Characters of Warcraft

Major and recurring characters from the fantasy series Warcraft are listed below. The series began with Blizzard Entertainment's 1994 video game Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, and continued with Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, Beyond the Dark Portal, Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, The Frozen Throne, World of Warcraft, The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, Cataclysm, Mists of Pandaria, Warlords of Draenor and Legion. The franchise has been further extended with a series of novels, graphic novels, a live-action film, and other works.

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Aegwynn

Aegwynn, known as the Matriarch of Tirisfal, was the penultimate Guardian of Tirisfal. She is the single mortal champion imbued with the magic of a secret council who would utilize their collective powers to fight a never-ending secret war against the Legion. Aegwynn is recognized as one of the greatest Guardians and is renowned for apparently vanquishing Sargeras' avatar in Northrend. The Guardian Aegwynn grew powerful over the years and used the Tirisfal energies to extend her life significantly. Foolishly believing that she had defeated Sargeras for good, she continued to safeguard the world from the demon king's minions for nearly nine hundred years. However, the Council of Tirisfal finally decreed that her stewardship had come to an end. The Council ordered Aegwynn to return to Dalaran so that they could choose a new successor for the Guardian power. Aegwynn, ever distrustful of the Council, decided to select a successor on her own.

The proud Aegwynn planned to give birth to a son in whom she would vest her power. She had no intention of allowing the Order of Tirisfal to manipulate her successor as they had tried to manipulate her. Traveling to the southern nation of Stormwind, Aegwynn found the perfect man to father her son: a skilled human magician known as Nielas Aran. Aran was the court conjuror and advisor for Stormwind's king. Aegwynn seduced the magician and conceived a son by him. Nielas' natural affinity for magic would run deep within the unborn child and define the tragic steps the child would later take. The power of Tirisfal was also implanted in the child, yet it wasn't to awaken until he reached physical maturity.

Time passed, and Aegwynn gave birth to her son in a secluded grove. Naming the boy Medivh, which means "keeper of secrets" in the high elven tongue, Aegwynn believed that the boy would mature to become the next Guardian. Unfortunately the malignant spirit of Sargeras, which had been hiding inside her, had possessed the defenseless child while it was still in her womb. Aegwynn had no idea that the world's newest Guardian was already possessed by its greatest nemesis.

Certain that her baby was healthy and sound, Aegwynn delivered young Medivh to the court of Stormwind and left him there to be raised by his mortal father and his people. She then wandered into the wilderness and prepared to pass into whatever afterlife awaited her.

Years later she discovered her mistake and the fall of her son and in her grief sought solace in the far away lands of Kalimdor. There she eventually met Jaina Proudmoore and aided her in calming tensions between her fledgling nation Theramore and the Horde. She served as Jaina's chamberlain for a time, giving the young ruler wise counsel in the coming years. She later encountered Med'an, the son of Medivh and Garona Halforcen and guided him to become the new Guardian. She helped establish the new Council of Tirisfal and gave her life to give her grandson the extra power he needed to defeat Cho'gall, the evil ogre-mage. Aegwynn is recognized as one of the greatest sorcerers of all time.

Aiden Perenolde

Aiden Perenolde, King of Alterac, was the leader of the Kingdom of Alterac during the Second War. He was among the leaders of the Seven Kingdoms called to Lordaeron, and was present at the council which formed the Alliance of Lordaeron. He and Thoras Trollbane did not get along well. When the Horde led by Warchief Orgrim Doomhammer invaded Lordaeron, Aiden Perenolde negotiated with him to try and save Alterac from destruction. They came to an agreement; Alterac and its people would be safe, but the Horde was allowed to take the mountain pass into Lordaeron, giving the Horde a good strategic point.

Thoras Trollbane later found out about his betrayal, and besieged Alterac. Aiden Perenolde was later deposed put into custody. Alterac was later placed under martial law as a temporary solution. His son Aliden, his nephew Isiden and Daval Prestor (who was secretly Deathwing in disguise) fought over who would be the next King of Alterac, though eventually none of them succeeded.

During an orcish attack on Stormwind City in the aftermath of the Horde's defeat, Perenolde had the Book of Medivh stolen by his troops in an attempt to use for future leverage. He ultimately traded it to the Horde to rid his lands of Stromgarde and Lordaeron troops. Deathwing attacked the barracks holding the troops. His son Aliden was disgusted by the actions of his father, knowing it would destroy everything he had done to try to clear the family name. After the debacle, Perenolde was declared a traitor. Aiden later died in prison, and his son Aliden formed the rogue organisation known as The Syndicate. His nephew Isiden fled to Gilneas, where he gained the support of King Genn Greymane, though he hasn't been seen since.

Alexstrasza

Alexstrasza the Life-Binder is the leader of the red dragonflight and one of the original five dragon Aspects, charged with the guarding of all life on Azeroth. Once imprisoned by the Dragonmaw Clan within the abandoned dwarven kingdom of Grim Batol, she was freed with the aid of the wizard Rhonin who was given the task by his mentor Krasus (who is, in fact, a consort to Alexstrasza).

Alleria Windrunner

Alleria Windrunner was the Lead Scout and Intelligence Agent for the Alliance Expedition that marched into the orc homeworld of Draenor. Alleria Windrunner first earned renown due to the sheer number of Trolls that she slew to defend her people's homeland, Quel'Thalas, during the Troll Wars. With the help of humanity, the high elves ultimately prevailed against the Trolls.

Unfortunately, this would not be the last time that war would come to the high elves. During the Second War, the Horde burned down the borderlands of Quel'Thalas. The rampaging orcs killed Alleria's parents, but she and her two younger sisters, Sylvanas and Vereesa, survived. Driven by grief and hatred, Alleria vowed that she would have vengeance. Her pursuit of revenge took her into human lands, where she led an elite cadre of rangers in hunting down renegade orcs of the Bleeding Hollow clan, who had been trapped on Azeroth after the end of the Second War. The Alliance of Lordaeron had destroyed the Azeroth end of the Dark Portal to cut off further orc reinforcements from Draenor. However, the orc Ner'zhul and other Horde spellcasters used magical artifacts on the Draenor end of the Dark Portal, which was still intact. In this manner, the powerful warlocks reestablished the pathway between Draenor and Azeroth.

The Alliance reacted quickly to the renewed threat and sent an expedition through the portal to Draenor. Having achieved the rank of captain, Alleria was part of the expedition, which succeeded in its perilous mission and destroyed the Draenor end of the Dark Portal. Horde forces on Azeroth were cut off from reinforcements and soundly defeated, and afterwards the Azeroth end of the Dark Portal was destroyed. Alleria and the other members of the Alliance expedition shattered the Dark Portal on Draenor just as Ner'zhul opened a series of additional portals from Draenor to other worlds. Already weakened by the orcs' abuse of fel magic, Draenor began tearing apart under the stress of supporting the newly created portals. As the planet shuddered beneath their feet, the members of the valiant Alliance expedition realized that remaining on Draenor would be suicide. Thus, they chose one of the new portals and entered it. They have not been seen since that fateful day. Alleria, Turalyon, and the rest of her comrades were presumed dead, killed in the line of duty. They are honored for their sacrifice. A statue of Alleria has a prominent place in the Valley of Heroes, just inside the gates of Stormwind City.

In Legion, Alleria's bow Thas'Dorah is the artifact weapon for marksmanship hunters.^[1]

Anduin Lothar

Sir Anduin Lothar (portrayed by Travis Fimmel in the film) the Lion of Azeroth, was the last true descendant of the ancient Arathi bloodline, a knight champion of the Kingdom of Azeroth (later known as the Kingdom of Stormwind) during the First War, and the supreme commander of the armies of the Alliance of Lordaeron during the Second War. During the First War, the orcish Horde had invaded Azeroth via the Dark Portal. Lothar served as King Llane Wrynn's lieutenant-at-arms at the time. As the forces of Azeroth and the Horde clashed across the kingdom, internal conflicts began to take their toll on both armies. King Llane, who believed the bestial orcs to be incapable of conquering Azeroth, contemptuously held his position at his capital of Stormwind. However, Sir Lothar became convinced that the battle should be taken directly to the enemy, and he was forced to choose between his convictions and his loyalty to the king. Choosing to follow his instincts, Lothar stormed Medivh's tower-fortress of Karazhan with the help of the wizard's young apprentice, Khadgar. Khadgar and Lothar succeeded in vanquishing the possessed Guardian, whom they confirmed to be the source of the conflict. By killing Medivh's body, Lothar, and the young apprentice inadvertently banished the spirit of Sargeras to the abyss. Lothar and his warriors, returning home from Karazhan, hoped to stem the loss of life and save their once-glorious homeland. Instead, they returned too late and found their beloved kingdom in smoking ruins. The orcish Horde continued to ravage the countryside and claimed the surrounding lands for its own. Forced into hiding, Lothar and his companions swore a grim oath to reclaim their homeland at any cost.

After the First War, Azeroth (i.e., the kingdom that would later be renamed Stormwind) and all of its lands were devastated by the Horde. With King Llane dead, Sir Lothar took charge of the shattered armies of Azeroth and led the survivors across the Great Sea to the shores of Lordaeron. King Terenas, the ruler of Lordaeron, agreed to support the landless Azerothians. Spreading word of the threat that the orcish Horde represented, Lothar convinced the human nations and the demi-human races of the Eastern Kingdoms to unite to form the Alliance of Lordaeron. Since Anduin was a neutral party and because he had military experience fighting the Horde, the leaders of the Alliance decided to make him the Supreme Allied Commander of their armies. He perished in combat at the base of Blackrock Mountain against the orc Warchief Orgrim Doomhammer just before the end of the Second War and the closing of the Dark Portal. He is considered one of the greatest warriors of all time. King Varian Wrynn named his son, the crown prince of Stormwind City after him.

Anduin Wrynn

King Anduin Llane Wrynn (voiced by Josh Keaton) is the son of Tiffin and Varian Wrynn, and the king of the human kingdom of Stormwind. Years ago, when his father disappeared, young Anduin was crowned king of Stormwind. Due to his age, he was unable to rule, and the task of regency was given to Highlord Bolvar Fordragon, a venerated paladin of the Alliance. Once King Varian returned to reclaim his throne, the prince began to focus his efforts on spiritual matters and diplomacy, traveling throughout Azeroth to understand how he might heal lands and souls ravaged by war. Anduin's spirit and empathy—unlike his father's warrior impulses—enabled him to form strong bonds with the draenei Prophet Velen and even a few members of the Horde.

In World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, with Pandaria revealed to the world, the young prince personally led a campaign to unveil the region's secrets and cool the flames of war that threatened to consume the continent. Anduin was one of the main opposition to the Horde's Warchief, Garrosh Hellscream, in his fight to save the continent and its people. Anduin eventually succeeded, however Garrosh was able to escape and initiate the events of World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor. When his father perished against Gul'dan's armies in World of Warcraft: Legion, Anduin, by then old enough to rule, was once again crowned king of Stormwind.

Antonidas

Antonidas was the former leader of the Kirin Tor, the conclave of wizards that rules over the magical kingdom of Dalaran. The venerable Archmage was undisputedly one of the most powerful wizards in the world. Towards the end of his life, though his failing health prohibited him from spending a great deal of time away from his beloved city, his apprentice, Jaina Proudmoore, served as his eyes and ears in the world. Antonidas long looked forward to the day when he would hand over his power and mantle of leadership to Jaina, who he felt would make an impressive Archmage. In Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, he was killed by Arthas Menethil and his Scourge army when they assaulted Dalaran for the Book of Medivh. He was succeeded as the leader of Kirin Tor by Rhonin.

Anub'arak

Anub'arak the Traitor King (voiced by Steven Blum in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, Frank Welker in World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, Darin De Paul in Heroes of the Storm) was the left hand of Ner'zhul and the former ruler of the Nerubian kingdom of Azjol-Nerub. Following his defeat during the Spider Wars, Anub'arak was raised into undeath to serve as the guardian of Icecrown. He eventually revealed himself to Arthas Menethil upon his return to Northrend, where he was ambushed by Blood Elf dragonhawk riders. Anub'arak called for an army of Crypt Fiends to bring the riders out of the sky and killed them. Anub'arak went on to guide Arthas to Icecrown so that he could save the Lich King from the demon hunter, Illidan Stormrage.

Following Illidan's defeat and Arthas' ascension to the Frozen Throne, Anub'arak returned to watch over Azjol-Nerub. Several years later, the Alliance and Horde mounted their invasions on Northrend, and Anub'arak was encountered in Azjol-Nerub by adventurers. He was slain in his chambers, but he would eventually return to antagonize the Argent Tournament several months later. The very same adventurers competed in the tournament and won the Trial of the Crusader, but the Lich King soon arrived on the tournament grounds and sent the adventurers plummeting to the depths below into Azjol-Nerub. Once again, they encountered Anub'arak, and he was slain once more.

During Jaina Proudmoore's purge of Dalaran, the High Elf Lan'dalock conjured images of several enemies from the war in Northrend to combat the Horde champion that had infiltrated the city, and Anub'arak was among them.

Anub'arak also appears as a playable character in Heroes of the Storm.

Archimonde

Archimonde the Defiler (voiced by David Lodge) is the left hand of the fallen titan Sargeras, the leader of the Burning Legion. Archimonde, along with his brother Kil'jaeden (the last of the Eredar, along with their third brother Velen the Prophet), was one of the first demons to rally behind Sargeras when the Burning Legion was formed. Unlike Kil'jaeden, who is more methodical in his approach, Archimonde is heartless and brutal, but very cunning and far-sighted. In his lust for power, he sought to become a god and wield powers that rivalled those of Sargeras himself. Archimonde first appeared as one of the primary antagonists in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, where his ruthless and cunning persona quickly earned him station and power within the Burning Legion. He is defeated by humans, orcs and night elves, who form a reluctant alliance in order to spring a trap on the Burning Legion, and manage to delay it long enough to allow thousands of ancestral spirits to eliminate Archimonde at Mount Hyjal, destroying the World Tree of Nordrassil in the process. Unbeknownst to them, however, demons such as Archimonde could only be severely weakened, but not killed, on mortal soil, and instead, Archimonde returned to the Twisting Nether and went into hiding, waiting for the next opportunity to conquer Azeroth.

In World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor, Archimonde is summoned by an alternate version of Gul'dan on the orcs' homeworld of Draenor in a different timeline. He is eventually defeated by the combined force of Khadgar, Durotan, Yrel, Grommash Hellscream and adventurers in Hellfire Citadel, and before returning to the Twisting Nether, he warns Gul'dan of his blood pact with the demons, before sending the warlock through the portal through which he was summoned. Whilst united, as Archimonde disappeared and Gul'dan initiated the events of World of Warcraft: Legion back on Azeroth, its people prepared for the worst, now with the knowledge that demons such as Archimonde could not truly be destroyed on mortal planes, and that he, along with others such as Kil'jaeden, awaited them in the Twisting Nether.

Arthas Menethil

Arthas Menethil (voiced by Justin Gross in Warcraft III and Patrick Seitz from World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King onward) was the prince of Lordaeron and son of Terenas Menethil. As a young paladin, Arthas was an idealistic, yet somewhat rash, young man who dreamed of one day succeeding his father as King of Lordaeron. Arthas became an apprentice paladin at nineteen and served as a favourite pupil of Uther the Lightbringer for many years. Though Arthas loved the kindly Uther as an uncle, he longed to take command of his own destiny and become a hero like the brave veterans who fought the orcs during the Second War. Despite the heartache he felt when his brief affair with the sorceress, Jaina Proudmoore, came to an end, Arthas remained remarkably committed to his roles as both the Prince of Lordaeron and as a holy paladin. He had a deep reverence for the holy Light and wanted nothing more than to safeguard his beloved people from harm.

In Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, when Arthas took up the fight against the Scourge, he became increasingly frustrated and stymied by the seemingly unstoppable enemy. Arthas took increasingly extreme steps to conquer them. Finally Arthas' comrades warned him that he was losing his grip on humanity. Arthas' fear and resolve proved to be his ultimate undoing. He tracked the plague's source to Northrend, intending to end its threat forever. Instead, Arthas eventually fell prey to the Lich King's tremendous power when he took up the cursed runeblade, Frostmourne, believing that it would save his people. Though the blade did grant him unfathomable power, it also stole his soul and transformed him into the greatest of the Lich King's death knights. With his soul imprisoned and his sanity dissipated, Arthas led the Scourge against his own kingdom. He murdered his own father, King Terenas, and crushed Lordaeron under the Lich King's iron heel. He then led the assault on the high elf kingdom of Quel'thalas, where he murdered most of the high elf population, including Sylvanas Windrunner, and raised her as a banshee. He then destroyed the high elf capital of Silvermoon City and used their sacred Sunwell to resurrect the fallen wizard Kel'Thuzad as a Lich. In Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, when the Lich King was threatened by the forces of Illidan Stormrage, Arthas travelled to the Frozen Throne in Northrend and battled against the demon hunter, eventually prevailing. He then journeyed to the top of the Frozen Throne and broke the ice surrounding his master, donning the Lich King's helm and merging with his spirit, and he took full control of the Scourge.

