Note that most of the lore here is written around Legion, so some of them might be a mite out of date in regards to the last couple of World of Warcraft expansions.
(For Xavius, Brightwing and other legendary minions retroactively added to Classic, go to the 'Neo-Classic' page)
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Highlord Tirion Fordring was introduced in World of Warcraft, although his backstory extends back to the Second War. Born in Lordaeon, Tirion Fordring was among the very first Paladins that founded the Knights of the Silver Hand alongside the likes of Uther Lightbringer and Turalyon, and while he participated in the battles of the Second War, he was nowhere as prolific as the other two. When the Second War was over, Tirion ruled as governor of the small town of Hearthglen and lived in peace at a time until he met an old orc in an abandoned tower. Tirion did battle against the orc, until the tower collapsed around them, knocking him out. He woke up and realized he had been saved by the orc, the honourable Eitrigg. Tirion was told of the ancient, honourable past of the orcs, and, judging Eitrigg to be an honourable warrior, kept his existence a secret. However, his fellow paladin Saidan Dathrohan discovered Eitrigg's existence, and in the ensuing conflict, Tirion was honour-bound to protect what he saw not as a savage brute, but an honourable being. Refusing to abandon his honour, Tirion was exiled during the ensuing trial. Tirion would later return and free Eitrigg from being executed, and when he discovered that the powers of the Light could heal Eitrigg, Tirion learned two things -- the orcs were not evil beings, and the Light had not forsaken him. After assisting Eitrigg in returning to the orsc, Tirion remained as a hermit up until the invasion of the Scourge in the Third War.
The paladin Darion Mograine found Tirion, having sought the older paladin on advice about the immensely powerful weapon known as the Ashbringer, having been corrupted by the Scourge. Tirion told Darion that only an act of love can help save Darion's father's trapped soul, and Tirion returned from exile during the assault on the Light's Hope Chapel, helping the Argent Dawn in beating back the forces of the Scourge, joining the organization in the process. In World of Warcraft, Tirion, still a hermit, found that his son, Taelan, has joined the corrupt Scarlet Crusade and even became his High Lord. While he had the aid of Alliance and Horde champions, Tirion was too late to save his son, who, having second thoughts about the goals of the Crusade, was killed by the Crusade. During Wrath of the Lich King, Tirion defended Light's Hope Chapel from an army of Death Knights led by Darion Mograine, having since been slain and resurrected by the Scourge. Darion, shaken out of his reverie, threw the Corrupted Ashbringer to Tirion, and when Tirion grips the holy weapon, it is purified. The resulting explosion of Light power frees Darion and his Knights of the Ebon Blade from the Lich King's thrall. Tirion Fordring forms the Argent Crusade from the remnants of the Argent Dawn, and would be instrumental in leading the campaign towards Northrend to defeat the Lich King.
Tirion would set up the Argent Tournament to select the mightiest of Alliance and Horde warriors, reasoning that a small force of elite fighters would fare better against the Lich King, giving him less bodies to raise. Afterwards, he would lead the battle to Icecrown Citadel and personally do battle against the Lich King. However, he was defeated and frozen, and the champions that Tirion bought were all slain by the Lich King. In a heroic act, Tirion manages to free himself and use the Ashbringer to shatter the Lich King's cursed blade, Frostmourne, unleashing all the souls trapped within. The souls resurrect the fallen champions, and together with them, Tirion slays the Lich King. Tirion also witnesses Bolvar Fordragon take over the role as the new Lich King (a role Tirion was prepared to shoulder). After the campaign against the Lich King, Tirion returns to Azeroth and continues to be a positive force among the paladins of the world.
In Legion, Tirion and the Argent Crusade were among the first to respond to the third invasion of the Burning Legion. Tirion's Argent Crusade was annihilated by the numerically superior armies of demons that poured endlessly out of the portal, and Tirion was taken prisoner. He was held by Gul'dan and the doom lord Krosus above a pool of fel lava as bait to get Alliance and Horde forces to save him, and he was dropped into the pool of lava. A group of Paladin adventurers would arrive and slay Jailer Zerus, a demon that has been torturing Tirion in an attempt to break the paladin, but the wounds Tirion sustained was too much and he passes away, but not before passing on the mighty blade Ashbringer to a new successor (which is a paladin player character), who would be named the new Highlord of the Silver Hand. In his death, Tirion's body was targeted by the Knights of the Ebon Blade to raise as one of the new Four Horsemen, but the Light was so strong with Tirion's body that the army of Death Knights were repelled.
Archmage Antonidas
The archmage Antonidas was one of the mightiest masters of the arcane that the human world has ever known, being quite young when he was admitted into the council of Kirin Tor, the ruling council over the magical city of Dalaran. While Antonidas did not personally participate in the events of the First and Second War, he did act on political matters on Dalaran's behalf. Also, during this period, he was among the members who banished the rogue Dalaran mage Kel'Thuzad for practicing heinous necromantic arts. Most of Antonidas's role in the story would come from Warcraft III, where, as the leader figure of Dalaran, Antonidas trained his apprentice, the promising young mage Jaina Proudmoore. Antonidas, alongside many other prominent figures of the Alliance, was met by a mysterious Prophet (in actuality Medivh in disguise) who warned him to take his people to the west. Antonidas refused to listen, and decided to instead focus on a plague gripping parts of the kingdom of Lordaeon, sending his apprentice Jaina to investigate it alongside agents of the Silver Hand -- Prince Arthas and Uther Lightbringer. Antonidas continued to attempt to cure the plague, but was unsuccessful. Antonidas in this game is represented as the Archmage hero, which we covered here.
The Scourge would arrive on the doorstep of Dalaran, led by the Lich King's mightiest champions, the former prince Arthas Menethil, turned into a Death Knight, and Antonidas's former compatriot, Kel'Thuzad, now a powerful Lich. Antonidas erected a mighty defensive spell all over the city of Dalaran, rendering the air and the ground hostile to the undead, his forces were ultimately worn down by the Scourge's relentless army and numbers. After a fierce battle, Arthas would personally murder Antonidas and steal the artifact known as the Book of Medivh from him. The Scourge would summon the demon lord Archimonde into the world, and Dalaran would subsequently be quite literally crushed. The restless spirit of Antonidas would continue to linger in the ruins of the city, and his ghost would be eventually put to rest by Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider and his blood elves.
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ALLIANCE
Highlord Tirion FordringThe paladin Darion Mograine found Tirion, having sought the older paladin on advice about the immensely powerful weapon known as the Ashbringer, having been corrupted by the Scourge. Tirion told Darion that only an act of love can help save Darion's father's trapped soul, and Tirion returned from exile during the assault on the Light's Hope Chapel, helping the Argent Dawn in beating back the forces of the Scourge, joining the organization in the process. In World of Warcraft, Tirion, still a hermit, found that his son, Taelan, has joined the corrupt Scarlet Crusade and even became his High Lord. While he had the aid of Alliance and Horde champions, Tirion was too late to save his son, who, having second thoughts about the goals of the Crusade, was killed by the Crusade. During Wrath of the Lich King, Tirion defended Light's Hope Chapel from an army of Death Knights led by Darion Mograine, having since been slain and resurrected by the Scourge. Darion, shaken out of his reverie, threw the Corrupted Ashbringer to Tirion, and when Tirion grips the holy weapon, it is purified. The resulting explosion of Light power frees Darion and his Knights of the Ebon Blade from the Lich King's thrall. Tirion Fordring forms the Argent Crusade from the remnants of the Argent Dawn, and would be instrumental in leading the campaign towards Northrend to defeat the Lich King.Tirion would set up the Argent Tournament to select the mightiest of Alliance and Horde warriors, reasoning that a small force of elite fighters would fare better against the Lich King, giving him less bodies to raise. Afterwards, he would lead the battle to Icecrown Citadel and personally do battle against the Lich King. However, he was defeated and frozen, and the champions that Tirion bought were all slain by the Lich King. In a heroic act, Tirion manages to free himself and use the Ashbringer to shatter the Lich King's cursed blade, Frostmourne, unleashing all the souls trapped within. The souls resurrect the fallen champions, and together with them, Tirion slays the Lich King. Tirion also witnesses Bolvar Fordragon take over the role as the new Lich King (a role Tirion was prepared to shoulder). After the campaign against the Lich King, Tirion returns to Azeroth and continues to be a positive force among the paladins of the world.
In Legion, Tirion and the Argent Crusade were among the first to respond to the third invasion of the Burning Legion. Tirion's Argent Crusade was annihilated by the numerically superior armies of demons that poured endlessly out of the portal, and Tirion was taken prisoner. He was held by Gul'dan and the doom lord Krosus above a pool of fel lava as bait to get Alliance and Horde forces to save him, and he was dropped into the pool of lava. A group of Paladin adventurers would arrive and slay Jailer Zerus, a demon that has been torturing Tirion in an attempt to break the paladin, but the wounds Tirion sustained was too much and he passes away, but not before passing on the mighty blade Ashbringer to a new successor (which is a paladin player character), who would be named the new Highlord of the Silver Hand. In his death, Tirion's body was targeted by the Knights of the Ebon Blade to raise as one of the new Four Horsemen, but the Light was so strong with Tirion's body that the army of Death Knights were repelled.Archmage Antonidas
The Scourge would arrive on the doorstep of Dalaran, led by the Lich King's mightiest champions, the former prince Arthas Menethil, turned into a Death Knight, and Antonidas's former compatriot, Kel'Thuzad, now a powerful Lich. Antonidas erected a mighty defensive spell all over the city of Dalaran, rendering the air and the ground hostile to the undead, his forces were ultimately worn down by the Scourge's relentless army and numbers. After a fierce battle, Arthas would personally murder Antonidas and steal the artifact known as the Book of Medivh from him. The Scourge would summon the demon lord Archimonde into the world, and Dalaran would subsequently be quite literally crushed. The restless spirit of Antonidas would continue to linger in the ruins of the city, and his ghost would be eventually put to rest by Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider and his blood elves.
High Tinker Gelbin Mekkatorque
Gelbin Mekkatorque is High Tinker of the gnomes, and the current leader of the race in general, being voted by the gnomish race as one of the greatest contributors to their race. Gelbin was responsible in particular for the Mechanostrider, which would be one of the gnomish race's most popular transportation methods, the Steam Tank that would come into operation during the Third War, as well as the Deeprun Tram that connects Ironforge to Stormwind. However, his role earned the ire of his one-time friend Sicco Thermaplugg. While Gelbin did not participate in the frontlines of the Second War, the gnomes joined the Alliance, and his inventions would prove invaluable to the Alliance victory. Prior to the Third War, however, Gnomeregan was invaded by a race of primitive creatures called the Troggs. The gnomes, knowing that their dwarven and human allies are dealing with the Burning Legion invasion, decided to handle their problems themselves and not occupy their allies' concerns. Thermaplugg advised Gelbin to release a toxic gas which would kill the Troggs, claiming to have tested the radiation levels of the gas... only for the gas expand to large areas and to infect a large population of the gnomes and transform them into hideous Leper Gnomes. Thus betrayed and having lost many of their people, Gelbin was forced to evacuate Gnomeregan and seek refuge with their dwarven allies.
By the time of World of Warcraft, Gelbin and the gnomes would once more rejoin the Alliance as they sought to rebuild their fallen city, and Gelbin would send gnomish adventurers into Gnomeregan to collect information about the goings-on of the city. In Wrath of the Lich King, Gelbin would put his plans into action, leading Operation: Gnomeregan. This time, Gelbin sought aid from other parts of the Alliance, personally assaulting Gnomerergan and taking a fair amount of it, establishing New Tinkertown. Gelbin would meet Thermaplugg and do battle with him during this period, slicing his treacherous friend in half and leaving him for dead. Gelbin would continue to lead the gnomish forces throughout Cataclysm in retaking parts of Gnomeregan. In Mists of Pandaria, Gelbin would participate in the Underhold, fighting the forces of Garrosh Hellscream. In Legion, Gelbin, riding a gigantic steam armour, would help do battle in the Broken Shore and blow up demon heads.
Out of Gelbin's summonable tokens, only two -- the Repair Bot and the Gnomish Poultryizer -- are based on actual inventions you can obtain in World of Warcraft, both of them being things that you can craft with a sufficiently high enough engineering skill.
Tinkmaster Overspark:
Tinkmaster Overspark is introduced in vanilla World of Warcraft, and serves as a gnome engineering trainer and quest-giver in Tinker Town. He gave minor quests for the majority of his role in WoW, but his first significant role was during Mists of Pandaria. Tinkmaster Overspark was part of the Operation: Shieldwall campaign, the first major Alliance campaign into the newly-discovered continent of Pandaria, and was part of the Alliance leadership of the operation, serving as a member of the Alliance gunship Skyfire. Overspark was one of the Alliance members who voted to use the mysterious Sha as a source of energy, but was voted down. Tinkmaster Overspark also was seen during the Siege of Orgrimmar, participating in the battle. In Legion, Overspark would also reappear as a member of the Skyfire crew, and was a minor quest giver.
Prophet Velen, Prophet of the Exodar
The story of the wise being known as Prophet Velen is tied closely to that of the story of the draenei people, once known as the proud Eredar. Without repeating myself in the draenei section of the lore, 25 thousand years ago, Velen once ruled over the planet of Argus alongside his best friends Kil'jaeden and Archimonde. The world was advanced, and filled with such mastery of magic and technology, as well as being close with the religion of the Holy Light. They were approached by the fallen titan Sargeras, however, who appeared as a benevolent deity and offered the eredar race knowledge and power, something that a majority of the eredar race embraced -- including Kil'jaeden and Archimonde. Velen escaped with around one-third of the eredar race abroad the spaceship known as the Exodar, powered by Velen's naaru (beings made up of Holy Light) allies. They eventually crash-landed on the planet of the orcs, which they would name Draenor. The draenei came into minimal contact with the native orcs, until the Burning Legion corrupted the orcs and caused them to band together as the Horde, and wage war against the draenei. Velen's group was forced to go into hiding, with a significant amount of the other draenei transformed into the Broken due to exposure to the fel energies that now permeated Draenor. Velen helped the Broken shaman Nobundo to introduce shamanism to the Broken and the Draenei who had found themselves cut off from the Light due to their corruption.
Throughout the course of the first three wars on Azeroth, Velen's Draenei remained removed from the battles, but when Illidan Stormrage and his allies arrived and claimed supremacy over Draenor -- now known as Outland -- Velen's people were finally forced to escape Outland abroad the vessel known as the Exodar, but sabotage from blood elves loyal to Illidan caused the Exodar to drift through the twisting nether until the events of World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade where they crash-landed on Azeroth. Prophet Velen would serve as the draenei leader as they joined the heroic Alliance, giving quests to Alliance adventurers from the Vault of Lights, the deepest part of the crash-landed Exodar. Despite the emnity that the draenei have against the blood elves (a significant portion of which joined the Horde), Velen would work together with the blood knight matriarch, Lady Liadrin, and create the Sunwell from the remnants of the dead naaru M'uru, freeing the blood elves from their magical addiction. Velen continued to serve as one of the leaders of the Alliance throughout subsequent campaigns, surprising the Alliance in their decision to stay on Azeroth. During the Cataclysm era, Prophet Velen would also take the young prince of Stormwind, Anduin Wrynn, under his tutelage in the priestly arts. Anduin would, in turn, help Velen realize that despite having to prepare for the far-flung future of the battle against the Burning Legion, he is also needed in the present day as a leader ot the draenei people.
Velen's largest role would come in the newest expansion, Legion, where he would be instrumental in assisting other notable priests like Alonsus Faol, Moira Thaurissan and a particularly powerful priest adventurer in claiming an artifact weapon and purify the corrupted naaru Saa'ra. In a subsequent battle, Velen and a group of priests would do battle against the mighty eredar High General Rakeesh, who attempted to destroy the naaru known as O'ros, whose lineage is crucial in activating an artifact known as the Light's Heart. However, partway through the battle, Velen demands that the heroes stop attacking Rakeesh, and even turns against the heroes at one point. Ultimately, however, Rakeesh is still slain. Velen kneels down next to Rakeesh as he dies, and reveals that Rakeesh is, in fact, his son -- captured by the Burning Legion before the draenei left Argus. Thus broken, Velen renounced the title of Prophet, declaring that he is neither prophet nor pawn. He then declares that the draenei are going home to Argus... not to leave the fight behind, but rather to do battle with the eredar. Velen would participate in the second battle for the Broken Shore, working alongside other warriors like Illidan Stormrage, Maiev Shadowsong and Khadgar in battling the forces of the Legion. Within the Tomb of Sargeras, Velen confronts Kil'jaeden, and while Khadgar wishes to close the portal, Velen declares that he is done hiding and enters Kil'jaeden's command ship within the twisting nether. The two old friends confront each other, Velen assisted by the heroes of Azeroth.
Kil'jaeden was ultimately defeated, and, as he was about to perish, he admits to Velen that he was always envious of Velen's faith and vision, noting that perhaps Velen would be able to defeat Sargeras. Velen places his hands on Kil'jaeden's head as his former brother dies. Upon returning to Azeroth, Velen has a brief confrontation with Illidan about faith and Velen's former association with Kil'jaeden and Archimonde, mocking Velen that his faith caused the death of his people. Velen would participate in subsequent raids at Argus, remaining steadfast even when confronted with his old, corrupted friends, now eredar commanders of the Burning Legion. Velen would be instrumental in leading the forces of Azeroth in recovering three important artifacts that the Triumvate once held. He also tells the Exarch of Light, Turalyon, that there is much that the naaru, as steeped in the Light as they are, keeps hidden from their champions.
Velen's line in Hearthstone, "not all who wander are lost", is one of the lines he can speak in World of Warcraft when clicked, and, in turn, a reference to Gandalf from Lord of the Rings.
Cenarius, Demigod of Kalimdor
The mighty Cenarius is no mere mortal, but a demigod. During the creation of Azeroth, Cenarius is said to be born from the goddess of the moon, Elune, and the wild god Malorne. Cenarius was raised by the green dragon aspect Ysera, who taught Cenarius in the ways of the Emerald Dream. Cenarius would grow into a mighty demigod that held much power over nature itself, and his children would eventually be the race known as the dryads and the keepers of the grove. Cenarius would teach the yaungol (predecessors to the tauren) and the night elves in the arts of druidism, and is particularly tied to the night elves. While Cenarius would eventually be disillusioned when the night elves grew arrogant and started a society based on arcane magic, Cenarius would meet the young night elf Malfurion Stormrage, who found favour with Cenarius and would become the world's first mortal druid. During the War of the Ancients, Cenarius would gather the other demigods and wild gods of Azeroth against the first invasion of the Burning Legion, while his student Malfurion gathered the forces of the night elves. Cenarius fought bravely, but was badly wounded, and was taken to the Emerald Dream to recuperate. When Cenarius emerged from the Dream, he found the world a different place, and began to continue teaching his favoured people, the night elves, in helping the land recuperate, based on Moonglade. Under Cenarius's guidance, the arts of druidism became widespread once more amongst the night elves.
