Tabletop Prime: Ancient and Cold – Origins of the Lizardmen – PRIME
The OG guards of the Old World aren’t that far-fetched.
The first developed race of the Old World, the Lizardmen (or Seraphon as they are known in Age of Sigmar) have one of the coolest aesthetics of all the Fantasy armies. Combining ancient arcanotech with cold-blooded reptialian ferocity, the Lizardmen are the army for anybody that liked dinosaurs as a kid or likes conspiracy theories. As strange as they are, however, they have roots in the real world just like every other fantasy army, and their origins could potentially combine actual history with one of the strangest conspiracies out there.
The Warhammer Story
When the Old Ones first arrived in the Old World, they brought with them the reptilian Slann, mages and architects of extraordinary skill that shaped the Old World to the whims of their masters. They founded the first temple cities in Lustria and the Southlands, and formed massive spawning pools from which the other races of the Lizardmen emerged, and set about bringing the other races of the world under their protection. However, a great cataclysm caused the mystical webway that the Old Ones used for interstellar travel to collapse, destroying several temple cities and opening a rend into the Warp, causing Chaos to spill into the Old World.
The surviving Lizardmen retreated into their cities, and were for the most part forgotten by the younger races. Elves, Dwarves, and Humans made expeditions into the deep Lustrian jungles, and when cities were discovered (and in some cases plundered) the Lizardmen treated the explorers as interlopers and destroyed them, so they remained the stuff of legends. They did not move back into common knowledge until the plague rats of Clan Pestilens drove them deeper into the jungles, fulfilling the Great Propecy of Sotek and heralding the Lizardmen’s return to the battlefields of the Old World.
Meso-American Origin
Just looking at the Lizardmen arcitechture, it’s pretty obvious where most of their inspiration lies. Their armor, weapons, iconography, and temple cities are all reminiscent of ancient South American cultures, specifically the Mayans and the Aztecs. The square-shaped “swords” they wield are reminiscent of the Mesoamerican macuahuitl, and the gold that can be seen worked into their armor, weapons, and banners bring to mind the mythical tale of El Dorado, the lost city of gold that drew Cortez to the shores of South America. Tehenhauin, the two-tailed leader of the Red Crested Skinks and Prophet of the Serpent God, very much looks the part of an Aztec priest with his model, wielding a ritual dagger, a prophetic stone slab, and the recently removed heart of the dead Skaven at his feet as an offering.
The Mesoamerican inspiration is also present in the death mask of Kroak, the stone banner of the Astrolith Bearer, and the mighty Engine of the Gods carried to battle by Stegadons. Several of the Old Ones also call ancient deities to mind, specifically Sotek, the aforementioned Serpent God, who is almost a direct reference to Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent god.
Pop Culture Origin?
“But why lizards,” you may find yourself asking, and you would be right to do so. With the exception of the Quetzalcoatl comparison that is little about the ancient cultures that are specifically reptillian. If you are familiar with older cinema, you could find a reference to Saurian Aztecs in the 1973 film The Holy Mountain, which includes a scene with a group of horned lizards dressed in Aztec finery (viewer beware, don’t look this up if you like animals).
Saurian Origin?
But it could also be a reference to an odd conspiracy theory about the Saurians, a race of divergent humanoids that evolved from reptiles rather than humans. First theorized by Palaeontoligist Dale Russell as a natural evolutionary line of dinosaurs, there are several modern groups that believe these Saurians live just below the Earth’s surface and have been influencing world events, running major governments, or founding social networks.
Now, do I think Games Workshop used a conspiracy theory to create one of their races? No, I don’t. It’s more likely they thought about the Lizardmen being the first race on the Old World and so just made them dinosaurs. However, considering that the Saurian theories also tie heavily into Aztec prophecies and ancient Mayan astromancy, it is a connection that cannot be entirely ignored.
Maybe the GW execs have something to tell us?
