It has been discovered, during discussions in this thread, that Gamon is a genius. Now I know there will be nay-sayers who complain that he’s just a comic relief goon who was given a moment in the spotlight for a laugh, but hear me out, because not only is Gamon a genius - he’s also a hero.
The definition of genius is a person displaying surpassing skill and/ or intelligence. Gamon fits. Even before MoP, back when he was a lowly drunken street thug, Gamon possessed skills no other Warrior could boast. “Pride Breaker” was used to great effect by Priests in vanilla to troll people by kicking them off their mounts - such was the power of this ability that Blizzard actually had to nerf it to prevent it breaking the game for people.
Moreover, Gamon was the first Horde citizen to realise the danger Garrosh posed to the integrity of the faction. When everyone else was sucking up to the Warchief, or going about their business unawares, Gamon took a stand - and in order to help him defeat the mighty Orc, Gamon trained hard, under his own direction, to gain the strength he knew he’d need to put an end to Garrosh’s mad schemes.
The fact he did all this to help save the faction that had spurned him for years as a no-good drunken scumbag displays his great magnanimity.
So, yeah. Anduin might be a genius, but he’s a main character, so you have to expect that because Blizz can’t write main characters who earn their position through hard graft and instead rely on hereditary superheroes to carry their story. Gamon is the closest they’ve ever come to writing a true working class hero and a bona fide genius.
Gamon is the hero the Horde needs, now more than ever, as yet another insane Warchief threatens to plunge the faction into chaos and strife.
Gamon is great! He is truly a genius to forgive being wronged by the horde and try to save them regardless.
His forgiveness and behaviour might even hint at him being sent by the light itself as a kind of ambassador to prepare the horde races for accepting the light.
If this is true he is one of the great heroes of the light, even surpassing Velen and Anduin in his understanding of this all loving force of the universe.
Yeah, right, a discussion around a gag character created solely for comic relief. Anyone can see that there is nothing to discuss, and I am not surprised that so far there hasn’t been a single serious reply. Granted, the OP wasn’t serious in the first place and is a post comprised solely of headcanon which purpose is to add some fraction of complexity to an individual that isn’t even a character in the first place, but an individual added merely for the jokes.
Just like the drunken panda guy in Warcraft III! Who would take a joke like this seriously and implement a continent with loads of Kun Fu pandas in the game and the lore? Or that Indiana Jones parody. You would have to be stupid, to fill a zone with his misadventures! And I’m really happy that we never heard of that Rambo-parody again…
Being created as a joke doesn’t prevent Blizzard from taking a character seriously (sad as it is), so speculation about it sounds perfectly reasonable to me.
Edit:
If I get Arctur to defend pandaren and existing parody characters with this, I want a medal!
Comic relief is in the eye of the beholder. Like I said in the other thread, I could probably find a heavy handful of WoW fans who consider Anduin a meme, or Jaina, or Genn, or Baine, Talanji, Sylvanas… etc etc.
The writers may have intended Gamon to be a meme - and may not have intended those other characters to become memes - but Gamon’s in-universe actions and bravery in Mists deserve recognition. He stood defiant against the Warchief for the benefit of all Horde citizens, even the ones who’d kill him every time they hearthed, and in the end the Horde followed his example. A true visionary.
Also, as pointed out by our esteemed Gnomish respondent, Chen Stormstout also began as a meme and became a legend. I think Gamon has earned the same distinction.
… because you’d have to invent lore whole-cloth to justify such a conclusion. Gamon’s genius and bravery require nothing more than a detached reading of the text.
Arctur, isn’t it a bit self contradicting to first complain about people derailing your (really funny) Anduin Thread with jokes and comments you didn’t like, and then come here to hate on a serious thread about the virtues of Gamon, our Saviour?
Except that my thread about Anduin states facts (not headcanon) and is about a serious character, not a gag character who exists solely because of memes. You don’t really mean to tell me that a discussion about Gamon is as serious and legitimate as a discussion about Anduin, do you? In fact, whereas I was serious in my thread, the OP is pretty much joking, you can’t tell me after reading the OP that they kept a straight face while writing this thread.
Basically, if you want to troll, make it more entertaining please. A title like “Gamon is a genius” (which is as ridiculous as “The Alliance is evil!” or “Garrosh did nothing wrong!”) immediately give off your true intentions.
Except that my thread was clearly serious, since I provided a list of facts as to why Anduin, a serious character of Battle for Azeroth, is a remarkable genius.
This thread basically sprung from a small discussion that we had in my thread, and isn’t simply glorified headcanon, but the subject of the thread is a meme character. This thread has the same value as a discussion about Hogger’s morality or the Murlocs’ true intentions.
Don’t tell me that Gamon is a character as serious and respectable as Anduin, because I won’t believe you.
But how do you start a serious discussion about an individual with no personality, goals or character whatsoever?
Facts like Anduin having a legal claim on the Frozen Throne, if he married the Lich Kings daughter…yeah…
I think Gamon is a character that could become serious whenever Blizzard wants him to and was already used in a non-joking manner in SoO. So I do believe he can be discussed seriously. I don’t see what Anduin has to do with that.
Just like the character, a thread started on a joke can still be a legitimate thread.
Not only is this the same universe where the planet is a giant egg for a planet-sized woman (having a claim to the Frozen Throne is far from being ridiculous), but Taelia, being Bolvar’s daughter, technically has a claim to the Frozen Throne which carries onto Anduin when they will marry. Why should the Scourge be an exception when it comes to claims?
I think Gamon is a character that could become serious whenever Blizzard wants him to
So can Hogger, so can the owner of Goldshire, so can that peon in the port of Zuldazar who is trying to look like a grunt, that doesn’t make them any more serious than what they are.
and was already used in a non-joking manner in SoO.
Considering how his contribution to the storyline can be boiled down to serving as a “I, Gamon, Will save us!” meme machine (there’s even a toy based on that), Nope.
Add to that the fact that he shamelessly claims that he will cleave a thousands orcs once he is freed, because Gamon memes alone weren’t enough, they even added Saurfang memes to that mess of a gag character.
Just like the character, a thread started on a joke can still be a legitimate thread.
No. A thread called “What are Dumass’ true intentions?” isn’t going anywhere. A thread called “Hogger’s potential role in 8.1” isn’t going anywhere.
So I’ll reply to this since it’s the only remotely serious part in your post. If we were still in 2005, and you opened a thread called “Saurfang is a genius”, my reaction would be the same.
The difference is that the writers realized early on in the game’s history that Saurfang had some degree of potential in the storyline. It’s too late for Gamon. The memes are too seeped in the community for him to be taken seriously. Not even YOU are taking this thread seriously, nor is the OP.