Time would pass -- ten thousand years, to be exact. Cenarius and his people were secluded from the world outside of Kalimdor (the western continent) until the events of Warcraft III, the Third War. The orcs made landfall on Kalimdor, and under the leadership of Grom Hellscream, the Warsong clan began to harvest the jungles of Ashenvale for lumber. Cenarius, sensing the faint taint of fel in them, assumed them to be servants of the Burning Legion, and alongside an army of night elves and ancients, attempted to wipe out the orcs. This caused the orcs to be forced to seek aid from the demon Mannoroth, and Grom Hellscream, driven into a bloodlust with demon blood, succeeded in battling and actually killing Cenarius. In Warcraft III, Cenarius is a campaign-unique hero class called a 'Demigod', which is basically identical to the Keeper of the Grove hero class (covered here) but with an additional spell -- Cyclone.
However, Cenarius's death was not to be the end of the demigod, and his spirit returned to the Emerald Dream. In particular, he witnessed the nobility of the orcs and their defense of Mt. Hyjal against the Burning Legion, and bore them no further hatred. In World of Warcraft, Cenarius is mentioned in passing as helping Malfurion fight against the strange Nightmare tainting the Emerald Dream. He would finally return for good in Catacylsm, emerging from the Emerald Dream to aid Malfurion in battling against Ragnaros, the Firelord, and would assist in the eventual defeat of the Firelord. He would next appear in Legion, where he would be corrupted by the Nightmare that plagued the Emerald Dream, falling deeper and deeper into corruption. An attempt by Malfurion to cure him with an artifact known as the Tears of Elude was foiled by the Nightmare Lord Xavius, and Cenarius would emerge completely corrupted, and act as a boss in the Emerald Nightmare raid, believing himself to be defending the forests from the Nightmare. Cenarius is brought down by adventurers, being knocked unconscious, and Malfurion would eventually be able to cleanse the nightmare from his teacher, purifying him and returning him into the Emerald Dream. Cenarius's summon line in Hearthstone, "Who dares defile this ancient land?" is the very first line he speaks in Warcraft III in response to Grom Hellscream's arrival.
Leeroy Jenkins
Leeroy Jenkins isn't an important character, but one of the most well-known elements of World of Warcraft thanks to one of the internet's earliest memes, as circulated by the famous Leeroy Jenkins video, a comedic video where a raiding team in Upper Blackrock Spire, planning on how to deal with a particular part of the dungeon, was absolutely shot to shit when the player called Leeroy Jenkins, a human paladin, quite literally charged in without regard to anything that's going on with the memetic warcry of his name, activating all the dragon eggs to hatch and causing his entire party to get slaughtered in the process. Leeroy Jenkins' reckless charge has been synonymous with reckless charging in corners of the internet. Leeroy was first introduced in Blizzard material as part of the World of Warcraft: Trading Card Game as a card, whose artwork was reused for the Hearthstone version. After many cheeky achievement names and stuff, Leeroy Jenkins is finally introduced in the World of Warcraft game proper with the Warlords of Draenor expansion where his corpse can be found in the Upper Blackrock Spire, where he can be resurrected, and, if protected for the duration of the quest, be recruited as a garrison follower. Leeroy's quotes in the game is, naturally, taken from the infamous video.
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The story of Sylvanas Windrunner is a long one. She began to become prominent in the Second War, where she was one of the most powerful high elves, as the Ranger-General of Silvermoon. Alongside her sisters Alleria and Vereesa, Sylvanas fought alongside the Alliance during the Second War, although Sylvanas did not quite do as much as her sister Alleria. Sylvanas would be particularly important during the Third War (Warcraft III), where the high elven city of Quel'thalas would come under siege by the undead Scourge led by the death knight Arthas Menethil. Sylvanas would fight against the undead Scourge, fighting bravely and attempting to stop Arthas, but her efforts ultimately came to failure. Quel'thalas was razed, the Sunwell was destroyed, and the high elven population was decimated. Sylvanas herself faced Arthas in battle, but was killed. As revenge for making his journey to Quel'thalas difficult, Arthas tortured Sylvanas and turned her into one of the first banshees. Arthas allowed Sylvanas to retain her self-awareness, but her actions were still bound to the Lich King's will. Sylvanas the banshee fought as an agent of the Scourge, trapped in torment.
In Warcraft III: the Frozen Throne, Sylvanas apparently gained possession of her old corpse, becoming a powerful Dark Ranger (a brand-new hero type introduced in that expansion -- she is able to silence enemies, launch dark arrows that will turn those killed by it into undead minions, drain life and having the ultimate ability charm, taking control of non-hero enemies). She served alongside Kel'thuzad as one of Arthas's main generals, hunting down and wiping out the remaining humans in Lordaeron. However, at this point, the Lich King began to lose his power over part of the Scourge due to the machinations of Illidan Stormrage, and Sylvanas was among those who found herself freed. Sylvanas was contacted by three dreadlords of the Burning Legion -- Varimathras, Detheroc and Balnazzar -- and plotted to overthrow Arthas and the Lich King's rule. The dreadlords did battle against Arthas and the forces loyal to him, and Sylvanas lay in ambush, attacking Arthas with her banshees and launching an arrow laced with poison. Arthas, however, managed to escape when Kel'thuzad, still loyal to him, came and drove Sylvanas away. With Arthas gone off to Northrend, Sylvanas gathered the independent-minded undead, and refused to bow down to the dreadlords' rule. With the aid of several possessed ogres, bandits and gnolls, Sylvanas was able to defeat the forces of the first dreadlord, Varimathras, who begged her to spare his life. Keeping Varimathras on a leash, Sylvanas moved against the other two dreadlords, killing Detheroc and subsequently Balnazzar, as well as the human general Garithos of the Alliance. Sylvanas Windrunner, now known as the Banshee Queen, pronounced that she and her people will now be known as the Forsaken.
Prior to World of Warcraft, Sylvanas and her Forsaken would base themselves in Undercity, build under the ruins of Lordaeron, and would join the Horde. While the Horde was suspicious of Sylvanas's intentions, she would remain a stalwart ally. In Burning Crusade, Sylvanas would be instrumental in getting what used to be her people -- the blood elves -- to join the Horde, and would send Forsaken forces to assist her in retaking the Ghostlands. In Wrath of the Lich King, Sylvanas would prove instrumental as she was one of the staunchest supporters of the Northrend campaign due to her own vendetta against Arthas, who has became the new Lich King. While the Forsaken would fight vehemently against the undead forces of the Scourge, treachery would happen when both Grand Apothecary Putress and the dreadlord Varimathras proved treacherous -- Putress would unleash a plague that killed the living and the dead, while Varimathras staged a coup in the Undercity. Sylvanas was nearly killed by Varimathras, but managed to escape to Orgrimmar. With the aid of the rest of the Horde, the traitors would be defeated, with Sylvanas personally slaying Varimathras, but the Forsaken would be seen in a suspicious light due to those events. Afterwards, Sylvanas would personally go to Northrend, and confronts the Lich King in the Frozen Halls of Icecrown Citadel with a contingent of Horde champions. After killing several of Arthas' champions and narrowly avoiding the mighty frost wyrm Sindragosa, Sylvanas would learn from the ghost of the paladin Uther that the Lich King must be defeated where he was created -- the Frozen Throne. The Lich King would arrive, and Sylvanas would do battle with him personally, but she and the adventurers narrowly survived the Lich King's assault, barely managing to escape. With the Lich King's death at the hands of Tirion Fordring and an army of champions, Sylvanas was left to ponder just what this means for the Forsaken now that their main goal -- vengeance -- was sated.
Sylvanas was about to throw herself from the top of the Frozen Throne, but nine Val'kyr arrived and showed her visions of what would happen if she should die -- she would stay in nothing but a cold, terrifying void while her people be wiped out. She would be resurrected by the Val'kyr around her, who bound their fates to Sylvanas -- Sylvanas would give them a purpose, and they would gladly take her place in death should it come for the Dark Lady. Returned back to undeath, Sylvanas ended up having a new purpose -- to avoid that final embrace of death. She would then continue to further Horde campaigns, particularly in Gilneas and Silverpine Forest. In Cataclysm, Sylvanas realized that the Forsaken, unable to reproduce, could very feasibly be wiped out, and started using the Val'kyr to resurrect the corpses of the dead, to the disgust of the then-warchief Garrosh. Sylvanas would also retake Gilneas, killing the crown prince Liam Greymane and earning the enmity of the worgens of Gilneas. Sylvanas would also resurrect the Gilnean hero Lord Godfrey, and with Godfrey's aid manages to defeat the Gilneas Liberation Front. However, Godfrey then betrays and kills Sylvanas, causing three Val'kyr to give their lives to resurrect Sylvanas yet again.
Sylvanas would also prove instrumental in the battle for Andorhal, disgusted by the death knight Koltira Deathweaver's truce with his Alliance counterpart. Sylvanas would swoop in with her val'kyr and forsaken army, defeating Alliance forces there and putting Koltira in chains to make him into a loyal Horde soldier. However, in subsequent events, Sylvanas would chafe under Garrosh's maniacal leadership, and would join the rest of the Darkspear Rebellion during Mists of Pandaria in defeating Garrosh's forces, with her participating in taking down the proto-drake Galakras. Sylvanas would participate in the trial of Garrosh, and attempted to conspire with her still-living sister Vereesa to murder Garrosh with poison before a sentence is carried out, yet Vereesa ended up choosing not to go ahead with the scheme. Sylvanas was particularly angered by what she viewed as betrayal, and vowed never to love again.
In Legion, Sylvanas Windrunner took part in the assault of the Broken Shore, working in concert with the Alliance in battling the demons, jumping from gunship to gunship during the initial salvo and taking down an abyssal with King Varian of the Alliance. While she did combat alongside the other Horde leaders, they were overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the Burning Legion, and the Horde lost Vol'jin, their current chieftain. Sylvanas's attempts to rescue Vol'jin proved to be in vain, and after Sylvanas ordered a retreat to save the Horde forces, Vol'jin named the shocked Dark Lady as the new warchief of the Horde before dying. Sylvanas would rally the rest of the Horde in avenging Vol'jin, and would also send envoys to ally with the Illidari demon hunters. Sylvanas would venture to the realm of Helheim, attempting to make a deal with the Titanforged Watcher that ruled over the Val'kyr, Helya. With the aid of Horde adventurers, Sylvanas used a mystical artifact known as the Soulcage to bind the mighty val'kyr Eyir to her will, but this was foiled by Genn Greymane, who shatters the artifact and foils Sylvanas' quest for immortality.
Sylvanas' quote in Hearthstone, "I have no time for games", is taken from one of her quotes when clicked in World of Warcraft. Her hero version has multiple quotes taken from her unit quotes in Warcraft III.
Cairne Bloodhoof, Chieftain of the Tauren
Cairne Bloodhoof is the chieftain of the Bloodhoof tribe of tauren, who lived on the region now known as the Barrens. While not a stranger to warfare, Cairne was also wise and well-versed in the shamanistic traditions of their people. He was first introduced in Warcraft III and represented the Tauren Chieftain hero. Tauren Chieftains are able to use the abilities War Stomp, Shockwave, Endurance Aura, and Reincarnate. The tauren faced constant threat from the savage centaur people, but Cairne did not give up hope, wanting to establish a home for all tauren in the land of Mulgore. Cairne and his tribe would meet the young Thrall of the newly-revitalized Horde. Cairne found a lot of common ground with the powerful but noble orcs, and after the orcs and trolls assisted Cairne's tauren in battling the centaur raiders, the Horde finally made their way to the land of Mulgore. Cairne and Thrall would venture into the depths of Stonetalon Mountains in search of an Oracle, finding the mysterious Oracle... who's Medivh, the last Guardian of Tirisfal, who bade the Horde to make their peace with Jaina, leader of the humans. Cairne would then proceed to participate in most subsequent battles of the Horde, first against the corrupted Grom Hellscream and then against the Burning Legion itself.
In Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, Cairne would return to Mulgore to help his tauren people establish their own settlement there. However, Cairne's son Baine would be captured by centaurs, and, assuming the worst, Cairne slipped into grief. His second-in-command Tagar sought out Rexxar and Rokhan, champions of the Horde, and asked them to help in finding Baine. With the aid of other tauren, Rexxar would free Baine, which in turn galvanized Cairne, who would then participate in repelling the Kul Tiras admiral, Daelin Proudmoore, from Durotar. In World of Warcraft, Cairne would continue acting as the leader of the tauren people, constructing the city of Thunder Bluff as a stronghold for not just the Bloodhoof, but also other tauren. While most tauren accepted Cairne's strength and wisdom as suitable for the tauren leader, Elder Crone Magatha of the Grimtotem tribe was a vocal detractor of Cairne. Cairne would participate in many campaigns for the Horde, although his age would prevent him from battling too heavily on the battlefield.
Prior to Cataclysm, Thrall left to commune with the elements of Outland and put the brash but popular Garrosh Hellscream in charge, Cairne let out strong reservations, but continued to attempt to counsel Garrosh to curb his ego. After a brutal massacre of night elves in Ashenvale, Cairne sent out the druid Hamuul Runetotem to attempt to broker peace with the night elves, but the meeting of tauren and night elves ended in disaster as Twilight's Hammer orcs arrived and killed almost everyone present. An enraged Cairne, who assumed Garrosh was responsible, challenged Garrosh
into a mak'gora, which Garrosh demands to be done by the old laws -- to the death. Cairne and Garrosh were evenly matched, and both respected the other as warriors despite their differing ideals, but the treacherous Magatha Grimtotem, unknown to both warriors, has poisoned Gorehowl in fatal poison. A single cut on Cairne's chest immobilized the old tauren, leaving him open for a killing blow bode of treachery.
Baine Bloodhoof, Chieftain of the Tauren
...which brings us to the story of Baine. Baine has been second-in-command to his father Cairne (and also a quest giver) throughout much of World of Warcraft, but Cairne's death prior to Cataclysm caused Magatha Grimtotem to unleash a string of assassinations throughout Thunder Bluff as a coup. Baine escaped with a few loyalists, and, seeking the aid of the honourable Jaina Proudmoore and Anduin Wrynn, manages to take back Thunder Bluff from the Grimtotems, banishing those who would not submit to his leadership. While he was cold towards Garrosh, he acknowledged that the mak'gora was done in honour, and that both Cairne and Garrosh had sought to fight for what was best of the Horde, and that was honourable. During this time, Baine would be gifted the holy warhammer Fearbreaker by prince Anduin Wrynn as a gift.
Baine would serve as the leader of the tauren people ever since the Cataclysm, and one of the most level-headed figures of leadership among the Horde. However, his relationship with Garrosh would become even more strained as Garrosh continued on a slippery slope into aggression and conquest, demanding more resources from the races of the Horde, such as water from Mulgore. Baine's seeming bending-down to Garrosh causes many of the tauren to become disheartened with how Mulgore has seemingly became an extension of Garrosh's war-machine, but Baine's diplomatic ways in dealing with quillboar invasions ends up impressing even his detractors.
Prior to Mists of Pandaria, Baine was shocked to discover that Garrosh intends to wipe out the city of Theramore. His protests falling on deaf ears, and seeing atrocities committed by Garrosh's Kor'kron forces such as enslaving molten giants and wanton brutality, Baine ended up informing Jaina Proudmoore, who had aided him and the tauren during the Grimtotem rebellion. However, upon seeing the dishonourable destruction of Theramore with a mana bomb, Baine, Vol'jin and many other members of the Horde began voicing their protest. In Mists of Pandaria, Baine would be involved with the campaign to Pandaria, resolving to keep Garrosh's madness in check. After the attempted assassination on Vol'jin, Baine would confer with him in secret in Razor Hill. They would proceed to organize the Darkspear Rebellion, and Baine and Vol'jin would be at the forefront of the Siege of Orgrimmar, battling Garrosh's lackey Nazgrim and the Iron Juggernaut. Baine would witness Garrosh's defeat and subsequent arrest.
During the trial of Garrosh Hellscream in Pandaria, Baine unexpectedly found himself to be thrust into the role of defender during the trial. After conferring with the spirit of his father, Baine found that the honourable thing to do is to defend Garrosh to the best of his abilities, asking for them to attempt to give Garrosh a second chance, as much as his guilt is clear to all present. Baine's defense was moving to all but Garrosh, who would engineer an escape. In Legion, Baine would be present in battling the invasion of the Burning Legion.
Grom Hellscream, Chieftain of the Warsong Clan
Grommash "Grom" Hellscream is the uncontested chieftain of the Warsong Clan during the events of the Second and Third War, notable for his distinctive war cry that gave him his name, as well as his lower jaw, which was tattooed entirely black. He was a fierce warrior even before accepting the blood of Mannoroth, the pit lord that would corrupt the orcs in granting them fel-empowered bloodlust. First appearing in Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal, Grom Hellscream was one of the Old Horde's fiercest warriors, represented as a 'hero' version of a Grunt. Before coming to Azeroth, Grom left his infant son, Garrosh, with the members of his clan that remained behind on Draenor -- while Grom would not meet his son after crossing the Dark Portal, Garrosh would have a far larger destiny which we'll cover in the 'nine heroes' section. Grom was sent by the orc of shaman Ner'zhul into Azeroth after the first defeat of the Horde during the Second War, retrieving the artifact known as the Skull of Gul'dan, a powerful artifact that Ner'zhul requires in his rituals. When the Dark Portal was ultimately destroyed by Alliance forces, Grom and his clan were trapped on the Azerothian side, and were forced to hide.
During this time, Grom was one of the few orcs that were strong-hearted enough not to succumb to the malaise that struck the orcs stranded on Azeroth, and realized how corrupt and foul the magic of the warlocks of the Old Horde were, compared to the shamanistic magic of their youth. Grom was approached by the young orc called Thrall, and was impressed by Thrall's strength and honour. During Warcraft III, Grom would be one of Thrall's main allies as he broke orcs out of internment camps, and their subsequent journey to Kalimdor. Grom is represented as a Blademaster hero despite not being from the Burning Blade clan (see here for more on Blademasters). Grom struggled with the latent demonic curse within him, however, succumbing to his rage and attacking a human settlement at Stonetalon Mountain despite Thrall's orders otherwise. Chastised, Grom was given the punishment of being in charge of gathering lumber for the Horde's new settlement in Ashenvale... only to incur the wrath of the surrounding night elves. While Grom was victorious in the initial assault, the demigod Cenarius descended upon the orcs and began slaughtering them, and a desperate Grom was forced to retreat. He was approached by the pit lord Mannoroth, who poured his blood into a fountain. Despite warnings from his clan's shamans and witch doctors, a desperate Grom told his clan to drink the blood of Mannoroth, bleaching their skin red and empowering them with such strength that Grom himself was able to slay even Cenarius. This victory came with the price of Grom himself being enslaved by Mannoroth, being turned against Thrall's horde.
