History Characters / WarcraftTheScourge

[[folder: Invincible]]

* NiceHat: A very nice hat indeed!

* AmbiguousSituation: His current fate within the Shadowlands. [[spoiler: While it's unambiguous that he's within the Maw, the fact Uther and Devos defied the Arbiter to do it raises the very real question if Arthas was actually destined for the Maw or if he had a chance for redemption in Revendreth, as villains that had committed seriously grevious sins would even be giving the chance. As well, his current location is completely unknown, whether he's strung up somewhere in the depths of Torghast being drained for anima, or being warped into one of the Jailer's elite soldiers, only time will tell, but the devs themselves said if they want to bring in Arthas, it's going to be a WhamEpisode.]]

** His claims to have [[spoiler: been the Jailer's agent all along suffer from this as well, making his role in the Third War appear as this. However an interview clairifed that that he was recruited after his defeat in Wrath.]]

** His claims to have [[spoiler: been the Jailer's agent all along suffer from this as well, on account of it being unclear if he was in contact with him during the Third War or if Kel'Thuzad decided the Lich King being created to serve as Zovaal's herald means he was the true power between the Lich King along.]]

* FateWorseThanDeath: What Kil'jaeden did to him after he escaped through a portal was not pretty. He had his body ripped apart while his soul remained alive and attached to it, meaning he felt all the agony of his body being ruined, and being unable to do anything about, almost broke. The fact he kept his mind together despite that is impressive all things considered.
* TheLostLenore: His longing for his dead mate Rulkan made him an easy target for manipulation.

* OverarchingVillain: Kel’Thuzad serves this role for the overall Scourge plotline. While he’s never the BigBad, he faithfully serves the first two Lich Kings, [[spoiler: as well as the mastermind behind the Lich King, the Jailer, who takes control of the Scourge after Sylvanas defeats Bolvar.]]

* DarkerAndEdgier: In Warcraft III, both Undead campaigns are unrelentingly dark compared to the other campaigns. ''Reign of Chaos:'' "Path of the Damned" is set during their destruction of Lordaeron, Quel'Thalas and Dalaran, while ''The Frozen Throne:'' "Legacy of the Damned" is a series of EvilVersusEvil conflicts where ultimately the TheBadGuyWins. The Forsaken retaking control of Lordaeron from the Burning Legion is actually one of the more ''upbeat'' parts of the campaign, while the Lich King's Scourge defeats Illidan and Arthas merges with the Lich King.

* DarkerAndEdgier: In Warcraft III, both Undead campaigns are unrelentingly dark compared to the other campaigns. ''Reign of Chaos'' is set during their destruction of Lordaeron, Quel'Thalas and Dalaran, while ''The Frozen Throne'' is a series of EvilVersusEvil conflicts where ultimately the TheBadGuyWins, the Scourge defeats Illidan and Arthas becomes the Lich King.

* DarthVaderClone:
** In ''Warcraft III'', his character arc shows numerous similarities with that of Anakin in the prequels. He starts out as the most promising young member of a holy Magic Knight order, whose mentor always warns him against becoming as vile as those he fights against. As he clashes with the forces of darkness, his apparent enemy, the dreadlord Mal'Ganis starts baiting him into giving into his rage and thirst for vengeance. Arthas loses his morals entirely when he sees slaughtering innocents as the only way to achieve his otherwise noble goals, which also drives away the woman he loves. Even as he defeats Mal'Ganis, he is urged by the Lich King to violently kill him. It turns out that Arthas' corruption at the hands of the evil mastermind was from the beginning a plot to get rid of his adversary and gain Arthas as a disciple. In the end, Arthas, originally with the intent of saving his kingdom, ends up destroying it in the service of the Lich King and becoming his chief enforcer. He also has a moment of confronting his old mentor and killing him, and later slaughters the entire order. Interestingly, since ''Warcraft III'' was released before ''Revenge of the Sith'', Arthas' similarities to Anakin from the prequels make this case of DarthVaderClone something of an UnbuiltTrope.
** ''World of Warcraft'' deals with the transformation into the Lich King proper, resulting into a more classical take on the DarthVaderClone trope in terms of appearance. When he dons the helmet at the end of The Frozen Throne, Arthas completes the process of detaching from his former self and assuming command as a supreme leader of the Scourge. Until his death, he always is present as an armored caped warrior with a face-concealing helmet and an unnaturally reverberating voice, who wields a sword in concert with Black Magic. His ornate armor at all times that functions as the magical equivalent of a life support system as well, maintaining his undead status and he never appears anywhere without it. Later he dies in the presence of a loved one, revealing that some of his original self remained, complete with his helmet being removed to show his face. Unlike Vader, however, Arthas does not get redeemed.

* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Considers Kael'thas's crush on the much younger Jaina this.

* {{Sadist}}: After being corrupted by Frostmourne and turning into an undead, Arthas become more sadistic towarads others and enjoyed their suffering. Such as instead of killing Sylvanas which would've been easier to have done, he instead turned her into a banshee to make her suffer as his slave.

* AmbiguousSituation: His current fate within the Shadowlands. [[spoiler: While it's unambiguous that he's within the Maw, the fact Uther and Devos defied the Arbiter to do it raises the very real question if Arthas was actually destined for the Maw or if he had a chance for redemption in Revendreth, as villains that had comitted seriously grevious sins would even be giving the chance. As well, his current location is completely unknown, whether he's strung up somewhere in the depths of Torghast being drained for anima, or being warped into one of the Jailer's elite soldiers, only time will tell, but the devs themselves said if they want to bring in Arthas, it's going to be a WhamEpisode.]]

* GracefulLoser: When Frostmourne is shattered and he's left defenseless, Arthas doesn't scream in a rage or suffer a VillainousBreakdown. Instead he sounds more like he's lost his resolve and accepts his defeat.

* NotSoDifferent: In his many appearances throughout Northrend in ''Wrath of the Lich King'', he points out that the adventurers sent to fight him are no so different than he was. This is especially true in the Shadowmourne quest line.

* TheNecromancer: The most powerful and notable in the franchise. It's his power that allows for the creation of [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot undead worgen]], something that for a few reasons is all but impossible.

* TheNecromancer: His old job before he took it to even higher levels when he became a Lich.

* TheNecromancer: He is capable of raising the dead.

* UngratefulBastard: He enlists mercenaries to help destroy the ships that his men are trying to escape to. How does he thank them? By accusing the mercenaries as the one who burnt down the ships and slaughtering them. Muradin called him out on this.

[[quoteright:285:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nerzhul_border_5688.png]]
[[caption-width-right:285:SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE! ...oh wait, this is War''craft''...]]

* ClimaxBoss: Of ''Wrath of the Lich King''. He's not the final boss of his expansion, that's Halion which leads to Catacylsm.

* MentorOccupationalHazard: A very unusual example in that Kel'Thuzad actually dies ''before'' he becomes Arthas' mentor - by his pupil's own hand! Once Arthas resurrects Kel'Thuzad into undeath he becomes TheMentor properly and waves off Arthas killing him.

* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Having cheated death many times, Kel'Thuzad's luck finally runs out at the Reliquary of Souls. His phylactery is smashed, and the lich is killed by the player characters, ending his life for good.]]

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Jessica Straus (English), Elena Chebaturkin (Russian)

* ForgottenFallenFriend: Arthas doesn’t acknowledge Kel’Thuzad at all following the latter’s second defeat. [[spoiler: Kel’Thuzad returns the favor while serving the Jailer, which is even more outstanding since Arthas is presumably ''being tortured in the Jailer’s own realm''.]]

* MoreThanMindControl: After he becomes undead, a lich to be exact, you may argue that he, just like many other undeads, is under the Lich King's mind control. However, you can't forget that while he was still alive, he is the one who found Cult of The Damned and already worshiping the Lich King since then. He also follows Arthas completely even when he loses control over weaker minions like Slyvanas and the majority of the undead, implying genuine loyalty.

* OnlyFriend: Arthas would eventually come to see Kel'Thuzad as his one true friend as a Death Knight, something that the Lich was very appreciative towards him for. [[spoiler: By the time of ''Shadowlands'', the status of their friendship is questionable.]]

** [[spoiler: Later, it turns out that Kel'Thuzad was loyal to both Ner'zhul and Arthas, rather than to the Lich King as a position. This is shown when he appears in Maldraxxus serving the Jailer, rather than offering his services to Bolvar after the latter took the position.]]
* VillainousFriendship: With Arthas. Arthas even calls him a loyal friend after Kel'Thuzad saves him from Sylvanas.

* ZeroPercentApprovalRate: Nobody that knows who he is likes him. He is the single most hated individual among elves, forever remembered as the traitor that led to the destruction of Quel'thalas. It is also implied in ''Arthas Rise of the Lich King'' that Arthas himself feels disgusted at him.