Weird Fanon

So this is a weird thing that came into my big green noggin. We see that the Blackrock Orcs are great smiths, and by the time of the Iron Horde they’ve gone full Ork and decked EVERYTHING in metal. I wouldn’t be surprised if their fillings (for their tusks) are made of True Iron.

Then, as I was sitting in a corner being edgy with my massive pauldrons, I overheard a pair of orcs discussing the ‘natural armor’ of the Blackrock clan being the thick black plate we know from WoD (the one we get from the War Mill). But older lore and cutscenes show orcs in generic ‘honorable’ harnesses and loincloths. Seems strange to switch from ‘DA BESTEST’ gitslaying plate to sweaty leather.

I thought about this for a moment and realized that it was entirely plausible that armor set DID exist in the MU, but it could not be created on Azeroth. Blackrock Ore is only in Blackrock Foundry and the surrounding areas, so how would the invading Orcs be able to make it in Azeroth? It was a weird bit of fanon I conjured up.

I suppose I am asking what my fellow Accordians think of such a concept? Does it hold water? And, to stir a conversation, what strange fanon have you developed in your tenure on the RP scene?

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It pans out. It also explains why the Blackrocks set up shop in Blackrock Mountain, because presumably, apart from Nefarion’s efforts to dominate the area for his breeding experiments, Dark Iron Ore might also functional similarly to Blackrock Ore.

It was the closest parallel to their old homeland that Azeroth could offer, if not for those pesky Dark Iron Dwarves and Ragnaros.


For my own part, I’ve always assumed that normal or ‘green’ Orcs are referred to as Daem’har, from the Orcish term for demons or those twisted by them was Dae’mon, and since Mag’har means uncorrupted, adding the ‘m’ to the end of ‘Dae’ and ‘har’ seems to mean ‘people’, I assume that Daem’har implies that the green-skinned Orcs are the ‘twisted people’ or the ‘corrupted people’.

This is something of a sticking point and the term is often used as an insult by the Mag’har towards their green-skinned kin, who really can’t do much more than grumble as it is technically true, if insulting.


The Tauren don’t actually remember why relations with themselves and the Kaldorei broke off, and most Kaldorei don’t either, but both blame each other, with the Tauren assming it was the Kaldorei’s high-handed attitude to the ‘mortal races’ and their self-inflicted blindness to the harm their people had caused to the world with their hubris, and the Kaldorei certain it was the Taurens’ ‘primitive’ superstitions about Elune and calling her Moon the eye of the Earth Mother that was the final straw.

In truth, only Tyrande, Malfurion and the highest-ranking Kaldorei members of the Priesthood and Druidic Circles know, and whatever it was, it was so dire that even centuries after the fact, none of them will speak of the event to anyone.


It has been said that Draenei only produce children rarely, and any birth is always celebrated by the community, with gifts and necessities needed for the newborn’s first few months provided by the community.

But why? Certainly, it is a standard fantasy trope that long lived races struggle with procreation, a side-effect of the process that extends their lifespan or a balancing to ensure all these long-lived, hyper-skilled entities don’t overpopulate.

Personally I believe that the Draenei, and by extension the Kaldorei, Sin’dorei and Shal’dorei are no less or more fertile than an Orc, Human or Dwarf, but social and cultural pressures created a situation where having child after child was seen as barbaric, a method used by crude, simpler species because they couldn’t keep their children alive, so they had to mass produce them and pray at least one made it to adulthood.

For the Draenei, however, with so many millennia spent on the Genedar, a massive mountain-sized crystal vessel, space and resources were at a premium, even with the vessel’s ability to warp between worlds. Purifying the air, cleaning and recycling the water, producing food to nourish and sustain the Draenei, all of this drained resources, resources that could not be replenished until the vessel made contact with a suitable planet, and despite the abundance of worlds in the Great Dark Beyond, worlds that could sustain an oxygen-based atmosphere, sufficient sources of drinkable water, soil conditions suitable to raise crops and native fauna and flora that could be eaten or used would have been few and far between. Some worlds may have had an abundance of some resources and a considerable lack of others, while others still could have been poisoned paradises with a hidden sting for the unwary who tried to settle there.

For the Draenei, every single child was a blessing, a hope … but also a burden. Small, fragile, vulnerable, they would have to be taught to not waste anything, to always be on the alert for danger, either from the world around them or the ‘scary red people’ that were looking for them.

To even have children was a sign that the Draenei felt at peace, that they had hope that their long exile had finally found them a home. That isn’t to say children born in-between such safe havens never happened, but they would have been the exception rather than the rule.

