Your faction leadership and character ranking

Lore Story
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From the very best to worst I give you some summary. Since I don’t play Alliance as much I don’t see myself in the right position to judge the other team. Also. Dead and Gone characters won’t show up either.

  1. Talanji and the zandalari trolls. From our current leaders I feel like the troll queen is our last saving grace that could avoid the destruction of our identity. She has been shown as smart, strong and competent over the course of bfa. Wish to see more of her in the future.

Bonus credit to Bwonsamdi for obvious reasons.

  1. Forsaken: currently leaderless. Maybe Voss buckles up or Nathanos get redemption. Who knows.

  2. Trolls: Rokhan. Nothing much to say here. He ain’t Vol’jin but the next best thing I suppose. Blizzard was awfully lazy, of giving spotlight to the multiple children Vol’jin was supposed to have. Especially his sons. Feels like a missed opportunity.

  3. Orcs: Geya’rah and Thrall both hold no waters. One is a green skinned human, who tried to starve his own people to death. The other, flipped her entire personality last minute, and is now just a meme that joined the “muh honor” brigade.

  4. Gazlowe and Goblins. Has literally nothing to do with the race he is supposed to represent. Is a union’s workers rights fighter and has more in common, with your average male human paladin, then goblin capitalism. Quite sad we lost Gallywix for this mess.

  5. Garona. It speaks volumes about the mess the horde is dealing with, when neutral characters join you. Blizzard quietly admitting they killed too many popular horde faces. Feels bad.

  6. Nazgrim. Bring him back to his family. Screw the fake Lich King.

  7. Ji and the Pandaren. He was smart this time avoiding another SoO and he gained my sympathy. Still hope for Chen to show up. All his close friends are on our side afterall.

  8. Thalyssra. Her and the Nightborne are our new magic experts. Enjoyed her whole story since Suramar alot. Possible romance with Bob, might leading to a unification of lost kin for the greater good.

  9. Bob and the Sin’dorei. I used to like this character. Sadly, he was given a raging hard for Baine and the Alliance out of nowhere. And, purposefully, forgot all the stuff the human lead alliance did to his people, for the past 12 years. Just to make this plot work. Big disappointment. With great luck, Kael’thas might kick out the usurper from his unrightful, gained throne. Lady Liadrin and Rommath are both better than Bob.

  10. Kiro, Nisha and the Vulpera. Oh my God I love them all equally. They were my highlight for bfa and I grew close to them. Watching them fixing all hordes problems, created by the incompetence of Baine btw, on their own easy made me proud to watch with a red heart. Thanks to blizzard for including them.

  11. Baine. A spineless piece of trash whose only relevant character trait is to act as royal doormat for the alliance. Even going as far as sabotaging his own team at each chance he gets. There is no character worse thanks to Christie Golden and blizzard in their infinite bias for the blue team. Specifically towards Anduin and Jaina. He needs to die. Hopefully soon.

  12. Aethas Sunreaver. Same as Baine, just for blood elves. Him still crawling butts deep to the Kirin Tor was disgusting to watch during legion.

WARNING: If You derail this topic for whatever reason and hijack it for a statement nobody asked for, you will be flagged.

NOW. Let me hear your own stands on your team’s leadership. I’m curious.

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The bias is strong in this one.

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You are free to create your own ranking. This place is free from personal judgment.

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No place on the internet ever really is.

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I just like how he give to every races an explanation, except of #2 with the forsaken :rofl:

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  1. Forsaken. They’re leaderless, so that means they have the best leader.
  2. Mag’har. Geya’rah is an inconsistent flip-flopper with a warped sense of honor. But at least she’s not everyone else on this list.
  3. Pandaren. Ji does nothing. Fortunately for the Houjin, since he can’t cause problems that way.
  4. Zandalari. Talanji is dull as dishwater and a poor substitute for her fadda, but she was smart enough to stay out of the stupid rebellion.
  5. Darkspear. Rokhan is mostly the same as Talanji but he got a little too into the rebellion for my tastes.
  6. Goblins. Gazlowe is a poor replacement for Gallywix and his magnificent chins. Too generous and gnome loving to be a real goblin.
  7. Orcs. Thrall’s a washed up failure of a leader
  8. Nightborne. Thalyssra is a class A idiot. Fell hook line and sinker for Liadrin’s master political manoeuvring. Her people will make fine meat shields.
  9. Sin’dorei. Lor’themar. A pathetic waste of space who’d rather be kissing Jaina and Baine’s disgusting feet/hooves than actually doing anything of worth. Quel’thalas is still overrun with scourge yet he still finds time to stir trouble with fish people after doing nothing about it for a decade? I hope the kingdom won’t pay for his stupidity and laziness in this regard.
  10. Highmountain. Mayla. Female Baine with less screentime.
  11. Tauren. Baine. Self-loathing troglodyte who hates only his own people more. A pathetic stain upon the Horde and all it stands for who has become all but de facto Warchief due to the other leader’s disinterest in being involved with leading the faction. He deserves death more so than anyone else on this list.
  12. Vulpera. Disgusting, vile and should never have been permitted to join the Horde.

