Thrall (Warcraft)

Within series lore, Thrall is the son of Durotan, former chieftain of the Frostwolf Clan, who refused to drink the Blood of Mannoroth and was killed by agents of the orc warlock Gul'dan. Thrall's journey from birth, to slavery as a gladiator and finally his path on the journey to becoming Warchief of the Horde was covered in extensive detail by contributing writers from Joystiq in a recurring series called Know Your Lore.[2][3][4][5]

Thrall was raised by Aedelas Blackmoore, a self-serving military commander who runs the encampments where the orcs were imprisoned, as his slave. Blackmoore's plans were to raise Thrall to command an orc army to overrun the Alliance, allowing him to forcibly take the position of king.[6] Thrall was trained to handle every weapon and learned battle tactics; he was even forced to compete in many gladiator tournaments that benefit Blackmoore financially following each victory. He also had the opportunity to study basic writing and history.[2] Thrall eventually escapes from Blackmoore with the help of a young human girl named Taretha Foxton. During his captivity, she would sneak notes to Thrall and was considered to be one of his only friends.[4] From Taretha and another character known as Sergeant, Thrall learned mercy, kindness and honor, characteristics that changed him and becomes pivotal to his destiny. Instead of a bloodthirsty tribal leader as Blackmoore had planned, he eventually becomes a leader of compassion and honor. His journey during Lord of the Clans depicts the character as a young inexperienced orc leader who is nevertheless ready to lead his people in peace and understanding, whereas Warcraft III leads Thrall to explore the possibility of diplomacy and peace between Alliance and Horde, though the time between Warcraft III and World of Warcraft sees a tenuous glimpse at a peaceful world shattered.[4]

Chris Metzen created the character of Thrall, and has voiced the character in most media.

Thrall was originally developed as the protagonist for the Warcraft Adventures graphic adventure game by series writer Chris Metzen and producer Bill Roper.[1] Thrall was envisioned as an orc who lived his life in human captivity before escaping from his human master.[6] Metzen and his colleagues wanted to present another side to the orcs who are stereotyped as "brutal, savage dudes who use foul language."[7] Metzen drew comparisons between the orcs of Azeroth and real-life Native American cultures, and the described the former to originally have a "complex culture" which is connected to the land and rooted in shamanism; the goal to show the orcs as the best they can be, yet retaining a "hard edge".[7] According to Metzen, Thrall's story arc is the "archetypal tale of adventure and discovery" which is directly inspired by the work of Joseph Campbell, in particular the hero's journey.[7] Metzen described Thrall as a traveler through his people's lands yet a stranger to them as he is not raised within an orc culture, and eventually he would meet wiser, more experienced orc characters who recognizes his potential and helps him attain the status to unite the scattered clans of their people.[7]

Although Warcraft Adventures was eventually canceled, Metzen liked Thrall's origin story and wanted to see the concept utilized for another storytelling medium.[8] Christie Golden, the author of Lord of the Clans, recalled that she was given an outline summary of the canceled game's plot, which helps save her time as she usually needs three months to complete a novel and she considered the deadline for Lord of the Clans to be "tight".[8] She would then discuss with Metzen on what parts of the outline would work in a novel, and what should be changed as part of the novelization format. Noting that such cooperation "is unheard of in this line of work", Golden mentioned an example where her request that Thrall's eyes be made blue was granted without hesitation; she reacted with elation when she first saw a preview trailer for the then-upcoming World of Warcraft which properly depicts Thrall's facial features.[8]

Elements of the novel like Taretha, the Sergeant character, and the majority of Blackmoore's character development were contributions from Golden, who wanted to explore the relationship between Thrall and other human characters to be morally ambiguous. She particularly liked the relationship between Thrall and Taretha and noted that it was very well received by readers.[8] Golden noted that as the overarching plot of Warcraft III requires that several of the races work together in order to stop an otherworldly invasion, the groundwork for it need to be developed in the novel for it to be plausible.[8] On Thrall's relationship dynamics with Aggra, who would eventually become his wife, Golden commented that Thrall is used to dealing with human women such as Taretha and Jaina, and is initially unused to Aggra due to ingrained cultural differences, but gradually learns to value and appreciate her defining traits, namely "her bluntness, and her honesty, and her kind of in-your-face attitude", and in turn he teaches her to respect and value others even if they are not orc by culture or heritage.[9] Golden considers Thrall to be the embodiment of "non-toxic masculinity"[10]

On the relationship between Thrall and his eventual successor as Warchief, Garrosh Hellscream, Golden said she enjoyed writing their interactions and felt that there was a lot of chemistry between the two characters.[9] Golden noted that Garrosh developed into a darker character over time and believed that he has a weak personality at his core, as he was ashamed of his father Grom and needed external validation from Thrall.[9] Golden said Thrall and Garrosh gravitated towards each other, not out of their differences or the notion that opposite attract, but that they were in fact kindred spirits who are fundamentally very similar characters, whose "hearts are wounded and guarded but not closed" in her words.[9]

