Why Illidan is Not A Bro

There is almost no consistency between the Illidan of Warcraft 3 (or even just the instruction manual) and Legion. Only some elements remain but to completely different effect.

In Legion, he is competent and in control of himself and what is around him. Solemnly standing tall after mistreatment and being misunderstood by those around him

In WC3 he's almost a high-functioning drug addict. Full of reckless and short-sighted ambition, and largely personal ambition as well. As a result he was a rather powerful individual to be sure. However this aspect had impaired his judgement, often overpowered his virtuous qualities, alienated everyone close to him (before the War of the Ancients even, as he would try to impress Tyrande with reckless use of his magic), and made him easy to misunderstand. That being what was tragically compelling about him.

Retconning his ambition into being something greater than his own interest would be fine, there was enough in the DNA of the character to pull that off. But this is too much


So basically Illidan has low Wisdom so he interprets solidly philosophical/spiritual statements like "sacrifice" in a more literal/materialistic manner than it was intended

Makes sense since his flaw in WC3 was being greedy and shortsighted as Kael would say.

His ambition exceeded his judgment and he ends up an outcast

Illidan isnt a bad guy in the sense that he is malicious but has the habits and traits of someone who becomes a danger

I mean he is right that Ravencrest is a coward whose second-guessing was unhelpful.

But for Illidan his recklessness and greed doesnt end there. Hence why people didnt trust him. They werent simply being unfair and judgmental of a his actions in a single scenario but his actions and behavior in a holistic manner.

Akama and Kael didnt trust him. Neither did Tyrande or Malfurion. Even if they sympathized with him they didnt trust him. That says something. These people were closest to him.

Illidan would often show off his magic in destructive ways to impress Tyrande according to the WC3 manual. Hardly the behavior of a well balanced bloke

Interestingly Illidan becoming a Demon Hunter to use the fel against the Legion, and his commitment to Arcane causing him to remake the well of eternity to fight the legion, and even creating the Illidari in Outland was all to counter the Legion by fighting fire with fire.

Evidence for this imo can be found in the Green Fire Quest wherein the Reliquary of Souls was seen as Illidan's attempt to remake the Well of Eternity.

And the mount that drops from Gul Dan has the description saying "the Illidari used Infernals as assault mounts when fighting the Legion."

An example of the Illidari trying to turn the Legion's power against them