I know pandaren are a bit forgotten.
But if at some point Blizzard decides to give them some development, I would like to suggest two new pandaren leaders for each faction.
Ji and Aysa seem to be done with the Horde and the Alliance. They have no motivation to fight for those factions.
So here are my suggestions:
Chen Stormstout. Horde.
He was one of the founders of Orgrimmar. His adventurous personality and his ideals fit the freedom that the Horde seek.
Also his good relationship with Rexxar, Thrall and Vol’jin gives him a good spot in the Horde.
Taran Zhu. Alliance.
The leader of the Shadopan wants stability and peace. His disciplined presence resemblances to many Alliance heroes. And after Garrosh he probably has better judgement of the Alliance than the Horde.
In addition, at the beginning of the Jade Forest questline, he seems to be more aggressive to Horde players than Alliance ones.
Thank you!
(I know a lot of people hate pandaren. But some of us adore them. Please keep your “ew pandas” to yourself)
While I like the idea of Chen going Horde, I honestly don’t see Taran Zhu picking a side ever. That guy is centered focused on Pandaria itself and even after Garrosh destroyed the Vale Taran Zhu told Cho that they shouldn’t have let anyone of the outsiders in showing that instead of blaming the Horde for Garrosh’s actions…he was blaming everyone not from Pandaria. Thus Taran Zhu’s screw outsiders mindset just prevents me from ever imagining him joining one faction over the other.
Why would two characters who have thrived on neutrality replace two characters whose decision to pick one of two factions is a major reason for their existence?
The same reason goblins, nightborn, highmountain tauren, lighforged, zandalari and even mag´har picked a side.
They were all neutral.
Chen and Taran Zhu would pick a side with a storyline. That´s why I said “if Blizzard decides to give them some development”
Also it is almost confirmed that Ji and Aysa left both factions and live in the turtle now.
All of these races picked a side out of necessity, and they picked a specific side because something appealed to them more than the other. There is no such incentive for neutral Pandaren like Taran or Chen. Taran Zhu especially, as the leader of Pandaria’s only real military might, would never be inclined to pick a side. That would more or less be like handing over the keys to Pandaria to the Alliance.
You’re a few expansions behind then. While both Ji and Aysa were seen on the Wandering Isle in Legion, they’re still evidenced to be part of the Alliance and Horde respectively. When someone is appointed the emissary to new races into the faction, that doesn’t strike me as someone who’s anywhere near leaving it.
The existence of a possibility of a narrative is not an argument in its favor. It’s possible - as in there is nothing making it physically impossible - that Anduin could be revealed to be Varian in a mask this whole time, but I wouldn’t use that possibility (a slim one, mind you) to argue that it should happen.
It seems unlikely that Taran Zhu would get wrapped up in affairs outside Pandaria for any indefinite period of time by joining a faction; he’s in charge of the Shado-pan, and even with the sha defeated technically one of their two reasons for existing - being present and always ready to man the walls against future Mantid migrations - is still in effect.
Taran Zhu doesn’t care for either the Alliance nor the Horde, he just wants them both out of Pandaria.
Chen may have more ties to the Horde as a result of his participation in the founding of Durotar, but he’s a wanderer at heart. Plus, that would mean he couldn’t get drunk with the dwarves anymore!
No thanks. I prefer it that Chen is a neutral character friendly to both sides and it’s been made pretty clear that Taran Zhu thinks the war between the factions is completely stupid.
I’d rather not TBQHWY. The Pandaren leaders in both factions are fine.
A lot of Horde complain about not having any neutral lore characters come from their faction. They seem to forget that Chen was definitely very pro-Horde during his introduction and he killed many Alliance aligned trash mobs during the founding of Durotar. Chen is the Horde’s Khadgar.