Arthas is the primary antagonist in World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, where he challenged the Alliance and the Horde by initiating attacks on their respective cities, leading both factions to march to Northrend and wage war against him. At the Wrathgate, outside Arthas' stronghold of Icecrown Citadel, the combined force of the Alliance and Horde, led by Bolvar Fordragon and Dranosh Saurfang, battled against and defeated the Scourge defenders. Arthas then answered the call of his attackers, killing Saurfang and summoning another army, until they were interrupted by Grand Apothecary Putress, who unleashed a plague that killed the armies of the Alliance, Horde and Scourge alike. Arthas fell back, while Bolvar was eventually saved when dragons cleansed the land around him with fire, eradicating the plague from his dying body, but burning him beyond recognition. Realising that Bolvar was still alive, Arthas then seized the opportunity to capture and torture him. Meanwhile, Jaina Proudmoore and Sylvanas Windrunner journeyed to Icecrown Citadel to face Arthas. Both had come for different reasons: Jaina hoped to discover whether a part of her former friend still lived; Sylvanas longed to take revenge on her old enemy. Their confrontation with Arthas, along with adventurers from both the Alliance and Horde, involved thousands of souls consumed by Frostmourne. Tirion Fordring then led a final assault on Icecrown Citadel, defeating Arthas' most powerful minions, including the resurrected Dranosh as a death knight, until he came face-to-face with Arthas at the top of the Frozen Throne. There, Tirion and adventurers killed Arthas, and he was succeeded as the Lich King by Bolvar Fordragon.

Arthas also appears as a playable character in the crossover game Heroes of the Storm.

Aysa Cloudsinger

Aysa Cloudsinger is a female panderen and follower of the path of Tushui. Aysa believes in living a venerable life through meditation, rigorous training, and moral conviction. Graceful and poised, Aysa has attained impeccable form and a refined intellect through diligent practice. To Aysa, to follow the way of Tushui is to defend what is right above all else. She believes that success in any endeavor never justifies dishonorable deeds. While the Alliance contains a diverse mix of cultures, Aysa is attracted to the high ideals and values that cement the Alliance together.

Azshara

Queen Azshara (voiced by Laura Post) was the last monarch in all of night elf history. Her reign culminated in the War of the Ancients and the Sundering, after which night elf society underwent sweeping change. Strong-willed, manipulative, and incomparably beautiful, Azshara possessed far more magical talent than almost any other night elf. As one of the Highborne and the sole heir to the throne, she had long been fascinated with the Well of Eternity. After her coronation, she indulged her interests to the fullest. Soon she ordered the construction of a lavishly bejeweled palace on one of the Well's shores. Seeking to please the queen, the nobles proposed that the night elf capital city be renamed in her honor. Azshara graciously accepted, and after much heated debate, the city's name was changed to Zin-Azshari, or "glory of Azshara". Night elves everywhere celebrated the city's new name, for they loved their queen as much as they distrusted the decadent Highborne. Such was her charm that her people did not truly consider her one of the Highborne.

Azshara and her court took up residence in the new palace as soon as it was complete. Many of the Highborne living in the palace devoted themselves to constant study of the Well. As their obsession grew, these Highborne drew magic from the Well's depths and channelled the chaotic energies into ever-greater spells. The Well was thrown into constant turmoil; dark storms broke out over its surface, and its waters darkened until they became utterly black. Sargeras, creator of the Burning Legion, sensed the Highborne's powerful spells and reached out to contact them from the Twisting Nether. With little effort, he corrupted all of the Highborne in the palace, including Azshara, and bent them to his will. They quickly abandoned all of their previous work and focused on bringing the Legion into Azeroth. The mesmerised nobles' primary goal, however, was to widen and stabilize the portal leading from the Twisting Nether to Azeroth, so that Sargeras himself, who promised that he would remake the world into a paradise, could enter the world. Working feverishly, the Highborne summoned demon after demon into their midst. As the storms surrounding the Well grew more violent, a crowd of frightened night elves gathered outside the palace, hoping for an explanation from their queen. When the palace gates opened at last, however, a demonic army poured out and began slaughtering the citizens of Zin-Azshari. Only the Highborne that were serving the Legion from within the palace were left untouched. Firmly in Sargeras' thrall, the palace guards watched the massacre and made no effort to help their dying people.

The queen believed that in Sargeras, she had at last found a worthy mate, and she was certain that he would be hers once he arrived on Azeroth. As time passed, she grew impatient and suggested restricting the Well of Eternity so that its energies would be available only to the Legion and their Highborne servants. Her chief advisor, Lord Xavius, worked with the rest of the palace Highborne and the Legion to implement her idea, erecting a magical shield around the Well. Suddenly cut off from the Well, the night elf defenders realised that something catastrophic had happened. Refugees from Zin-Azshari brought news of the demonic invasion to Black Rook Hold, home of Lord Kur'talos Ravencrest. Kur'talos added the refugees who could fight to his own soldiers, and the army set out for Zin-Azshari. The War of the Ancients had broken out in earnest. With the help of several allies, the druid Malfurion Stormrage destroyed the shield and killed Xavius. Azshara made Captain Varo'then her new advisor and her chief liaison with the Legion. By this time the Legion was divided: many of its demonic minions were out on the battlefield instead of helping to stabilize the portal into the Twisting Nether. The queen blamed Kur'talos' strong leadership of the night elf defenders for delaying Sargeras' arrival. She ordered Varo'then to eliminate Kur'talos, and Varo'then obediently had the valiant noble assassinated.

Despite Azshara's attempts to aid the Legion, the portal to the Twisting Nether was ultimately closed before Sargeras could reach Azeroth. Although the portal's closure saved Azeroth from demonic invasion, the Well of Eternity was unable to withstand the added magical strain, and it began to collapse upon itself. Zin-Azshari and the Well were suddenly blasted downward toward the ocean floor. The Well pierced the planet's molten core just before being utterly obliterated. Ancient Kalimdor was split apart, and the seas rushed in to fill the voids between the new landmasses. The queen, her handmaidens, her guards, and other Highborne in the palace were caught in the rushing waters. Instead of drowning, however, many were cursed and transformed into naga, who still worship Azshara as a demigod to this day. Azshara is often thought to be the greatest mage to have ever lived.

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Baine Bloodhoof

Baine Bloodhoof (voiced by Jamieson Price) is the current chieftain of the tauren, gaining the position after the death of his father Cairne Bloodhoof. Calm, patient and wise beyond his years, Baine believes deeply in his people but often feels doubt that he is not the great leader his father was. Baine is incredibly forgiving of people, evident when for the sake of his people he chose not to pursue vengeance against Warchief Garrosh Hellscream after he killed his father Cairne (unknowingly by treachery) in a Mak'gora (an honorable duel to the death for the leadership of the Horde). Despite diplomacy being his strong suit, Baine is a force to be reckoned with when forced into battle.

Bolvar Fordragon

Highlord Bolvar Fordragon (voiced by Carlos Larkin) was a venerated paladin of the Alliance and served as the Regent of Stormwind following the disappearance of King Varian Wrynn. Upon Varian's return, Bolvar was named the commander of the Alliance forces sent to take the battle to the Scourge in Northrend. After the treachery of Grand Apothecary Putress at the Battle of Angrathar the Wrathgate, Fordragon was believed to have been killed, either by the Forsaken Blight or the fires of the red dragonflight. However, Fordragon survived, his body altered by the dragons' flame, and was taken by the Scourge into Icecrown Citadel, tortured by the Lich King in an attempt to break him to his will. However, the noble spirit of Fordragon resisted the Lich King's deprevations. After the death of Arthas Menethil, the mortal host of the Lich King, Fordragon demanded that Tirion Fordring place the Helm of Domination, containing all of the powers of the Scourge, on his head, so that he would forever be the jailer of the damned—imprisoning the Lich King within the Frozen Throne once more and containing the threat of the Scourge.

Broll Bearmantle

Broll Bearmantle is a powerful night elf druid, a companion of King Varian Wrynn, and agent of Malfurion Stormrage. Broll Bearmantle was born with antlers: an omen that he was destined to become a prodigy in the druid arts. He was granted the Idol of Remulos by the green dragon Remulos to help him develop his connection to the Emerald Dream. During the Third War, he was a key player in the Battle of Mount Hyjal. Broll used the Idol of Remulos to channel his incredible druidic powers to delay the Burning Legion offensive. Eventually, he was overwhelmed by the pit lord Azgalor who used his fel weapon to corrupt the Idol of Remulos. The idol's corruption caused a fel explosion, killing Broll's daughter Anessa. Broll himself was corrupted via his link to the idol, causing all the animal spirits to abandon him except the bear, which has been corrupted with fel energy and was feeding on Broll's rage. His grief eating away at him, Broll left night elf society and eventually allowed himself to be bought by Rehgar Earthfury. As a gladiator, he met the human amnesiac Varian Wrynn and the blood elf Valeera Sanguinar, with whom he underwent many adventures together. One of their exploits was recovering and cleansing the Idol of Remulos which he lost so many years ago. Broll has since then been a participant in the reinvigorated new Council of Tirisfal and Cenarion Circle ventures, and helping his fellow night elf rulers, Tyrande Whisperwind in freeing Malfurion Stormrage from his corruption of the Dream and aiding them in defeating the menace. He has also aided his friend Varian Wrynn in his exploits to protect Alliance interests.

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Cairne Bloodhoof

Cairne Bloodhoof (voiced by William Bassett) is the former high chieftain of the tauren. The mighty chief of the Bloodhoof tauren, Cairne is a fearless warrior and a wise leader of his ancient people. Though slowed somewhat by the weight of age, Cairne still possesses the strength and valor of twenty men. This great-hearted giant knows that his people are in grave danger of extermination from the marauding centaurs. Seeking aid against the centaur, the chieftain, Cairne Bloodhoof, befriended Warchief Thrall and the other orcs, who had recently journeyed to Kalimdor. With the orcs’ help, Cairne and his Bloodhoof tribe were able to drive back the centaur and claim the grasslands of Mulgore for their own. For the first time in hundreds of years, the tauren had a land to call their own. Upon the wind swept mesa of Thunder Bluff, Cairne built a refuge for his people, where tauren of every tribe is welcome. Over time, the scattered tauren tribes united under Cairne’s rule.

He was slain in a duel with Warchief Garrosh Hellscream after Hellscream's battle axe Gorehowl was laced (unbeknownst to him) with a paralytic poison by Magatha, causing Cairne to become incapacitated and thus allowing Hellscream to strike a killing blow.

Chen Stormstout

Chen Stormstout (voiced by Keone Young) is a jovial and independent Brewmaster. Chen Stormstout was born and raised on the Wandering Isle, a massive landmass on the back of the giant turtle Shen-zin Su. There, he developed his superior fighting skills and the desire to explore and discover new lands (and new ingredients for his legendary brews) like the traveling pandaren who left Pandaria thousands of years past. Chen's wanderlust led him into adventure after adventure, from the creation of the wildly popular Brewfest event to the very founding of Durotar, where he fought along with the re-formed Horde to establish it in its new home.

Years later, along with his niece, Li Li, Chen embarked on a quest that led him to the mystical Pearl of Pandaria, and with the help of the artifact, he visited his ancestors' home, Pandaria, for the first time. Not long after, the Horde and the Alliance discovered the continent and rekindled their conflict, placing Chen (once again!) squarely in the middle of history. Like the rest of his people, he has apparently maintained his independence, joining neither the Horde nor the Alliance.

Cho'gall

Cho'gall is a two-headed ogre where his right head (voiced by Grant George) has one eye and his left head (voiced by Patrick Seitz) has two eyes. Cho'gall is the first of the ogre magi, Initiate of the Fifth Circle of the Shadow Council, and Chieftain of the Twilight's Hammer Clan. Like every ogre of his type, Cho'gall actually has two names for each head Cho and Gall. Alongside Blackheart the Inciter, Cho'gall was trained in the arts of the arcane by the warlock Gul'dan who aided the struggling ogre in mastering the powers of the Twisting Nether. In time, Cho'gall became one of the most feared and venerated members of the Old Horde during the First and Second Wars against the humans. Cho'gall became the Chieftain of an Orc Clan after the previous one was executed for disobeying the Shadow Council. Cho'gall renamed the clan as the Twilight's Hammer, while all records of both the clan's old name and the chieftain's one were destroyed. He is featured as a hero in Heroes of the Storm, and is special in that two players control him at the same time.

C'Thun

C’Thun is one of the four Old Gods who was imprisoned by the titans long ago on Azeroth. C’Thun is responsible for the arrival of the Qiraji, a race of Silithid created in his image. They later inhabited the fortress of Ahn'Qiraj, a prison created by the titans to imprison the old god. With the titans long gone, C’Thun waged war against many races of Azeroth. The night elves, aided by the great dragon aspects, were able to erect the great scarab wall to contain C’thun and his armies inside Ahn’Qiraj, ending the war of the shifting sands.

Centuries later, the reawakening of C’thun was near and the gates of Ahn’Qiraj were reopened. While C’thun expected the dragon aspects to fight, he did not anticipate the combined power of the mortals. A group of mortal adventurers did what was thought to be impossible and fought their way through the fortress-city into the heart of the temple where they had temporarily vanquished the old god, as the Old Gods are not so easily defeated.

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Deathwing

Deathwing the Destroyer (voiced by Michael McConnohie), formerly known as Neltharion the Earth-Warder, was the leader of the black dragonflight and one of the original five dragon Aspects blessed by the Titans to safeguard Azeroth. He was given dominion over the earth by the titans, shapers of worlds. The Old Gods, twisted beings of pure evil that once ruled Azeroth, drove Neltharion to madness, and he turned against the other Dragon Aspects. Deathwing spurred the Second War by sabotaging the Alliance in the guise of Daval Prestor, a human lord, and helping the Horde enslave the red Dragon Aspect, Alexstrasza. He was defeated by the Aspects and fled to the depths of the elemental realm of Deepholm to plot revenge.

After nearly 10,000 years, Deathwing re-emerged on the world of Draenor where he hid several black dragonflight eggs before returning to Azeroth and taking up the guise of the human lord Daval Prestor. Deathwing was discovered by the other Dragon Aspects during this time and retreated to the elemental plane of Deepholm to escape justice.

Deathwing returned to Azeroth after the fall of the Lich King, emerging in a world-breaking wave of destruction known as the Cataclysm. At the height of his power, Deathwing's goal was nothing less than the Hour of Twilight: the end of all life on Azeroth. In this nihilistic aim, the former Aspect was supported by the Twilight's Hammer cult and the elemental lords Al'Akir and Ragnaros. Deathwing is a raid boss and the primary antagonist to the World of Warcraft expansion Cataclysm, responsible for the titular event that reshaped the world of Azeroth. The Dragon Aspects, aided by the shaman Thrall, once again stood against Deathwing, and sent brave adventurers back in time to obtain the Dragon Soul, the only weapon capable of defeating the Destroyer. In the end, he is defeated by mortal champions with the aid of the other dragon Aspects, and destroyed utterly by Thrall who used the Dragon Soul against him.

Dezco

Dezco is the tauren chieftain of the Dawnchaser tribe and one of the most prominent Sunwalkers: taurens who revere An'she the Sun and draw their power from her light. After the Cataclysm, Dezco, his pregnant wife Leza, and other members of his tribe received a vision of a golden, verdant land of peace hidden in uncharted waters. The Dawnchaser tribe suffered tremendous tragedies on their way to find that valley. Ships were lost at sea, tribe members perished in mogu attacks, and Dezco's wife died giving birth to twins—although with help from a champion of the Horde, the twins survived their perilous time in the Krasarang Wilds. Sunwalker Dezco pushed onward, leading his tribe to the gates of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms—the place some had seen in their visions. After convincing the August Celestials to allow outsiders access to the sacred place—with the help of Anduin Wrynn—the Dawnchaser tribe settled at the Shrine of Two Moons and committed themselves to defending the Vale against the mogu.

Some time later, the Celestial of Hope, Chi-Ji the Red Crane, informed Sunwalker Dezco that one of his children was destined to join the protectors of the Vale, the Golden Lotus. Stunned by the news and unwilling to allow either of his sons to grow up away from their tauren heritage, Dezco decided to return to Mulgore. In his journey across the Vale, Dezco and a group of refugees fell victim to a mogu raid, and despite Dezco's best efforts to keep both of his children alive, when the fighting settled, one child was dead and the other dying from mogu poisons. A member of the Golden Lotus, Mokimo, invoked the healing power of the Vale's waters to save the dying tauren. Dezco concluded that such a wondrous place needed and deserved all the protection he could provide, and agreed to let his remaining child grow up under the tutelage of the Golden Lotus and become a caretaker of the land.

Sunwalker Dezco continues to defend the Vale, and indeed, all of Pandaria, from those who would bring harm to it.

