The Problem with Anduin Wrynn

[Kieldon]

I just love it.

Half the people calling him Mary Sue, the other half calling him incompetent.

Doesn't it make him OK, then?

[Benedictu]

I just love it.

Half the people calling him Mary Sue, the other half calling him incompetent.

Doesn't it make him OK, then?

I think we all agree that he just sucks.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

I just love it.

Half the people calling him Mary Sue, the other half calling him incompetent.

Doesn't it make him OK, then?

The former? No.

The latter? Maybe.

If done right the "coming of age" from incompetent puppet leader to competent leader could be good.

[Zaktar]

I can't quite put my finger on it. He's more of a moral mary sue, like he always unfailingly wants to do The Right Thing, he always has the moral high ground in the most bland way possible. He's 1 part vanilla ice cream 5 parts water.

Here's my pitch: he and Baine are revealed to have been secret lovers for years. One of Anduin's political rivals unearths this and invests in a mass marketing campaign to claim that the Tauren were the ones who agitated for the destruction of Teldrassil. Obvious bullshit but people love a good scapegoat and it whips the alliance up into a frenzy of anti-Tauren sentiment. Retaliation against Mulgore is demanded right as Anduin's dalliances become an open secret. He's politically maneuvered into a catastrophically stupid invasion but can't stop it because he could not stop himself from tapping that Tauren ass. Drama ensues. Something. Anything. Fuck.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

I can't quite put my finger on it. He's more of a moral mary sue, like he always unfailingly wants to do The Right Thing, he always has the moral high ground in the most bland way possible. He's 1 part vanilla ice cream 5 parts water.

Here's my pitch: he and Baine are revealed to have been secret lovers for years. One of Anduin's political rivals unearths this and invests in a mass marketing campaign to claim that the Tauren were the ones who agitated for the destruction of Teldrassil. Obvious bullshit but people love a good scapegoat and it whips the alliance up into a frenzy of anti-Tauren sentiment. Retaliation against Mulgore is demanded right as Anduin's dalliances become an open secret. He's politically maneuvered into a catastrophically stupid invasion but can't stop it because he could not stop himself from tapping that Tauren ass. Drama ensues. Something. Anything. Fuck.

You know, I'll stick with the current Anduin.

[Deleted]

I think he is a Mary Sue, but he did the right thing by freeing Saurfang. A civil war or rebellion within the Horde would help the Alliance a lot. It was a smart move and I respect that.

[Evilfish]

You know if they killed Anduin the party would start?

I mean all out war, every Alliance member finally unleashes that suppressed rage they've been walking around with. They can freely attack the Horde without having the lil princess going "CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG BOIZ?".

But I don't play Alliance...

[Zaktar]

You know, I'll stick with the current Anduin.

Aha, more examples of speciesist homophobia! Knew it! I kid, but he needs some flavor.

[Palapop]

1. And noone will criticise him for it.
2. And all graymane does is praising anduin.
3. Thank god he has guardian angels who make sure he will never make any mistake.
4. And it doesn't have any negative consequences once again.

1. Because noone knows it was him. Even SI:7 went after Saurfang.
2. Anduin does nothing without Greymane's approval. Proof: Legion cinematic (where he holds speech at his fathers tomb. when Mathias asks to speak with him in private. Genn gave him permision to take azerite shard in his hands) and 2nd during Lordaeron invasion. And 3rd now when he said that he needs to do ANYTHING to stop her (Sylvanas).
3. Well, it WAS a mistake. And it proved that hes WEAK leader. If there was no Jaina, Sylvanas would use his skull as trinket.
4. WHAT?! 2 high ranked Night Elf generals were raised as scourge because there was no one to help Night Elves. PATHETIC!

[Benedictu]

You know if they killed Anduin the party would start?

I mean all out war, every Alliance member finally unleashes that suppressed rage they've been walking around with. They can freely attack the Horde without having the lil princess going "CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG BOIZ?".

But I don't play Alliance...

I think you overestimate what alliance thinks about Anduin. I think if he died the strongest reaction would be "ehh, meh bruh. That sucks but whatever. Let's go to Pornshire on Moon Guard and let off some steam and everything will be fine tomorrow."