Thrall, having struck an alliance with the humans under Jaina, worked together to battle Grom's corrupted Warsong Clan, and defeated Grom, and Jaina used her arcane magic to purify Grom's soul from the blood curse. Knowing the truth of the origin of the blood curse, Thrall and Grom set off to hunt down Mannoroth, facing the mightiest Pit Lord and the original corruptor of the orcs. After a fierce battle, Grom managed to sink his axe Gorehowl through Mannoroth's heart, killing the Pit Lord. Grom was caught in the explosion of fel fire that resulted, and lie dying in Thrall's hands. The red glow in Grom's eyes disappeared as he died, and Grom Hellscream would be forever known in orcish history as the warrior who freed the orcs from their corruption. (An alternate-universe version of Grom appears in Warlords of Draenor, but we won't talk about that.) Grom's quote in Hearthstone, "I can wait no longer", is taken from a line that Grom speaks during the Ashenvale campaign in Warcraft III, where he decides to attack the humans against Thrall's orders.
Elite Tauren Chieftain
Elite Tauren Chieftain (previously 'Level Ten Tauren Chieftain') is the name of, well, a real-life band comprised of employees of Blizzard Entertainment, who makes songs based on Blizzard games. Three among them (I am Murloc; Rogues Do It From Behind; Power of the Horde) are the titles of songs that the ETC band has created. They first debuted with the song Power of the Horde, which served as the credits song for Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, and tends to be represented in games as a band comprised of Horde characters led by a Tauren. In World of Warcraft, the Tauren Chieftain band will perform in Silvermoon City, Shattrath City and the Grim Guzzler. In both Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm, instead of an entire band the Elite Tauren Chieftain is simply represented as a single tauren rocking it on a guitar.
Deathwing, the Destroyer
Deathwing began life as Neltharion the Earth-Warder, one of the five dragon aspects that was bequeathed power by the Titan Watchers in order to safeguard Azeroth. Neltharion watched over the deep realms of Azeroth's earth, but over the years, Neltharion's duty chafed at him, for he felt the weight of the earth on his body. The added feeling that the Titans viewed Azeroth as nothing but an experiment fueled Neltharion's bitterness. Added with strange whispers of the Old Gods buried deep within the bowels of Azeroth caused Neltharion's sanity to fray. Neltharion then conspired to gain the power of all the dragon aspects, tricking them to create the Dragon Soul during the War of the Ancients. When it was his turn to put part of his power into the Dragon Soul, Neltharion instead unleashed its powers upon the other dragons, the night elves and the demons of the Burning Legion alike. Neltharion's attack was particularly savage upon the blue dragonflight, decimating their numbers and nearly killing Malygos. While Neltharion was eventually driven off, his betrayal had a lasting impact on the other aspects.
The growing corruption and power within Neltharion's body warped his body, cracking his skin and causing magma and fire to flow out of his chest. Thus he would be transformed into Deathwing, the Destroyer. His goblin minions would forge an armour of adamantium steel, grafted onto his body, to keep his power in check. The Demon Soul was stolen from Deathwing, and was eventually sealed by the other aspects to keep its power away from Deathwing. The enraged Deathwing was forced to retreat to the earth elemental plane of Deepholm, where he slumbered.
During the First War, the opening of the Dark Portal would awaken Deathwing. He observed the First War, wanting to use it to get vengeance upon the other four aspects, and attempted subterfuge by posing as a human noble, sowing chaos by telling the nobles of Lordaeron to not send aid to Stormwind, dismissing the story of the orcs as mere fable. He also infiltrated the Horde as a Blackrock orc, working his way up to a position of relatively high rank among the Horde. Deathwing's first major appearance was in Warcraft II, where he decided to manipulate the Horde to gain the power of the Demon Soul. He gave visions to Zuluhed the Whacked, chieftain of the Dragonmaw clan of orcs, whose agents would eventually recover the Demon Soul, and subsequently with visions from Deathwing, the warlock Nekros was able to enslave Alexstrasza the Life-Binder.
During the events of Beyond the Dark Portal, Deathwing would reveal his true form to Ner'zhul, chieftain of the orcs in Draenor, allowing his black dragonflight (represented in-game as green) to serve as mounts for the Horde and assisting them in stealing artifacts of power for Ner'zhul to create portals to other worlds. Deathwing would battle Gruul and the Gronn of Draenor at this point, but would return to Azeroth thanks to the meddling of the mage Khadgar. Deathwing would take part in a campaign against Alliance forces, feigning defeat in a battle against the mages of Dalaran and fell into the sea. However, Deathwing would re-emerge in the guise of the human Lord Prestor, gaining power in Alterac and influencing other human states. Deathwing would also want to steal Alexstrasza's eggs from her to bolster the ranks of his dragonflight, and presented himself as an ally to the human mage Rhonin, who was sent into Grim Batol by the Alliance. However, Rhonin was in actuality working alongside the red dragon Krasus (a.k.a. Korialstrasz), who managed to summon the other dragon aspects to combat Deathwing. However, due to their powers being sealed within the Demon Soul, they had the disadvantage until Rhonin shattered the Demon Soul, causing the dragon aspects to defeat Deathwing and send him into a retreat.
In World of Warcraft, Deathwing recuperated deep within the earth, served by the Twilight's Hammer cult, and he sent his two most powerful children, Nefarian and Onyxia, to act in his stead. In Burning Crusade, Deathwing's consort Sintharia would also serve as an antagonist. Throughout the recent years, the old gods would whisper more and more into Deathwing's ears, particularly with Yogg-Saron and C'thun awakening during the events of World of Warcraft. Cataclysm would mark Deathwing's terrible return to Azeroth. As the titular cataclysm, Deathwing shattered the world of Azeroth as he ripped apart the elements during his return to Azeroth, causing the elementals of the world to run amuck, creating tidal waves, causing volcanoes to erupt and shattering mountains in his wake. The entire world of Azeroth was shattered by Deathwing's arrival, transforming quite literally every part of Azeroth. Deathwing would swoop down upon Stormwind City, landing on the city gates and crushing it.
Deathwing would terrorize Azeroth, breathing fire at random, while his armies -- comprised of black dragons, twilight dragons, the Twilight's Hammer cult, the fire and air elementals and faceless ones that served the Old Gods -- ran rampant over the world. Deathwing would wage war against the other dragon aspects, killing several members of the other dragonflights, summoning the elemental lords Ragnaros and Al'Akir into Azeroth, and did battle against Alexstrasza. Deathwing would also confront the shaman Thrall, mocking Thrall who he thought was trying to replace him as Earth-Warder. Deathwing would be the final boss of the Cataclysm expansion. After Thrall and the adventurers have battled through Deathwing's minions, they would attack Deathwing with the Alliance gunship the Skyfire, and then do battle atop Deathwing's back as he flies over the Maelstrom. Adventurers would rip out Deathwing's elementium plating, allowing Thrall to unleash the power of a modified Dragon Soul to wound him, falling down into the Maelstrom. However, Deathwing would rise once more, as a mass of molten lava and tentacles now that his armour has became undone, a horrifying creature known only as the Madness of Deathwing. After a fierce battle, the combined forces of the Dragon Soul and the four dragon aspects would finally end the maddened Deathwing's life once and for all. (Maybe. His body sunk into the depths of the ocean, and that's where his big sponsor N'Zoth is, so...)
In Hearthstone, in addition to "Deathwing" from the Classic set, he has also been represented as "Deathwing, Dragonlord" in Whispers of the Old Gods, "Deathwing, Mad Aspect" in Descent of Dragons, the Deathwing Warrior hero skin, and "Deathwing the Destroyer" in the 2021 Core set.
Onyxia, Daughter of Deathwing (a.k.a. Lady Katrana Prestor)
Onyxia is one of the (if not the) mightiest daughters of Deathwing, brother to Nefarian. Onyxia was one of the original end-game enemies in vanilla World of Warcraft, serving for a large part of the game under the guise as the noblewoman Lady Katrana Prestor, who manipulated events that would cause destabilization of the Stormwind politics, causing the rise of the Defias Brotherhood and the disappearance of King Varian Wrynn. Katrana Prestor would be one of the two advisors to the young prince Anduin Wrynn, manipulating events to suit her dastardly goals. Varian survived, however, after being split apart into two bodies (it's a long story) and confronted Katrana Prestor for her treachery. Onyxia would escape, retreating to Onyxia's Lair (an in-game raid dungeon) in Dustwallow Marsh. Lore has it that instead of adventurers, it was Varian Wrynn, leading a contingent of soldiers, who slew the mighty black dragon that had destabilized so much of Stormwind City. Regardless of who slew her, Onyxia's head was decapitated, and hung over the gates of Stormwind.
In Cataclysm, Onyxia's brother Nefarian was resurrected by Deathwing during his return. During the events of this, Nefarian is based in Blackwing Descent. After fighting through Nefarian's army of black dragonkin and horrifying experiments, adventurers would face Nefarian as the final boss fight of the Blackwing Descent dungeon. Partway through the Nefarian battle, Nefarian would reveal his trump card -- his sister Onyxia, resurrected from the dead and stitched together into a frankensteined creature. Onyxia is restored to life with Nefarian's experiments, and the two black dragons would combine forces to fight the adventurers, although Onyxia would swiftly be returned to the grave once more.
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Born approximately 10,000 years ago, Illidan Stormrage was twin brother to the great archdruid Malfurion Stormrage, and was a very adept magician among the night elven people. Illidan would be known as the Betrayer due to his actions during the War of the Ancients. While Illidan sided with Malfurion during the early stages of the war, Malfurion's plan to destroy the Well of Eternity appalled Illidan. Illidan would rise among the ranks of the Moon Guard, and in an act where they were outnumbered by demons, Illidan transferred his allies' powers to himself, sacrificing them in order to defeat that particular contingent of demons. During this period, Illidan had strong feelings for the priestess Tyrande Whisperwind, who instead loved his brother Malfurion. His troubled mind on the multiple problems caused him to feign allegiance to the Burning Legion, upon which he was brought before an image of Sargeras himself. Sargeras opened Illidan's eyes to the true strength of the Legion, the sheer amount of numbers at their command, that defeating them on Azeroth meant nothing. The cosmic revelation burned out Illidan's eyes. Instead, they were replaced by burning orbs of mystic fire, and arcane tattoos were burned into his body. Illidan went to steal the Demon Soul from Malfurion in an attempt to earn their trust (while plotting to defeat them from the inside), and while branded as a Betrayer, Illidan would eventually work alongside Malfurion to close the portal with the Demon Soul's power. The destruction causes the Well of Eternity to become unstable and unleash the Great Sundering, splitting Kalimdor into several continents. After the Sundering, Illidan would scale Mount Hyjal, and poured the contents of several vials of the original Well of Eternity onto the top of the mountain, creating a new Well of Eternity, which he views to be the source of magic they can use to fight against the Burning Legion. Malfurion, Tyrande and the other night elves would arrive, and, horrified at what Illidan has done, branded Illidan a traitor and jailed him beneath Mt. Hyjal, guarded by the Wardens, chief among them Maiev Shadowsong.
There Illidan remained for ten thousand years (as he often likes to remind everyone) until the events of Warcraft III. The Burning Legion returned to Kalimdor, and a desperate Tyrande freed a surprised Illidan from his prison. Tyrande's killing of the Wardens and freeing of Illidan was contested by Malfurion, and Illidan thus worked alone, charging into Felwood to combat the Legion. He was confronted by Arthas, champion of the Scourge, and battled. Arthas would stop the battle and tell Illidan about a powerful artifact -- the Skull of Gul'dan, which has corrupted Felwood. Illidan sought the Skull, and Illidan, driven with the belief that with enough power he can defeat the Legion and impress Tyrande, consumed the Skull's powers, transforming him even further into a demonic figure. Now having horns, cloven foot and bat wings, Illidan was able to command the shadows to wreathe him. He was able to destroy the Burning Legion's forces, slaying the dreadlord Tichondrius (as Arthas had planned for him to do) and earning a victory... but Tyrande and Malfurion banished Illidan from the night elven lands. Illidan in Warcraft III represents the Demon Hunter hero, fast but fragile heroes who are able to burn their enemies' mana, set themselves on fire to damage all around him, evade attacks passively, and as their ultimate, transform into a monstrous shadow demon form to deal more damage.
In Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, Illidan was approached by the demon lord Kil'jaeden, who tasks him to destroy the Frozen Throne. Illidan schemed for himself, however, having no love for the Burning Legion. He summoned the naga -- corrupted night elves that were once Highbrone -- from the depths of the ocean, led by Lady Vashj. All the while, Illidan is pursued by the relentless warden Maiev Shadowsong, intent on bringing Illidan to justice. Illidan would arrive with his naga on the Broken Isles and enter the Tomb of Sargeras, with Maiev hot on his trail. Illidan retrieved the artifact known as the Eye of Sargeras, collapsing the tomb and killing a large number of Maiev's forces. Maiev's forces did battle against Illidan's, but Tyrande and Malfurion arrived with reinforcements. After a confrontation with Tyrande and Malfurion, Illidan escaped once more to the Eastern Kingdoms. His attempts to use the Eye of Sargeras to shatter Northrend and the Frozen Throne was interrupted by an enraged Malfurion, who wanted to prevent Illidan from destroying the world itself. Illidan and Malfurion would briefly work together to save Tyrande from an army of the undead, and Illidan was set free on the condition that he never return.
Illidan and his naga agree, and entered a portal that led to Outland, to hide from Kil'jaeden's wrath... but Maiev's forces were hot on his trail. Illidan was captured and imprisoned by Maiev, but Lady Vashj would return with reinforcements -- Kael'thas Sunstrider and his blood elves. Illidan would be freed. Alongside the naga, the blood elves and a clan of Broken Draenei led by Akama, Illidan laid siege to the Black Temple, slaughtering the mighty pit lord Magtheridon who had taken control of Outland. Basking in his victory, Illidan was approached once more by Kil'jaeden, who wanted to punish Illidan for fleeing his wrath. Illidan claimed to instead be gathering forces to strike against the Frozen Throne. Kil'jaeden decided to give Illidan one more chance. Illidan would lead his forces to Northrend and besiege the Frozen Throne. A gigantic battle would emerge between Illidan's forces and the champions of the Scourge, led by Arthas. Illidan and Arthas would engage in single combat, but Illidan would be cut down and left for dead by Arthas.
Illidan would be taken back to Outland by Vashj and Kael'thas, and would remain there until Burning Crusade. Anticipating the Legion's retaliation at his failure, Illidan began to gather forces and take drastic steps to prepare himself to fight back. He used Magtheridon's blood to create a new breed of fel orcs, trained an army of demon hunters from blood elves and night elves who wanted revenge upon the Legion, and kept a stranglehold over the realm. He would also capture Maiev Shadowsong and rip a portion of Akama's soul out to bind him eternally to his service. As revealed in Legion, during this period of time Illidan would send his demon hunters on raids on Legion worlds, particularly shattering the world of the dreadlords, Nathreza. Illidan was consumed with nothing but his mission to destroy Argus, and was unconcerned when Alliance and Horde forces entered Outland during Burning Crusade and wiped out his forces and lieutenants one by one. He realized too late that having Alliance, Horde and Illidan's forces do battle was what the Legion wanted when the Black Temple came under siege. He opened a portal for his demon hunters to escape to the world Mardum to continue to find a way to the Legion homeworld of Argus, and then did battle against the Alliance and Horde adventurers, who were aided by a freed Maiev and a turncoat Akama. Despite his strength, Illidan Stormrage was ultimately slain at the hands of Maiev.
Illidan's corpse was brought to the Vault of the Wardens at the Broken Isles, where it is imprisoned alongside the Illidari demon hunters who had attempted to free their master's body. After Burning Crusade, Illidan would make several re-appearances in flashbacks and time-travelling dungeons, but he would rise into prominence in Legion, where his army of demon hunters and his plans would be retconned in. During Legion, the alternate universe Gul'dan would spirit away Illidan's body to Black Rook Hold, sending Illidan's soul into the twisting nether and using his body as a vessel for Sargeras's spirit. Illidan's spirit would appear before his Illidari demon hunters, working with the prime naaru Xe'ra (who believed Illidan was a child of prophecy destined to defeat the Legion), and give them directions. Xe'ra's forces and the Illidari rescued Illidan's soul from Helheim, which was stored inside the Light's Heart. With other adventurers, they would confront Gul'dan and return Illidan's soul into his body, although Illidan has to battle the spark of Sargeras that has already taken root within Illidan's body. Thus restored, Illidan would then kill the alternate universe Gul'dan by ripping him apart with fel energy until his skill remains.
Thus working together with other leaders, Illidan would lead the second battle at the Broken Shore with other heroes like Velen, Maiev and Khadgar. Illidan would assist in slaying the demon Mephistroth, and is present and assists in finally defeating the mighty eredar lord Kil'jaeden. While this is happening, Illidan uses a Sargerite Keystone to open a rift between Argus and Azeroth, causing Argus to be visible in Azeroth's skies, making it accessible for Azerothian forces to attack freely... and vice versa. Illidan would continue to do battle in Argus against the demons, but he would be confronted by the prime naaru Xe'ra. Xe'ra wants Illidan to fulfill the destiny she had seen for Illidan through the Light and attempts to forcibly infuse him with the Light. Illidan, refusing to sacrifice freedom for power once more, broke free from Xe'ra's chains of Light and kills Xe'ra. Illidan then proclaims that destiny is folly, and they should save themselves.
Illidan's summon line in Hearthstone, "YOU ARE NOT PREPARED!" is, of course, a reference to the absolutely memetic and gloriously hammy final line that Illidan says in the Burning Crusade trailer, and has since became synonymous with the character. Never change, Illidan. His attack quote, "who shall be next to taste my blades" is taken from his WoW boss fight. Originally debuting as a legendary card in Classic Hearthstone, Illidan Stormrage has since debuted as the tenth hero in Hearthstone, and his slot as a legendary minion has been replaced by Xavius.
Lorewalker Cho
Lorewalker Cho is the leader of the Lorewalkers, a faction of pandarens that continue a long-standing tradition of finding stories, artifacts and relics that take care of the long history of Pandaria. Cho is introduced in Mists of Pandaria, and is one of the biggest sources of the lore surrounding the island to both Alliance and Horde, accompanying adventurers on numerous adventures throughout Pandaria to prove lore and background. In addition to informing adventurers of many cultural stories throughout Pandaria, Cho was also present when a contingent of Zandalari trolls assaulted Pandaria and revived the pandarens' old enemy, the Thunder King Lei Shen. During the Siege of Orgrimmar, Lorewalker Cho is also present in several meetings, and witnesses the fall of Garrosh. While present in most parts of the saga of Pandaria, Cho's role, as always is an observer and storyteller. In Legion, Lorewalker Cho serves as the artifact researcher for the monk class order, the Order of the Broken Temple.
