After looking at the potential failures of leadership in the next generation of GW(2) leaders, lets look at the existing leaders of GW(1).
King Adelbern
The archetypical over-the-hill warrior king. He was great once, and his biggest challenge came during his last years.
Depicted to be a stubborn die-hard by Prince Rurik in the first chapter, I think he somewhat redeemed himself somewhat when we went to rescue him in the Titan quests. Leading from the front!.
Prince Rurik
Man of Action, for a while anyway. Depicted as the real hero of Ascalon, by leading the people in a retreat. What? Oh well, heroism is not all about killing stuff.
His decisions are questionable in an "out of a pan into the fire" way. He did make the ultimate (or maybe not) sacrifice for his people. I'm just glad the White Mantle did not take our betrayal out on the Ascalonian refugees.
Jalil and Brechnar Ironhammer
Suicidal buggers. (See Thunderhead Keep and Ring of Fire Mission) Nice enough chaps, thought they look completely silly in the movie clips.
Besides their suicidal tendencies, they seem to make level-headed decisions. Not bad as leaders go, while they are alive.
Confessor Dorian and Justicar Hablion
We thought they were good, now they're just throw-away evil characters. Their motivations are unknown, although they could have lived it up in Lion's Arch, instead they were trampsing in the swamp and snow, getting themselves killed.
Evennia and Sadira
Typical young rebel leaders. They were doing well until they started messing with forces beyond their understanding.
Handing the Sceptre of Orr to Vizier Khilbron? Not too smart, ladies. In the end, their organisation paid for their failures, and one of them paid with her life. The other is living it up with the Seven Dwarves in S. Shiverspeak. FAIL.
Vizier Khilbron
Since its the Kingdom of Orr, I assume there's a King of Orr, who has an evil Vizier of the Sinbad mould. That alone drops points for the King of Orr. Shame on you.
As for Vizier Khilbron, his mistake was probably to constantly underestimate players who paid for their game. We'll win eventually. Get that into your thick skull. Got us at every turn though until the end though. Too smart to be a good guy.
Seer and Glint
Enigmatic, so I am not sure if they are actually the good guys. Their granny voiceover kills it for me though. Guides more than leaders.
And for though people wondering why Glint and his descendents won't help us in GW2, take a look in the mirror at what you were doing to get Bonus for Dragon's Lair. Sunny side up for you, sir?
Master Togo
Top bloke, lead from the front all the way to the bitter end. (Except when he gets stuck in Vizunah Square Mission).
He's always right, and made the ultimate sacrifice. 10/10 leader. *Yawn*
Emperor Kisu
Everyone was quick to use the "N" word to describe his descendant, but lets take a look at the good Emperor for a while.
Ok, Master Togo and a couple of Canthan Peasants praise his good work, but open your eyes. Look at the state of the place and tell me he's a good leader. Sure, he might very well be a benevolent leader surrounded by corrupt officials, but that makes him a failure too.
He does not have a troops to keep the city in order. So no wonder he does not want a protracted war in the distance against the Tengu. Anyway, the Tengu can talk, and are geographically a barrier between the humans and the non-talking Kappa and Nagas. Don't praise his sentient humanoids policies just yet.
Lets not forget that he's descended from an Emperor who allowed himself
to be killed by his super powerful bodyguard.
Count Zu Heltzer and Elder Rhea
What the heck are you guys fighting over? Both of them are push-overs with regards to their national treasures. Gave it to a bunch of strangers at the urgings of a few foreigners. I'm glad our storage systems aren't run by these guys. Dubious moral leadership.
Kormir
She admitted it. Its all her fault, all this Nightfall business. Curiousity got the better of her and she unleashed it on the world. And just to add insult to injury, she gets rewarded for it, instead of us.
Elona deserves Palawa Joko just for that reason. Curse ye Gods! The first thing WE would've done if we became a God is to feed Palawa Joko to Aijundu. (ok, maybe not, we all love Palawa Joko.)
Notice how she never fights when she's in the missions with you? At least give us some Shouts! All she taught me was how to use the Ressurect Signet, and everything else she did was either wrong or dubious.
Elder Suhl and Co.
Bunch of blame-shifting softies. They deserve their Corsairs and monsters. Leeching beaurocrats! I hope Palawa Joko got you!
Warmarshal Varesh and her Generals
We never even got a chance to think they were good. Varesh is too pretty to be evil, although the extra eyes became a bit disturbing after a while.
The fact that the Kournans on the ground were not interested in the fight is obvious. Varesh and Co. were foiled as often by their own Kournan troops as by us. Think about it. Poor detached leadership and a failure to bring the populace alone with their policies.
The Princes of Vabbi
They whimpered, they promised, they ran and hid, and eventually were cajoled into helping. Two of them had throw-away personalities, but Prince Bokka the Magnificent rocked.
Typical autocrats, taking care of themselves first, and hiding their heads in the sand when trouble comes. Their only good decision is in the fashion sense for their soldiers.
Palawa Joko
A sparkle in a sea of characters that lacked personality. So what if he is an evil undead tyrant, we love him.
He was decent to us, as well. So what if he wants to rule the Desolation, its not as if anyone else wants to be there, except to farm SS/LB points.
Crafty bugger made us do ALL his reconstruction work for him. Thats astute thinking. Obviously the undead are as lazy as humans without his leadership. And if he's able to band them all together again to threaten the world, all the power to him.
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