The community of World of Warcraft is celebrating the antagonist of the new expansion. Everyone seems to be enamored with Xal’atath.
Blizzard appears to have hit the nail on the head with The War Within when it comes to creating an interesting antagonist. Xal’atath is enjoying great popularity and is extensively discussed in the official forums, on Reddit, and pretty much every other platform featuring WoW content.
In contrast to foes like the Jailer, whom Blizzard more or less “pulled out of a hat” with Shadowlands, Xal’atath has been gradually built up over several expansions.
- During “Legion” she was the artifact weapon of shadow priests and haunted them repeatedly with little sayings and supposed wisdom, before being sacrificed at the end of Legion.
- With “Battle for Azeroth,” the dagger resurfaced and played a central role in the story surrounding the annihilation of N’Zoth. Xal’atath was also freed from the dagger and received the physical form that we know today.
- In “Dragonflight,” Xal’atath appears as an ally of the incarnation Iridikron, before moving into the spotlight of the storyline with the pre-patch 11.0.
If you are interested in further details about Xal’atath, we have explained her entire story here.
Xal’atath has seduced the WoW community
But as expected: As soon as Blizzard revealed her new design for The War Within and she was seen with a mischievous smile, the community completely fell for Xal’atath. There are repeatedly posts on Reddit, plenty of cosplay or fanart (and some of it not suitable for minors!), and the consensus seems to be: Xal’atath can go ahead and destroy the world. If she wants to, that’s fine.
The latest cinematic has only contributed to her popularity. In “Threads of Fate”, she is portrayed in close-up and extremely imposing multiple times. No wonder posts in the WoW subreddit arise, stating: “She can have all of Azeroth. She can have the whole planet and the soul to boot.”
“You do realize that her true form is probably a tentacle?” – haragos
“Oh God, yes, I hope so.” – DarthAlveus
“She is so hot that I would intentionally wipe our raid group if we ever fight against her.” – Srze
“You can just feel that thousands of players are losing their moral compass when ‘the big bad’ is hot – and honestly? That’s exactly why I’m here.” – yaluckyboy09
That Xal’atath clearly represents a dark seduction in more than one way fits wonderfully with her story and the character Blizzard wants to portray. After all, her whispers during Legion have always had a slightly enticing, seductive undertone – which has been picked up again with the last PR campaign with several streamers.
It seems that Blizzard has struck a chord with the WoW community with Xal’atath, creating an enemy that is interesting and captivating – whether it’s about her appearance or backstory. Therefore, many hope that Xal’atath remains around a bit longer and doesn’t meet her end in “The War Within” already. Thus, Freakertwig states:
Honestly, I believe the story would be really boring if we just defeated her like a normal villain. I think she needs to win for [Midnight] to somehow be interesting or full of consequences. It would even be better if we could actually switch to her side.
On the other hand, we know since Sylvanas that the player base of World of Warcraft simply has a penchant for blue-skinned, possessed elven corpses. Some things simply never change – not even after 10 expansions. No wonder that many are currently leveling their characters in record time to be able to be with their Knaifu-Waifu
soon.
