History Characters / Warcraft2016

An ambitious warlock that controls the Horde. He is the one responsible for opening the Portal and bringing the Horde to Azeroth, promising them a new land here.

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Courtsey of the AgeLift.
* AgeLift: Anduin Lothar is normally depicted as a BadassGrandpa, but here he is played by 37-year-old Travis Fimmel.

* PetTheDog: Most of his more reasonable actions are clearly simply pragmatism, but forgiving Durotan for bringing his pregnant wife and saving the life of his prematurely born son offered him no immediate benefit. [[labelnote:And...]]...that son would become one of the most significant characters in all of Warcraft's lore and contribute greatly to saving the orcs from the corruption that Gul'dan spread upon them. Now that's quite the NiceJobFixingItVillain.[[/labelnote]]

* PetTheDog: Most of his more reasonable actions are clearly simply pragmatism, but forgiving Durotan for bringing his pregnant wife and saving the life of his prematurely born son offered him no immediate benefit. [[labelnote:And...]]...that son would become one of the most significant characters in all of Warcraft's lore and contribute greatly to saving the world that Gul'dan was set on consuming. Now that's quite the NiceJobFixingItVillain.[[/labelnote]]

* PetTheDog: Most of his more reasonable actions are clearly simply pragmatism, but forgiving Durotan for bringing his pregnant wife and saving the life of his prematurely born son offered him no immediate benefit. [[hottip:And...:...that son would become one of the most significant characters in all of Warcraft's lore and contribute greatly to saving the world that Gul'dan was set on consuming. Now that's quite the big NiceJobFixingItVillain.]]

* PetTheDog: Most of his more reasonable actions are clearly simply pragmatism, but forgiving Durotan for bringing his pregnant wife and saving the life of his prematurely born son offered him no immediate benefit.

* SmugSnake: Gul'dan is so sure of his own power that he believes he could easily finish off Durotan in a one-on-one ''mak'gora'' [[spoiler: before Medivh begins the enchantment to open the Dark Portal. However, it turns out that Durotan is much tougher and more resilient than he realized, delaying the inevitable outcome till Dark Portal is ready to be open. Realizing that he's running out of time, he demands Blackhand for help only to coldly rejected as Blackhand reminds him that he is [[HonorBeforeReason bounded by the rules of]] ''[[CodeOfHonor mak'gora]]''. Because of this, Gul'dan is forced to cheat with his fel magic, which damaged his reputation amongst the orcs]].

* KungFuWizard: When Durotan challenges him to ''Mak'gora'', Gul'dan obliges, takes off his robe and slugs it out in a drawn-out fist fight.

* PragmaticVillainy: Blackhand refused to [[spoiler: give Durotan the chance to challenge Gul'dan in a ''mak'gora'', citing that the warlock is needed for the Dark Portal's opening and that he could easily kill the dishonored chieftain right there and now. Gul'dan refuses, believing he can easily defeat Durotan.]]

* DirtyCoward: It doesn't take him long into his ''Mak'Gora'' with Durotan to perform LifeDrain in front of the entire Horde.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Gul'dan is first seen dragging Garona with a long chain, giving orders to Warchief Blackhand and monitoring his draenei prisoners/victims. When a draenei mother pleads to Gul'dan to save her child, Gul'dan [[WouldHurtAChild cruelly replies he needs every last one for the Dark Portal]].

* KungFuWizard: When Durotan challenges him to ''Mak'Gora'', Gul'dan obliges, takes off his robe and slugs it out in a drawn-out fist fight.

* NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist: According to Daniel Wu, Gul'dan believes that fel magic is the key to the survival of his people after Draenor became a wasteland, thereby justifying his use of it despite the destructive side-effects. However, it was his fel magic that caused their homeworld Draenor to die in the first place, and Gul'dan has no problem in wiping out entire clans in response to a few rebels within his Horde despite having limited resources.

* NobleDemon: For all the BlueAndOrangeMorality involved, Blackhand genuinely believes in his people's traditions, and will always respect them. As such, he [[spoiler:refuses to help Gul'dan during his Mak'gora with Durotan]], and [[spoiler:gives Lothar a chance to defeat him in a fair fight when he could have easily let his warriors kill him]].

[[caption-width-right:300:''"Our hope is destroyed, there is nothing to go back to. Is war the only answer?"'']]

!!Grommash Hellscream

* OnlySaneMan: He is the only orc leader to realize something is fishy with [[ObviouslyEvil Gul'dan]] from the start (and to point out their world started to die out right when Gul'dan began to abuse his Fel Magic) and decides to actually do something about it. In a bit of LampshadeHanging, Gul'dan himself aknowledges that Frostwolves are renowned for having the most common sense among orc clans.