I’ve a head-canon that on Azeroth, surrounded by the Alliance and even with the Horde breathing down their necks, the Draenei have actually had a population boom, and after the fall of the Legion, the end of their long crusade against their twisted kin and the Dark Titan who seduced them to evil, the Draenei finally set about having something they’d never truly possessed for the past 25,000 years.

A home.

And then Sylvanas decided she liked charcoal and that’s why we never saw the Zenadar or any of the other Crystal Space-Ships move to Teldrassil, because the vessels were using all their remaining power and weaponry to keep the surge of children running around the Exodar’s ruined shell safe from any Horde aggression, and the prospect that they may have safeguarded their future by allowing the Kaldorei people to possibly risk extinction is something that just eats at the Draenei something fierce.

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Doomhammer’s plate (Thralls old armor) would support the idea that big heavy black armor was a “thing” for MU Blackrock orcs too!

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I am taking that term Gen. Its just too good. My green orcs are now forever the Daem’har

I love all of these. They sound awesome. The Draenei guilt/baby-boom is quite the story. The Xenedar (Is it Z or X? I think it’s X) not being present at Teldrassil was a huge oversight on Blizzard’s part, especially since the Lightforged are already running around pre-War of Thorns.

My own belief for that was the Lightforged were still monitoring Argus, basically performing ‘clean up’, and thus didn’t make it to Azeroth in time to intervene. The reason a lot of Lightforged NPCs are eager to take the fight back could tie in with the guilt they feel of not showing up in time, and stopping an unjust action (in their eyes).


Another fanon for me is Half-Races. While I understand WoW does have half-breeds, I tend to involve any chance of my characters having a child (granted most of them are unable to create them via sterility or partner choice) as following the race of the mother much like Elder Scrolls.

In my mind, for example, a Pandaren and a Troll could have a baby, but that baby would be the product of the Mother, albeit with a bit of the father’s features subtly appearing. A Gnome mother and a Dwarf father for instance would produce a gnome, but his beard would be exponentially more ‘virile’ than a regular gnome. An elf mom and an orc dad would result in a more muscle defined elf, with perhaps sharper canines.

Those are just a few examples but it helps alleviate the question in my mind of ‘If a cow and a primordial elf have a baby does it come out as a cow with tusks and an accent?’ Though I know given examples in lore the theory doesn’t hold too much water–unless certain races appear more prominent in other races or are more susceptible to the genetic-swapping (humans and elves, for instance, both exposing more combined traits.)


My final thought that’s been knocking around in my noggin was Zul himself. I liked Zul. I thought he was cool, and I loved his design and prevalence in the story (until he wasn’t) but it does seem strange he’s considered a Zandalari but hunched and with sharper, jungle-troll ears.

I theorize he is actually Half-Zandalari. He is old enough to possibly have genetics of cross-tribal breeding between a Zandalari and a Gurubashi (or some other jungle variant). While other Zandalari might wish to insult him for this heritage, his power of prophecy and foresight had led to his rising through the ranks, and his age has kept him alive long after many dissenters have died.

That, or he has always been a laughing stock but dangerous enough to only be the butt end of jokes by Rastakhan. “You wanna go to Pandaria?” “Yeah.” “Jeez, fine, just leave me alone to play Battle Pets Go.”

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since the curse of flesh is magic, it is inconsistent and at times fallible. i like to think that it’s possible that more than the dwarves can access stone form, as well as the fact that the stoneform isn’t the extent of the fallibility of the curse.

some of the cursed might be born with stone bits on their skin, that just grows with them. possibly runes just engraved in certain places. possible metal, depending on age? maybe some crystals…

sky’s the limit, my friends. magic isn’t absolute, it never should be!

also, I always liked to think that both the original uncorrupted forms of corruption born demons are still out there, as well as alien races we haven’t seen before that the Legion made scarce. more aliens to mess around with, plus potential new demons you could pull out of the ground

only limitation is your creativity, lads

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I don’t know if it’s weird fanon, but being that there hasn’t appeared to be any exposition regarding the state of affairs for Class Halls following the end of Legion, I like to think that any characters who were a member of a neutral faction were given the option to remain neutral throughout the Fourth War. Not a requirement, mind you- but as an example, if you’re a devout Paladin who tries to be compassionate to all of Azeroth’s people (like a character I’ve been playing recently), then you probably won’t drop everything and run off to fight in the war.

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Oh boy fanon!!

I headcanon the Vindicaar ran out of gas.

