So, What does everyone think about the Jailer? Does anyone else like him?

[Candy Cough]

Yes yes generic villain "Let the enemies leave, it wont matter" And then he says "IMPOSSIBLE! HOW CAN PUNY MORTALS DEFEAT ME!!!" in 9.3. If Zovaal actually does in 9.3 then I will agree completely with it. But if it turns out that the jailer won? Damn boy, He isnt just a chad, he isnt even a gigachad, ULTRACHAD. Basically been playing everyone since the start of time. Got the dreadlords to manipulate Sargeras, probably had Lorthraxion manipulate Alleria and Turalyon, and claps Sylvanas' cheeks while Nathanos is locked up somewhere

Ngl I don't even hate his new appearance. I think he looks badass. Sorta like a vampire which fits considering how the nazthrezim presumably serves him unless they played him aswell and serve mega giga death ultra dread god Sylvanas++

Obviously too early to tell. But I think it all comes down to if he loses or not. I personally don't belive it since it seems unlikely to me that blizzard will just off the guy that basically controlled the dark titan after two patches, but N'zoth went out like a bitch so who nows. I seriously doubt hes dead though. I think thats why people seem to dislike him. We all know Blizzard has completely lost it when it comes to story telling the past few expansions and we just have no faith that they'll be able pull of him being a badass.

[Terrorthatflapsinthenight]

His design is cool but I am not impressed by his story and personality so far. AU Gul'dan is the last antagonist I found to be enjoyable I was not happy with what they have done with Kil'jaeden afterward and not impressed by Sylvanas, Azshara, N'Zoth and now the Jailer, and even less by Nathanos Blightcaller during BFA and Shadowlands

[KOUNTERPARTS]

I don't think we are supposed to like him, since he is a villain.


But given the massive lack of character development for him I would have to say I'm a strong "indifferent" to whatever happens to him.


I truly think Blizzard is banking on the "mysterious, intentions yet to be revealed" trope with the inevitable "gotcha!" moment that is to explain everything retroactively.

[loras]

His design is cool but I am not impressed by his story and personality so far. AU Gul'dan is the last antagonist I found to be enjoyable I was not happy with what they have done with Kil'jaeden afterward and not impressed by Sylvanas, Azshara, N'Zoth and now the Jailer, and even less by Nathanos Blightcaller during BFA and Shadowlands

This, though Gorak'tul deserves a honorable mention alongside G'huun, maybe Azshara too.

Thing is we need a lot more looks at the jailer's modus operandi, which we'll hopefully be getting between 9.1 and 9.3

[Antontein]

Just out of curiosity: Who would you consider non generic villain and why?

[Ivarr]

Diablo ex machina. Everything bad that happened in this world was all by design by some entity nobody has ever heard of. At least Marvel introduced Thanos in the first Avenger movie already.

[Candy Cough]

Just out of curiosity: Who would you consider non generic villain and why?

I was just quoting other people, I don't exactly agree with the statement. Deathwing was pretty terrible so I guess him?

[UhmHi]

Feels like he was just violently birthed into wow by the declining story, having seemingly no backstory and definitely no development but is supposed to be the puppetmaster of what,everything? A retcon villain who will be forgotten as such imo. Next.

[aceperson]

we're 8 months into the expansion and we know barely anything about him. we know his name is zovaal, he wants the sigils that the keepers of each zone have, and essentially nothing else. we don't know what he wants to do, how he will do it, why he wants to do it, or how he got in contact with anyone outside the maw when he is suppose to be unable to leave it. sylvanas i could buy if she went to the maw and then was revived but i don't understand how the mawsworn kyrian got in contact, how the house of constructs, war, knowledge, or kel'thuzad got in contact. it should be easy for denathrius to make contact since he holds one of the sigils but denathrius and sylvanas are the only ones that make any sense to me so far.

i'd compare zovaal to sargeras. we didn't see sargeras basically all expac but at least we knew what he was after. we've seen zovaal but don't know anything meaningful. i just feel like they are trying to keep everything as open as possible so they can just decide what the end will be when it comes time to make that patch.

[Varolyn]

Honestly, he just feels like a ripoff of the Dark Lord in the Doom Eternal DLCs, who also isn’t all that interesting to begin with. And with how SL is going, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Jailer had a similar backstory to the Dark Lord, for those of you who have played the Eternal DLCs.

