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Arthurian Legends and World of Warcraft
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Post by
Adamsm
So, I was thinking last night, and I remembered an old thread where the OP asked if Arthas was suppose to be King Arthur. In the thread, we dispelled it pretty well but I began to think of the other 'famous' people of the King Arthur legend and began to compare to them the Warcraft characters. So, enjoy, feel free to discuss and so on and so forth heh.
King Arthur:
Well it's true there are a few tiny similarities between Arthur and Arthas; both being royalty, both caring for their people and both having a magical blade, in my eyes the true Warcraft lore figure who best represents the King was Anduin Lothar. Now, I know Lothar is used.... a lot, but it does work; without Lothar the Grand Alliance between the Seven Kingdoms would have never happened, similar to Arthur uniting the kingdoms into Camelot. And of course, the Saxon/Orcish Hordes well, that part speaks for itself. Lothar even has his Merlin through out the 2nd War, Khadgar, and Medivh before him. The only thing Lothar doesn't have is a 'Mordred' foil, but well... considering his death, I guess he truly didn't need one.
Another who could be considered a King Arthur of Warcraft is Tirion Fordring, as there are a few similarities between them; both men who cared deeply about their people, both who possessed a magical Blade.... but beyond that, there isn't much. It is true that Fordring went into hiding following his dismissal from the Silver Hand, which mirrors Arthur's growing up in seclusion, and both Arthur and Tirion created a group of powerful and just warriors; the Round Table and the reborn Knights of the Silver Hand/Argent Crusade. The problem though, in comparing the two, is that Tirion, like Arthur, might end up dying at the hands of his own Mordred; the Lich King.
Mordred:
Illegitimate son of Arthur, with his mother varying from tale to tale, but most consider Morgan Le Fay, half sister of Arthur, to be the main one, and completely insane. Mordred is famous for killing his father after leading a rival army to destroy Camelot, but his father slays him in the ole double kill method. Now, as for the Warcraft version of this character... in my eyes, that can only be Arthas, but only post picking up Frostmourne. We do see it though; Arthas strives constantly to be seen as great as his father, while Mordred strived for acceptance from his own. Arthas led a dark army to destroy his father's kingdom, same as Mordred. And of course, Arthas killed Terenas, and proclaimed himself king, which, sadly, Mordred never got to do.
Another prime example of a Mordred like character is Renault Mogaine; tricked by the Dreadlord pretending to be the leader of the Scarlet Crusade, the young man killed his father, Alexandros, and ended up corrupting the Ashbringer. He's similar to Mordred in that, like the Arthurian character, he was driven by another to preform his act of evil (Balznaar/Queen Mab/Morgause and others(depending on the legend) ), and he was killed for it; Mordred slain by Arthur his father, while Renault was killed by the spirit of his Father.
Queen Guinevere:
The Queen of Camelot... and part of the reason it fell. Alright, I will say up front here, I dislike the current representations of the Queen, so do not, under any circumstance, flame me just because you enjoyed that movie about her a few years ago. A young girl, who, after been seen by Arthur, is chosen to be his queen.. the king not knowing that she had been having an affair with one of his knights for years: Lancelot. Alright, as for the Warcraft version of her... that's gotta be Jaina Proudmoore; while she had nothing to do with our Arthur-Lothar, she was responsible for some of the madness of Arthas. Had she not turned away from him at Stratholme, breaking a promise between the two lovers, it's possible his crusade against the Scourge would have stopped there. Just as with Guinevere fleeing with Lancelot as she was about to be killed, Jaina leaving Arthas alone dropped him into a depression and his obsession with cleansing the Scourge and Mel'ganis grew, similar to how the final battle with Mordred armies King Arthur was enraged and pigheaded, rather then fighting as he normally did.
Merlin:
No real introduction is needed here; we all know the stories of the great Wizard. As for the Warcraft versions of him, there are three that stand out to me: Medivh, Khadgar and Antonidas (bet you all thought I was going to name the Red-Haired eh?). And honestly.... all three work; Medivh was the Guardian of the World and best friends with both Llane Wrynn and Lothar, helping them as needed with information and his magic, similar to Merlin assisting with Arthur. Medivh's betrayal, due to Sargeras, is slightly mirrored by Merlin's turning away from Camelot after he felt he had betrayed it; first by bringing Lancelot to court(in fact it was the wrong Lancelot, should have been his son), and later by failing to be there at the side of his king when he fell. But, Medivh, during his time as the Prophet, is similar to Merlin during his time with Uther Pendragon, Arthur's father, in that he assisted the King in dealing with the Hordes who were attacking, and helped him find the woman who would give birth to Arthur.
Khadgar as well is a Merlin type, but the Merlin who rode by the side of King Arthur as he fought against the invading Hordes intent on destroying Camelot and England. As in some tales about Merlin, that the mage suffered for his magic, Khadgar too suffered; he had a large portion of his life ripped from by Medivh's final spell, but it increased his own powers. As for Antonidas, he too had traits of the great Wizard within him; most notably his death, standing strong and unbowed against the Armies of the Scourge as they invaded and destroyed Dalaran, and like Merlin, went to it willingly. As there are many tales of Merlin, but few of his death... well, nothing I can do there heh.