Nat Pagle
Nat Pagle (named after Blizzard employee Pat Nagle) is a neutral human angler who is Azeroth's best fisherman. Introduced in World of Warcraft, Nat Pagle gives a quest chain to players with a certain amount of fishing skill, to obtain fishing equipment. In the original and now-removed Zul'Gurub instance, Nat Pagle will also teach players to fish up the mighty hydra Gahz'ranka. In other subsequent expansions, he would show up in other locations, still fishing. Dude is just chill and loves fishing!
Harrison Jones
Harrison Jones (a portmanteau of famous fictional archaeologist Indiana Jones and the actor that portrays him, Harrison Ford) is a character first introduced in the Burning Crusade expansion, who started off as a simple easter egg character that helps to open the inner gate of the Zul'Aman instance by figuring out the ritual to open the gates. While seemingly killed by the onslaught of Amani trolls, Harrison Jones survives, returning in Wrath of the Lich King in the Drakil'jin Ruins, assisting adventurers in defeating a giant cobra, Tecahuna. In Cataclysm, Harrison has a relatively larger part in the zone of Uldum, helping the adventurer in obtaining certain powerful artifacts and escape from pygmies, as well as in Stormwind City as an archaeology trainer. He has a couple of lesser cameos in Warlords of Draenor.
Millhouse Manastorm
Millhouse Manastorm is a gnomish mage who first appeared in Burning Crusade, as a prisoner in the magical prison known as the Arcatraz. While most other inmates in the Arcatraz are mighty magical beings too dangerous for conventional prisons, Millhouse was simply an unfortunate stowaway. Players going through Arcatraz has to keep Millhouse alive as part of a quest, as he was set free alongside the mighty Qiraji, Harbinger Skyriss. Millhouse apparently survived this event, and his voice-acting and general incompetence apparently won him enough fans to have him appear in subsequent expansions. In Cataclysm, apparently Millhouse Manastorm's proximity near the corruptive Harbinger caused him to join the Old God worshipping Twilight's Hammer. Adventurers meet him several times in the earth elemental realm of Deepholm, where he prepares to unleash the mighty spell of impending doom in the Stonecore... but his long, long casting time was interrupted by the arrival of a proper boss, the mighty Corborus. Millhouse was presumed to be killed after this, but he apparently survived, having been rehabilitated and showing up as a brawler and follower in Warlords of Draenor. In Legion, Millhouse is captured once more, this time by demons, and is released by a Mage adventurer, representing the order of the Tirisgarde. Millhouse is recruited by the mage adventurer into the order, and assists in defeating the rogue archmage Vargoth. Milllhouse attempts to claim the soulstone that the Tirisgarde is attempting to obtain, but they obviously refuse to give it to him.
Ragnaros, the Firelord
The mighty Ragnaros is the lord of all fire elementals, and one of the Elemental Lords. The Elemental Lords are the most powerful of their kind, created at the dawn of Azeroth's creation as the personifications of fire, water, earth and air. Among his fellow Elemental Lords, Ragnaros was known as the most destructive. The four elemental forces did war against each other, and then did war against the Old Gods, were enslaved by them, and subsequently banished into the Elemental Plane when the Titans re-ordered the world. Ragnaros ruled over the plane known as the Firelands, and there the fire elementals stayed for millennia. Around 250 years ago, the three dwarven clans of Bronzebeard, Wildhammer and Dark Iron waged war against each other. Things did not go well for the Dark Iron dwarves, and the Sorcerer-Thane Thaurissan, leader of the Dark Irons, arrived at what would later be known as Blackrock Mountain, and attempted to summon the great power he sensed linger there. However, the Dark Iron sorcerer got far more than he bargained, for he tapped into the essence of the mighty Firelord himself. Ragnaros burst out of the depths of the Firelands, shattering the Redridge Mountains and creating a gigantic volcano named Blackrock Mountain. Ragnaros was not able to manifest fully in the physical world, but his minions surged out and enslaved the Dark Iron dwarves, and there Ragnaros remained until the events of World of Warcraft. Although lesser Firelords were introduced late during the Third War (and the first appearance of the term 'Firelord' in general) and were neutral heroes that any side with enough resources can hire.
In World of Warcraft, Ragnaros the Firelord served as the final boss of the final raid of the original WoW, and the single strongest enemy, standing at the end of the raid Molten Core. Ragnaros's forces of fire elementals and enslaved dark iron dwarves battled for dominance of Blackrock Mountain against the forces of the black dragon Nefarian and his orc servitors, while Alliance and Horde adventurers arrived to slay them all. When adventurers stormed the Molten Core, upon his near-defeat, Ragnaros's mightiest lieutenant Majordomo Executus summoned the Firelord to deal with the intruders. However, Executus summoned Ragnaros too soon, leaving him at a mere fraction of his health. Still, Ragnaros proved a formidable force, although he was ultimately felled, banished back into the Firelands.
\In Cataclysm, Deathwing's shattering of the world caused the borders between the physical and elemental plane to be strained. With the elements of Azeroth in turmoil, Ragnaros allied himself with the mighty black dragon aspect Deathwing, and emerged upon the physical world once more, and alongside a vast army of fire elementals, marched upon Mount Hyjal to raze the new world tree to the ground. Ragnaros was once more banished to the Firelands, although at great cost. Ragnaros would later manifest to Thrall in a vision as he attempted to commune with Azeroth's unbalanced elements, where he promises to burn the world. The guardians of Hyjal, led by the mighty archdruid Malfurion Stormrage as well as multiple ancient spirits of the wild, would then take the battle to the Firelands itself, and they storm Sulfuron Keep, Ragnaros's lair. The Firelands is one of the later raids in the Cataclysm expansion, and at the end of the raid stood Ragnaros. Adventurers battled Ragnaros and reduced him to a fraction of his health. His attempts to retreat is thwarted by the mighty demigod Cenarius and the archdruids Malfurion Stormrage and Hamuul Runetotem. With nowhere to run, Ragnaros makes a last stand, and is slain. His death in the Firelands renders it permanent, putting the realm of the fire elementals into turmoil. It would not be until Legion that a new Firelord, Smolderon, would rise to power. Ragnaros's quotes, the ever-memorable BY FIRE BE PURGED and DIE, INSECT! are taken from his boss fight in WoW.
Edwin VanCleef
We talked about the Defias Brotherhood themselves back in the 'Defias Ringleader' section of the Alliance lore, so we'll not cover that all too much. But the Defias Brotherhood, and its prior incarnation as the disgruntled Stonemasons Guild, was led by Edwin VanCleef, an architect-turned-rogue who was the leader behind all the actions of the Defias Brotherhood that plagued Elwynn Forest and Westfall. Strong-arming the gold mines and resources of the town, Edwin also hired the pirate crew led by Captain Greenskin to construct a mighty juggernaut in order to take the battle to Stormwind City. He is based from within the Deadmines. However, in World of Warcraft, players would be able to storm the Deadmines in order to stop his sinister plans, and Edwin VanCleef was the final boss in the Deadmines instance. Edwin VanCleef was considered one of the greatest threat to the kingdom of Stormwind and would forever remain one of its biggest shames. The death of Edwin VanCleef at the hands of Alliance adventurers would be noticed by his young daughter, Vanessa, who, in Cataclysm (where Edwin and his original crew were removed from the Deadmines) took over as the new, mysterious leader of a revamped Defias Brotherhood, attempting to avenge his father and would serve as the final boss at the end of the new, revamped Deadmines. Edwin's two lines, "The Brotherhood shall prevail" and "Lapdogs, all of you!" are taken from his WoW boss fight.
Captain Greenskin
Captain Greenskin is a boss in the pre-Cataclysm version of the Deadmines instance. Captain Greenskin was a pirate captain that was allied with Edwin VanCleef's Defias brotherhood, the captain of the mighty juggernaut that the Defias was building in the mines. When the story of the Defias was continued in Cataclysm and the Deadmines and Westfall zone storyline was expanded, Captain Greenskin, alongside Edwin VanCleef, was permanently killed off, with players who chose to see the event of Edwin's fall in the flashback being able to see Captain Greenskin's body among the fallen.
Greenskin's artwork repurposes the artwork for Gurubashi arena NPC Short John Mithril from the TCG.
Gruul the Dragonkiller
Gruul the Dragonkiller is a Gronn, which is a race of gigantic, one-eyed giants native to the orcish homeworld of Draenor. They are descended from the primordial magnarons (bigger versions of Gronns, basically) and are the predecessors of ogres and orcs. Gronns are worshiped fanatically by ogres, and are once one of the mightiest forces in Draenor until the rise of the first orcish Horde marched across Draenor and slaughtered their brutal ancestors. However, one of the surviving gronns was the mighty Gruul, who slaughtered many of the ogres and orcs who would attempt to slay him, killing so many members of the Horde that they thought that he's not worth the trouble.
Gruul (who has red skin in the games as opposed to purple in the Hearthstone card) and the gronn race were introduced in World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, and it is also revealed through novels and quests that during the Second War, when the black dragon aspect Deathwing traveled to Draenor to hide the eggs of his vile black dragonflight, his forces encountered Gruul. The lesser black dragons left behind by Deathwing to guard his eggs were assaulted by Gruul and the ogres of the Bladespire clan who served him, and Gruul single-handedly killed all the black dragons and impaled them on the stone spires, earning Gruul the title 'Dragonkiller'. Some sources state that even Deathwing himself challenged Gruul, although the end of their battle was inconclusive due to the intervention of Alliance forces that drew Deathwing's attention. Regardless of whether Deathwing is involved, Gruul did slaughter the other black dragons. By the time the Alliance and the Horde returned to Draenor in Burning Crusade -- now shattered and known as Outland -- and serves as the final boss in the dungeon Gruul's Lair, where he leads an army of ogres and his seven sons, who serve as warlords of the ogres. He would be slain by adventurers who stormed his lair and killed all of his servitors. In Warlords of Draenor, the Gruul of the alternate timeline was enslaved by the Iron Horde, who sliced off his hand and replaced with a hook, forcing the once-mighty gronn into a menial worker shoving coal into a furnace. The alternate-universe Gruul was a boss in the Blackrock Foundry raid.
King Krush
The mighty King Krush is a devilsaur, which are the Azerothian equivalent of theropods in real life, albeit with extra spikes on their back. Dinosaurs in Azeroth are a relatively rare breed, only found in areas with obvious titan influence, such as Un'Goro Crater, Isle of Giants and Sholazar Basin, although the ancient Zandalari trolls did domesticate them. King Krush, added in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion, is a rare, particularly powerful dinosaur that stalks the area of Sholazar Basin. Sholazar Basin is a unique area that, thanks to the Titan equipment there, is filled with lush plants and wildlife despite the harsh, snowy climate of Northrend. Mightiest among the devilsaurs that live in Sholazar Basin is King Krush, who is several levels higher than most of the other enemies located in the area.
Huffer
It's a bit weird how the Animal Companion spell is able to summon multiples of the same named beast, but eh, it is the Classic set. Since they're technically characters, I'll talk about them here. Anyway, Rexxar the Beastmaster first appeared in Warcraft III, and one of his abilities was 'summon Quillbeast', which was a fast-attacking but fragile little piggy buddy with spikes, and disappear afterwards. In World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade, Rexxar's boar buddy is finally given a name, Huffer, and participates in a quest, aiding adventurers in distracting the gronn Grulloc.
Misha
Throughout Warcraft III, Misha was the only named companion of Rexxar, and the only one that he summons which is permanent and will not leave his side, and the one that can be resurrected upon death. She is undyingly loyal to Rexxar, and fought alongside him throughout nearly all of his campaign as he helps the Horde found Orgrimmar. In World of Warcraft, Misha could be seen in all of Rexxar's appearances, faithfully staying by his side in Azeroth, and then in Outland when Rexxar moved there in Burning Crusade, and in the recent Legion invasion, participates alongside her master against the Burning Legion's invasion.
Leokk
Leokk is one of Rexxar's pets, and the only one to not originate from a spell in Warcraft III. Leokk is first introduced in World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade, where he was ambushed and captured by the Bladespire Ogres. Rexxar would task adventurers to aid his pet hawk Spirit in locating and freeing Leokk. Leokk is a wyvern (also known as a wind rider), which is a strange beast native to Kalimdor with the head of a lion, the front limbs resembling a giant bat, and a scorpion tail. During Warcraft III, Cairne Bloodhoof sought the aid of the native wyverns of Kalimdor, helping in freeing them from the harpies and taming them. Orc Wyvern Riders would ride into battle as one of the Horde's primary airborne forces, and in World of Warcraft, throughout much of the Horde's Kalimdor settlements wyverns are used as a major aspect of transportation, ferrying any Horde player willing to pay a small fee from one Horde settlement to the next.
By the time of World of Warcraft, Gelbin and the gnomes would once more rejoin the Alliance as they sought to rebuild their fallen city, and Gelbin would send gnomish adventurers into Gnomeregan to collect information about the goings-on of the city. In Wrath of the Lich King, Gelbin would put his plans into action, leading Operation: Gnomeregan. This time, Gelbin sought aid from other parts of the Alliance, personally assaulting Gnomerergan and taking a fair amount of it, establishing New Tinkertown. Gelbin would meet Thermaplugg and do battle with him during this period, slicing his treacherous friend in half and leaving him for dead. Gelbin would continue to lead the gnomish forces throughout Cataclysm in retaking parts of Gnomeregan. In Mists of Pandaria, Gelbin would participate in the Underhold, fighting the forces of Garrosh Hellscream. In Legion, Gelbin, riding a gigantic steam armour, would help do battle in the Broken Shore and blow up demon heads.
Out of Gelbin's summonable tokens, only two -- the Repair Bot and the Gnomish Poultryizer -- are based on actual inventions you can obtain in World of Warcraft, both of them being things that you can craft with a sufficiently high enough engineering skill.
Tinkmaster Overspark:
Tinkmaster Overspark is introduced in vanilla World of Warcraft, and serves as a gnome engineering trainer and quest-giver in Tinker Town. He gave minor quests for the majority of his role in WoW, but his first significant role was during Mists of Pandaria. Tinkmaster Overspark was part of the Operation: Shieldwall campaign, the first major Alliance campaign into the newly-discovered continent of Pandaria, and was part of the Alliance leadership of the operation, serving as a member of the Alliance gunship Skyfire. Overspark was one of the Alliance members who voted to use the mysterious Sha as a source of energy, but was voted down. Tinkmaster Overspark also was seen during the Siege of Orgrimmar, participating in the battle. In Legion, Overspark would also reappear as a member of the Skyfire crew, and was a minor quest giver.
Prophet Velen, Prophet of the Exodar
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| Velen (WoW) |
Throughout the course of the first three wars on Azeroth, Velen's Draenei remained removed from the battles, but when Illidan Stormrage and his allies arrived and claimed supremacy over Draenor -- now known as Outland -- Velen's people were finally forced to escape Outland abroad the vessel known as the Exodar, but sabotage from blood elves loyal to Illidan caused the Exodar to drift through the twisting nether until the events of World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade where they crash-landed on Azeroth. Prophet Velen would serve as the draenei leader as they joined the heroic Alliance, giving quests to Alliance adventurers from the Vault of Lights, the deepest part of the crash-landed Exodar. Despite the emnity that the draenei have against the blood elves (a significant portion of which joined the Horde), Velen would work together with the blood knight matriarch, Lady Liadrin, and create the Sunwell from the remnants of the dead naaru M'uru, freeing the blood elves from their magical addiction. Velen continued to serve as one of the leaders of the Alliance throughout subsequent campaigns, surprising the Alliance in their decision to stay on Azeroth. During the Cataclysm era, Prophet Velen would also take the young prince of Stormwind, Anduin Wrynn, under his tutelage in the priestly arts. Anduin would, in turn, help Velen realize that despite having to prepare for the far-flung future of the battle against the Burning Legion, he is also needed in the present day as a leader ot the draenei people.Velen's largest role would come in the newest expansion, Legion, where he would be instrumental in assisting other notable priests like Alonsus Faol, Moira Thaurissan and a particularly powerful priest adventurer in claiming an artifact weapon and purify the corrupted naaru Saa'ra. In a subsequent battle, Velen and a group of priests would do battle against the mighty eredar High General Rakeesh, who attempted to destroy the naaru known as O'ros, whose lineage is crucial in activating an artifact known as the Light's Heart. However, partway through the battle, Velen demands that the heroes stop attacking Rakeesh, and even turns against the heroes at one point. Ultimately, however, Rakeesh is still slain. Velen kneels down next to Rakeesh as he dies, and reveals that Rakeesh is, in fact, his son -- captured by the Burning Legion before the draenei left Argus. Thus broken, Velen renounced the title of Prophet, declaring that he is neither prophet nor pawn. He then declares that the draenei are going home to Argus... not to leave the fight behind, but rather to do battle with the eredar. Velen would participate in the second battle for the Broken Shore, working alongside other warriors like Illidan Stormrage, Maiev Shadowsong and Khadgar in battling the forces of the Legion. Within the Tomb of Sargeras, Velen confronts Kil'jaeden, and while Khadgar wishes to close the portal, Velen declares that he is done hiding and enters Kil'jaeden's command ship within the twisting nether. The two old friends confront each other, Velen assisted by the heroes of Azeroth.Kil'jaeden was ultimately defeated, and, as he was about to perish, he admits to Velen that he was always envious of Velen's faith and vision, noting that perhaps Velen would be able to defeat Sargeras. Velen places his hands on Kil'jaeden's head as his former brother dies. Upon returning to Azeroth, Velen has a brief confrontation with Illidan about faith and Velen's former association with Kil'jaeden and Archimonde, mocking Velen that his faith caused the death of his people. Velen would participate in subsequent raids at Argus, remaining steadfast even when confronted with his old, corrupted friends, now eredar commanders of the Burning Legion. Velen would be instrumental in leading the forces of Azeroth in recovering three important artifacts that the Triumvate once held. He also tells the Exarch of Light, Turalyon, that there is much that the naaru, as steeped in the Light as they are, keeps hidden from their champions.
Velen's line in Hearthstone, "not all who wander are lost", is one of the lines he can speak in World of Warcraft when clicked, and, in turn, a reference to Gandalf from Lord of the Rings.
