Radiant Echoes trailer shows off the great villains of WoW: Ragnaros, Onyxia, Arthas…. and Hogger?

My stalwart compatriot Cory suggested this headline, but he suggested it as though it was some kind of joke. But it’s no joke: Hogger is a deadly enemy, and the personal nemesis of anyone who leveled through vanilla Elwynn Forest. It’s true that Stitches (also featured in this video) in nearby Duskwood was more likely to catch you unawares during vanilla, tromping down the main road on a murderous rampage whenever anyone started the relevant quest, but Hogger claimed the lives of a great many adventurers, perhaps because none of us expected a single Gnoll to be quite so vicious, and thus he claimed another victim.

But I digress, at least a little. This new video rather dramatizes The War Within pre-patch event, Radiant Echoes, which starts on July 30. Once again our buddy Khadgar is counting on us to step up and defend Azeroth. Admittedly, there are other things going on here — possibly with significant lore implications, as we see Magni trying (and possibly failing) to speak to Azeroth.

But I’m afraid I’m focused on Hogger. Fight Ragnaros? Sure. But fight Hogger? I don’t know. Come on, Khadgar, can’t you do the heavy lifting here for once?