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Revisiting the Mage Class Hero Options

by - 10 years ago

Team Five has been busy recently, giving interviews and revealing some new and exciting aesthetic changes such as alternative card backs and optional class Heroes. While there is no word yet on when we will see these features, it hasn’t stopped the community from doing what we do best; speculating on who we will soon be facing on the Ladder and in the Arena.

HearthPro’s own ZenStyle kicked off discussions recently in his post, outlining his top choices for each class and the feedback from the community has been fantastic. So many of you have favorites of your own and you’ve been quite vocal about sharing your love or hate for certain class heroes. It now appears that we’ve barely scratched the surface and there is a lot more discussion left on the topic of class Heroes.

Rather than trying to cover all of the possible options for each class at once, let’s take a closer look today at some of the heroic Mages from the Warcraft universe and learn what is it about each of them that makes them a candidate to be a new alternative Mage hero option.

Agewynn

aegwynn

Aegwynn was selected from a group of five apprentices to the be the successor to the First Guardian after she mastered the extremely difficult Highborn Magic in her first year of study. She spent the next 500 years fighting demons on Azeroth in the name of the Council of Tirisfal, until one fateful day when she confronted and defeated the Avatar of Sargeras in Northrend, then trapped his physical form near the Maelstrom, within the conveniently named Tomb of Sargeras.

Believing Azeroth safe from the threat of the Burning Legion, Aegwynn grew arrogant and began to consider herself to be above the rule of the Council. Rather than taking on an apprentice to prepare a successor as the Council suggested, she decided instead to find a consort and give birth to an heir. Little did she know that all of her actions had been planned for by Sargeras. It turned out Sargeras wasn’t defeated that day in Northrend, instead transferring his essence into Aegwynn then waiting patiently for the opportunity to make his next move. During Aegwynn’s pregnancy, Sargeras possessed the defenseless child, positioning himself to further his agenda. Aegwynn’s son, Medivh, was born some 1,200 years after she assumed the role of Guardian of Tirisfal.

Her act of defiance over the Council ultimately paved the way for the opening of the Dark Portal and the arrival of the Orcish clans on Azeroth, starting what we now refer to as the First War. Upon learning of her sons plans, Aegwynn battled with Medivh in a desperate attempt to stop him from opening the portal but she was no match for one who had the powers of the Guardian and she was left severely weakened. In the years following the wars, Aegwynn has been secretly serving as Jaina Proudmoore’s Chamberlain and adviser.  Aegwynn has insisted on keeping her new identity a secret and it is unclear as to where she is today.

Medivh

medivh

Conceived by Aegwynn to be her successor, Medivh grew up in Stormwind Keep and his childhood friends included the likes of Prince Llane Wrynn (Varian’s father) and Anduin Lothar (Prince Anduin’s namesake). Around the age of fourteen Medivh fell into a coma, the result of channeling the power and knowledge of the Guardian of Tirisfal that his mother had planted in him upon his birth. The backlash from the force of channeling this new power, thanks to Sargeras’s presence, resulted in his father’s death and left Medivh comatose for the next 20 years.

Upon regaining consciousness Medivh had all of the Guardians powers and Sargeras wasted no time in twisting Medivh’s thoughts and emotions. Over time, Medivh developed an intense hatred for the humans of Azeroth. This hatred was of course fed by Sargeras and Medivh soon began to study ways of the dark magic of the Burning Legion in order find a way to destroy the Humans of Azeroth. With the aid of dark magic, Medivh discovered the Warlocks of the Shadow Council on Draenor and collaborated with them on the construction of the Dark Portal.

After the arrival of the Orcs, and as the war progressed, the mages of the Kirin Tor, still not suspecting Medivh’s involvement with the Dark Portal, began to plan for the succession of the Guardian and sent him an apprentice, Khadgar, to live in the tower of Karazhan with him. Khadgar would eventually discover the true nature of his master and the young apprentice would lead a plot to kill Medivh, but not before Medivh could secretly father a child, Med’an, with the Horde’s emissary, the rogue Garona Halforcen.  When Khadgar killed Medivh and destroyed the spirit of Sargeras, Medivh’s spirit escaped unharmed but the entire process released a curse upon Karazhan and the surrounding landscape, forever altering it.

