[SPOILERS] Why do you hate Illidan?

[Zoldor]

Honestly he really needs more red. Like a red strip of hair and coat. That would make him true member of team edge along shadow the hedgehog, dante and that chick from kill la kill.

I'd like to give you 10 interwebz.

But really illidan never appealed to me and I was a fan of early emo music. He's slightly cliche. He might be the second most liked character after LK if you look into it. Or at least most famous.

[Dequanacus]

I'm not sure why hating shitty writing is equivalent to hating a character.

[Cooper]

illidan is a awesome charecter, he did what was needed to be done, if people liked it or not, and i hated he got butchered in BC (in more then one way ;3) and im super happy hes getting a redemption story... allthough this jesus holy illidan is abit too far for my liking... but eh who knows, could be really cool, we will see

yes he was selfish for power, yes he wants to be the one to destroy the legion, no one else, why he only trusted a few of his own students even slightly....

but he allways had the idea of defeating the legion, even joining them he did it so gain more power, and to betray them from within...

When Illidan and his naga massacred a Night Elf fishing village, was it to defeat the Burning Legion?

When Illidan was willing to sacrifice Azeroth to destroy the Lich King on Kil'Jaeden's orders, was it to defeat the Burning Legion?

When Illidan gave the Demon Soul to Azshara so she could summon Sargeras, was it to defeat the Burning Legion?

Illidan only ever did anything to increase his own power, and he would rationalize it by lying to himself about his motives. This is why he sided with the Burning Legion in the War of the Ancients - because Sargeras offered him power. This is why he went after the Skull of Gul'dan - because Arthas promised him it would make him more powerful. He went after the Lich King because he was terrified of Kil'Jaeden coming for him, not out of any sense of moral righteousness. And that's why he is the way he is in "The Burning Crusade"; he's bunkering down because he knows the Burning Legion is coming for him to punish him for his failure. He's creating an army to basically be meatshields between himself and the Burning Legion (much like Sylvanas, the Forsaken, and Eternity).

The only thing that ever pulled Illidan to the side o' the angels was his desire for Tyrande, and then when she would inevitably reject him - because deep down she understood what he really is - he would go right back to sulking and looking for more ways to gain power. He is, essentially, the guy that does favors for a girl just to get in her pants and then shoots up a school when she rejects him.

All this "Illidan is a great guy who just wants to beat the Burning Legion by any means necessary" nonsense is nothing but a complete retcon to whitewash Illidan's character.

[FelPlague]

When Illidan and his naga massacred a Night Elf fishing village, was it to defeat the Burning Legion?

When Illidan was willing to sacrifice Azeroth to destroy the Lich King on Kil'Jaeden's orders, was it to defeat the Burning Legion?

When Illidan gave the Demon Soul to Azshara so she could summon Sargeras, was it to defeat the Burning Legion?

Illidan only ever did anything to increase his own power, and he would rationalize it by lying to himself about his motives. This is why he sided with the Burning Legion in the War of the Ancients - because Sargeras offered him power. This is why he went after the Skull of Gul'dan - because Arthas promised him it would make him more powerful. He went after the Lich King because he was terrified of Kil'Jaeden coming for him, not out of any sense of moral righteousness. And that's why he is the way he is in "The Burning Crusade"; he's bunkering down because he knows the Burning Legion is coming for him to punish him for his failure. He's creating an army to basically be meatshields between himself and the Burning Legion (much like Sylvanas, the Forsaken, and Eternity).

The only thing that ever pulled Illidan to the side o' the angels was his desire for Tyrande, and then when she would inevitably reject him - because deep down she understood what he really is - he would go right back to sulking and looking for more ways to gain power. He is, essentially, the guy that does favors for a girl just to get in her pants and then shoots up a school when she rejects him.

All this "Illidan is a great guy who just wants to beat the Burning Legion by any means necessary" nonsense is nothing but a complete retcon to whitewash Illidan's character.

they were in the way

uh what? he was destroying northrend... not all of azeroth...

that was retconned awhile ago, and also he dident ever directly do that...

[RadasNoir]

I hated Illidan previously because he was always a miserable failure at nearly everything he set out to accomplish, and even when he did "succeed" at something, it would usually have horrific unintended consequences, which even threatened the whole of Azeroth on occasion. To make matters worse, he's also an arrogant, selfish jerk. I have never, ever understood the unreasonable number of fans he had or still has.

