Project Lore

Thrall, Jaina, Varian, Sylvanas, Magni, these are all leaders that we hold some attachment to.  Wrath of the Lich King has brought new dynamics to the characters (and in some cases armor), shown new sides of their psyche, and reinforced others.  They are more than familiar characters to players thanks to trailers, quests, and in-game interactions, but that's only four of the ten leaders.  The rest, well they've faded into the limelight, retreated from the throws of war, usually the Third War, to live a life of relative peace.  Or Blizzard just hasn't bothered writing them into a storyline.

Ordered in relative uselessness, from least to most:

Cairne Bloodhoof - Cairne is the first good ole boy from the Third War.  Thanks to his veteran status he's seen as one of the wisest leaders of the Horde.  Like most wise people he takes an incredible amount of time to make a decision - we assume he's busy weighing all the complexities - which have put him at odds with quick-to-decide people like Garrosh. Cairne hasn't done much for players lately, but he's been grooming his son for eventual leadership.  An act that has many people wondering about his immediate future.  This reason alone keeps him somewhat relevant.

Tyrande Whisperwind - Her elfen complexion drew me to the Warcraft 3 box like you wouldn't believe, and later art only reaffirmed her sex symbol status in Warcraft lore (just don't look at her high school picture).  It should be no shock that brothers fought over her affection in their early years.  The love triangle between herself, Malfurion and Illidan was a driving force in Warcraft 3, one that went unrequited until Illidan's demise in The Burning Crusade.  Something she wasn't a part of.  The leader of the night elves hasn't been a major player in the lore since Malfurion became trapped in the Emerald Dream, which was before WoW was launched.  She's made cameos - the battle against Eranikus and a spot in the WoW comic - but nothing serious.  We may be stuck with emo Tyrande until the Emerald dream finally opens.

Vol'jin - As the leader of the most under-played race in the game it's not that surprising that the witchdoctor is underutilized.  Outside of a couple of quests and a cameo in the Battle for the Undercity, Vol'jin has been largely ignored by the writing staff.  It seems that his sole purpose is his little bromance with Thrall, the savior of him and his people during the Warcraft 3 campaign. 

Gelbin Mekkatorque - The exiled leader of the gnomes is easily the least useful racial leader in the game.  He has little background, had no known place in the earlier wars and continues to suck at fending off the Horde invaders.  He even allowed his once prosperous city to be usurped by Thermaplug thanks to his unwillingness to ask for aid from the nearby dwarves.  I guess it only makes sense that the most useless leader is the leader of the race with the least lore.  It's worth mentioning that we know more aboutThermaplug, Mekkatorque's former adviser, than the deposed leader himself.

I'm not suggesting that we simply kill off nostalgic cast members to get things moving, as LoreCrafted has, but something needs to be done.  These are the leaders of entire people, and yet Saurfang and Garrosh receive far more face time and global impact than the entire list.  I hope the reboot of WoW via Cataclysm gives these heroes a new drive.  Frankly, they've been without a storyline, central role or even a major side quest, for far too long. 

Could Velen and Lor'themar have been included in this list?  Possibly, but they were a large part of The Burning Crusade and have had some impact on the world since we headed to Northrend.  Those four, not so much.