Cenarius, Demigod of Kalimdor
The mighty Cenarius is no mere mortal, but a demigod. During the creation of Azeroth, Cenarius is said to be born from the goddess of the moon, Elune, and the wild god Malorne. Cenarius was raised by the green dragon aspect Ysera, who taught Cenarius in the ways of the Emerald Dream. Cenarius would grow into a mighty demigod that held much power over nature itself, and his children would eventually be the race known as the dryads and the keepers of the grove. Cenarius would teach the yaungol (predecessors to the tauren) and the night elves in the arts of druidism, and is particularly tied to the night elves. While Cenarius would eventually be disillusioned when the night elves grew arrogant and started a society based on arcane magic, Cenarius would meet the young night elf Malfurion Stormrage, who found favour with Cenarius and would become the world's first mortal druid. During the War of the Ancients, Cenarius would gather the other demigods and wild gods of Azeroth against the first invasion of the Burning Legion, while his student Malfurion gathered the forces of the night elves. Cenarius fought bravely, but was badly wounded, and was taken to the Emerald Dream to recuperate. When Cenarius emerged from the Dream, he found the world a different place, and began to continue teaching his favoured people, the night elves, in helping the land recuperate, based on Moonglade. Under Cenarius's guidance, the arts of druidism became widespread once more amongst the night elves.Time would pass -- ten thousand years, to be exact. Cenarius and his people were secluded from the world outside of Kalimdor (the western continent) until the events of Warcraft III, the Third War. The orcs made landfall on Kalimdor, and under the leadership of Grom Hellscream, the Warsong clan began to harvest the jungles of Ashenvale for lumber. Cenarius, sensing the faint taint of fel in them, assumed them to be servants of the Burning Legion, and alongside an army of night elves and ancients, attempted to wipe out the orcs. This caused the orcs to be forced to seek aid from the demon Mannoroth, and Grom Hellscream, driven into a bloodlust with demon blood, succeeded in battling and actually killing Cenarius. In Warcraft III, Cenarius is a campaign-unique hero class called a 'Demigod', which is basically identical to the Keeper of the Grove hero class (covered here) but with an additional spell -- Cyclone.
However, Cenarius's death was not to be the end of the demigod, and his spirit returned to the Emerald Dream. In particular, he witnessed the nobility of the orcs and their defense of Mt. Hyjal against the Burning Legion, and bore them no further hatred. In World of Warcraft, Cenarius is mentioned in passing as helping Malfurion fight against the strange Nightmare tainting the Emerald Dream. He would finally return for good in Catacylsm, emerging from the Emerald Dream to aid Malfurion in battling against Ragnaros, the Firelord, and would assist in the eventual defeat of the Firelord. He would next appear in Legion, where he would be corrupted by the Nightmare that plagued the Emerald Dream, falling deeper and deeper into corruption. An attempt by Malfurion to cure him with an artifact known as the Tears of Elude was foiled by the Nightmare Lord Xavius, and Cenarius would emerge completely corrupted, and act as a boss in the Emerald Nightmare raid, believing himself to be defending the forests from the Nightmare. Cenarius is brought down by adventurers, being knocked unconscious, and Malfurion would eventually be able to cleanse the nightmare from his teacher, purifying him and returning him into the Emerald Dream. Cenarius's summon line in Hearthstone, "Who dares defile this ancient land?" is the very first line he speaks in Warcraft III in response to Grom Hellscream's arrival.Leeroy Jenkins
Leeroy Jenkins isn't an important character, but one of the most well-known elements of World of Warcraft thanks to one of the internet's earliest memes, as circulated by the famous Leeroy Jenkins video, a comedic video where a raiding team in Upper Blackrock Spire, planning on how to deal with a particular part of the dungeon, was absolutely shot to shit when the player called Leeroy Jenkins, a human paladin, quite literally charged in without regard to anything that's going on with the memetic warcry of his name, activating all the dragon eggs to hatch and causing his entire party to get slaughtered in the process. Leeroy Jenkins' reckless charge has been synonymous with reckless charging in corners of the internet. Leeroy was first introduced in Blizzard material as part of the World of Warcraft: Trading Card Game as a card, whose artwork was reused for the Hearthstone version. After many cheeky achievement names and stuff, Leeroy Jenkins is finally introduced in the World of Warcraft game proper with the Warlords of Draenor expansion where his corpse can be found in the Upper Blackrock Spire, where he can be resurrected, and, if protected for the duration of the quest, be recruited as a garrison follower. Leeroy's quotes in the game is, naturally, taken from the infamous video.________________________________________________________________
HORDE
Sylvanas Windrunner, the Dark LadyIn Warcraft III: the Frozen Throne, Sylvanas apparently gained possession of her old corpse, becoming a powerful Dark Ranger (a brand-new hero type introduced in that expansion -- she is able to silence enemies, launch dark arrows that will turn those killed by it into undead minions, drain life and having the ultimate ability charm, taking control of non-hero enemies). She served alongside Kel'thuzad as one of Arthas's main generals, hunting down and wiping out the remaining humans in Lordaeron. However, at this point, the Lich King began to lose his power over part of the Scourge due to the machinations of Illidan Stormrage, and Sylvanas was among those who found herself freed. Sylvanas was contacted by three dreadlords of the Burning Legion -- Varimathras, Detheroc and Balnazzar -- and plotted to overthrow Arthas and the Lich King's rule. The dreadlords did battle against Arthas and the forces loyal to him, and Sylvanas lay in ambush, attacking Arthas with her banshees and launching an arrow laced with poison. Arthas, however, managed to escape when Kel'thuzad, still loyal to him, came and drove Sylvanas away. With Arthas gone off to Northrend, Sylvanas gathered the independent-minded undead, and refused to bow down to the dreadlords' rule. With the aid of several possessed ogres, bandits and gnolls, Sylvanas was able to defeat the forces of the first dreadlord, Varimathras, who begged her to spare his life. Keeping Varimathras on a leash, Sylvanas moved against the other two dreadlords, killing Detheroc and subsequently Balnazzar, as well as the human general Garithos of the Alliance. Sylvanas Windrunner, now known as the Banshee Queen, pronounced that she and her people will now be known as the Forsaken.
Prior to World of Warcraft, Sylvanas and her Forsaken would base themselves in Undercity, build under the ruins of Lordaeron, and would join the Horde. While the Horde was suspicious of Sylvanas's intentions, she would remain a stalwart ally. In Burning Crusade, Sylvanas would be instrumental in getting what used to be her people -- the blood elves -- to join the Horde, and would send Forsaken forces to assist her in retaking the Ghostlands. In Wrath of the Lich King, Sylvanas would prove instrumental as she was one of the staunchest supporters of the Northrend campaign due to her own vendetta against Arthas, who has became the new Lich King. While the Forsaken would fight vehemently against the undead forces of the Scourge, treachery would happen when both Grand Apothecary Putress and the dreadlord Varimathras proved treacherous -- Putress would unleash a plague that killed the living and the dead, while Varimathras staged a coup in the Undercity. Sylvanas was nearly killed by Varimathras, but managed to escape to Orgrimmar. With the aid of the rest of the Horde, the traitors would be defeated, with Sylvanas personally slaying Varimathras, but the Forsaken would be seen in a suspicious light due to those events. Afterwards, Sylvanas would personally go to Northrend, and confronts the Lich King in the Frozen Halls of Icecrown Citadel with a contingent of Horde champions. After killing several of Arthas' champions and narrowly avoiding the mighty frost wyrm Sindragosa, Sylvanas would learn from the ghost of the paladin Uther that the Lich King must be defeated where he was created -- the Frozen Throne. The Lich King would arrive, and Sylvanas would do battle with him personally, but she and the adventurers narrowly survived the Lich King's assault, barely managing to escape. With the Lich King's death at the hands of Tirion Fordring and an army of champions, Sylvanas was left to ponder just what this means for the Forsaken now that their main goal -- vengeance -- was sated.Sylvanas would also prove instrumental in the battle for Andorhal, disgusted by the death knight Koltira Deathweaver's truce with his Alliance counterpart. Sylvanas would swoop in with her val'kyr and forsaken army, defeating Alliance forces there and putting Koltira in chains to make him into a loyal Horde soldier. However, in subsequent events, Sylvanas would chafe under Garrosh's maniacal leadership, and would join the rest of the Darkspear Rebellion during Mists of Pandaria in defeating Garrosh's forces, with her participating in taking down the proto-drake Galakras. Sylvanas would participate in the trial of Garrosh, and attempted to conspire with her still-living sister Vereesa to murder Garrosh with poison before a sentence is carried out, yet Vereesa ended up choosing not to go ahead with the scheme. Sylvanas was particularly angered by what she viewed as betrayal, and vowed never to love again.
In Legion, Sylvanas Windrunner took part in the assault of the Broken Shore, working in concert with the Alliance in battling the demons, jumping from gunship to gunship during the initial salvo and taking down an abyssal with King Varian of the Alliance. While she did combat alongside the other Horde leaders, they were overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the Burning Legion, and the Horde lost Vol'jin, their current chieftain. Sylvanas's attempts to rescue Vol'jin proved to be in vain, and after Sylvanas ordered a retreat to save the Horde forces, Vol'jin named the shocked Dark Lady as the new warchief of the Horde before dying. Sylvanas would rally the rest of the Horde in avenging Vol'jin, and would also send envoys to ally with the Illidari demon hunters. Sylvanas would venture to the realm of Helheim, attempting to make a deal with the Titanforged Watcher that ruled over the Val'kyr, Helya. With the aid of Horde adventurers, Sylvanas used a mystical artifact known as the Soulcage to bind the mighty val'kyr Eyir to her will, but this was foiled by Genn Greymane, who shatters the artifact and foils Sylvanas' quest for immortality.
Sylvanas' quote in Hearthstone, "I have no time for games", is taken from one of her quotes when clicked in World of Warcraft. Her hero version has multiple quotes taken from her unit quotes in Warcraft III.
Cairne Bloodhoof, Chieftain of the Tauren
In Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, Cairne would return to Mulgore to help his tauren people establish their own settlement there. However, Cairne's son Baine would be captured by centaurs, and, assuming the worst, Cairne slipped into grief. His second-in-command Tagar sought out Rexxar and Rokhan, champions of the Horde, and asked them to help in finding Baine. With the aid of other tauren, Rexxar would free Baine, which in turn galvanized Cairne, who would then participate in repelling the Kul Tiras admiral, Daelin Proudmoore, from Durotar. In World of Warcraft, Cairne would continue acting as the leader of the tauren people, constructing the city of Thunder Bluff as a stronghold for not just the Bloodhoof, but also other tauren. While most tauren accepted Cairne's strength and wisdom as suitable for the tauren leader, Elder Crone Magatha of the Grimtotem tribe was a vocal detractor of Cairne. Cairne would participate in many campaigns for the Horde, although his age would prevent him from battling too heavily on the battlefield.Prior to Cataclysm, Thrall left to commune with the elements of Outland and put the brash but popular Garrosh Hellscream in charge, Cairne let out strong reservations, but continued to attempt to counsel Garrosh to curb his ego. After a brutal massacre of night elves in Ashenvale, Cairne sent out the druid Hamuul Runetotem to attempt to broker peace with the night elves, but the meeting of tauren and night elves ended in disaster as Twilight's Hammer orcs arrived and killed almost everyone present. An enraged Cairne, who assumed Garrosh was responsible, challenged Garrosh
into a mak'gora, which Garrosh demands to be done by the old laws -- to the death. Cairne and Garrosh were evenly matched, and both respected the other as warriors despite their differing ideals, but the treacherous Magatha Grimtotem, unknown to both warriors, has poisoned Gorehowl in fatal poison. A single cut on Cairne's chest immobilized the old tauren, leaving him open for a killing blow bode of treachery.
Baine Bloodhoof, Chieftain of the Tauren
Baine would serve as the leader of the tauren people ever since the Cataclysm, and one of the most level-headed figures of leadership among the Horde. However, his relationship with Garrosh would become even more strained as Garrosh continued on a slippery slope into aggression and conquest, demanding more resources from the races of the Horde, such as water from Mulgore. Baine's seeming bending-down to Garrosh causes many of the tauren to become disheartened with how Mulgore has seemingly became an extension of Garrosh's war-machine, but Baine's diplomatic ways in dealing with quillboar invasions ends up impressing even his detractors.Prior to Mists of Pandaria, Baine was shocked to discover that Garrosh intends to wipe out the city of Theramore. His protests falling on deaf ears, and seeing atrocities committed by Garrosh's Kor'kron forces such as enslaving molten giants and wanton brutality, Baine ended up informing Jaina Proudmoore, who had aided him and the tauren during the Grimtotem rebellion. However, upon seeing the dishonourable destruction of Theramore with a mana bomb, Baine, Vol'jin and many other members of the Horde began voicing their protest. In Mists of Pandaria, Baine would be involved with the campaign to Pandaria, resolving to keep Garrosh's madness in check. After the attempted assassination on Vol'jin, Baine would confer with him in secret in Razor Hill. They would proceed to organize the Darkspear Rebellion, and Baine and Vol'jin would be at the forefront of the Siege of Orgrimmar, battling Garrosh's lackey Nazgrim and the Iron Juggernaut. Baine would witness Garrosh's defeat and subsequent arrest.
During the trial of Garrosh Hellscream in Pandaria, Baine unexpectedly found himself to be thrust into the role of defender during the trial. After conferring with the spirit of his father, Baine found that the honourable thing to do is to defend Garrosh to the best of his abilities, asking for them to attempt to give Garrosh a second chance, as much as his guilt is clear to all present. Baine's defense was moving to all but Garrosh, who would engineer an escape. In Legion, Baine would be present in battling the invasion of the Burning Legion.
Grom Hellscream, Chieftain of the Warsong Clan
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| Grom (WC3 cinematic) |
During this time, Grom was one of the few orcs that were strong-hearted enough not to succumb to the malaise that struck the orcs stranded on Azeroth, and realized how corrupt and foul the magic of the warlocks of the Old Horde were, compared to the shamanistic magic of their youth. Grom was approached by the young orc called Thrall, and was impressed by Thrall's strength and honour. During Warcraft III, Grom would be one of Thrall's main allies as he broke orcs out of internment camps, and their subsequent journey to Kalimdor. Grom is represented as a Blademaster hero despite not being from the Burning Blade clan (see here for more on Blademasters). Grom struggled with the latent demonic curse within him, however, succumbing to his rage and attacking a human settlement at Stonetalon Mountain despite Thrall's orders otherwise. Chastised, Grom was given the punishment of being in charge of gathering lumber for the Horde's new settlement in Ashenvale... only to incur the wrath of the surrounding night elves. While Grom was victorious in the initial assault, the demigod Cenarius descended upon the orcs and began slaughtering them, and a desperate Grom was forced to retreat. He was approached by the pit lord Mannoroth, who poured his blood into a fountain. Despite warnings from his clan's shamans and witch doctors, a desperate Grom told his clan to drink the blood of Mannoroth, bleaching their skin red and empowering them with such strength that Grom himself was able to slay even Cenarius. This victory came with the price of Grom himself being enslaved by Mannoroth, being turned against Thrall's horde.Thrall, having struck an alliance with the humans under Jaina, worked together to battle Grom's corrupted Warsong Clan, and defeated Grom, and Jaina used her arcane magic to purify Grom's soul from the blood curse. Knowing the truth of the origin of the blood curse, Thrall and Grom set off to hunt down Mannoroth, facing the mightiest Pit Lord and the original corruptor of the orcs. After a fierce battle, Grom managed to sink his axe Gorehowl through Mannoroth's heart, killing the Pit Lord. Grom was caught in the explosion of fel fire that resulted, and lie dying in Thrall's hands. The red glow in Grom's eyes disappeared as he died, and Grom Hellscream would be forever known in orcish history as the warrior who freed the orcs from their corruption. (An alternate-universe version of Grom appears in Warlords of Draenor, but we won't talk about that.) Grom's quote in Hearthstone, "I can wait no longer", is taken from a line that Grom speaks during the Ashenvale campaign in Warcraft III, where he decides to attack the humans against Thrall's orders.Elite Tauren Chieftain
ETC has appeared in Hearthstone as "Elite Tauren Chieftain" in the Promo set and "E.T.C., God of Metal" in Madness at the Darkmoon Faire.
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I'll talk about the basic pre-WoW history of the five Dragon Aspects at once due to how closely their stories are intertwined.
The five mighty beings known as the Dragon Aspects are some of the most powerful beings in all of Azeroth. They began life as proto-dragons, and were among the first dragons. The five original aspects -- Alexstrasza, Ysera, Nozdormu, Malygos and neltharion -- were uplifted by the Titan Keepers for their bravery in defeating the mighty corrupted proto-dragon Galakrond, where no one else could. The Keeper Tyr, greatest among the titanforged, granted the five the power of the Titans themselves, allowing them to hold dominion over their kin and a specific aspect of life. The Dragon Aspects were charged into being defenders of Azeroth. Each dragon aspect ruled over their dragonflights, similarly uplifted into dragons by the Titans. Nozdormu was granted the power of fate, destiny and time by the Titan Aman'Thul. The titan of life, Eonar, granted Alexstrasza the power over life, and Ysera with the power over the Emerald Dream and nature. Norgannon, the Titan of magic and lore, granted Malygos the power of magic. Khaz'goroth, the Titan that forged the world, gave Neltharion dominion over the earth.
During the War of the Ancients, when the Burning Legion first arrived on Azeroth 10,000 years ago, the Dragon Aspects arrived in order to do battle with the demonic Legion. Neltharion the Earth-Warder suggested that each dragon aspect put part of their power in an artifact known as the Dragon Soul. However, Neltharion betrayed his brothers and sisters during the battle, using the power of the Dragon Soul to wreak havoc on all present -- demons, night elves and dragons alike. Malygos's blue dragonflight suffered the most, with nearly the entirety of his flight wiped out by Neltharion. While he was ultimately defeated, Neltharion survives and would forever be known as Deathwing. After the War of the Ancients and the Great Sundering, Alexstrasza, Nozdormu and Ysera would bless the world tree Nordrassil, before going into seclusion.
While Deathwing and Alexstrasza participated in the Second War, the other Aspects remained in relative seclusion although there were times when they participated in various conflicts (we'll talk about each individual aspect in their entry below), the biggest role that the Dragon Aspects would play in World of Warcraft would be the Cataclysm, where Deathwing, corrupted by the Old Gods, returns to Azeroth from the elemental plane of Deepholm, shattering the world with his cataclysmic arrival. The surviving dragon aspects (Malygos has, at this point, died and replaced with his son Kalecgos) would work together with the orc shaman Thrall in empowering the Dragon Soul once more, where adventurers returned to the time where the Dragon Soul was uncorrupted to take it. A gigantic battle between Deathwing's armies of black dragons, twilight dragons, Twilight's Hammer cult, elementals and faceless ones emerged atop the Wyrmrest Temple, while the dragon aspects and Thrall modified the Dragon Soul to be able to attack Deathwing. Thrall would use the Dragon Soul to critically wound Deathwing, who crashes into the Maelstrom. Deathwing emerges, a corrupted mass of molten lava and tentacles, in one last attempt to fight the defenders of Azeroth, but the combined forces of the dragon Aspects, Thrall and the adventurers finally obliterated Deathwing. After the fall of Deathwing, the Aspects, having fulfilled their duty of preventing the Cataclysm, are no longer immortal Aspects, but still possesses their powers, and would continue to safeguard humanity.
