Sam "Samwise" Didier (born 1971) is an American artist. He served as senior art director at Blizzard Entertainment, having been with the company since 1991.[1] As the art director for the flagship games of the Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo franchises, the producer of several games, and an artistic contributor to almost every game released under the name Blizzard Entertainment, Didier has created a distinctive Blizzard house style.[2][3]Edge described Didier's style as "a striking, pulp sensibility that may be an acquired taste, but one acquirable on either side of the Pacific, side-stepping polarisation of appeal to either eastern or western audiences."[4] His other contributions to Blizzard projects include writing, voice acting, music, sculpture,[5] the Pandaren species, and the name "Warcraft".[6][7] Leonardo Marcato calls him "one of the game designers that can be legitimately called authors thanks to the imprint they gave to projects they directed."[8]
In addition to his work at Blizzard, Didier has written and illustrated novels, released an illustration guide, and created album cover art.
Didier's work intentionally invokes the spirit of pulp magazines and comic books. "We haven't changed our style since the very beginning," he said in 2004. "The first orc we ever did, in Blackthorne was just a little guy chasing after Blackthorne — but we thought, 'Hey, these guys are cool,' so we used that character for our orcs in WarCraft. Artistically, we've always gone for the same sort of goals: we try to keep everything over-the-top, over-proportioned, and really colorful, then we add in as much 'comic factor' as we can."[4]
The Pandaren race in the Warcraft universe are also a Didier creation, a result of his personal enthusiasm for pandas.[3] Among other things, panda icons also appeared accompanying much of Didier's art, and could be seen in Warcraft III as the emblem on the Night Elf demon hunter's glaives, his name is written in the Paladin's book, when he casts a spell, and an unused Icon and two Models have the face of Didier's face, visible only in the Map Editor.[10] In Starcraft II there is a multiplayer portrait, containing a "Panda Marine".
On November 10, 2023, Didier announced his retirement from Blizzard via X, after 32 years with the company. Signing off with 'Always draw big shoulder pads'.[11][better source needed]
Didier is the lead vocalist for Elite Tauren Chieftain (ETC), a band composed of Blizzard employees. ETC has performed at several BlizzCons,[12] playing songs based on Blizzard games. In addition their appearances in Blizzard games, their song "I Am Murloc" was released as DLC for Guitar Hero III.[13] In turn, the Heroes of the Storm character E.T.C. is based on the band, as well as the Hearthstone cards E.T.C., God of Metal and Elite Tauren Chieftain.
Writing
In 2017, Didier published an illustrated book of short stories, Grimbeard: Tales of the Last Dwarf.[14]
He is the author of the fantasy novels The Last Winter (solo) and Strange Highways (as co-author to Micky Neilson), as well as an illustration guide, How to Draw Mythical Monsters and Magical Creatures.[15] Several Blizzard art books also include commentary from him.
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