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Characters coming back in Shadowlands

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As the title says. I wonder with the alpha close by.

Why am I posting this here?
Because, they said almost every character that appeared in Warcraft 3 and died in it or after, and hasn't misteriousely come back already (like Muradin and Cenarius) will be coming back in the next WoW expansion. And many of these characters have roles in many custom assets here. But mostly, cause I'm stuck with a flue with nothing better to do, so why not post who knows what on forums.

Personally my "feelings" are mixed on this one, while it offers some story and character opportunities, imo it's always better to move foreward and invent new characters.
Most of these characters had their satisfying end in either Warcraft 3 or WoW, so they should've mostly just left them be, but at this point I guess it's one of WoW's traditions, bringing back dead characters.
So here are the characters I think might be returning(four have already been confirmed) and what their afterlife might look like:

Bastion (read Heaven), a realm for good souls that did good in their life, the just and pure, who had a life of service and died an honorable death:
  • Uther(confirmed)
  • Cairne Bloodhoof
  • Rhonin
  • Durotan

Maldraxxus, a realm of warriors, where the brave and the mighty warriors end up, kinda of eternal battlefield afterlife:
  • Draka(confirmed)
  • Anduin Lothar (I think Bellular said in one of his videos that the main theme of the zone will be Lothar vs Doomhammer)
  • Orgrim Doomhammer
  • Varian Wrynn
  • Grom Hellscream
  • Daelin Proudmoore (either here or in Revendreath)

Ardenweald, an enchanted forest where all the souls that served nature in life end up:
  • Ursoc(confirmed)
  • All the other dead wild gods

Revendreath, a realm of torture where the prideful end up to be tormented and humbeled down:
  • Kael'thas(confirmed)
  • Garithos
  • Fandral Staghelm
  • Daelin Proudmoore (either here or in Maldraxxus)

Maw (read Hell), a realm of eternal torment where the worst of the worst, the irredeemable end up:
  • Arthas
  • Kel'thuzad
  • Anub'arak
  • Ner'zhul
  • Archimond
  • Kil'Jaeden
  • Dar'Khan Drathir
  • Garrosh
  • Gul'dan
  • Three Blackhands (father and both sons)
  • Every character that has died since WoD
 
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Wow, this thread didn't age well. Lol. It's one of those you make and forget you ever made. It's actually hilarious. But no one cared, luckly, so it doesn't matter.

And yes, Uther is in Bastion, Alexandros, Vashj and Draka are in Maldraxxus, Ysera in Ardenweald, Kael'thas in Revendreth, Helya in the Maw. The rest are new characters.
 

deepstrasz

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And yes, Uther is in Bastion, Alexandros, Vashj and Draka are in Maldraxxus, Ysera in Ardenweald, Kael'thas in Revendreth, Helya in the Maw. The rest are new characters.
I had a similar idea way before Shadowlands, but to me it made more sense than this. Of course, it doesn't mean recycling every freaking known character.
Maybe, they did it nicely. I don't know, haven't played.
 

Ardenaso

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"the traitor king", and yeah, like most undead of that time, he was under Ner'zhul's thrall, but a genocide is a genocide, even an undead one, so, to the maw :peasant-cool:

Vashj led the mass massacres in Aszhara coast and Nendis and she was complicit with the shenanigans in Outland but she got to the Maldraxxus
 

Kyrbi0

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It's funny to me how 'real' this makes everything.

Like, somewhere, someone in charge of Warcraft (externally) & in charge of the universe (internally) Decided that There Is A Hell & people like Arthas went there.

Kinda humorously unsettling.
 
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It's funny to me how 'real' this makes everything.

Like, somewhere, someone in charge of Warcraft (externally) & in charge of the universe (internally) Decided that There Is A Hell & people like Arthas went there.

Kinda humorously unsettling.
welcome to wow lore X'D, also they added a couple new tiers to their cosmology, so the titans are now kinda like the humans of the cosmology :v
 
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It's funny to me how 'real' this makes everything.

Like, somewhere, someone in charge of Warcraft (externally) & in charge of the universe (internally) Decided that There Is A Hell & people like Arthas went there.

Kinda humorously unsettling.
I think that's kind of the point of this story-- that the 'afterlife' system is actually not a good one and needs fixing (as in who knows what criteria the Arbiter goes by when sending souls to somewhere and why that thing even has the right to do that and more importantly just what a soul has to do to 'deserve' going to the Maw).
 

Kyrbi0

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Yeah I suppose.

It's also reminiscent of the whole "Christianity as the punchline", where you have cartoon characters believing in & utilizing a very real Christian God/Jesus to do stuff. Except this is played straight ("Oh, Arthas? Yeah he's in Hell. Yeah, actual real fire-and-brimstone Hell. Same with Anub'arak & Garrosh & Kil'jaedan, yep.")
 
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I think that's kind of the point of this story-- that the 'afterlife' system is actually not a good one and needs fixing (as in who knows what criteria the Arbiter goes by when sending souls to somewhere and why that thing even has the right to do that and more importantly just what a soul has to do to 'deserve' going to the Maw).
Yes, this pretty much says it all. Especially because enemies, like Foreswarn Kyrians (Fallen Angels), such as Uther, obviously aren't evil. Why would a heroic soul, that lived pure, just and noble lives, wanna forget it, and forget why it ended up in eternal splendor. It only makes sense that those souls want to remember their heroic deeds, and why would they be forced to forget them.
 