* PetTheDog: Most of his more reasonable actions are clearly simply pragmatism, but forgiving Durotan for bringing his pregnant wife and saving the life of his prematurely born son offered him no immediate benefi.

* GivingThemTheStrip: [[spoiler:After Lothar climbs onto the clay golem, and cuts off part of its head, the golem attempts to crush him against a wall. Lothar's boots have sunken deep into the clay by this point, requiring him to unfasten them before he jumps off. After that, he remains barefoot up through his fight with Blackhand.]]

* RedshirtArmy: Human footmen are very much this, but not for lack of trying. After a long era of peace and pitted against unknown, [[BadassArmy battle-hardened foes]], they just don't have the experience or intel to be much more than armored punching bags. Remarkably [[DyingMomentOfAwesome they still manage to accomplish most of their goals]] through a combination of magical support and sheer determination]].

* ShouldersOfDoom: Wears a pair of spiky pauldrons with huge animal skulls added on top, with their spines still attached and trailing behind him.

* WorthyOpponent: To Blackhand, [[spoiler:and eventually the entire orc race]]. Blackhand states early on that there is no challenge in humanity, which might be why he takes such an interest in Lothar after Lothar cripples him in battle. At the end Blackhand convinces the other orcs to let him fight Lothar one on one in ritual combat rather than kill him outright. [[spoiler:After Lothar wins and kills Blackhand, the other orcs are united in respect for his prowess, allowing him his mount and the body of his king.]]

[[caption-width-right:300:"I've spent more time protecting my king, than my own son. Does that make me loyal, or a fool?"]]

[[caption-width-right:300:"If we do not unite, our world will perish!"]]

[[caption-width-right:300:"Our hope is destroyed, there is nothing to go back to. Is war the only answer?"]]

[[caption-width-right:300:"For orcs, there is no other life than war."]]

!!Varian Wrynn

** Among the standard troops, the [[http://static1.squarespace.com/static/51b3dc8ee4b051b96ceb10de/t/559eb7f0e4b04dcbb7dd7f2c/1436465194145/ armor worn by the knights and the royal guard]] is more decorated than the [[http://wetaworkshop.com/assets/Uploads/Royal-guard-01.jpg armor worn by the footmen]], making them stand out.

* BlingOfWar: Soldiers of Stormwind use armors, swords and shields that are quite elaborate and shiny. King Llane Wrynn especially takes the cake.

* CoolSword: Lothar uses several swords throughout the movie, but the most prominent is a sword featuring a dragon-shaped hilt.

* CoolSword: Wields a longsword decorated with a large silver lion on either side of the guard.
** [[https://youtu.be/6GsEJszKC-4?t=39s The weapons featurette identifies it as the sword used by the royal guards and knights of Stormwind.]]

* AgeLift: Anduin Lothar is normally a BadassGrandpa, but here he is played by 37-year-old Travis Fimmel

* {{Jerkass}}: Is one to Khadgar for no particular reason for most of the film.

* ConstantlyCurious: Khadgar has a knack for snooping where he's not supposed to, be it inspecting life-drained soldiers in Stormwind's barracks or snooping around Medivh's library.

* PowerTattoo: Has the mark of the Kirin Tor on his left hand, which begins to glow as he snoops around Medivh's library, leading him to a book containing clues to the mystery of where the orcs came from and who brought them there.

* BadassNormal: He's more than capable of fighting the orcs man-to-man, killing them with ease despite their superior strength. [[spoiler:At the end of the movie, he single-handedly kills a fel-powered Blackhand in a Mak'gora.]]

* RousingSpeech: Gives one at the end of the novel.

* WideEyedIdealist: Lothar considers him this when Khadgar refuses to believe [[spoiler:Garona killed Llane in cold blood.]] He's right, though.

* StuffedInTheFridge: Killed right in front of Lothar to fuel the man's FreakOut.

* PetTheDog: Most of his more reasonable actions are clearly simply pragmatism, but forgiving Durotan for bringing his pregnant wife and saving the life of his prematurely born son offered him no immediate benefit. As it occurs at the beginning of the film, it does a good job of placing doubts about how evil he really is. [[spoiler:Very.]]

* SquishyWizard: Subverted. He's not as strong as Durotan in the Mak'gora, but he intially fights him head-on and gives him a good beating. However once the fight goes Durotan's way, he starts cheating by using his magic.

* GivingThemTheStrip: [[spoiler:After Lothar climbs onto the clay golem, and cuts off part of its head, the golem attempts to crush him against a wall. Lothar's boots have sunken deep into the clay by this point, requiring him to unfasten them before he jumps off. After that, he remains barefoot until the epilogue.]]

* MeaningfulName: It could be a nickname, but yes, his beard is indeed of bronze colour.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: He is initially hostile to Khadgar's return to Dalaran because he left, but listens to him when he mentions Alodi together with the Dark Portal that the orcs are building.