Durotan

Durotan (voiced by Scott McNeil in Warlords of Draenor and portrayed by Toby Kebbell in the film) was the orc chieftain of the Frostwolf clan, one of the orcish clans of Draenor. Unlike most of his people, Durotan felt uneasy when the orcs, led by the shaman Ner'zhul—who was under the influence of Kil'jaeden, the leader of the Burning Legion—waged war against the draenei, with whom they had lived peacefully for many years. He and his friend, Orgrim Doomhammer, had been saved by the draenei when they were children, and he did not agree with fighting against their unsuspecting counterparts. Nevertheless, he reluctantly aligned himself and his Frostwolf clan with Ner'zhul and his orcish Horde in order to keep his clan out of danger. After receiving a message from Velen the Prophet, the leader of the draenei, Ner'zhul ordered Durotan and some of his clan to capture Velen and bring the eredar before him so that he could speak to the Prophet in person. Durotan's intention's, however, were to speak with Velen and find out how his race had found themselves on Draenor, so that they could find a solution. As he and his clan, including their elder shaman, Drek'thar, listened to Velen, Drek'thar grew frustrated and was about to attack the Prophet, before Durotan stopped him. Following through with his orders, he reluctantly took Velen in as a prisoner of their clan before he could be harmed. However, the noble chieftain, conflicted, let the Prophet go after speaking to him again later that night. When Ner'zhul confronted Durotan about why he had returned without a prisoner, Durotan told him that if he had wanted to capture Velen, he should have done so himself. Ner'zhul was also conflicted, as the orcs held the Frostwolf clan in very high regard, and he had also begun to doubt his master and the path that he was leading them on. However, before he could speak, Ner'zhul's apprentice, Gul'dan, told Durotan that he would soon receive a message from Kil'jaeden, exiling them from the rest of the Horde.

As the months passed, the orcs, now openly under the control of Kil'jaeden, gained the upper hand on the draenei, and Ner'zhul was replaced as Kil'jaeden's lieutenant by Gul'dan who, in his pursuit of power, became the first orcish warlock, wielding fel magic as opposed to the elemental powers of a shaman. When Gul'dan offered the blood of the pit lord Mannoroth to further empower the orcs, after they were permanently cut off from their ties to the elements, Durotan refused. He had foreseen that the blood would corrupt most of their race and permanently bind them to the Burning Legion, and he did not want to endanger his people, nor did he want to lend their aid in the campaign against the draenei. Instead, he journeyed to Azeroth, where he found his old friend, Orgrim Doomhammer, and told him of Gul'dan's betrayal. This act would eventually cost Durotan his life, as Gul'dan had sent assassins to kill him and his wife, Draka, but not before Durotan stood up to the betrayer of the orcs and told him that this was not what was supposed to become of their race.

An alternate version of Durotan is the primary protagonist for the Horde in World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor. In an alternate timeline, Durotan refused to align his Frostwolf clan with the orcish Iron Horde in order to focus on their own survival. There, when adventurers journeyed to Draenor, he met with Drek'thar and a mysterious advisor—his son and former Warchief of the Horde, Thrall—and adventurers aid him in bringing the Iron Horde and their Warchief, Grommash Hellscream, to justice. He aids the archmage Khadgar and the draenei, led by Yrel, in defending Shattrath City, the draenei capital. He is nearly killed by Blackhand, the chieftain of the Blackrock clan and Grommash's right-hand man, but he and Yrel are saved by Khadgar, and Blackhand narrowly escapes death. Durotan then leads the assault on Grommash's fortress of Grommashar in Nagrand, where Thrall challenges and kills Grommash's son, Garrosh Hellscream, who had initiated the recent events by going back in time and manipulating his father. After Khadgar and adventurers from the Alliance and Horde lead an assault on Hellfire Citadel and free Grommash from Gul'dan—who had again offered the blood of Mannoroth to the orcs, led by Grommash on this occasion—Durotan, Yrel, Khadgar, Grommash and adventurers defeated Archimonde, who had been summoned by Gul'dan, and prevented history from repeating itself.

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Falstad Wildhammer

Falstad Wildhammer, also known as Falstad Dragonreaver, is a dwarf who is the High Thane of the Wildhammer Clan. He rules the Wildhammer clan from Aerie Peak in the Hinterlands and serves as a member of the Council of Three Hammers in Ironforge. During the Second War, he aided Rhonin and his resistance fighters in destroying the Demon Soul and freeing the Dragonqueen Alexstrasza from the Dragonmaw Clan's command.

Falstad is also a playable character in Heroes of the Storm

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Garrosh Hellscream

Garrosh Hellscream (voiced by Patrick Seitz) was a former Warchief of the Horde faction. He is the son of the heroic warrior Grommash Hellscream. When the orc clans of Draenor united to form the first Horde in order to march through the Dark Portal to conquer Azeroth, Garrosh remained behind in Nagrand due to being infected with red pox, a plague that had begun to infect the orcs. During the events of World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, the Warchief Thrall, founder of the renewed Horde, travelled to Nagrand, where he met Garrosh. Though he wasn't demonically influenced himself, Garrosh was haunted by his family's legacy: his father was the first orc to embrace corruption by drinking the blood of the pit lord Mannoroth. Garrosh lived in the shadow of his father's acts until he met Thrall, who explained to the younger Hellscream that Grommash ultimately gave his life to lift the demonic blood-curse, and freed his race from servitude to dark forces. Learning of his father's great deeds, Garrosh returned to Azeroth with Thrall and became a member of the Horde.

During the events of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, Garrosh led the Warsong Offensive, the Horde armies sent to wage war against the Lich King. Following the war's end, Garrosh returned to Orgrimmar as a venerated war hero. Garrosh eventually became the Warchief of the Horde after Thrall stepped down to focus on his shamanistic duties in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. Brash, stubborn and impatient, all Garrosh wished as Warchief was to conquer all of Azeroth in the name of the Horde, and was willing to crush any who stood in his way, even the other members of the Horde. As the events of World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria progress, Garrosh's increasingly brutal pursuit of dominance led him to turn to ever darker sources of power, earning the hatred and distrust of the other races and leaders of the Horde and of the denizens of Pandaria, particularly the Shado-pan, the order of Pandaren guardians. After narrowly surviving an assassination attempt by Garrosh, the troll leader Vol'jin began an uprising against the Warchief, leading the other races of the Horde in increasingly open rebellion against their former leader. The Alliance, although determined to make the most of this opportunity to dismantle the Horde and dispose of Garrosh, joined in grudging cooperation with Vol'jin's rebellion. Garrosh was defeated in a siege of Orgrimmar by Alliance and Horde champions. In an agreement to cease hostilities, both factions agreed to allow Garrosh to be tried for his crimes by the Pandaren, whose homeland suffered the greatest as a result of Garrosh's actions. Garrosh subsequently escaped imprisonment with the help of the bronze dragon Kairozdormu and initiated the events of World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor, changing the future by going back in time to his homeworld of Draenor before the rise of the Horde.

After influencing an alternate version of his father, Grommash, to reject the blood of Mannoroth offered by Gul'dan, Garrosh became warlord of the Warsong clan while Grommash became Warchief of the Iron Horde, based out of the fortress of Grommashar in Nagrand. A combined Alliance–Horde force led by Durotan attacked the fortress, where Thrall challenged Garrosh to Mak'gora, an honourable duel to the death. Garrosh agreed to meet Thrall "where it all began"—at the Stones of Prophecy, the site of the village he had led in Outland known as Garadar. As they battled, Garrosh claimed that his actions were for the good of the Horde, and that it was Thrall who had made him Warchief and left him to "pick up [Thrall's] pieces". Though outmatched physically, Thrall called upon the formidable powers of the elements to grasp Garrosh in a hand of earth. Garrosh raged that Thrall had made him what he was, to which Thrall retaliated by saying that Garrosh had chosen his own destiny, before Thrall ended his life with a bolt of lightning.

Gazlowe

Gazlowe (voiced by Travis Willingham) is the official leader of Ratchet in the Horde-aligned territory of the Northern Barrens. He was formerly the Chief Engineer of the Horde engineering works in Durotar and oversaw the construction of the city of Orgrimmar, and while keen to remain neutral towards the Alliance, he has no love for them and retains strong relations with the Horde. Gazlowe is the chief engineer of the Horde garrison on Draenor in World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor.

Gazlowe is also a playable character in Heroes of the Storm.

Gelbin Mekkatorque

High Tinker Gelbin Mekkatorque (voiced by Dino Andrade) is the gnome leader of the Gnomeregan refugees. Gelbin has been at the helm of the gnome race during some of its most difficult and trying times. Since his title is an elected one, the fact that he has held his position throughout such hardship is a testament to the love his people have for him.

A brilliant inventor, Gelbin Mekkatorque rose quickly to prominence among the meritocratic gnomes with his innovative designs and creative problem-solving skills. He built the very first functioning mechanostrider, assisted in the development of the dwarven siege engine, and was instrumental in the creation of the Deeprun Tram running from Ironforge to Stormwind City.

Although one wouldn’t know it from looking at him, the loss of Gnomeregan weighs heavily on the high tinker. He was unprepared for the invasion that swept through his beloved city, and he was betrayed by a trusted advisor who convinced him to react hastily, resulting in unnecessary deaths. Now Mekkatorque’s brilliant mind has taken on a surgical focus with one single outcome: the retaking of Gnomeregan.

Just prior to the Cataclysm, he led an attack on Gnomeregan’s invaders. It was a successful first maneuver, and the gnomes were able to carve out a tenuous foothold in New Tinkertown, near the techno-city’s gates. Still there will be much more bloodshed before the entirety of the gnomeland is liberated.

Genn Greymane

Genn Greymane is the King of Gilneas. During the Second War, Genn was a proud, strong-willed, cunning, and arrogant man. He and his armies stood by the Alliance during the Second War, but only offered token support. In the aftermath it became clear to Genn Greymane that the Alliance needed Gilneas more than Gilneas needed the Alliance. Following the Second War, he ordered the construction of the seemingly impenetrable Greymane Wall to protect his people from outside threats, effectively closing off the nation from the world and its petty conflicts. For years the wall did as intended, but when the worgen curse spread into Gilneas, the enormous barrier began to resemble the gateway to a prison rather than a sanctuary. Unbeknownst to his people, Genn himself was infected by the worgen curse but has secretly kept the curse controlled with help from a night elf moon priestess. During Gilneas' isolation, Genn fought a civil war against one of his dearest friends, Darius Crowley. Though Genn won the conflict with Darius' arrest, new problems emerged as the Forsaken in nearby Silverpine Forest has been urged by the Horde to conquer his lands and have begun besieging the Greymane Wall.

During the events of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, Gilneas City, capital city of Gilneas, has been overrun by wild worgen. Genn releases Darius Crowley and his rebels from prison and the two joined forces to keep the worgen at bay while they evacuate the city. Genn and the evacuees regroup in Duskhaven, a rural town by the shore. With help from his royal chemist, Genn has been able to concoct a potion that will allow Gilneans infected by the worgen curse to retain their human sentience. After the Cataclysm, many of Gilneas' natural barriers were destroyed allowing the Forsaken to penetrate the Greymane Wall and freely invade Gilneas. Genn was able to reunite with Darius (who was now worgen as well) and his secret night elf allies and rally a resistance force against the Forsaken. Genn also revealed his worgen curse to his people, telling them the truth. Though many among his people accepted him as their leader despite his worgen curse, Genn had to deal with betrayals from prejudiced Gilnean nobles. Even so, his forces were able to succefully counterattack and retake Gilneas City from Forsaken occupation. Yet victory was at the cost of his son Liam's life. Knowing that the Forsaken would return and bomb their city with their plague, Genn agreed to evacuate his people and seek refuge in the night elven home of Darnassus. Humbled by his experiences, Genn decided that he and his people will rejoin the Alliance and aid them in their war against the Horde.

Greymane is also a playable character in Heroes of the Storm

Grommash Hellscream

Grommash Hellscream (voiced by Arthur Burghardt in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, Kevin Michael Richardson in Warlords of Draenor and portrayed by Terry Notary in the film) was the last surviving orc chieftain from Draenor. Having led his mighty Warsong clan to countless victories over the humans, Grommash despaired at the lethargy that overcame his race after the Second War. Grommash was the first orc to fall victim to the demons’ curse of his race, and struggled with the rage and bloodlust within his heart for many long years until, under Thrall’s visionary, idealistic leadership, he ultimately came to believe that he and his people could finally be freed from the demons’ corrupting influence. In Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, Grommash was tricked into leading his clan into drinking the blood of Mannoroth, thus enslaving his people to the demon-inducing rage and bloodlust once again. Thrall and Jaina Proudmoore formed a coalition and helped free Grommash from the demon's curse, before he and Thrall confronted Mannoroth together. Grommash sacrificed himself to kill Mannoroth, thus severing the demons' hold over the orcs, and became a hero of the Horde.

A Grommash Hellscream from a parallel universe is the primary antagonist in the early stages of World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor. In an alternate timeline, Grommash was approached by his son, Garrosh Hellscream, from the current timeline. This mysterious advisor, who quickly earned his trust, warned Grommash about a traitor who schemed against the orcs to enslave them to demon masters. Grommash used the information to expose the plot, catapulting himself into a position to unite almost all of the orc clans. Grommash forged an Iron Horde free to seize its own destiny, and set out to conquer the draenei capital of Shattrath in Talador, the draenei's holy temple in Shadowmoon Valley, and the Frostwolf orc holdouts in Frostfire Ridge. However, all managed to stand up to the Iron Horde, and Grommash's men were turned into slaves of Gul'dan when he again refused to drink the blood of Mannoroth, and his right-hand man, Kilrogg Deadeye, accepted instead. He was then captured by Gul'dan, and subsequently freed by adventurers from Hellfire Citadel in Tanaan Jungle. Grommash then joined the combined forces of Khadgar, Durotan, Yrel and adventurers from the Alliance and Horde in defeating Archimonde, who had been summoned by Gul'dan, and preventing history from repeating itself.

Gul'dan

Gul'dan, Betrayer of the Orcs (voiced by Paul Eiding in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne and Troy Baker in World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor, and portrayed by Daniel Wu in the film) is an orc warlock, formerly a shaman from the Shadowmoon clan born on Draenor, the homeworld of the orcs. Mentored by the elder shaman Ner'zhul, Gul'dan sought power above all else and when Ner'zhul was contacted by the demon lord Kil'jaeden, Gul'dan helped him make a blood pact with the demons. Ner'zhul sought to undercut their alliance when he learned the pact would make the entire orc people slaves to demons, but before he could, Gul'dan betrayed him and took his place. Gul'dan became the first known warlock and the head of the Shadow Council, a cabal of resourceful orcs who secretly served the Burning Legion from within orc society. Gul'dan's actions would ultimately lead to the corruption of the Horde; he deceived several leaders of the orcish clans into drinking the blood of the pit lord Mannoroth, binding them to the Legion. With a unified orc army at his disposal, Gul'dan launched an unprovoked attack against Shattrath City, and razed the draenei capital. Even though the orcs had followed Kil'jaeden's orders, the demon lord abandoned them, leaving them to fight amongst themselves for years on a world that quickly turned barren from the use of fel magic. Gul'dan was also responsible for raising the gigantic fel volcano known as the Hand of Gul'dan after severing the orcs' ties to the ancestral spirits of Draenor.

Gul'dan saw a new destiny for the Horde after being contacted by the corrupted Guardian Medivh, who was possessed by the fallen titan, Sargeras. The orc warlock was promised endless power in exchange for conquering Azeroth and freeing the body of Sargeras. The Shadow Council built and opened a Dark Portal with Medivh's help, and the orcs plundered their way across the Eastern Kingdoms, eventually laying siege to Stormwind City. With victory in his grasp, Gul'dan decided that he no longer wished to wait for Medivh to voluntarily tell him the location of Sargeras' tomb. The warlock was searching deep within Medivh's mind when the human sorcerer was killed during a daring raid, and Gul'dan fell into a coma. By the time Gul'dan awoke, most of his followers were dead, and the Horde was now firmly under the command of Orgrim Doomhammer. Gul'dan swore allegiance to the new Warchief by assembling an undead army—the dreaded death knights—from the corpses of Stormwind's fallen heroes. However, when Orgrim's Horde needed him the most during the Second War, Gul'dan and some of his clans abandoned Orgim to seek the tomb of Sargeras, where he uncovered the terrible truth behind his efforts: Sargeras never had any intention of granting him power at all. Gul'dan was torn to shreds by the masses of vicious demons inside the tomb, and his very skull became a focus of demonic power.

An alternate version of Gul'dan appears in World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor as a secondary antagonist, who later becomes the main antagonist. This Gul'dan was contacted by the Legion directly at a much younger age, differing greatly from his transition through Ner'zhul who planned to use him in their plot to conquer Azeroth. After being exiled from his village when he was young, he journeyed to the Throne of the Elements to seek the help of the elements of Draenor, but they refused him. In his sorrow, a mysterious green essence known as fel magic appeared to him, and Gul'dan learned to harness it, using it to kill everyone in his village who had turned their back on him. After Garrosh Hellscream went back in time to convince the alternate version of his father, Grommash, to reject the demon pact, Gul'dan and his chief lieutenants, Cho'gall and Teron'gor, were imprisoned. Their magic was drained to power the Dark Portal that connected the alternate Draenor to Azeroth in the current timeline, until they were set free by adventurers to seal the portal. Meanwhile, the Shadow Council conducted its own battles against the draenei for the purposes of gaining greater power, while heroes from Azeroth battled the Iron Horde. Khadgar, the archmage who led the Azerothian expedition to the alternate Draenor (just as he had led the expedition to Draenor in the main timeline decades before), considered hunting down and stopping Gul'dan his highest priority.

