I Googled around for this because I enjoy political science and the word fascism in particularly is often misapplied in culture today. I figured this would be an interesting comparative. I found a website (supposedly) summarizing these 14 typical features. I have no idea if these are fair representation, but it’s the only information I have. Just as a fair warning, you addressed the Horde as a whole (rather than simply Orcs) with your accusation of fascism, then pointed out some (incorrect) generalizations regarding them, so I felt addressing the races of both the Alliance and Horde was a better comparison (since this thread is about the Horde as a whole).
1. The cult of tradition: “One has only to look at the syllabus of every fascist movement to find the major traditionalist thinkers. The German WWII (Blizzard won’t let me use the party term) gnosis was nourished by traditionalist, syncretistic, occult elements.”
-
The only time I can think of any real attempt at syncretism in WoW is when Velen approaches Tyrande. It was not embraced. It’s very much not addressed elsewhere (beyond the concept of Blizzard-wide holidays which are by nature race- and faction-wide). As to adherence to tradition, there’s a strong tie across most races that emphasizes tradition. Blood Elves, Nightborne, Taurens of either type, and Orcs of either type seem to emphasize tradition (though in the case of the Orcs, while they place an emphasis on honor and ancestors, they also formed Thrall’s Horde as a rejection of the original Horde and just oversaw a move from the traditionalist Warchief title to a council rule). The Forsaken have multiple times implemented new structures (an Undercity council, an attempt to meet with their human relatives); Goblins really don’t have a “traditionalist” set of views unless you play off the “rip folks off at any cost” as an actual view; likewise unless “survivalist” is considered traditionalism by the Vulpera, they aren’t; and the Zandalari just changed from isolationist to joining a faction (and that change was after their role in Pandaria) and changed the patron Loa of Kings (and ostensibly Queens now). “Trolls” in general are so diverse that it’s hard to simplify them to one group, but I’d likely place them in more traditionalist - except that they’ve had a lot of upheaval leading to changes. They’re a mixed bag.
-
Humans (Anduin struggled to find humans willing to even meet with their Forsaken relatives/friends, and they still have a High King), Night Elves, and Draenei (especially Lightforged) seem pretty tradition-based in practices. Gnomes don’t seem to be as much tradition-based except in terms of new technology; Dwarves changed from a King to a council, and even emphasizes exploring to learn more about Titan ancestors; I can’t speak to Void Elf tradition since they’re relatively new. I’m not certain where to place Worgen (I’ll let Micah answer that question as resident expert) but from their limited amount of storyline time there seems to be some internal disagreement about best practices, so maybe non-traditional; and I’m not certain where to place Kul Tirans, but they did eventually reject Daelin Proudmoore. Truthfully, the Alliance struggles to have as many non-Human/Night Elf storylines, so they’re a bit harder to judge.
-
I would argue both factions have a mixed approach to traditionalism.
2. The rejection of modernism. “The Enlightenment, the Age of Reason, is seen as the beginning of modern depravity. In this sense Ur-Fascism can be defined as irrationalism.”
- I’m not sure there are any races that truly function this way, partly because I’m not sure when the “Age of Enlightenment” would apply to Warcraft. If you can make an argument about it, please feel free.
3. The cult of action for action’s sake. “Action being beautiful in itself, it must be taken before, or without, any previous reflection. Thinking is a form of emasculation.”
-
I think you could see some of this within the Horde, but it’s limited to a subset of Orcs. Likewise there is some of it within the Alliance, but it’s often short-lived and limited to moments of action justified as purging the “bad” faction (such as Varian’s racist speech that was undermined immediately after by Blizzard).
-
There’s somewhat of a cult of invention for invention’s sake among Gnomes but I don’t feel that’s really applicable to the spirit of this statement.
4. Disagreement is treason. “The critical spirit makes distinctions, and to distinguish is a sign of modernism. In modern culture the scientific community praises disagreement as a way to improve knowledge.”
-
Since the Horde has splintered multiple times, it’s hard to see whether that’s akin to treason, or simply overthrowing leadership that was “evil” in one form or another. Some were loyal to the leadership, others against it, and there were enough to form full blown rebellions so if disagreement is seen as treason, then there are plenty willing to commit treason. Saurfang and Sylvanas disagreed with tactics around the War of Thorns; Lor’themar and Thalyssra disagreed with actions taken by Sylvanas; Lor’themar and Sylvanas disagreed with each other in combat during the Siege of Orgrimmar; Garrosh and Sylvanas disagreed at Gilneas over a number of things; and both Baine and Thrall have expressed misgivings a number of times. in general there seems an abundance of disagreement. There are accusations of treason from time to time, but it’s rare that it’s actually treated as such.
-
The Alliance doesn’t really show any fracturing regardless of the extreme nature of neglect they show toward members. This could be portrayed as treason, but the narrative mostly portrays it as a willingness to accept any actions. The closest thing is Tyrande storming off recently, but even that wasn’t portrayed as treason.
5. Fear of difference. “The first appeal of a fascist or prematurely fascist movement is an appeal against the intruders. Thus Ur-Fascism is racist by definition.”
-
Considering Thrall’s Horde was formed against this type of action (found among Humans in particular) and was compromised of a number of different races, it’s hard to suggest this is true. The only exception would be Garrosh’s “True Horde” but at best that’s seen as going against the spirit of the Horde and the rest of the Horde ends up fighting against it. The Blood Elves have somewhat of a fear of Void Elves, but that’s mostly in Quel’thalas because their presence made the Sunwell erupt. That’s a pretty valid case.
