10-22-2009, 01:43 PM
Analyzing In-game Death Knights
Some Speculation by Moose
Hey there, CotH. Today I show you how to make something out of next to nothing. I was lurking through the files and thought I'd analyze the death knights presented to us in-game, in the hopes it can help teach us how to play our own characters better. We've heard from Grakor and Pies that death knights are these shattered, cold beings who have been torn down on many levels and are just beginning to rebuild--so what do we see to support that, and through this, how can we reflect it in our own RP?
The matter is, you don't have to publicly announce your troubles to have them, and you don't need to blast it in someone else's face that you've been hurt in the past--you don't need to wallow in depression, and most death knights seem to prefer to channel their concerns into rage against the Scourge anyway. When you consider how your character acts, it's important to remember that not everyone handles their troubles in the same way. It depends on your character's living personality and how that's been changed through undeath and time in the Scourge.
Let's get started, here. I've tried to get sources for everything I have, and those will either be linked or placed in spoilers.
The regular NPC conversation that plays when you click on one has an interesting connection to the way knights react to their troubles. Blizzard portrays death knights as impatient and quick to anger. They have little love for and patience with the living, though it seems that this coldness may not be shared with the dead--the phrase uttered when you leave, "Suffer well," is something I suspect is meant for death knights in particular. In conversation with Mograine in the beginning areas, he ends his speech with "Suffer well, [brother/sister]." (source) It's been some time since I've played retail, but I'm fairly certain that this is used as a farewell in the sound files regardless of class, without the sibling note attached--so it could also be considered a generic goodbye. But I still believe it pertains to the death knights and Depeche Mode.
What do these words mean? If you would suffer, why would you want to do so well? At first glance, it's confusing, or a song reference. But consider this: you can lose well, or you can lose poorly, a phrase which refers to being a good sportsman and not throwing fits. If we take this analogy and apply it to the death knights' personal farewell, we can assume they mean to say "be strong" or "don't give up." Even in the cold, harsh tone of every death knight's voice, there is warmth in their words amongst themselves.
We can also see the ashes to ashes reference, which reminds us of an immediate children's song. The line signifies cremation and the nursery rhyme itself is said to be a reference to the Black Plague (debunked here). But even if the rhyme itself is false, there are still some interesting lines to be drawn, when examine the song. (Ashes to ashes may also be a biblical reference, but that only occurred to me after writing the rest of this post so nyah.)
Blizzard made reference to this for a reason, which I feel is more than "becuz it soundd coo, lol." Death knights are morbid, but to what extent? We know that ashes to ashes likely refers to cremation, something that I don't believe is present in Warcraft beyond burning bodies and great pyres. But I have found some other interesting tidbits--namely, Hallow's End includes the burning of a wickerman and is primarily a Forsaken "holiday" (source). From this, we can presume that most free undead have an interesting fascination with fire--burning may represent purging or clearing themselves of their past, albeit in a violent way. Fire is also less harmful to the dead than humans given their lack of physical pain, which may symbolize their ability to withstand things that no mortal man could even think to go through.
Above all, death knights seem to communicate their stress through terseness and anger. Their threats may be largely hollow, though, a bastion for relief when they have nowhere else to turn. It's not like there are Ebon Blade support groups or anything--A Scourge Survivor? Seek Emotional Help Now! Get in Touch With Your Feminine Side!
Pulling back to my point about death knights relying on each other to keep themselves steady, but despising weakness, we can see this in the conversation between Thassarian and Orbaz Bloodbane in the beginning death knight area. After accepting a quest to save a death knight that has fallen, they demonstrate dual viewpoints that act in a pair and seem opposite each other, at first. Check the spoiler.
On one hand, Orbaz demonstrates the value of standing strong--suffer well. He implies that the then-enslaved death knights should be engaged in a contest of survival of the fittest, whereas his companion insists that they go back to help their "brother." Interestingly, Orbaz remains enslaved while Thassarian goes free at Light's Hope--this implies that leaving others to die is something the Scourge do, not the Ebon Blade. Instead, the Blade exemplifies supporting those within its ranks, in order to become stronger and eventually fulfill its desire for revenge. But how much of the Scourge philosophy is lost? We know that the Blade is dead-set on its movement--so how far are they willing to go?
I feel it's up to the player to decide where their character lies on the Survival-Brothers pendulum, though a severely survivalistic stance would likely cause them to seek company other than the Ebon Blade. I also find Thassarian's words interesting because it seems that death knights (in service of the Scourge) have cast aside their differences to better achieve their goals. It seems likely that this will stay 100% with the knights through their hardships, only being reinforced as the knights see what their once beloved homelands believe them to be--monsters. And do they view themselves as monsters? Certainly, some do.