I hate Illidan now because Blizzard, specifically in response to that unreasonable fandom, have elevated him to "chosen one" stature, even retconning some of the horrible things he did as somehow being justified all along. It should boggle any sane, mature mind, really.

Illidan is awesome, if people hate them they are a bunch little kids who can't stand him not being a sterotypical "boy scout ,good guy" instead of the anti-hero he is.

If anything, it seems to be that those of a younger age tend to gravitate more to the edgier, anti-hero sorts.

[Deleted]

they were in the way

uh what? he was destroying northrend... not all of azeroth...

that was retconned awhile ago, and also he dident ever directly do that...

Destroying the glacier in northrend would have caused tidal waves in the rest of azeroth, destroying 100s of shore villages and would probably cause other nature related problems.

And it was never retconned that he told the highborn about malfurion and the dragon soul, it is even mentioned in chronicles.

[Cooper]

Oh man, I forgot that when Illidan massacred that fishing village, he was already working for Kil'jaeden. For some reason I was thinking Kil'jaeden showed up a bit later. So yeah, massacring fishermen while on a mission for the Burning Legion is totally working to defeat the Burning Legion.

Destroying the glacier in northrend would have caused tidal waves in the rest of azeroth, destroying 100s of shore villages and would probably cause other nature related problems.

Perhaps, but it was more that Illidan's spell, while targeted at Icecrown, was threatening to tear apart everything, causing earthquakes at least as far away as Silverpine Forest. And not just run-of-the-mill earthquakes, either:

Aaarrrggh!The earth... is being... torn apart. The pain is... excruciating!

Oh, and by the way, Illidan's dialogue in that same cutscene:

It's working! Nothing can withstand the power of the Eye! Soon now, my master's enemies will be undone, and I will claim my just reward.

His master, of course, being Kil'jaeden.

[Deleted]

When Illidan and his naga massacred a Night Elf fishing village, was it to defeat the Burning Legion?
When Illidan was willing to sacrifice Azeroth to destroy the Lich King on Kil'Jaeden's orders, was it to defeat the Burning Legion?
When Illidan gave the Demon Soul to Azshara so she could summon Sargeras, was it to defeat the Burning Legion?
Illidan only ever did anything to increase his own power, and he would rationalize it by lying to himself about his motives. This is why he sided with the Burning Legion in the War of the Ancients - because Sargeras offered him power. This is why he went after the Skull of Gul'dan - because Arthas promised him it would make him more powerful. He went after the Lich King because he was terrified of Kil'Jaeden coming for him, not out of any sense of moral righteousness. And that's why he is the way he is in "The Burning Crusade"; he's bunkering down because he knows the Burning Legion is coming for him to punish him for his failure. He's creating an army to basically be meatshields between himself and the Burning Legion (much like Sylvanas, the Forsaken, and Eternity).
The only thing that ever pulled Illidan to the side o' the angels was his desire for Tyrande, and then when she would inevitably reject him - because deep down she understood what he really is - he would go right back to sulking and looking for more ways to gain power. He is, essentially, the guy that does favors for a girl just to get in her pants and then shoots up a school when she rejects him.
All this "Illidan is a great guy who just wants to beat the Burning Legion by any means necessary" nonsense is nothing but a complete retcon to whitewash Illidan's character.

Oh man, I forgot that when Illidan massacred that fishing village, he was already working for Kil'jaeden. For some reason I was thinking Kil'jaeden showed up a bit later. So yeah, massacring fishermen while on a mission for the Burning Legion is totally working to defeat the Burning Legion.
Perhaps, but it was more that Illidan's spell, while targeted at Icecrown, was threatening to tear apart everything, causing earthquakes at least as far away as Silverpine Forest. And not just run-of-the-mill earthquakes, either:
Oh, and by the way, Illidan's dialogue in that same cutscene:
His master, of course, being Kil'jaeden.

I can't believe I am doing this ok

First Illidan and his naga did not massacre the Night Elf fishing village DEMONS DID what you think after the second defeat of the burning legion the demons just disappeared? NO they remained on azeroth for a long time and I can prove it to you that Illidan didn't do it just go read his book, you know the one which came out recently and you won't sit down and read it because you are so convicted the character is so evil you afraid the book will change your mind. I am going to spoil it for you, there is a scene when introducing the character Vandel, which explains with pretty colorfull way how the demons killed the villagers and his son
Second Illidan did not try to destroy Azeroth he was trying to destroy the Lich King by blowing up Northrend, not one of his best moments I'll give you that, but deep inside of me I was hoping he would have succeded because then all those great characters we lost during the Lich king expansion WOULD STILL BE ALIVE and many other characters after, you don't know who those characters are go and read the f*g lore
Third what FelPlague said it was retconned and even if it wasn't the reason he gave the Demon Soul to Azshara was in fact to defeat the Burning Legion and I ask you how do you defeat an enemy that is more powerfull than you? Why, you infiltrate them ofcourse that what Illidan did he became part of the Legion so that he can destroy them from the inside and you know what that is the bravest thing I have ever seen in all the lore of warcraft
So do me a favour you two ...get out go read the lore and then come back

