If blizz decided that they wanted to add one more choice (per side)to demon hunters. What races do you think would and would not work?
For horde I think the easiest choice is nightborn. They took to the fel rather well in legion.
For the alliance I think you have to go off elf. The void and fel do bit mix, but I think regular non light-forged Draenei could be shoehorned in.
They are immortal, they super hate the demons, and they where the only core race to not get a new class back in cata.
If you have to keep to the same time period, I’d go with orc and draenei (broken-ish?) because they were both around and in the Black Temple at that time.
And also what the hell, I’d throw in neutral Illidari naga as an option too.
Orcs most certainly since Illidan had a large following of fel orcs during BC. I might have rolled a DH if orcs were an option.
I want to say humans too because Orcs and Humans but they wouldn’t make much sense. Draenei however sound interesting as Demon Hunters and they had a presence during Illidan’s reign in Outland.
Orc and Draenei.
MeChAgNoMeS
I’m going to echo the people saying orc and draenei. Orcs are a hardy race, and it’s not inconceivable that a handful could survive the process of becoming a demon hunter. With draenei, we know from WoD that fel can restore a corrupted being’s natural form (ex. Iskar), so any Ashtongue who manage to survive the process would be restored to their original forms; thus, draenei demon hunters.
I don’t doubt that, in lore, orc and draenei demon hunters would be a rarity compared to the elves. At the same time though, that same rarity would almost certainly impress Illidan enough to name an orc or draenei as the Slayer in Legion.
I’ll echo what others have said.
If we’re looking for Demon Hunters who were Demon Hunters since the Black Temple, then it’s gotta be Orcs and Draenei. If we’re doing new Demon Hunters, the way we have new Death Knights, Nightborne and Void Elves make the most sense.
Nightborne and Void Elves 100%
Perhaps Draenei and Orcs.
Besides that not sure if any would make sense.
I suppose Humans and Forsaken? Given Meryl Felstorm sealing a demon in himself
I feel like people are ignoring the fact that Illidan only trained elves to be Demon Hunters for a reason, and that the fel orcs that served him were not privy to what his real plans were.
The fel orcs were essentially the Illidari’s shock troops and nothing more.
Mecha Gnomes and Vulpera
Orc and Draenei.
Others already have mentioned these races, with full explanations. And I concur.
He also only trained night elves until he was convinced to begrudgingly train blood elves.
Other races could have been a matter of time if not for the deadline of the raid’s impending arrival.
Echoing what others said, Orc and Draenei.
But like with the Elves I’d give them unique models and voices. The Draenei would be the Ashtongue Broken and the Orcs would be Fel Orcs.
They were also part of the Illidari. If you just say some of them got trained as DHs as a hand waive retcon I don’t think anyone would mind.
If he’s training them all at the same time, then what does it matter if there was a deadline or not? A deadline wouldn’t have stopped him from training other non-elves to be Demon Hunters alongside the elves. The fact that he only trained elves suggests to me that it was a deliberate decision and not really related to any deadlines.
Orc and draenei for sure. Like Benedikt said, give them unique fel orc and Broken customization - they were Illidari too.
I’m not saying he thought to himself “Hmm, I only have a certain amount of time to train demon hunters before I’m raided, the best way to use my time would be elves only”
I’m saying he would have eventually opened up the pipeline of demon hunter training to other races, just like he opened it up to blood elves after initially refusing, if not for the fact that we stormed the Black Temple, stopped the pipeline, and killed him, before he could make that decision.
But would he wait to open that “pipeline” when he was eventually willing to let the Blood Elves train side by side with the Night Elves? The fel orcs for the most part were in the dark regarding Illidan’s real plan (note the lack of orcs in the Demon Hunter starting area), which indicates to me that he didn’t trust them enough to keep them in the loop.
Hence the shock trooper status. The fel orcs were only there to provide bodies to protect him from external threats.
Orc and Draenei
I would say Nightborne Elves for the Horde and Void Elves for the Alliance. As speed and dexterity is a must for a Demon Hunter. I cant imagine many orcs or humans being able to transition into full Demon Hunters.
I think it depends on the timing of any new DH choices.
For example if they decided to include new races to the original DH intro, like the tossed the monk class into the starting zones in Mists, the only real options from the Illidari are fel orcs and/or broken. Though Blizzard might just have it main universe Sargeri aligned with Illidan, so they don’t create a new playable race for a single class.
However if they go the Pandaren and Allied Race route with the DK.
For Horde I would go Nightborne and the Highmountain Tauren. Elisande’s loyalists and the Bloodtotem tribe took to the fel and Thalyssra has gone record that they accepted those who bend the knee and Mayla accepted the Bloodtotem at Thunder Totem. Granted those were ones who didn’t embrace the fel but I see her as someone who would give those who did a chance to redeem themselves.
As for the Alliance, I would go Void Elves since I do see it possible for a blood elf DH to get caught in that whole void elf creation mess. Though I can’t picture another option for the Alliance.