I keep seeing so many complaints about Anduin having PTSD. In the wake of so much real life war, I feel like it is a good thing to learn how to process how those who have seen war and their emotions. War is trauma.
I feel like people are forgetting manly characters in other media who are extremely masculine yet still process their emotions properly. Aragorn from Lord of the Rings for example: Shows humility even after being crowned King, gives credit to the hobbits who sacrificed so much, offers forgiveness even after a betrayal, cries after a loss, and so much more. It shows that men and women can be warriors while still being able to show emotions, to kiss a friend goodbye, to hug, and shed unnumbered tears.
War is trauma. Anduin is still young, never actually had a childhood, was taken prisoner and tormented and twisted into something he wasn’t, and hasn’t yet processed that none of it was actually his fault.
I wish I could have my Horde Champion sit him down and just say, “If I can be forgiven, and be depended upon to save both the Horde and the Alliance from the Shadowlands despite all I’ve done against the alliance in my adventures, actions I took of my own free will, then why can’t you, who was possessed and out of control, forgive yourself?” Especially since they’ve teamed up on more than one occasion even when Anduin was a child.
Again, I just want to say, war is trauma. Both sides have sustained heavy losses and made decisions they now regret. PTSD can hit each person a different way. Even though Anduin has lost his light, he’s still fighting to save people, taking time to help a new friend, processing his emotions, and finally getting to see life outside of the castle he’s been trapped in since Legion. He’s facing his demons. I feel this would make him a better leader in the long run: he will understand both light and shadow. He just needs time to process these things.
Seems like we have some overlap in thread topic, but to get the same point I made in the other thread here:
This isn’t about realism in the character development, this isn’t about his justification. This is about the entertainment value of his story. Anduin isn’t real, he is whatever the writers make him, and he didn’t have to be in this plot, the writers decided to put him there. We’re not getting a PTSD story, because Anduin has PTSD. We’re getting a PTSD story, because the writers decided to tell one.
And not everyone will care for that. Or a repeat of that, considering this certainly isn’t the first time WoW touched on that topic.
With Anduin, we got an actual journey. A young man with ideals that used his brain instead of the sword, thrown on the throne way too early. We see him get hurt, we see him lead, we see him argue, but most importantly, we see him struggle. Because the Wars are slowly eating away his innocence. In BfA, he fought the first time on a battlefield and in Shadowlands, he literally went through hell after being controlled against his will after being kidnapped by a cosmic nipple-villain.
Now, it’s the first time we have a main character with PTSD in a game, that is called “World of WARcraft” btw - and imho, it’s about time!
I get that there’s the “fantasy escapism”-argument for many players, who don’t want to see topics like mental health in their game, but there’s also this thin line that keeps a story from being superficial and bland. Just like Saurfang’s story was basically Siege of Orgrimmar done right, we see these characters struggle. Which makes it even more epic when they finally overcome their weaknesses - I’m looking forward to Anduin rediscover his connection the Light someday! Not because I want to him to be badass (well… not ONLY because of that ), but because it will be earned after everything he went through!
To be honest, the only thing I feel towards the character when looking at Anduin’s story is pity (well, when I look beyond all the stuff I dislike about the way the character was setup that is). The story made very clear from the start that he didn’t have the temperament to be a warrior, nor the decisiveness and distance to be a ruler, but the story relentlessly forced him to do both. And predictably, he broke, when the ways he was forced to act against his nature became too much. And with the time skip they now gave Turalyon 6-7 years of unproblematic rule, which is more than double the time Anduin got, showing us clearly that he was never needed on the throne. Anduin isn’t the chosen one. He isn’t the only one who can do what is needed. He doesn’t have to be a reluctant hero.
But now they drag the poor boy out again, to fight the next war he isn’t made for, and probably to force him back on the throne he neither fits nor deserves. Instead of finding a new role that fits him, as a priest and healer maybe, they will most likely find some way to essentially “heal” his PTSD, making it ok to fall back into exactly the same patterns that destroyed him the first time. His new flame (pun intended) successfully drags him back to church, and after his religious rebirth and with a loving partner at his side to share the burden, he will be whole again. Halleluja, and all that.
And I’ll have to hear him whining and crying all the way, until they inevitably magic his problems away, making the PTSD arc shallow and meaningless.
ANduin is a eakling and crybaby. he always was. and blizzard trying to force him on us is really disgusting. I dont want Anduin he is horrible. I am Horde. I would kill him or Alleria when i could have on the campaign.
And why should i be forgiven? My horde characters did evrythign with pride they do against tthe alliance. Everything.
Why are you talking as if this is some kind of drama show? It’s not, it’s a wartorn world where conflict has been omnipresent for eons, who the hell cares about your little fee-fees when people all around you fight every day for survival?
Go see a psychologist if you’re projecting your insecurities into this, for any normal person, Anduin is a poor lad at best, a whiner at worst, but being a only is not entertaining for anyone.
