The World of Warcraft is bursting with great heroes who have decisively shaped the fate of Azeroth. However, one character has not yet appeared in the game: Med’an.
The Role of Players and NPCs
Although players in World of Warcraft take on the roles of great commanders and complete many legendary questlines where they defeat dragons or bring down old gods, it is usually the NPCs that are truly responsible for the glorious deeds from a lore perspective. It wasn’t xXShadowhunterXx who defeated the black dragon lady Onyxia with his raid, but Varian Wrynn.
Attributing these successes to the various personalities of Azeroth makes perfect sense: Otherwise, there would be no exciting story to continue in a few expansions. One particular character has not yet appeared in the game world – and that is strange given how immensely important he is. Warning, this article also contains spoilers for the upcoming Warcraft film.
Who is Med’an?
To summarize in one sentence: Med’an is to WoW what Neo is to the Matrix or Harry Potter is to… well, Harry Potter is. He is the Chosen One and embodies so many features that one might quickly think the authors slightly exaggerated his abilities and character traits.
Med’an is the son of Medivh, one of the most powerful mages of Azeroth, who opened the Dark Portal and is therefore largely responsible for the invasion of the Orcs. His mother was Garona, a half-orc half-draenei who is primarily known for the assassination of King Llane. Biologically speaking, this makes Med’an a quarter-orc quarter-draenei half-human; the uniqueness is already quite pronounced. Another peculiarity of him is that he seems to be the first person capable of combining arcane, shamanistic, and divine magic – so far, mastering one has excluded or made the others significantly more difficult. That this circumstance was predicted in an ominous prophecy goes without saying, right?
The Guardian of Tirisfal
Despite his relatively young age of about 25 years, Med’an has experienced more than many players of World of Warcraft. On his journey, he met numerous protagonists like Valeera Sanguinar, Maraad, Garona, Reghar, and Jaina, but he also confronted adversaries like the Twilight’s Hammer Cult led by Cho’gall. This cult wanted to use Med’an’s body to resurrect the old god C’thun in the ruins of Ahn’Qiraj – but failed. He also encountered his grandmother Aegwynn (who was also a Guardian of Tirisfal and the mother of Medivh), although she died while rescuing her grandson – at least for the time being, as the family always sees the dead return sooner or later.
Med’an took on the role of Guardian of Tirisfal and with his friends founded the Kunzil of Tirisfal, a magical order responsible for protecting Azeroth from the Burning Legion (and let’s be honest, they’re not doing a very good job).
Where is Med’an?
What has happened to Med’an is questionable. Apparently, he has given up his position as Guardian of Tirisfal and transferred this role to Khadgar – because he wields the staff Atiesh in Warlords of Draenor, which belongs to the Guardian of Tirisfal. He is definitely too important to have simply died without mention or to be removed from the lore later. Blizzard has said that Med’an will appear one day, but his long absence seems illogical – especially now that the Legion is once again at the door. Some players speculate that Blizzard only wants to use Med’an on the sidelines because many players and readers of the comics found this character simply too chosen.
I personally believe that Med’an will remain in the background for a while longer and will not be brought out anytime soon. Presumably, he will be given a crucial role in the fight against the Legion retroactively. Thus, he could have ensured from the Nether that not all of Sargeras’ forces come through the portal and that alone would have made it possible to save the world once again from destruction.
What do you think of Med’an? A cool character with a hell of a story or completely exaggerated? Would you like to learn more about other characters from World of Warcraft?