Bonus non-leader I want dead: Aethas Sunreaver, who I actually rank below Baine for giving away one of his people’s prized relics to the faction that tried to have them killed twice.

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I’ll try to be as objective and unbiased as possible here, and I’ll only comment on the faction leaders:

  1. Lor’themar Theron. The guy has his people’s best interest at heart, makes logical, calculating decisions and is willing to do what’s necessary to ensure the safety and prosperity of his people (for the most part anyway). So far, despite the memes, his character has been developed well, with barely any inconsistencies.

  2. Talanji. Despite some Mary Sue-ish characteristics, the character is solidly written for the most part. She is rash and somewhat naive, but also strong, confident, open-minded and dedicated to her people. She is the herald of a new age for the Zandalari, and a promising one at that.

  3. Gazlowe. Despite looking like somewhat of a controversial character, Gazlowe is also an interesting take on the goblin society, and is a well-established character who has money in high regard, but knows that there are other ways of getting stuff done and getting rich than walking all over your employees. We’ll see how he will develop in the future.

  4. Kiro. While relatively minor character for now, he appears to be resourceful, cunning and smart, and he also appears to care for his people. He needs more work, but he definitely seems like a likable character.

  5. Rokhan. This character was given a lot of spotlight in BfA, and his portrayal was, for the most part, favorable. He’s been show now as resourceful, calculative, decisive and brave, being one of the main, if not the main people, aside from the Hero, who was responsible for the Horde’s good standing with the Zandalari Empire. He still needs more work due to having only been given a major spotlight and meaningful development in BfA, but overall, he’s a likable character with lots of potential.

  6. Thalyssra. While she’s a very flawed character with dubious moral choices in the past, overall I think that, due to quite a lot of character development, she has been showed as caring, decisive and wishing what’s best for her people. In many ways, she’s a female version of Lor’themar, minus his experience, charisma and bravery.

  7. Thrall. Despite his recent…development, for a good part of this franchise he’s been portrayed as charismatic, intelligent, diplomatic and overall interesting character, although his naivety and idealism made him make some questionable choices in the past. While his decision to male Garrosh the warchief and his portrayal as a world shaman were ultimately had choices, he was ultimately given a good role in the Warcraft story, and now that he’s back in the fold, I hope that he’ll receive some meaningful character development. His portrayal in Legion was more than embarrassing and underwhelming. As a former Warchief, he should have been tougher, rather than let guilt of the past prevent him from focusing on the problems of the present.

  8. Mayla Highmountain. While she somewhat resembles a mix of Yrel and Baine in personality, she’s at least been portrayed as a fledgling, young and naive leader, she’s managed to hold the tribes together (even though she had help, but given she was new at her position, this isn’t necessarily a flaw), led the defense against the Legion invasion of Highmountain and is slowly shaping into a good leader for the people of Highmountain. My personal dislike of her is that in many ways she is a copy of Baine, both in story and in personality, although that is something that can be said for the Highmountain tribes as a whole. Like Baine, she’s been given a position of High Chieftain due to the sudden death of her father, and like Baine, she’s got a long way to go in order to prove herself further as a leader.

  9. Baine Bloodhoof. This is a tough one. He is a controversial character. While he is peaceful, kind, diplomatic and true to his people’s ideals, which are all admirable traits, he is also way too naive, reckless, and indecisive. While we were shown that he does care about his poeple, as has been shown in the Tauren heritage questline, his arguably bad moves in Cataclysm and his lack of will to fight and stand for his people and his own beliefs is a serious problem that Blizzard had forced way too many times. Contrary to the popular belief, his friendship with Anduin is not a flaw, nor is what makes him a bad character. What make sure him portrayed in a bad light is that his friendship with Anduin and Jaina was more portrayed than his relations with his own people and the Horde, which makes him appear as I feel he cares more about the Alliance than the Horde for some people. So again, reasonable concept, bad execution. All in all, Baine so far is a wasted potential. We’ll see if he will be developed in a better light in the future. Despite few good moments, he still needs a lot of work.

  10. Ji Firepaw. Not much to say. This character’s been given such a low amount of attention since his original conception, that he’s been all but irrelevant to the story of the Horde. Regardless, as a character, he is brave, decisive and his heart is in the right place, but he is also rash, reckless and foolish, which almost got him killed in the past. Overall, another wasted potential of a character, who wasn’t even relevant in his race’s own expansion.

  11. Geya’rah. Honestly, this character leaves a lot to be desired. While she was portrayed as a practical and capable, she’s also been portrayed as way too simple and so far lacking any interesting and likable characteristics, being nothing more than a typical orc. She’s suffered from the lack of any meaningful development in BfA, and that’s the biggest issue with her character, as she’s been shown as lacking any kind of understanding of what the Horde stands for and any meaningful interactions with the other leaders or participation in the conflict. Her sudden and seemingly forced change of view after Sylvanas fled the Horde only highlights the problem. All in all, this character currently doesn’t have anything going for her whatsoever.

