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Brutaxilos' take on Hydralisk
and my comments/additions to his great work!
Mutalisk
Overlord
Drone
Queen
Infestor
Roach
Ultralisk
Protoss
Swarm Host
Lurker
You should look through all the posts. I not only have other analysis buried but sometimes fans can be really, really amazing:
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=366846¤tpage=14#261 ----> what an awesome fan. Seriously. This is why it's worth it to read them! Make sure you also check out the counterparts that a fan has made for this,
Analysis of Terran Weaponry
as well as the Engineering of Protoss made by Anatomy of Starcraft's own video creator, River!
As a formally trained paleontologist that specializes in comparative anatomy, I have made a series (and continue to add to it) on the anatomy of starcraft 2 units. I attempt to assess the existing anatomy of the Zergling first, rather than judge it as being uncreative (ie: tetrapod with goodies, encephalized and of course apparently pseudovertebrate with a carapace that is overtly flexible in the tail.) Also know that I am lazy and don't feel like proofreading since I am doing this in my spare time. I want any and all criticisms, comments, additions or even flames! I copy and pasted my work on the first three from another forum, but will continue to post any new analysis in this thread. As you will be able to tell, I am getting more and more in depth and more accessible with my language used as it goes on. I really want to encourage participation in this, so shoot out any ideas you have!
![[image loading]](http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb57889/starcraft/images/e/ec/ZerglingSCIIsamwise.jpg)
I will start from the 'top' down. The cephalon (head) of the zergling is rather small, supported by apparently thick neck muscles and a carapace on top. The eyes are as we would expect from, well, anyone who hasn't looked at a spider: 2 eyes. Sadly, they aren't binocular, based on position. They are sub-binocular, meaning there would be a blind spot in the front. This is problematic for the Zerglings, I would imagine. This blindspot is reinforced by the seemingly pointless "face claws" that act as an outer mandible. What purpose these have is beyond me; in fact, the muscle attachments are lacking and purpose is baffling, other than to protrude further into Zergling vision. This is what I would refer to as the "Hydralisk effect," having a second "outer mandible" that really has no purpose other than to look tough.
The dentition is strongly fangling- I would suggest that this is appropriate for a creature like a Zergling. Grab the prey with whatever you can and do what you can with everything else. The piercing nature is great, however provides a troublesome dichotomy; the teeth should be recurved or even barbed if the purpose is to hold prey (though it appears as though the root isn't as strong as the crown in this case) they could be recurved or even barbed. However, if the purpose is outright damage, one needs to look no further than the dinosaurs for inspiration. They all have carinae, which are basically serrations that make them shred, much like a Great White Shark. However, these strang piercing teeth seem to be shallowly rooted and generic, without the lovely blood canals in cat canines or carnassials for tearing, as seen again on the cats.
The pectoral girdle is really of issue. The inner claws (upper in the picture) are not recurved enough to allow for climbing and devoid of purpose other than a simple bludgeon. Along with that, it really appears that the shoulder would be split on purpose. Other than some beastly tendons (like the raptors famous claw) you would be hard pressed to cause damage. As the most protruding hunting appendage, the upper claw would logically be recurved to hold prey, allowing the piercing teeth, odd cheek second jaw and lower claw to cause damage.
You can tell by looking at the lower claw that it is formidable. This is a fantastic weapon- a tendon expanding as it moves axially to sprig a deadly slash. The purpose of the shoulder 'wing' is probably design, as having that section of carapace expend like that would actually impede body extension in full spring.
The wing location should be more dorsal to be effective, not attached to the front girdle. A simple anatomy of insects shows why this is practical.
The posterior leg is fantastic or jumping, but is rather rigid which may run into issues on soft substrates in that it will dig in and transfer away the power from that fantastic pseudo-quad muscle in the upper leg. The heel claw is a nice artistic touch, but ultimately impractical and probably energetically costly to make in a race that is evolutionarily streamlining in a logical way. Kind of sour about how vertebrate the limbs look (and are), but I promised I wouldn't !@#$% about that.
