While some WoW fans just silently shrugged their shoulders, for others it was a cardinal sin. The legendary Gnoll Hogger got a new model in WoW and suddenly didn’t look so threatening to many players. In the eyes of many Alliance players, he became a joke figure rather than the feared gnoll from Elwynn Forest that used to slay new heroes by the dozen. Now Blizzard has made significant improvements in the Dragonflight alpha.

What was the problem? Many WoW heroes have great memories associated with Hogger. For members of the Alliance, it was the first elite quest they ever faced. And like so many others, they attempted this quest single-handedly back in Vanilla, only to die within seconds.

Hogger is the leader of the gnolls, a scourge of the people of Elwynn and one of the most famous “minor” villains from World of Warcraft.

His new model didn’t suit him at all. The menacing gnoll became a bright, almost silly little dog – at least in the eyes of the fans.

What did Blizzard do now? The developers have apparently taken this criticism in the forums and on Reddit to heart and made improvements in the latest version of the Dragonflight alpha. Hogger has been given a unique skin with special clothing that makes him seem much more menacing right away. His fur color has been darkened once again, he now wears sinister clothes, generally appears more threatening. The staff of MMO-Champion has shown his new model here:

Here’s how the community reacts: The general tenor is positive to enthusiastic. Some of the reactions from the World of Warcraft subreddit are:

• “Now that’s a Chad Hogger.” – “Chogger”
• “This looks a lot more like his model in HotS, I love it!”
• “The model looks nice. I wonder if he will get his morning star weapon from HotS too?”
• “WHAT IS THIS TRUE? I AM SO HAPPY!!! I’ve been obsessed with gnolls since I was a kid and I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy about a gaming news.”

Some obviously care about Hogger – after all, many associate terrible memories with it.

What do you think of the reworking of Hogger? Is he finally back to being the nasty looking villain he was supposed to be? Or has the new model made things worse?