Aegwynn used the last of her magic to resurrect Medivh and help his spirit regain physical form.  He wasn’t heard from again until long after The Second War when a strange prophet appeared to the young Warchief of the Horde, Thrall, as well as the Human Mage, Jaina Proudmore.  The Prophet Medivh encouraged the two to lead their people from the Eastern Kingdoms and seek out refuge from the newly emerging Undead Plague on the continent of Kalimdor.  Medivh then helped to unite the Alliance and Horde on Kalimdor to stop the invasion of the Legion’s forces being lead by Sargares’ second in command, Archmonde.  After the events at the Battle of Mount Hyjal, the prophet vanished, never to be heard from again.

Khadgar

khadgar

In his youth, the talented young mage was sent by the Kirin Tor to apprentice with Medivh in his tower at Karazhan. It wasn’t long before he began to sense something was amiss with his eccentric master, though he never suspected that Medivh was being controlled by Sargeras or that their combined efforts would lead to the opening of the Dark Portal. While Khadgar was too late to stop the opening of the portal, he managed to combine forces with Garona Halforcen and Lord Anduin Lothar (Medivh’s secret lover and childhood friend) to successfully thwart the remaining plans of his master and Sargeras, doing so by plunging a sword into Medivh’s heart. Upon Medivh’s death, and the release of the two spirits from one body, Khadgar was cursed and instantly transformed from a young man into a frail old one with a long white beard.

During the Second War, Khadgar, now an old man, fought with the Alliance of Lordaeron against the Orcs, all the while studying Medivh’s spells and the nature of the Dark Portal. When the tide of war forced the Orcs to fall back to the Portal, Khadgar attempted to destroy it, hopefully severing the link between Azeroth and Draenor. Unable to permanently close the rift, Khadgar oversaw the construction of Nethergarde Keep in the Blasted Lands to guard against any further attacks. Shortly after construction on the Keep was completed, the portal opened again and the Orc forces returned to Azeroth seeking out powerful artifacts. Khadgar led an Alliance expedition through the portal to the Orc home world where he quickly discovered that the Orcs were seeking out the artifacts to aid them in opening doorways to new worlds for the Horde to plunder.

It soon became evident to Khadgar that all of the energy unleashed from the many portals was tearing Draenor apart. To prevent Azeroth from being destroyed as well, Khadgar used two of the artifacts the Orcs were in search of, Medivh’s Spellbook and the Skull of Gul’dan, to sever the link between the two worlds, closing the dark portal and shielding Azeroth from the cataclysm of Draenor’s destruction. Khadgar was trapped in Draenor when the portal closed and the planet exploded, and he is now believed to be dead.

Rhonin

Rhonin

Today’s final candidate, and my personal choice for the new Mage hero is Rhonin the Red, a former leader of the Kirin Tor and Jaina’s predecessor.

Long before Rhonin became leader of the Kirin Tor, he was tasked by the Dragon-Mage, Krasus, and the rest of the Council of Six to set out on a dangerous mission into Khaz Modan to stop Deathwing from stealing Alexstrasza’s eggs in a desperate attempt to replenish his own decimated Black Dragonflight. Rhonin was assisted on his mission by the High Elf ranger, Vereesa Windrunner, the warrior Dwarf Falstad Dragonreaver and Krasus himself. With a gemstone created from Deathwing’s scale, Rhonin was able to destroy the Dragon Soul and save Alexstrasza along with her eggs. It was during this mission that Rhonin fell in love with Vereesa, later marrying her and starting a family.

While Vereesa was pregnant with their twins, Rhonin was once again called upon by Krasus for help. The Dragon-Mage had discovered a rift in time and summoned Rhonin and the Orc veteran Broxigar, to assist him in his investigations. For reasons unknown, the rift swallowed the trio and they were sent 10,000 years into the past, to the time of the first invasion of the Burning Legion.  While in the past, Rhonin rubbed elbows with legendary figures like Cenarius, Illidan Stormrage, and Tyrande Whisperwind. Rhonin began to practice Highborn magic and he eventually assumed command of the Moonguard after Illidan’s defection to the Burning Legion. As a reward for Rhonin’s service and courage, Nozdormu, the Bronze Dragon known as the keeper of time, allowed Rhonin to return to Vereesa at the moment she went into labor so that he wouldn’t miss a second of the twins lives.

Until recently Rhonin resided in the city of Dalaran, serving as the head of the Kirin Tor with Vereesa at his side. During the time between the Cataclysm and Mists of Pandaria, Garrosh’s plan to detonate a mana bomb over Theramore was revealed and Rhonin sacrificed his own life, pulling the bomb into Theramore Tower to minimize the explosion, while at the same time teleporting Jaina and the wounded city defenders to safety.