Something else I would like to look at is the apparent haunting of death knights by spectres from the shadow world--we can see an allusion to this in The Light of Dawn. In his completion text, Mograine mentions that "the specters of the past will forever haunt our memories." What can this mean? It seems very vague and could be a reference to almost anything, most notably the death knights' past deeds. But when we see a quest given by Koltira somewhat later, his words become a little more clear.
At first glance, it seems that this has something to do with the hunger for death that is mentioned by Razuvious (source), but I believe this is not the case. The Lich King insinuates that he keeps these demons from following the knights, which means that they are either a creation of his own device meant to keep the death knights in check, or they are physical manifestations of the tortured soul. Myself, I'm not entirely sure where to go with it because you can only take an abstraction made concrete so far--it's fairly clear these aren't literal Burning Legion demons, but exactly what they are I can't tell.
I said before, though, that these tormentors remind me of shades--which may have a connection, even if not literally. While lurking around on WoWwiki, which may not be the most credible source ever but is at least partially trustworthy, I found more bits of sound from the shades. Specificially, WCIII ones, in service of the Lich King. Hmm.
Most of these quotes are references; though I have removed said notations you can still find them on the website. Shades are the souls of those doomed to mediocrity, supposedly, created from a ritual of sacrifice. Is it possible that something similar follows death knights wherever they go? From the quest, we learn these can be defeated by physical force. But how much you want to apply from game mechanics to lore is really your line to draw--personally, I take the stance that they're mostly an abstraction, there mentally more than physically (but a serious issue nonetheless).
So what have we learned here? I'm a TL;DRer, hah, Moose.
- The philosophy of "survival for the fittest" is a Scourge-borne philosophy, and while not completely eradicated it is likely seen as detrimental to the Ebon Blade's cause.
- Death knights have little patience for the living, and act detached towards those who are not "brothers in death."
- Some death knights, once having had their revenge, may be obsessed with seeking repentance for their misdeeds that they had no choice in performing. This may also extend to Forsaken.
- Death knights have a strong underlying community in the Ebon Blade, and are not liable to be emotionally volatile.
- Even in the Scourge, death knights were able to cast away their physical differences--race, gender, class--because of having a uniting cause. This has apparently stayed going to the Blade.
And what does that mean for my character, Moose?
- Your death knight is probably not going to yank the chain on a friend or companion in need just because of their dark past. In fact, even if they were that way in life, their travels in undeath may be a way to recognize their error.
- Your death knight is more likely to make friends with another death knight, if you didn't think of that already. Forsaken, maybe, but they seem to be closest only to those that have experienced the same thing.
- Your death knight's greatest friend is the Ebon Blade, without a doubt. They are like the beloved childhood friends of undeath, and the ones that stuck with your character through college and just so happened to choose the same career--in other words, death knights have more apparent loyalty to the Blade than they do to anyone else.
- Your death knight is more than likely not going to persecute a fellow death knight based on who they were in life. It just shouldn't happen, because of the unity that death knights feel with each other--not always expressed--and your character would likely be the "oddball" if they did so on a regular basis.
Whether or not any of these ideas really struck you as new, different or sensible, I'd like to make a note here. I write most often when I create a new character or get infuriated about something, and in this case it was the former situation--I've researched and written this for my own benefit, which has certainly helped shape my death knight, and would love anyone else's input. This has been placed inside the Lore discussion area for a reason, and that's not so people can gawk at it.
Moose
Some Speculation by Moose
Hey there, CotH. Today I show you how to make something out of next to nothing. I was lurking through the files and thought I'd analyze the death knights presented to us in-game, in the hopes it can help teach us how to play our own characters better. We've heard from Grakor and Pies that death knights are these shattered, cold beings who have been torn down on many levels and are just beginning to rebuild--so what do we see to support that, and through this, how can we reflect it in our own RP?
The matter is, you don't have to publicly announce your troubles to have them, and you don't need to blast it in someone else's face that you've been hurt in the past--you don't need to wallow in depression, and most death knights seem to prefer to channel their concerns into rage against the Scourge anyway. When you consider how your character acts, it's important to remember that not everyone handles their troubles in the same way. It depends on your character's living personality and how that's been changed through undeath and time in the Scourge.
Let's get started, here. I've tried to get sources for everything I have, and those will either be linked or placed in spoilers.