After the deaths of several of the Iron Horde's warlords, including Garrosh, Gul'dan again made his offer to Grommash, who again refused. After incapacitating the erstwhile Warchief, Gul'dan again made the offer of greater power to anyone who would partake of the blood of Mannoroth. Kilrogg Deadeye was the first to drink from the tainted cup, becoming warped by the demon's blood. Gul'dan thus took control of the Iron Horde, vowing to rebuild it with those like Kilrogg at the vanguard into the first Fel Horde, empowered by his masters of the Burning Legion. Taking control of the Iron Horde bastion of Hellfire Citadel, Gul'dan used the blood of Mannoroth, left over from when the demon was killed by Grommash, to warp it into a demonic monstrosity, and to transform the landscape of the surrounding Tanaan Jungle. As adventurers besieged Hellfire Citadel, Gul'dan opened a demon gate at the foot of the destroyed Dark Portal to summon the demon lord Archimonde from the Twisting Nether to destroy Draenor. The adventurers, however, managed to defeat him; in his final moments, Archimonde reminded Gul'dan that he had made a pact, and forced the warlock through the gate with his remaining power, causing the gate to implode and ultimately freeing Draenor from the Burning Legion and the Iron Horde.

Gul'dan returns as a major antagonist in World of Warcraft: Legion. Gul'dan is sent by Archimonde to Azeroth in the current timeline prior to the events of World of Warcraft: Legion, with the goal of paving the way for the Legion's third and largest invasion of Azeroth. He makes his way to the Tomb of Sargeras on the Broken Isles under the direction of Kil'jaeden, and briefly considers betraying the Legion after discovering that the original Gul'dan was betrayed and killed by demons within the Tomb itself. Kil'jaeden offers him a choice, to serve the Legion and be given a position, or betray them and be destroyed. Gul'dan makes the decision to remain loyal and opens the Tomb of Sargeras, allowing countless demons to flood into Azeroth, beginning the invasion. Gul'dan is then sent to Suramar to negotiate the surrender of the Nightborne elves. In a desperate counteroffensive, combined Alliance and Horde forces assault the Broken Shore and attempt to stem the endless tide of demons, resulting in a devastating defeat and the deaths of multiple heroes and major figures, including Varian, Vol'jin, and Tirion Fordring. Gul'dan then returns to the Nighthold in Suramar where he attempts to contact Sargeras.

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Illidan Stormrage

Illidan Stormrage (voiced by Matthew Yang King in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, Liam O'Brien from World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade onward) is the first of the demon hunters, and a former double agent for the night elves and the Burning Legion. The night elf was born before the War of the Ancients, a conflict that erupted over 10,000 years prior to the Third War, when the Burning Legion invaded Azeroth for the first time. Driven by his thirst for power and, to a lesser extent, his desire to impress Tyrande Whisperwind, Illidan made a pact with the Burning Legion to secure the entrance of its leader, Sargeras, into Azeroth through an artifact known as the Demon Soul and the energy of the Well of Eternity. The efforts of Malfurion Stormrage, Illidan's twin brother, disrupted the Burning Legion's plot, with Illidan himself turning to his side and assisting; the demons were defeated. After recreating the then-destroyed Well of Eternity, the reason for the demonic invasion, Illidan was imprisoned for ten thousand years. Illidan earned the title of the Betrayer during the War of the Ancients through deceiving friends and foes alike for power.

In Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, Tyrande released Illidan from imprisonment, hoping that the Betrayer would redeem himself by battling against the Burning Legion once more. Though Illidan fought hard to defend his people, he was soon consumed by power once again, and slipped into darkness. After absorbing the energies of the demonic Skull of Gul'dan, Illidan became a demon, an act for which he was banished by Malfurion. Fleeing the wrath of the night elves, the twice-condemned Illidan fully allied himself with the only entity that would accept him — the Burning Legion. Illidan's demonic masters, namely Kil'jaeden, sent him to destroy the Lich King, who had broken free of their influence, but Illidan failed to do so after being defeated by Arthas Menethil. To protect himself from the Kil'jaeden's vengeance, Illidan hid on Outland, a destroyed world that he would eventually seek to rule with the help of Lady Vashj, Kargath Bladefist, Kael'thas Sunstrider and Akama. Illidan is the primary antagonist in World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, and was slain within the Black Temple by Maiev Shadowsong, his former jailer-turned-prisoner, along with Akama and adventurers. In the final stages of World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor, a Gul'dan from an alternate timeline was brought to Azeroth, where he found Illidan's body in a crystalline prison, and he resurrected him, setting the events of World of Warcraft: Legion in motion.

Illidan also appears as a playable character in the crossover game Heroes of the Storm.

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Jaina Proudmoore

Jarod Shadowsong

Jarod Shadowsong is the younger brother of Maiev Shadowsong, and was commander of the Kaldorei Resistance during the War of the Ancients. By the time the War of the Ancients broke out, Jarod Shadowsong had risen to the rank of captain in the Guard of Suramar, and his sister Maiev was one of the senior Sisters of Elune. The Shadowsong family was not of noble blood, and so both siblings had earned their positions through skill and hard work. Patrolling night elf lands for possible intruders, Jarod captured Krasus and made the disguised dragon a prisoner. A strange and extremely powerful phenomenon had thrown Krasus back to a time that contained a far younger version of Krasus, and the overlap had left Krasus weakened and ill unless he was in close proximity to his younger self.

With magical persuasion from Krasus, the captain began worrying that Krasus might die before being questioned. Thus, Jarod sought out one of the priestesses of Elune in the hope that she could heal his prisoner. He happened upon the novice Tyrande Whisperwind, and she consented to lend her aid. Although she could not heal Krasus of his malady, she was soon working with him to help her friend, Malfurion Stormrage, who had recently fallen comatose. The forest demigod Cenarius arrived, to Jarod's poorly concealed astonishment, and returned Malfurion's spirit from the Emerald Dream. Malfurion was reunited with his body and made a quick recovery. Then Jarod accompanied Krasus, Malfurion, and Tyrande as they went to speak with Lord Kur'talos Ravencrest, commander of the night elf army that was fighting the Burning Legion. Kur'talos was impressed by Jarod's dedication to duty, and put a group of battle-hardened soldiers at Jarod's command. Jarod and his soldiers were responsible for watching over the four strongest spellcasters of the night elf army: Malfurion and Illidan Stormrage, the human wizard Rhonin, and Krasus. Malfurion and Krasus eventually left the army and sought out the rest of the dragons, intending to appeal to them for help against the Legion. They embarked on this quest against Lord Ravencrest's express orders and without Jarod's knowledge. Yet Kur'talos could not find it in his heart to reproach Jarod for failing to halt the spellcasters' departure.

Eventually Kur'talos' strong leadership of the night elf army irked Queen Azshara, who instructed Captain Varo'then to eliminate the noble. The assassination was successful, and Lord Desdel Stareye became the new leader of the night elf defenders. Unfortunately Desdel had no skill at tactics. The invading demons pretended to retreat and then swiftly attacked the night elves from the air. Desdel watched in horror as the demons began pouring containers of boiling red liquid over the night elf army. Hundreds were injured, some mortally. When Jarod asked Desdel what action to take, the panicked noble had no useful response. Jarod caught sight of another group of demons hovering over Desdel, and so Jarod tried to pull Desdel out of the way. However, Desdel took offense at Jarod's effort and ordered him away on pain of imprisonment. Jarod yanked his mount aside just in time to avoid an agonizing death. The demons tipped over their container, and boiling liquid poured down on Desdel and his nearby companions. Desdel was killed in moments, his face maimed beyond recognition.

After Desdel's death, the remaining nobles could not agree on a new strategy for the army. Jarod was forced to step into the breach. With his intuitive grasp of tactics and his natural talent at leadership, he quickly found himself appointed the new leader of the night elf army. The relieved nobles eagerly followed his commands. Jarod continued to doubt his importance to the war effort, but he received a very welcome surprise. Cenarius led a large group of demigods into the midst of the night elf army and humbly knelt before the astonished captain. The demigods had agreed to fight under Jarod's direction. As the captain continued to rally the night elves and turn the tide of battle, he caught the eye of the demon lord Archimonde. Malfurion's absence from the battlefield had frustrated the massive demon, who decided to take out his fury on Jarod. Archimonde was certain that the Legion's victory was inevitable, and so he took his time, sadistically toying with Jarod, slowly beating him to death. Very likely Archimonde took even greater pleasure in the prospect of finally breaking Jarod's iron will. Before Jarod was too badly wounded to recover, though, Malfurion and Illidan Stormrage worked their combined magic on the Well of Eternity. All the demons, including Archimonde, were sucked into the Well and forced back into the Twisting Nether, howling in fury.

The Great Sundering triggered the birth of a new ocean, and the rushing waters chased the night elves all the way to Mount Hyjal. At last the waters subsided, and Jarod led a group of night elves to scout the area for drinkable water. They discovered that Illidan had created a second Well of Eternity, and with Malfurion's help, Jarod and the others captured Illidan. Jarod gave Malfurion the power to decide his reckless brother's fate, and so it was Malfurion who sentenced Illidan to an imprisonment that would last ten thousand years. A reluctant army commander, Jarod was deeply gladdened by the end of the war. He dissolved the makeshift army and continued to serve as a kind of administrator for a short time, but he had never wanted to be a leader. Gradually he directed increasing numbers of petitioners to the new high priestess of Elune, Tyrande Whisperwind, whose compassion and wisdom went a long way toward calming post-war tensions. By the time Tyrande established the night elves' new army, the Sentinels, Jarod had deliberately faded into the background. He did not think of himself as a hero, and he did not wish others to do so. One day he simply vanished, along with a few personal possessions. He did not say where he was going, nor, in fact, did he bid anyone farewell. Since that time, there have been no sightings of him.

Jastor Gallywix

Trade Prince Jastor Gallywix is the goblin leader of the Bilgewater Cartel. After Deathwing reawakened a volcano on his home island, Trade Prince Gallywix realized that there was good money to be made in offering panicked refugees a ticket to safety on his ship, taking their life savings—and then selling them into slavery. A clever plan, until it (and the ship) fell apart in the naval crossfire between an Alliance fleet and a lone Horde ship. The goblin survivors washed ashore on the Lost Isles off the coast of Kalimdor, where they saved Thrall from being captured by the secretive SI:7 branch of King Varian’s forces. Gallywix, a survivor himself, sent his goons to enslave the goblin survivors and forced them to work in his labor mine. He was later pressured to join the Horde after being defeated at the hands of its former warchief, Thrall, and his goblin ally.

Ji Firepaw

Ji Firepaw is a male pandaren and follower of the more direct Houjin philosophy, is adamant that inaction is the greatest injustice. Ji holds that it is honorable to defend home and family no matter the price. Outgoing, passionate, and not one for deep thought, he is always the first into the fray. Ji finds himself attracted to the scrappy practicality that defines the Horde, and although it costs him dearly, Ji has decided to carry the banner of the Horde upon leaving the Wandering Isle.

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Kael'thas Sunstrider

Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider (voiced by Quinton Flynn) was the last of the royal bloodline of Quel'thalas and a member of the Kirin Tor. He had been pursuing magical studies in Dalaran at the time of the Scourge invasion. When he heard of the disaster, he hastened to Quel'Thalas and found his homeland in ruins. He realized that the elven survivors were all experiencing the same sickness and lethargy, which had begun when the Sunwell's magics were drained. Determined to salvage what he could, Kael'thas rallied all the survivors he could find and renamed them the sin'dorei, or "children of the blood", in honor of those who had fallen to the Scourge.

Thirsting for vengeance despite their weakened state, the healthiest blood elves, including Kael'thas, departed their ravaged land and joined the campaign against the Scourge in Lordaeron. In the prince's absence, Lor'themar was named regent of Quel'Thalas, and Halduron Brightwing became the new ranger-general of Silvermoon. To this day, Lor'themar continues to serve as the leader of Azeroth's blood elves. He and Halduron safeguard the land while they seek a cure for their people's seemingly insatiable hunger.

When Kael'thas and his suffering people volunteered to fight the Scourge alongside Alliance resistance forces, the blood elves were met with suspicion and outright hostility, particularly from the prejudiced human Grand Marshal Garithos. Garithos assigned the blood elves increasingly difficult missions until Kael'thas was forced to accept the assistance of Lady Vashj and her naga. When Garithos discovered that the blood elves were working with the naga, he felt that his distrust had been vindicated. He imprisoned the hapless blood elf soldiers in the dungeons of Dalaran and sentenced them to death. Fortunately Vashj arrived in time to free the blood elves, who were suffering terribly from their hunger for magic by this time. Vashj explained that the naga, too, were addicted to magic, and she said that Illidan could help the blood elves. She then led them to the portal that Kel'Thuzad had opened during the Third War (so as to give Archimonde entry into Azeroth). With no other palatable choices, Kael'thas and his fighters followed the naga through the portal and into the shattered realm of Outland. There, the elves freed the renegade demon Illidan Stormrage, who had been taken prisoner by Warden Maiev Shadowsong.

After the rescue, Kael'thas beseeched Illidan for a cure to the blood elves' addiction to magic. Illidan had a different proposal in mind, though: in return for the blood elves' loyalty, he would teach them to drain magic from powerful alternative sources, including demons. It was an offer Kael'thas felt he had to accept. He was certain his people would die without either a cure or a new source of magic. Kael'thas pledged his allegiance to Illidan, who taught several blood elves the techniques he had offered. These teachings spread to the other blood elves in Outland, who were then able to stave off their painful hunger for arcane magic.

On Outland, the prince became twisted due to his reliance on fel energy, the dark and corrupting essence wielded by the demonic Burning Legion itself. Unbeknownst to Illidan, Kael’thas also came under the sway of the Legion’s commander, Kil’jaeden. At the bidding of his new master, the wayward prince eventually returned to Azeroth and seized the site of the Sunwell, hoping to use the fount as a means to usher Kil’jaeden into the world. Ultimately, Kael’thas was slain before his recklessness could bring ruin to Azeroth.

Kalecgos

Kalecgos (voiced by Carlos Larkin) is one of the few surviving blue dragons, a former servant of the great Aspect Malygos, and the current aspect of magic and ruler of the Blue dragonflight. He disguises himself as a half-elf, calling himself Kalec. Due to the blues being most in tune with magic of all the aspects, Kalec has the powers of a sorcerer and the strength of a warrior. Despite being an ex-Aspect, Kalec is young for a dragon and was known for befriending mortals before the Cataclysm. He fell in love with Anveena Teague, the avatar of the Sunwell, and after she sacrificed herself, Kalec was able to find love years later in the form of Jaina Proudmoore.

Kel’Thuzad

Kel’Thuzad (voiced by Michael McConnohie) was one of the greatest Archmagi of Dalaran. He was one of the members of the Kirin Tor and a dear friend of the Archmage Antonidas. However, his lust to delve into the dark arts of necromancy made him an outcast among his fellow wizards. Heeding the call of the god-like Lich King, Kel’Thuzad traveled to Northrend and offered his soul to Ner’zhul. The Lich King commanded the dark wizard to create a cult that would facilitate the creation of a grand, undead army. Kel’Thuzad used his powers and vast fortune to found the Cult of the Damned—the sinister group that would bring Ner’zhul’s dark will to fruition.

In Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, Kel'Thuzad and his Cult of the Damned finally struck the first blow by releasing the plague of undeath upon Lordaeron. Kel’Thuzad was murdered by Arthas for his crimes but after Arthas' corruption into a death knight, his spirit remained to advise the corrupted prince at the Lich King's behest. During Arthas' siege on Quel'thalas, he used the Sunwell's powers to reanimate Kel'thuzad's remains into a Lich: undead spectral abominations with tremendous magical powers. Ever since then he has served as Arthas' most trusted majordomo.

In the Lich King's haste to spread the plague of undeath over Azeroth, he gifted one of his greatest servants, the lich Kel'Thuzad, with the flying citadel of Naxxramas, a horrific base of operations for the Scourge. Consistent attacks from the Scarlet Crusade and Argent Dawn factions weakened the defenses of the floating fortress, enabling an incursion that led to Kel'Thuzad's defeat. However, a traitor among the ranks of the knightly order of the Argent Dawn absconded with Kel'Thuzad's cursed remains and fled to Northrend, where the fallen lich could be reanimated. In Wrath of the Lich King, Kel'Thuzad once again returned as the final boss of the relocated Naxxramas—now floating above the Carrion Fields in the Dragonblight, besieging Wintergarde Keep. The champions of Azeroth again stormed the dread citadel Naxxramas and defeated the lich lord once again.