There is of course, a darker version of Merlin in Warcraft; the Necromancer Kel'Thuzad, the man who formed the cult of the Damned under the orders of the Lich King, and was the right hand man of Arthas during his assault on Lordaeron and Quel'thas. There are a few stories and legends that Merlin used his powers for evil rather then good, so I suppose that works here as well.
Morgana Le Fey:
Depending on the tale, she is either a great evil... or a hero. Within Warcraft, two seem to be of her archetype; the Dark Lady Sylvanas, and again, Jaina Proudmoore. For the more evil version of her; the one intent on overthrowing her half-brother Arthur and destroying the Kingdom, Sylvanas fits that perfectly with her obsession and desire for revenge against Arthas and the Scourge. The more ironic aspect, to my mind at least, is that supposedly Arthur had made a deal with the people of Avalon, the Fey(faerie) Court, that he would always allow them to travel the shores of England and they would be left in peace. When he goes back on this, the Fae choose Morgana as their weapon to force him to bring the pact back after he starts to believe in the Church. The irony here being; Sylvanas is an Elf(fae) forced to use her powers(the banshee song) on her own people and the living of Lordaeron.
As for the Jaina aspect; there is a more gentler side of Morgana, one that shows she cared deeply for her half-brother, and did her best to protect him from their father Uther. It should also be noted, in one tale, that Morgana met Lancelot(the wrong one) when she was younger, and the Knight had stated he was attracted to her, and possibly considered courting her.... till he saw Guinevere, in which case he cast her aside, but Morgana still had unrequited love for the Knight... which seems like Thrall and Jaina relationship heh. It remains to be seen though, if at the end of Arthas existence, when he is finally killed and the armour of the Lich King is removed, if she will do for him what Morgana did for Arthur, taking his body to Avalon to lay it to it's final rest.
Excalibur:
Something I've missed out is how Warcraft actually has two blades that could possibly be the ancient sword that Arthur used: The Ashbringer, born by the Mogaines and Highlord Fordring, and Frostmourne, weapon of the Lich King. The three blades are mirrors of each other: All we're made by other worldly powers; The possible Naaru crystal used in the Ashbringer, Frostmourne was possibly created by the Tothrezim, a sub-race of the Dreadlords, and Excalibur was a blade forged in the Faerie Lands. The weapons all have enchantments on them that make them incredibly powerful: Frostmourne drains the souls of those it kills and shares that strength with it's bearer as well as allowing him to reanimate certain souls with the blade(aka the Death Knights). The Ashbringer, with one sweep, can slaughter hundreds of Undead and is a weapon of great Light and Good, helping to fight back against the Scourge threat. Excalibur was considered to be unbreakable, and it's bearer was seen as unbeatable. All three blades though, also had a weakness; Excalibur was stolen and it's power lost for a time, before Arthur recovered it. Frostmournes power faded when the power of the Lich King weakened, and the Ashbringer was corrupted, and required a great sacrifice to cleanse it.
I'm not going to go through the Knights of the Round Table, or even try to find a Lancelot analog in Warcraft.... mainly because there are far too many. But enjoy my musing, feel free to comment, and if you can think of anything I missed, please, put it in.
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Post by
313143
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Morec0
If King Arthur is comparable to Arthas, then Merlin is comparable to Kel'thuzad.
Both were wizards - a lich being a type of undead sorcerrer - and both had a considerable influence on their respective ally: Merlin -> Aruther, Kel'thuzad -> Arthas
Despite being a great mentor, both were also great followers. Kel'thuzad began calling Arthas "King" after the laters return and claiming of his throne in Lordaeron.
Post by
Patty
Please, please, please, PLEASE stick a TL:DR on that.
You have until I manage to walk back to my corpse, I just hope that wall of text won't crit and kill me again.
If you don't want to read it, you don't have to. :P
Hmm, Adamsm, didn't the lady of the lake bewitch and kill Merlin?
Post by
Adamsm
Please, please, please, PLEASE stick a TL:DR on that.
You have until I manage to walk back to my corpse, I just hope that wall of text won't crit and kill me again.
Sorry MM, didn't realize I had to put a warning on it for those who haven't finished grade 3.
If King Arthur is comparable to Arthas, then Merlin is comparable to Kel'thuzad.
Both were wizards - a lich being a type of undead sorcerrer - and both had a considerable influence on their respective ally: Merlin -> Aruther, Kel'thuzad -> Arthas
Despite being a great mentor, both were also great followers. Kel'thuzad began calling Arthas "King" after the laters return and claiming of his throne in Lordaeron.Yeah... but I only put in Arthas being equal to Arthur before the Warcraft version's fall.... Arthur never descended into true madness like he did. And, I don't think there are any true 'evil' stories of Merlin in the old lore, and let's be honest... Kel'Thuzad is pure bad assery on wheels.