Alexstrasza, the Life-Binder
After the War of the Ancients, Alexstrasza, known as the Queen of the Dragons and the Life-Binder, ruled over the red dragonflight in peace. She would be involved with the mortal races during the Second War in Warcraft II, where the orc Nekros Skullcrusher of the Dragonmaw Clan recovered the Dragon Soul and used it to attack Alexstarsza's red dragons. This was all a ploy by Deathwing to torture his old rival. Using the Dragon Soul (now known as the Demon Soul), the orcs were able to capture Alexstrasza and her primary consorts, and the threat of Alexstrasza's life caused the other red dragons to be kept in line. Thus, the orcs of the Old Horde were able to enslave and ride the red dragons as their primary airborne units. (Although the actual WCII game coloured all the dragons green). Alexstrasza was imprisoned in the fortress Grim Batol, and was forced to lay eggs for more mounts, with the threat that her unborn children would be killed if she did not comply. As the Second War ended with the Horde's defeat, the Dragonmaw clan continued to guard their greatest prize, Alexstrasza. Deathwing, however, would enact a plan to steal Alexstrasza's unborn eggs and raise them as part of his onw dragonflight. During the ensuing conflict, however, a group of mortal champions led by the human mage Rhonin and Alexstrasza's consort Korialstrasz managed to destroy the Demon Soul, and drive Deathwing away by summoning the other dragon aspects. Alexstrasza was thus freed, and proceeded to rebuild her scattered dragonflight.
Alexstrasza would not participate in the Third War, but would return in World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King where she allied herself with mortals in battling against a crazed Malygos. She would appear to mortals as a female high elf with glowing yellow eyes and horns similar to her true dragon form. Alexstrasza and her red dragons would participate in the battle of the Wrathgate, as well as the battle against Malygos in the Nexus. In Cataclysm, Alexstrasza would battle against Deathwing in the Twilight Highlands, but Deathwing would prove powerful enough to defeat Alexstrasza. Alexstrasza would have died, but the heroic sacrifice of her child Caelestrasz (a.k.a. Calen) who acted as a distraction bought adventurers enough time to escape with Alexstrasza.
During this time, Alexstrasza's favoured consort Korialstrasz discovered a conspiracy by the Twilight's Hammer cult to corrupt all dragon eggs into twilight dragons loyal to Deathwing, and Korialstrasz was forced to destroy both the eggs and himself, ripping apart a huge chunk of the Wyrmrest Temple in the process. This apparent betrayal shatters the Wyrmrest Accord, and Alexstrasza herself was struck with such grief that she was unconsolable, flying into Desolace and waiting for her death. Thrall would later inform her of the truth of Korialstrasz's sacrifice, re-galvanizing the Dragon Queen. Alexstrasza and the other dragon aspects would continue to battle the forces of Deathwing, and would participate in finally defeating her crazed brother.
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DRAGON ASPECTS
I'll talk about the basic pre-WoW history of the five Dragon Aspects at once due to how closely their stories are intertwined.The five mighty beings known as the Dragon Aspects are some of the most powerful beings in all of Azeroth. They began life as proto-dragons, and were among the first dragons. The five original aspects -- Alexstrasza, Ysera, Nozdormu, Malygos and neltharion -- were uplifted by the Titan Keepers for their bravery in defeating the mighty corrupted proto-dragon Galakrond, where no one else could. The Keeper Tyr, greatest among the titanforged, granted the five the power of the Titans themselves, allowing them to hold dominion over their kin and a specific aspect of life. The Dragon Aspects were charged into being defenders of Azeroth. Each dragon aspect ruled over their dragonflights, similarly uplifted into dragons by the Titans. Nozdormu was granted the power of fate, destiny and time by the Titan Aman'Thul. The titan of life, Eonar, granted Alexstrasza the power over life, and Ysera with the power over the Emerald Dream and nature. Norgannon, the Titan of magic and lore, granted Malygos the power of magic. Khaz'goroth, the Titan that forged the world, gave Neltharion dominion over the earth.
During the War of the Ancients, when the Burning Legion first arrived on Azeroth 10,000 years ago, the Dragon Aspects arrived in order to do battle with the demonic Legion. Neltharion the Earth-Warder suggested that each dragon aspect put part of their power in an artifact known as the Dragon Soul. However, Neltharion betrayed his brothers and sisters during the battle, using the power of the Dragon Soul to wreak havoc on all present -- demons, night elves and dragons alike. Malygos's blue dragonflight suffered the most, with nearly the entirety of his flight wiped out by Neltharion. While he was ultimately defeated, Neltharion survives and would forever be known as Deathwing. After the War of the Ancients and the Great Sundering, Alexstrasza, Nozdormu and Ysera would bless the world tree Nordrassil, before going into seclusion.
While Deathwing and Alexstrasza participated in the Second War, the other Aspects remained in relative seclusion although there were times when they participated in various conflicts (we'll talk about each individual aspect in their entry below), the biggest role that the Dragon Aspects would play in World of Warcraft would be the Cataclysm, where Deathwing, corrupted by the Old Gods, returns to Azeroth from the elemental plane of Deepholm, shattering the world with his cataclysmic arrival. The surviving dragon aspects (Malygos has, at this point, died and replaced with his son Kalecgos) would work together with the orc shaman Thrall in empowering the Dragon Soul once more, where adventurers returned to the time where the Dragon Soul was uncorrupted to take it. A gigantic battle between Deathwing's armies of black dragons, twilight dragons, Twilight's Hammer cult, elementals and faceless ones emerged atop the Wyrmrest Temple, while the dragon aspects and Thrall modified the Dragon Soul to be able to attack Deathwing. Thrall would use the Dragon Soul to critically wound Deathwing, who crashes into the Maelstrom. Deathwing emerges, a corrupted mass of molten lava and tentacles, in one last attempt to fight the defenders of Azeroth, but the combined forces of the dragon Aspects, Thrall and the adventurers finally obliterated Deathwing. After the fall of Deathwing, the Aspects, having fulfilled their duty of preventing the Cataclysm, are no longer immortal Aspects, but still possesses their powers, and would continue to safeguard humanity.
Alexstrasza, the Life-Binder
After the War of the Ancients, Alexstrasza, known as the Queen of the Dragons and the Life-Binder, ruled over the red dragonflight in peace. She would be involved with the mortal races during the Second War in Warcraft II, where the orc Nekros Skullcrusher of the Dragonmaw Clan recovered the Dragon Soul and used it to attack Alexstarsza's red dragons. This was all a ploy by Deathwing to torture his old rival. Using the Dragon Soul (now known as the Demon Soul), the orcs were able to capture Alexstrasza and her primary consorts, and the threat of Alexstrasza's life caused the other red dragons to be kept in line. Thus, the orcs of the Old Horde were able to enslave and ride the red dragons as their primary airborne units. (Although the actual WCII game coloured all the dragons green). Alexstrasza was imprisoned in the fortress Grim Batol, and was forced to lay eggs for more mounts, with the threat that her unborn children would be killed if she did not comply. As the Second War ended with the Horde's defeat, the Dragonmaw clan continued to guard their greatest prize, Alexstrasza. Deathwing, however, would enact a plan to steal Alexstrasza's unborn eggs and raise them as part of his onw dragonflight. During the ensuing conflict, however, a group of mortal champions led by the human mage Rhonin and Alexstrasza's consort Korialstrasz managed to destroy the Demon Soul, and drive Deathwing away by summoning the other dragon aspects. Alexstrasza was thus freed, and proceeded to rebuild her scattered dragonflight.
Alexstrasza would not participate in the Third War, but would return in World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King where she allied herself with mortals in battling against a crazed Malygos. She would appear to mortals as a female high elf with glowing yellow eyes and horns similar to her true dragon form. Alexstrasza and her red dragons would participate in the battle of the Wrathgate, as well as the battle against Malygos in the Nexus. In Cataclysm, Alexstrasza would battle against Deathwing in the Twilight Highlands, but Deathwing would prove powerful enough to defeat Alexstrasza. Alexstrasza would have died, but the heroic sacrifice of her child Caelestrasz (a.k.a. Calen) who acted as a distraction bought adventurers enough time to escape with Alexstrasza.During this time, Alexstrasza's favoured consort Korialstrasz discovered a conspiracy by the Twilight's Hammer cult to corrupt all dragon eggs into twilight dragons loyal to Deathwing, and Korialstrasz was forced to destroy both the eggs and himself, ripping apart a huge chunk of the Wyrmrest Temple in the process. This apparent betrayal shatters the Wyrmrest Accord, and Alexstrasza herself was struck with such grief that she was unconsolable, flying into Desolace and waiting for her death. Thrall would later inform her of the truth of Korialstrasz's sacrifice, re-galvanizing the Dragon Queen. Alexstrasza and the other dragon aspects would continue to battle the forces of Deathwing, and would participate in finally defeating her crazed brother.
In Hearthstone, in addition to "Alexstrasza" from the Classic set, she has also been represented as "Dragonqueen Alexstrasza" in Descent of Dragons and "Alexstrasza the Life-Binder" in the 2021 Core set.
Malygos, the Spell-Weaver
The mighty blue dragon aspect, Malygos the Spell-Weaver, was charged over safeguarding the magic of Azeroth. However, during the War of the Ancients, Malygos suffered a tragedy during the betrayal of Neltharion, who executed his entire dragonflight in a single moment. Malygos had trusted Neltharion like a brother, and the combined betrayal and slaughter of his kin drove the great blue dragon into madness. Taking a significant role in convincing the other Aspects in listening to Neltharion, Malygos was guilt-wracked and hid out in Northrend for millennia. Malygos would initially refuse to aid Korialstrasz in freeing Alexstrasza during the Second War, but the promise of getting vengeance upon Deathwing galvanized the blue aspect. Malygos would then proceed to revitalize the blue dragonflight, using a clutch of eggs that were spared the destruction of the War of the Ancients.
Throughout World of Warcraft, Malygos continued to struggle with his insanity, secluding himself in his lair in Northrend while relying mostly on his son Kalecgos to deal with the mortal world. During Wrath of the Lich King, Malygos took stock of the huge amount of mortal spellcasters in Azeroth, recklessly using arcane magic. Fearful of a repeat of the War of the Ancients where arcane magic brought the Legion's attention to Azeroth, Malygos deemed the lesser races' usage of magic unacceptable, and declared war upon them. The Kirin Tor of Dalaran and the red dragonflight stood against Malygos, taking the fight to the nexus, his home base in Northrend. Malygos had been using Azeroth's ley lines to divert all magical power from Azeroth, and this misguided and reckless use of magic has ironically caused what Malygos was preventing in the first place, ripping unstable rifts through space-time. The other dragonflights were forced to band together with Alexstrasza in what was known as the Wyrmrest Accord. Malygos makes his final stand in the Eye of Eternity, a realm of pure magic, and after battling an army of Alliance and Horde forces, he would finally meet his end at the hands of his sister Alexstrasza. After Malygos's death, he would be suceeded as the aspect of magic and leader of the blue flight by his son Kalecgos. (Kalecgos' artwork is what is used for Malygos's Hearthstone card)
In Hearthstone, in addition to "Malygos" from the Classic set, she has also been represented as "Malygos, Aspect of Magic" in Descent of Dragons and "Malygos the Spellweaver" in the 2021 Core set.
Ysera, the Dreamer
Ysera the Dreamer was the green Dragon Aspect that ruled over the dreamways and nature itself. Ysera was closely tied to her sister Alexstrasza, as well as her adopted child Cenarius. Ysera was bound to the Emerald Dream, the spiritual realm of life that represented what Azeroth could be. Ysera would be one of the dragon aspects that blessed the world tree Nordrassil, tying the fate of the World Tree and the night elves that lived there with the Emerald Dream. Ysera would slumber within the Emerald Dream for millennia until the Second War, where she briefly participated in fighting Deathwing, and witnessed Rhonin destroying the Demon Soul.
During World of Warcraft, a strange corruption known as the Emerald Nightmare spread through the Dream, corrupting and warping four of Ysera's mightiest lieutenants, Lethon, Emeriss, Ysondre and Taerar. Ysera would fall silent during this period. During Wrath of the Lich King, Ysera is revealed to have been battling the Nightmare Lord Xavius within the Dream, having to fight her four corrupted lieutenants alongside the night elven archdruid, Malfurion Stormrage, who himself was trapped within the Nightmare. The heroic sacrifice of Ysera's consort Eranikus allowed Ysera to seemingly defeat the Nightmare, halting it to a small portion of the Dream. During Cataclysm, the previously slumbering Ysera arrived at Wyrmrest Temple, her eyes open -- unlike her normal self. Ysera reveals that she had seen a vision of the prophecied Hour of Twilight with Deathwing's arrival. Ysera would aid Thrall and the other dragon aspects in battling Deathwing's forces, in particular the defense of Mt. Hyjal against the forces of Ragnaros. Ysera was also responsible for suggesting the idea of using the Dragon Soul against Deathwing, and would participate in aiding Thrall and the adventurers in taking down the black dragon once and for all.
During Legion, Ysera sends Malfurion and other druids in order to help cure the Nightmare-corrupted Cenarius, but the Nightmare Lord Xavius returns and foils this. Ysera assists Malfurion in chasing down Xavius, but Xavius instead turns the artifact known as the Tears of Elune to corrupt Ysera herself, turning her into a dragon of nightmare. Kidnapping Malfurion, the corrupted Ysera is chased by Tyrande and a group of adventurers. The corrupted Ysera assaults the Temple of Elune and is ultimately defeated by the adventurers. Upon her death, the moon goddess Elune reaches down, cleansing Ysera's spirit and, freed from the nightmare, she disappears in a dragon-shaped constellation. When the adventurers finally confront Xavius, the Dream of Ysera arrives to help them defeat Xavius. However, even after Xavius's defeat, the ghost of Ysera can be seen walking towards a Void-touched flower, hinting at something sinister...
Malygos, the Spell-Weaver
Throughout World of Warcraft, Malygos continued to struggle with his insanity, secluding himself in his lair in Northrend while relying mostly on his son Kalecgos to deal with the mortal world. During Wrath of the Lich King, Malygos took stock of the huge amount of mortal spellcasters in Azeroth, recklessly using arcane magic. Fearful of a repeat of the War of the Ancients where arcane magic brought the Legion's attention to Azeroth, Malygos deemed the lesser races' usage of magic unacceptable, and declared war upon them. The Kirin Tor of Dalaran and the red dragonflight stood against Malygos, taking the fight to the nexus, his home base in Northrend. Malygos had been using Azeroth's ley lines to divert all magical power from Azeroth, and this misguided and reckless use of magic has ironically caused what Malygos was preventing in the first place, ripping unstable rifts through space-time. The other dragonflights were forced to band together with Alexstrasza in what was known as the Wyrmrest Accord. Malygos makes his final stand in the Eye of Eternity, a realm of pure magic, and after battling an army of Alliance and Horde forces, he would finally meet his end at the hands of his sister Alexstrasza. After Malygos's death, he would be suceeded as the aspect of magic and leader of the blue flight by his son Kalecgos. (Kalecgos' artwork is what is used for Malygos's Hearthstone card)
In Hearthstone, in addition to "Malygos" from the Classic set, she has also been represented as "Malygos, Aspect of Magic" in Descent of Dragons and "Malygos the Spellweaver" in the 2021 Core set.
Ysera, the Dreamer
During World of Warcraft, a strange corruption known as the Emerald Nightmare spread through the Dream, corrupting and warping four of Ysera's mightiest lieutenants, Lethon, Emeriss, Ysondre and Taerar. Ysera would fall silent during this period. During Wrath of the Lich King, Ysera is revealed to have been battling the Nightmare Lord Xavius within the Dream, having to fight her four corrupted lieutenants alongside the night elven archdruid, Malfurion Stormrage, who himself was trapped within the Nightmare. The heroic sacrifice of Ysera's consort Eranikus allowed Ysera to seemingly defeat the Nightmare, halting it to a small portion of the Dream. During Cataclysm, the previously slumbering Ysera arrived at Wyrmrest Temple, her eyes open -- unlike her normal self. Ysera reveals that she had seen a vision of the prophecied Hour of Twilight with Deathwing's arrival. Ysera would aid Thrall and the other dragon aspects in battling Deathwing's forces, in particular the defense of Mt. Hyjal against the forces of Ragnaros. Ysera was also responsible for suggesting the idea of using the Dragon Soul against Deathwing, and would participate in aiding Thrall and the adventurers in taking down the black dragon once and for all.
During Legion, Ysera sends Malfurion and other druids in order to help cure the Nightmare-corrupted Cenarius, but the Nightmare Lord Xavius returns and foils this. Ysera assists Malfurion in chasing down Xavius, but Xavius instead turns the artifact known as the Tears of Elune to corrupt Ysera herself, turning her into a dragon of nightmare. Kidnapping Malfurion, the corrupted Ysera is chased by Tyrande and a group of adventurers. The corrupted Ysera assaults the Temple of Elune and is ultimately defeated by the adventurers. Upon her death, the moon goddess Elune reaches down, cleansing Ysera's spirit and, freed from the nightmare, she disappears in a dragon-shaped constellation. When the adventurers finally confront Xavius, the Dream of Ysera arrives to help them defeat Xavius. However, even after Xavius's defeat, the ghost of Ysera can be seen walking towards a Void-touched flower, hinting at something sinister...In Hearthstone, in addition to "Ysera" from the Classic set, she has also been represented as "Ysera, Unleashed" in Descent of Dragons and "Ysera the Dreamer" in the 2021 Core set. She also appears in the card arts of her own generated 'Dream' and 'Ysera Awakens' cards, as well as the Breath of Dreams card from Descent of Dragons.
Nozdormu, the Timeless One
Nozdormu, the Timeless One, is the leader of the Bronze Dragonflight, one of the most enigmatic among the dragon flights due to their power to transverse the timeways. Nozdormu was absent for a good chunk of the War of the Ancients, with his mate Soridormi representing his interests, although Nozdormu did show up for the blessing of the World Tree Nordrassil, placing an enchantment that allowed the night elves to not age as long as Nordrassil stood. For a good chunk of the time after the War of the Ancients, Nozdormu kept to himself, not wanting to participate in the affairs of mortal races, although the Bronze Dragonflight did participate in the War of the Shifting Sands. Nozdormu was convinced to help in defeating Deathwing during the Second War.
