Analysis: Warcraft III

The 2000s were the decade of angst, and one of the themes in which this came into expression was free will. Warcraft III explored influences that we can experience as overriding our free will as the Burning Legion and Undead Scourge, respectively symbolizing obsessions of Eros and Thanatos. The two at first work together, the Undead Scourge subject to the Burning Legion, until it turns against it. 

Lordaeron is Europe, Kalimdor is America, and Azeroth is Africa. The Human Alliance in Lordaeron who fell to the influence of the Undead Scourge is a symbol of the nihilism of Europe, and on the other extreme of the spectrum, the Night Elves and Orcs in Kalimdor and Azeroth who fell to the influence of the Burning Legion are a symbol of the decadence of the Americas and Africa. (An exception in Lordaeron are the Blood Elves from Northern Lordaeron who fell to the influence of the Burning Legion, akin to the Gothic/Industrial counterculture in Northern Europe).

These influences are best exemplified in their champions Illidan and Arthas. Illidan is driven to the influence of the Burning Legion by a craving for magical power, and Arthas is driven to the influence of the Undead Scourge by a craving for holy revenge. Arthas' goal is purification, which is why he culls his own people when they're diseased, and Illidan's goal is transcendence, which is why he turns against the laws of his own people. Both undergo a transformation, Illidan becoming the ruler of Outland under Kil'Jaeden and Arthas becoming the ruler of Northrend under Ner'zhul, an exaggeration of the high, cold, bright realm of Heaven and the nether, hot, dark realm of Hell — which themselves are an exaggeration of the Apollonian and Dionysian.

Ironically, I feel like my own psyche at that impressionable age was actually heavily influenced by the game itself. This was early in puberty, at a time when my Eros and Thanatos were heavily competing for space in my mindbrain. For a while, they were both balanced in their intensity, and things could go either way: if Eros won, I would choose a mainstream path in life, and if Thanatos won, I'd choose a loner's path. Then, when I played the game and Arthas defeated Illidan, it acted like a hypnotic suggestion, and Thanatos won from Eros. Culture has the purpose to our organism of passing psychic energies between people. We underestimate how much effect this has on us.