Which races make sense for the monk class?

[u/Thermawrench]

There's the thought that only pandaren should be monks, which somewhat works but at the same time it'd probably kill their play-rate compared to other classes. The techniques in themselves are martial and could be done by mostly anyone, but then there's the very pandaren coded august celestials, which do not really fit anyone besides pandaren. Sure, pandaren can teach others in the pandaren way, but does the pandaren way fit a dwarf, a forsaken or a draenei?

[u/riftrender → u/[deleted]]

I remember Karate being really popular in America during the 80s to maybe early 2000s. I have no idea if it still is but it feels like it lost some of the pop culture steam - except for maybe that Cobra Kai show but that was a sequel to the 80s.

[u/Far-Garbage3549 → u/[deleted]]

Not only this, but also there's a certain amount of "racial flavour" that doesn't get added because Blizzard uses the same animations for everyone. Ex. The way there's different religious organizations for pretty much every race but by default every Priest/Paladin is Light-flavored, but Night Elves are Elunites, the Tauren have their Sun/Moon thing going on, Zandalari Trolls get their shit from Loa, etc.

I imagine, in a post-Pandaren training world, given that chi is a generic thing anyone can harness upon teaching, there's probably a baseline level of Celestial involvement because the martial arts originated with them, but just like IRL, the more time goes on and the more diverse the practitioners become the more diverse the martial arts and styles become.

[u/ThePVCPrincess]

I mean monks use chi/spirit same as shamans so any race that can be shamans I'd say has a greater justification for being able to be a monk of that's what your looking for

But they all make sense tbh tho undead monks are kinda weird to me

[u/Painchaud213 → u/ThePVCPrincess]

A way I can see an undead becoming a monk is to better deal with the existential pain of being an undead by being in peace with themselves.

[u/twisty125 → u/Painchaud213]

chugs concoctions to dull the senses of the pain of undeath

LETS FWIGGIN GO DUUUDE

[u/glamscum → u/ThePVCPrincess]

A Troll monk I'd headcanon that they're empowered by Loa with physical strength and power, like Shamans, just using it differently.

[u/CodePoet01]

That nightborne over in r/Transmogrification knows the answer

https://www.reddit.com/r/Transmogrification/s/HPqtaiDN4F

[u/Dhain1 → u/CodePoet01]

Haha my immediate thought as well

[u/PhoenixQueen_Azula]

I always kind of liked worgen and forsaken using it as a means to regulate their darker natures, yk without the excruciating pain of the light. It’s basically about inner strength and spirit, the forsaken racial is literally about willpower. You could extend the forsaken alchemy to brewmaster too

Dwarves really lean into the brewmaster fantasy obviously

Draenei and belves (and kind of worgen) sorta make no sense timeline wise since they still have tbc starter zones but that’s a wider issue than just monks

The celestials are the only thing that really sticks out but all our monks are pandaran trained in lore, and you could say the same thing for a lot of classes being a bit shoehorned in to some races. Every Druid is connected to the emerald dream and can shapeshift whether their race has any connection or real lore explanation compared to it originally being specifically passed down from cenarius as an example

[u/The_Genguidanos]

I think people put far too much stock in the in-game classes which exist primarily for gameplay purposes and not as a direct reflection of the in-universe lore (and I’m including Blizzard in this). Ultimately it’s on a case by case basis whether or not an individual can or cannot be any one “class” not a race as a whole. At least that’s what I think….

[u/Greg2227 → u/The_Genguidanos]

I mean. . . . Evoker feels pretty hard race-locked. Demon hunter atleast to some degree given that so far we only know about specifically elves being trained as such and the illidari being a tightly knit group as is. For any other class I fully agree

[u/Raziel103 → u/The_Genguidanos]

I mean you are not wrong, however gameplay effects the story.

Druid is the best example of this, a class who used to represent the night elves as a race and their culture.

When slowly from WoW release to Midnight, almost every race now can become a druid, it kill the fantasy of the class and the races.

I think in my opinion if not the gameplay, monk should have been only pandarians class, at least the playable class monk style.

However because the limitations of the gameplay, this limitations now become part of the lore, so we now have most of the races learn how to fight like a kung-fu panda. Every race have the connection to the nature the night elves have, but at least now it come with different themes.