Spoiler:
What do these words mean? If you would suffer, why would you want to do so well? At first glance, it's confusing, or a song reference. But consider this: you can lose well, or you can lose poorly, a phrase which refers to being a good sportsman and not throwing fits. If we take this analogy and apply it to the death knights' personal farewell, we can assume they mean to say "be strong" or "don't give up." Even in the cold, harsh tone of every death knight's voice, there is warmth in their words amongst themselves.
We can also see the ashes to ashes reference, which reminds us of an immediate children's song. The line signifies cremation and the nursery rhyme itself is said to be a reference to the Black Plague (debunked here). But even if the rhyme itself is false, there are still some interesting lines to be drawn, when examine the song. (Ashes to ashes may also be a biblical reference, but that only occurred to me after writing the rest of this post so nyah.)
Spoiler:
Above all, death knights seem to communicate their stress through terseness and anger. Their threats may be largely hollow, though, a bastion for relief when they have nowhere else to turn. It's not like there are Ebon Blade support groups or anything--A Scourge Survivor? Seek Emotional Help Now! Get in Touch With Your Feminine Side!
Pulling back to my point about death knights relying on each other to keep themselves steady, but despising weakness, we can see this in the conversation between Thassarian and Orbaz Bloodbane in the beginning death knight area. After accepting a quest to save a death knight that has fallen, they demonstrate dual viewpoints that act in a pair and seem opposite each other, at first. Check the spoiler.
Spoiler:
I feel it's up to the player to decide where their character lies on the Survival-Brothers pendulum, though a severely survivalistic stance would likely cause them to seek company other than the Ebon Blade. I also find Thassarian's words interesting because it seems that death knights (in service of the Scourge) have cast aside their differences to better achieve their goals. It seems likely that this will stay 100% with the knights through their hardships, only being reinforced as the knights see what their once beloved homelands believe them to be--monsters. And do they view themselves as monsters? Certainly, some do.
Something else I would like to look at is the apparent haunting of death knights by spectres from the shadow world--we can see an allusion to this in The Light of Dawn. In his completion text, Mograine mentions that "the specters of the past will forever haunt our memories." What can this mean? It seems very vague and could be a reference to almost anything, most notably the death knights' past deeds. But when we see a quest given by Koltira somewhat later, his words become a little more clear.
Spoiler:
I said before, though, that these tormentors remind me of shades--which may have a connection, even if not literally. While lurking around on WoWwiki, which may not be the most credible source ever but is at least partially trustworthy, I found more bits of sound from the shades. Specificially, WCIII ones, in service of the Lich King. Hmm.
Spoiler:
So what have we learned here? I'm a TL;DRer, hah, Moose.
- The philosophy of "survival for the fittest" is a Scourge-borne philosophy, and while not completely eradicated it is likely seen as detrimental to the Ebon Blade's cause.
- Death knights have little patience for the living, and act detached towards those who are not "brothers in death."
- Some death knights, once having had their revenge, may be obsessed with seeking repentance for their misdeeds that they had no choice in performing. This may also extend to Forsaken.
- Death knights have a strong underlying community in the Ebon Blade, and are not liable to be emotionally volatile.
- Even in the Scourge, death knights were able to cast away their physical differences--race, gender, class--because of having a uniting cause. This has apparently stayed going to the Blade.
And what does that mean for my character, Moose?
- Your death knight is probably not going to yank the chain on a friend or companion in need just because of their dark past. In fact, even if they were that way in life, their travels in undeath may be a way to recognize their error.
- Your death knight is more likely to make friends with another death knight, if you didn't think of that already. Forsaken, maybe, but they seem to be closest only to those that have experienced the same thing.
- Your death knight's greatest friend is the Ebon Blade, without a doubt. They are like the beloved childhood friends of undeath, and the ones that stuck with your character through college and just so happened to choose the same career--in other words, death knights have more apparent loyalty to the Blade than they do to anyone else.
- Your death knight is more than likely not going to persecute a fellow death knight based on who they were in life. It just shouldn't happen, because of the unity that death knights feel with each other--not always expressed--and your character would likely be the "oddball" if they did so on a regular basis.
Whether or not any of these ideas really struck you as new, different or sensible, I'd like to make a note here. I write most often when I create a new character or get infuriated about something, and in this case it was the former situation--I've researched and written this for my own benefit, which has certainly helped shape my death knight, and would love anyone else's input. This has been placed inside the Lore discussion area for a reason, and that's not so people can gawk at it.
Moose
![[Image: lichkingfell.png]](http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/495/lichkingfell.png)
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