The tail is merely a balance issue and a good call by designers for a saltatory critter using wings to gain extra thrust. I am a bit sour on how flexible it is; one needs only to look at animals that use their tails for balance to understand why a floppy tail isn't the best. Almost all theropods, especially those that are fast (like speedlings) have a rigid tail, reinforced by calcified tendons.
Overall, this animal looks more fierce than it is. Practically, even if its purpose is just to kill, it's getting a B- grade or so. Too many bells and whistles, too little function. Too much display in a species that isn't intimidating, it isn't having sex, it is simply killing as effectively as possible. Fun fact: recurved claws are needed for climbing, which I understand is a campaign addition in HotS for zerglings. A cluttered animal, the zergling has much to learn about lowest common denominator. I am at a loss for explaining all the random spikes etc, as honestly the only purpose other than osteoderms (dermal bone)/armor they would have to be sexual and I think we can all agree that zerglings dating is very "unzergy."
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Ultralisk
![[image loading]](http://www.popehat.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Ultralisk_II_by_Mr__Jack-1024x614.jpg)
The ultralisk really strikes me as the bulldog of the Starcraft universe. Literally, the head looks like a bulldog with a spike coming out of it.
![[image loading]](http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100721113249/starcraft/images/b/b8/Ultralisk_SC2_Head2.jpg)
The lower jaw is really, really awkward. Having those three extra teeth really doesn't make much sense. However, as far as the anatomy of the teeth themselves, they appear to look like Crocodilian molars, which are primarily for crushing. However, there doesn't appear to be anything for them to occlude with! It really reminds me of beavis:
![[image loading]](http://gawker.com/assets/resources/2008/02/beavis.jpeg)
The lower jaw fails to occlude with his upper jaw! This would render these teeth purely for flash, sadly. Much like the 'nasal' horn, which also appears to be for flash when one considers the primary mode of attack for an Ultralisk (edit: it's actually good for ramming buildings. If you can break the seal when fighting in space then it's gg terrans/toss). The eyesight is actually much better for these than for zerglings; they need slightly offset fields of view, much like a herbivore (brontolith, anyone?) Since their scythes sweep in such a massive arc, a blind spot would be completely non-impactful whereas a wider field of view allows for placing the sweeping blades for the most impact possible. Once again we see the "Hydralisk Effect" coming into play, with an outer set of mandibles. Sigh.
As far as the cephalic shield, it serves two purposes. Not only does it take a large amount of impact from tank shells or banshee fire (or whatever), but the underside may serve a utilitarian purpose. Much like Ceratopsian frills, which are primarily for muscle attachment, the underside of this massive structure could be a shelf for the massive muscle attachments for the scythes, which may attach in a way similar to a Velociraptor (and ally) claw, by running a powerful tendon to the base of the scythe, allowing for a very powerful use of potential energy. This may work in a way similar to a crab's claw as well, with a twin set of apodemes, which are pseudo-tendons that are used to powerfully enhance muscle attachment surface area for the attack and recoil. I suspect it's the second option, given the rigidity with which the sweeping attack hits. The purpose of 4 claws versus 2 is basically mathematics: if you are serving a purpose of crushing through as much of the battlefield as possible, a damaged claw/arm would give the opposing claw/arm nothing to occlude with, rendering the Ultralisk neutered. So, by adding a second set, there is a fail-safe ensuring that damage is far more likely a result of the Ultra hitting its target.
The thick trunk of the Ultralisk is both used to support the massive weight as well as the intense musculature needed to harness such force. This is a weak area for the Ultralisk, as a underside attack/frontal attack seems to hit simple muscle and covering, rather than the massive chitinous mass that is the shield. This is also a structural weak point, and perhaps a point of fatigue for the Ultra, as the joint between the quadrupedal girdle at the base and the trunk seems to be an awkward angle for transferring muscle use efficaciously.
While on the topic of the lower girdle, I am kind of annoyed with the orientation of the limbs. They really need to be more Sauropod like, as they are the only animals large enough on land to really be analogous with the Ultra. Then need to basically be column-like legs, which would also allow for the ultra to not simply fold under the massive forces of tank shells hitting the upper shield. This would lower the walking speed, sadly, but is a necessary sacrifice if you want your Ultra to not just lay down and die. The logic is quite simple- the more angles in load bearing limbs, especially on this scale, the more weak spots you have. If you orient it like an elephant or, for example, Brachiosaurus, where the limbs are completely vertical, the load bearing potential is much, much higher, but the walking speed is less likely to be high. Just ask our own relatives: we are slow as hell, but we need to have our limbs vertical like they are for endurance (and other non-relevant reasons.)
