.
Oh, and that goes with everything more or less, they don't pick concepts of out nowhere, they are inspired by real things, because an environment or creature or group with no resembolance to anytrhing will like quite odd (not in a good way) and more importantly, the auidance cannot relate to it.
Hense you see trees and cacti on alian worlds, if not oddified, and characters with stories similuar to the real world, if you like, the world of oddworld is a representation to our own.
Oh, and every oddworldian character can be compared to real creatures, so I'm not going to make a list, however, characters may be resembled to completly different real life creatures, due to their physical apperances and behaviours or their stories and circumstances.
And yes, I'm sorry, couldn't resit making another long a boring post :P Will try harder next time

Sloggy - Moggi. I don't know you if you'll understand this. I think it is perfect.

There actually is a Congo River in Central Africa, which is also a major river. In fact, there are two countries named after the Congo River. Congo and DROC (more specfically, The Democractic Republic of the Congo)

Yeah, and there actually is a Mongo River in Papua New Guinea, and another one in Central Africa.

Actually they have 34 segments with a nerve ganglion in each and a brain in one. I am also the resident authority on Hirudineans.


Considering that Nolybab is "babylon" backwards, might this suggest that it is a historical seat of early civilisation that has since been utterly corrupted by consumerism and ecological negligence?

Ok well I'm just going to say that the grubbs remind me of native africans, or maybe even ancaint asain tribesman, whilst the Muds remind me of the Native americans.
Then again Abe was based on a tale of a native africa blood diamond miner wasn't he?
The real world Oddworld association are the reason for all of the similarities with other oddworlds, I mean, there was treasure planet in Italian on TV and in the beginning, they jump out of their house which is being burnt and attack, and land on an elum looking creature, from what I remember they were identical.
Then there's all of the fuzzle creatures out there.

I'd think that sort of thing is going a bit far. Just because it has two legs or something. Also, this thread is for real life comparisons, not fictional ones. There'd be alot of 'similarities' as it were.

Where do Sligs fit in? I can't find a reliable real life niche they'd fit into. I don't recall knowing of any armed guards which know almost nothing and don't get payed...

Sligs are lazy, ignorant, bullies with no real worth who are put in a position of power that goes over their heads. They’re everything from playground instigators through corrupt cops to blindly obedient soldiers. And they get paid.

Zerox, I wasn't stating comparisons, I was making a point, most concepts of creatures are drawn from real life animals, and my proof of this is the similarities between works of fiction, which were inspired by the same thing, there's no way that they both sat down and thought of the same looking creature, I doupt they even coppied each other, my main point is that if you sat down and think about it, everything in oddworld will have a reference to the real world, becuase it was inspired by it.
Oh and I'm sure that alien in the movie looked exactly the same, owell.
But I'm not saying this thread is pointless, it's quite fun to point out the differences, so whatever.

and i have decided to be oddworlds resident useless fact generator which you explain in minute detail :fuzvamp:

So the grubs and muds represent native tribes used as slaves by the western world, the vykers would represent those that break ethical laws in order to acheive their goals (correct me if I'm wrong, but they remind me of a Dr. Frankeinstien type character), etc.
But what would the Wolvarks, Clakkerz and Interns represent?

Wolvarks could refer to the people in the soliders around the time in the 1800's within the USA that stripped the Native Americans from their homes to camps (I remember something about the Navajos), Clakkerz could represent the arrogance and ignorance of the settlers who came into the cleared-of-native-settlement, and Interns resemble people who have poor ethics and live for materialistic objects.

Wolvarks refer to any militaristic stupidity and contempt for other cultures. They live and work to destroy other environments to benefit their own inbred, close‐minded, trailer trash existence. Interns represent apathy in all forms, taking great inspiration from those that use fashion, trance music and manufactured drugs to escape reality (as opposed to the native races that use natural drugs to bring themselves closer to nature).

I feel like making a smart-arse coment to this but I'm to lazy.

Thanks, I never actually thought about what wolvarks, clakkerz and interns realy represented.
Actually, wouldn't Ratz represent desiples of a religious leader, I mean, they're said to be the eyes and ears of the rasin, they seem to have sacrificed their individuality and have become one speacies dedicated to the races, silent and mysterious themselves, but they express their message through the Rasin's teachings.
What would the rasin represent anyway? I peaceful or spiritual leader forced into hiding by his enemy?
Ok fine, I realy am looking too far into this.

Ratz seem strange to me because it’s hard to tell just how intelligent they are. They have an impishness about them, and a wee bit of spunk too, but just how aware they are of being used by the Raisin as remote vessels is really hard to pin down. They are essentially just rats that scurry about in every corner of Oddworld—​natural or developed—​trying to survive, and it’s this distribution that makes them perfect for the Raisin’s voyeurism.

It was an even more perfect relationship when the Raisin was going to be in a rubbish dump, where he was discarded by the Industrialists but salvaged in situ by those that revere his wisdom. Instead he was put in an underground hideout to protect him from the Industrialists, who have more of an interest in ‘quietening’ this inspirer of native fortitude (except for the Vykkers, who have more twisted ideas). In this way, the Raisin represents spiritual and political leaders whose wishes to instill peace, equality and resistance upset more militaristic, self‐interested groups who then do their best to end the teachings of these people, people like Nelson Mandela and the present Dalai Lama.