Horde leader

[JudgePayne]

Rexxar - Brings Ogres to the Horde for new expansion. You can mark that on your calendar for Blizzcon.

I would love Rexxar to be warchief but this will not happen unless he gets a massive push in 5.4

He could come with and army of ogres to reinforce Vol'jin and help in the fight.

That might work.

Better would be and don't go mad

"Thrall lays on the ground coughing up blood, his injuries from both Garrosh's sha weapons and the dark shaman have taken their toll on him, Jaina and Vol'jin are currently in battle still with Garrosh which is a stalemate.

Rexxar enters the arena and kneels down by thrall who is looking weaker and weaker.

Thall says "Rexxar I knew the champion would return, My fate in your loyalty was never in question.
The mantle of warchief is a dangerous one, and one that can create or destroy. I have spoken with the others and we have selected you to lead the new horde into our bright future. Go now, finish what I started.
Bring Garrosh peace.

(Thrall grabs his doomhammer and looks up at Rexxar )
I ask of you one favor ....... look after my son, Let Aggra know my final taughts were about her.

(He then coughs more blood and twitches as the last of his life leaves his body)
We see his hand go limp and the doomhammer slowly fall to the ground.
Rexxar howls in fury and pain, he picks up the doomhammer and turns to where the fighting is happening.

He charges in wielding the hammer high.

[Deleted]

CAMPFIRE!

10char

[Kanogan]

Zaela for Warchief! Yet, I like the idea of Rexxar as well.

[Florena]

Rexxar - Brings Ogres to the Horde for new expansion. You can mark that on your calendar for Blizzcon.

While Rexxar making an appearance would be neat, him becoming Warchief wouldn't work. You can't just randomly toss someone into a position like that. (Even Varian had build up to his return in the comics and when he did return, was only king of stormwind and this high king stuff didn't take off until two expansions later.

Whoever replaces Garrosh, assuming it even is one singular person, needs build up and story THIS expansion. We haven't seen him since BC and there he was doing stuff with his people in Outland rather than with the Horde in general as I understand it.

They could have perhaps spun a story where, despite not liking civlization or cities, Rexxar finds himself thrust into a position where he's the only one that can rally the Horde against the tyranny of Garrosh and reluctantly becomes the Horde's new leader. But it's too late for that. They can't just thrust a guy into warchief position who the general playerbase hasn't seen for years and many who don't follow the lore may at most only remember him as that guy they had to track down for the horde Ony quest line.

The characters who have made enough appearances and gotten enough development between books and game patches to take on the roll in my oppinion are:

Thrall. Shows up in 5.1 to free the echo isles, fights with rebellion in 5.3, and goes to org to rally orcs against Garrosh in 5.4. Hopefully we'll soon get to see what he's been up to, and maybe he'll play a role in the dark shaman fight. Tinfoil hat time, maybe he was corrupted INTO the so far nameless dark shaman we fight! Just like how blizz was vague about who the Deathbringer in ICC was, who turned out to be Saurfang! Just kidding, I don't think that will happen nor do I think it would be executed well if they tried it, but tinfoil hat time can be fun. IMO the second most likely character to pick the job up. 5.3 hints he might die doing his thing in Org but that may not be foreshadowing, it may just be building drama. People sometimes say 'he can't do the warchief job again because he has a wife and kid' but that's just silly. I could see Thrall taking up the mantle again to ensure that the Horde is rebuilt into its former glory and giving his son a stable and just society to grow up in, despite not wanting the job.

Vol'jin. Leader of the Horde Rebellion. Getting his very own novel soon where we already have a foregone conclusion that he's going to reject the Zandalari offer and return to the Horde to fight to reclaim it. His near assassination in 5.1 and the attempted subjugation of his people is what finally sends the building tensions within the Horde to a roaring flame. 5.3 he begins his rebellion, and it is the Darkspear who are the first to stand openly against Garrosh. If he leads the rebellion to victory, I could see him becoming Warchief. IMO he's the most likely candidate and my personal pick for it.

Baine: I thought he might have been the new Warchief after Tides of War, where he got great development and Vol'jin was in the background. But in WoW itself it's the opposite, Baine makes minor appearances and Vol'jin has the spotlight in the horde quests. So while it's still 'possible' unless he gets a lot of attention in 5.4 I don't see it happening now though.

Nazgrim: For a while I thought he was a potential contender, but they never did enough with his character as the patches progressed so with every patch this longshot cantidate slipped further and further away, and now we know he's a boss so his chances now are somewhere between 0 and .00000000000001.

Lor'themar: Got build up in 5.1 and 5.2, likely to return in full force with his blood golem thing in 5.4 against Garrosh. While a background character before, he's been made into a very interesting and active character this expansion. Still, while 5.1 and 5.2 made it seem like he could be the new warchief, 5.3 has Vol'jin as the one the Rebellion is centering around, making it all the less likely imo that a blood elf will find his way into that position.

