Does anyone on this server actually like Nathanos Blightcaller?
For some context:
With Kenbu here, I decided to try and do the War Campaign from the point of view of someone who didn’t immediately walk into it hating it. I tried to look at it from the point of view of someone who just geniunely loves the Horde and wants to “win the war”.
I got personally mixed results.
Looking into the war campaign, it felt like a good portion of the characters just felt like puppets on a string. Not all of them really had personality, but a few stuck out to me that geniunely kept my interest. In my shock, it was actually Lillian Voss and Thomas Zelling with Captain Amalia running for third.
Both Undead. Both I genuinely liked. I found their plight and story actually interesting, and found Gallywix annoying but not truly unlikable. I’d argue Rexxar was absolutely the most boring, just felt weird to have him there at all.
But I could not bring myself to even remotely like Nathanos. He talks down to you, mocks you, and even makes fun of your “Speaker of the Horde” title.
So is there anyone who actually likes him? Why? Please tell me so I can actually try to figure out a reason to like him.
edit;
The thread posted before I could finish so sorry if you’re replying to an unfinished thread.
10 Likes
I haven’t liked that dude since vanilla. I rolled an alliance alt back then specifically to murder him.
3 Likes
I know I’m usually Alliance but I’ve been Horde longer than I’ve been blue and I can confidently say no. Nope. No. I didn’t care for him in vanilla other than watching him wipe raids of ill prepared roleplayers but he’s just the distilled essence of the weird need for modern games to have someone needlessly - and pretty intensely - berate you at every step no matter what you do or what you accomplish.
Now don’t get me wrong, I have a deep fondness for general ego checkers but there’s a difference between a comrade in arms who’s earned the right, or someone who’s respect you have yet to earn but the whole “I only love Sylvanas the rest of you are all idiots and useless and I hate you and you’re dumb dumbs and !@#$ off” schtick where you’re just signing up for a few hours of abuse doesn’t make him a good character, it makes him some poopy “ORIGINAL CHARACTER: DO NOT STEAL” trash dreamed up by someone who went ‘Hey remember how everyone in Grand Theft Auto treats you like trash? What if we made an entire character out of that cloth?’
I’m not even going to get into how hard they tried to make him a “Thing” again in BfA / Legion including his ability to appear almost instantaneously at several important, crucial battles simultaneously canonically.
He’s so pointlessly obnoxious I almost wonder if they hammed him up specifically to be a “You’re not supposed to like this, or be willing to support it” deterrent and then had to backtrack when people wanted to be loyalists, kind of like how people aren’t supposed to look at the Warhammer 40,000 Imperium, Cyperpunk, The Punisher, or Judge Dredd and go “Finally, something to strive towards.”
11 Likes
he’s a self insert of danuser and that says enough
4 Likes
My personal opinion is I look forward to seeing Blightcaller in game again!
Granted, it’s because he’s going to be a loot pinata and every time I spam DPS I can berate “Being a craplord and having no personality other than being a Banshee’s is not having character!”
4 Likes
I didn’t mind the guy. I really dislike that they gave him a pretty boy model.
2 Likes
I love Nathanos, and haters gonna hate.
4 Likes
Why though?
Tell me why you like him. Just cause?
I actually just want to know from someone who genuinely likes him.
1 Like
I don’t like him, but I can appreciate his absolute cold blooded nature, and even his arrogance. He very much reminds me of my DK at times.
4 Likes
I stopped reading quest text, lore, and general narratives of the story around the end of MOP.
I look at BFA Nathanos and see why to be honest.
Blizzard needs a reinvestment in their writing department.
3 Likes
In-character, he is kinda written as a character you’re supposed to hate… he clearly doesn’t really trust or value the PC, doesn’t really care about the Horde, and thinks far too highly of himself and Sylvanas. It is hard to conceive of a character who’d like him, since even Sylvanas loyalists don’t get a lot of respect from him. He is there to make Saurfang and Zappy look even more noble and wise by comparison, sorta.
Out-of-character… I don’t hate him as much as most people seem too. I don’t really like the whole “champion” schtick the PC gets and being treated like a lackey was kind of how I felt I should be treated. His worst moment was when he, presumably a normal non-superpowered undead archer boy, solo’d night warrior Tyrande… but I don’t really blame that on his character as much as general dumb writing surrounding night elves from BfA. He also suffered a lot from being a talking head in almost EVERY world quest, so he felt overexposed.
Overall I think he’s sort of an OK character that got used in some annoying ways. Unlike a lot of WoW characters who have poorly defined personalities and ideals that shift randomly, he has consistently been “sneering Sylvanas toady”. His voice acting is good. His character design isn’t immediately annoying to look at (Varian was always mildly embarrassing to be around for this reason).
But take whatever I say with a grain of salt because I don’t play Horde that much so I don’t really have to see him that often.
10 Likes
My main “gripe” with him is that I wouldn’t even dislike him in another scenario. If he was an NPC you rarely come across and he was just a total jerk to you the whole time? I’d even say I’d like him, just this jerk you have to rarely interact with and it sucks but that’s what he does.
But when he’s basically your only interaction for an entire expansion story it just felt like a punishment for being Horde. Like I should feel bad for interacting with him, and I kind of hated it.