No but seriously, I wish Blizz actually explained this a bit more but remember all the dumb crystals we kept having to collect on Argus? It was a power source that the Army of Light needed to keep the lights on and since returning to Azeroth they’re basically running on fumes.

Which helps explain, why doesn’t the Alliance just use the spaceship they have to blow up the Horde? It’s outta gas.

I also fanon that Argunite is just the Argus equivalent of Azerite and despite being entirely forgotten by Blizzard. The Army of the Light has been low key collecting large sums of it when they can and Artificers like Juspion are busy trying to find ways to make it work with their technology. It’s been slow work because the last thing they want to do is accidentally blow up their only spaceship.

I’ve also posted this one before but all magic is corrupting.

The only reason we don’t view certain magics as corrupting is because we are already corrupted by those magics and so it’s not seen as harmful.

For example, arcane magic generally corrupts you into an orderly form akin to the Titans. Elves are essentially trolls corrupted by arcane and gradually changed to a humanoid form similar to Titans right? I also speculate and headcanon this is similar for the Draenei, Argus was a world like Azeroth with a Titan worldsoul within. Perhaps the Draenei, a native species of their world was corrupted by similar arcane magic leading to them taking on more humanoid characteristics.

What about Tauren or Pandaren and Tuskarr and whatever? Unless I’m mistake, they are the children from a wild god that was blessed or created or something by the Titan Freya right? Basically same sh!t but with closer ties to nature vs pure arcane like the elves.

Another fanon I’ve posted is Draenei’s behavior towards other people and races.

They can swing from either being very loving and affectionate or cold and aloof, both of which are unfortunate coping mechanisms many have adopted from their years in exile.

A meal with a friend might be A REALLY BIG DEAL to some Draenei because for all they know, this could be their last meal with their friend in this place. The next day it could all be reduced to ash and their friend perishing. On the flip side, some Draenei, might not even bother having a meal with a friend or anyone because the next day it could all be gone. It’s better to avoid it all so you don’t have to mourn for it later.

This is partially why the Draenei had little contact with the orcs on Draenor despite being there for like 200 something years or whatever. They’ve been to enough worlds, met enough of the local life, only to see it all perish and be destroyed by the Legion.

However arriving on Azeroth and being in worse shape than before, they decided to make contact with the local population which lead to joining the Alliance.

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I would be inclined to agree with your fan-on, Karnum.

As with anything in the Warcraft universe, consistency is suspect and subject primarily to the means of the momentary plot rather than the wider world. (Reference: The Vindicaar as example). However, I think your statement is easily the logical expansion of the Class Order Halls, especially in the context of the ‘desperate’ nature of the Fourth War.

While I would argue that the ‘need for allies’ and ‘stretched thin’ plot threads of the Fourth War are in the “told not shown” camp at best, it does support the narrative that any neutral organization of reasonable strength (I.e; the Class Orders) would not be at the whim of the Horde or Alliance. Neither faction would, if we are following the ‘stretched thin’ idea at least, have the manpower or political gravitas to tell a giant floating citadel of Death Knights to do _anything.

It would hardly have hurt to give even one mention of them for continuity’s sake, though.

I would not expect any member of one of the neutral Class Hall factions to be given any options so much as they held the ‘cards’ themselves. Doubtless some members of those organizations would feel the call to assist the Horde or Alliance if they felt compelled to, but as easily not. Removing the Class Halls from the wargame does assist, theoretically, in retaining the stakes of the war – at least retrospectively.

As I think about it, a lot of interesting fan-on type questions could be resolved by a minor attention to writing detail. Two or three lines of dialogue could be well served in addressing plenty of these sorts of concerns. Especially with the ‘story campaign’ questline direction that Blizzard Entertainment seems keen to retain, locking necessary character advancements behind such things means there is little chance of the majority of the playerbase missing any lore you input, even as aside statements during the thrust of the primary plot.

“Our agents are prepared to push forward and assist the Navy with establishing a foothold on the Zandalari continent, your Majesty.”

“Good, the reconnaissance of SI:7 will be invaluable in minimizing death and suffering, Master Shaw. Can we count on the aid of your associates in the Uncrowned?”

“Unfortunately not, with the end of the campaign on Argus, they have disappeared. Whatever coalition there was is no more, just ghosts and whispers. I will keep you appraised, King Wrynn.”

-Anduin Wrynn & Mattias Shaw.

I really enjoy that take on Argunite, Juspions.

I take a personal interest in the materials of the world of Azeroth and how they interact. Would Argunite interact somehow if exposed to Azerite? If the two substances are similar, than reasonably the Lightforged could be some of the best engineers on Azeroth when it comes to this ‘new’ Azerite technology. They would have, essentially, been using the same substance with their artificers already. Similarly, what do you think became of Argus after the events of 7.3 and the end of Legion?

