Why Are Planeswalkers Always the Heroes in Recent Sets?
Lore forum
Posted on March 30, 2021, 8:53 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
It seems that the main antagonist of the story of Strixhaven is a native of the plane of Arcavios, which is a change from the last several stories, in which the antagonists were from other planes, which I like, but it seems that the story is hinting that the Kenrith twins, and possibly Liliana, may be the main protagonists of the story, which is annoying, because planeswalkers have been the protagonists of almost every story since their card type was introduced.
It seems to me that WotC is implying that the inhabitants of each plane are incapable of solving their own problems and need to be saved by planeswalkers, which is annoying, so I hope that a future set shall focus on the inhabitant of the plane on which it is set, rather than a planeswalker.
What does everyone else say about this? Why are planeswalkers always the heroes in recent sets?
Omniscience_is_life says... #3
Marketing, my friend. I don't like it either, mainly for the reasons you outlined, but I can see why they do it
March 30, 2021 9:11 p.m.
RicketyEng says... #4
I would argue that the Throne of Eldraine story fits what you are looking for. Rowan and Will Kenrith are the protagonists but it is before their spark ignites so they and their companions are local inhabitants of the plane solving the problems created by a meddling planeswalker. Will and Rowan don't spark until the very end of the story, and for reasons unrelated to Oko's meddling.
In a similar fashion, the story for Ikoria is also mostly about the inhabitants of the plane dealing with their own problems. Vivien is present, but really shows her green colour identity by not interfering much more than by helping folks who want to preserve the natural order.
Story twist revealed here. Show
March 30, 2021 9:48 p.m. Edited.
Gidgetimer says... #5
I believe that the point OP was making was that the main protagonist was always a planeswalker. As opposed to planeswalkers always being protagonists. Despite they way they phrased it, by using context clues I came to this assumption.
March 30, 2021 9:50 p.m.
I heard the book was too bad to waste any time on, but wasn’t Lukka also an antagonist - he did want to kill a whole bunch of people, even if his motivation was madness born of grief, not being evil for the sake of being a poorly-motivated evil character (like Wizards prefers using).
March 30, 2021 9:53 p.m.
RicketyEng says... #7
@Mcat1999 Nissa is not evil now, nor has she ever been. In the events of Zendikar Rising she needed to take it upon herself to protect the new natural order of the plane. It became apparent that Nahiri's desire to restore Zendikar to the more tame and orderly state of the ancient times was going to cause a lot of suffering and death to elementals and even the living plane itself. Nissa went to Jace seeking help from the Gatewatch, but Jace was more interested in learning more about the lithoform core and how it could be used on other planes and he failed to listen to her actual problem. Nissa had to take matters into her own hands and do what she believed was right even if it meant fighting her friend. That is why her identity shifted into black for the set. She was victorious over Nahiri and Jace and now she'll go back to being her green self working to build and heal Zendikar.
March 30, 2021 10:04 p.m.
FormOverFunction says... #8
Eek. Another planeswalker thread..? < FormOverFunction-shaped puff of smoke >
March 30, 2021 10:10 p.m.
Bolas was the main villain in war of the spark oko was the villain on eldraine
March 31, 2021 8:18 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #10
shadow63, what I meant was that planeswalkers are always the saviors of planes, and that the natives of each plane do not seem to be able to defeat the villains on their own.
March 31, 2021 6:24 p.m.
To rephrase the original question slightly, why is the protagonist never a being that can't planeswalk? The center of the story isn't ever represented as "just" a Legendary Creature, and often, they're not native to the plane. It's the planeswalkers who always take center stage.
I fell off the story because of that. I've stated elsewhere that I think too many planeswalkers have been introduced. At this point, characters who would be considered Legendary Creatures (i.e., nameable but unsparked) are frequently side characters at best, and a background plot device at worst.
Sure, the planeswalker group of the day can show up on a plane, and even interact with it, but can't an unsparked person be the hero anymore? When was the last time there was even an unsparked character who accomplished anything? Niv-Mizzet or Teysa in War of the Spark, maybe. But those still weren't main stories.
Gidgetimer says... #2
WotC/Hasbro wants planeswalkers to be "the face of the product". It is a decision that I disagree with, but I am not a multi-billion dollar company so what do I know.
March 30, 2021 9:11 p.m.