Portrait of a White Walker

[iheartseverus]

While it's not my place to say whether it's fake or not, it definitely wasn't lifted from the picture linked in the post above me. You can't get this sort of detail out of that image, and the tilt of the head isn't even correct.

Now if it was a picture leaked from GOT people then that is different. All in all I don't believe this is the intended depiction of a white walker by the producers.

Of course it wasn't lifted from the 'picture' in the post above you. That' picture' was that new member's attempt to discredit and mock a legitimate source without any facts at hand. Here are the facts:

From Game of Thrones Gallery: Trailer 1: Screencap 03

http://www.westeros....ery/Entry/2421/

Note this:

Copyright © HBO

Okay, before anyone wants to argue: this is an Other (or a white walker, as the show prefers). The concept art I saw in Belfast closely matches this: noseless face, glowy eyes, even hair on its head. (bold mine)

Given that the official HBO copyrighted screencap is extremely dark, at least on my monitor, I lightened and brightened it with Photoshop. And here is my result:

http://img.photobuck...creencap_03.jpg

Look familiar?

Now, the issue of whether this Other 'concept' (which is real,HBO copyrighted, not fake, nobody cheated, nothing to mock or sneer at) is the concept that HBO will end up with when we actually see the white walkers later in the series is another issue, entirely. Personally, I think they'll refine this concept, BUT THIS IS THE ACTUAL OTHER THAT WE SAW IN THE PROLOGUE.

It's an ugly thing to basically accuse someone of cheating and fakery, just for funsies, and it annoys the hell out of me. Because someone feels they're 'anonymous' as a web poster shouldn't hold them to a lesser standard of common courtesy. A bit of Ned Stark decency wouldn't hurt anyone. [/rant]

ETA: None of this was directed at you, Kaitscralt, of course.

[iheartseverus]

I bet the first shots are just placeholders until more budget can be put towards a proper white walker. Look at the improvement in the Hounds appearance after the pilot, for example.

Totally agree.

[I love Cersei]

Wow, Zombie Chewbacca! I always took it the ep.1 walkers were placeholders, too.

[iheartseverus]

Wow, Zombie Chewbacca! I always took it the ep.1 walkers were placeholders, too.

LOL, yes, if we shaved Chewie's face, cut off his nose ala Voldemort, gave him those mean Grinch eyes, we'd have...voila! The (non)White Walker!

Agree, placeholders only.

[jfrenchy]

It's an ugly thing to basically accuse someone of cheating and fakery, just for funsies, and it annoys the hell out of me. Because someone feels they're 'anonymous' as a web poster shouldn't hold them to a lesser standard of common courtesy. A bit of Ned Stark decency wouldn't hurt anyone. [/rant]

apologies for the thread necro, but...

i never intended to accuse or point to deceit or any such. my original reaction was 'hmm what is this pic i dont remebember this, and plus the monster is so cheesy', so OK, why not assume an "IF". yeah? it was always an IF, never a direct accusation of fakery being landblasted behind anonymity. allright, so when it was put to me as to 'how can you write such a thing' i actually pulled the data and posted what i had on hand to validate my suspicion, which as i know now, was completely wrong. but please understand that in my perspective, at first, when i saw this post and the pic I wasn't able to place it -anywhere in the show-, hence my last post in this thread as to where the last possible shot of an "other" (ie a few posts above with thumbnails), from my known info as "i knew it" .. which was 100% erroneous

i recently rewatched the series, and with this thread lurking in the back of my mind for some odd reason, i absolutely, totally, no questions asked, caught the EXACT scene where the pic of the OP is displayed and i am 100% proven wrong.

basically the shot shows up before the part where we see 'others' running in the forest. it's really short and i would of never noticed it if i haven't posted here weeks ago and had this thread in the back of mind. it happens after the 'older' nightwatchmen picks up guts and then sees an other behind the Ser.

in any case, a seriously big duh for me, seeing how i actually took the time to capture and post frames of the scenes with the 'others' weeks ago but obviously skipping over the real event. i'd say "well it lasted less than 1/2 a second" though thats no valid excuse. i was thorough in providing counter points i should of been thorough in countering the counter points correctly. well: super idiot for me :)

so for the record, i never meant to accuse anyone of fakery, and more importantly, my assertions of 'if' the picture was even valid was completely erroneous. see episode 1 5mins 30secs-6mins 00 secs for proof. its a really crappy monster if you can capture it

i will say this, again, those others that we can see for a few split miliseconds, is definately not the final thing.. or i hope so. HBO should be able to make scarier monsters ;)

[Riverrun]

In my head white walkers were tall and elegant and slender with armour and made of the same reflective light-based colour changing ice as the wall itself! (They don't need strong armour, coz, y'know, they are brutally fast in combat and almost impossible to kill. So they wear light armour). That's probably a placeholder, like most of you said

[Mattyp]

I imagine the White Walkers to have a more skeletal look about them. To be honest I imagine they will definitely change the look of them before they arrive again on the show, sharpen up their features a bit.