[Arrashi]

1. Because noone knows it was him. Even SI:7 went after Saurfang.
2. Anduin does nothing without Greymane's approval. Proof: Legion cinematic (where he holds speech at his fathers tomb. when Mathias asks to speak with him in private. Genn gave him permision to take azerite shard in his hands) and 2nd during Lordaeron invasion. And 3rd now when he said that he needs to do ANYTHING to stop her (Sylvanas).
3. Well, it WAS a mistake. And it proved that hes WEAK leader. If there was no Jaina, Sylvanas would use his skull as trinket.
4. WHAT?! 2 high ranked Night Elf generals were raised as scourge because there was no one to help Night Elves. PATHETIC!

And you know what is response for all those points ?

Noone (in-universe) cares. They still love boiking.

[Enosh]

Anduin has always been a problem. The Alliance has never had a strong leader except, I guess for Onyxia by proxy for a short time? She had depth, at least.

Anduin is a Mary Sue, through and through. His lore (and that of his father) is lazy good guy trope writing. That's enraging on its own as an alliance member but then there's the whole helping Saurfang out of jail thing. In the midst of a full-out war against the Horde, he's letting one of their greatest warriors out of Stocks. I mean, not even Hogger was let out of Stocks when all we had to worry about was Pandas. It's disgustingly Mary Sue. I almost hope Sylvanas kills both Saurfang and Anduin so we can clear the crap weak character lore. Greymane would make a much better leader than Anduin. Can we get that choice, like Horde does between Sylvanas and Saurfang?

I don't think you know what a mary sue is, because incompetent moron fucking up all the time is the exact opposite of a mary sue

[Benedictu]

I don't think you know what a mary sue is, because incompetent moron fucking up all the time is the exact opposite of a mary sue

Just watch any cinematic from BFA that Anduin has been in and tell me he's not a Mary Sue. I mean I guess technically Jaina is the true Mary Sue, but still. Anduin is extremely lazy good guy writing. He has no depth, and that's unfortunate because he's been around since Vanilla.

[Vordie]

I guess all leaders need to be super flawed to make people think they have any sort of depth to them?

Anduin being a good guy trying to do what is morally right in his mind automatically makes him a bad leader.

[Enosh]

Just watch any cinematic from BFA that Anduin has been in and tell me he's not a Mary Sue. I mean I guess technically Jaina is the true Mary Sue, but still. Anduin is extremely lazy good guy writing. He has no depth, and that's unfortunate because he's been around since Vanilla.

he's not mary sue because he fails at everything he touches and is a pathetic weakling that basically lost every fight he's ever been in and certainly lost every battle he has lead
so no, saying nice things isn't the definition of a sue, there's a bit more to it

[Bhorin]

Mary Sue is the favorite buzzword about wow lore characters this expansion.

[Benedictu]

I guess all leaders need to be super flawed to make people think they have any sort of depth to them?

Anduin being a good guy trying to do what is morally right in his mind automatically makes him a bad leader.

Anduin is flawed and makes crappy decisions, which is why some people are saying he's not Mary Sue. However, at the end of the day, Anduin's morality in his decision making (whether the decisions are crappy or not) will always be right and just.

[Kyphael]

Varian and Bolvar weren't strong leaders? You have no merit or basis to support those.

Anduin couldn't be further than a Mary Sue, he's not Me'dan. The definition of that in WoW.

[Benedictu]

I'm just waiting for the day Blizz gives the alliance the choice they gave horde and I can choose Greymane as King instead of weak ass Anduin.

[Tabrotar]

Where did I miss that?


He has the superpower of talking his father out of something?



Has been a long time, barely remember. Didn't he use some weapon made by the monkey king to do it? And then he was almost killed by Garrosh. It was his most embarrassing moment. Running to this thing and hitting it quickly with a powerful weapon doesn't make him a Mary Sue.


He didn't do it alone. He was one of many people on the battlefield. And without Jaina's flying magic Pirates of the Carribbean ship, they would have failed hard.



All he did was go run to his father's sword, being escorted by the Alliance player, and pick it up to become a paladin-but-not-really-paladin. The fight against the Legion was led by Velen, Illidan, Turalyon, Khadgar and Alleria. Anduin literally did nothing.

Comics and books.