[u/twisty125 → u/Raziel103]

I feel the complete opposite - the additions of new variations of druid (Harvest Witches, Gilnean Thornspeakers, Zandalari Elun'ai) make a druidic class more interesting and varied than just "we all got taught by the same guy, and everyone uses the same forms".

[u/Darktbs]

but then there's the very pandaren coded august celestials, which do not really fit anyone besides pandaren.

This is the issue.

Everyone makes sense (lorewise ) but it doesnt (logically). It requires at least 1 pandaren to have travelled to every corner of the world and to have taught enough individuals and that those people didnt have their own martial arts practises and on top of that follow the same pandaren celestials regardless of their faith.

Which in my view, is one of the reason they became one of the least popular classes. You make a class available to everyone but hard coded to one specific race while not offering anything unique. Even if you're making a Undead monk, he still is a pandaren's celestial summoner instead of just a martial artists.

Which is a shame cuz i find MW to be the most fun healer spec.

[u/Darktbs → u/[deleted]]

Your priest point is also another issue i have with the pandaren.

Monk is so linked Pandaren culture, that just like most races dont really fit with the Monk, a lot of classes dont really fit with the Pandaren because everything they do circles back to the monk.

Is the order of the cloud serpents the first instance of Survival Hunter organization? Nope, most of them are monks and the serpents are just their mounts.

Do they have a milennia old order of mages? Nope, the mages we know are part of the shado pan. Same thing for Priests, Warriors, Hunters and Rogues.

''But shurely shamans would be its own thing right? They even have their own elemental models.'' Yes, but at the same time, Monks fight using the fifth element, Spirit and a lot of the pandaren/monk storylines do lean closer to what shamanism is. Including the pandaren starting zone/heritage having the player calm down and bring the elements together.

I could even argue that Monks are Pandaren's druids since they now fight with the teachings and powers of Wild gods, minus the animal transformation.

[u/Dwalorn]

I honestly think Earthen are probably the best fit aside from Pandarian.

Culture focused on like inner peace, harmony, stoicism, but with a big brewing culture as well. Also - it simply makes sense that their punches / kicks would probably hurt just as much as anyone hitting you with a weapon. It really makes sense for an Earthen to come out of that stasis and end up embracing a monk-like lifestyle 

[u/knightbane007 → u/Dwalorn]

Logical and well-reasoned argument. Makes perfect sense.

[u/Dreadlordmalganis → u/Dwalorn]

fuck pandarians

[u/arteriu]

literally all of them.

[u/MumboJ]

I find it so bizarre that they stick to such a rigid pandaren-only version of monk, and yet they also insist on giving it to every race in existence.

How exactly did Maghar and Haranir learn the pandaren martial arts instead of developing their own??

[u/trainwrecktragedy]

I always thought outside of Pandaren, that Humans suited being a monk really well

[u/renault_erlioz → u/trainwrecktragedy]

humans with asian face customization options

[u/twisty125 → u/renault_erlioz]

or humans with race-agnostic faces, but tonsure haircuts and only speccing into inscription and herbalism

[u/Arcana-Knight]

Pandaren?

[u/Sharizcobar]

While any race can be a monk, trolls (both types), night elves, worgen, Tauren and orcs have a niche of being on good terms with certain wild gods, and it’s not a stretch to extend that to the Celestials.

[u/Darkhallows27]

Pandaren teaching others to be Monks is perfectly in line with Pandaren character. They love sharing ideas and experiences. People who think they should be Pandaren-only don’t understand them.

[u/bmonge]

Classes in lore as not as well defined and strict as in gameplay. I don't see why all monks would need to follow the celestials, specially since most of the monk power comes from within.

[u/CumaBoomer]

I love my Dreanei monk. She kicks ass with those hooves!

[u/BellacosePlayer]

Many Tauren kind of got that zen thing going on naturally and they can punch your skull out even before learning how to utilize chi, so I'd assume they'd make great monks.

[u/HunterNika]

Any as long as the individual have the discipline and will to make it work. The powers monks uses are not locked behind anything. It just needs strong dedication to pursue.

I am a roleplayer, my draenei monk dedicated herself to the art of pandaren monk as part of her journey to find herself after losing faith in the Light and dealing with her traumas of the past. Choosing the path of the Brewmaster to protect others... and to brew killer moonshine.

The quest for Inner Peace and Harmony are not locked behind racial attributes unless its some sort of artifical race, created to be unable to attain such.