Samwise Didier

Didier joined Blizzard (then called "Silicon & Synapse") in 1991 when he saw a newspaper ad that only read, "'make art for video games.' Very descriptive. I think a programmer wrote it."{{cite web |last1=Blizzard Entertainment |title=Blizzard Retrospective |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNv2lVGWbVI |website=YouTube |access-date=October 3, 2022}} He has worked there continuously since. "I've never worked for another game company," he said in a 2012 interview. "I never want to. I'm going down with the ship." His early work appeared in The Lost Vikings, Blackthorne, and Warcraft I. As well as continuing to contribute in-game and manual artwork, he took on increased responsibility in following Blizzard releases: he was a producer for The Death and Return of Superman and Justice League Task Force, an art director and producer for Warcraft II, an art director for Diablo, The Lost Vikings 2, StarCraft, Warcraft III, and Starcraft II, and a concept writer for Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos. As a voice actor, he performed in Warcraft III, World of Warcraft, and Heroes of the Storm. He was credited with additional contributions to Diablo II, Diablo III, and Overwatch.

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."

The Pandaren race in the Warcraft universe are also a Didier creation, a result of his personal enthusiasm for pandas. 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.{{cite web |url=https://www.engadget.com/2007-03-16-samwise-didier-warcraft-icon.html |title=Samwise Didier, Warcraft icon |last=Schramm |first=Mike |date=March 16, 2007 |website=Engadget |access-date=July 30, 2017}} 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'.{{Cite web |title=What lies beyond the storm?|url=https://twitter.com/SamwiseDidier/status/1723066458387759316 |access-date=November 11, 2023 |website=X (formerly Twitter) |language=en}}{{better source needed|date=October 2024}}

Swedish heavy metal band HammerFall frequently turned to Didier for album covers from 2002 to 2009. Didier created the album covers for all of their studio albums in this period (Crimson Thunder, One Crimson Night, Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken, Threshold, and No Sacrifice, No Victory) as well as for five other releases (the 2002 EP Hearts on Fire, the 2005 EP Blood Bound, the 2006 EP Natural High, the 2011 single Send Me A Sign, and the 2014 single Bushido). Didier also created the cover art for HammerFall lead vocalist Joacim Cans' 2004 solo album Beyond the Gates.

Didier is the lead vocalist for Elite Tauren Chieftain (ETC), a band composed of Blizzard employees. ETC has performed at several BlizzCons,{{cite web|url=https://kotaku.com/blizzard-worldwide-invitational-level-70-elite-tauren-453332103|title=Blizzard Worldwide Invitational: Level 70 Elite Tauren Chieftain Level Up|website=kotaku.com|access-date=July 30, 2017|first1=Brian|last1=Ashcraft|date=June 30, 2008}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://kotaku.com/world-of-warcraft-song-coming-to-guitar-hero-iii-5019478|website=kotaku.com|access-date=July 30, 2017|title=World of Warcraft Song Coming To Guitar Hero III|date=June 25, 2008|first1=Stephen|last1=Totilo}} 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.

In 2017, Didier published an illustrated book of short stories, Grimbeard: Tales of the Last Dwarf.{{cite journal |last1=Fortune |first1=Ed |title=Coming Soon: Ed Fortune Highlights Noteworthy New Titles|journal=Starburst |date=February 2017 |issue=433 |page=95 |url=https://archive.org/details/Starburst.Magazine.433.February.2017.True.PDF?q=%22samwise+didier%22 |access-date=July 16, 2017}}

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.{{cite book |last=Didier |first=Samwise |date=2019 |title=How to Draw Mythical Monsters and Magical Creatures: An Artist's Guide to Drawing Mythical Creatures from One of the Masters! |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=evChwwEACAAJ |location=San Diego, California |publisher=Thunder Bay Press |isbn=9781645171386}} Several Blizzard art books also include commentary from him.

{{BLP unreferenced section|date=October 2024}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.artstation.com/thepandaking Samwise Didier gallery on ArtStation]
• [https://www.deviantart.com/samwisedidier Samwise Didier gallery on DeviantArt]
• {{IMDb name|1049727}}
• {{Instagram|samwisedidier}}
• {{Twitter|samwisedidier}}

{{Blizzard Entertainment}}

{{HammerFall}}

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Category:1971 births

Category:American art directors

Category:American video game artists

Category:Blizzard Entertainment people

Category:Living people

Category:People from Tustin, California