Grain of Salt
Member
Posts: 629
Registered: 12-10 |
Interestingly, I watched the Heretic ending sequence recently (hi Vordakk), and I was reminded of how little sense that heresiarch-esque image makes, and I was tempted to start a thread about it. But then I didn't.
I do think it's pretty much beyond doubt that at one point Korax was planned to be a red, demonic wizard, very much in the vein of D'Sparil. As well as everything that's been mentioned so far, the heresiarch has very similar attack animations -- raising its arms as if collecting energy and then thrusting them forwards. And, similarly to D'Sparil summoning disciples, the heresiarch summons dark bishops. Fighting the heresiarch seems like a complete replication of the D'Sparil fight, except without the mount.
However, I don't think Korax being the six-armed serpent sprite was a last minute decision, and I don't think Hexen's development was particularly rushed -- either with regards to this decision or in general. The six-armed Korax concept is executed too well for it to be a snap decision. His iconography is spread throughout the game. I'm not really convinced by the idea of the six-armed sprite as a mount, either. It seems far too detailed. I'm trying to imagine the hersiarch riding that sprite, and my mind just shuts down. I have no real evidence for this, but my personal impression is that by the time that sprite was created, the heresiarch had already been demoted.
In a similar theoretical vein, I seem to recall an illustration in the Hexen II manual that looks like concept art for a Serpent Rider who is actually riding a serpent, and who doesn't seem to be D'Sparil. Was Eidolon ever intended to be a robed wizard with a mount? It seems less likely, since they already dropped that theme with Korax, but I suppose the idea could have come up at some point in development.
I have to say... in a weird, undefinable way, Heretic feels like a game that should have a humanoid wizard for a boss, and Hexen feels like a game that should have a non-humanoid non-wizard for a boss. I can't really explain why I think this, but I do. Heretic feels quite refined and inhabited, while Hexen feels more distant -- built-up areas seem wrecked and abandoned, and there are far more areas where you're completely outside civilization, in the wilderness. A wizard is an archetype that suggests a cultivated aptitude for the occult, and depicting D'Sparil as a wizard (even if he is supposed to be a demon) is suggestive of a very human type of villain. Korax, on the other hand, is physiologically demonic, which is suggestive of a completely different, more impersonal vision of evil: something that is born evil. And I think that's far more in keeping with its Hexen's art direction. I like the heresiarch more than Korax, but I really can't imagine him as the final boss.
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12-23-11 23:52 
