Was Arthas ever the bad guy?

[Samdalf]

People claim Arthas to be the baddest baddy of all times, but to me he wasn't actually evil he was tricked into it and turned into a mind-numb servant of Ner'zhul
When Arthas dies at the end of ICC he says "I see only darkness before me" this indicates that he went to a "Wow Hell" And not to the light? If so is that really fair he wasn't in control of his actions. During ICC Tirion constantly shouts how he is going to kill Arthas blah, but truth is, it's never been Arthas has it? It was Ner'zhul controlling him.

In your eyes was Arthas ever the baddest bad guy?

[Millhi]

arthas has been corrupted of the moment he took frostmourne up. he also killed ner'zhuls soul. so for all the action after he did it was his own decision so ye in my opinion he is a bad guy in some parts.

[Deleted]

Even before he had frostmourne, he was destroying Alliance ships/culling stratholme and betraying mercenaries and stuff...He is one evil son of a gun.

[Wildberry]

Even before he had frostmourne, he was destroying Alliance ships/culling stratholme and betraying mercenaries and stuff...He is one evil son of a gun.

destroying the ships was just him being dedicated to what he thought was right. Culling Stratholme was the only way. Betraying the mercenaries is the only questionable thing he did before he took up frostmourne.

[Levi]

He culled stratholme to contain the plague, maybe if he never did it, azeroth would of been completely infected. So i wouldn't count that as total inhuman but more as a rash decision of containment.

[Deleted]

destroying the ships was just him being dedicated to what he thought was right.

Evil people consider what they are doing the right thing.

[Deleted]

Even before he had frostmourne, he was destroying Alliance ships/culling stratholme and betraying mercenaries and stuff...He is one evil son of a gun.

Because the whispering told him to do so.

But I indeed think that after he killed Ner'Zhul's soul and took full control over the entity we name Lichking he liked the power. E.g. think of the events at Lights Hope and in northrend the various moments we see him against the argent crusade; that is defintly Arthas still being pissed on Silverhand / Argent Crusade

Though something within him wanted us to kill him, to make an end to it. This same something hold back the scourge - for otherwise the scourge would wave over all of azeroth; while it remaind in northrend and lorderon.

[Klypto]

destroying the ships was just him being dedicated to what he thought was right. Culling Stratholme was the only way. Betraying the mercenaries is the only questionable thing he did before he took up frostmourne.

Everything post-Stratholme indicated he was doing this all for Revenge, not for anything other than that.

Quote from right before he took up Frostmourne (To Muradin):

Nothing will stop me from having my revenge. Not even you old friend.

-Muradin "dies"-

[Deleted]

Though something within him wanted us to kill him, to make an end to it. This same something hold back the scourge - for otherwise the scourge would wave over all of azeroth; while it remaind in northrend and lorderon.

Nah im pretty sure it was because he wanted to build our strengths up so we became his most powerful minions Imo, he knew he could easily take other Azeroth but he wanted to have fun...Its kinda like when I play bomberman with my wee nephew and I dont kick his ass straight away...

[Pineapple]

Oh he's bad alright. In fact, Arthas is so bad, he's bad at being the bad guy. He's THAT bad.

[The_Harvan]

destroying the ships was just him being dedicated to what he thought was right. Culling Stratholme was the only way. Betraying the mercenaries is the only questionable thing he did before he took up frostmourne.

Even Jaina knew it was the right thing, she couldn't watch him do it but never tried to stop him.
And I guess Uther probably did too.

[Mars Mech]

He did depopulate my people by about 90% in my books thats a bad guy.

[Deleted]

Arthas is the epitome of "grey area". Most of his actions can be justified, and at the same time singled out as evil and cruel. His one defining character trait was a dedication to the protection of his father's kingdom and its people, a dedication that turned to zeal and led to his ultimate corruption. Trying to slot him into "good" or "evil" is futile - He is neither, and both. As for Ner'zhul "controlling" him, he wasn't. He was manipulating him. There's a huge difference. Direct control implies that Arthas had absolutely no say in the process, which, if it was true, would eliminate him entirely as a character. In essence he'd be reduced to a husk.

