So, being the detail maniac that I am, I decided to go back through the wiki and see what I could find on the Praetorians.
...next to nothing.
The notable mentions of the Praetorians being evil rat bastards:
- Malaise inflicts his madness on people directly to cause them to see his warped view of reality
- Mother Mayhem has special asylums where she breaks people into psychotic killing machines.
- Dominatrix killed a respected and famed heroine (Miss Liberty)
- Tyrant's reign is said to be "heavy handed" and it's "only by the assistance of Neuron that he retains his throne so easily"
The notable exceptions:
- Anti-Matter's boss level minion has a mention that it must be carefully deployed when around civilians due to its high levels of radiation.
- Battle Maiden's troopers have a whole theme of loyalty to their master and one another, and even remembrance of the dead on the other side of the battle
line.
- Bobcat's minions come from essentially the same recruitment pool as the Lost: the downtrodden and homeless, which she integrates into her minions based
on how trustworthy they are to her.
Conclusion:
Any of the above bits, including Tyrant's flavor text, can be ignored by the simple addition of some kind of secret police that ferrets out potentials for
the various Praetorians' personal guard. With that in place, the "paradise" of Praetoria is about as much of a retcon as Kryptonite. Game, set,
match. Well done, devs. You know your lore better than WoW's devs do theirs.
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."
...next to nothing.
The notable mentions of the Praetorians being evil rat bastards:
- Malaise inflicts his madness on people directly to cause them to see his warped view of reality
- Mother Mayhem has special asylums where she breaks people into psychotic killing machines.
- Dominatrix killed a respected and famed heroine (Miss Liberty)
- Tyrant's reign is said to be "heavy handed" and it's "only by the assistance of Neuron that he retains his throne so easily"
The notable exceptions:
- Anti-Matter's boss level minion has a mention that it must be carefully deployed when around civilians due to its high levels of radiation.
- Battle Maiden's troopers have a whole theme of loyalty to their master and one another, and even remembrance of the dead on the other side of the battle
line.
- Bobcat's minions come from essentially the same recruitment pool as the Lost: the downtrodden and homeless, which she integrates into her minions based
on how trustworthy they are to her.
Conclusion:
Any of the above bits, including Tyrant's flavor text, can be ignored by the simple addition of some kind of secret police that ferrets out potentials for
the various Praetorians' personal guard. With that in place, the "paradise" of Praetoria is about as much of a retcon as Kryptonite. Game, set,
match. Well done, devs. You know your lore better than WoW's devs do theirs.
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."