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My solution to the Vindicaar “problem” is thus:

Azuremyst and Bloodmyst Isles, and the Exodar, find itself as a single bastion off the coast of a hostile continent. By decree of the Prophet, the Vindicaar maintains a vigil over the Draenei homeland, burning any Horde vessel foolish enough to stray into its effective range.

That’s the official reasoning, at any rate. In truth, Velen ordered the Vindicaar’s defensive role in coordination with Turyalon because both of them understood what it meant to unshackle the Lightforged to War. Hence why all the Lightforged we come across in BfA are in support roles (Roles that they even remark as chaffing under, if you speak with them).

Of all the Horde, only the Mag’har understand the kind of war that would happen if the Lightforged as an organized body marched once more into a conflict.

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I’m not a chemist or anything like that, yet I think a good way to explain it away is maybe it’s like mixing two volatile substances. Perhaps Argunite, has had more time to crystalize and stabilize over thousands of millions years while Azerite is fresh, still in liquid form and difficult to use because it’s reactions can vary wildly.

Another idea is perhaps the origins plays a part in this, Azerite was violently brought into the world by a giant space satan stabbing the planet. So it’s properties reflect it’s violent origins and is volatile. While Argunite, it’s up to debate how the Eredar of old started using it but perhaps it was naturally occurring? So it was less reactive and from a more dormant origin?

Which leads to one last wild idea, what if Argus was a dying world and was in its twilight years? Think of it like the tremors before a volcanic eruption and using Yellowstone as a real life example. Perhaps one day tremors caused Argunite to grow from the ground, the Eredar, unaware that the Argunite was a sign that their world would be casting away its shell to give rise to the Titan within. They would build their civilization on this naturally occurring substance over the course of several thousand years and only realized their doom when the Legion arrived.

What if the dark bargain was to save their civilization but in turn having to pay a terrible price for it? That’s a pretty wild take but it’s fun to speculate about.

Oops hit enter too soon

That’s a really good take and the perfect way to explain away why we forgot about the spaceship and the army made up of super crystal space marines. They would turn the war into something the Alliance couldn’t condone, perhaps also fear of them turning on the Alliance when they’re done purifying the Horde?

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Seriously, the Lightforged Priestess on the ship in Boralus specifically requests to be allowed to “minister” to Horde POWs. The Lightforged are terrifying.

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Honestly, that’s why I love the Lightforged. They are Scarlet Crusade +50, with none of the speciest nonsense and a religious doctrine that justifies any kind of action to win in the name of the Light.

And we killed their ‘God’ and used her as a battery.

Yeah.

I think we should have every reason to be very bloody afraid of what happens when the Light Forged get tired of Comrade Turalyon, his heretical wife and the ‘misguided’ souls leading the Alliance holding them back.

What if the only reason we got Mag’har was so that we had at least tangential warning of what was to come, or worse still, this was an action of a Infinite Flight convert amongst the Bronzes who, now that the leader of the Infinite Flight is dead, is obeying the dictates of a council of Infinite Dragons for their ‘Plan B’ end.

If a dead world populated by Twilight Dragons was the ‘best’ option from what Murozond could pull from the Timelines, and we neutered that and him in the process, than a ‘Plan B’ of having the Light dominate everything and both lock the Void out of creation forever and condemn all life to being crystalized and locked in permanent stasis could be their next best thing, considering how horrifying the Void’s end-game is.

We know that there’s no such thing as a fool-proof spell. We may have shut the portal down after retrieving every Mag’har not stuck on the front-lines against the Army of Light, but the ‘Mother of Light’ Naaru is still there, and apparently the Naaru in that timeline can freeze you in time permanently, which makes a great way to collect ‘new recruits’ for the Light-Binding process.

It also means that these Naaru have power-sets we’ve never seen before. And given that the Army of Light does field Mages as well as Priests, Warriors, Hunters and the-Present Paladins, we could see their access to temporal magic used to rip open that gate and pour through into our reality to answer for the ‘heresy’ of rejecting, and killing, Xe’ra, our version of the Mother of Light.

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I’m now picturing a hypothetical cinematic in which our heroes array against another Dark Portal/AU incursion, only to be turned upon at the last minute by the Lightforged Draenei. Yrel takes command away from Turyalon (Something I want to see anyway, since I really have zero love for these WarCraft 2 holdovers in spite of my dogged refusal to accept Blizzard’s retcon of the Lothar assassination) and carries on about a glorious future and repentance in the Light to Velen.