Khadgar

Khadgar (voiced by Tony Amendola in the game, portrayed by Ben Schnetzer in the film) is an Archmage of the Kirin Tor and considered to be one of the most powerful and accomplished of all living wizards. A veteran of the First and Second Wars, Khadgar was the apprentice of Medivh, the last Guardian of Tirisfal. Although he is estimated to be in or around his forties in current lore, his physical appearance is that of an elderly man as the result of a curse cast by Medivh, possessed by the Dark Titan Sargeras, shortly before Khadgar and Anduin Lothar killed him. In the aftermath of the Second War, the Horde had stolen various magical artifacts in order to open portals to new worlds to conquer. Khadgar was one of the first to volunteer to join the Alliance Expedition, a group sent through the Dark Portal to the orc homeworld of Draenor in order to stop the Horde from invading other worlds. They were successful at stopping the Horde; however it came at a price —the combined magical energies from the many portals created by the shaman Ner'zhul literally tore the planet apart. Now referred to as Outland, all that remains of Draenor is a shattered continental landmass slowly crumbling into the Twisting Nether. During the events of World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, Khadgar could be found within Shattrath City in Outland where he was assisting the Naaru forces in their battle with Illidan Stormrage and the Burning Legion. At some point between World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King and World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, Khadgar returned to Dalaran on Azeroth where he accepted the role as one of the Six, the ruling council of the Kirin Tor. It was Khadgar who proposed that Jaina Proudmoore be selected as the new leader of the Kirin Tor.

Khadgar helped rally the Alliance and Horde forces to march through the altered Dark Portal in World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor, and also participated in the subsequent battle for Shattrath City. He became embroiled in a long battle of wits with Gul'dan, seeking to stop him from corrupting the new Draenor and summoning his demon masters. Ultimately, with the aid of champions of the Alliance and the Horde, Gul'dan's plans to bring the Legion to Draenor fail, but Gul'dan himself is pulled into a demon gate; Khadgar suspects that the battle has only just begun. He is proved right in the next expansion, World of Warcraft: Legion, when Gul'dan re-emerges on Azeroth of the "main" timeline and helps to bring about the largest demon invasion Azeroth has ever witnessed. By this point, Khadgar has risen to leadership of the Kirin Tor, replacing Jaina Proudmoore.

Kil'jaeden

Kil'jaeden the Deceiver (voiced by Fred Tatasciore) is an eredar demon lord of the Burning Legion and right hand of Sargeras. Like Archimonde, he was one of the first eredar to rally behind Sargeras and is a being of incredible power. Kil'jaeden's role was to find formidable races and assimilate them into the Burning Legion's army. Since Sargeras' apparent banishment and Archimonde's destruction, Kil'jaeden has been acting as the Burning Legion's sole leader. He has been attempting to get his agents in Azeroth to summon him into the mortal world so that he may invade and conquer it freely.

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Lady Liadrin

Lady Liadrin (voiced by Dana Lyn Baron) is a blood elf, that began her adult life as a priest and later started the order of blood knights, which are blood elves that decide to become paladins. Initially the blood knights gained their powers by siphoning from the naaru M'uru, who imprisoned in Silvermoon. Later Kael'thas takes M'uru away and the blood knights desperately go after Kael'thas in the battle at the Sunwell. After Kil'jaeden of the Burning Legion's defeat, M'uru's heart was used to reignite the Sunwell as a font of holy magic, as opposed to arcane magic. Thereafter, Lady Liadrin and the Blood Knights pledged their services to the naaru A'dal.

Lady Vashj

Lady Vashj (voiced by Barbara Goodson) was a night elf born in the city of Vashj'ir where her mother Lestharia Vashj was the high leader and matron. She somehow left her homeland, and came to the city of Zin-Azshari, capital of the night elves, sometime before the War of the Ancients. Once chief among Queen Azshara's handmaidens, Vashj became one of the serpentine naga when Azshara and her followers were sent to the bottom of the sea during the Great Sundering.

Ten thousand years later, Vashj answered Illidan Stormrage's call and followed him first to Lordaeron, where she met up with Kael'thas Sunstrider and rallied his blood elves to Illidan's cause, and then to Outland when Illidan deposed Magtheridon as lord of the shattered world. As leader of Illidan's naga, Vashj and her followers set up shop in Coilfang Reservoir in Zangarmarsh, where the naga began to pump the lakes into their underground lair. During The Burning Crusade, adventurers invaded the Serpentshrine Cavern where Vashj made her lair and slew the Coilfang matron, her dying breath an apology to her master.

Lei Shen

Lei Shen (voiced by Paul Nakauchi in Mists of Pandaria) is an ancient mogu warlord known as the Thunder King who was able to unite the warring mogu clans and form a mogu empire in Pandaria. Even among the mighty mogu of ancient Pandaria, Lei Shen was known as a military prodigy. The son of a warlord, Lei Shen aimed not simply to conquer weaker races, as his forebears had done, but to build a true empire. To do so, he traveled to the mythical Thundering Mountain, where he sought the truth about the forgotten god of the mogu and its powers. What he found was illuminating: the titanic keeper Ra-den, who stood guard over a powerful titan device, the Engine of Nalak'sha. Lei Shen claimed dominion over both; then, with his newly acquired powers, he dubbed himself the Thunder King, the self-proclaimed emperor of the mogu, and joined his brute forces with the empire of Zandalari, renowned troll mages, establishing tyrannical rule over Pandaria until the time of his death.

Once the mists parted, revealing Pandaria again to the world, the Zandalari trolls joined with the scattered mogu once again and resurrected their former leader, who returned to his fortress, the Throne of Thunder. There, with his followers, he began a campaign to crush the pandaren (and their foreign allies among the Alliance and Horde), reclaim the continent, and rebuild his empire of old. Ultimately, he was slain by heroic adventurers and his black heart eaten by Wrathion to prevent further resurrection.

Lich King

The Lich King (voiced by Michael McConnohie) is the master and lord of the Scourge, which he rules telepathically from the Frozen Throne atop the Icecrown Glacier. Kil'jaeden created the Lich King from the spirit of the orcish shaman Ner'zhul to raise an undead army to conquer Azeroth for the Burning Legion. Initially trapped within the Frozen Throne with Frostmourne, the Lich King eventually betrayed Kil'jaeden and merged with the human Arthas Menethil to break away from the Burning Legion and conquer Azeroth for himself.

Years later, the Alliance and Horde would march to destroy the Lich King, but they discovered that the Scourge, now loosed upon Azeroth, would always need a leader. The brave Highlord Bolvar Fordragon volunteered to become the new jailor of the damned, dedicating his existence to containing the ravages of the undead. When the Burning Legion returned, the Knights of the Ebon Blade - death knights who broke away from the Scourge before the war in Northrend - agreed to serve the Lich King willingly as his instrument of revenge against the Legion, in exchange for keeping the rest of the Scourge confined to Northrend; as part of the bargain, the Lich King pointed the death knights to powerful weapons to aid in the fight.

Li Li Stormstout

Li Li Stormstout (voiced by Lauren Tom) is the niece of Chen Stormstout. As a part of the illustrious Stormstout family, Li Li seems to be experiencing exactly the same wanderlust that gripped her uncle Chen in his youth…only worse. Her fixation on travel and exploration sent Li Li careening around her hometown, the back of the great turtle Shen-zin Su, also known as the Wandering Isle, as she grew up under the watchful eye of the martial artist and geomaster Strongbo. Bo found the young spitfire of a Stormstout to be as exacerbating as she was enthusiastic, but grudgingly vowed to protect Li Li when she ran away to search for her uncle Chen—even though he originally intended to bring her back to the Isle by force if necessary.

Stories of Li Li's travels to Kalimdor and beyond have been collected in numerous volumes, some penned by the young Stormstout herself, but perhaps the most pivotal result of Li Li's wandering has been her recovery of the omen-granting Pearl of Pandaria, which ultimately galvanized the return of Chen Stormstout. Reunited with her uncle Chen, Li Li now has a chance to roam Pandaria for the very first time, though her demeanor sometimes rubs other pandaren the wrong way. Some have taken to calling her "Wild Dog," a derogatory term for pandaren from the Wandering Isle.

Lor'themar Theron

Lord Lor'themar Theron (voiced by Dave Mallow in World of Warcraft, Gideon Emery in World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria) is the leader of the blood elves. A veteran of the Second and Third Wars, Lor'themar served directly under the then Ranger-General Sylvanas Windrunner. Following Sylvanas' fall during the Scourge invasion, Lor'themar fought to help the survivors regroup and regain some of their former glory. Determined to forge ahead, they re-christened themselves blood elves in honor of their fallen brethren. Lor'themar took on an administrative role as regent lord under his people's ruler, Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider, but it wasn't long before the still-weary elves discovered that Kael'thas was indebted to demonic entities. After helping to depose Kael'thas, Lor'themar remained de facto leader of the blood elves, many of whom now doubted whether they truly wanted to be ruled by a prince.

When the continent of Pandaria was discovered by Horde forces, Lor'themar and the blood elves were invited to help conquer the new land, but the sinister methods of Warchief Garrosh Hellscream led Lor'themar to reconsider his position. The regent lord initiated conversations with King Varian Wrynn, hoping to stage a coup, but Garrosh sabotaged his diplomatic efforts by organizing a heist in Darnassus and focusing blame on the blood elves. Later, Lor'themar allied himself with the Darkspear Rebellion led by Vol'jin, and in a joint operation with the Alliance, overthrew Garrosh from his position as Warchief.

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Magni Bronzebeard

Magni Bronzebeard (voiced by Carlos Larkin, portrayed by Michael Adamthwaite in the film) was the former king of Ironforge and the dwarves of Khaz Modan. The eldest of the three Bronzebeard brothers, Magni was destined to be the king under the mountain. When the orcish Horde invaded Azeroth, Ironforge’s dwarves offered to join the Alliance of Lordaeron. Led by King Magni Bronzebeard, the city’s resilient inhabitants proved to be the backbone of the Alliance forces, helping to secure victory after victory against the orcs. Ever since that time, Ironforge’s dwarves have remained an invaluable part of the Alliance.

When freak natural disasters began rocking much of Azeroth just prior to the Cataclysm, the dwarven lands were not spared from the calamitous upheavals. A series of violent quakes tore through areas surrounding Ironforge, reducing settlements to rubble and taking the lives of many innocent dwarves in the process. To glean answers as to the troubling state of the world, King Magni selflessly underwent a mystic ritual to commune with the earth. The archaic ceremony, however, had an unexpected effect: Magni was transformed into diamond and became fused to the depths of Ironforge itself. The Council of Three Hammers took over leadership of Ironforge, until in World of Warcraft: Legion, when Magni was freed from his eternal prison and reformed as a Titan.

Maiev Shadowsong

Maiev Shadowsong (voiced by Debi Mae West), along with her younger brother Jarod Shadowsong, played a key role in the battle against the Burning Legion during the War of the Ancients. In the aftermath, Maiev asked to be appointed the jailor of Illidan Stormrage and took on the mantle of leader of the Watchers. When Illidan was set free from his prison, Maiev and her Watchers chased him to the ends of the world. After Illidan rose to power in Outland, Maiev followed him there and tried to apprehend him but was defeated and subsequently imprisoned. Maiev was imprisoned at the Warden's Cage in Shadowmoon Valley, where Akama and his Ashtongue Deathsworn served as her jailors.

During the events of World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, Maiev allied with Akama and snuck into the Black Temple during a Sha'tari attack, where she joined Akama and the adventurers he had rallied in the final battle against Illidan. Fuelled by the desire for vengeance, Maiev struck the final blow that ended the Betrayer's life...but instead of relishing in her victory, she became a shell of her former self, admitting that with Illidan now dead, she was nothing.

Malfurion Stormrage

Malfurion Stormrage (voiced by Ed Trotta) was the first of the mortal druids on Azeroth, and the night elf who initiated the mainstream use of druidism among the kaldorei people ten millennia ago under tutelage of the demigod Cenarius. Under the guidance of Cenarius—the demigod of nature and patron of druids—the venerable Malfurion Stormrage has protected the night elves from demonic invaders for millennia. During the War of the Ancients, Malfurion was among those who defended all life on Azeroth from the terrible Burning Legion, along with his future lover Tyrande Whisperwind and his brother Illidan. After their victory against the demons, Malfurion saw to it that the night elves left the Legion's ravages behind, settling in a new home near Mount Hyjal and overseeing the growth of the World Tree, Nordrassil. The Aspect of Dreams, Ysera, linked Nordrassil to the Emerald Dream—a representation of Azeroth without war and interference from sentient beings—allowing all druids, including Malfurion, access to the realm. Malfurion and others explored the Dream for centuries.

Malfurion was awakened by Tyrande to aid the resistance against the Legion once more during the Third War; upon returning to his slumber, he battled his nemesis, the satyr Xavius, who was attempting to corrupt the Emerald Dream from inside. When Deathwing broke the world and stirred the rage of elementals during the Cataclysm, Malfurion left the night elven capital of Darnassus, and gathered his fellow druids to save Azeroth once more, creating a task force to stop the invasion led by the vicious firelord Ragnaros. With the Destroyer's demise, a finally wakeful Malfurion rejoined Tyrande to support the efforts of the Alliance.

Malygos

Malygos the Spellweaver (voiced by Cam Clarke) was the leader of the blue dragonflight and one of the original five dragon Aspects, blessed by the titan Norgannon as the Aspect of Magic, with guarding magic and the arcane. The oldest of the dragon Aspects, Malygos lent his power along with the other Aspects (except Neltharion) in the creation of the Dragon Soul. After the destruction of the blue dragonflight at the hands of Neltharion, Malygos was driven to insanity. Having regained much of his sanity by the time of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, Malygos began to grow concerned over the reckless use of magic in Azeroth. Declaring war on all magic users (particularly the Kirin Tor in Dalaran), Malygos sought to end the perceived misuse of magic by the mortal races. As the protector of life, Alexstrasza stepped in to defend the mortals, which culminated in Malygos' death at the Eye of Eternity. Malygos was succeeded by Kalecgos as the leader of the blue dragonflight.

Mannoroth

Mannoroth the Destructor (voiced by Arthur Burghardt) was the Demon King of the Pit Lords and general of the Burning Legion. As a Pit Lord himself, he is a being of pure hate, malice, and rage. He is the ultimate living engine of destruction, seeking only to raze and murder everything in his path. He has some significant ties to the orcish race since his blood was the original source of their bloodlust and corruption. Mannoroth has waited ten thousand years to return and finish the job he started during the War of the Ancients and with the Burning Legion's agents creating portals into Azeroth once again, he feels that the time for his vengeance is finally coming.

In Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, he tricked Grom Hellscream into leading his people to drink his blood, thus enslaving the Warsong clan to the demon-induced rage and bloodlust once again. Thrall and Jaina formed a coalition and helped free Grom from the demon's curse and afterwards, Grom and Thrall confronted Mannoroth together. Grom sacrificed himself to kill Mannoroth, thus severing the demons' hold over the orcs.

Mannoroth did not stay dead and would eventually return in World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor. Once again, he had attempted to assemble the Horde, but due to the actions of Garrosh Hellscream the Orcs had been supplied with Goblin weaponry to combat the Pit Lord. Mannoroth was slain by Grommash, and remained deceased for the majority of the War on Draenor. His return would be enacted prematurely by Gul'dan, however, resulting in a severe lack of power on Mannoroth's end. Over the course of the final battle atop Hellfire Citadel, Gul'dan not only restored Mannoroth to full power, but also enhanced the power he once possessed. Even with this great strength, Mannoroth was once again defeated and his soul was returned to the Twisting Nether.

Medivh

Medivh (voiced by Michael Bell in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, Heroes of the Storm, and World of Warcraft: Legion, Cam Clarke in World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, and portrayed by Ben Foster^[2] in the film) was the last Guardian of Tirisfal, descending from a long line of powerful sorcerers charged with defending Azeroth against the Burning Legion and other threats. He was the son of Aegwynn, the previous Guardian, and Nielas Aran, a conjurer from the court of Stormwind and member of the Council of Tirisfal. Unbeknownst to anyone, Medivh was born corrupted, as he was possessed by the essence of the Dark Titan Sargeras after Aegwynn had defeated his "avatar" centuries before. Medivh grew up in Stormwind with his best friends Llane Wrynn, the future King of Stormwind, and Anduin Lothar. When the powers of the Guardian (and Sargeras) awakened within him, Medivh fell into a comatose state, remaining so for many years, with his friends tending to him.

By the time of the First War between humans and orcs, Medivh lived as a recluse in the mystic tower of Karazhan, with only his steward Moroes and his personal cook (known simply as "Cook") residing in the tower with him. It was around this time that he finally took an apprentice, a young mage from Dalaran named Khadgar. Through the visions that haunted Karazhan, Khadgar had learned that Medivh had been responsible for working with Gul'dan to open the Dark Portal, bringing the Horde to Azeroth. Realizing the Guardian was corrupted, Khadgar turned to Lothar, who led a party into the tower to confront Medivh, ending with Lothar taking off his friend's head. Medivh's body was buried outside of Karazhan by Khadgar, who would go on to become a powerful archmage in his own right.

By Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, Medivh had returned from the Beyond to redeem himself for past sins; the novel Cycle of Hatred by Keith R.A. DeCandido revealed that in the years following Medivh's death, Aegwynn pooled all of her remaining powers (what she had not bestowed upon Medivh so that he would become the Guardian) to resurrect her son. Medivh appeared in the guise of a wandering prophet, warning the Horde and the Alliance of the dangers they faced and urging them to band together. Jaded by generations of hate, the orcs and humans would have none of it. Medivh was forced to deal with each race separately, using prophecy and trickery to guide them across the sea to the legendary land of Kalimdor. There, the humans, orcs, and night elves were at last united under a common cause, and convinced by Medivh to band together and make a last stand against the Burning Legion at Mount Hyjal. With his work done, Medivh seemingly vanished after the battle was won.

Medivh returns in World of Warcraft: Legion, when the Legion attempts to take control of Karazhan. He appears in the flesh to Khadgar (much to the latter's surprise) to aid in dispelling the Legion's magic and defeating the intended incursion into Azeroth. After the demons are defeated, Khadgar asks for Medivh's help in the ongoing invasion; Medivh declines, saying that he was needed elsewhere, and that Azeroth already had its Guardian in Khadgar. Though Khadgar refuses, believing that the power of the Guardian was corrupting, Medivh replies that Khadgar has all the power he needs, and that it was his courage and strength of heart in defending Azeroth that made him the Guardian. He tells Khadgar that "it may be simpler to shut a door than to pass through it, but sometimes a step into the unknown is required to break the bonds of fate", and then departs, leaving Khadgar to ponder the meaning of his words.

Medivh also appears in Heroes of the Storm.

Moira Thaurissan

Moira Thaurissan (voiced by Elle Newlands), daughter of King Magni Bronzebeard and Princess of Ironforge, is one of the members of the Council of the Three Hammers, in which she represents the Dark Iron clan. Kidnapped several years ago by the dark sorcerer and then Emperor of the Dark Iron dwarves Dagran Thaurissan, Moira was surprised to find herself being offered more respect and equality as a woman by her captor than she had even known from her father. Thus, she came to love him and the two were married. When her father sent a team to kill Thaurissan and free Moira from her presumed ensorcellment, Moira, stricken by grief, refused to return home, and revealed that she was pregnant.

Following her father's petrification, Moira later returned to Ironforge to claim the throne. With the support of the Dark Iron clan, she seized control of the dwarven capital, holding the people of Ironforge hostage, including the visiting Prince Anduin Wrynn. When King Varian Wrynn and SI:7 operatives entered the city in order to assassinate Moira, the young Anduin was able to persuade his father to spare her life, and rather guide her to be a better leader. Varian reluctantly agreed, but in exchange called for the formation of the Council of Three Hammers, balancing Moira's will against those of the leaders of the Bronzebeard and Wildhammer clans.

Despite her troubled past, in recent times Moira has worked to reintegrate the Dark Iron clan into the Ironforge Kingdom, and has made great efforts to prove both her own and her people's loyalty to King Varian and the Alliance.

Muradin Bronzebeard

Muradin Bronzebeard (voiced by Carlos Larkin) is the brother of King Magni Bronzebeard of Ironforge. During the dark days of the Second War, Muradin served as the liaison between Lordaeron and the dwarves’ realm of Khaz Modan. While at the court of Lordaeron, Muradin befriended the youthful Arthas and taught him how to master fighting blades of every type. Muradin was one of the first dwarves to establish the Explorer’s Guild, a group dedicated to archaeology and exploration of the unknown world. Though Muradin rarely has a chance to visit Khaz Modan or Lordaeron anymore, he is a firm supporter of the dwarves’ alliance with the humans.

As Arthas began to slip into madness while in pursuit of the cursed sword, Frostmourne, Muradin pleaded for the young prince to listen to his counsel as he had so many times before, but Arthas refused to listen, and Muradin became Frostmourne’s first victim at Arthas’s hand. In World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, it is revealed that Muradin survived and had been suffering from amnesia. He wandered Northrend until he was found by the frost dwarves and after witnessing his battle prowess, made him their king. Ever since then he has been going by the name Yorg Stormheart, named after a legendary frostborn dwarf. Years later his people had befriended the Alliance's Explorer's League during the Alliance's war against the Lich King. After being recognized by Alliance adventurers, Muradin was reunited with his brothers and recovered his memories. He then proceeded in aiding the Alliance fight Arthas, who had become the Lich King. Years later, he became the representative of the Bronzebeard clan for the Council of the Three Hammers since the “diamond-ization” of his brother, King Magni.

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Ner'zhul

Ner'zhul was an elder orc shaman who first united the orcish clans of Draenor into what would later become the first orcish Horde, before falling as a slave of the Burning Legion. Long ago, Kil'jaeden enthralled Ner'zhul and used the cunning shaman as his conduit to spread battle lust and savagery throughout the orc clans. Before long, the shamanistic orcish race was transformed into a bloodthirsty people. Kil'jaeden then urged Ner'zhul and his people to take the last step: to give themselves over entirely to the pursuit of death and war. Yet the old shaman, sensing that his people would be enslaved to hatred forever, somehow resisted the demon's command. Frustrated by Ner'zhul's resistance, Kil'jaeden searched for another orc who would deliver his people into the Legion's hands. The clever demon lord finally found the willing disciple he sought—Ner'zhul's ambitious apprentice, Gul'dan. Kil'jaeden promised Gul'dan untold power in exchange for his utter obedience. The young orc became an avid student of demonic magic and developed into the most powerful mortal warlock in history. He taught other young orcs the arcane arts and strove to eradicate the orcs' shamanistic traditions. Gul'dan showed a new brand of magic to his brethren, a terrible new power that reeked of doom. Kil'jaeden, seeking to tighten his hold over the orcs, helped Gul'dan found the Shadow Council, a secretive sect that manipulated the clans and spread the use of warlock magics throughout Draenor. As more and more orcs began to wield warlock magics, the gentle fields and streams of Draenor began to blacken and fade. Over time, the vast prairies the orcs had called home for generations withered away, leaving only red barren soil. The demon energies were slowly killing the world.

After Orgrim Doomhammer's defeat in Azeroth, a new orcish army prepared to strike at the unsuspecting Alliance in Draenor. Ner'zhul, the former mentor of Gul'dan, rallied the remaining orc clans under his dark banner. Aided by the Shadowmoon clan, the old shaman planned to open a number of portals on Draenor that would lead the Horde to new, unspoiled worlds. To power his new portals, he needed a number of enchanted artifacts from Azeroth. To procure them, Ner'zhul reopened the Dark Portal and sent his ravenous servants charging through it. Under Ner'zhul's surgical command, the orcs quickly rounded up the artifacts that they needed and fled back to the safety of Draenor. King Terenas of Lordaeron, convinced that the orcs were preparing a new invasion of Azeroth, assembled his most trusted lieutenants. He ordered General Turalyon and the archmage, Khadgar, to lead an expedition through the Dark Portal to put an end to the orcish threat once and for all. After the Second War drew to a close, Ner'zhul—guided by visions of death—frantically opened new portals to worlds that the orcish hordes might invade, but the magical stress of creating so many portals at once tore Draenor apart. Ner'zhul escaped the death of his homeworld by fleeing into the nearest rift, only to find the demon Kil'jaeden lying in wait for him. Kil'jaeden had long manipulated Ner'zhul's visions to guide the orcs down a dark path, and the demon punished Ner'zhul by destroying his body and encasing his spirit in an icy cask that would come to be called the Frozen Throne. This act birthed the Lich King, a spectral presence made to command the Scourge, an army of undead that would serve as the Burning Legion's advance weapon against Azeroth.

Despite his orders, the Lich King plotted against Kil'jaeden, seeking to break free of the Legion's influence. During the Third War, he summoned Arthas Menethil, the fallen prince of Lordaeron, to serve as his most loyal death knight. In Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, when the Lich King was threatened by the forces of Illidan Stormrage, Arthas travelled to the Frozen Throne in Northrend and broke the ice surrounding his master, donning the Lich King's helm and merging with him, before encasing himself in the surrounding ice for five years. Within the Lich King's deep sleep, the spirit of Arthas destroyed what remained of his former self—along with what remained of Ner'zhul's spirit—and Arthas took full control of the Lich King's spectral presence, becoming the sole leader of the Scourge, before awakening prior to the events of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King.

Ner'zhul also appears in World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor in an alternate timeline as the former chieftain of the Shadowmoon clan and one of Grommash Hellscream's lieutenants within his newly formed Iron Horde, who had abandoned his shamanistic ways—along with his people—and begun to use the powers of necromancy and the void. He was defeated and killed by adventurers within Shadowmoon Burial Grounds.

Nozdormu

Nozdormu, The Timeless One (voiced by Martin Sheen) is one of the five dragon aspects and leader of the bronze dragonflight. Nozdormu is tasked with ensuring that the flow of time occurs normally, without interruption, and that events happen as they are fated. To accomplish this mission, Nozdormu knows much about the nature of time. He uses his abilities and powers to prevent others from discovering these same secrets. Should a sorcerer or other mortal being begin to delve too deeply into magic that alters or affects time, Nozdormu always steps in to remove the threat, one way or another.

N'Zoth

N'Zoth is one of the four Old Gods that inhabit the planet of Azeroth, who is primarily responsible for corrupting the mind of Neltharion, forcing him to create the Dragon Soul that would weaken the power of other four Dragon Aspects. Neltharion would be known as Deathwing the Destroyer from this point onward, who would later unleash his power on Azeroth, bringing the Cataclysm to all continents, and subsequently dispelled the mist that surrounds Pandaria.^[3] N'Zoth's forces continue to be on the move, with N'Zoth himself slowly breaking free of his subterranean prison.

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Orgrim Doomhammer

Orgrim Doomhammer (portrayed by Robert Kazinsky in the film) was the warchief of the orcish Horde during the end of the First War and the entirety of the Second War. Incensed by his friend Durotan's death at the machinations of the Horde's corrupt leadership, Orgrim set out to free the Horde from demonic corruption and ultimately assumed the role of warchief of the Horde by killing Gul'dan's corrupt puppet, Blackhand. Under his decisive leadership, he led the Horde to conquer the Eastern Kingdoms, and might have succeeded had Gul'dan not divided his forces during a crucial battle to chase after a powerful artifact in his search for power. The Alliance took advantage of his forces' weakness and pushed the Horde back to Blackrock Spire. Orgrim sought to demoralise the Alliance and regain the Horde's momentum by slaying Anduin Lothar at the base of the Spire. Instead, Lothar's lieutenant, Turalyon, used Lothar's passing to whip the Alliance into a frenzy and pushed the Horde back to the Swamp of Sorrows. After the Dark Portal was closed, cutting the stranded orc clans off from reinforcements, the orcs buckled under the might of the Alliance, and were rounded up and placed in internment camps. Orgrim escaped imprisonment and wandered Azeroth as a hermit until Durotan's Frostwolf clan introduced him to his son, Thrall. Inspired by the young orc's idealism, Orgrim revealed his identity to Thrall. The two rallied the surviving orcish clans and fought to break the orcs out of the internment camps. During one such prison break, Orgrim was mortally wounded by a knight and passed the mantle of leadership to Thrall. The orcish capital of Orgrimmar, the Horde-controlled town of Hammerfall in the Arathi Highlands, and the flying battleship Orgrim's Hammer that patrols the skies of Icecrown are named in his honour.

An alternate version of Orgrim Doomhammer appears in World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor as one of Grommash Hellscream's lieutenants within the Iron Horde. Initially, he commanded the Iron Horde forces in Talador seeking to eradicate the Draenei from their capital of Shattrath City. After his friend Durotan pleaded with him to leave the Iron Horde and join him in defending the city, Orgrim eventually saw the fault in the Iron Horde's actions and stood up to Blackhand, who led the assault on the draenei capital from the sea. Despite the aid of Durotan, Yrel and adventurers, he is killed by Blackhand in a reversal of fate.

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Rend Blackhand

Rend Blackhand was the orcish ruler of the currently defeated Dark Horde. Rend is the son of the former Warchief of the Horde, Blackhand the Destroyer. Rend Blackhand and Nefarian (also known as Blackwing) have used their combined resources to re-create the chromatic dragonflight. His mount is a massive chromatic drake named Gyth. He met his end when brave adventurers seeking to slay Nefarian attacked his citadel.

Rexxar

Rexxar (voiced by Matthew Mercer) is a half-orc half-ogre beastmaster of the Mok'Nathal Clan and the current Champion of the Horde. Raised by the Mok'nathal clan on Draenor, Rexxar's massive size and strength made him invaluable during the Horde invasion of Azeroth during the First War, despite his mixed heritage. Yet, bloodshed and backstabbing from within his faction (coupled with the death of his companion wolf Haratha at the hands of an orc warlock) eventually diminished Rexxar's will to fight for the Horde, and he left to wander alone. Rexxar disappeared in Azeroth with new companions, including the bear Misha; now, he trusted the wilderness more than the "civilized" world.

During the Third War, while traveling through Kalimdor's Barrens, Rexxar stumbled upon Mogrin, an orc warrior defeated by quilboar, and agreed to take a message to the new warchief of the Horde. Journeying to the recently built city of Orgrimmar, Rexxar met the young warchief Thrall, who schooled him in the attitudes of a reformed Horde. Impressed by what he saw, Rexxar decided to fight alongside the troll scout Rokhan and the pandaren traveler Chen Stormstout to keep Orgrimmar safe from the attacks of Grand Admiral Daelin Proudmoore. Daelin ignored the pleas of his daughter Jaina and attacked the Horde, believing them to be untrustworthy monsters. Rexxar led a counterattack, which led to the death of the grand admiral. With Orgrimmar established, the newly titled Champion of the Horde returned to his homeland in Outland, the remnants of the world of Draenor. Rexxar remains ever ready to serve the new Horde—his true people—once again.

Rhonin

Rhonin (voiced by Keith Silverstein) was a maverick mage and former leader of the Kirin Tor. During the Second War, Rhonin led a small group of resistance fighters to destroy the Demon Soul and free the Dragonqueen Alexstrasza from the Dragonmaw Clan's command. He later fell in love with his companion, Vereesa Windrunner, and started a family. Just after the fires of the Third War died down, he was summoned by his mentor, Krasus the dragon-mage, to aid him in investigating a rift in time. This investigation sent the two of them and an orc named Broxigar back in time to the War of the Ancients where he took part in the war and led a contingent of night elf sorcerers called the Moon Guard in fighting against their corrupted Queen Azshara's armies. He was eventually sent back to the present by Nozdormu as reward for his valiant contributions in the war; just in time to witness the birth of his twins.

Prior to World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, Rhonin had been elected the new leader of the Kirin Tor. The Kirin Tor had just established their neutrality in the war between the Horde and Alliance, welcoming Horde magi into Dalaran for the first time. Rhonin hoped that the Kirin Tor could be the bridge between the Horde and Alliance and coordinate the feuding factions to fight against the threats to all of Azeroth. Rhonin was also leading the Kirin Tor through a war against Malygos, the very Aspect who had been chosen to guide and monitor magic.

Ultimately, Rhonin died years later when he sacrificed himself trying to contain a mana bomb created by the Horde which destroyed Theramore Isle. His actions saved the lives of many people who would have been caught in the bomb's expansive radius, including his wife Vereesa and Jaina Proudmoore.

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Sargeras

Sargeras is a corrupted titan and the creator and leader of the Burning Legion. Once he was a champion of order and justice for the Titan Pantheon and its mightiest warrior, who chased demons and imprisoned them in his own pocket realm, Mardum, the plane of banishment. However, after encountering so much unfathomable evil of the Old Gods, servants of the Void, attempting to change a planet's sleeping titan into something horrible, Sargeras came to the conclusion that the battle for order was unwinnable, since evil is an inherent flaw in the fabric of creation. He then destroys the planet with its titan and the Old Gods that inhabited it, believing that only by destroying everything and starting anew without the underlying defect could true order be achieved.

When the Titan Pantheon heard of what Sargeras had done, its members were stunned by what they had learned, but even more by Sargeras's rash actions. Had he called on their aid, they argued, they could have purged the growing world-soul from the Void's corruption. Although he tried to convince the titans that what he had done was necessary, he came to realize it was futile. Arguments flared between Sargeras and the Pantheon, and soon he realized that it would be best to leave the Pantheon and start purging the universe from the Void's corruption himself. Thus, he freed the demons he previously hunted from their prison in Mardum and from them created the Burning Legion: a fearsome army to usher his Burning Crusade to end all life. The Pantheon confronts Sargeras over this crusade so Sargeras kills the other titans.

