Why are the jerks in HotS so appealing?

General Discussion
21

Same as Alarak. All of them are predictable, because all of them are based on cliches/stereotypes.

22

I disagree. SHow someone a knight, i.e. Johanna. and a lot of their guesses will be right. Show them Alarak,


23

Alarak is the classic evil antagonist


Checklist:

  • He thinks he is the best
  • He think he is unstoppable
  • his allies and others are total failure without him

The only thing that maybe a miss here that he would tell you his master plan like all evils do. :joy:

Which antagonists are full of themselves and tell others their master plan? Aren’t Disney villains basically like this like Scar from “The Lionking” or Jafar from Aladdin?

24

You can’t tell that at a glance. For Johanna you can.

And I also disagree that Alarak is a classic evil antagonist. Because the vast majority of bad guys are nothing like Alarak.

Megatron doesn’t act like Alarak, The Joker doesn’t act like Alarak, General Zod doesn’t act like Alarak, hell Neither DeathWing or Acturus Mengsk act like Alarak.

I don’t see anything classic about him.

25

I would argue that Imperius is just Artanis, but backwards. He isn’t evil, he isn’t particularly smart (how many times do you have to do something stupid around Diablo before you learn?), and yet, people like his in-game presence in HotS. It is mostly that unlike Artanis, his lack of self-awareness leads to arrogance, rather than a sort of endearing naivete.

(Yes, I find Artanis’ personality endearing, but then again, we all know I have weird tastes. :P)

Edit: As another example, many people love Gazlowe’s in game lines and personality, even though he is more of a clichĂ© than Johanna!

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26

I can’t say I’m specifically fond of Imperius.

I do like Gazlowe more, because he’s funny.

27

because deep down in our petty subconscious, we like bad boi and bad gurl :smiley:

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28

Ironically Goblins and he in particular are an image of the bad side of capitalism = greed. You could even argue that Goblins or Gazlowe depicts how antisemitists see Jews.

29

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IRL and in media the self possessed personality or fictional character is often compelling. It can be simple wish fulfillment, most of us can’t/don’t go around being self possessed arrogant jerks with the ability to still be charismatic despite of it.

I tend to agree, or at least they have other aspects to their character that are alluring or captivating, or even an interesting juxtaposition in direct contrast to their arrogant side. The blank slate audience insert character is useful as a narrative device, but they rarely make for complex or enthralling characters.

4 Likes
31

i dont find bw or ming very appealing. bw makes my ears bleed and ming is way over her head with that inflated ego.
i do like alarak. his dark humour and sarcasm are great. the announcers voice actor especially made a great job.

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