Are all fictional settings equally generic?
As soon as I gain the almighty power of omniscience, I will let you know if they're all equally generic.
it's more significant than the connection to Dorfs.
No... it really isn't. I mean, at this point, you've already been presented with all the evidence and lists of tropes. I can't say this is anything but denial which I hardly expected from you.
Having escaped back to Azeroth, Deathwing ended up in a fight with some of the archmagi of Dalaran and feigned defeat, falling into the sea, where most of the council assumed at the time that he died. He was not dead, however, and he took a human guise, pretending to be a heroic noble named Lord Prestor in an effort to be declared king of Alterac, where he could manipulate the Alliance from within.
That was the official lore stance since pre-WoW.
That wasn't pre-wow, though. They made that all up solely for Cataclysm.