I see post after post lamenting how Horde pride has been ruined by this or that ridiculous plot turn. And that is such a ridiculous notion to me.
I didn’t play WoW for over a decade. And the way things are going I may well return to doing that for however much time I’ve on this rock. But the Horde never left my imagination. It’s insignia was seared into my imagination.
It is because I found the Horde when I myself was a weak child getting slapped around. The idea of an empire of misfits really clicked with me, as I’m sure it did you for your own reasons.
We’re all here for different reasons but we’re all escaping from the same place. The Horde gave many unwanted and misplaced kids a place to feel at home, and beyond that the stern lesson that they’ll have to fight if they want respect from this world.
It’s one of the most beautiful ideas in modern fantasy. The idea any writer can ruin it with their asinine plot twists is a ridiculous idea.
If I’m very lucky I may well be a withered old man one day. My mind turned to confused mush. But if even a sliver of myself persists, I will snap to and say For The Horde upon seeing its symbol.
Too often fantasy is just pretty people stomping the ish out of weirdos. The Horde let the weird ones bite back. Literally in the case of the Forsaken. And that stuck with me.
To this day when I see a social group I don’t fully understand getting the ish knocked out of them by posturing politicians, I’ve my ballot and bullets at the ready. I’d love to tell you it’s because of some lofty, ancient ideas. It’s not. It’s because I know well the home of the abused, the tempest tossed, the discarded and well, Forsaken.
It’s called Orgrimmar. And it’s not a place, it’s an idea. And it’s beauty can never be taken away from you.
I’m before “bUt AsHeNvAlE aNd TeLdRaSsIl” but hard agree. It’s sad they’ve characterized the Horde as very fascistic as of late, the reason why I was attracted to it is the first place was how the Alliance seems like an empire and the Horde an union of people resisting it.
I’m sure the Alliance have their own reasons to enjoy their fantasy. But at least as an American the Horde means something to me. My nation has a sick history of running over people who don’t fit the narrative.
And that attitude needs to die. Thank you to Metzen for giving me an idea of what a nation of losers look like.
Was that the message when the phrase originated? Was that the message when Warchief Sylvanas shrieked it, or Orc Supremacist in Chief Garrosh?
Look, the Horde is cool and all, but let’s not pretend it is some cosmic ethos.
I will agree that the Horde is like America in the sense that it is a promise that needs to be kept. It does not simply remain perfect, or seek to return to a previous point of perfection (MAGA) - it strives for a more perfect union. But in stating that we strive for a more perfect union, we admit we have faults to correct.
It’s funny how people try and paint the Horde as this ‘rebel outcast’ faction and the Alliance as a bunch of racist fascists when the reason the Alliance even exists is because genocidal invaders came to wipe them all out.
Sorry but the Alliance has greater claim to ‘Just trying to survive in a world that hates them’ then the Horde ever could.
If all we are talking about is vanilla WoW you might have an arguement. But as it is the Alliance have draenei, worgens, void elves, dark irons etc. It exemplefies the whole “what is important is your actions, not your looks” angle.
Not to mention the Alliance was build to defend the weak/the oppressed. The Horde was literally a war machine in the RTS and even in Vanilla seemed more interested in shady things then trying to make the world a better place.
One looks like a demon, the other was a villain race from Vanilla and the void elves are associate with one of the relatively more malefic forces in Warcraft.
Also, Heroism sound cooler then Bloodlust any day of the weak.
Since you bring up America and platitudes, I will share a story from my youth involving 9/11 :
It was a crazy time. Some of my buddies were rabble rousing and refusing to stand for the pledge. I, however, have my own respect for the nation. So I would stand. Yet, I sympathized with those who objected to the “under god” portion. I may believe in God or not, but it shouldn’t be in the Pledge, imo.
I decided I would stand, but not recite the pledge. I would stand for my country, but not rant some nonsense.
In the Aftermath of 9/11, that made everyone mad. The lefties said I didn’t have their back, and the Righties said I hated my country because I disagreed with the “under god” part.
Eh.
I stand with who I stand with, cheers and jeers aside.
Draenei do not “look like demons”, come on. That is such a big stretch, aesthetically they fit perfectly with the rest of Alliance races. So do Void Elves and Dark Irons. I realize that I’m looking at it from a more meta perspective, but I think it’s still important.
Oh please a barely heard gutteral scream is “weaksauce” to a clearly inspiring rallying call.
If you showed a draenei to a non-Warcraft player most people would associate it to a demon. They literally have horns/goat like parts which is normally associate with demond.
Eredar, sure, but not Draenei. You have to remember that it’s not just how they look, but their attributes too. Those matter. What they dress like, how are their houses depicted, their theme music, zones, all that jazz. Draenei are designed to look attractive. Which fits with the Alliance theme well, I think.
Imo you can headcanon whatever you want, but the roles of the Horde and the Alliance have kind of reversed nowadays.
The Horde is now this genocidal kind of superpower and the Alliance is just desperately trying to survive and keep their place in the world while the Horde takes one zone and city after another from the Alliance.
The Horde just keeps getting away with these genocides and atrocities because nobody can stop them from doing so, they’re just too powerful compared to the Alliance. And history is written by the winners.
The Horde was also convinced that they’d have to start a war, commit a genocide, burn a world tree, blight forests and torture innocents in the maw because: clears throat
“Anduin might attack us at some point in the future”
You can convince the Horde with just about anything these days, as long as they get to commit atrocities.
Who’s going to stop them, after all?