Sylvannus, Rexxar, Nazgrel, Saurfang, Zaela and others have been simply absent and thus, imo, ineligible for the position.

[JudgePayne]

although they did say that the new warchief would be different.

Rexxar has the old school Wc3 player vote, He is champion of the horde, He does bring a new faction with him.
He has close ties to Vol'jin and thrall.

Garrosh was a side q in nagrand when he came out first nothing major, in wraith he challenged thrall and worked with the horde in northrend, but apart from the occasional angry shout what did he do.

then cata and boom G-A-R-R-O-S-H.

So yeah rexxar could be a good warchief material

[Florena]

although they did say that the new warchief would be different.

Rexxar has the old school Wc3 player vote, He is champion of the horde, He does bring a new faction with him.
He has close ties to Vol'jin and thrall.

Garrosh was a side q in nagrand when he came out first nothing major, in wraith he challenged thrall and worked with the horde in northrend, but apart from the occasional angry shout what did he do.

then cata and boom G-A-R-R-O-S-H.

So yeah rexxar could be a good warchief material

Garrosh had several appearances in Wrath though. He was a present character who you saw all over Northrend, especially as a horde player, in a military leadership role. Rexxar? Not a peep from the guy all expansion. I really doubt that blizz would give the new warchief so little time, especially when people who didn't play wc 3's bonus orc campaign don't even know the guy.

[lupii]

I so want it to be Lor'themar ><' but the likeliest is either Thrall returns to office (gag) or vol'jin takes the mantle.

[Deleted]

Probably Nazgrim will be the next Orc leader .

Seems the most logical choice.

And Thrall will be the Horde chief.

He'll probably die

---------- Post added 2013-06-13 at 04:02 PM ----------

That would fit if ogres are the next horde race!

[Velshin]

Or... people don't like a Mary Sue. Which is sadly what Thrall has become.

Again with the Mary Sue argument? no offence man but do you even know the definition of Mary sue character?

Mary sue character it means invincible characters, perfect, and doesn't do a single mistake. Now is Thrall perfect? and didn't do any mistakes in his life?

Hell not even close a lot of people including the ppl who blame him being a mary sue stated that it was Thrall mistake when he made Garrosh the Warchief of the Horde...ironic eh?

is he invincible unbeatable? not even close...he almost got killed by Fandral Staghelm durning the Firelands patch. And got overpowered by the enraged Jaina in the Tides of War novel.

[Shampro]

People who throw around the word mary-sue dont have a fucking clue of what the word means.

[Deleted]

Thrall is too boring to be a leader! And he is no good guy, he's a passive guy.

[Jtree]

Nazgrim is in the line up for the bosses in Seige of Orgimmar, so there's no way he will Warchief. Even if he survives after the raid content, he will not be a part of the New Horde.

I suspect he'll die, but there is a possible storyline in making him Warchief. As he had remained loyal to his duty and his Wrachief, even after he knew they were gone astray, he'll be able to bring the surviving Kor'kron and other loyalists back into the fold after the civil war is over.

someone actually appreciates the characters instead of getting off on seeing peoples reaction to them dying.

Yeah, even I felt some sympathy for the garrosh fanboys out there knowing there precious warchief will be killed. which is more then can be said for other posters -_-

Do you watch Game of Thrones? Or read the books? Because killing Thrall wouldn't scratch the surface of what that series does to its heroes. And those sorts of deaths really serve to push the story forward, as would Thrall's. Killing him and Garrosh both would set up a story on the Horde's identity that could span the next expansion.


As for who the next Warchief will be? I'd kinda like to see Lor'themar Theron get the job.

[Deleted]

I hope Varian will kill Thrall and seize total control of Orgrimmar. Aggra will become his maid-slave. Thralls son will be trained with whip and collar to be loyal puppy. Orcs from the weak Horde will be put in the internment camps (like before) while True Horde will lurk in shadows and prepare bloody revenga! WoW needs more ketchup. All weak orcs may die, who needs more green humans with their Green Jesus leader anyway.

Morbid fantasies, so good!

[Ciddy]

I can tell you right now.. that anything anyone else will say on this thread will be nothing but speculation until we know whats going to happen.

Pretty much this.

As far as speculation goes...I always thought it'd be cool if Garrosh starts ranting/raving and being his douchy self. He yells to the orcs asking if anyone questions him or wants to challenge him for the position of warchief, and some orc in the back of the crowd yells "I CHALLENGE" before throwing off his cloak to reveal that it's Thrall in his black plate wielding the fucking Doomhammer.

I'm not saying anything about how likely or unlikely it is to happen, but I think it would be awesome.

[Doombringer]

Thrall needs to retire. He clearly wants to settle down, and Aggra is fine with holding his leash... so... give the guy a break. He has a son to raise, after all.

Or, kill off Thrall (gasp!) and put Aggra as a candidate for Warchief. Her character might actually become interesting and more integral to the story, in that case.

I personally would vote for Baine, he is smart and sensible. His people embody much of what the Horde needs right now -- temperance, and a strong sense of family.

