TB

TL;DR: Terrorblade is the hero equivalent of that awful Papa Roach song. He's really edgy.

Good writing and character design is achieved by the use and occasional subversion of a set of writing conventions. Terrorblade is no exception to this; he's actually one of the better-written of the cast. Certainly better than Tiny, whose entire identity seems to revolve around a series of rock puns.

Terrorblade is constructed around two interrelated themes. In this essay, I shall address each separately, highlighting how these themes manifest in his biography, voice responses, visuals, and ability effects, and then I shall link them together and explain how they work in tandem to create the character of Terrorblade. I am doing this in spite of having five major essays due in the next two weeks. Please send help.

The first of the two themes evident throughout Terrorblade's characterisation is that of mirrors. This theme is endemic in all illusion-based heroes, with the exception of Spectre and Chaos Knight; Terrorblade, however, takes this theme a step further than them. Whereas the idea of mirrors is a secondary theme in someone like Morphling, whose primary character focus is on (unsurprisingly) shapeshifting, morphing, and deception, Terrorblade uses mirrors as his primary thematic motif. Sentenced to Foulfell, Terrorblade was forced to "gaze eternally into the twisted reflection of their [sic] own soul". Foulfell has appeared before this; Wraith Night had Foulfell Shards, which appeared graphically as mirror fragments, thus leading to the popular depiction of Foulfell as a fractal, demonic mirror dimension. Terrorblade also "ruled in the hell of Foulfell" and "made himself master of his own reflected worst self". Clearly, mirrors play an important part in his backstory, and his powers demonstrated in-game stem from the manipulation of reflections and mirrors. Reflection forces enemies to gaze into their own worst selves; Conjure Image summons a fractal, fragmented and imperfect mirror self of Terrorblade; and Metamorphosis shows him metaphorically shattering the mirror entirely and assuming his full, terrible power (as per the description of his arcana). Sunder is the least thematically relevant of all his abilities, and will have its own mention later on in this work in relation to secondary themes.

Visually, Terrorblade also utilises this mirror theme, especially with the arcana. Aside from the obvious Reflection and Conjure Image, Terrorblade's physical form is composed of jagged plates that reflect light (with shadows turned on in game settings, and the arcana equipped). His armour appears to be at least partially made of some mirror-like substance - what is under that armour, or if that armour is actually his body, is unknown. Furthermore, his arcana provides a custom death animation for those he kills, which from a distance mimics someone puckering up into their own asshole. However, when examined more closely, the animation shows the victim shattering, much akin to a mirror, and their life essence being consumed by Terrorblade (see secondary themes). Although this effect is reliant on the arcana, it serves to highlight the visual nature of Terrorblade's primary thematic elements alongside that of his abilities.

The second primary theme Terrorblade possesses works with the first to generate interest in the character. This theme is "fear", and is equally as obvious as mirrors are - it is quite literally a part of his name. The purpose of Foulfell's punishment is obviously intended to elicit a reaction of terror and denial of their worst selves from its inmates; Terrorblade's shattering of its fractal walls is symbolic of his assuming complete power over fear, something he quite obviously delights in. His voice lines make this evident - "fear what you will never understand", "quiver and quail", "the wise flee my footfalls", "fear comes for you", "they cannot hide". I could go on, but I believe the point has been made.

Yet this is somewhat ironic, as Terrorblade's punishment still lingers within him as his metamorphosed form - his power over fear comes from his being afraid of himself, and the intimate knowledge this terror brings him. One of his lines for using Metamorphosis is "Ahm'sol miskath ozh", a line in Ozkavosh that translates to "All hope fails me." Terrorblade and Metamorphosis Terrorblade are two distinct personalities - the Meta Terrorblade is decidedly more violent, cruel, and downright evil, delighting in his monstrous power (Eyik ozh poz!) whereas Terrorblade is more prideful and underhanded, and with more emphasis on mischief and rogue-like behaviour as opposed to brute force carnage (My aggrandizement increases!).

His abilities, as with the theme of mirrors, serve to act as vessels to convey the theme of fear. Reflection, by creating a 'worst self' of enemies, incites and spreads the same fear that Terrorblade himself feels. Although I freely admit this next point is a stretch, the split-pushing capabilities of Terrorblade can also be seen as a thematic application of his work to "turn his terror loose upon all creation".

These two themes work together; the mirror is the source of Terrorblade's power, and fear is the manifestation of that power. The blending of these themes is most apparent in Metamorphosis; as I explained, Terrorblade fears his worst self reflected back at him, but that fear grants him power over the fear of others. His fear of his own self, although not explicitly stated, is the primary character drive for Terrorblade; he is as much a victim of himself as he is the perpetrator. Others being susceptible to fear grants him power; hence his rivalry with Timbersaw, who as the leafy lumberjack Batman is somewhat immune to the terror Terrorblade inflicts.

The character also has a couple of secondary themes. The first of these is thieving; Terrorblade was imprisoned for his thievery, and upon breaking out of Foulfell retained his status as a "cosmic iconoclast". Sunder is the primary manifestation of this theme, stealing the enemy's life force; his arcana kill animation also shows him stealing the life force from his slain foes. This is relegated to a secondary motif as it is not as endemic in his design; Terrorblade as a thief is a remnant of his pre-Foulfell self that he clings to in order to differentiate himself from the brutal sadism of Meta Terrorblade. The second of these lesser themes is rage, or wrath; this motif manifests itself in Metamorphosis, where "the rage rises up and takes control". Terrorblade also references his rage in his responses - "all anger ends in cruelty", "the hunter demon rages". Rage is a character trait of Meta Terrorblade that is used as a weapon of terror.

Despite the copious edgelord appearance, the character of Terrorblade is considerably deeper than first appearances dictate. I've not covered every aspect of his personality and interactions; such an effort would take far more time than I have already. Nevertheless, analysis of motifs can be applied to any hero in the game to reveal the construction of their character.