Fel magic vs The Dark Side

[JFrombaugh]

At first glance, Warlocks seem to have a LOT in common with Sith Inquisitor from SWTOR. Selfish, greedy, arrogant. Will do anything to get power. Exploit it, use it for your own good, let others suffer if it will grant you power. Pretty much the polar opposite of a Paladin.

Lorewise, all we seem to hear about fel magic is, "It's bad, don't use it". We saw what happened to the Orcs and the Blood Elves - it seems like it would take a very rare individual to be able to wield demonic powers without being consumed by them.

So is it true that fel magic is WoW's version of the Dark Side of the Force? Or are playable Warlocks shown to have some degree of control over their nature/ability to resist its corruption?

[Hitei]

At first glance, Warlocks seem to have a LOT in common with Sith Inquisitor from SWTOR. Selfish, greedy, arrogant. Will do anything to get power. Exploit it, use it for your own good, let others suffer if it will grant you power. Pretty much the polar opposite of a Paladin.

Lorewise, all we seem to hear about fel magic is, "It's bad, don't use it". We saw what happened to the Orcs and the Blood Elves.

So is it true that fel magic is WoW's version of the Dark Side of the Force? Or are playable Warlocks shown to have some degree of control over their nature/ability to resist its corruption?

All arcane magics require a great amount of willpower to use. Fel magic is the most dangerous of the arcane magics, and while it doesn't seem to inherently corrupt (the orcs were corrupted by blood, the blood elves by actually "Feeding" on the fel magic--as opposed to someone just using it) It's the sort of magic where if you have no idea what you're doing, and lack the control it will turn around and incinerate you, or draw from your own life force where you meant to drain another's.

[Rathnor The Flesher]

Fel magic will ultimately eat the soul of its wielder and transform them into demons. Intentions are irrelevant, it's only a matter of time.

[Resentful]

Fel magic will ultimately eat the soul of its wielder and transform them into demons. Intentions are irrelevant, it's only a matter of time.

Sooo... most of the blood elves?

[TheWindWalker]

There's a massive, reality-encompassing difference between Star Wars and Warcraft concepts of "bad magic."

In Warcraft, most forms of magic don't care if you're happy or angry, all that matters is the intention and the ritual. One can be a fire mage that makes Ragnaros look like a flickering candle's flame and still be a decent person who's never "corrupted." Fel Magic is specifically calling upon a power that has vague origins and calls upon the essense of beings and places that are eternally causing and/or experiencing angrer, fear and/or pain. It's literally all a Warlock's spells draw from. It's a traditional "it's only going to make you evil, if you seek out evil" type of universe.

In Star Wars, the concept of being protective of a person can easily cause someone to spiral in a genocidal monster. Loving someone can make you kill people with far more ease than in the real world. Any form of obsession in any way will almost certainly push you over a moral event horizon unless you intentionally keep yourself centered. It's a stark, horrifying universe.

[leaks]

The story behind playable warlocks is that they are essentially using fire to fight fire. They use fel magics while relying on the strength of their own will to not be consumed or corrupted by it.

Sooo... most of the blood elves?

Most blood elves have never used fel magic. The green eyes are a result of the stones used to hold their buildings together. Only a small handful (mostly playable warlocks) ever resorted to fel magic.

[Lastlivingsoul]

At first glance, Warlocks seem to have a LOT in common with Sith Inquisitor from SWTOR. Selfish, greedy, arrogant. Will do anything to get power. Exploit it, use it for your own good, let others suffer if it will grant you power. Pretty much the polar opposite of a Paladin.

Lorewise, all we seem to hear about fel magic is, "It's bad, don't use it". We saw what happened to the Orcs and the Blood Elves - it seems like it would take a very rare individual to be able to wield demonic powers without being consumed by them.

So is it true that fel magic is WoW's version of the Dark Side of the Force? Or are playable Warlocks shown to have some degree of control over their nature/ability to resist its corruption?

You can't inject the Dark Side into a Tree and watch it pour into everything around it. Fel magic is malignant and is never fully cured. Look at the Felwood, Shadowmoon Valley etc. The Dark side doesn't do that, its just a magic trick compared to Fel Magic.

[Jokubas]

In Star Wars, the concept of being protective of a person can easily cause someone to spiral in a genocidal monster. Loving someone can make you kill people with far more ease than in the real world. Any form of obsession in any way will almost certainly push you over a moral event horizon unless you intentionally keep yourself centered. It's a stark, horrifying universe.

At least in the Expanded Universe and the Prequels. The original trilogy seemed to imply that the Jedi did believe this, but their over-reliance on those assumptions led to them being blindsided by Anakin and destroyed. Luke was proof that you could be reckless, impatient, angry, and obsessed with your friends and still remain a good guy.

As for Warcraft? The lore seems to really try to hammer in fel magic = innately corrupting, but it's not a universal truth. The player warlocks have clearly remained good guys (even if you roleplay differently, you're still doing the same heroic deeds as everyone else). There's also Illidan. Say what you want about his motives, but while Furion was sure paranoid about Illidan's consuming of the Skull of Gul'dan, in the end, Illidan died as an enemy of the Legion who gave their demons a positive alternative to their hunger.

[Wyrt]

The void(shadow) is the opposite of the Light. Pretty sure fel magic is a corrupted form of arcane magic.

[Wildmoon]

Fel Magic is a form of arcane magic. Arcane Magic is corrupting in its nature. This means that if you use it without control then it will corrupt you. Something like this won't happen with light or druidism. Fel Magic could be considered the purest form of arcane aka the most corrupting of them all.

[Ryken]

You can't inject the Dark Side into a Tree and watch it pour into everything around it. Fel magic is malignant and is never fully cured. Look at the Felwood, Shadowmoon Valley etc. The Dark side doesn't do that, its just a magic trick compared to Fel Magic.

Guess you don't know much about Star Wars. There are entire planets that are plagued with Dark Side energy that have warped the environments and the creatures that inhabit them.

[Deleted]

Gnomes are the only true master of demonic fel magic, they are just too bouncy and ickle for the taint to take hold :P