Before I met Zandalari I had the impression that they gave an imponent aspect, after I met Rastakhan and Talanji I lost that impression, they tainted my perspective of Zandalari.
Rastakhan is not a smart guy.
Rastakhan borrowed power to beat Zul in melee… therefore he is not a good warrior aswell…
Seems like a you problem. I agree Talanji could’ve been portrayed better, but having flaws doesn’t make you an unlikeable character, especially in Rastakhan’s case.
Grom destroyed countless characters, Mannoroth AND Cenarius.
Broxigar destroyed demons to a point where he stood on top of a pile of corpses.
Saurfang was known as someone who cleave 10 in a single swing.
Compare this… to Rastakhan who barely clumsy swings against Zul.
I don’t HATE Talanji or Rastakhan… but they are nothing compared to those characters, thats my point.
I feel like comparing Rastakan to various Orc figures has an inherent flaw.
Namely, the Loa.
When it comes to trolls, Loa have a major influence in what happens. Rastakan winning or losing in a battle against someone is entirely decided by the Loa. In comparison, the Orcs follow no gods and strive by their own merit, which works in their favor often enough, but if a Loa-backed Rastakan had faced off against Grom, Broxigar, or Saurfang, I feel like the latter three would’ve been eating dirt within seconds. Unless, of course, the Loa didn’t have Rastakan’s back, which implies they’d want him to be defeated, and would likely interfere to that end.
I understand your point, but lore already prove that Loa’s will do not defines what will happen.
your point is based on a premise that individuals do not have their own strength and/or Loas weaken or strengthen individuals according to their will.
There is no canonical evidence whatsoever that Rastakhan was weakened in his battle.
In fact there are contrary indications that prove that he was strengthened.
In fact, in both scenario A and B, the character’s premise sucks.
Because its content is not authentic, after all he is weak and/or subservient.
You know someone can be warlike without literally being a monster, right? I’ll grant you Devos as being underused but goodness gracious there’s plenty of WAR without characters that are about one bad day from eating babies being the main focus.
Theres no conflict if both sides are good.
Warcraft is about conflict.
I grew up reading about titanic duels between Lothar and Doomhammer.
Reading about Grommash and Broxigar.
Playing War3 were alliance can be the bad ones, like Garaithos deeds.
You know what we got nowdays?
Krexus death off-screen.
Kyrestia beaten all times she fought.
Troll leader beaten and humiliated.
Sylvanas beating Saurfang and Lich king (WORST ONE, WOW DIED THIS DAY)
Sure, but the characters you’ve listed, in large part, were just guys who yelled a lot and were edgy while also losing or failing at every turn until they scrambled on their hands and knees for more power. Excluding Arthas who was and is a monster who succeeded in his EVIL goals while failing at his good ones.
Also I’m sorry but as much as I hate where they went with Sylvanas and how much plot armor she had, she was always capable of beating Saurfang even in Vanilla. He was an immensely skilled warrior and experienced, but so was she with a ranged weapon and added dark magic power. Lich King she beat was Bolvar who… we never really knew how strong he was, though I do agree that fight could have been more of a struggle.
We get big warrior dudes and #warlike characters every expansion. And the expansions where they’ve tried to go ‘Warcraft’ to a larger extent have been… BfA and WoD. Not exactly sterling story arcs.
BFA Rastakhan was the old ruler of an empire on the wane. By all accounts he wasn’t a very good king (by the end of his reign at least), however he was an amazing character. Talanji is a good character and probably a more capable ruler, though time will tell.
I do agree the story looks to be going in the right direction (notably regarding the Titans). I will remain cautious though. Like, it seems DF is still trying to sell us that narrative where “the bad guys are somewhat right but their methods are wrong so you must take them out, oh and while I’m at it could you please violently suppress that perfectly legitimate Dragonkin rebellion over there ?”
Tell me, in recent lore, when was the last time we got a situation remotely close to:
1- Illidan, Vashj and Kael, 3 different armies against Arthas
2- Grommash killing Mannoroth
3- Grommash killing Cenarius
4- Broxigar making a wound on Sargeras
5- Arthas killing Silver Hand
Compare this, to the recent lore… its like talk about harry potter in a room with Tolkien.
Theres some highlights in BFA which i like… but still not close enough.