Nozdormu's absence after the Second War would be revealed in World of Warcraft to be him being trapped between different timelines. He was able to contact the red dragon Korialstrasz and the human mage Rhonin, allies of the dragon aspect, to investigate. This rift in time caused Korialstrasz and his allies to be dragged back to the time of the War of the Ancients, and there and then, Korialstrasz and his allies helped Nozdormu correct the timeline. Nozdormu kept to himself, however, with the bronze dragons Anachronos, Chronormu ("Chromie") and Soridormi interacting with the mortal races for a majority of this period. During this time, a mysterious dragonflight began attacking various different time period where important matters occurred, known as the Infinite Dragonflight. Thrall would, after travelling through the Caverns of Time, discover Nozdormu stuck between timelines, upon which Nozdormu notes that all the calamities that have happened -- the Emerald Nightmare, and the madness of Malygos and Deathwing -- have the same architect, the Old Gods. Nozdormu explains to the other aspects and Thrall that in a potential future, he will become Muruzond, the insane leader of the Infinite Dragonflight, something that he concludes will be caused by the Old Gods.
In Cataclysm, Nozdormu would find one of his bronze dragonflight, Zirion, killed by the Infinite Dragonflight, and would send adventurers to the End Time -- a possible future where Azeroth lay in shambles -- to slay Muruzond before the Infinite Dragonflight dabbles in time too much. The defeat of Muruzond opens the timeways to Nozdormu once more, and he is able to send adventurers to retrieve the Dragon Soul from the War of the Ancients. Despite knowing of his future demise, Nozdormu remained stalwart, and participated in battling Deathwing and his forces in Wyrmrest. With the loss of Nozdormu's powers after Deathwing's defeat, the Dragon Soul was returned to where it was taken. After Cataclysm, Nozdormu once more became reclusive, letting his children interact with the mortal races in his stead.
In Hearthstone, in addition to "Ysera" from the Classic set, she has also been represented as "Nozdormu the Timeless", "Muruzond the Infinite" (technically) in Descent of Dragons and "Nozdormu the Eternal" in the 2021 Core set.
Nozdormu, the Timeless One
Nozdormu's absence after the Second War would be revealed in World of Warcraft to be him being trapped between different timelines. He was able to contact the red dragon Korialstrasz and the human mage Rhonin, allies of the dragon aspect, to investigate. This rift in time caused Korialstrasz and his allies to be dragged back to the time of the War of the Ancients, and there and then, Korialstrasz and his allies helped Nozdormu correct the timeline. Nozdormu kept to himself, however, with the bronze dragons Anachronos, Chronormu ("Chromie") and Soridormi interacting with the mortal races for a majority of this period. During this time, a mysterious dragonflight began attacking various different time period where important matters occurred, known as the Infinite Dragonflight. Thrall would, after travelling through the Caverns of Time, discover Nozdormu stuck between timelines, upon which Nozdormu notes that all the calamities that have happened -- the Emerald Nightmare, and the madness of Malygos and Deathwing -- have the same architect, the Old Gods. Nozdormu explains to the other aspects and Thrall that in a potential future, he will become Muruzond, the insane leader of the Infinite Dragonflight, something that he concludes will be caused by the Old Gods.In Cataclysm, Nozdormu would find one of his bronze dragonflight, Zirion, killed by the Infinite Dragonflight, and would send adventurers to the End Time -- a possible future where Azeroth lay in shambles -- to slay Muruzond before the Infinite Dragonflight dabbles in time too much. The defeat of Muruzond opens the timeways to Nozdormu once more, and he is able to send adventurers to retrieve the Dragon Soul from the War of the Ancients. Despite knowing of his future demise, Nozdormu remained stalwart, and participated in battling Deathwing and his forces in Wyrmrest. With the loss of Nozdormu's powers after Deathwing's defeat, the Dragon Soul was returned to where it was taken. After Cataclysm, Nozdormu once more became reclusive, letting his children interact with the mortal races in his stead.
In Hearthstone, in addition to "Ysera" from the Classic set, she has also been represented as "Nozdormu the Timeless", "Muruzond the Infinite" (technically) in Descent of Dragons and "Nozdormu the Eternal" in the 2021 Core set.
Deathwing, the Destroyer
During the First War, the opening of the Dark Portal would awaken Deathwing. He observed the First War, wanting to use it to get vengeance upon the other four aspects, and attempted subterfuge by posing as a human noble, sowing chaos by telling the nobles of Lordaeron to not send aid to Stormwind, dismissing the story of the orcs as mere fable. He also infiltrated the Horde as a Blackrock orc, working his way up to a position of relatively high rank among the Horde. Deathwing's first major appearance was in Warcraft II, where he decided to manipulate the Horde to gain the power of the Demon Soul. He gave visions to Zuluhed the Whacked, chieftain of the Dragonmaw clan of orcs, whose agents would eventually recover the Demon Soul, and subsequently with visions from Deathwing, the warlock Nekros was able to enslave Alexstrasza the Life-Binder.
During the events of Beyond the Dark Portal, Deathwing would reveal his true form to Ner'zhul, chieftain of the orcs in Draenor, allowing his black dragonflight (represented in-game as green) to serve as mounts for the Horde and assisting them in stealing artifacts of power for Ner'zhul to create portals to other worlds. Deathwing would battle Gruul and the Gronn of Draenor at this point, but would return to Azeroth thanks to the meddling of the mage Khadgar. Deathwing would take part in a campaign against Alliance forces, feigning defeat in a battle against the mages of Dalaran and fell into the sea. However, Deathwing would re-emerge in the guise of the human Lord Prestor, gaining power in Alterac and influencing other human states. Deathwing would also want to steal Alexstrasza's eggs from her to bolster the ranks of his dragonflight, and presented himself as an ally to the human mage Rhonin, who was sent into Grim Batol by the Alliance. However, Rhonin was in actuality working alongside the red dragon Krasus (a.k.a. Korialstrasz), who managed to summon the other dragon aspects to combat Deathwing. However, due to their powers being sealed within the Demon Soul, they had the disadvantage until Rhonin shattered the Demon Soul, causing the dragon aspects to defeat Deathwing and send him into a retreat.In World of Warcraft, Deathwing recuperated deep within the earth, served by the Twilight's Hammer cult, and he sent his two most powerful children, Nefarian and Onyxia, to act in his stead. In Burning Crusade, Deathwing's consort Sintharia would also serve as an antagonist. Throughout the recent years, the old gods would whisper more and more into Deathwing's ears, particularly with Yogg-Saron and C'thun awakening during the events of World of Warcraft. Cataclysm would mark Deathwing's terrible return to Azeroth. As the titular cataclysm, Deathwing shattered the world of Azeroth as he ripped apart the elements during his return to Azeroth, causing the elementals of the world to run amuck, creating tidal waves, causing volcanoes to erupt and shattering mountains in his wake. The entire world of Azeroth was shattered by Deathwing's arrival, transforming quite literally every part of Azeroth. Deathwing would swoop down upon Stormwind City, landing on the city gates and crushing it.Deathwing would terrorize Azeroth, breathing fire at random, while his armies -- comprised of black dragons, twilight dragons, the Twilight's Hammer cult, the fire and air elementals and faceless ones that served the Old Gods -- ran rampant over the world. Deathwing would wage war against the other dragon aspects, killing several members of the other dragonflights, summoning the elemental lords Ragnaros and Al'Akir into Azeroth, and did battle against Alexstrasza. Deathwing would also confront the shaman Thrall, mocking Thrall who he thought was trying to replace him as Earth-Warder. Deathwing would be the final boss of the Cataclysm expansion. After Thrall and the adventurers have battled through Deathwing's minions, they would attack Deathwing with the Alliance gunship the Skyfire, and then do battle atop Deathwing's back as he flies over the Maelstrom. Adventurers would rip out Deathwing's elementium plating, allowing Thrall to unleash the power of a modified Dragon Soul to wound him, falling down into the Maelstrom. However, Deathwing would rise once more, as a mass of molten lava and tentacles now that his armour has became undone, a horrifying creature known only as the Madness of Deathwing. After a fierce battle, the combined forces of the Dragon Soul and the four dragon aspects would finally end the maddened Deathwing's life once and for all. (Maybe. His body sunk into the depths of the ocean, and that's where his big sponsor N'Zoth is, so...)In Hearthstone, in addition to "Deathwing" from the Classic set, he has also been represented as "Deathwing, Dragonlord" in Whispers of the Old Gods, "Deathwing, Mad Aspect" in Descent of Dragons, the Deathwing Warrior hero skin, and "Deathwing the Destroyer" in the 2021 Core set.
Onyxia, Daughter of Deathwing (a.k.a. Lady Katrana Prestor)
In Cataclysm, Onyxia's brother Nefarian was resurrected by Deathwing during his return. During the events of this, Nefarian is based in Blackwing Descent. After fighting through Nefarian's army of black dragonkin and horrifying experiments, adventurers would face Nefarian as the final boss fight of the Blackwing Descent dungeon. Partway through the Nefarian battle, Nefarian would reveal his trump card -- his sister Onyxia, resurrected from the dead and stitched together into a frankensteined creature. Onyxia is restored to life with Nefarian's experiments, and the two black dragons would combine forces to fight the adventurers, although Onyxia would swiftly be returned to the grave once more.
In Hearthstone, in addition to "Onyxia" from the Classic set, she has also been represented as "Onyxia the Broodmother" from the 2021 Core set, and the alternate Mage hero skin "Lady Katrana Prestor" from United in Stormwind.
NEUTRAL
Illidan Stormrage, the Betrayer(Note, this was written in 2017; I did an updated version of Illidan's lore in Ashes of Outland, the expansion that updated Illidan into the tenth playable class)
There Illidan remained for ten thousand years (as he often likes to remind everyone) until the events of Warcraft III. The Burning Legion returned to Kalimdor, and a desperate Tyrande freed a surprised Illidan from his prison. Tyrande's killing of the Wardens and freeing of Illidan was contested by Malfurion, and Illidan thus worked alone, charging into Felwood to combat the Legion. He was confronted by Arthas, champion of the Scourge, and battled. Arthas would stop the battle and tell Illidan about a powerful artifact -- the Skull of Gul'dan, which has corrupted Felwood. Illidan sought the Skull, and Illidan, driven with the belief that with enough power he can defeat the Legion and impress Tyrande, consumed the Skull's powers, transforming him even further into a demonic figure. Now having horns, cloven foot and bat wings, Illidan was able to command the shadows to wreathe him. He was able to destroy the Burning Legion's forces, slaying the dreadlord Tichondrius (as Arthas had planned for him to do) and earning a victory... but Tyrande and Malfurion banished Illidan from the night elven lands. Illidan in Warcraft III represents the Demon Hunter hero, fast but fragile heroes who are able to burn their enemies' mana, set themselves on fire to damage all around him, evade attacks passively, and as their ultimate, transform into a monstrous shadow demon form to deal more damage.In Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, Illidan was approached by the demon lord Kil'jaeden, who tasks him to destroy the Frozen Throne. Illidan schemed for himself, however, having no love for the Burning Legion. He summoned the naga -- corrupted night elves that were once Highbrone -- from the depths of the ocean, led by Lady Vashj. All the while, Illidan is pursued by the relentless warden Maiev Shadowsong, intent on bringing Illidan to justice. Illidan would arrive with his naga on the Broken Isles and enter the Tomb of Sargeras, with Maiev hot on his trail. Illidan retrieved the artifact known as the Eye of Sargeras, collapsing the tomb and killing a large number of Maiev's forces. Maiev's forces did battle against Illidan's, but Tyrande and Malfurion arrived with reinforcements. After a confrontation with Tyrande and Malfurion, Illidan escaped once more to the Eastern Kingdoms. His attempts to use the Eye of Sargeras to shatter Northrend and the Frozen Throne was interrupted by an enraged Malfurion, who wanted to prevent Illidan from destroying the world itself. Illidan and Malfurion would briefly work together to save Tyrande from an army of the undead, and Illidan was set free on the condition that he never return.Illidan and his naga agree, and entered a portal that led to Outland, to hide from Kil'jaeden's wrath... but Maiev's forces were hot on his trail. Illidan was captured and imprisoned by Maiev, but Lady Vashj would return with reinforcements -- Kael'thas Sunstrider and his blood elves. Illidan would be freed. Alongside the naga, the blood elves and a clan of Broken Draenei led by Akama, Illidan laid siege to the Black Temple, slaughtering the mighty pit lord Magtheridon who had taken control of Outland. Basking in his victory, Illidan was approached once more by Kil'jaeden, who wanted to punish Illidan for fleeing his wrath. Illidan claimed to instead be gathering forces to strike against the Frozen Throne. Kil'jaeden decided to give Illidan one more chance. Illidan would lead his forces to Northrend and besiege the Frozen Throne. A gigantic battle would emerge between Illidan's forces and the champions of the Scourge, led by Arthas. Illidan and Arthas would engage in single combat, but Illidan would be cut down and left for dead by Arthas.Illidan would be taken back to Outland by Vashj and Kael'thas, and would remain there until Burning Crusade. Anticipating the Legion's retaliation at his failure, Illidan began to gather forces and take drastic steps to prepare himself to fight back. He used Magtheridon's blood to create a new breed of fel orcs, trained an army of demon hunters from blood elves and night elves who wanted revenge upon the Legion, and kept a stranglehold over the realm. He would also capture Maiev Shadowsong and rip a portion of Akama's soul out to bind him eternally to his service. As revealed in Legion, during this period of time Illidan would send his demon hunters on raids on Legion worlds, particularly shattering the world of the dreadlords, Nathreza. Illidan was consumed with nothing but his mission to destroy Argus, and was unconcerned when Alliance and Horde forces entered Outland during Burning Crusade and wiped out his forces and lieutenants one by one. He realized too late that having Alliance, Horde and Illidan's forces do battle was what the Legion wanted when the Black Temple came under siege. He opened a portal for his demon hunters to escape to the world Mardum to continue to find a way to the Legion homeworld of Argus, and then did battle against the Alliance and Horde adventurers, who were aided by a freed Maiev and a turncoat Akama. Despite his strength, Illidan Stormrage was ultimately slain at the hands of Maiev. |
| Illidan (WoW) |
Thus working together with other leaders, Illidan would lead the second battle at the Broken Shore with other heroes like Velen, Maiev and Khadgar. Illidan would assist in slaying the demon Mephistroth, and is present and assists in finally defeating the mighty eredar lord Kil'jaeden. While this is happening, Illidan uses a Sargerite Keystone to open a rift between Argus and Azeroth, causing Argus to be visible in Azeroth's skies, making it accessible for Azerothian forces to attack freely... and vice versa. Illidan would continue to do battle in Argus against the demons, but he would be confronted by the prime naaru Xe'ra. Xe'ra wants Illidan to fulfill the destiny she had seen for Illidan through the Light and attempts to forcibly infuse him with the Light. Illidan, refusing to sacrifice freedom for power once more, broke free from Xe'ra's chains of Light and kills Xe'ra. Illidan then proclaims that destiny is folly, and they should save themselves.
Illidan's summon line in Hearthstone, "YOU ARE NOT PREPARED!" is, of course, a reference to the absolutely memetic and gloriously hammy final line that Illidan says in the Burning Crusade trailer, and has since became synonymous with the character. Never change, Illidan. His attack quote, "who shall be next to taste my blades" is taken from his WoW boss fight. Originally debuting as a legendary card in Classic Hearthstone, Illidan Stormrage has since debuted as the tenth hero in Hearthstone, and his slot as a legendary minion has been replaced by Xavius.
Lorewalker Cho
Nat Pagle
Nat Pagle (named after Blizzard employee Pat Nagle) is a neutral human angler who is Azeroth's best fisherman. Introduced in World of Warcraft, Nat Pagle gives a quest chain to players with a certain amount of fishing skill, to obtain fishing equipment. In the original and now-removed Zul'Gurub instance, Nat Pagle will also teach players to fish up the mighty hydra Gahz'ranka. In other subsequent expansions, he would show up in other locations, still fishing. Dude is just chill and loves fishing!
Nat Pagle has appeared in Hearthstone as "Nat Pagle" in Classic, "Nat, the Darkfisher" in Whispers of the Old Gods and "Nat Pagle, Extreme Angler" in Battlegrounds.
Harrison Jones
Harrison Jones (a portmanteau of famous fictional archaeologist Indiana Jones and the actor that portrays him, Harrison Ford) is a character first introduced in the Burning Crusade expansion, who started off as a simple easter egg character that helps to open the inner gate of the Zul'Aman instance by figuring out the ritual to open the gates. While seemingly killed by the onslaught of Amani trolls, Harrison Jones survives, returning in Wrath of the Lich King in the Drakil'jin Ruins, assisting adventurers in defeating a giant cobra, Tecahuna. In Cataclysm, Harrison has a relatively larger part in the zone of Uldum, helping the adventurer in obtaining certain powerful artifacts and escape from pygmies, as well as in Stormwind City as an archaeology trainer. He has a couple of lesser cameos in Warlords of Draenor.
Millhouse Manastorm
Ragnaros, the Firelord
The mighty Ragnaros is the lord of all fire elementals, and one of the Elemental Lords. The Elemental Lords are the most powerful of their kind, created at the dawn of Azeroth's creation as the personifications of fire, water, earth and air. Among his fellow Elemental Lords, Ragnaros was known as the most destructive. The four elemental forces did war against each other, and then did war against the Old Gods, were enslaved by them, and subsequently banished into the Elemental Plane when the Titans re-ordered the world. Ragnaros ruled over the plane known as the Firelands, and there the fire elementals stayed for millennia. Around 250 years ago, the three dwarven clans of Bronzebeard, Wildhammer and Dark Iron waged war against each other. Things did not go well for the Dark Iron dwarves, and the Sorcerer-Thane Thaurissan, leader of the Dark Irons, arrived at what would later be known as Blackrock Mountain, and attempted to summon the great power he sensed linger there. However, the Dark Iron sorcerer got far more than he bargained, for he tapped into the essence of the mighty Firelord himself. Ragnaros burst out of the depths of the Firelands, shattering the Redridge Mountains and creating a gigantic volcano named Blackrock Mountain. Ragnaros was not able to manifest fully in the physical world, but his minions surged out and enslaved the Dark Iron dwarves, and there Ragnaros remained until the events of World of Warcraft. Although lesser Firelords were introduced late during the Third War (and the first appearance of the term 'Firelord' in general) and were neutral heroes that any side with enough resources can hire.In World of Warcraft, Ragnaros the Firelord served as the final boss of the final raid of the original WoW, and the single strongest enemy, standing at the end of the raid Molten Core. Ragnaros's forces of fire elementals and enslaved dark iron dwarves battled for dominance of Blackrock Mountain against the forces of the black dragon Nefarian and his orc servitors, while Alliance and Horde adventurers arrived to slay them all. When adventurers stormed the Molten Core, upon his near-defeat, Ragnaros's mightiest lieutenant Majordomo Executus summoned the Firelord to deal with the intruders. However, Executus summoned Ragnaros too soon, leaving him at a mere fraction of his health. Still, Ragnaros proved a formidable force, although he was ultimately felled, banished back into the Firelands.\In Cataclysm, Deathwing's shattering of the world caused the borders between the physical and elemental plane to be strained. With the elements of Azeroth in turmoil, Ragnaros allied himself with the mighty black dragon aspect Deathwing, and emerged upon the physical world once more, and alongside a vast army of fire elementals, marched upon Mount Hyjal to raze the new world tree to the ground. Ragnaros was once more banished to the Firelands, although at great cost. Ragnaros would later manifest to Thrall in a vision as he attempted to commune with Azeroth's unbalanced elements, where he promises to burn the world. The guardians of Hyjal, led by the mighty archdruid Malfurion Stormrage as well as multiple ancient spirits of the wild, would then take the battle to the Firelands itself, and they storm Sulfuron Keep, Ragnaros's lair. The Firelands is one of the later raids in the Cataclysm expansion, and at the end of the raid stood Ragnaros. Adventurers battled Ragnaros and reduced him to a fraction of his health. His attempts to retreat is thwarted by the mighty demigod Cenarius and the archdruids Malfurion Stormrage and Hamuul Runetotem. With nowhere to run, Ragnaros makes a last stand, and is slain. His death in the Firelands renders it permanent, putting the realm of the fire elementals into turmoil. It would not be until Legion that a new Firelord, Smolderon, would rise to power. Ragnaros's quotes, the ever-memorable BY FIRE BE PURGED and DIE, INSECT! are taken from his boss fight in WoW.In addition to many adventure mode and Tavern Brawl appearances, Ragnaros has appeared in Hearthstone as "Ragnaros" in Classic, "Ragnaros, Lightlord" in Whispers of the Old Gods, "Lil' Rag" in Battlegrounds and the "Ragnaros" alternate hero released in Forged in the Barrens.
