The scale of the Talisman revealed

[Prob Lem]

WARNING: Ultra-geeky thread with insane attention-to-detail ahead. If this bores you or just plain isn't your sort of thing, turn back now!

I've always wondered just how big the lemmings' guiding Talisman, from Lemmings 2: The Tribes and The Lemmings Chronicles, is actually meant to be.

Last night, my curiousity finally got the better of me, and I applied the measuring methods that I usually use when converting from artwork to sewing, to try and get some idea (yes, I was considering making a plush version of the Talisman at some point http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" class="smiley" /> ).

It soon became obvious that the size of the lemmings themselves is vital to this. For my part, I always felt that they were, on average, around ten inches tall, give or take a bit (I'm sure there's some variation in the lemming population, just as there is in the human one http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/winktounge.gif" alt=";P" title="Wink-Tongue" class="smiley" /> ). There are two reasons for this: The first is the impression given by the Shadow Tribe's TARDIS exits in Lemmings 2, and the second is just simple psychology - that height is a popular size for teddy bears and plush creations of all sorts, because it's the perfect cute and cuddly "I wanna pick it up and hug it!" size, whilst not being cumbersome or either under-sized or over-sized (it also appears to be roughly the size that was to be used for the cancelled official Lemmings plushes in the early 1990s, from what I can tell). Anyway, this in mind, I started from there...

I soon found that there are really only two useful sources that provide any clue as to the scale of the Talisman - the box-art for Lemmings 2, which shows the completed Talisman along with a lemming from each tribe (it's definitely not meant to be part of the logo, here, as the Talisman does not appear as part of the logo anywhere, least of all the game itself), and the front cover of Lemmings Adventure Gamebook 1: The Genesis Quest, which shows a lemming reaching for a lone piece of the Talisman.

I actually started with the cover for The Genesis Quest, and found that the Talisman piece shown there is (and please do forgive this unorthodox method of measurement - as noted above, the lemmings' size is key here) two-and-a-bit paws in height. (Where paws are hands, not feet, of course!)

Naturally, I expected this to be completely out-of-scale from the Lemmings 2 box-art. This art conveniently provided me with the same reference points as the book cover, so I measured those, too - one paw (one of the Cavelem's paws was the closest in positioning to the one on the book cover), and the same Talisman piece. Imagine my surprise when it turned out that the scale of the Talisman on the Lemmings 2 box-art exactly matches that shown on the cover for The Genesis Quest! I hadn't expected that anyone would have paid attention to that, and given how exact the match is, I somehow doubt it's coincidence.

Anyway, method aside, this brings me to my conclusion: In the case of my take on it, the above means that the completed Talisman is about 17" tall (... and is going to require lots of embroidery to make a plush version...). Whatever your own take on it is, though, this all basically means that the fully-assembled Talisman is a bit under twice the height of a lemming. (I haven't tried to figure out the sizes of each individual piece, as I had no need to, but from this, I'm pretty sure that anyone could easily do so.)

And there you go. http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" class="smiley" />

[namida]

Yeah, I could see myself coming up with something like that. xD
Interesting read for sure. http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/smiley.gif" alt=":)" title="Smiley" class="smiley" />

[Prob Lem]

Yeah, I could see myself coming up with something like that. xD
Interesting read for sure. http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/smiley.gif" alt=":)" title="Smiley" class="smiley" />

Haha, thanks. http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/thumbsup.gif" alt=":thumbsup:" title="Thumbs Up" class="smiley" />

I do love this sort of thing, as it's nice to get an impression of the scale of things as part of world-building. I mean, it's all part of the series' lore, really (or any series' lore, for that matter - it's why heights and whatnot are always popular trivia inclusions in official materials for things), I think.