Thrall's concept design in Heroes of the Storm as a powerful melee fighter was described by the game's Technical Designer John Hodgson as "a prime example of top-down design"; that is, the developmental team started with the "high concept" or "feel" of Thrall as a fantasy character to generate ideas, and then tested and locked down these ideas through the practice of play.[11] His abilities harken back to elements such as his signature large hammer, the character's history as an experienced orc shaman, and the developmental team's own experiences from playing Farseer units in Warcraft III as well as Enhancement Shamans in World of Warcraft. According to Hodgson, the team spent a lot of iteration time trying to figure out which five abilities they could settle Thrall on given the length and breadth of what the character is conceptually capable of within series lore, which are tested against the game's mechanics in identifying what the character needed from a gameplay perspective "in order to feel fun and effective".[11]

Thrall has received a mostly positive reception from players and video game journalists, and is recognized as one of the most important, popular and well known characters in the Warcraft universe.[17][18][19][20][21] In a popularity poll organized by Joystiq with the premise of "electing" a prominent Warcraft character as the "Supreme Leader of Azeroth" in 2009, Thrall carried a lead throughout the voting process and ended the race with 55.3 percent of the vote, more than either of his Alliance counterparts combined.[22] CNet staff said they like the character and that despite his "brutal upbringing", Thrall is open to foreign people or cultures, and that the world of Azeroth seems to be relatively peaceful when he is in charge.[23] Regarding Thrall's return to the series as of Battle for Azeroth, Mike Fahey from Kotaku commented that Thrall has effectively become "Mel Gibson" who is seemingly adjusted to a domesticated lifestyle, but emphasized that it is good to see the character's return.[24] Both Wesley Yin-Poole from Eurogamer and Fraser Brown from PC Gamer welcomed Thrall's return to the series, though Brown noted that Thrall's role as leader of the Horde had already been previously explored.[25][26]

Staff writers for Know Your Lore generally have a very high regard for the character. Matthew Rossi called him the "single most badass orc out there" and the "savior of the orcish people" who reconnected his people with their original shamanistic beliefs and was willing to listen to Medivh. He noted that even as a player who favors the Alliance faction, he would still have a lot of respect for the character.[2] His colleague Alex Ziebart summarized Thrall as "the best possible leader for the Horde" and that "no one that even comes close to his ability to lead the Horde", though noting that the character's naivety is his most notable flaw; he attempts to foster the old ways of the Horde while pushing them forward at the same time, and he is very trusting of his own people, to the point of putting the wrong people in power because they are a friend of his.[3] Anne Stickney said "Thrall has always been a fascinating character" to her. She observed that Thrall has evolved from his original design in Lord of the Clans as a simple "true hero" with a tragic past, serving as a beacon of honor and integrity in an otherwise savage and violent society, into a deep character who has "several intrinsic flaws" that players could explore as they progress into the overarching narrative of World of Warcraft.[4]

On the other hand, Stickney later provided a detailed criticism of Thrall's role in the rise, fall and death of Garrosh Hellscream, noting that Garrosh would never have the opportunity to cause the amount of death and strife as the warmongering leader of the Horde if Thrall did not fail in his judgment and appointed him as Warchief in the first place. She said that Thrall's biggest failure is his perceived unwillingness to accept responsibility for his mistakes, and that it should have an effect on Thrall's psyche in order to do the end of Garrosh's story arc justice. wondered whether his last words to Garrosh before the latter's death was to try and deflect what he had done, or whether he was just trying to justify his actions to himself.[5] The character has also received some negative reception. Richard Cobbett from Rock, Paper, Shotgun said that Thrall's iteration in Warcraft Adventures is "bland, inappropriately quippy, and just generally stock", and noted that the game lack inspiration on how to make a tough character "into a different kind of adventurer than the usual inventory-packing geek".[27] Ryan Gilliam from Polygon recalled that some World of Warcraft players began pejoratively referring to Thrall as "Green Jesus" following a narrative event where the character stepped down from the role of Warchief to focus his efforts on saving the planet from environmental calamity.[28]

Thrall's depiction in other media has also received attention. Thrall's characterization in The Shattering as well as Twilight of the Aspects, is on an ongoing quest of self-discovery, has been singled out for praise by Stickney.[12] Yannick LeJacq from Kotaku said he is a longtime Warcraft fan, and found it "unnerving" yet exciting to see a beloved character like Thrall being presented in a game with better graphical quality like Heroes of the Storm, though he expressed a wish to see Thrall and other classic Warcraft characters being represented again within an isometric environment in a new Warcraft real-time strategy game.[29] Ron Amadeo from Ars Technica said he would have preferred if Thrall was featured as the central character of the first ever live-action Warcraft movie adaptation, instead of placing the 2016 movie's setting in the distant past of the series lore where virtually none of the modern fan favorite Warcraft characters were present. He noted that Blizzard's serious world building truly started with Warcraft III in 2002, when fan-favorite characters like Thrall were introduced.[15] Fahey enjoyed Jones' take on series lore for the 2016 Warcraft film, even where it diverged from what he was familiar with, and looked forward to a sequel where an adult Thrall would be featured as the main character .[30]

• Thrall on the official Heroes of the Storm website