[sweatshopkids]

Just out of curiosity: Who would you consider non generic villain and why?

Probably Lex Luthor. He took 40 cakes.

[Dazmalak]

I think he's about as shallow as the modern game and player are, so he's a perfect fit, imo.

[Explorer]

The problem of Jailer is a lack of wrighting behing him. He has a certain position, the closest equivalent would be a god of the underworld - say, Hades or Satan. Latter is even closer since Hades ruled over all the dead and had no evil ambitions, and Satan is a) both prisoner in Hell as well as sort of a jailer to the evil souls who are sent there, b) Hell is an afterlife for bad persons, c) Satan wants to break free from Hell and become the ruler of the universe himself.
So, yes, Jailer is a Satan of WoW. That is potentially a strong move and a good potential for a villain. BUT he must have some recognisable satanic traits AND some personality as a character. Also, he must show some feats of strength\cunning\intelligence.
By traits I mean that he's supposed to show both power and intelligence, play on his enemies' weaknesses and so on. I think in time they will give him some credit, as he will almost certainly win in 9.1. and at least successfully leave the Maw and claim whatever he wants. That didn't happen in a while in WoW when a villain makes ANY success against us AT ALL. Last example I can remember is the Broken Shore, but it was a defeat at the VERY beginning of the expansion which was followed by unending streak of victories. BAD WRITING.
So if Zovaal defeats us in 9.1 and also, for example, takes what he wants in Sepulcher in 9.2. and only will be stopped in 9.3 at the verge of victory, that would be already a better plot than before.
But there's another problem. Being an archetype villain is not enough. He must have some individuality, if he speaks, his words must have meaning and impact.
For now it's just VERY genetic threats that could fit for almost ANY big bad guy. His words are too generic, too abstract. Death comes for you, you will suffer, I'll consume your world. It's nothing. They might want to make him mysterious and silent, it that case he better says nothing at all that any of such cliche phrases. Or he might say some mysterious words, each of which is a puzzle in itself - like Il'gynoth or the fatescribe. That would make him at least interesting. As for now, it's not too late to give him more story, more victories, more personality through his personal wishes, interactions etc.

[GR8GODZILLAGOD]

Probably Lex Luthor. He took 40 cakes.

That's as much as four tens, and that's terrible.

OT he's so painfully uninteresting in every way possible. Blah design, no personality, generic dialogue, generic deep evil voice. He has nothing going for him.

[niilokin]

Very uninteresting villain IMO but there might be good grounds for him to become something in the future. It would be cool if we had multiple villains on stage at once who are also waging open war to each other, and not just plot in the shadows and wait til it's their turn to take over. It would make the dynamics of player's success and achievements more interesting, like something was only possible because of other forces at play, right there and then. In players view it would also make baddies seem like they too have to tackle multiple choices with what is their next move and not just take the obvious evil because I'm just evil-route.

[Aucald]

The Jailer is okay but essentially meh - I kind of consider him a secondary villain next to Sylvanas, who seems to take the fore in Shadowlands despite being the Jailer's lieutenant. The Jailer lacks both personality and gravitas, however; that certain something that would otherwise make him stand out as an expansion's antagonist.

[Biomega]

They wanted to have a mysterious villain, but I think they went TOO mysterious with him.

We have no idea who he is, what he wants, or what's at stake. Everything is super generic, vague, and general as hell - basically the epitome of "bad guy wants to end world" with little nuance or investment. Without knowing the stakes and the motivation, we can't really get invested, and without getting invested, everything just feels super stale and boring.

[Smallfruitbat]

bland and uninteresting.

[Razion]

He hasn't shown up in like any of the zones. He has shown up in cutscenes but it doesn't feel like we know him at all.

The Jailer's power potential is huge, so he could be an epic villain. But between a .2 and a .3 all that's left my hopes are pretty low atm. I don't see public opinion on this guy changes unless he pulls a Gul'dan and sticks around for another expac.

[NoiseTank13]

Reminds me of that one guy they invented for WoD, something Deadeye. Had a big introduction for him at the start and then we don't see him again until the last raid.