In World of Warcraft, players hunt the undead Nathanos Blightcaller. They kill him just for fun and satisfaction – it simply feels too good.
In World of Warcraft, almost everything revolves around loot. Whether it’s dungeons, raids, PvP, or world bosses – players engage with these contents to grab loot. Rarely is there any other motivation to accomplish something in the game. The current boss, Nathanos Blightcaller, represents a curious exception. Some players repeatedly send him to the afterlife just for the joy of it, even when it provides no gameplay advantage.
The Story of Nathanos Blightcaller
Nathanos Blightcaller is one of the oldest characters from World of Warcraft. He was already a boss in the open world in WoW Classic and waited in the Eastern Kingdoms.
His story was quite simple up to that point, although he was already a special snowflake back in the day. He was the only human trained as a ranger by the elves of Quel’thalas. When the Scourge invaded, Nathanos was killed and resurrected as an undead, which is why the Alliance wanted to eliminate him.
Sylvanas then freed Nathanos from the influence of the Scourge and made him her champion. From then on, Nathanos accomplished many tasks, commanded troops, and was also seen as a confidant of the Banshee Queen.
New short stories revealed more about Sylvanas and Nathanos’ past. A small romance between the two during their lifetimes is implied – feelings that, even after their deaths, still resonate at least subtly, although these emotions carry much less significance for the undead.
To further empower Nathanos, Sylvanas even helped him in the short story “The Dark Mirror” to obtain a new body, as his old one was rotting too much. Nathanos’ cousin was captured for this purpose, and Nathanos’ soul was bound into his body. Even today, Nathanos occasionally sees the spirit of his cousin in visions and speaks with him.
With his new body, Nathanos took on more tasks for the Banshee Queen. In Stormheim, he led the attack on the Alliance. During the Zandalari campaign, he delegated almost all tasks for Horde players. He was also responsible for the defense of Darkshore after the War of Thorns. Here, he faced great champions like Tyrande Whisperwind and Malfurion Stormrage – fights he survived and escaped from.
In the book “Rise of the Shadows”, the prelude to Shadowlands, Nathanos received another task from Sylvanas. He is to ensure, with the help of some allies, that the Loa of Death, Bwonsamdi, is eliminated. The Zandalari Empire is to be destroyed, thereby weakening the Horde.
Nathanos fails at this task, but is saved again from death. Just before the Alliance and Horde can defeat him, he is enveloped in shadows and taken to Sylvanas Windrunner in Icecrown, who had just shattered the Crown of the Lich King.
However, Sylvanas is extremely dissatisfied that Nathanos has failed in his task. She commands him to return to a location and wait – the estate of Marris. Nathanos must die to follow Sylvanas into the Shadowlands, which is practically his punishment for his failure. This is also where the world quest takes place, where players can fight Nathanos during the pre-event.
Nathanos is extremely unpopular with many players
Why is Nathanos so unpopular? Nathanos Blightcaller has developed into an absolute hate character in the eyes of many players in the WoW community over the last expansions. This is due to several reasons:
- He always has an annoying, arrogant speech in which he mocks everyone else.
- He is constantly haughty, whether towards the Alliance or as a quest giver for Horde players.
- He is seen as a sycophant of the Banshee Queen. In the community, he is also referred to as “Sylvanas’ toyboy”. Sometimes, he is even called the “first simp in WoW”.
- He has escaped final death multiple times. Whether in Lordaeron, Stormheim, or Darkshore, even heroic characters like Tyrande and Malfurion could not defeat him.
- Often, he escapes with the well-known “Enough!” exclamation. WoW bosses often do this when they are at low HP. Then they cast some sort of mass stun, deliver a small monologue, and disappear. This is something that players often criticize as a cheap escape.
Nathanos is killed – Just for fun
Some players are really happy that they can finally fight Nathanos. They even kill the undead ranger multiple times, although there is no loot for it – simply for satisfaction. This was even the case weeks ago when Nathanos prematurely appeared in the Plaguelands due to a bug.
In the WoW subreddit, there were several voices explaining that they “have longed to finally kill Nathanos” – they didn’t care whether this would yield loot or not.
This exchange on the official forums regarding Nathanos from r/wow
Are the players now satisfied? Opinions are mixed here. Many players are happy that they can finally extinguish the life lights of Nathanos to take revenge for all his annoying speeches and “edgy remarks”.
Although not everyone is satisfied since Tyrande “steals” the kill and kills him, many can overlook this because Tyrande looks extremely cool doing it.
Is it finally over with Nathanos? Quite likely not. In the concluding cinematic where Nathanos is killed by Tyrande, he still retains his haughty demeanor. During one of his typical speeches in which he mocks the night warrior, he is killed by her. However, he states that she can kill him because it would send him “directly to Sylvanas”. Through Nathanos’ death, his soul was then sent directly into the Maw and thus into the Shadowlands. It can be assumed that he will appear again in Shadowlands.
Surely some players will also enjoy blowing out the life lights of the former ranger there again. If necessary, multiple times.
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