Welcome to a pretty late Lore of Hearthstone segment! I've not been super-duper excited about Hearthstone in the past couple of expansions, although I have been doing daily quests and playing through the revamped arena a fair bit. I dunno. Standard just feels sort of stale, and Wild's lost some of its splendor once I reach the higher ranks, y'know? There's always the single-player modes, and I really do like that they're at least doing their best to try and make it more story-oriented.I dunno. I'm a weird dude that doesn't really care about the tournament and meta stuff in TCG's, I guess, and just want to have dumb fun. Back to the lore! This was actually done all the way back in late May, but I ended up pulling down the article when I realized that I'll have a lot more to talk when the adventure mode comes out.
To keep the length manageable, and it's going to be something I'm going to do with most Lore of Hearthstone segments, I'm putting the non-legendary cards and the adventure mode bosses after a break. I also went back and fixed a lot of the broken images and links in the previous parts of Lore of Hearthstone.
The City of Dalaran
The main plotline of the Rise of Shadows storyline is a group of former Hearthstone villains banding together to do a heist on the magic city of Dalaran. Considered one of the seven human kingdoms in the first two wars, Dalaran is a city comprised of mages, full of intrigue and politics, and it was the first council of mages that ruled Dalaran that created the Guardian system -- a powerful mage with the combined powers of all the mages of Azeroth to safeguard their planet against the Burning Legion. That would eventually lead to the creation of the most powerful magus in Azeroth, Medivh. We've talked about that particular part here as part of Medivh's storyline. The city of Dalaran was instrumental in the early stages of the Third War, led by the archmage Antonidas. The powerful mage Kel'Thuzad defected from Dalaran and found an ancient power in the North, leading to the creation of the Cult of the Damned, kickstarting a domino of events that eventually led to the spread of the undead plague and the transformation of Lordaeron's prince, Arthas Menethil, into a Death Knight. As an agent of the Scourge, Arthas would arrive on Dalaran, slaughter a large portion of its mages, and use the Spellbook of Medivh he acquired to summon the mighty leader of the Burning Legion, the Eredar warlock Archimonde, who, with a ritual involving demonic runes in the sand, obliterated Dalaran in a matter of minutes.
By the time of World of Warcraft, the surviving wizards of Dalaran began to return to their fallen city, and constructed a vast, magical dome. The Kirin Tor Council began to recruit new members and increase their strength, and helped in fighting both the forces of Outland and the undead Scourge. The hero of the second war, Rhonin, eventually lead the reconstruction of Dalaran, and it officially became a neutral ground for Alliance and Horde mages, and was turned into a floating city that was teleported above Northrend during the events of Wrath of the Lich King. The forces of Dalaran were the main target of the insane Malygos's wrath, and spearheaded the effort to stop and eventually put down the enraged blue dragon aspect. Dalaran continued to hover over Northren until the events of Mists of Pandaria, where accusations of Horde treachery caused a rift between the blood elf mages and the powerful mage Jaina, who accused the blood elf Sunreavers of abusing Dalaran's teleporation portals to give Garrosh Hellscream a massive edge in battle in stealing a powerful Pandarian artifact -- an event that most of the Sunreavers claimed to have no idea about. This ended with the imprisonment of many blood elf mages, as well as Jaina forcibly turning Dalaran into Alliance territory.
Dalaran would eventually move over the Broken Isles during the events of Legion, hovering over Deadwind Pass and Karazhan. One of the leading archmages of Dalaran, Khadgar, vouched that the Alliance and the Horde needed to work together in Dalaran, and a vote was undertaken on which the Council of Six voted in favour of allowing the Horde to return, much to the anger of Jaina Proudmoore. Dalaran became home base of Khadgar and the heroes of Azeroth as they gathered the Pillars of Creation from around the Broken Isles. After defending Dalaran from an army of Burning Legion demons, the city was teleported above the Broken Isles, serving as a hub for Azeroth's heroes.This expansion features cards that reference both the Wrath of the Lich King and Legion versions of Dalaran, where Dalaran was hovering above Northrend in the former and above the Broken Isles in the latter.
Violet Citadel, Violet Hold and Bank of Dalaran.
In The Great Dalaran Heist, the League of EVIL assaults five locations: the Dalaran Bank, the Violet Hold, the Streets of Dalaran, the Underbelly and the Kirin Tor Citadel. The Streets of Dalaran obviously just represent the random streets in the city. The Bank of Dalaran is one of the three bank buildings in the Dalaran city, which, of course, provides players with general banking facilities. Not much lore behind that. The Kirin Tor Citadel is presumably the same as the Violet Citadel, sometimes known as the Violet Tower, a massive citadel that acts as the home-base of the Kirin Tor, the cabal of mages that operate and govern Dalaran while also safeguarding Azeroth from any magic-related incidents. Kirin Tor's ever-changing mage councils hold court and discuss affairs relating to their operations in the Violet Hold.
The Violet Hold is a prison complex located in Dalaran. In Warcraft III, when the blood elf prince Kael'thas wandered around the ruins of Dalaran after its destruction at the hands of Archimonde. Kael'thas was imprisoned there by the racist Alliance commander Lord Garithos, and the blood elf would break out with the aid of a group of naga allies, while also unleashing a portion of its prisoners, letting them loose upon Garithos's forces. Prior to Wrath of the Lich King, Violet Hold is a located in Silverpine Forest, guarded by the Kirin Tor mages. During the events of Wrath of the Lich King, the assault of the mad blue dragon aspect Malygos rampaged through the Violet Hold when they assaulted Dalaran. Adventurers recruited by Dalaran would have to contend with the minions of Malygos led by the mighty dragon Cyanigosa, as well as escaped prisoners. In Legion, the Violet Hold was repaired, but when Dalaran moved above the Broken Isles, agents of the Burning Legion assaulted the Violet Hold, causing adventurers to defend against escaped prisoners and Burning Legion commanders in the raid Assault on Violet Hold.The Underbelly is a massive complex of sewers beneath the city of Dalaran, introduced in Wrath of the Lich King and has constantly changed as Dalaran itself is moved across Azeroth. Originally, it contained an arena, as well as a shops and vendors, and most notably, a Black Market. In Legion, the south-western side of the Underbelly has been converted by the Rogue faction the Uncrowned into their base, the Hall of Shadows.
