Warcraft 3 and the otherness of the Horde: Orcs

The archetype of the Orc is perhaps most well known today as the primary foil for the heroes of the series Lord of the Rings as well as many Dungeon and Dragons campaigns. The Orcs, just as the other factions discussed in this series have had a history of being portrayed as villains and monsters, obstacles to be dispatched by various heroes and forces of good.

Introduction

The Orcs of the Warcraft world is described as warlike and proud, living a life of conflict and warfare. The Orcs of the warcraft world live for the honor of their clan and their name, and will rather die than to lose either. The influences of war and combat can be seen in most depictions of their culture and traditions, from the titles of their leaders, to the layout and construction of their buildings (Blizzard 2012).

The comparison between Orcs in warcraft and certain stereotypes relating to African natives is a topic that is very well handled in the text by Spiecker (2011). I will in this text primarily focus on the Orc as an expression of the other. Here the Orc will be positioned against the more westernized human. This dichotomy is something that has existed since the series inception. The humans always presented as logical, civilized and faithful. The Orcs, and later the hoard being their opposite of vilient, illogical and savage.

The other

The Other is one way of describing the object of the self, is to relate it to, or contrast it with something outside of the self. This outside force or individual is known as the other, and by defining the other, the individual can use said outer to describe what they are not. This sense of otherness can be used to draw lines between, secualities, nationalities religions and cultures. Otherness can furthermore be related to individuals, as well as to groups of people, be them companies, religions or nation states.

I will primarily use the other to discuss race, and nationality, but also religion and politics to some extent. The other has been used to describe the underlying motivational forces, and justifications for western colonialism, where the western white and supposedly enlightened race was set against the so called savage and wild African and later Native American nations. By describing what the European explorers saw as wild, savage and uneducated, they could place themselves as cultured, logical and educated. The Others were creatures of wars, cannibalism and brutality while the Europeans represented peace, enlightenment and prosperity. The process of describing the west by a perceived other is what  is in academic circles often described as Orientalism. (Mountz 2016)

The otherness of the Horde

I have described in earlier chapters how culture and religion has been used to present some of the members of the hordes as stereotypically “non European”, starkly contrasted to the eurocentric Alliance. The same sort of tropes that were used by Europeans to describe the other is present within the Horde, and within the Orcs in particular. Characteristics such as violence, superstition and “primitive” craftsmanship are all things that make out the visual language of the Orcs and the Horde as a whole.

Due to the Orcs and the Humans being the most fleshed out factions, being the only ones playable in all three original games, it does make sense that these factions, more than the rest, color the visual language of the games. It is not a far stretch to imagine that the human is meant to be considered the protagonist of the series, seeing that the writers, as well as the players are indeed human. As mentioned before, human architecture and cultures borrow heavily from western medieval costumes and architecture, something that’s made even more apparent when taken in account the witness of all of the major human characters’ skin.

One source of the creative decision of the Warcraft series comes from its original inspiration, Warhammer Fantasy. A series that is set in a fantasy version of Europe during the late medieval period,, Indeed most continents are present in the Warhammer Fantasy world, but with a large focus on Europe or “the old world”. Warhammer fantasy is a series I will return to later on.

Orcs are, as discussed earlier, often used as the typical antagonist in modern fantasy, a brutal warlike evil that can be set against the heroes and can be dispatched with impunity. While Warcraft, especially Warcraft 3 goes out of its way to humanize the Orcs and give them more redeeming qualities throughout the campaign, they still represent a society of war and strict hiercies. Where the humans have kings and ministers, the Orcs have warchiefs and warlords. Instead of building citides, they create war camps and forts. Each thing the Orcs create seems to be geared towards violence and aggression.

While the human faction also has soldiers, and fought in wars, it is not described to be so integral and tied to their culture and way of life. While not necessarily the intentions of the creators, this distinction nonetheless points towards a trend in western fantasy of the era. By tying certain cultural traits and tropes to the human factions, the text creates a link between certain culture, and humanity.

The image of the Orcs supposed savage nature is driven home by their architecture. Their buildings use bones and leather, giving them a more “primitive” look, when placed next to the human versions of the same buildings. The human buildings are mundane town houses and straw roofed hamplets. The orc houses are in comparison made out of stone and spiked poles, clearly made to be defensive structures. Even the seemingly civilian wood cutting structure of the Orcs is known as a War mill, further defining the Orc culture as one with a focus on martial traditions.

This dichotomy can most clearly be seen in buildings that create spellcasters. The Horde has a tent that brings to the imagination northern native american tribes. The human arcane sanctum that draws the imagination to alchemists and astronomers, with astrological devices and strange glowing runes. This distinction can be found in the units these buildings create as well. Where the humans have sorceresses and priests, the Orcs have shamans and witch doctors. Terms that I have discussed earlier in this series, but that rings of a clear Western and Non-western theme.

Conclusions

Throughout this series, I have used the trilogy of Warcraft to discuss the concepts of otherness when it pertains to race, faith and culture. In this final chapter I have discussed how the use of war and warlike traditions is used to differentiate between the more civilized Humans, and the savage Orcs. This destinction is one that has been used several time in human history to justify slavery and conquests. The example I have chosen in this chapter is the European colonisations of so-called “less civilized people and nations”. I hope to show with this comparison that no piece of media is made in a vacuum, and we are always colored by what came before us. But by becoming aware of this history, can we make more active and informed decisions of what kind of stories we wish to tell, and listen to in the future.

This series was made primarily to show that pop culture can be a great way to explore the people, societies and cultures that created it. It can help us understand ourselves and others, and our place in the bigger context of the societies we find ourselves living within.