[Deleted]

I can't believe I am doing this ok

First Illidan and his naga did not massacre the Night Elf fishing village DEMONS DID what you think after the second defeat of the burning legion the demons just disappeared? NO they remained on azeroth for a long time and I can prove it to you that Illidan didn't do it just go read his book, you know the one which came out recently and you won't sit down and read it because you are so convicted the character is so evil you afraid the book will change your mind. I am going to spoil it for you, there is a scene when introducing the character Vandel, which explains with pretty colorfull way how the demons killed the villagers and his son
Second Illidan did not try to destroy Azeroth he was trying to destroy the Lich King by blowing up Northrend, not one of his best moments I'll give you that, but deep inside of me I was hoping he would have succeded because then all those great characters we lost during the Lich king expansion WOULD STILL BE ALIVE and many other characters after, you don't know who those characters are go and read the f*g lore
Third what FelPlague said it was retconned and even if it wasn't the reason he gave the Demon Soul to Azshara was in fact to defeat the Burning Legion and I ask you how do you defeat an enemy that is more powerfull than you? Why, you infiltrate them ofcourse that what Illidan did he became part of the Legion so that he can destroy them from the inside and you know what that is the bravest thing I have ever seen in all the lore of warcraft
So do me a favour you two ...get out go read the lore and then come back

Yet, if he didn't betray malfurion and told azshara about the dragon soul, the resisting night elves would have been able to defeat the legion. Just because illidan believes he's not power hungry and selfish, doesn't make it so. He is the reason that Sargeras almost came through the portal. So even if he was "infiltrating" the burning legion to stop them, he complete and utterly fails at even slowing their progress down and speeds it up.

He should be judged by his actions, which more than often are self serving and sometimes might serve a great purpose (which was still a secondary goal until it got retconned)

[Harbour]

I actually liked Illidan in WC3/WC3TFT. Then Blizzard killed him for nothing in TBC. Now i again like him after the reveal of what he did between WC3TFT and TBC. He is badass dude and he is on our side. But i actually hope Blizzard will make him refuse that bullshit Saviour of the Light mission Naaru trashtalk about.

[Enthralled]

I don't hate Illidan, I hate Illidan's fans.

I dont hate Illidan, I hate his fans

Whoa, switch to decaf, you two. You may hate me, but I don't hate you, I assure you.

[Zulkhan]

I don't hate him, I just think he looks way too edgy, partially for his character and mostly for his visual appereance. This said, I think the novels (King's especially but we need to give it to Knaak that he placed the basis for such development to happen) turned Illidan into a decent anti-hero, the kind of character that you shouldn't admire nor overly blame, just watch and see where his path goes.

[Deleted]

Yet, if he didn't betray malfurion and told azshara about the dragon soul, the resisting night elves would have been able to defeat the legion. Just because illidan believes he's not power hungry and selfish, doesn't make it so. He is the reason that Sargeras almost came through the portal. So even if he was "infiltrating" the burning legion to stop them, he complete and utterly fails at even slowing their progress down and speeds it up.

He should be judged by his actions, which more than often are self serving and sometimes might serve a great purpose (which was still a secondary goal until it got retconned)

Seriously judged by his actions you mean 10000 years of imprisonment in the dark is not a good punishment?
Just admit it, the guy is acting like a human being should with flaws, up and downs, bad and good moments he is the perfect neutrial character of the warcraft universe and you hate him for it. In your opinion characters must be good or bad not in between there is no grey in your perfect little world

[lockybalboa]

He used to be perfectly fine, until they made him into a Thrall greenJ type of character. It's simply too forced and lame.

[Deleted]

Seriously judged by his actions you mean 10000 years of imprisonment in the dark is not a good punishment?
Just admit it, the guy is acting like a human being should with flaws, up and downs, bad and good moments he is the perfect neutrial character of the warcraft universe and you hate him for it. In your opinion characters must be good or bad not in between there is no grey in your perfect little world

I never said i hate him for it. I'm just pointing out that he isn't "doing what's best for the universe" and shouldn't be treated like he is. He's a morally gray scumbag that's selfish and makes up excuses by saying it's for the greater good, which is both true and not true, but he always has an exterior motive. Until the whole "chosen" thing at least.