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I had a similar idea way before Shadowlands, but to me it made more sense than this. Of course, it doesn't mean recycling every freaking known character.
Honestly, if they are doing a "Warcraft afterlife" story, it's obvious that they have to have some returning characters, because that brings a certain degree of familiary to the setting and makes people more invested in the story. Also, it's just cool to see what happened to some of these characters in the afterlife.

Anyway, as long as they don't overdo it and turn the expansion into basically a "meet your favourite dead character" kinda thing, by having enough new characters and stories, building up on the original stories of the old characters instead of rehashing it and not doing something dumb like having some of the returning characters come back to Azeroth with us... then I honestly think that it's a good thing.
 
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deepstrasz

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Anyway, as long as they don't overdo it and turn the expansion into basically a "meet your favourite dead character" kinda thing, by having enough new characters and stories, building up on the original stories of the old characters instead of rehashing it and not doing something dumb like having some of the returning characters come back to Azeroth with us... then I honestly think that it's a good thing.
Yeah, I'm afraid of the Farce Awakens vibe.
I don't care about WoW, you know but I do about Diablo IV :\
 
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Now I'm not sure about this, but aren't they planning to have like 4 main zones or something? Because if that's the case then it means we have 1 big boss slot left.
5 open world zones + Burning Hells. 99% sure Diablo is in Burning Hells, so that means 3 slots open! Just hoping Belial is not in Caldeum, again.
Are you sure they won't be used as co-op raid bosses?
Possitive.
 

deepstrasz

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open world zones + Burning Hells. 99% sure Diablo is in Burning Hells, so that means 3 slots open! Just hoping Belial is not in Caldeum, again.
They could have used this game for a sort of primal evil revival scheme instead of the shenanigans they pulled with Diablo III's Black Soulstone and Adria.
Here Lilith could revive her father since she somehow has Mephisto's skull (confused negro meme !?) but the soulstone was destroyed with the special hammer in Diablo II's Hell.
I guess the skull serves more of a remembrance thing. However, from what I read on the wikis (don't remember if Diablo III also emphasized this), Lilith wasn't fond of her father for not seeing the world as Inarius and ultimately her.
Maybe, now she realizes that she was mistaken and that the nephalem became too powerful to control or let loose and wants to bring the eternal conflict back to its course?
 
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Lilith wasn't fond of her father for not seeing the world as Inarius and ultimately her
Well, I imagine that a literal Lord of Hatred wasn't exactly a loving father :)

Lilith didn't see the world like Inarius - he was tired with war and wanted to escape it, while she was tired of the Prime Evils' leadership as she didn't believe they had a solid idea how to win and if they continued to lead, the war would drag for eternity. The only reason why she joined Inarius was that he fell in love with her and thus she could easily manipulate him to steal the Worldstone, build a new world, populate it and create another faction that eventually would be able to win.

And yes, Lilith did resent her father, but it wasn't about how they've seen the world - she just thought he was narrow-minded and sucked at leading the Burning Hells :)
 

deepstrasz

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The only reason why she joined Inarius was that he fell in love with her and thus she could easily manipulate him to steal the Worldstone, build a new world, populate it and create another faction that eventually would be able to win.
Well, then, I guess the story would end something along the lines of ending the eternal conflict (eliminating both the angels and their crystal arch and the hells) including Lilith herself. So, we'll have only the nephalem to strife among themselves. Wow, no more eternal conflict but a forever repeating momentary conflict.
 
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Lilith didn't see the world like Inarius - he was tired with war and wanted to escape it, while she was tired of the Prime Evils' leadership as she didn't believe they had a solid idea how to win and if they continued to lead, the war would drag for eternity. The only reason why she joined Inarius was that he fell in love with her and thus she could easily manipulate him to steal the Worldstone, build a new world, populate it and create another faction that eventually would be able to win.
Oh, she was in love with him, but in a different way. Inarius saw in her his soulmate, himself of fire and flame, long romantic walks, heavenly love etc.....Lilith's idea of love was, well far less noble, but far more fun......
But yes, her main goal was to get an army, and conquer both Hell and Heaven.
 

Ardenaso

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Honestly, if they are doing a "Warcraft afterlife" story, it's obvious that they have to have some returning characters, because that brings a certain degree of familiary to the setting and makes people more invested in the story. Also, it's just cool to see what happened to some of these characters in the afterlife.

Anyway, as long as they don't overdo it and turn the expansion into basically a "meet your favourite dead character" kinda thing, by having enough new characters and stories, building up on the original stories of the old characters instead of rehashing it and not doing something dumb like having some of the returning characters come back to Azeroth with us... then I honestly think that it's a good thing.

to be fair that kinda further shallows the tragedy of death; I just want Kael'thas to bless Lor'themar or Rommath as the new High King of Quel'thalas
 
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that kinda further shallows the tragedy of death
I disagree - if the characters stay dead then their death is still the same tragedy as it always was. I mean, sure, we might see these characters again for this expansion, but once Shadowlands is over, we'll have to leave them behind anyway. In a sense, having to say goodbye to your favourite character twice might even be a bit harder.

It does remove some of the mystery of death, though, no argument from me on that :)
 
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I disagree - if the characters stay dead then their death is still the same tragedy as it always was. I mean, sure, we might see these characters again for this expansion, but once Shadowlands is over, we'll have to leave them behind anyway. In a sense, having to say goodbye to your favourite character twice might even be a bit harder.

It does remove some of the mystery of death, though, no argument from me on that :)
Well, not 100% true:
Ysera has been confirmed to eventually return to Azeroth, like Cenarius, that's what Ardenweald is all about.
 
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