Golem Final Process

The Golem: Talmudic Legend of a Clay Beast Created to Protect the Jews

Golems are creatures that originate from Jewish mythology. The word "golem" supposedly appears once in the Bible to mean a "shapeless mass" in Hebrew. One belief is that the legend behind the creation of the golems is only symbolic, referring to the spiritual awakening of an individual.

The myth of the golems inspired many works of artists. One such example is the Frankenstein which is an amalgamation of body parts from many cadavers. The golem is essentially made up of many immobile objects that make up a human-like figure, similar to that of Frankenstein.

Golems can consist of organic or inorganic parts. The most common occurrence of golems in video games or other fictional media are those that are composed of rocks or possibly derelict structures.

SoulWorker
As mentioned earlier, the physical appearance can be altered in many ways by the game artists. SoulWorker, while not directly using the name "Golem", manages to portray several different variations of the concept of golems.

Asphalt Golem, as introduced in SoulWorker.

Image result for grava lithos quaker
Grava Lithos Quaker, as introduced in SoulWorker.

Asphalt Golem consists of rocks, mossy rocks and traffic based objects such as lights and cones that come from a construction and roadworks themed setting.

Grava Lithos Quaker is a machine that is about as big as the golem mentioned before, but is of a futuristic and sci-fi themed setting. It consists of metal parts that make the limbs of the golem.

Frankenstein
Frankenstein

Frankenstein is a popular story which tells the tale of a scientist who attempted to resurrect a monster that was composed of many severed limbs from cadavers.

The creature that features in Frankenstein is made up of body parts that come from many different dead bodies. For this reason I felt it was relevant to compare Frankenstein to mythical golems since both are technically irregular because of the use of differently sized body parts. Frankenstein uses limbs not from the same body body, while golems alike could use any combination of stray rocks, metal or other organic and inorganic components.

Final Process


 When drawing the golem, I wanted to use games such a SoulWorker as an influence to the aesthetic. It is somewhat difficult to depict a golem, since there is no true definition for the term "golem". I fused together natural and mechanical parts to form the creature, which is essentially a cross between a machine and rock life form. Golems are also often irregular, and sometimes do not follow regular body proportions like other living creatures. For this reason, the final design of the golem has irregular parts, such as arms being different, and visible decay on organic and metal parts.

Sources:
"DHWTY" (2018), The Golem: Talmudic Legend of a Clay Beast Created to Protect the Jews, Ancient Origins. Available at: https://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends-asia/golem-talmudic-legend-clay-beast-created-protect-jews-003067
Lion Games (2016), SoulWorker. [Video Game]. Gameforge, Germany.
Laurence R. (2018), Why Frankenstein is the story that defines our fears. Available at: http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20180611-why-frankenstein-is-the-story-that-defined-our-fears

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