Cue “Avengers: Engame” style portal by which A’dal leads the Shattered Sun (Remember them?) and the Tempest Keep against the Lightforged. The Vindicaar is destroyed, the tide turns against the Lightsworn when…BAM! Mother of the Light arrives and has a showdown with A’dal.

Cue angry Windchime noises

Ultimately ends with A’dal cracking and shattering during the resonance event and sending the heroes scrambling for cover as the Mother of the Light starts tearing into the now demoralized Shattered Sun.

Cinematic ends with Tempest Keep going down in flames.

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I’m trying to imagine the Lightforge reasoning when they start to question the “impurities” within the Alliance.

  • First they went for the warlocks, some within the Alliance where OK with this.
  • Then they went for the Ren’dorei, they’re only one slip away from falling to madness.
  • Next was Queen Calia, despite her Lightforged origins she was still an unnatural creature of death.
  • The Worgen, what’s stopping the beast within from taking over?
  • The Kaldorei and the dark pact Tyrande made with their goddess is truth enough to show what Elune really is.
  • So on and so on.

If this RP concept wasn’t so antagonizing this would be fun, no, not run around Stormwind purging, that’s bad RP. Yet a character, that if given the order, they wouldn’t hesitate to turn their blade on their allies.

I guess it’d be a little bit like playing a clone trooper from the prequels? One minute you’re fighting with obi wan and immediately turn on him when you receive your super secret emperor orders.

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There was a very poignant, and painful,
saying that was quite similar to that, which I’m gonna butcher as I am on the dumbphone.

“when they came for the Jews, we cheered. When they came for the Homosexuals, we clapped. When they came for the Christians, we turned away. Now they come for us, and there is nobody left to save.”

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I’m kinda inspired to revive my Lightforged character, they’re mostly a joke character. The set up is now that the Legion has been defeated he is retiring to focus on his one true passion, baking tiny decorative pastries!! So basically that but also he’s one order away from cutting down every impurity in sight. One minute your pal and the next a terminator.

I’d also base his personality after Arnold’s terminator.

WELCOME

EAT THE PASTRY

NOW GET OUT

why doesn’t anyone RP with me

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That reminds me of a very old (very, very old) Draenei concept I had back in TBC. He operated a restaurant in Stormwind. Wore that loud pink shirt you got at the start in Azuremyst. Spoke broken English/Common. Broadly smiling and jovial, until he took something wrong/as an insult (which happened often).

Then I shelved him for my “What am I if not a slave to this torment?” Death Knight Draenei. With edges so sharp you could cut yourself on.

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heres a headcanon: battles with the lightforged are deeply, deeply unnerving

because of their closeness to xe’ra and direct infusion of divine power, their holy magic is far more advanced than even the normal draenei, leading it to differ in some notable ways;

lightforged holy fire doesnt produce smoke, regardless of whether its burning flesh, wood, or otherwise, making it difficult to tell when, say, a base is on fire without getting close and bearing witness to the radiance. seeing the “Midnight Sun” was considered one of the worse moments of dread during the Blood War, knowing that your place of safety and comrades were either burned alive or trapped in crystal stasis and spirited away to be ‘cleansed’ later.

the enhancement spells lightforged call on look far more similar to the shape of a naaru instead of the generalized angel wings they normally do; avenging wrath and anchorites holy spells take the shape of a naarus geometric wings. the lightforged see this as a blessing, whereas the other races of the alliance see xe’ras personalised touch. whether that is positive or negative depends on the person.

lightforged soldiers dont show emotions during battle, being freed of all doubt, fear, rage and otherwise. this apparent confidence (some might say apathy) is unnerving even to the forsaken, who at least indulge in darker emotions instead of none at all.

the most terrifying aspect of lightforged magic is because of xe’ras influence, it makes music when cast. even in the midst of a bloody war, the chime of the naaru would ring out over the battle, drowning out warcries and empowering the lightforged to fight on.

during a march and approaching the enemy, the incantations and prayers were begun, the warframe’s weaponry powered on, the blades and staves began awakening and charging with power, the song of the naaru would begin, becoming louder and louder as ever more holy magic was called upon. for the alliance, it was an omen the light fought with them; for the horde, it was a sign that hungry fire, searing light and merciless blades were coming.

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Orcs didn’t make heavy armor or weapons (en masse, they had hunting stuff though) much until they started unifying as a Horde in the MU.

In the AU, Garrosh brought various plans and designs and Blackfuse goblins.

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