[deo]

Not in order but i'll try...

- As a paladin, was generally impatient and wanted more power during the days training with Uther.
- Killed Uther one of the greatest Paladins in history.
- Culled Stratholme without considering alternatives
- Lied to his men claiming them to be a 'Rescue party'
- Destroyed alliance ships when they had no chance of survival, causing the death of his men.
- Killed his father leading Lorderon to be taken over by the Scourge.
- Chose Frostmourne over his old friend (Muradin)... retconned to be alive in a quest though

This is all before he was corrupted (as in, point of no return), mind you.

I HIGHLY recommend you play WC3 RoC/TFT even if you enable cheats, just for the story alone. I personally believe it is far superior to that of WoW.

[Richtea]

The whole story of WCIII was the corruption, little by little, of Arthas. Each of his actions taken alone was easily understandable and the only real option he saw in the circumstances, but taken all together they led him to become the monster he is/was. While not the greatest piece of storytelling, it was the story of a tragic hero falling from grace.
Was he ever tha "bad guy" yes, in the end he is very much portrayed as the "bad guy", his actions led him there, but he didn't start out that way.

[Deleted]

This is all before he was corrupted (as in, point of no return), mind you.

Out of curiosity, where do you place his "point of no return"? Most of the claims I've seen have pointed at the Culling or upon taking up Frostmourne, but you're the first person I've seen that claims that he could've turned back AFTER becoming a Death Knight (Killing Uther happens after his return to Lordaeron as the Lich King's personal champion, as did the slaying of Terenas.) Furthermore, you're not entirely correct in claiming that he destroyed the ships when his men had no chance of survival. He destroyed the ships in order to prevent his men from returning home, as ordered by Terenas on behalf of Uther. Mal'Ganis was defeated, which means that the expedition force survived in some shape or form. Sure, they were then betrayed by Arthas, but that doesn't mean that they were chanceless.

[deo]

With the things detailed in the questlines and even int that gawdawful book by Christie Golden, he had lots of chances to turn back, half time I don't buy into his claims of good intentions turning bad. He comes across like a spoiled brat - hell, all I needed was his RP lines in the COT Strat with Uther to tell what a prick he was from the start.

Depends from what perspective you look at it, his character is portrayed differently in WoW to WC3.

He seems to be spoilt as he had a huge weight on his shoulder, first of all he was to be the successor to his father and everyone who ever trained him revered him to be a great character, noble etc etc. To have such expectations on you is bound to lead to some cockiness. You can imagine why he felt invincible.
After what happened in Lordaeron, he believed it was his duty to hunt down Mal'ganis as with Paladins, the perpetrator must be brought to 'justice' rather than letting them roam free.
If he didn't have a strong connection with the people, he wouldn't care to get revenge - it's not like his family/friends were killed, but due to this love of his people he sought to get justice.
The culling of Stratholme was inevitable, it was said "Surely there must be another way?" rather than "Let's do X instead", it was widespread and wouldn't lead to infection elsewhere becoming an unstoppable force.

From thereon the whispers started with Frostmourne and all went to shit for him.

[Dillybear]

destroying the ships was just him being dedicated to what he thought was right. Culling Stratholme was the only way. Betraying the mercenaries is the only questionable thing he did before he took up frostmourne.

destroying the ships just proves arthas was obsessed and if he were truely rightous he would definately have at least attempted to find an alternate solution before purging stratholme.

[TheMrVader]

I don't think he was bad. He did a lot of bad things, but imo he just wanted to be a powerful king, but I think we would have ruled wisely if the events that took place didn't. I know that is speculative, but I think Jaine would have eventually calmed him down. He also never had s*x, I would be pretty frustrated too. Jaine would have put out, but she wanted a ring on it.

[Deleted]

If he would have returned after killing Mal'ganis, he would have been a hero.