Villains: Garrosh Hellscream
August 27th, 2009 | Related Articles
Villainy surrounds us in the World of Warcraft. We have battled with the likes of Ragnaros, Nefarian, Kael’thas, Illidan and Kil’jaeden. We sit, poised, upon the precipice of victory over the Scourge once and for all. And yet, for all these enemies that surround us, none has the capability to unmake us as surely and destructively as the discord we have within our own ranks.
This fact was most evident in recent Horde history with the betrayal of Grand Apothecary Putress, whose insurrection, fostered and supported by the demon Varimathras, destroyed much of what the Horde had gained in Northrend. It certainly annihilated any possibility of lasting cooperation with the Alliance against the Scourge. And although both Putress and Varimathras have been defeated, this manner of discord continues in a far more subtle and destructive manner.
During the Burning Crusade, we were introduced to a Mag’har chieftain named Garrosh Hellscream. This young and untried warrior, son of the famous Grom Hellscream, was beset by Murkblood broken and his own self-doubt. Through the trials of the Horde who ventured in Nagrand, he was given new hope after an inspiring vision granted to him by Warchief Thrall. In doing this, Thrall gained a bold and daring new overlord whose strength and determination should have been a monumental asset to the Horde military effort.
Instead of this, the Warchief was burdened by Garrosh’s recklessness and insubordination. Constantly questioning the goals and methods of the Warchief, Garrosh soon learned that he could speak and act out of turn without more than disappointed chastisement by his superior. This tendency was displayed numerous times over the last months; first, when he challenged Thrall during the second Scourge invasion event.
“Garrosh has, on multiple occasions, either suggested outright war with the Alliance or attacked their leaders.”
There is a great deal of debate on who truly would have been the victor of this interrupted confrontation, but it should be mentioned that no matter the potential outcome, the Horde’s unity cracked along the seams. This fissure has only widened in the events since.
Garrosh has, on multiple occasions, either suggested outright war with the Alliance or attacked their leaders. He is almost single-handedly responsible for the new tensions and bloodshed that has turned confident strides towards victory over the Lich King into staggering, bloody steps through a hedge of enemies on all sides.
Is Garrosh truly a villain? This is clearly open to interpretation by each of our characters. There are definitely members of the Horde who would see Thrall deposed in order to carve out a bloody place in the world. Many see the Warchief’s leadership as weak and full of compromises that ultimately damage the prosperity of the Horde. Certainly, his counterpart among the Alliance is nowhere near as forgiving or patient; King Varian Wrynn despises orcs and sees nothing except a pack of green-skinned savages when he looks upon them.
But we should each examine Garrosh a little closer and try not to paint him with such broad strokes. Amongst the orcs, he has a daunting legacy to live up to; his father was one of the fiercest and most important orcs in the history of the entire race, be it for good or for bad. For much of the time we were exposed to him during the Burning Crusade, Garrosh was little more than a depressed, ineffectual leader, something he seems to accuse Thrall of these days. Despite his flaws, however, he has proven to be both effective and unflinching in the face of the horrors fielded in battle by the Scourge.
Will Garrosh Hellscream be the end of the Horde as we know it? Can his recklessness lead to any real good? This is something we will undoubtedly discover in the coming months as the final confrontation with the Lich King nears. Through his actions at the end of this war, we will be able to determine, truthfully, whether Garrosh is a hero… or a villain.
8 Responses to “Villains: Garrosh Hellscream”
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Sometimes you need a tyrant to defeat a tyrant… I don’t much care for Garrosh myself, but I feel he may be required to defend against the war Wrynn will bring against the Horde regardless of who is in charge. Garrosh being around will not hasten it and him being gone won’t prevent it. Wrynn is going to try and destroy the Horde, without a doubt. It may just be Garrosh’s hatred and brutality that sees us through the coming war as victors.
Thing is, Varian wasn’t a warmonger. He’s actually done what he could to sidestep Horde aggression in the past, with his attacks being purely responsive in nature to perceived Horde assaults.