-
Humans have moved somewhat away from this foundational stereotype, but they probably have historically more examples of this narrative. There are still lingering fears of the Forsaken due to differences and some anti-human sentiments expressed in racist statements, but the storyline has moved away from this.
6. Appeal to social frustration. “One of the most typical features of the historical fascism was the appeal to a frustrated middle class, a class suffering from an economic crisis or feelings of political humiliation, and frightened by the pressure of lower social groups.”
-
WoW has (in general) avoided this type of sentiment, primarily because it doesn’t actually play into economic and political actions excluding the extremes.
-
The best example might be Orgrimmar in general suffering due to disagreements over trade with the Night Elves in Ashenvale but that plotline was a small thread that escalated extremely quickly.
7. The obsession with a plot. “Thus at the root of the Ur-Fascist psychology there is the obsession with a plot, possibly an international one. The followers must feel besieged.”
-
It’s Warcraft, the entire franchise is built around war and plots, most of which is actually real, besieging both sides. Every expansion has faced worldwide crises.
-
Internally, the Forsaken have obsessively felt oppressed by Humans who see them as abominations - which is a reality. The Alliance has felt threatened by “plots” from the Horde and pursued actions that they are often portrayed as justified in doing (including dismantling Horde settlements) and the Horde has felt threatened by the Alliance’s actions.
-
Foundationally, both factions view the other skeptically and in an extreme manner and use that to justify actions.
8. The enemy is both strong and weak. “By a continuous shifting of rhetorical focus, the enemies are at the same time too strong and too weak.”
-
I can see some of this within the Horde, but much of it is portrayed in a tactical sense. The enemy has too much territory within the Horde’s “sphere of influence” but weak tactically at certain points.
-
In the most recent portrayal of the Alliance, the Horde should be dismantled due to the threat they pose in the future and their currently weakened state, but the Alliance is unable to execute these plans due to their own weakened state, causing an impasse.
9. Pacifism is trafficking with the enemy. “For Ur-Fascism there is no struggle for life but, rather, life is lived for struggle.”
-
This is Warcraft; war is part and parcel of the franchise. Beyond the fanbase (which has made comments about Baine and Thrall being part of the Alliance), the narrative actually portrays peaceniks in a positive light.
-
Jaina tries to persuade her father to abandon his racist crusade against the Horde but is unable to do so as her father sees her as “with them.” The Kul Tirans as a whole hold that view.
-
Thrall’s Horde was formed as a group to struggle to form a life within a world that was hostile to them.
-
Again, Garrosh was portrayed as a leader of this sort (overly disavowing peace) but with much of Warcraft focused on … well … war, we see most instances in both the Alliance and Horde where people doubt peace can hold (and in fact, does not hold).
10. Contempt for the weak. “Elitism is a typical aspect of any reactionary ideology.”
-
The Horde does have the Mak’gora tradition which suggests some level of contempt for the weak in the sense that being stronger is a justification of accepting their viewpoint. But the problem is this type of statement just doesn’t apply as a whole. Thrall’s Horde was founded on a bond that they were too weak separately to survive and needed each other.
-
I don’t believe the Alliance shows this aspect either. There are some sentiments expressed from small groups within Worgens that could be taken as akin to this, but that’s a bit of a reach.
11. Everybody is educated to become a hero. “In Ur-Fascist ideology, heroism is the norm. This cult of heroism is strictly linked with the cult of death.”
-
I’m not sure this is worth applying to a heroic fantasy video game.
-
Orcs tend toward believing it is better to die in battle than live as slaves, but among races on Azeroth they have recently actually been slaves. That’s an actual fear and threat. There really doesn’t seem to be any other ties in Warcraft to this notion as many folks take on roles that aren’t “warrior heroes.”
-
Others have expressed preferring to die than be raised as an undead, but that isn’t about heroism - it’s about the suffering of being an undead (and some racism toward the undead as a whole).
-
Every faction and race seems to (by necessity of a video game) have many who embrace a variety of different roles.
12. Machismo and weaponry. “Machismo implies both disdain for women and intolerance and condemnation of nonstandard sexual habits, from chastity to homosexuality.”
- I think Blizzard has done a lot to prevent this from being portrayed in either faction.
13. Selective populism. “There is in our future a TV or Internet populism, in which the emotional response of a selected group of citizens can be presented and accepted as the Voice of the People.”
- I have no idea what to say to this. Neither side seems to embrace this conceptually. Humans are “portrayed” as the main thread of the Alliance, but not to the extent that they diminish the other races. Similarly Orcs are often the main thread of the Horde, but not because they simply dismiss other races out of hand.
14. Ur-Fascism speaks Newspeak. “All the German WWII (Blizzard won’t let me use the party term) or Fascist schoolbooks made use of an impoverished vocabulary, and an elementary syntax, in order to limit the instruments for complex and critical reasoning.”
- You’ll have to forgive me. I don’t recall any quests involving indoctrination of children’s vocabulary, but I may have missed them.
In short:
- 2 of these are applicable to decent segments of both factions.
- 7 of these are not applicable to either faction.
- 5 of these are not applicable within the WoW setting.
I don’t know how you came up with your count (and I readily admit I have not read the essay this is based upon). I don’t want to derail this thread into a larger political debate of fascism within Warcraft (where it would just result in constant attempts to rebut each claim) but it seems far easier to portray the Horde - in the narrative - as a failed nation-state than as a fascist one. They’ve had numerous extreme changes in government structures and multiple internal armed conflicts.