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Interesting analysis. Are you only judging the anatomy based on unit models or artwork? Lore/books? I know SC1 and SC2 Zerglings/Hydralisks/Ultras look way different too.Would you be able to sketch changes or concept art on what you think could improve these anatomies?
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Mutalisk
![[image loading]](http://img.youtube.com/vi/H0YTffpyGbc/0.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://starcraftscience.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/StarCraft-2-concept-617.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://www.carlsguides.com/starcraft2/screenshots/zerg/units/mutalisk.gif)
The Muta has 8 eyes. Yep, 8 beady little eyes. They seem to be reflective, which is useful for creatures that move through low light environments. It is reminiscent of the Tapetum Lucidum found in Cats. We see that there are two sets of mouthparts, including the controversial "hydralisk effect" jaw. However, it's not useless in this case! You can see that it actually occludes with a top part, which looks to be optimal for grasping prey. The lovely part of this is that the inside mouth parts appear to be suited for tearing, so it makes a nice dynamic of holding prey up to the face- extremely important as the only appendages are wings. Unfortunately for the eye placement, they can't look directly at what they are firing at. Not a big deal, they can probably size of an approximate target and the glaive worm will bounce around. It depends largely on the spatial awareness part of the brain for the mutalisk, which I would suggest is the primary part of the brain (along with sight center.) Using various landmarks and distance recognition as they approach a target can be used to make a fairly accurate approximation of where their shot should be aimed to land.
The segmented armor moving back on the forehead region is very reminiscent of Lorica Segmentata which was an innovative Roman armor that was great for flexibility as well as causing blows to glance off instead of penetrate. An excellent feature for a flexible and fast armoured flying menace.
The wing attachment is right at the back of the cephalic (head) region. Nothing wrong with this, just a neckless version of any flighted vertebrate. We can all agree that the wings are simply not enough to provide thrust and are clearly designed after a bat-wing orientation (fingers radiating out to support the membrane.) The difference is that the supports aren't radiating from the same origin, you can see that they actually come off of various different attachments. I am not sure how to feel about this, I suppose it depends on the strength of the attachments (which may or may not be a larger investment than a single origin point, no idea) and the stiffness of the supports, which are likely a polymer of some sort scaled up as it's cheap and easy to create biologically. It may also be something like a chitin/collagen analog.
The belly scales appear to be armoured and overlapping, which allows for mobility in this region (necessary for the abdominal muscles to be able to clench to shoot out some glaive wurms.) I don't think the back is armoured as much as the front, which makes sense for weight reduction.
Speaking of weight reduction, how the hell does a 300kg mutalisk fly? Well, I have no idea about the physics in space, but I do know that it's entirely probable that there are some Helium (lighter than air, inert and abundant all over the universe) sacs that not only work as a pseudo-bone structure for support, but help to compensate for the armour. The wings are almost certainly not a great source of thrust, so it's a mystery to me how they move so fast and accelerate so fast. I think the bum region (where the glaive wurm comes out) along with the wings may be used for manoeuvring.
Now for what is perhaps the most interesting part of the mutalisk...the glaive wurm launching. This is certainly an exaptation (a part that has been re-purposed evolutionarily) of an anus. This orifice seems to have been expanded and reinforced by claw-like things that surround it on 4 corners. This makes me strongly think that the origins of the wurm are actually an intestinal parasite which was re-purposed to cause damage, perhaps using explosive gases (which can be really cheap and easy to get, like Hydrogen) or more likely a strong acid that has had green added for effect (as most of the strong acids are clear). It is possible that along with abdominal contractions the wurm is launched with some sort of lighter-than-air gas (perhaps a small hydrogen explosion with a muscle contraction used to make a biological firing chamber.) Give it an ability to bounce around, which I have no idea about because I can't find a pic of a glaive wurm, and you have something that can cause considerable damage in a group of units.