I think they’ve learned their lession in Val’sharah with Tyrande and Malfurion, people hated overly emotional exposition for the sake of tragedy. I like the way they handle Anduin’s trauma with Faerin.
Especially when he turned the tide in the Battle for Undercity cinematic. Or when he smashed that troll shaman into pieces. Now he’s literally back from hell and still keeps fighting. What a coward.
…
Because fighting for survival takes a toll on you. Seeing people die takes a toll on you. War is a horrible thing and to show that at least occasionally, is absolutely fine in a video game. And it’s also not too close to the RL in Anduin’s case, since he struggles to wield the magic divine power that allows him to instaheal others
For the moment? Sure. Because the Trauma is still there and still relevant. Do you think that arc is over? I don’t. And the expectation that this will fall flat any moment, probably by it just being ignored at some point, certainly colors my lack of enjoyment for his arc. The whining can only be worth it, if you expect it to bring a satsifying conclusion. I don’t.
No, of course, this arc isn’t over. It will be as soon as Anduin either manages to summon the Light or the Void (after all, they have teased its influence on him over and over again).
We’ve seen him try it during the campaign at least 3 or 4 times, so they’ll definetly make it count whenever it happens. They can’t risk a build-up with a botched climax again after the “incredible, layered plan” of the “cosmic puppetmaster” in Shadowlands
I kinda doubt they planned to botch it the last time, either. I am sure they’ll play it safe this time. And playing it safe is not going too deeply into the realities of PTSD, it is giving Anduin a shining moment and pretending that that solved the problem. And I already hate that. I mean… it could be worse, but I really cannot see it going anywhere that would make following his dramatic suffering worth it for me.
Well, they can’t suddenly turn into a realistic psychological drama for adults, when it’s still supposed to play in the same world, where we reassembled and revived a paladin in WotLk. Of course, everything is relative, but seeing characters in WoW struggle like Jaina in BfA or Anduin right now is definetly the exception, so… I’ll take any “realism” / “down-to-earth”-experience they’re willing to give us. (pun intended)
Ok, we differ a lot in that. Too close too real without being real just falls into the disgusting uncanny valley to me. I’d very much prefer WoW to embrace the cartoonish masculinity and rule of cool, like it did before, instead of reminding us of the reality that it has nothing to do with.
People complain about Anduin? Have you seen this dialogue between Alleria and Turalyon?
Alleria: “What if I leave again?”
Turalyon: “I’ll wait until you call me back”
Why is almost every single male character in this game an unnatural overly sterile weirdo without personality? Isn’t Turalyon supposed to symbolize the Light? What is radiant about him? Nothing other than his armor. A character I’ve seen so far with some edges and believable attitude is Stonewarden Bael, and he died right away. It’s weird, because Blizzard can clearly write the macro framework of the story well, but many of the Micro-elements like dialogue and quest texts are terrible. The okay one was the dialogue between anduin and Faerin, and between Moira, her son, and Magni, but the ones with Alleria especially are really horrible gutter quality, while most of the dialogue between less relevant NPCs are bad in general.
Anduin is one of the best characters. I cannot understand why people point angrily at him, though maybe most people don’t pay attention to quest texts I guess…
Yes, but I really didn’t want to… That’s the guy everyone and their grandmother thought was going to start the holy crusade any minute, 3 or 4 years ago… sigh
I really really hope for Warcraft as a fantasy genre that Anduin is gonna shine as strong in the future as much as he was broken. Quality-wise his character development is awesome, I wouldn’t complain. Just be patient and see how he turns out. I understand though that 2-3 expansions is a very deep breath to take in.
Agreed, but mostly because the source of Anduin’s PTSD is a Blizzard classic with no depth: mind control. If the source of his lack of faith, in himself and the Light, had stemmed from bad choices and self doubt, I’d be more patient with it. There’s a disconnect in tone and seriousness in his story that puts him in an ambiguous spot narratively speaking compared to the other characters and I don’t like it. It’s either we give the same realistic approach to all the characters (at least the main ones) or we don’t, otherwise it doesn’t make much sense
Well… more or less. They already had all that they needed to do the PSTD arc without going for the MC angle… Anduin was already pretty much broken in Shadows Rising. Reasonably so, after BfA. And adding abduction and imprisonment with a lot of time to brood to it? You didn’t need any more for that arc.
But they didn’t leave it at that. They never do. Which is why it will end as it came. In magic.
I mean, the sources for Anduin’s PTSD go way deeper:
He lost his father, Varian
He had to lead the alliance in the War against the Horde at a very young age, and fought in the battlefield, and he was also losing before he did his Wonder.
He is a very sensitive type of man naturally
He was tortured in the Maw by the physical embodiment of domination-magic, and then he got mind controlled to do evil things, and he also enjoyed it, which is a big deal considering how close he was to the light all his life.
What I noticed though in the public discourse about Anduin is that many people seem to be emotionally dulled out and don’t have a lot of empathy, which is a bit sad to see.
), but because it will be earned after everything he went through!