During the War of the Ancients 10,000 years before the First War, Sargeras oversaw the first Legion invasion of Azeroth after contacting Queen Azshara and persuading her to open portals that allowed the demons to invade the world. The Legion was ultimately defeated and Sargeras's attempt to enter the world of Azeroth caused the Well of Eternity to implode and his spirit to shatter, causing the Sundering of the world and the breakup of the supercontinent Kalimdor.

Many years later, Sargeras' avatar, a small portion of his powerful spirit, was destroyed in a battle with the Guardian of Tirisfal, Aegwynn. However, a portion of Sargeras' soul embedded in Aegwynn, and manipulated Aegwynn into helping him. Sargeras then possessed her son Medivh while still in the womb. After Medivh was killed, the portion of Sargeras' spirit that had possessed him was released and this spirit was sent reeling in pain back into Sargeras, which resulted in his disappearance for years. Recently, however, Sargeras's presence has been felt once again in the Twisting Nether, where his spirit has returned to. During the events of World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor and World of Warcraft: Legion, the beginning of his return sets events into motion that ultimately lead to the Burning Legion launching a devastating third invasion of Azeroth. His actions, or the effects of his actions, essentially make him one of the primary antagonists of the Warcraft series, along with the Old Gods. In the live action film Warcraft, Medivh possesses the power of Sargeras.

Shaohao

Shaohao (voiced by Greg Chun) is the last pandaren emperor of Pandaria. Shaohao was born many thousands of years ago, before the Sundering, and his time as emperor of Pandaria seemed truly auspicious…but not for the reasons he dreamed about. Young, devoted Shaohao began his reign as all emperors did, by consulting a venerable Jinyu waterspeaker to learn of his future. The Jinyu waterspeaker saw tragedy and destruction approaching; green fire rained from the sky, and the land was awash in chaos. Determined to keep his empire from ruin, Shaohao vowed to overcome his weaknesses, and so he set off to seek the advice of the Jade Serpent Yu'lon, the Celestial of Wisdom.

It is not an easy thing to master one's self. Shaohao's journey hurled him headlong into peril, and the burdens he felt only became heavier. The embodied darkness of the Sha emerged from all of his negative emotions: doubt, despair, fear, anger, hatred, and violence. One by one, he conquered almost every single emotion until only pride remained. But there was no time to eliminate his final weakness.

The earth shook with the tremors of the Sundering, and the land teetered on the brink of annihilation. When the cities of the pandaren seemed doomed to fall, Shaohao appeared before his people, urging them to take courage. In his travels, the emperor had learned that overcoming his weaknesses did not mean physical strength or perfect statecraft, but rather placing the sanctity of Pandaria above his own safety in order to protect his people. The pride he felt for his people & their culture manifested as a thick fog of mists which encircled Pandaria and hid the continent from the rest of Azeroth for the next ten millennia, until the Cataclysm later revealed it again.

Even afterwards, some say the Last Emperor's presence can still be felt, particularly when walking in his footprints up the hills of Kun-Lai Summit.

Sylvanas Windrunner

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Taran Zhu

Taran Zhu is the pandaren Lord of the Shado-Pan. For thousands of years, Pandaria was isolated from the conflicts and troubles raging across Azeroth, but that did not mean its inhabitants lived free of danger. The mantid swarmed every century. Uncontrolled emotion threatened to summon the dangerous spirits known as the sha. The only defense against those threats was the Shado-pan, the mysterious order that protected their land with unending vigilance. Their leader, Taran Zhu, dedicated his life to eliminating threats to the balance of Pandaria, but he never could have imagined that the island’s faltering shroud of mists would bring the Alliance and the Horde’s all-out war to his shores. Zhu warned the outsiders of the dangers their conflict might bring to the isle…and his suspicions were validated when the sha flocked to the violence of the battling factions.

And, yet, the same races rushed to Zhu's aid when the Lord of the Shado-Pan was influenced by the Sha of Hatred. A renewed Zhu grew to grudgingly accept (and even welcome) the champions of both factions, joining forces with them to strike at the Thunder King and Warchief Garrosh Hellscream, whose ambitions ravaged Pandaria's precious Vale of Eternal Blossoms. Zhu and his disciples have yet to falter in their dedication to their homeland—but it remains to be seen if they will rise to defend the world beyond the Mists as well.

Terenas Menethil II

Terenas Menethil II (voiced by Earl Boen) is a deceased human, formerly King of Lordaeron. Terenas was the first king to shelter Anduin Lothar and his Stormwind refugees after their exodus from their homeland. The benevolent ruler was convinced that humanity must stand steadfast against the blasphemous onslaught of the Horde and so his armies were the first to heed the call to arms issued by Sir Lothar and the people of Azeroth. Convinced that the Horde would overcome all of humanity if left unchecked, Terenas called his neighbor kings together to inform them of the Horde's threat. The leaders of the seven human nations met and agreed to unite in what would become known as the Alliance of Lordaeron. The Alliance succeeded in defeating the Horde and the scattered orc clans were quickly rounded up and placed within guarded internment camps. Though it seemed that the Horde had been defeated for good, some remained highly skeptical that peace would last.

Unaware of the death cults forming in their lands, the leaders of the Alliance nations began to bicker and argue over territorial holdings and decreasing political influence. King Terenas of Lordaeron began to suspect that the fragile pact they had forged during their darkest hour would not last for much longer. Though some factions rescinded their allegiance to the Alliance, King Terenas still had allies that he could count on. After preparing for many long months, Kel'Thuzad and his Cult of the Damned finally struck the first blow by releasing the plague of undeath upon Lordaeron. Uther and his fellow paladins investigated the infected regions in the hope of finding a way to stop the plague. Despite their efforts, the plague continued to spread and threatened to tear the Alliance apart. As the ranks of the undead swept across Lordaeron, Terenas' only son, Prince Arthas, took up the fight against the Scourge.

Frustrated and stymied by the seemingly unstoppable enemy, Arthas took increasingly extreme steps to conquer them. Finally Arthas' comrades warned him that he was losing his hold on his humanity. Arthas' fear and resolve proved to be his ultimate undoing. He tracked the plague's source to Northrend, intending to end its threat forever. Instead, Prince Arthas eventually fell prey to the Lich King's tremendous power. Believing that it would save his people, Arthas took up the cursed runeblade, Frostmourne. Though the sword did grant him unfathomable power, it also stole his soul and transformed him into the greatest of the Lich King's death knights. With his soul cast aside and his sanity shattered, Arthas led the Scourge against his own kingdom. Ultimately, Arthas murdered his own father, King Terenas, and crushed Lordaeron under the Lich King's iron heel.

Teron Gorefiend

In life, Teron'Gor (voiced by David Lodge) was Gul'dan's most promising acolyte—a young orc who showed a very promising affinity for necromancy and other dark arts. When Orgrim Doomhammer later demanded that Gul'dan create a new kind of weapon to combat the mages of Azeroth, Teron'Gor volunteered to become the first of the death knights. His undead essence transferred into the resurrected body of a human paladin, Teron'Gor took the name "Teron Gorefiend" and led the death knights as their general until his second "death".

Years later, the disembodied ghost of Gorefiend appeared to adventurers in Shadowmoon Valley, tricking them into resurrecting his physical body and setting him free once more. He then took up residence in the nearby ruins of Karabor Temple until defeated by an invading force led by Akama and Maeiv Shadowsong.

Thargas Anvilmar

Thargas Anvilmar is a dwarven agent of the kingdom of Ironforge. One of his most recent exploits was fighting shoulder to shoulder with King Varian Wrynn and company in defending the Thandol Span bridges from Dark Iron dwarf saboteurs. He is also a descendant of Modimus Anvilmar, the former High King of the dwarven clans.

Thrall

Thrall (voiced by Chris Metzen) is an orc shaman, current leader of the Earthen Ring and former Warchief of the Horde. Born on Azeroth, Thrall's parents were killed when he was still an infant by assassins sent by Gul'dan for their opposition of his vision for the Horde. Found by Commander Aedelas Blackmoore of Durnholde Keep, Thrall was raised from a young age as a gladiator, being trained in the arena in many forms of combat. Through help from an unlikely friend, Thrall managed to escape Durnholde and find the Frostwolf Clan in the Alterac Mountains, to which he and his parents belonged. Through the Frostwolf Clan's current chieftain Drek'thar, Thrall learned the ways of the shaman, and being naturally talented he eventually became the greatest shaman alive on Azeroth. Thrall, under the leadership of his father's old friend and warchief Orgrim Doomhammer, liberated the remaining orcs still held in internment camps throughout Lordaeron. During the assault on the last internment camp, Durnholde Keep itself, Doomhammer fell in battle. With his dying breath he passed down his black plate armor and warhammer (aptly named the Doomhammer) to Thrall, naming him the new Warchief of the Horde. For a time, the Horde travelled frequently throughout Lordaeron, never staying in one location for too long. Thrall was eventually plagued by visions from a prophet, telling him to take the Horde west across the great sea where they would be able to find a home on Azeroth. Landing on the western continent of Kalimdor, they founded the city of Orgrimmar (named in honour of his mentor Orgrim Doomhammer) and named the surrounding region Durotar (in honour of his father Durotan). After the prophet revealed himself to be the Last Guardian Medivh, he warned of a second invasion of the Burning Legion that would overrun Azeroth if Thrall and the Horde did not form an alliance with Jaina Proudmoore and her human forces (who had also fled to Kalimdor) and the native night elves. Though they succeeded in defeating the Burning Legion, the pact between their forces subsequently crumbled, although Thrall still maintained a close friendship with Jaina Proudmoore and to a lesser extent, the leadership of the night elves. During World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, Thrall stood down as Warchief of the Horde in order to fully focus his attention on his duties as a shaman. Azeroth was shattered as a result of Deathwing's re-entry to the world and the shamans of the Earthen Ring were put under immense pressure to try to heal the lands. Knowing that the orcs would prefer a strong-willed leader, Thrall reluctantly chose Garrosh Hellscream as his successor, hoping the position would instill some responsibility into him. While seeking a way to combat the Cataclysm, Thrall found a life-mate in the Mag'har orc Aggra, who would later become the mother of his son. Thrall later risked his life to talk Jaina Proudmoore down from using her powers to destroy all of Orgrimmar, following the destruction of Theramore by Garrosh. With the growing rebellion against the warchief in World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria Thrall has returned to do what he can among the orcs of Orgrimmar, asking his long-time ally Vol'jin to care for his mate and son should he fail to return.

When the Dark Portal opened to reveal the invading forces of The Iron Horde in World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor, Thrall was among those who followed Khadgar into the portal. Finding himself on an alternate version of Draenor, Thrall soon found himself face-to-face with his parents, alive and thirty-five years younger. He is currently serving as an advisor to his father Durotan while assisting Khadgar against the forces of The Iron Horde.

In the live action film Warcraft, Thrall goes by the name of Go'el and is the son of Durotan and Draka.

Tirion Fordring

Tirion Fordring (voiced by Bernard Hill) was one of the first five Knights of the Silver Hand selected by Archbishop Alonsus Faol, and was one of the heroes of the Second War. He later became Lord of Mardenholde Keep in Hearthglen before being stripped of his title and exiled for defending an orc, Eitrigg. He remains friends with the orc veteran Eitrigg. Following the death of his son Taelan Fordring, Tirion committed himself to refounding the order of the Silver Hand. He leads the Argent Crusade, an organization consisting of the old Knights of the Silver Hand and the Argent Dawn, against the Lich King and the Scourge. Fordring pursues a campaign into the heart of Icecrown and stages a tournament to prepare the players to become an elite fighting force to face the Lich King, to avoid the problem of the Lich King slaying a large army and raising it against Azeroth. Fordring helps invade Icecrown Citadel, where the Lich King reveals his plans to kill the adventurers and raise them as his mightiest champions. However, Fordring calls on the light and breaks the Lich King's blade, Frostmourne, in half which shocks the Lich King and allows the adventurers to finally kill the Lich King.

Fordring is captured by Gul'dan, who had returned to Azeroth from a different, newly created timeline, in World of Warcraft: Legion. Gul'dan proceeds to mortally wound Fordring to prove his power to Azeroth's armies. In Fordring's last moment, he gives the Ashbringer to a new paladin high lord.

Turalyon

Turalyon was one of the first five Knights of the Silver Hand selected by Archbishop Alonsus Faol, and was the lieutenant of Anduin Lothar during the Second War. When Lord Lothar fell in battle at the Black Spire's base, his lieutenant, Turalyon, rallied the Alliance forces at the eleventh hour and drove the Horde back into the abysmal Swamp of Sorrows. Turalyon's forces succeeded in destroying the Dark Portal, the mystical gateway that connected the orcs to their homeworld of Draenor. Cut off from its reinforcements and fractured by infighting, the Horde finally buckled in upon itself and fell before the might of the Alliance.

As the fires of the Second War died down, the Alliance took aggressive steps to contain the orcish threat. A number of large internment camps, meant to house the captive orcs, were constructed in southern Lordaeron. Guarded by both the paladins and the veteran soldiers of the Alliance, the camps proved to be a great success. Though the captive orcs were tense and anxious to do battle once more, the various camp wardens, based at the old prison-fortress of Durnholde, kept the peace and maintained a strong semblance of order.

However, on the hellish world of Draenor, a new orcish army prepared to strike at the unsuspecting Alliance. Ner'zhul, the former mentor of Gul'dan, rallied the remaining orc clans under his dark banner. Aided by the Shadowmoon clan, the old shaman planned to open a number of portals on Draenor that would lead the Horde to new, unspoiled worlds. To power his new portals, he needed a number of enchanted artifacts from Azeroth. To procure them, Ner'zhul reopened the Dark Portal and sent his ravenous servants charging through it.

The new Horde, led by veteran chieftains such as Grom Hellscream, chieftain of the Warsong clan, and Kilrogg Deadeye, chieftain of the Bleeding Hollow clan, surprised the Alliance defense forces and rampaged through the countryside. Under Ner'zhul's surgical command, the orcs quickly rounded up the artifacts that they needed and fled back to the safety of Draenor.

King Terenas of Lordaeron, convinced that the orcs were preparing a new invasion of Azeroth, assembled his most trusted lieutenants. He ordered Turalyon, now given the rank of High General, and the archmage, Khadgar, to lead an expedition through the Dark Portal to put an end to the orcish threat once and for all. Turalyon and Khadgar's forces marched into Draenor and repeatedly clashed with Ner'zhul's clans upon the ravaged Hellfire Peninsula. Even with the aid of the high elf Alleria Windrunner, the dwarf Kurdran Wildhammer, and the veteran soldier Danath Trollbane, Khadgar was unable to prevent Ner'zhul from opening his portals to other worlds.

Ner'zhul finally opened his portals to other worlds, but he did not foresee the terrible price he would pay. The portals' tremendous energies began to tear the very fabric of Draenor apart. As Turalyon's forces fought desperately to return home to Azeroth, the world of Draenor began to buckle in upon itself. Grom Hellscream and Kilrogg Deadeye, realizing that Ner'zhul's mad plans would doom their entire race, rallied the remaining orcs and escaped back to the relative safety of Azeroth. On Draenor, Turalyon and Khadgar agreed to make the ultimate sacrifice by destroying the Dark Portal from their side. Though it would cost their lives and the lives of their companions, they did it since it was the only way to ensure Azeroth's survival. Even as Hellscream and Deadeye hacked their way through the human ranks in a desperate bid for freedom, the Dark Portal exploded behind them. For them, and the remaining orcs on Azeroth, there would be no going back.

In World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, it is revealed that High General Turalyon's expedition survived and have renamed themselves the Sons of Lothar. Turalyon and his lover, Alleria Windrunner, went missing after losing a battle.

In World of Warcraft: Legion, Turalyon appears in a recording.

Tyrande Whisperwind

U

Uther the Lightbringer

Lord Uther the Lightbringer (voiced by Michael McConnohie), or Sire Uther Lightbringer, was the first paladin of the Knights of the Silver Hand who led his Order in battle against the Horde during the Second War. The legend of noble Uther guides the Alliance years after his passing. Many devout followers of the Light were killed during the First War, unprepared for the sheer brutality of warfare against the Horde. The leader of the Clerics of Northshire, Alonsus Faol, believed that the Light could protect the faithful and devoted, and thus began training the most virtuous knights of Lordaeron to wield the Light in battle.

The first knight to be named a paladin was Uther, who helped found the Knights of the Silver Hand alongside Archbishop Faol and became a legend among his order. When the Second War began, Uther fought alongside his brother-in-arms, Turalyon, to fend off the forces of Horde commander Orgrim Doomhammer and lead the Alliance in a final, successful attack on the Dark Portal. In the wake of the Horde's defeat, Uther helped rebuild Stormwind City and cared for the sick and injured. Uther remained in a leadership role with the Silver Hand for years, eventually taking Lordaeron's prince, Arthas Menethil, as his apprentice. The two forged a close relationship as teacher and student, and together they served justice throughout the land…until the Scourge struck Lordaeron. Arthas' growing anger at the spreading plague of undeath led him to horrific acts—such as the culling of Stratholme—and his thirst for vengeance drove him to madness. After the prince became a champion of the Lich King and killed his own father, Uther decided to personally guard the urn of the slain king. Arthas and Uther fought in Andorhal, and when the battle ended, the legendary paladin lay dead.