Their wing beat frequency is an issue, as hovering flight needs some pretty high frequency beats. This is probably mitigated by the gas bladders, however, with wings being used not for lift but to prevent the muta from flying higher than needed with the lighter-than-air helium bladders. An analogy would be how a balloonist controls height by managing the temperature in his balloon. Heat moderation within the gas chambers might be used to maintain altitude as well in the muta; if they can control their metabolism and are endothermic (which I assume they are) they can control the heat, to some degree, of the Helium.
Roosting is another issue. Creatively speaking, perhaps they use the claws on their anal opening/glaive wurm launch opening to hang upside down from a spire/greater spire, or maybe a cliff.
Anyways, if someone can find a glaive wurm pic I'd love to take a crack at it more in depth.
Comments, questions, criticisms always appreciated. Let me know what I should do next!
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On September 07 2012 18:51 Chicken Chaser wrote:
Interesting analysis. Are you only judging the anatomy based on unit models or artwork? Lore/books? I know SC1 and SC2 Zerglings/Hydralisks/Ultras look way different too.Would you be able to sketch changes or concept art on what you think could improve these anatomies?
I am basing it on whatever I can google up. I don't want to comment on how to improve things, it's not really my place- I am simply assessing the functional elements of the creatures. It also keeps wild speculation in check and keeps things on point. I am trying to keep analysis to what we see in sc2, but I am totally open to doing new HotS content, the creep itself, buildings, protoss biological anatomy, or even SC1 stuff. Just post what you want me to talk about and I'll take the most popular (along with what they want on the bnet forums as well.)
I am shit at art, so I am going to refrain from drawing anything myself and just use my words (like a big boy.)
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On September 07 2012 18:56 Ponera wrote:Show nested quote +On September 07 2012 18:51 Chicken Chaser wrote:
Interesting analysis. Are you only judging the anatomy based on unit models or artwork? Lore/books? I know SC1 and SC2 Zerglings/Hydralisks/Ultras look way different too.Would you be able to sketch changes or concept art on what you think could improve these anatomies? I am basing it on whatever I can google up. I don't want to comment on how to improve things, it's not really my place- I am simply assessing the functional elements of the creatures. It also keeps wild speculation in check and keeps things on point. I am trying to keep analysis to what we see in sc2, but I am totally open to doing new HotS content, the creep itself, buildings, protoss biological anatomy, or even SC1 stuff. Just post what you want me to talk about and I'll take the most popular (along with what they want on the bnet forums as well.) I am shit at art, so I am going to refrain from drawing anything myself and just use my words (like a big boy.)
how about doing the zerg buildings? would be a cool read.
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I will cover the buildings one at a time, just like the units. :D Right now I'm kind of doing random things til I get a better idea of what everyone wants me to do. I'll prioritize based on popularity!
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funny^^ what ideas people have... but interesting nonetheless
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Lovely read, there was just enough sarcasm to keep me entertained up until the very last word. Good job.
I was wondering why the ling wings need to be more dorsal. I guess I haven't looked at insects enough to figure it out myself.
Btw, you should do Protoss too...
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It's just a muscle placement issue for the zergling wings. They already have 2 sets of limbs coming from that part, so it would diminish the size and surface area for the muscles to pack more individual muscles into that space. By moving the wing attachment site, you allow for more room for every muscle concerned.
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I love stuff like this. My favorite part of tl. Great writeup thus far. Anything you'd like to do I'll read for sure!
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yeah this is pretty cool. you should go into starcraft 2's real art website though you can get more views of units there, a lot of them have them as part of armies and stuff like that.
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Very nice, I read all of it.
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The random spikes a zergling has all over it's body might just be to make it harder for enemy fangs to hit the more vulnerable regions like the tail, legs or the upper neck region down it's back.
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yeah pretty good write up! keep it comin
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The random spikes, etc, are really reminiscent of Euoplocephalus. Might just make them look scarier. I really didn't take into consideration that they also have to fight zerg from time to time. I'll have to work that into future analysis!
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Whoa this was actually very interesting  I will certainly read the rest of this series.
I would love a look at the brood lord and the roach!
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wow awesome, spotlight this please :D
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Very cool! Thanks for the write up
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EPT
