Wrath or rise of the Which King?

by Zach Yonzon Nov 2nd 2008 at 6:00PM

Reader Duck Knight tipped us off to the box-art of the Battle for Middle-Earth II expansion from Electronic Arts. Also known as The Rise of the Witch-King, which sounds confusingly similar to the upcoming expansion Wrath of the Lich King, the 2006 game's cover art looks curiously reminiscent of Blizzard's latest offering. Or vice versa. The game, which was based on the the movie trilogy directed by Peter Jackson, takes its art cue from the films. On the other hand, Arthas' armor is based on the cinematic from 2003's Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. I don't suppose Tolkien ever actually drew the Nazgûl armor...

Who copied whom? Probably nobody, really. It just so happens that ghastly blue seems to be the favorite color of evil leader-types and their undead minions. Witch Kings and Lich Kings also probably shop from the same armor boutiques, considering the similarity in their helmets -- eyelets, open-mouth design, and crown-like extensions. Fortunately for all of us, the Lord of the Rings video game is already a few years old, so we probably won't make the mistake of picking the wrong game up from the shelves when Wrath finally arrives this November 13.

Tags: EA, Lord-of-the-Rings, Nazgul, Rise-of-the-Witch-King, The-Battle-For-Middle-Earth, Wrath-of-the-Lich-King

Filed under: Odds and ends, Death Knight, Wrath of the Lich King

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)

Daniel Nov 2nd 2008 6:12PM

Well would you look at that...

Bloodletter Nov 3rd 2008 5:37AM

"Witch Kings and Lich Kings also probably shop from the same armor boutiques....."

I Lol'ed IRL.

Good Article.

PirateNipple Nov 2nd 2008 6:12PM

This has nothing on the recent Baja: Edge of Control debacle:

http://kotaku.com/5069437/thq-sues-activision-over-baja-box-art-rip

Avery Nov 2nd 2008 8:31PM

haha That was exactly what I was thinking of when I saw the copy. GG Activision. I can completely see why THQ sued you over the coverart.

mark Nov 2nd 2008 6:15PM

First of all... the Witch King is WAY older than the Lich King. There is no copying there.

Also, the Witch King's armor is based off the LotR trilogy... come one guys, get some real news, please.

Damntheman Nov 2nd 2008 7:07PM

I find it amusing that almost every poster has jumped to the conclusion that this article may be implying EA copying blizz. Try squeezing the pea a little harder. Yes, you're right, rise of the witch king did come first, which then begs the question...

rosencratz Nov 3rd 2008 5:46AM

TBH, seeing as i had seen Witch king artwork of this style over ten years ago, why don't we all assume that two fantasy worlds came to the same logical conclusion at different times.

That sort of spikey armour has been seen adorning bad guys dozens of times.

rosencratz Nov 3rd 2008 5:46AM

Additionally, having looked at it again i think the actual personality on the front page is not that relevant. I think the main element that makes the two seem similar is more the colour scheme. The cold blues prefaced by the warmer bolder yellows/oranges of the text. If the Witch King cover had a more red/orange background the similarities might not be so... glaring?

Still though, coincidence is coincidence, the two things are completely different you can't blame two artists for both coming up with a logically good idea.

Firestride Nov 2nd 2008 6:18PM

Plus, it's not like there's any fantasy universe in Western culture that's not heavily indebted to Tolkien anyways.

Perderedeus Nov 2nd 2008 6:27PM

The Witch King is a wee bit older than Arthas, but the likeness in question was first (widely) seen in the 2001 LotR movie. Concepts for the movie go further back than that. Tolkien/LotR artwork goes even further back, and much of that had a heavy influence on production design for the movie, soooo...

Nobody copied anyone. Initially. The two game covers, however, are fairly similar :)

offday Nov 2nd 2008 6:30PM

All I see are two guys getting in your face.

Neither would really need to copy the other. They're both popular. We aren't dealing Limbo of the Lost here.

Joshua Smellie Nov 2nd 2008 6:36PM

Gotta say you guys, I like your articles and all but you're pretty slow. I read about this months ago, lol.

Joshua Smellie Nov 2nd 2008 6:37PM

Oh, and forgot to mention: Lich King owns Witch King. And considering it was thought up for Warcraft 3 then what does that say about EA?

AutumnBringer Nov 2nd 2008 7:24PM

"considering it was thought up for Warcraft 3 then what does that say about EA?"
Yeah, I bet WETA built a time machine and watched the TFT cinematic and then went back in time to make concept art for the LOTR films ripping from that helm, which would then allow EA to make a game featuring the same helmet design. Man, those EA guys are crooked alright.