"Bald sloping brows and saggy eyes rimmed underneath by drooping blue membranes, they were half a head taller than a typical human and much heavier. Their brutal faces had been reshaped into leathery masks of disjointed cartilage and torn flesh, their powerful bodies were adorned with religious tattoos and ritual disfigurements. Most wore shells of living vonduun crab armor and all carried the ubiquitous Yuuzhan Vong amphistaff, a serpent that could change on command into a cudgel, razor-sharp polearm, or poison-fanged whip." - Star By Star
For an invading race that tears apart the galaxy and spawns a war that has casualty rates numbering in the trillions, you'd think there'd be some decent illustrations, or even descriptions. Right? Hardly the case here. Why you ask? I wondered that same thing. My conclusion is simple...Fear.
As kids we feared that thing hiding in the shadows of our closets. It had some form to it. It looked partially human. But it was deformed. Not right. And our wild imaginations were pushed to the limit thinking about what it could be. As opposed to what it actually was; just a sweater. Here's an example: The most terrifying horror movies don't show the monster. By the time you get around to seeing fully what is killing everyone, the audience (like the hero or heroine), has built up a tolerance for the terror that comes from the unknown. They're ready to face it. And so it's given to them in all it's horrendous glory.
As I researched for any scraps of images or descriptions of the Yuuzhan Vong and their equipment I increasingly came upon half bits. Little lines here and there that helped flesh out this new race of aliens. Dark warriors. Coal black amphistaff. Magnificent crab armor that had silver highlights.
Frustrating? Oh yeah. In fact the most complete single description I found is the one posted above. Sure, particular characters had good descriptions for them. Supreme Overlord Shimrra and his various appendages. Warmaster Tsavong Lah's living armor grafted to his bones. Nom Anor and his empty eye's plaeryin bol. But none of these descriptions gave me a true basis line Vong to work with. I had to turn to pictures.
The search for a baseline Yuuzhan Vong continues...
‹‹ images ›› ‹‹ armor ›› ‹‹ face ›› ‹‹ amphistaff ››