He was willing to meet peacefully with Thrall on multiple occasions, but Garrosh is the one who pushed it to outright conflict in almost all those situations. The only exception that springs to mind right now was the summit at Theramore when Garona attacked. In that situation, Varian assumed the Horde was attacking, and called Thrall out on it (and the reverse, obviously, also happened).
If there’s a warmonger in lore right now, it’s not Varian. It’s Garrosh.
If Garrosh does ANYTHING with regards to lore, it’ll be to make the Horde stronger either by pushing it to civil war, or by returning them to the Old Horde aggression.
Especially in light of Cataclysm events.
Varion at the most recent battle for undercity declared all out war on the Horde. Since Thralls leadership of the horde the only hostilities have been from the Alliance, and even that has been little with Fordragon as a stand in leader. Now that Varion is here with a brand new chip on his shoulder the diplomatic approach of the likes of Thrall and Jaina are going to be uselessly tossed aside.
Like it or not Garrosh represents a side of the Horde that has always been there, a side that will not roll over and let the Alliance walk all over them, a side that needs to be brought to the forefront and, while a necessary evil, should not be put away as long as there are those on the Alliance that seek the destruction of the Horde.
From a more Game based approach Bliz has said that they are putting the “War” back in warcraft. It’s not called World of Hold your enemies hand craft. It’s called warcraft maybe this is exactly what the game needs to frshen up a bit, I think so.
Ok, Im with Dave on this one. Blizzard has said that there is more than these two sides of Garrosh that we have seen, All we have seen is him being a depressed cry baby and a revamped true orc. We havent seen the levelheaded side of him. But never the less, Thrall would have a better chance of actually stoping the war than Garrosh because He and Varian come from similar pasts. Both have been captured, help captive and have actually been gladiators. However i dont think Thrall is just being pushed aside. I think He is going to become the Tirion of Cataclysm. Leading and helping both Alliance and Horde in these new battles, and leaving Saurfang to guide Garrosh like he has been. Never forget that Saurfang is the biggest and most persuasive pimpin orc of the Horde. I think Garrosh will do a very very good job in his time being Warchief. And then when it comes time to end Cataclysm, Garrosh will put his own name and legacy next to his fathers but dieing very heroicly in the end. For the time being, give the big hard headed lug a chance to quench that thirst for Alliance blood and get ready for some wicked PVP =D
personally i hate garrosh, but hes far from a bad guy, hes just a war-loving idiot
anyway, ive heard he’ll be in charge of the horde in cataclysm, so he has to be a hero. the horde definitely isnt evil, and with that, it wouldnt make sense to put one who is evil as their leader, unless hes later forced to step down as thrall returns.
Lol, the reason why thrall doesnt want war with the alliance is because he knows he will lose…If you take away all gameplay balances the alliance is far stronger in the lore, the horde should not have access to gnomish tech, and up until wow I do not believe in war,war2 or war3 that they orcs had any magi, shamans and witchdoctors only. Also, belfs would likely lore wise, go back to the alliance before attempting to destroy the only civilized culture around. Garrosh is a fool, he is unaware of the alliance’s power for he was never enslaved by it.
Varian went a LONG way to redeeming himself in his meeting with Saurfang the Elder at the end of the Alliance battle in Icecrown. That helps give him a bit more dimension than being King Emo in my opinion.
Garrosh on the other hand is overcompensating BIG-TIME. I’m still all for Basic Campfire over Garrosh, but my guess is a possible civil war between Garrosh’s version of the Horde and possibly Saurfang or someone else stepping up to oppose his Orc/Tauren-only clubhouse.
Thrall is a shaman who wanted to bring redemption to his people and to pull them out of a dommed future to one where they can live out their lives peacefully. He knows that many obstacles lie in his way, and he has not given up yet. He is also growing old, yet even as we speak, the Horde grows strong, so his judgements are still clear. Yet when confronting Garrosh, an insolent young orc who became stuck-up after seeing a vision of his father dying heroicly, he merely shakes his head in dissapproval. Why is he not doing something about it? And why make such a reckless orc Warchief? Many of us don’t have the slightest clue, Only Thrall truely see’s. Perhaps the spirit’s have shown Thrall something that we hae yet to learn.