Honorable Mentions

While no less powerful or infamous throughout history than the Mages listed above, I would be surprised to see any of them as the new Hero options since, simply put, Warcraft history does not remember them as Heroes, but rather as villains.

Kael’thas Sunstrider

Kael

Before he was BFF’s with Illidan Stormrage and Kil’jaeden the deceiver, Prince Kael’thas was a senior mage of the Kirin Tor and the heir to the Sunstrider dynasty. His plot to summon Kil’jaeden through the sunwell at Magisters Terrace was thwarted by the Shattered Sun Offensive and Kael’thas’ head was presented to the blue dragon Kalecgos, confirming his death.

Queen Azshara

kyl-azshara-1320896838

10,000 years ago Azshara was a powerful Higborn Mage and Queen of her people, who used the magics of the Well of Eternity greedily and drew the attention of Sargaras towards Azeroth. She attempted to help him cross into Azeroth but ended up destroying the Well, blowing the continents apart, creating the Maelstrom and then cursing herself and her followers, turning them all into vile sea creatures, the Naga. She now presides as their Queen.

Kel’Thuzad

Kel'thuzad

Originally a Human Mage of the Kirin Tor, Kel’Thuzad was manipulated by Lich King to create the cult of the Damned and he was responsible for bringing the Undead Plague to Lorderon. Kel’Thuzad was killed by Arthas, who was a Death Knight by then, then raised as a lich so he could summon Archemond the Defilier to Azeroth. The fate of Kel’Thuzad’s phylactery – and by extension, that of Kel’Thuzad himself – remains unknown.

While this list is by no means a complete one, it does highlight some of the rich lore that makes up the Warcraft and Hearthstone universe. Don’t forget to vote for your favorite Mage by commenting below and let us know if there any special Mages that you feel should have been added to the list.

Up next, I’ll be looking at the Druid class hero options, so stay tuned!


posted in Hearthstone
JR Cook

JR has been writing for fan sites since 2000 and has been involved with Blizzard Exclusive fansites since 2003. JR was also a co-host for 6 years on the Hearthstone podcast Well Met! He helped co-found BlizzPro in 2013.


0 responses to “Revisiting the Mage Class Hero Options”

  1. Guest says:

    Great write up, love all the lore. Who knows maybe these villians will be in a playable adventure!

  2. [DKMR]DaLighzic says:

    Hey great write up! It is nice to see the lore of Warcraft every so often. Who knows, maybe your dream will come true and we will play these villians in an adventure mode!

  3. SkarnSW says:

    Kael’thas and others being villains doesn’t restrict them as future options. We already have Gul’dan and Garrosh! One is perhaps the most evil character in Warcraft lore while the other is the end boss of Mists of Pandaria! It may be called “Heroes of Warcraft,” but villains are obviously quite possible.

    Of those on the list, Kael’thas and Khadgar are my first choices. I like Media too, though he almost seems too powerful to be a peer with these others.

    Query: Why do you say Khadgar is presumed dead? He is alive and well in Shattrath. We’ve known that since the Burning Crusade. He’s also already a confirmed character for Warlords of Draenor.

    Overall, good post! Welcome to BlizzPro. I look forward to your next Heroes post.

    Oh and you might want to look at your phrasing in Khadgar’s section. It looks like you said Lothar is Medivh’s secret lover. 🙂

  4. Nightmus says:

    Wow! With all the detailed description, I want half of them available right now! =) I doubt we’ll see Medivh as he’s too powerful and isn’t in full control of himself. Kel’Thuzad and Azshara are too tied in with their themes of naga and undead/DK, so I wouldn’t expect them to become heroes. Kael’Thas is a good adventure material too, but he’s a more popular character, which might let him become a mage hero. Aegwynn seems unlikely just because she’s a woman – same faction, same race, same sex as the current hero, which is probably too similar for the first alternative. Khadgar and Rhonin are really good candidates. Although Rhonin wasn’t fleshed out much in the actual game, I can see him fit in with a new Dalaran board, which was actually already worked on prior to closed beta. Plus he has a badass red hair! =)

  5. Shtanky says:

    I like the concept of 2 options, one more Alliance and one more Horde, where lore permits. As a lifetime Horde player, getting introduced as Jaina, Anduin, and Uther make me cringe.

    For Mage, with Jaina in there it would make sense to have the Belf Kael as the other option.