Witty Name Here said:
The Horde from World of Warcraft. Essentially monsters that wage wars of genocide against the civilized races of the Alliance. Yet they have an underdog complex bigger than the moon and scream that the Alliance are "racist imperial pigs". To give you an idea, it's like a bunch of aliens came to the planet, they slaughtered cities full of people and gleefully butchered others by the millions. Humanity is forced to work together to overcome this threat and, through grit and heroism, wins the day... and then they found out that the aliens started spawning on the planet and building homes over the ashes of their loved ones.
For whatever reason Humanity decides not to destroy the alien threat and, instead, puts them in prison camps. All is fine and well until the aliens scream it's time to "throw off human oppression" and decry humans as "the real monsters". They wage another war to free themselves then "make peace" by essentially demanding humanity cede more land to them, or else. Humanity doesn't, so the aliens move to antartica all the while claiming to be "peaceful" and, all the while, raiding other countries for resources.
Yet in spite of ALL that, people still claim the horde are the underdogs. It's mindblowing that they accuse the Alliance of being Racists when there's no evidence in lore or in game that that's even remotely true. Sadly, The Horde is the golden boy of Blizzard, so the past two expacs have been about their story at the Alliance's expense.
Hmmmm, I like that one.
And it wasn't always the case. I haven't played WoW, but in the original "Warcraft", the Horde were first summoned by a guy who technically I believe was human, although he was the son of an immortal divine being, so... not sure on that one. Anyway, the Horde appear, fleeing their dying planet of Draenor, find a village in Azeroth, and promptly have the bad manners to slaughter everyone inside it. Some armed humans come along to fight them, and thus the war begins. It's quite interesting, though, that it's the son of one of humanity's protectors who starts the whole thing off.
From that point on, the Horde's portrayal changes throughout each iteration of the franchise. In the original Warcraft, they're a single tribe of unruly savages who rely on cunning, brute force and primitive magic, rather than strategy or intellect.
In Warcraft 2, they've become a race of what are essentially treasure hunters, but there are orcs with the skills to use powerful trinkets - principally, Gul'dan. Now the orcs can negotiate with allies - specifically the put-upon ogres and trolls - and also have abilities that go far beyond the necromancy of the first game. (Unfortunately what they can't now do is summon demons. I understand why - the demons pretty much broke the game in the first "Warcraft" - but it still feels kinda like they were nerfed.) They've gone from being a single tribe of refugees to an organised force that looks to conquer. In "Beyond the Dark Portal", the expansion for Warcraft 2, this was more pronounced, with the Orcish tribes having their own specific identities and backstories.
In Warcraft 3, they're no longer savages. They have a leader, Thrall, who has plans beyond just fighting the humans. I don't think anybody would ever claim that the alliance were the "good guys" in this game - their leader, Arthas, pretty much goes crazy (unfortunately you have to control him while he does it. Seriously, he's one of the more annoying protagonists in gaming history. What a whiny jerk.) He kills his father at the end of the Human campaign, becoming an enslaved undead lich in the process. Now the undead take the place of the orcs, looking to "recruit" the dead of war using necromancy (previously a tool used mostly by orcs themselves, who no longer have access to it.)
I don't know what happens at the end of Warcraft 3 as I've never yet managed to finish it. I presume Thrall gets his people away to somewhere safe, the elves stop the undead, and the remaining humans try and find a leader who isn't a powerful lich. Although given that I've heard Arthas is a major boss character in WoW, maybe that doesn't happen. Anyway, it's interesting to see just how much the Horde have changed over the course of three full games and at least two large expansions.
