Tiamat and Bahamut--Why Use Real World Mythology?

[TerraDave]

All I know is that the description of Orcus in the Monster Manual better have acurate details on his roman cult, and finally clear up the differences between him and dis pater.

 

[KingCrab]

The D&D cartoon has been a cult hit here (and THE gateway to fantasy for kids 8-12) for the past 20 years (it is constantly airing here in prime kid time -- it's on right now). That has increased the exposure of "Tiamat The Dragon" (as it is called).

Agreed. The first thing I think of when I hear 'Tiamat' is that Venger is in trouble.

 

[GuJiaXian]

Maybe... but everyone obviously knows the swedish gothic-rock band of that name! Or not?

You're thinking of Therion, methinks. Great band. Listening to them right now at work.

 

[Elphilm]

You're thinking of Therion, methinks. Great band. Listening to them right now at work.

Nah. Tiamat the Band.

 

[GuJiaXian]

Nah. Tiamat the Band.

Hmm, haven't heard of them before. I'll have to look into them, as I love the European gothic rock scene.

 

[I'm A Banana]

What exactly is the point here? The Tiamat vs. Bahamut thing makes no sense in regards to well-known mythology, and throwing in that weird thing about Io splitting makes it even more confusing. Tiamat is the one who was split into two and Bahamut has nothing to do with Tiamat. You might as well throw in Amaterasu as their bratty teenage daughter along with their wacky neighbor Odin.

Show some originality and imagination here Wizards. It's 4E, you've went and redone most of the cosmology already, so what's keeping you from making up original names for your gods?

Pfft. That's like FF fans complaning Shiva is an ice woman instead of a Hindu deity of ecstatic entropy (plus other stuff).

It's only a problem if you want to use the two side by side, in which case I'd recommend changing the dragon-goddess's name, or just completely ignoring the dragon-goddess, or appropriating Mesopotamian Tiamat for D&D dragons.

Tiamat is strong enough to hold both figures at the moment, and D&D's debt to mythological history is to be able to evoke it, not necessarily to embody it.

 

[RigaMortus2]

Pfft. That's like FF fans complaning Shiva is an ice woman instead of a Hindu deity of ecstatic entropy (plus other stuff).

Speaking of which, Bahamut was also in FF...

 

[Clavis]

I'm no fan of what WOTC is doing to D&D with 4th edition. However, both Tiamat and Bahumut have been iconic parts of D&D since the 1st edition Monster Manual. Of course, IMHO opinion that's were they belong, not on the list of default deities for humans.

Seeing what WOTC's imagination looks like, I think I want as little of it in D&D as possible.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Speaking of which, Bahamut was also in FF...

Where, as a Dragon-God, he bore more resemblance to the D&D bahamut than any Biblical behemoth!

 

[Kaodi]

Actually, the thing I think that is rather odd is that there seems to be very little consistency with which head is where...