[babo7000]

I suspect he'll die, but there is a possible storyline in making him Warchief. As he had remained loyal to his duty and his Wrachief, even after he knew they were gone astray, he'll be able to bring the surviving Kor'kron and other loyalists back into the fold after the civil war is over.



Do you watch Game of Thrones? Or read the books? Because killing Thrall wouldn't scratch the surface of what that series does to its heroes. And those sorts of deaths really serve to push the story forward, as would Thrall's. Killing him and Garrosh both would set up a story on the Horde's identity that could span the next expansion.


As for who the next Warchief will be? I'd kinda like to see Lor'themar Theron get the job.

Games of Thrones willingness to kill off major characters is a major risk, and probably the biggest chance the series has to fail imo. Killing off a main good guy every now and then can serve a story good, but eventually you never get attached to anyone because they keep, or you know they eventually may meet, the axe.

With that said, Thrall should not die in 5.4. All that BS questing we did with him in Cata would be for nothing if we just kill him off an expansion later, so his son can be his copy. It would advance Thrall's character more to have him maybe held prisoner or something by Garrosh, so he can see how move (making Garrosh Warchief), has all but destroyed the Horde he worked so hard to remake. It would cause Thrall to think back on what exactly his people want as a leader, and to realize the Horde extends beyond the Orcs.

[ro9ue]

Garrosh had several appearances in Wrath though. He was a present character who you saw all over Northrend, especially as a horde player, in a military leadership role. Rexxar? Not a peep from the guy all expansion. I really doubt that blizz would give the new warchief so little time, especially when people who didn't play wc 3's bonus orc campaign don't even know the guy.

Well there's several ways to look at it.

If they want to surprise us and give us an interesting choice, I think Rexxar is a good option.

If they feel they need to 'build up' their presence before they become warchief, the only major horde lore character getting lots of face-time is Vol'jin.

Nazgrim and Saurfang make pretty 'safe' but uninteresting choices imo, as much as I personally like Saurfang.

They could even dismantle the horde 'warchief' dictatorship - "now we introduce a Horde Council giving Lorthemar, Voljin, Baine, etc etc all equal power."

I still think of all of the above options Rexxar makes the best choice lore-wise. It's different when you introduce a villain with no build up (Deathwing). You're progressing through the story so you want your audience to have some level of hate or disgust with them. With a leader, I think that can unfold over time. If you look at Aragon from the Lord of the Rings, he starts out as a mysterious ranger type. It's actually very similar to Rexxar. A nomadic champion with a lot of combat experience, with the whole "I'm too humble to be king" trope.

[Drekmar]

Oh god, I hope Lor'themar will be warchief, im fed up with thrall and voljin.

[Florena]

Well there's several ways to look at it.

If they want to surprise us and give us an interesting choice, I think Rexxar is a good option.

If they feel they need to 'build up' their presence before they become warchief, the only major horde lore character getting lots of face-time is Vol'jin.

Nazgrim and Saurfang make pretty 'safe' but uninteresting choices imo, as much as I personally like Saurfang.

They could even dismantle the horde 'warchief' dictatorship - "now we introduce a Horde Council giving Lorthemar, Voljin, Baine, etc etc all equal power."

I still think of all of the above options Rexxar makes the best choice lore-wise. It's different when you introduce a villain with no build up (Deathwing). You're progressing through the story so you want your audience to have some level of hate or disgust with them. With a leader, I think that can unfold over time. If you look at Aragon from the Lord of the Rings, he starts out as a mysterious ranger type. It's actually very similar to Rexxar. A nomadic champion with a lot of experience, with the whole "I'm too humble to be king" trope.

But Rexxar hasn't DONE anything since BC. How is he the best choice? He's been alienated from the actual horde for a while now, and before that preferred to be off by himself in the wilds. They have too much going already, too many characters and plots built up in MoP, to bring in a new surprise character and make him a central focus. It's one thing to surprise people, it's another thing to throw in a character who has been absent and uninvolved for three expansions now and then suddenly have him return and become warchief. I don't see ANYTHING logical about making Rexxar the warchief. He's been too alienated from events from too long. If they wanted to make him warchief, they would have had to bring him in by say 5.1 to start his character arc. There just isn't enough screen time to go around to introduce him, give him a character arc that puts him in a position to be warchief, and then make him warchief all in one patch.

Deathwing also had some build up. Sinestra's comments in BC, Ruby Sanctum, etc, and Night of the Dragon.

[ro9ue]

I don't see ANYTHING logical about making Rexxar the warchief. He's been too alienated from events from too long. If they wanted to make him warchief, they would have had to bring him in by say 5.1 to start his character arc. There just isn't enough screen time to go around to introduce him, give him a character arc that puts him in a position to be warchief, and then make him warchief all in one patch.

Who's to say they are even going to pick a warchief this patch? It's not like the death of Arthas where it's like 'THERE MUST ALWAYS BE A LICH KING'. The horde unity might be shattered for a while.