  12. The Forsaken are currently leaderless, so I’ll refrain from commenting on their characters, as I don’t know enough about any of them that are left.

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Okay, for a serious reply:

  1. Gnomes: Gelbin is just great.
  2. Dwarves, including DI: The council is pretty ineffectual, but at least all 3 members are kind of likeable…
  3. The Rest: Put all their leaders in a bag, bash it with a stick, you’ll always hit the right one.
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So like are we counting achievements/competence of these leaders? Whatever, I’m counting that:

  1. Varian, and I don’t care if he is dead: Fantastic leader, had the loyalty and love of the people, led Stormwind and the Alliance to victory in many important wars, such as the Alliance-Horde War, and turned it into the sole superpower left in the world. Heroically died sacrificing himself for the future of Azeroth. In particular, schooled annoying elves in the arts of war like the chad he is.

  2. Jaina: Saved Kul Tiras from annihilation at the Siege of Boralus, reunited the country, put an end to the civil war, and spearheaded the Battle of Dazar’alor, where the Alliance won a great victory, as well as the Battle of Nazjatar. Before that, she successfully evacuated countless people from the whole subcontinent of Lordaeron and safely led them to Kalimdor, where she founded the great city of Theramore (and she was like a college student, so yeah).

  3. Anduin: Led Stormwind and the Alliance to victory in the Fourth War, where his wise decision to set Saurfang on that path ensured a quick resolution to that conflict. Has the loyalty of the people and the respect of his peers despite being very young. Made the wise decision to NOT overextend his forces. Will hold his throne for many decades, and will most likely meet his heroic end in the final battle for the fate of the entire cosmos.

  4. Everyone else.

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That’s mostly my ranking, even if I don’t know much about Kiro to rank him into it. There is not much to say to the alliance all guess, cuz all except Tyrande and Genn seems to have turned into Anduin suckers.

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I don’t particularly like any of the leaders, but my shoutout goes to Aysa Cloudsinger.

She largely stays out of the narrative and that is precisely what I like in video game faction leaders.
Bonus points are granted for not using a ridiculously large, unique model that looks like it might be a different race altogether (Or maybe she does, I see her so rarely I never noticed).

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Genn maybe. But Tyrande? No chance. She clearly told him to get off her case.

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Where Mary-Suish traits? I haven’t seen her perfoming anything Mary Suish.
What she did so far was :
-Ask Rezan for help in the Zandar intro
-Created absorbing shield when escaping blood trolls
-made bigger shield for her warriors when city was attacked by Sethrak
-made clearing totems to dillute the corruption around Torga’s corpse so she and PC could confront that Herald of G’huun.
-was crucial to summon Vol’Jin.

Which is honestly something that you’d expect from Loa High Priest. Nothing game changing but strong enough on it’s own.

So I fail to see where is that supposed Mary Sueish characterization?

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Doing my boy Lor’themar dirty like that.

He is unforgiving but pragmatic.

My boy knows damn well that war between the factions is a waste, it is useless, but he have yet to bend the knee to anyone on the opposite faction or even to anyone in the Horde, the only leader aside from Vol’jin who gave Garrosh the: Dude… your not that tall and mighty, best remember it. talk.

Not being a complete idiot should not be discouraged!

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I think the point of the most players is that she’s the princess who knows everything better than her father or anybody else.

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There’s a difference between pragmatic and being stupid and losing your memory.

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Except she doesn’t? She is constantly asking for council/ advice, she was only critical of her father when it came to blood trolls, and she was proved right. But she was defending him that he was kept in blind by his own councilors in the very introduction to Zandalar.

She gathers intel and based on that she acts. She was rash at the start of Nazmir but then Rokhan’s words hit her that she needs a proper plan and preparation as it’s was not as easy as she thought it would be.

In blood gate scenario it was her Father who was commanding the defence not her, because she was overwhelmed with casulties and she literally said she didn’t know what to do.

When Alliance attacked she was stressing over to get back Rokhan to safety, but at the same time she was foolish to pull almost entire army out of the city.

So I’d say she is smarter than majority of the current leaders, but it’s not really that impressive, it’s just common sense that she has.

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The only ones I really could have seen was that she had everything working out perfectly for her all the time, but I don’t think it’s that big of an issue.

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i can’t wait for gelbin to abolish the democracy and become a dictator for life as he seems to be now ;D

and all the gnomes will follow suit because they fear his new mecha gnome death squads

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What exactly worked perfectly out? Fleet is lost, father killed, Rezan gone, Gob Squad didn’t destroy Taloc they still had to breach Uldir which requiered both Zandalari and Horde forces to dear with. She couldn’t kill Ateena and needed help from PC.

She is currently in situation where any mistake in her governing could be a nail to Zandalari coffin, she cannot afford any stupid moves this is why she has to be super careful. This is why she created new Zanchuli council so she has 6 people to help her out with it.

Only now she started to work on restoration, but we already know that there were some setbacks. Additional ships were lost thanks to Sylvanas, and they had new naga attack apparently.

It’s hardly “working great” in my book.

So I have to disagree with you.

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