Character Study: Illidan Stormrage

The Character Study column explores the various lore characters of Warcraft.  It lays the foundation of these personalities, providing us with a better understanding of the motivations and relationships between the movers and shakers of this fantasy world.

Illidan Stormrage

During the creative process for developing my story for Blizzard's creative writing contest, I discovered that there are many people who don't have a full grasp of Illidan Stormrage's character.  These people typically have only been exposed to the Illidan Stormrage we see in the War of the Ancients trilogy or atop the Black Temple during Burning Crusade raids.

Unfortunately, the Illidan Stormrage portrayed in these story arcs is but a shallow representation of the character that was introduced first in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos.  That Illidan is actually quite different, and is the one that many of us know and love.

I find it amusing, because I see a lot of folk who have no idea why anyone could like such an irritating villain such as Illidan, but I came to realize that the people who question these fans are the same people mentioned above.  They're the ones who have never known the character many of us believe to be the true Illidan Stormrage.

He was introduced in Warcraft III as a demon hunter imprisoned 10,000 years ago.  Brother to Malfurion Stormrage, Illidan was locked away due to both his ties to demonic magics and his betrayal of his people during the War of the Ancients, when he warned Queen Azshara of Malfurion's plan to destroy the Well of Eternity (hence the original reason for the nickname "Betrayer"). Per current retconned lore, Illidan is instead called "Betrayer" due to the belief that he defected to Sargeras, who magically burned out Illidan's eyes and gifted him with a felsight as well as permanently marking him with his iconic tattoos.  In both versions of history, Illidan's recreation of the Well of Eternity using captured waters from the original solidified the derogatory nickname.

When the Burning Legion invaded once again during Reign of Chaos (Warcraft III), Tyrande Whisperwind, Malfurion's mate and also the object of Illidan's unrequited love, freed him from his prison and requested his help against the Burning Legion.

Malfurion was angry and disappointed, believing his brother's crimes to be so great as to require him to remain chained.  Indeed, Malfurion on many occasions shunned his brother's actions and pleas, further pushing the demon hunter away from anything that could anchor him to sanity.  This culminates in Warcraft III, when Malfurion banishes his brother after Illidan consumed the power from the Skull of Gul'dan.  Despite Illidan's defeat of the dreadlord, Tichondrius, in Felwood, Malfurion sees only the demonic side of his brother and wishes nothing more to do with this wayward kin.

Later, in The Frozen Throne, Malfurion interrupts Illidan's attack on Icecrown, fearing that his brother's spell will sunder the world once more.  Once again, the intent of Illidan's attack--to defeat the Lich King--is ignored in light of everything else.

The two work together briefly to rescue Tyrande, but ultimately they end up parting ways once more.

Illidan: "We have had much strife between us, my brother. I have known only ages of hate for you. But, for my part, I wish it to end. From this day forward, let there be peace between us."

As far as we know, they never see each other again.  In fact, we catch a glimpse of Malfurion's lament as a part of the Gates of Ahn'qiraj quest.

Malfurion: "Cenarius fights at my side. Illidan sits atop his throne in Outland – brooding. I'm afraid that the loss to Arthas proved to be his breaking point. Madness has embraced him, Remulos. He replays the events in his mind a thousand times per day, but in his mind, he is the victor and Arthas is utterly defeated. He is too far gone, old friend. I fear that the time may soon come that our bond is tested and it will not be as it was at the Well in Zin-Azshari."

Malfurion's regret at what may come to be is palpable in this quote.  It is clear that a part of him regrets his brother's inevitable fate.

As you can see, the Illidan portrayed above, while still a dark character with questionable motives, is a bit more sympathetic.  We begin to understand much of what Illidan believes, and his beliefs are what cause him to do the things that turn people against him.  He's a distinctly flawed, but still understandable, character.

Let's skip back then, to the War of the Ancients trilogy, which was the first example of what I call "the bastard Illidan."  In this trilogy of books, Illidan was portrayed as nothing more than a power-hungry, egotistical, reckless idiot.  He seemed little more than a self-centered jock trying to impress the cheerleader that Tyrande had become for these books.  Malfurion, on the other hand, was no longer the hard-assed, unforgiving leader of his people, but was instead a young druid of superheroic abilities.  He was a well-loved character, showing little of the negative traits that he displayed in Warcraft III.  There was no balance within the characters themselves, nothing to give them more depth.

Granted, many people will defend the books' portrayal, claiming that the 10,000 years that passed between the War of the Ancients and Warcraft III were enough to change the characters.  However, I claim that the three characters in the trilogy were not, in fact, the characters we had grown to love or hate in the RTS games.  They had been reduced to little more than one-dimensional stereotypes.

And if a character that we enjoy gains a completely different personality in a new medium, then it's not really the same character, is it?  If a video game adaptation of The Lord of the Rings turned Frodo into a drunken, womanizing hobbit who desired nothing more than debauchery, then it's an insult to those who came to like the original Frodo as he was.

It's a shame that I find the characters of the video game to be far more compelling than the characters of a trilogy of novels.  It's a further shame that it was these soulless character templates that became the foundation for the World of Warcraft portrayal of the characters.

Illidan, once the sympatheric misunderstood hero who's redemption could be found in his desire to do what was right, despite always doing it the wrong way, was devolved into a crazy, mustache-twirling super villain whose only contributions to history are the words "You are not prepared!"

That's a far cry from his dialogue in Warcraft III and Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne.

That's a far cry from the Illidan Stormrage we knew first.