We show you 5 characters who have undergone a really strong transformation in World of Warcraft. Did you know about these drastic changes?
World of Warcraft is constantly changing. New continents keep emerging out of nowhere, and oversized threats try to destroy Azeroth, the timeline, existence itself, or the cycle of life and death. It is not surprising, therefore, that this does not leave the characters of this world unscathed.
We have created a list of the 5 characters who have changed the most over the course of World of Warcraft. Not much remains of their former personalities.
For this list, we only refer to characters that have significantly changed during the time of “World of Warcraft.” We compare their state at the earliest to “Vanilla” and at the latest to Dragonflight (if they are still alive).
Lady Jaina Proudmoore
Most people probably got to know Jaina Proudmoore during the times of Warcraft III – and at the start of World of Warcraft, she is still exactly the Jaina we encountered. She led the city-state of Theramore and was regarded as a diplomat and successful mediator between the Horde and the Alliance. She is even called to the Council of Six – making her one of the most powerful sorceresses of Azeroth and among the leadership elite of the Kirin Tor of Dalaran.
However, this changed significantly after Garrosh Hellscream became the warchief of the Horde. To diminish the presence of the Alliance in Kalimdor, he orders an attack on Jaina’s city – almost all the residents and even Jaina’s student die in the process.
For a while, Jaina becomes significantly more warlike. She threatens to destroy Orgrimmar with a flood and, after it turns out that some blood elves in Dalaran helped Garrosh, orders the cleansing of the city.
Her hatred for the Horde only grows as Sylvanas comes to power. Jaina is on the front lines during the attack on the Undercity and even retrieves her father’s battleship from the depths of the sea.
In Kul Tiras (Battle for Azeroth), Jaina’s role changes again a bit. She becomes calmer and has to convince the entire nation of Kul Tiras that she did not kill her father back then. Even though we see a more emotional Jaina here, she remains relevant in the war. She fights against the troll king Rastakhan and stands in the way of the heroes of the Horde to buy time for the rest of the Alliance to escape.
We have presented Jaina’s entire, significantly extensive story here.
Anduin Wrynn
Many still remember Anduin Wrynn from Vanilla, even though he had no major role at that time. He was already the child king of Stormwind, but his advisors held the real power – like Onyxia in the guise of Lady Prestor.
Anduin is freed from his passivity only when “Mists of Pandaria” takes him to Pandaria. There, he uses the powers of light and shadow to come into contact with the inhabitants of Pandaria. He falls into the hands of the Horde but manages to escape.
Later, he meets the still very young Wrathion and the two become good friends after some philosophical discussions – even if they do not always agree.
Anduin is completely torn from his childhood when his father Varian heroically sacrifices himself during the Legion’s attack. Anduin is thereby forced into the role of the king of Stormwind and has to leave much of his youth behind to fulfill this role. At first still hesitant and unconvincing, he must first overcome his father’s death.
By the time of Battle for Azeroth, this transformation is complete. Not much remains of the peace-loving Anduin, who always seeks the path without conflict. Although he tries to keep losses in the war to a minimum, he sees the war itself as necessary and fights bravely against the Horde. He is at the forefront during the conquest of the Undercity, but in the background directs events to support prisoners of war like Saurfang in their resistance against Sylvanas.
In Shadowlands, Anduin’s role changes again. He is abducted, along with many leaders, to the Shadowlands and interrogated by Sylvanas. When Sylvanas fails to sway Anduin to her side, the Jailer and Sylvanas use domination runes and corresponding armor to overwrite Anduin’s will and make him a loyal servant of the Jailer.
After Anduin is freed by heroes of the Alliance and Horde, as well as Jaina, Uther, and the recently returned Sylvanas, he has changed. He cannot say for sure that he did not enjoy the atrocities under the control of the Jailer. To atone and find out who he really is, Anduin embarks on a journey. Some suspect he is in the Maw alongside Sylvanas.
We do not know his exact whereabouts – but Stormwind has been without its rightful king for several years and can only hope that the caring Anduin has not changed too much.
3 more characters with drastic transformations can be found on the next page.
- 1
- 2
