Bro if WoW had a scene where two men share their feelings with each other in the way Tolkien wrote Sam and Frodo, people would 100% complain about them trying to make “woke” gay characters.
But in the book, all the enemies exist outside the safety they find in each other, and a striking amount of description is devoted to their relationship. When Frodo is grievously injured, it is Sam (rather than any of Frodo’s relatives present) who stays by his side night and day. Sam gazes at Frodo in Ithilien, noting his beauty, and thinks to himself, “I love him.” They hold each other on the long trek to Mordor — Tolkien said in a letter that he “was [probably] most moved […] by the scene when Frodo goes to sleep on [Sam’s] breast.” On a different night, Sam “comfort[s] Frodo with his arms and body.” And they are pretty much constantly holding hands: in the Dead Marshes, through Shelob’s lair, and while they sleep in Mordor.
There is a way to do it and men and women go about it differently. Thats part of the problem. When some female writers write male characters, they write them behaving like women. While the men who watch what’s going on would be rolling their eyes because men know how men act; and not the insufferable types on screen. And vise versa (how some male writers write women). That’s failed writing.
Chris Metzen is the one now deciding what Anduin’s character should be like. He’s done some interviews talking about his own emotional struggles before and it’s reflected on how he’s choosing to portray Anduin’s.
This is a story being written by a man and his own emotional struggles and reflecting that in Anduin.
Yes, they’re trying to be clever but they’re just showing how out of touch they are with masculine tastes.
The strong male character who sacrifices himself to save others is a fine archetype, but it mainly works as an ending for established characters who people feel a connection with and can’t be every character. And the context matters, many are just killing themselves with no setup, no characterization, and no honor. Grom Hellscream going out like a chad on Manneroth is a good example (extensive story setup, established character, strong character, strong outcome, builds character), Baelgrim being introduced and dying 5m later in an idiotic fashion to be immediately replaced by a female leader is not.
But men also want strong characters who just defeat their enemies through strength and cunning. They want characters like OG Thrall rallying the clans. Or Conan reveling in crushing his enemies, seeing them driven before him, and hearing the lamentation of their women. Conan doesn’t care if you don’t like him, or if it hurts your feelings, he’s just a hard warrior. Or some space marines who just mercilessly crush the heretics, no feelings involved.
This is a video game, not everything needs to be some lame apology. It’s not real life. Make some strong characters who just win and are strong and that’s it. Pit them against each other and have them test their strength and will against each other. Not this lame feelings crap. Make it a world…of warcraft.
Male characters can also be masculine in other ways. Khadgar always seemed like such a good character, despite not being conventionally warrior like. (Personally, I do not believe he’s gone) He’s one of my favorite characters.
He wasn’t a bad character in the past (e.g., in Legion, where I liked his character just fine), but he was a joke in TWW. They assassinated his character. The Guardian would not die so easily and quickly. They just wanted a major character death to open the game like Varian dying in Legion to establish the stakes, but it didn’t feel earned, unlike that.
Did he die though. In the last seconds of the cutscene it looks like he is doing something, and then it pans out to alleria. Why would he reach out like that, if he wasn’t trying to cast a spell of some sort?
He literally says “This isn’t the real fight” and then we don’t even see him die. They make it so obvious that he’s not really dead that I’m surprised people even actually think he is.
Metzen maybe is the one who is providing the arc for the character, but I think others go about how to accomplish that (through in-game dialogue, actions in quests,…etc). And it’s not that Anduin having identity crisis, etc that is the problem, that’s part of his arc in this expansion, that’s fine. It’s how they go about doing it is the issue. And I think that’s where the player base see the weak writing. Because of whatever political controversy, like “toxic masculinity”, or whatever other drivel the writers want to avoid.
Now, I don’t think Anduin should act like his dad. That’s never been him. But from the way he is so far in the game, he is acting like he doesn’t have a pair, if you catch my drift. I hope that’s maybe a phase by the end of which we got to see glimpses of him becoming the king he should be (as the trilogy of the expansions conclude).
And don’t get me started on how every female character in this game is acting a like a girlboss; that’s equally as insufferable…
He’s not writing Anduin though, he’s not providing any dialogue, he’s not writing the specific events, he’s only providing oversight and general direction, if even that* - in an interview he mentioned “letting the writers take the reigns”
in an excerpt not even from the novels themselves.