But I wanted to try and like him. It just felt like I would like him if he was literally anywhere else but constantly around.
5 Likes
I like him as a character, but not as a person.
He presents an interesting dynamic. He doesn’t hide behind the honor of the Horde, or the justness of a cause. You know what he’s about, for good or ill. If they had toned him down just a bit, I think he would have made for a really great foil. But they turned the mustache-twirling up to eleven and here we are. (I really, really wish we had actually gotten some of that morally grey they were promising; we need more of that, imo.)
Honestly my biggest complaint about Nathanos isn’t as much about him as it is about the limitations of WoW-- if we had dialogue options, if we could’ve snarked back at him or been aggressive, it would’ve been so much fun. A character like Nathanos can be a delight if your audience is empowered enough to dish it as much as they take it.
And maybe I’m a softie with horrible taste, but I like his relationship with Sylvanas. There’s something to be said for being willing to follow the woman you love wherever she leads you. She championed him as a ranger, she saved him as a Forsaken, and he served as her Champion. I think it’s sweet. I think he’s kinda sweet in a weird way.
11 Likes
He feels absolutely like a surplus to requirements, and some weird story drive to introduce a “Raynor” into Sylvanas’ “Kerrigan” story.
For me, it’s less I hate the character and more I hate what the character did to Sylvanas’ character. Her heel turn has been coming since The Frozen Throne, but Nathanos seems to rob her character of its authenticity. Like he’s Valimathras, but without the backstabby elements that come from being a unwilling ally.
He’s a zealot, and frankly unless written VERY well, zealot characters are some of the most boring and two dimension in all of fiction.
Oh also the absolutely FORCED line of “Farewell, my love.” if you opt to remain a Sylvanas loyalist and get the special scene with her. Like, why is that even a story beat? Sure we the fans have been shipping the two for ages since Nathanos follows Sylvanas around like a puppy, but to make it official? Why? It’s like Bane in Dark Knight Rises all over again.
2 Likes
Did Bane say he loves Batman in Dark Knight Rises? I didn’t watch that movie but if he does I will now.
7 Likes
Well, since you asked nicely, I will go ahead and do my best here:
I actually like characters that stick to their guns about who they are, and I like characters that stick to that authenticity even when it means that they are wholly unlikable to just about everyone around them. I expect a lot of people to dislike Nathanos because he’s a jerk, so I’m not really surprised or upset to find that people struggle to stay invested in him, but his existence as a character at this point pretty much solely depends on Sylvanas and what she is doing – and that’s fine, for me.
I look at it this way: our character is supposed to be this lauded hero, but how often to you come across a story where there aren’t people even among their own society who are skeptical of someone’s powers, or think that they know better, or think they are more powerful/have more powerful friends? I can understand why people feel like they are owed their chance to challenge his stance, and why constantly getting talked down to might get tiring but – it keeps things real, for me.
This is a bit of my own interjection (as in, I RP my DK this way a bit as well) that some undead should be pre-disposed to be heavy followers – as in, they invest their entire life in one person and their agenda and follow them without much question. Kind of a product of necromancy, if you will – not to say that’s the only approach, but character types who are less prone to growth and change in positive ways I see leaning in to this. Nathanos falls in that category for me.
If the game was full of characters like Nathanos, I’d probably be sick of him. WotLK to Pandaria era Varian annoyed me way more because he was written as this character that everyone liked and respected, but he was super crappy to everyone. Nathanos isn’t written that way – he’s crappy to everyone, and nobody really likes him except for Sylvanas (and those fiercely loyal to her).
Hopefully that makes sense. I rambled a little.
7 Likes
No, for reference Talia al Ghul is also in the movie, introduced as a Third Act plot twist, and it turns out Bane’s been working with her the entire time and is absolutely smitten with her. Basically robs his character of all his agency and reduces him to a henchman instead of his own character.
Same in WoW. Remove Sylvanas from Nathanos and there’s no character there.
1 Like
Nope made sense to me.
Thank you. I honestly don’t think he’s a bad character by any means, it was just really hard for me to like him. I don’t hate him, but he just frustrated me as I did my best to try and approach the War Campaign from a positive light. It felt like every time I took a step forward with Lillian Voss and Zelling holding my hands, Nathanos walked up and kicked me in the crotch.
Maybe that’s not a bad thing, but it sure did leave a sour taste in my mouth.
3 Likes
I kinda wish Varimathras had stayed around longer. The “cowed schemer” angle is fun, and being the lady with a tamed Dreadlord in tow is just cool for Sylvanas.
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I can understand that! I get a kick of how much of a garbage can he is, personally. Its predictable and funny, and I often find myself going “Oh Nathanos, you’re such a buster” because I know ultimately he is there to be Sylvanas’ dog.
I feel similarly about Genn Greymane, who … well, I think the Warcraft narrative framing does a lot these days to kind of erase his earlier decisions prior to closing the gates, and so forth. But I still like him, because I can always count on him to be howling SYLVANAAAAAS into the night time.
Sometimes it’s nice to have characters you can count on to be jerks/written with extreme emotions in one direction all the time, so you can laugh at how extra they are.
3 Likes