> Why is their skin exactly the same shade of green as fel-corrupted orcs? Is this just a coincidence or is there some lore reason?
> Why were goblins — archetypal selfish mercenaries that they are — willing to become suicide bombers during the second war?
> Which cartels in particular worked with the Horde? The wikis make it sound like “the Goblins” fought in the first and second wars, but who all does that encompass?
More generally speaking, what was the goblin relationship with the Horde / Legion during the first and second wars? Did they work as mercenaries? Intimidated lackies? Did they have any real interaction with the Legion proper? I’ve looked at the various wiki articles on Goblins, but none provide a very satisfying answer.
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Their similar skin color is coincidental. Depending upon whether they’re meant to be distantly related, it might be part of some shared genetics between goblins and trolls, as the latter are known to vary in color as part of adapting to their surroundings.
Goblins are generally split between two archetypes. Some are shrewd entrepreneurs with a healthy sense of self-preservation, others are manic lunatics who habitually get themselves blown up on behalf of the former, and most fall somewhere on the spectrum between those two. The ones in WCII fall into the second camp and were called sappers, which doesn’t inherently mean suicide bombers; it really just means combat engineers, in their case charged with using explosives to bring down enemy fortifications. Presumably the thematic implication is that their intent is just to set bombs and run away, but their frequent recklessness (combined with managerial indifference about their employees’ safety) leads them to usually get blown up by the use of too many short fuses and excessive amounts of experimental gunpowders.
Steamwheedle was the cartel during the Second War. They were contracted by the Horde at that time as mercenary engineers and shipwrights, figuring since the orcs seemed to be winning with the fall of Stormwind there was enormous profit to be had by doing business with and getting in good with the victors.
After the Second War ended with the old Horde’s defeat and dissolution, they decided it was better not to overtly pick sides in such things any more so they could continue profiting regardless of who won a given conflict.
They didn’t really interact with the Legion, but then, neither did most of the orcs for the most part. Only Gul’dan was knowingly on their payroll; even the rest of the Shadow Council only really knew the demons as shadowy allies and wasn’t privy to their reasons behind sending the Horde to Azeroth.
And when it comes down to it, even MU Gul’dan was in the dark about certain important things, like the part where rather than seeking Sargeras’ power for himself, his real purpose for reaching the Tomb of Sargeras was supposed to be reopening the Legion’s portal there, as his AU counterpart eventually did.
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its an inworld coincidence but obv we are green so we match
Trolls, particularly the Amani trolls are also the same shade if green. Its the green machine: Horde.
Goblin skin coloration comes from their consumption of the green mineral Kajamite over many generations, which is also what gifted them their intelligence.