I just post here because i want to point out one thing about paladins :
The term paladin have 2 meaning, one in lore and one in gameplay : - In lore they are a human oroder of holy warriors that use the Light.
In gameplay its a class that can be played by other races than humans.
By this i mean, its important to notice that, the term paladin would not apply to other races in lore, for example a Tauren would not be called a paladin but a Sunwalker etc…
Its important to also point out that the different holy oroders of each races dosent worship the Light the same way.
As a side not, its silly that dwarves holy oroder was never really expended upon…
My understanding is that priests merely call upon the light while paladins are infused with it.
Per wowpedia Founded during the Second War, the paladins were a holy order of warriors whose purpose was to defend and shepherd the war-torn populace of Lordaeron. The Archbishop Alonsus Faol had perceived that the pious Clerics of Northshire, who had suffered such terrible attrition in the First War, were ill-suited for the dangers of combat. Along with many of the surviving Clerics of Northshire, he sought those of only the greatest virtue among the knighthood of Lordaeron and tutored them in the ways of magic. Led by the crusading Uther the Lightbringer, it now rested upon the new paladins - christened the Knights of the Silver Hand - to heal the wounds sustained in combat and to restore faith in the promise of freedom from orcish tyranny.
Paladins were also known to minister to the masses during the war, gathering inside churches to deepen their faith. Through meditating, communing and tithing at these sanctified sites, they discovered new ways to channel their healing and spiritual powers
A paladin is more than just teaching a warrior about the light or telling a priest to pick up a 2h or a 1h and a shield. It’s one of those “you gotta be cut from a special cloth” kind of situations
As far as Anduin is concerned, he is a priest. Some things kind of get bent because he, like many of the major characters in wow, are “hero-class-esque” and also because of his title/position
He wears armor because he is a king. Not going to have a king going into battle wearing cloth robes
he wields a sword because that was the weapon of his father
In the opening cinematic for BfA he drops his weapon to call upon the light to heal his soldiers. A paladin wouldnt have to do that
I liked when the Varian comics were setting him up as a hunter. He was handy with a gun iirc. Then again I suppose there are a lot of hunter racial leaders already.
Let’s keep it real Anduin is a broken warrior he is fury using a two hands weapon and intelligence plate armor the guy is a mess but he represents well the Alliance I can give it to him.
Wowpedia ceased to be maintained over a year ago. It is considered a dead source now, as the team moved to Warcraft Wiki (warcraft.wiki.gg) in protest of Fanbyte’s policies. The only reason it still exists is Fanbyte refuses to let them delete it.
This reminded me that we do now have a racial leader who’s a priest of the Light and wields a hammer proficiently, and it’s not Anduin, it’s Moira. Anduin didn’t really like using Fearbreaker when he had it in his possession and was relieved to give it back to Magni when asked, but it fits Moira like a glove.
It is worth noting this is during a time when he was desperately trying to be his father, instead of being himself. He did way more good for the cause when he dropped his sword and called on the Light to heal troops than he did trying to be his warrior king father.
The original Alliance Paladins were men of the cloth who put on metal and traded their prayer beads for hammers. A nod to the original clerics of D&D who were warpriests that were forbidden weapons that would shed blood. (Caving in the skull of your foe was AOK )
According to Uther the Lightbringer and the other OG Paladins they are first and foremost civil servants of the people, not warriors. They are men of the cloth who fight because they have to, just like Anduin in that moment.
Still literally just Turalyon. Uther, Saidan, Gavinrad and Tirion were all knights before becoming Paladins, though Uther had also already received training as a Cleric.
From an out-of-universe perspective, it literally does not matter at all. It’s a purely semantic argument. The set of playable “Classes” are broad generalizations at best and do not map perfectly onto every possible way that a person in the setting can fight.
In-universe it does matter, because it’s not just semantics. Specifically in Stormwind, the word “Paladin” is not a generic term for a light-wielder in armor. It denotes participation in a very specific Knightly Order. It reflects training in that order’s martial and spiritual techniques, as well as Oaths given and taken. It reflects a very real commitment to the order’s ethos and code of behavior. It really does matter.
Anduin is, of course, not a member of this order. He has given no such oaths and made no such commitments.
So, in the context where it doesn’t matter, Anduin is probably a Paladin.
In the context where it does, he isn’t.
