Prince Arthas

Warcraft 3 is one of the best games I have ever played. Its only flaw is that it is one of the first games I ever had the fortune to play, and it unfortunately set the bar so high, that I haven't managed to fully enjoy a game like it since. Playing this game at 14 years old is like meeting the perfect girlfriend at that age; you have the best time of your life whilst your with her, but every relationship after her will never be as good.

To anyone who hasn't played this game before, the world in which Warcraft 3 inhabits is a Tolkien-esque fantasy world, with a myriad of humanoid creatures; all with human intelligence, living together in peace and war. The developers of this game have put a lot of love and care into writing the lore around this world, and as one article would not come close to retelling the intricacies of this epic saga, I will break down its story as simply as I can.

1) Humans live in a world called Azeroth, who along with elves and dwarves live in peace on a huge eastern continent called Lordaeron.

2) Another race of elusive, powerful beings are known as Night elves. These peoples live in the northern half of the Western continent, known as Kalimdor. They are purple skinned magical hippie types, who keep themselves closed from the rest of the world, except in times of crisis, like in the distant past of the world, when demonic aliens set siege to the world, to extinguish or enslave all life on Azeroth.

3) Now these demonic aliens long ago created a race of creatures known as the orcs. These orcs are innately neither good or evil, like humans. When made to drink the blood of demons, they become mindless, enraged evil, who

His narrative of turning from hero to anti-hero is so compelling.

It is not just the sword taking his soul that turns him from hero to anti-hero, his entire story as human is his descent from good into a morally grey zone.

Having Uther is a way of showing in hte story of somebody who is unshakeably good, even when it means more difficulties in the future

Against Luther, Arthas is the more Human, the one who acts more rationally, with more foresight. He shows how good intent and spock like rationality (destruction of town) affects a characters soul.

His character can be emulated in any non-fantasy world. Instead of a sword for example taking his soul, it could be a job etc

The hardest thing about this is how you spend an entire campaign forging and experiencing relationships with deep interesting characters, only for you to go 180 degrees in the nexxt campaign trying to destroy these same people. There is something so engrossing about witnessing this.

Also, half a story protecting what you'll spend the next half destroying. It is the best way of introducing a nemesis into a story..

The fact he is destroying what by royal decree is his, adds another layer of irony.