Al'Akir, the Windlord
Al'Akir the Windlord was the Elemental Lord of air, mightiest among the air elementals. Born out of the primordial forces that clashed in Azeroth, the elementals would wage war against each other, do battle against and subsequently enslaved by the Old Gods, and then banished by the Titans into an Elemental Plane at the end of that primordial war. Al'Akir ruled over the realm of the air elementals, Skywall. While lesser air elementals would find their way to break into Azeroth, the mightier ones like Al'Akir were not able to do so. Al'Akir, while known as the weakest of the four Elemental Lords, made do with his cunning abilities and excellent grasp in tactics. When Deathwing unleashed the cataclysmic event known as the Shattering during Cataclysm, Al'Akir and his air elementals pledged his allegiance with Deathwing's vast forces.
After the Shattering, Al'Akir's plane of Skywall bled into the physical world and manifested above the region of Uldum. Upon arriving into the physical world, Al'Akir unleashed a mighty storm that decimated the inhabitants of Orsis who had refused to ally with Deathwing. Al'Akir's forces descended down upon Uldum and other Alliance and Horde settlements, and his lieutenants attempted to obtain powerful devices of the Titan entombed within the ruins of Uldum, although they were stopped by adventurers. Adventurers would eventually confront Al'Akir's forces in Skywall, first by slaying his lieutenants, the Conclave of Winds, and then confronting Al'Akir himself atop the Throne of Four Winds. Despite the fierce battle that followed, Al'Akir was defeated, the first Elemental Lord to fall. The death of Al'Akir within his home plane of Skywall meant that his death was permanent, leaving the air elementals scattered and leaderless up until Legion, where his one-time heir Prince Thunderaan would be resurrected by a powerful Shaman adventurer, and take over as the new Windlord.
Baron Geddon
The mighty Baron Geddon is a gigantic fire elemental that is one of the bosses within the original final raid in vanilla World of Warcraft, Molten Core. Baron Geddon is one of Ragnaros's mightiest lieutenants, and apparently once held the position that Majordomo Executus had, but was supplanted by Executus. Geddon also had a rivalry with another one of Ragnaros's lieutenants, Garr. Nevertheless, Ragnaros trusted Baron Geddon enough to give him part of the talisman used to bind the mighty Thunderaan, prince of the air elementals. Baron Geddon had an apprentice, Lord Incendius, who is far more talented than he expected him to be, causing a jealous Geddon to send him off with the menial task of guarding Ragnaros's Dark Iron dwarves. Ultimately, adventurers would defeat Baron Geddon and the rest of the Firelord's forces. Baron Geddon is particularly famous for being able to cast his 'living bomb' spell (which turns a character into a bomb) onto pets, causing players to dismiss their pets afflicted with living bomb and summon them in crowded areas to essentially kill all the other players around. Baron Geddon makes a re-appearance in Cataclysm, where he was among the forces Ragnaros summoned to assault Mt. Hyjal, but was once more defeated by adventurers.
The Beast
The Beast is a mighty core hound, two-headed bestial fire elementals (which are often also classified as beasts both in World of Warcraft and Hearthstone) that serves as a boss in Upper Blackrock Spire. The Beast is captured by Nefarian's forces that have settled in that part of Blackrock Mountain, used for the vile experiments, also doubling as a guard dog. It's possible that the Beast is used in the creation of the anomalous creature Chromaggus. Upon the Beast's death, adventurers would free the gnome explorer Finkle Einhorn, who will then assist you, which is a mechanic that is reflected in the Hearthstone card. The Beast's relatives -- its mate Beauty, and its child Son of the Beast -- would serve as bosses in subsequent expansions, with Beauty being a boss in Cataclysm's revamp of Blackrock Caverns, and Son of the Beast as a boss in Warlords of Draenor's Upper Blackrock Spire.
The Black Knight
The Black Knight is an enemy in a quest chain in Wrath of the Lich King. During the Argent Tournament, an event held by Alliance and Horde members to determine the strongest warriors who would embark and challenge the Lich King, a series of mysterious murders happened throughout the ranks of the forces, and at that time the mysterious Black Knight set up camp on the outskirts of the Argent Tournament Grounds. Adventurers would go and investigate, finding out that the Black Knight is actually an agent of the Cult of the Damned, working for the Lich King, and would confront him and eventually defeat him. The Black Knight does not go down easy, however, and would return, resurrected as an undead, as the final enemy in the Trial of the Champion instance. The Black Kngiht engages the adventurer in combat, and despite his persistence -- first losing his armour, then having his bones shattered and fighting as a ghost -- the Black Knight was ultimately felled. The Black Knight is, obviously, a reference to the popular movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Al'Akir, the Windlord
After the Shattering, Al'Akir's plane of Skywall bled into the physical world and manifested above the region of Uldum. Upon arriving into the physical world, Al'Akir unleashed a mighty storm that decimated the inhabitants of Orsis who had refused to ally with Deathwing. Al'Akir's forces descended down upon Uldum and other Alliance and Horde settlements, and his lieutenants attempted to obtain powerful devices of the Titan entombed within the ruins of Uldum, although they were stopped by adventurers. Adventurers would eventually confront Al'Akir's forces in Skywall, first by slaying his lieutenants, the Conclave of Winds, and then confronting Al'Akir himself atop the Throne of Four Winds. Despite the fierce battle that followed, Al'Akir was defeated, the first Elemental Lord to fall. The death of Al'Akir within his home plane of Skywall meant that his death was permanent, leaving the air elementals scattered and leaderless up until Legion, where his one-time heir Prince Thunderaan would be resurrected by a powerful Shaman adventurer, and take over as the new Windlord.
Baron Geddon
The Beast
The Beast is a mighty core hound, two-headed bestial fire elementals (which are often also classified as beasts both in World of Warcraft and Hearthstone) that serves as a boss in Upper Blackrock Spire. The Beast is captured by Nefarian's forces that have settled in that part of Blackrock Mountain, used for the vile experiments, also doubling as a guard dog. It's possible that the Beast is used in the creation of the anomalous creature Chromaggus. Upon the Beast's death, adventurers would free the gnome explorer Finkle Einhorn, who will then assist you, which is a mechanic that is reflected in the Hearthstone card. The Beast's relatives -- its mate Beauty, and its child Son of the Beast -- would serve as bosses in subsequent expansions, with Beauty being a boss in Cataclysm's revamp of Blackrock Caverns, and Son of the Beast as a boss in Warlords of Draenor's Upper Blackrock Spire.
The Black Knight
The Black Knight has appeared in Hearthstone as "The Black Knight" in Classic and "The Skeleton Knight" in The Grand Tournament.
Bloodmage Thalnos
Thalnos, known as 'Bloodmage Thalnos' prior to Mists of Pandaria and renamed 'Thalnos the Soulrender' after Mists of Pandaria, is a Skeletal Mage that served as a boss in the Scarlet Monastery. We talked about the Scarlet Crusade in the 'Alliance' section of lore, so no need to revisit that. Bloodmage Thalnos is a named boss in that dungeon, and while a simple enemy prior to Mists of Pandaria, the Scarlet Monastery is vastly revamped into a proper dungeon in that expansion, upgrading Thalnos with proper abilities. It also gave Thalnos a backstory, making him into a former member of the Scarlet Crusade, who uses sadistic torture to purify new recruits, before being ironically killed and turned into an undead being himself.
Lord Jaraxxus, Eredar Lord of the Burning Legion
Jaraxxus, Eredar Lord of the Burning Legion, was introduced in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. Lord Jaraxxus is a man'ari eredar, and the eredar are the corrupted, demonic forms. The draenei race that joined the Alliance are the remnants of the small faction who refused to partake in accepting demonic powers. The majority of the eredar followed their leaders Kil'jaeden and Archimonde when they were approached by the fallen titan Sargeras, and accepted his gift of demonic powers. The eredar then became the mightiest among the demonic forces of the Burning Legion, second to only Sargeras himself.
Lord Jaraxxus is actually a pretty minor character. In Wrath of the Lich King, the forces of the Alliance and Horde who were going to assault Icecrown Citadel had the argent tournament, and during that tournament, during the instance known as the Trial of the Crusader, one of the enemies that adventurers would have to face is the gnomish warlock Wilfred Fizzlebang, who attempted to summon a doomguard. Instead of a doomguard, however, the mighty Lord Jaraxxus stepped out of the portal instead, kills Fizzlebang, and battles the adventurer, who defeats him and sends him into the twisting nether. While he's otherwise a minor raid boss, his bombastic voice acting (which you can hear in Hearthstone as well) led him to being represented in Hearthstone, where his memetic popularity earned him even more fans. The Hearthstone card represented him killing the warlock that summons him, and his two abilities are a reference to his WoW counterpart. Summoning infernals is one of the things he does in the boss fight against him, and his weapon, Blood Fury, is a one-handed axe that drops from the encounter.
Recently, in the Legion expansion, Lord Jaraxxus reappears during the Broken Shore incident, being summoned alongside many other demons. He was not fought, however, and does not participate in any subsequent quests. Jaraxxus' backstory is also told by the draenei Y'mera, who apparently knew him before the eredar race was corrupted. Apparently Jaraxxus was once Grand Vizier Jarasum, a pupil of Archimonde who is an overseer of the Conservatory of the Arcane, using his mighty voice to enforce discipline. An item called the 'Golden Hearthstone Card: Lord Jaraxxus' is also added in Legion, which is, obviously, a reference to the Hearthstone card.
Bloodmage Thalnos
Lord Jaraxxus, Eredar Lord of the Burning Legion
Lord Jaraxxus is actually a pretty minor character. In Wrath of the Lich King, the forces of the Alliance and Horde who were going to assault Icecrown Citadel had the argent tournament, and during that tournament, during the instance known as the Trial of the Crusader, one of the enemies that adventurers would have to face is the gnomish warlock Wilfred Fizzlebang, who attempted to summon a doomguard. Instead of a doomguard, however, the mighty Lord Jaraxxus stepped out of the portal instead, kills Fizzlebang, and battles the adventurer, who defeats him and sends him into the twisting nether. While he's otherwise a minor raid boss, his bombastic voice acting (which you can hear in Hearthstone as well) led him to being represented in Hearthstone, where his memetic popularity earned him even more fans. The Hearthstone card represented him killing the warlock that summons him, and his two abilities are a reference to his WoW counterpart. Summoning infernals is one of the things he does in the boss fight against him, and his weapon, Blood Fury, is a one-handed axe that drops from the encounter.
Recently, in the Legion expansion, Lord Jaraxxus reappears during the Broken Shore incident, being summoned alongside many other demons. He was not fought, however, and does not participate in any subsequent quests. Jaraxxus' backstory is also told by the draenei Y'mera, who apparently knew him before the eredar race was corrupted. Apparently Jaraxxus was once Grand Vizier Jarasum, a pupil of Archimonde who is an overseer of the Conservatory of the Arcane, using his mighty voice to enforce discipline. An item called the 'Golden Hearthstone Card: Lord Jaraxxus' is also added in Legion, which is, obviously, a reference to the Hearthstone card.
Lord Jaraxxus is represented as a collectible card, as well as the alternate Warlock hero "Mecha-Jaraxxus" from The Boomsday Project.
King Mukla
King Mukla hails from Jaguero Isle in the Cape of Stranglethorn in World of Warcraft, a gigantic named gorilla who is involved in a little quest where he kidnaps a tauren, princess Poobah, in a reference to the film King Kong. We covered monkeys in general in the Silverback Patriarch section, and they're, well, basically just monkeys. He's a classic boss, but there's just not really much lore beyond that.
King Mukla
King Mukla has appeared in Hearthstone as "King Mukla" in Classic and "King Mukla, Tyrant of the Vale" in Whispers of the Old Gods. Among the many Classic legendaries that appeared in the Battlegrounds mode, Mukla is the only one so far to receive unique, brand-new card art.
Hogger
Hogger is a gnoll, a race of cackling, brutish hyena-man first introduced in Warcraft III. Hogger himself was introduced in the very first iteration of World of Warcraft, in Elwynn forest, the human starting zone. He was a level 11 named gnoll that was the leader of the local Riverpaw gnolls, and players reading a wanted poster on the local sign board can take a quest to slay the meance. He very quickly gained notoriety for being the cause of death for many a player, because most of the enemies in the Elwynn forest zone haven't been very difficult. It became one of the most famous memes in vanilla WoW, where players would talk about just how scary and difficult Hogger is, with some players making 'raids' comprised of level 1 characters to go and attempt to zerg-rush Hogger. Hogger's notoriety elevated him briefly beyond just a simple 'kill this named enemy' quest. In Wrath of the Lich King, Hogger is one of the many older enemies that Argent Confessor Paletress would summon memories of to confront you. In Cataclysm, it would be revealed that after Hogger was defeated, he was arrested by Stormwind Guards, and imprisoned in the Stormwind City Stockades. The Stockade would be a dungeon that players can fight through when a breakout happens, and Hogger is among the notorious criminals unleashed, finally being a raid boss himself.
King Mukla has appeared in Hearthstone as "Hogger" in Classic, "Hogger, Doom of Elwynn" in Whispers of the Old Gods and "Cap'n Hoggarr" in Battlegrounds.
Hogger
King Mukla has appeared in Hearthstone as "Hogger" in Classic, "Hogger, Doom of Elwynn" in Whispers of the Old Gods and "Cap'n Hoggarr" in Battlegrounds.
Edwin VanCleef
Captain Greenskin
Greenskin's artwork repurposes the artwork for Gurubashi arena NPC Short John Mithril from the TCG.
Gruul the Dragonkiller
Gruul the Dragonkiller is a Gronn, which is a race of gigantic, one-eyed giants native to the orcish homeworld of Draenor. They are descended from the primordial magnarons (bigger versions of Gronns, basically) and are the predecessors of ogres and orcs. Gronns are worshiped fanatically by ogres, and are once one of the mightiest forces in Draenor until the rise of the first orcish Horde marched across Draenor and slaughtered their brutal ancestors. However, one of the surviving gronns was the mighty Gruul, who slaughtered many of the ogres and orcs who would attempt to slay him, killing so many members of the Horde that they thought that he's not worth the trouble.
Gruul (who has red skin in the games as opposed to purple in the Hearthstone card) and the gronn race were introduced in World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, and it is also revealed through novels and quests that during the Second War, when the black dragon aspect Deathwing traveled to Draenor to hide the eggs of his vile black dragonflight, his forces encountered Gruul. The lesser black dragons left behind by Deathwing to guard his eggs were assaulted by Gruul and the ogres of the Bladespire clan who served him, and Gruul single-handedly killed all the black dragons and impaled them on the stone spires, earning Gruul the title 'Dragonkiller'. Some sources state that even Deathwing himself challenged Gruul, although the end of their battle was inconclusive due to the intervention of Alliance forces that drew Deathwing's attention. Regardless of whether Deathwing is involved, Gruul did slaughter the other black dragons. By the time the Alliance and the Horde returned to Draenor in Burning Crusade -- now shattered and known as Outland -- and serves as the final boss in the dungeon Gruul's Lair, where he leads an army of ogres and his seven sons, who serve as warlords of the ogres. He would be slain by adventurers who stormed his lair and killed all of his servitors. In Warlords of Draenor, the Gruul of the alternate timeline was enslaved by the Iron Horde, who sliced off his hand and replaced with a hook, forcing the once-mighty gronn into a menial worker shoving coal into a furnace. The alternate-universe Gruul was a boss in the Blackrock Foundry raid.
King Krush
Huffer
It's a bit weird how the Animal Companion spell is able to summon multiples of the same named beast, but eh, it is the Classic set. Since they're technically characters, I'll talk about them here. Anyway, Rexxar the Beastmaster first appeared in Warcraft III, and one of his abilities was 'summon Quillbeast', which was a fast-attacking but fragile little piggy buddy with spikes, and disappear afterwards. In World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade, Rexxar's boar buddy is finally given a name, Huffer, and participates in a quest, aiding adventurers in distracting the gronn Grulloc.
Misha
Throughout Warcraft III, Misha was the only named companion of Rexxar, and the only one that he summons which is permanent and will not leave his side, and the one that can be resurrected upon death. She is undyingly loyal to Rexxar, and fought alongside him throughout nearly all of his campaign as he helps the Horde found Orgrimmar. In World of Warcraft, Misha could be seen in all of Rexxar's appearances, faithfully staying by his side in Azeroth, and then in Outland when Rexxar moved there in Burning Crusade, and in the recent Legion invasion, participates alongside her master against the Burning Legion's invasion.
Leokk
Leokk is one of Rexxar's pets, and the only one to not originate from a spell in Warcraft III. Leokk is first introduced in World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade, where he was ambushed and captured by the Bladespire Ogres. Rexxar would task adventurers to aid his pet hawk Spirit in locating and freeing Leokk. Leokk is a wyvern (also known as a wind rider), which is a strange beast native to Kalimdor with the head of a lion, the front limbs resembling a giant bat, and a scorpion tail. During Warcraft III, Cairne Bloodhoof sought the aid of the native wyverns of Kalimdor, helping in freeing them from the harpies and taming them. Orc Wyvern Riders would ride into battle as one of the Horde's primary airborne forces, and in World of Warcraft, throughout much of the Horde's Kalimdor settlements wyverns are used as a major aspect of transportation, ferrying any Horde player willing to pay a small fee from one Horde settlement to the next.
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