Animation
Azula
Avatar: The Last Airbender · 2005
A fourteen-year-old prodigy who was raised as a weapon
Threat index 84
Fallen Hero · Video games
The Lich King
A playable hero who becomes the campaign's own villain
Attribute scores
Power94
Intellect84
Menace92
Fear factor80
Cultural impact88
Charisma82
Editorial estimates on a 0–100 scale, calibrated against every other character in the index. Not official canon.
Who they are
Arthas is a paladin prince who, step by step, does terrible things for defensible reasons until there is nothing left of him. The remarkable choice is that the player performs each of those steps: you control him while he purges a city, and you control him when he picks up the sword. Very few games have made an audience complicit in a fall this thoroughly.
Defining traits
FrostmourneCommand of the undead ScourgeFormer paladin trainingCorrupted by a sentient weaponMerged with an ancient spirit
What makes them dangerous
He commands a continent of undead and can raise every casualty of every battle he loses.
And what undoes them
A fragment of the prince still exists inside the armor, and it can be reached.
Things you might not know
- The city-purge mission is one of the most discussed single missions in strategy game history.
- The expansion built around him became, for a period, the fastest-selling PC game ever released.
- The scene of him taking up the runeblade uses a piece of music that has been re-recorded for nearly every subsequent release.
Why number 3 in Most Tragic
You perform every step of his fall yourself. Each terrible decision has a defensible reason at the moment you make it.
Why number 5 in Video Games
You play the missions that turn him. Very few games have made an audience this complicit in their own villain's creation.
Why number 12 in Most Powerful
Command of an entire continent of undead plus a runeblade that steals the souls of everything it kills.
Why number 13 in Most Dangerous
A continent of undead under a single will, capable of raising every casualty of every battle he loses.
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