V

Valeera Sanguinar

Valeera Sanguinar is a female blood elf who refuses to take sides in the war of Horde and Alliance, but has saved the life of Stormwind’s king more than once. Valeera Sanguinar was lucky to survive the bandit raid that killed her family, even though she had no place to go—her people were devastated by the undead Scourge's attack on the elven capital of Quel'Thalas. The young blood elf lived a survivalist existence until she was arrested for theft and later sold to Rehgar Earthfury, who put her to work as a gladiator alongside the night elf druid Broll Bearmantle and the orc Bloodeye Redfist. When Redfist was killed, Valeera and Broll were teamed up with an amnesiac human warrior who would later become known as Lo'Gosh, the "Ghost Wolf."

The trio quickly discovered that Lo'Gosh was Varian Wrynn, the missing king of Stormwind, and they embarked on a journey to restore his memory and throne, pitting themselves against the black dragon Onyxia, who secretly controlled the human kingdom. During the expedition, an assassin placed a demon's mark on Valeera, leaving her possessed and vulnerable to the demon's influence. The possession amplified Valeera's racial addiction to magic, but she managed to expel the demon with the help of the undead mage Meryl Felstorm and Aegwynn, the former Guardian of Tirisfal, a mage empowered to protect Azeroth from the Burning Legion. Once he'd regained his crown, King Varian offered Valeera a position as an advisor in Stormwind, and she accepted, though with one condition. She is not loyal to the Alliance; she is loyal to Varian Wrynn and his son, Anduin.

Varian Wrynn

King Varian Wrynn (voiced by Chris Metzen in all appearances except World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, where he is voiced by Jon St. John; portrayed as a child by Dylan Schombing in the film) was the king of the human kingdom of Stormwind and High King of the Alliance (i.e., military commander of the Alliance). In his younger years, Varian survived the ravages of the orcish invasion of Azeroth, the First War, ending with the assassination of his father, King Llane Wrynn. Years later, Varian reclaimed Stormwind City and initiated its reconstruction, marrying the beautiful Tiffin Ellerian and raising a son, Anduin, whom he named after the great Alliance hero Anduin Lothar. Long after the dust settled from the Third War, Varian was kidnapped by Defias Brotherhood minions of the black dragon Onyxia, who split Varian into two separate beings: one embodying his strength and resolve, and one bereft of willpower. The dragon hoped to kill Varian's warrior qualities, yet still rule Stormwind by using the weaker king as her puppet. But Varian's stronger half escaped his captors. Robbed of his memories and enslaved by a Horde gladiatorial trainer in Kalimdor, Varian's stronger half fought his way to freedom, earning the nickname “Lo’Gosh,” or “ghost wolf,” while in battle. With the help of his comrades, he was able to recover his true identity and led an army to slay Onyxia.

After reuniting his selves and reclaiming his throne, King Wrynn organized the campaign against the Lich King in Northrend and defended his realm against the terrors of Deathwing's Cataclysm. In recent days, Varian has turned his eye toward his old enemies in the Horde, and many in his council fear that their king actually desires another years-long war between Horde and Alliance. Varian's ongoing struggle—to balance his warrior's instincts with his duties as a king—has only grown more critical in the wake of Theramore's destruction and the battle for the continent of Pandaria. As the events of World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria progress, Varian underwent many trials to rally the other factions of the Alliance into a unified coalition that led to a final siege of Orgrimmar where his forces and Horde rebels toppled Warchief Garrosh Hellscream. When Garrosh was arrested, Varian chose to end the war with the Horde rather than prolong it as the price of victory, even if possible, would cause too much bloodshed on both sides. However, he warned the new warchief, Vol'jin, that should the Horde return to its warmongering ways, the Alliance would seek to end them.

After playing a minor role in World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor, Varian led an assault against Gul'dan, who had returned to Azeroth from a different, newly created timeline, in World of Warcraft: Legion. Along with Tirion Fordring and the rest of his army, Varian was killed in the ensuing battle, and was succeeded as King of Stormwind by his son, Anduin.

Varian is a playable character in Heroes of the Storm. He is the first "multiclass" character, able to work as either a Warrior (damage absorber) or Assassin (damage dealer), depending on his talent choices, reflecting the three specializations of the Warrior class in World of Warcraft (sword and shield, one weapon, or two weapons).

Velen

Prophet Velen (voiced by Alan Shearman) is the leader of the draenei. Originally an eredar of the planet Argus, Velen and his people were a magically gifted and intelligent race, Velen having the gift of 'sight'—the ability to see visions of the future. He, along with Kil'jaeden and Archimonde were the three most prominent leaders of the eredar. Knowing their potential, the Dark Titan Sargeras contacted the three leaders with a proposal: in exchange for their loyalty, they would be given great power and prestige. Kil'jaeden and Archimonde readily accepted the offer, but Velen curiously held back. Before deciding on Sargeras' offer he received a vision from the naaru K'ure—the truth behind Sargeras' plot, one that involved death and destruction as members of the Burning Legion, as opposed to the utopia Sargeras proposed. Velen rounded up all those followers who did not wish to follow this path and fled with the assistance of the naaru aboard one of their inter-dimensional ships, Oshu'gun, calling themselves the draenei, or 'Exiled Ones'. Kil'jaeden, who loved Velen like a brother, saw this as the ultimate betrayal and vowed to hunt Velen and the draenei until they were wiped out. Arriving on an unknown world they named Draenor (the orcs' home world) the draenei settled for a time living peacefully alongside the orcs while being taught by the naaru in the ways of the light. Kil'jaeden eventually discovered their existence and through manipulation and deceit convinced the orcs that the draenei were plotting against them, engineering a genocide on the draenei. With assistance from the naaru once more, the surviving draenei fled Draenor, this time aboard the inter-dimensional ship the Exodar. However, during the flight, the reactor on the ship malfunctioned causing it to crash land on another unknown planet—turning out to be Azeroth. In need of assistance and recovery, the night elves of nearby Darnassus were the first to offer aid. After short negotiations, the draenei joined the Alliance to help fight against the Burning Legion.

Vereesa Windrunner

Vereesa Windrunner (voiced by Courtenay Taylor) is the younger sister of high elves Alleria and Sylvanas Windrunner and Ranger-General of the Silver Covenant. She became a ranger in the service of the high elven Silvermoon City, embarking on a career that would carry her through many tragedies—the deaths of most of her family to orcish invaders, the ruin of her homeland, Quel'Thalas, by the undead Scourge, and the transformation of her sister Sylvanas into a nightmarish Banshee—and also through triumphs, including the destruction of the tainted Demon Soul talisman, and her eventual marriage to the human mage Rhonin, with whom she would raise two children.

Relocating with her family to the magical city of Dalaran, Vereesa formed the Silver Covenant, a faction of militant high elves who reject the presence of blood elves among the Kirin Tor. When an attack orchestrated by Warchief Garrosh Hellscream obliterated the city of Theramore and killed Rhonin, Vereesa assisted Jaina Proudmoore in mobilizing the Kirin Tor Offensive, a military group composed of war magi and warriors, to support the Alliance and stop Horde advances in Pandaria. Vereesa and her troops were among those who expunged Horde magi from Dalaran, leaving the long-neutral city now firmly aligned with the Alliance. As the Ranger-General of the Silver Covenant, the youngest scion of the Windrunner family is in a position to stave off future tragedy—if any remains to prevent.

Void Lords

Pure incarnations of Void, or Shadow energy, these beings are the true antagonists of the Warcraft series, though unsung. These beings have never been seen, due to the fact that they can only appear in the physical universe after consuming vast and untold amounts of matter and energy. Even then, they can only appear for a small while, consuming all they see just to maintain their physical forms.

In an attempt to control the universe, the Void Lords created the Old Gods and sent them hurtling through the universe, known as the Great Dark Beyond blindly, hoping that they would crash into a planet with a world-soul, or dormant titan, in it. The Old Gods would corrupt the titan, turning it into an instrument of their will, creating a dark titan that would destroy every other titan.

While most of the Old Gods crashed onto dormant worlds, a few landed on worlds with dormant titans. Sargeras was the first to discover the Void Lord's plot in action, and, seeing no recourse, destroyed the world-soul, and the Old Gods. Afterwards, Sargeras was banished from the Titan Pantheon for his actions. On his own, Sargeras creates the Burning Legion in order cleanse the universe of all life so the Void Lords cannot corrupt the universe.

The only other known world-soul to become host of the Old Gods was Azeroth itself. The four Old Gods on Azeroth are named Y'Shaarj, N'Zoth, Yogg'Saron, and C'Thun. When the titans discovered Azeroth, appears uncorrupted. Acting quickly, they were able to seal the Old Gods, creating the titan keepers to watch over the Old Gods.

Vol'jin

Vol'jin (voiced by Chris Metzen in World of Warcraft and its first three expansions, Dave Fennoy in Mists of Pandaria) is the Warchief of the Horde following the downfall of Garrosh Hellscream at the end of Mists of Pandaria, and is the leader of the Darkspear trolls. A member of the exiled trolls of the Darkspear tribe, Vol'jin became the leader of his people after the death of his father, the witch doctor Sen'jin. After Thrall's orcs relocated to Kalimdor during the Third War, the Darkspears joined them, and Vol'jin became one of the warchief's most trusted advisors. Vol'jin collaborated with Thrall to resolve crisis after crisis: he stabilized the Undercity after a coup orchestrated by Grand Apothecary Putress and the dreadlord Varimathras, and ousted the witch doctor Zalazane from the Echo Isles, the home of the Darkspear trolls.

Then, Garrosh Hellscream rose to become warchief of the Horde. Almost immediately, Vol'jin disliked the younger Hellscream's lust for war, and it didn't take long for the troll to move the majority of his people out of Orgrimmar and back to the Echo Isles, where the Darkspears might distance themselves from Garrosh. In time, Vol'jin turned his eye toward the Zandalari—an ancient line of trolls who were planning to forge a new troll empire—and dispatched heroes of both the Horde and Alliance to deal with them. After the Horde's attack on Theramore and subsequent campaign to claim Pandaria, Vol'jin's relationship with Garrosh deteriorated further. During the events of World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, Vol'jin's fearless stance against Garrosh's increasingly bloodthirsty lust for war nearly saw him assassinated by the Warchief. After narrowly surviving the attempt due to the help of old friend Chen Stormstout, Vol'jin returned to Durotar where he set about building a rebellion against the Warchief. With the other leaders of the Horde quietly backing Vol'jin, and even the Alliance fuelling the rebels' efforts, the troll leader became the spearhead of the movement against Garrosh. After Garrosh was defeated, Thrall—rather than return to lead the Horde—named Vol'jin as the new Warchief.

In World of Warcraft: Legion, Vol'jin and the other leaders of the Horde joined in the attack on the Broken Shore with the Alliance. While the Alliance, led by Varian Wrynn, engaged Gul'dan in a frontal attack, the Horde protected the cliffside flank, keeping the demons at bay. They were unable to hold for too long, and the Warchief took a demon blade to the stomach, infecting him with fel poison. The undead leader Sylvanas Windrunner called for the Horde's retreat, personally taking Vol'jin back to her ship to flee the Broken Isles. This retreat caused the Alliance to be overwhelmed, and Varian was killed by Gul'dan. Back at Orgrimmar, in his final moments, Vol'jin named Sylvanas the new Warchief of the Horde.

W

Wrathion

Wrathion (voiced by Aaron Phillips) is one of the few remaining black dragons on Azeroth. Born of an egg purified by the efforts of the red dragon Rheastrasza, a gnome scientist, and mighty heroes, Wrathion is the only black dragon in Azeroth known to be free from the corruption of the Old Gods. Their eternal curse had turned Wrathion's father, Neltharion the Earth-Warder, into Deathwing, the mad creature called the Destroyer by the races he tormented.

From the shadows, Wrathion employed assassins to eliminate many of his tainted "siblings" in the black dragonflight. After the fall of Deathwing, his attention shifted to the exploration of the continent of Pandaria and the turbulent relationship between the Alliance and Horde. While his true agenda remains a mystery, Wrathion has revealed himself to both factions, allegedly to help defeat a threat that he believes could overcome the combined efforts of all heroes in Azeroth. The threat is believed to be the Burning Legion, and their lord, Sargeras. Many of the Players in World of Warcraft, hope that Wrathion makes a return.

Y

Ysera

Ysera the Dreamer is the leader of the green dragonflight, one of the five original dragon Aspects, and was charged by the titan Eonar as the Aspect of Nature. She is the protector of the Emerald Dream, a vast spirit world that exists outside the boundaries of the mortal plane. Ysera is the younger sister of Alexstrasza. She lent her power to the Dragon Soul, unaware of Neltharion's plan to betray the other Aspects. After the second war Ysera enchanted the world tree Nordrassil and bound it to the Emerald Dream. After giving her power to the Dragon Soul, along with the other aspects, she, like the rest of them, lost their powers. In World of Warcraft: Legion, Ysera was corrupted by Xavius and turned into a nightmare drake, and she was slain and freed from her corruption by Tyrande and adventurers.

Y'Shaarj

Y'Shaarj (pronounced Yah-Sha-Raj) (voiced by Frank Welker) is an Old God, one of several malefic beings that were sequestered by the Titans during Azeroth's primordial ages. He was the strongest of the four Old Gods that parasitized the surface of Azeroth. His giant bulk was the heart of the first ever empire on Azeroth, called the Black Empire.

When the titan-forged started to approach the Black Empire's heart, they felt as their most negative emotions blurred their minds and darkened their thoughts. The titan Pantheon grew concerned that the old god would overwhelm their forces, forcing the keepers and the titan-forged to obey his will. The head of the Pantheon, Aman'Thul, decided to take direct action. His hand reached down through Azeroth's skies and took hold of Y'Shaarj's body, ripping it from the surface of Azeroth forever. The old god's death rattle destroyed mountains after mountains, obliterating hundreds of titan-forged. With his dying breath, he cursed the land of Azeroth with the dark ghostly beings that would be later known as the Sha. These Sha would feed off the worst emotions of all living creatures: Anger, Hatred, Despair, Doubt, Fear, Violence and Pride.

It was then when the Titans realised that killing the Old Gods would not only harm the titan world-soul inside the planet, but destroy Azeroth itself. A gigantic wound had been ripped on the planet's surface, from which the lifeblood of the nascent titan started erupting with great haste. The wound would be healed by the keepers in time, as it would take the name of the Well of Eternity, the biggest source of magic on Azeroth.

All that was left of Y'Shaarj was his heart, which would later be found by the warchief of the Horde, Garrosh Hellscream. He would then be corrupted with the power of the old god, becoming obsessed with creating what he thought was the True Horde, a warmongering nation that would consist only of orcs and goblins.

Yogg-Saron

Yogg-Saron (voiced by Jamieson Price) is one of the four Old Gods that inhabit the planet of Azeroth, a being of great wit and power. His prison, Ulduar, is located on the very northern corner of Azeroth.

When the Sundering tore the continent of Kalimdor into a great number of islands and four smaller continents (Kalimdor, Eastern Kingdoms, Northrend and Pandaria), the tectonic devastation rattled the Old Gods and weakened their prisons. When Yogg-Saron awoke from his great slumber, he immediately started corrupting the land of Northrend with his ore-blood, saronite. Upon discovering the mineral, a small group of druids from the Cenarion Circle decided to eradicate it, planting another World Tree on the continent from the branch of the original World Tree, Nordrassil. As the branch grew into a tree, which was later called Andrassil ("Crown of the Snow" in elven), the saronite started to disappear from Northrend's surface. Although something happened that even the members of the Cenarion Circle couldn't expect - the roots of Andrassil had touched the prison of Yogg-Saron, allowing the old god to corrupt the tree, draw the living creatures of Northrend to madness and planting the first seed of Nightmare in Emerald Dream.^[4] A decision was made by the members of the Cenarion Circle to destroy Andrassil, slamming it down on the surface of Northrend. The tree would be later known as Vordrassil, or "Broken Crown", marking the immense power the old god wielded.

His ore-blood was also used to create the Saronite armor for Death Knights, servants of the Lich King.

See also

• Characters of Diablo, one of the four primary franchises of Blizzard Entertainment
• Characters of StarCraft, one of the four primary franchises of Blizzard Entertainment
• Characters of Overwatch, one of the four primary franchises of Blizzard Entertainment

References

1. ↑ perculia (2015-07-28). "Legion Artifacts: What We Know - Wowhead News". Wowhead.com. Retrieved 2015-08-10. 
2. ↑ Vejvoda, Jim (May 30, 2014). "Ben Foster Reveals His Character in the Warcraft Movie". IGN. Retrieved May 31, 2014. 
3. ↑ http://wow.gamepedia.com/Pandaria#Mists_of_Pandaria
4. ↑ http://wow.gamepedia.com/Yogg-Saron#Biography

External links

• Major characters at WoWWiki