It's a more interesting character when he isn't actually trying to serve the greater good than when he is. Many bad people in history also thought they were trying to serve the greater good when in fact they just wanted power. Illidan is delusional in thinking he ever acted selfless. This actually gives him more depth and complexity.

I would actually expect illidan fans to be upset about the whole change of his story. From the guy that had a lot of depth and internal struggles to basically a misunderstood messiah.

[DemonHunter18]

I never said i hate him for it. I'm just pointing out that he isn't "doing what's best for the universe" and shouldn't be treated like he is. He's a morally gray scumbag that's selfish and makes up excuses by saying it's for the greater good, which is both true and not true, but he always has an exterior motive. Until the whole "chosen" thing at least.

It's a more interesting character when he isn't actually trying to serve the greater good than when he is. Many bad people in history also thought they were trying to serve the greater good when in fact they just wanted power. Illidan is delusional in thinking he ever acted selfless. This actually gives him more depth and complexity.

I would actually expect illidan fans to be upset about the whole change of his story. From the guy that had a lot of depth and internal struggles to basically a misunderstood messiah.

oh but they are. a lot of them.

[Candy Cough]

they were in the way

uh what? he was destroying northrend... not all of azeroth...

that was retconned awhile ago, and also he dident ever directly do that...

"They were in the way" Do you even know how stupid you sound? You're the definition of what a fanboy is
The native americans were in the way for the british aswell, there was nothing wrong with slaughtering 80 million native americans.

[FelPlague]

"They were in the way" Do you even know how stupid you sound? You're the definition of what a fanboy is
The native americans were in the way for the british aswell, there was nothing wrong with slaughtering 80 million native americans.

also it was the legion who attacked that fishing village not illidan, i forgot the illidan book

- - - Updated - - -

oh but they are. a lot of them.

exactly, im glad hes getting a redemption story... but really.... what is this dragon ball z?

[Qualia]

Yet, if he didn't betray malfurion and told azshara about the dragon soul, the resisting night elves would have been able to defeat the legion. Just because illidan believes he's not power hungry and selfish, doesn't make it so. He is the reason that Sargeras almost came through the portal. So even if he was "infiltrating" the burning legion to stop them, he complete and utterly fails at even slowing their progress down and speeds it up.

He should be judged by his actions, which more than often are self serving and sometimes might serve a great purpose (which was still a secondary goal until it got retconned)

This is actually wrong.

The Legion, and thus Azshara, already knew about the Dragon Soul / Demon Soul before Illidan pretended to join their side. Illidan just found a way to track Deathwing in order to attempt to steal the disc. Moreover, while you can say that he was the reason Sargeras almost came out of the portal, you also need to keep in mind that he was the reason why the Legion was banished and the NE alliance even won at all. Sargeras would eventually come to Azeroth sooner or later during WoTA - it's just a matter of time for the Legion to gather enough power, yet the Azeroth resistance force s(other than the moment with Deathwing using the Dragon Soul) are weaker than the Legion with Archimonde as the commander. In a way, you can say that Illidan merely hasten the inevitable for his own plan.

Moreover, Malfurion didn't even think of what to use the disc for, he was just trying to steal it so Deathwing wouldn't be able to use it against Dragons, allowing them to help the NE force. The disc would have been wasted - only acted as a very powerful weapon in Malfurion's hands. The spell to reverse the working of the portal were originally carried out by Illidan, Malfurion just completed it when Illidan were having problem. While we can give Malfurion credits for this, without Illidan, the idea might not even occurred in Malfurion's mind. That's why he was neither imprisoned nor punished for his actions during WoTA after the war.

[Cooper]

also it was the legion who attacked that fishing village not illidan, i forgot the illidan book

Oh, really?

Archer: The village has been razed!
Archer: The bodies have been mutilated, do you suppose demons did this?
Maiev Shadowsong: Illidan's stench hangs heavily over this place, but those tracks were not made by any demons I know of. Be wary, my sisters, there's no telling what horrors Illidan has called to his side.

The tracks Maiev doesn't recognize are from Naga, who nobody but Illidan (somehow) knows exist yet. It was Illidan and his Naga that massacred the village, and saying it wasn't (assuming it's even supposed to be the same village) is a complete retcon.