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So this is a thoughtful Analysis thread about Anduin Wrynn from World of Warcraft and why he’s so popular among lgbt+ fans and why so many people see him as a queer coded character, because its 4 am and I have a lot of thoughts. (1/20)
This thread is not about the aspects u would normally point to Not because of Anduin being a pretty man, not because of any sort of shipping, or because of Anduin still not having a fem love interest despite that he NEEDS to have children. Or his disinterest in women (2/20)
This is about how queer gamers can look at a character like Anduin and feel connected to him. (3/20)
Anduin Wrynn is the High King of the Alliance, King of Stormwind. He’s one of the most powerful characters alive currently in WoW. He’s still very young, only 18, yet he’s the leader of one of the major factions and holds an immense amount of authority in the world. (4/20)
As players we’ve seen Anduin grow and develop as a character from childhood That’s already a great basis for making him more relatable/lovable for fans. We’ve seen his struggles and triumphs. We saw him get seriously injured, lose his father, and bear the pain of war etc. (5/20)
Some of his key traits:
He is kind, generally soft spoken and polite, he’s rarely driven to violence even when facing down villains. He’s deeply compelled towards forgiveness and accepting those around him regardless of who they are or what they’ve done in the past. (6/20)
He is kind, generally soft spoken and polite, he’s rarely driven to violence even when facing down villains. He’s deeply compelled towards forgiveness and accepting those around him regardless of who they are or what they’ve done in the past. (6/20)
Because of this, Anduin has made a lot of friends in the series. And those friends have a tendency to become found family. He refers to Jaina as his aunt, Magni as his uncle. It’s also clear how Greymane and Shaw among others view him as almost like a son to them. (7/20)
found family tropes are deeply ingrained into real life lgbt+ culture. We find each other, we give each other the love and companionship and validation we can’t find elsewhere. Especially those who could never find such a thing from their birth families growing up. (8/20)
We seek out communities that we can bond with. not everyone is able to get a close knit group, especially teens. That’s why its so common for them to seek out the support they need through the media they consume and bond w/ others through characters they can relate to. (9/20)
Which is why seeing Anduin grow older along with us, and seeing him find a family of his own even after his birth family has died is incredibly compelling to queer fans. We see a reflection of the affection we want in our own lives. (10/20)
Another major part of Anduin’s character is that he is a priest. A class in video games that’s commonly associated with healing. Anduin is the face of the priest class in Hearthstone, one of the best healers in Heroes of the Storm, and a super powerful priest in WoW. (11/20)
There r many cultural contexts that come into play with healers, especially in gaming. It’s well known they’re generally associated with women & lgbt+ folk, bc we r more likely to play a supportive role. This is shown in MMO’s MOBA’s RPG’s (especially JRPG’s) FPS’s etc. (12/20)
Because of this, most healer characters in these types of games are women or lgbt+ folk. When you think of them, you think of Mercy, you think of Soraka, you think of a variety of feminine ladies in maternal roles who love to protect their allies (13/20)
Due to this, male healers in games r rare. They don’t give a fantasy that many people want. It’s hard to come up with a list of male characters that r straight up generic healers, instead of hybrid fighter type warriors, that r kind, protective, and compassionate. (14/20)
And the male healers that do exist instantly have a sort of queer coding attached to them because of all of these things. Men who take a backline role to help and support, traditionally a ‘woman’s role’. There’s a lot to say about toxic masculinity in gaming culture here (15/20)
The male healers that do exist in games r either queer coded, or clearly very stereotypically masculine to avoid it. Characters like Taric from LoL, Anders from Dragon Age, several from Fire Emblem, but Libra & Linhardt specifically, Mikleo from Tales of Zesteria (16/20)
Several of these characters are canonically lgbt+, or very, very heavily queer coded. All of these things together create almost a subconscious ‘expectation’ among lgbt+ gamers that a kind affectionate male healer character WILL be lgbt+. (17/20)
Once you get to this point, you start to understand why Anduin is just so compelling to a queer audience, and why so many lgbt+ fans project themselves on to him or are huge fans of him. (18/20)
He’s a MC, he’s in one of the most powerful positions in the WoW universe. He’s very strong from a strength/magic POV. He’s surrounded by people who care for him, he’s constantly shown being helped by his friends. He’s welcoming to everyone regardless of their past. (19/20)
To see someone that you see yourself in all these situations is extremely validating and comforting. To be dependent on others but still be shown that you are worthy of love. These underlying subtexts to Anduin are why he’s so lovable particularly to an lgbt+ audience! (20/20)