Please, please, please, PLEASE stick a TL:DR on that.
You have until I manage to walk back to my corpse, I just hope that wall of text won't crit and kill me again.
If you don't want to read it, you don't have to. :P
Hmm, Adamsm, didn't the lady of the lake bewitch and kill Merlin?Hm, I don't know..... possible. I should go look it up heh.
Post by
313143
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Morec0
Well, Arthas, Arthur, ect. are more or less evil mirrors of each other. With Arthas destroying a kingdom while Arthur created one.
Although, one could argue that he created a kingdom for the Scourge.
Even so, Kel'thuzard meets Merlin with the "Wizerd-mentor" character I think.
I also belive that Arthur and Mordred are comparable to Alexdros Mograine and Renault.
A man of great power killed by a child who lusted for that power, under the influence of a great evil (Morgana Le Fey/Balnazzar).
Post by
Adamsm
Merlin met his end when the Lady of the Lake tricked him. She was the one who gave Arthur the Excalibur. Merlin was enchanted by the Lady of the Lake and when she asked Merlin to teach her magic he readily agreed. As he taught her, the bond between them grew. Love blinded Merlin and he did not see the spell the lady of the Lake was casting on him. Then the Lady finally sang him a song and Merlin fell under the spell and she cast him to the land of the fairy keeping. There he stands ready to help Arthur if he is in need or if someone pure of heart rescues him.Not death as such... sounds similar to the idea that Arthur himself is 'asleep' somewhere, awaiting Excalibur to be reclaimed and to come and wake up the king when his country/kingdom needs him..... however, there is no real Warcraft analog for that one.
Post by
Patty
The druids in the dream? ^_^
Post by
313143
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
HiVolt
This would make a wonderful article.
Post by
Adamsm
Well, Arthas, Arthur, ect. are more or less evil mirrors of each other. With Arthas destroying a kingdom while Arthur created one.
Although, one could argue that he created a kingdom for the Scourge.
Even so, Kel'thuzard meets Merlin with the "Wizerd-mentor" character I think.
I also belive that Arthur and Mordred are comparable to Alexdros Mograine and his son.
A man of great power killed by a child who lusted for that power, under the influence of a great evil (Morgana Le Fey/Balnazzar).
Honestly, Kel'Thuzad could also be a representation of the evil Morgana heh, mentor to Arthas after all.
And yes, I do see it in the Alexandros and Renault aspect there for Arthur and Mordred, especially as Alexandros does kill Renault if you walk into SM with the corrupted Ashbringer lol.
The druids in the dream? ^_^That is a thought.......
Post by
Morec0
Hmmm, maybe. What if a "sleeping" Arthur is comparable to when the Lich King was "sleeping" and Merlin's return is comparable to Naxxaramas and Kel'thuzad's return to Northrend?
Post by
Adamsm
This would make a wonderful article.
Heh, that it would........
Hmmm, maybe. What if a "sleeping" Arthur is comparable to when the Lich King was "sleeping" and Merlin's return is comparable to Naxxaramas and Kel'thuzad's return to Northrend?
Not really... like I said, I just don't see Arthas/the Lich king as an Arthur analog.
Post by
Morec0
Hmmm, maybe. What if a "sleeping" Arthur is comparable to when the Lich King was "sleeping" and Merlin's return is comparable to Naxxaramas and Kel'thuzad's return to Northrend?
Not really... like I said, I just don't see Arthas/the Lich king as an Arthur analog.
As I said: if you reversed the roles of good to evil, he's the "Anti-Arthur."
But I do suppose that Arthas is more comparable to Mordred.
Post by
313143
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Adamsm
But I do suppose that Arthas is more comparable to Mordred.Aye, he is. Kinda of strange though; we know semi-know what happens to Morgana, Arthur and Merlin, but it really sounds like they just left the body of Mordred there to rot heh.
And I'm really surprised there hasn't been more comments about Jaina/Sylvanas and who I compared them too lol.
Post by
313143
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Morec0
BTW, did Arthas ever try to take Lordaeron? Because I'm sure at one point Mordred took over Arthur's castle whilst he was away or something, or was that another campaign?.
Umm.... the Forsaken had to fight to take Capital City from the Dreadlords, and they had to fight to take it from the Scourge. So I'd say he had.
Arthur died on the battlefield when he killed Mordred. He gave his sword to Sir Bedivere the sword to return it to the Lady of the Lake so it can "rise again when it is needed."
Bah, supreme executive power is derived from the masses, not some watery tart who threw a sword at you!
Post by
Adamsm
Arthur died on the battlefield when he killed Mordred. He gave his sword to Sir Bedivere the sword to return it to the Lady of the Lake so it can "rise again when it is needed."
Yeah.... but his body was taken to Avalon by his sister, and seeing as there are a few dozen legends about him coming back.... his death is only a set back lol.
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