The Griffin's Crier

Hi -

In quick summary, is the Horde not evil?

I was in a discussion and made the statement that I couldn't play Horde because they're evil (sorry an old D&D thing of trolls, orcs, kobolds, blah blah blah = evil). A bad call perhaps as I was told to check the history - that the Alliance is evil, which I can't comprehend because because paladins ... (maybe too much D&D) are good, unless this is a deal of trickery and such things.

Like any well crafted story, the characters in this epic tale are not always black-and-white "good" or "evil". Instead, their motives often seem good to them, and are often viewed by others as less so. Ask any two casual observers their view on the Knights Templar, and their responses will be coloured by whether they see the order as protecting pilgrims or invading looters. For the most part, the races of the Alliance I would characterize as good, but there may have been individual actions or campaigns in the past that might have been seen as evil by those affected. On the Horde side, I would call a few of the races decidedly neutral, with at least one strongly good, and at least one incredibly evil. However, others' interpretations may differ.

Tricky answer. Though IMHO whoever told you Alliance is evil is either playing with you, or they should be smacked.

Historically? Yes the Horde is evil (see Warcraft 1 & 2). In Warcraft 3 they changed the orcs into more of the noble barbarians. This carried over into WoW, so technically from that aspect the horde isn't evil. HOWEVER, the Horde now consists of Orcs, Trolls, Tarren (kind of Minotaurs), Undead, and Blood Elves. Trolls and Tarren are also part of that "noble barbarian" thing. Undead are ... well undead. I consider them evil, but the story makes them more into victims. Blood elves, no question at all, are 100% evil.

Alliance on the other hand has NEVER been seen as evil unless your a WoW Horde player. That's the whole "other faction is evil" and not really actually evil. There may be some questionable practices that the Alliance (Humans, Dwarves, Elves, Gnomes, weird goat people...) takes, but there's really no way to call that faction evil.

Anyway that's my $0.02.

[posted before seeing Jon and Cory's comments]

The Horde is not evil - perhaps just a little barbaric.

Essentially, all the player-controlled races in WoW are sentient and fairly civilized. Note that there are definitely NPC tribes or clans of orcs or trolls that are quite evil, barbaric, demon-tainted, or cannibalistic, but the Horde-affiliated factions are generally honorable and sympathetic to players.

Except Blood Elves. Those guys are plain evile.

[in re. to Warcraft 1 and 2]

Canon says the WC orcs were originally a fairly peaceful nomadic culture from world called Draenor (which eventually becomes the shattered Outland). Demons from the Twisting Nether enslaved and corrupted them, however, turning them into a bloodthirsty Horde, and sent them through the Dark Portal to attack Azeroth. By current date, the larger orc population has shaken off the demonic influence, and they have largely returned to their nomadic / shamanistic ways.

Someone who knows more about the setting specific history can comment on that but in short, yes, the Hoard is evil. There are less/more evil participants. Tauren aren't necessarily evil. The undead, surprisingly, aren't necessarily evil. The Blood Elves are mostly all evil. The orcs, mostly all evil.

On the Alliance side you have humans, elves, dwarves, gnomes and space goats. And there are evil members of those races, especially humans, bur on the whole, they're the good guys.

Edit: better answers above. . But I still think orcs are evil jerks!