In a way I imagine them to be hooded much like the (whatevers they're called) from LOTR, but I guess that's been overdone. It's hard to imagine the White Walkers with teeth. To be honest it's hard to say what they should look like without GRRM giving them any detailed description.

[DragonAge93]

I don't think they'll change the concept drastically if it is a placeholder. I mean, HBO probably knows a lot of fans have screencapped, photoshopped, whatever, the heck out of that split second of the Other. Maybe they'll redefine them a bit, but the overall design will stay. I forgot how GRRM described them in the prologue, but I have no problem with the look here. I like it, they seem more aggressive and threatening than how most of you describe them as elegantesque. I picture the Others as savages who will destroy Westeros (at least how Old Nan told it).

When do the Others appear again? I'm halfway through the 2nd book, and I believe they appear at the end, no?

[ThisIsMatt]

Was anybody else reminded of the Morlock's from The Time Machine?

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FNL6LB1CIuw/TUbmIVeQ2WI/AAAAAAAABQI/3j4LzzgXHHY/s1600/1120capture_timemachine04.jpg

Interestingly enough, their leader looks like a more human and less frozen version of what I had expected:

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/10_04/eloimorlocks1_468x645.jpg

[fitheach]

I always imagined the Others looking like Elric of Melnibone... :dunno:

[johhny-turbo]

It's from the pilot and in the context of the show you don't actually really get a good look at any so I think their further appearances might be modified

[imladolen]

I can't find any images online of it, but in the "A Game of Thrones" d20 RPG published by Guardians of Order, they had an awesome two page (pages 6-7) painting depicting a scene from the prologue, with a bunch of Others that looked a lot like I always imagined they would. If I had a scanner (and I had any idea how/where to put a photo online so others can check it out) I would scan it in so you could all see it.

Anyone out there have a copy of this RPG book and could post a link to that pic for people?

But when I first read the book, I imagined the Others to be a lot like Tad William's Norns; evil ice elves basically!

I found this close-up screencap of a WW over at the TWoP site--first time I've seen his/its face, up close and personal. (The original cap was dark and vague so I ran it through Photoshop to brighten and enhance, but didn't change any actual features, of course).

Hmmm, blue cat's (snake's?) eyes, no nose, skeletized face, an...ice? beard? Is that hair or some kind of hood on his/its head? My first smart-ass impression--a cross between Bigfoot and Lord Voldemort. A poster over at TWoP also posited that based on the WW we saw in the prologue, they're somewhere between 7 and 8 feet tall.

Your impressions?

http://img.photobuck...ermyenhance.jpg

[Myrddin]

Interestingly enough, their leader looks like a more human and less frozen version of what I had expected:

The leader's not human. He's Jeremy Irons!

:shock:

Ahem.

Add me to the group who assume the image seen on the show (unzoomed and analyzed) is just a placeholder. 99.9999% of the viewership aren't going to grab screen caps to see how accurate the white walkers are. At least I hope that's a temp mask...

[Auska]

The graphic novel adaptation of GOT, of which a couple teaser pages have now been shown, has the Others looking quite like icy, somewhat ethereal and very tall elves.

http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/61580932.html

[Mattyp]

The graphic novel adaptation of GOT, of which a couple teaser pages have now been shown, has the Others looking quite like icy, somewhat ethereal and very tall elves.

http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/61580932.html

And also see-through :worried:

[Bear Island Daughter]

I always thought of the White Walkers as rather akin to evil-looking UrSkeks. ^_^

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20060119223228/muppet/images/6/6a/Urskek.JPG

[Francis Buck]

I actually did not immediately realize this was from the show when I first saw it online (probably about three episodes in). I was surprised they did such a detailed, if cleverly hidden, shot of their face. It did not really match my idea of a White Walker when I first read the book, however since I've seen it has basically totally replaced my initial (rather vague) mental concept of them. I actually prefer them as sort of undead looking. It makes them much frightening and interesting in my opinion.

[Francis Buck]

Also, I kind of doubt the image is going to change all that much in the show. I don't think they would have put the effort into a designing such a detailed image if it was just a placeholder. They wouldn't have really shown it at all in that case. By the next time we see it in Season 3, it may very well be more detailed, but I wouldn't really expect it to be radically different in any significant way.

[benadgatemusic]

I just kind of thought of a large person made of ice. This certainly is interesting, though the skeletal look could cause further confusion with the wights, who are animated dead bodies.

But we already know what wights look like on the show. :)

[Spring Bass]

The graphic novel adaptation of GOT, of which a couple teaser pages have now been shown, has the Others looking quite like icy, somewhat ethereal and very tall elves.

http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/61580932.html

That's very close to my mental image of them, although not as "built" in terms of physique (more slender).

Silent, too. That was one of the distinct elements of Others in the books: they were silent, leaving no trace of themselves upon the snow they walked. Ser Waymar Royce's only warning in the Prologue is the sudden, severe drop in temperature.