LEGENDARY CARDS:
THE LEAGUE OF EVIL:
The League of Evil is a combination of five villains that have menaced the world of Azeroth, all of which are exclusive to Hearthstone. Their lore both within Hearthstone and what little there are in WoW have been covered in previous parts of Lore of Hearthstone.
What brief lore there is to them is told from the tie-in videos in Hearthstone's official channels. Arch-Thief Rafaam recruited the other four villains in a tavern, and despite some setbacks in the understanding of Rafaam's plan, the five of them decide to assault the magic city of Dalaran. However, because they did not actually confer with each other about the details of the plans, there was some confusion as they made entry into Dalaran, because Rafaam thought that the plan was "perfectly obvious". Togwaggle, Hagatha and Lazul note the amount of chaos and looting they could do, before Dr. Boom correctly guessed Rafaam's plan -- steal the entire city of Dalaran by strapping rockets to the side of the floating city.
Which, of course, with the aid of you, the player, as their ever-faithful lackey, they do manage to beat up Dalaran's defenders and steal the city... only to briefly crash it into the Blackrock Mountain during the Fire Fest-EVIL in-game event where the League of EVIL have to contend with fighting Ragnaros, Nefarian and their minions as they fix the rockets to get Dalaran moving again.
Arch-Villain Rafaam: Formerly Arch-Thief Rafaam, the Supreme Archaeologist, Rafaam is the main villain of the League of Explorers expansion as well as its adventure mode. Read all about him here. Apparently, he's gotten the Golden Monkey, since his effect is identical to the item generated by Elise Starseeker from his original expansion. Rafaam participates in the fifth and final part of the Dalaran Heist where he, assisted with a Lackey, assaulted the Kirin Tor Citadel and knocked out all of their defenders. After this final sequence, the League of EVIL was able to steal Dalaran itself.
Madame Lazul: Madame Lazul has never actually had a card within the Hearthstone expansion, but she was the narrator of the Whispers of the Old Gods trailer, claiming to just be "telling a story" about the mysterious Old Gods, but her shadowy reflections suggests that she's more of a storyteller and actual acolyte of the Old Gods herself. This expansion gives us her name and full story. Lazul is in charge in sowing chaos in the streets, unleashing her lackeys to go toe-to-toe with the shopkeepers, guards and adventurers in the streets of Dalaran, chronicled in the third chapter of the adventure mode.
Heistbaron Togwaggle: King Togwaggle was the leader of the kobolds that ruled the dungeon seen in Kobolds and Catacombs, and the 'narrator' of the Dungeon Run adventure mode for that expansion. Read about him here. His treasures are exactly the ones used by Marin the Fox, indicating that he stole the chest back from Marin at some point. He's got a cute safe in his head. Heist-baron Togwaggle and his lackeys assaulted the Dalaran Bank to rob it, chronicled in the first chapter of the adventure mode.
Swamp Queen Hagatha: Hagatha is the mysterious orc shaman who was behind the corruption that transformed the forests around the city of Gilneas into a monster-filled wasteland in the events of the Witchwood. Read all about her here. Hagatha led her lackeys to assault the Violet Hold, defeating the guards and some of the unruly and ungrateful prisoners that she unleashed upon the city.
Blastmaster Boom: Dr. Boom is the only one out of these five to originate from Hearthstone and to have appeared in two expansions, first as a legendary minion in Goblins and Gnomes, and later on as the leader of the mad Boom Labs in the Boomsday Project expansion. Read about him here and here. His statline and effect recalls, somewhat, his original minion card. Dr. Boom assaulted the Underbelly, waging battle against adventurers and the strange beasts within to plant the explosives and rockets.
Other Legendaries:
Scargil: Scargil is a rare murloc mob that wanders the Western Strand in the Hillsbrad Foothills, being particularly tougher than the Tornfin Murlocs that wander nearby. It doesn't have any real lore or quest associated with it. Presumably, he was recruited by Hagatha to hang out and help out the League of EVIL.
Tak Nozwhisker: Tak is original to Hearthstone, presumably just being one of Togwaggle's many, many kobold minions.
Fel Lord Betrug: Fel Lord Betrug is a boss in the Assault on Violet Hold raid in the Legion expansion, and is one of the several possible end-bosses of that dungeon. As his name indicates, Betrug is a Fel Lord, a larger, mightier and more powerful variant of the common Felguard demons. There is not much lore for Betrug other than the fact that he's trying to destroy Dalaran from the inside. Both his summon and attack quotes in Hearthstone are modified versions of the lines that he says in World of Warcraft.
The Boom Reaver: The Boom Reaver is original to Hearthstone, and judging by its look, presumably a Fel Reaver modified for eeeevil purposes by Dr. Boom. The way it announces its presence upon being summoned seems to hint at some sort of a connection to Zilliax.
Catrina Muerte: Catrina Muerte is based upon Catrina, a NPC that appears during the Day of the Dead events in World of Warcraft since Wrath of the Lich King, appearing in capital city graveyards with her buddy Chapman. Her WoW counterpart has a more skull-like face. She will transform all players who dance with her and grant the player an achievement. She is a lot less aggressive in WoW as well, just really wanting to dance.
Khadgar: One of the most important characters in any storyline involving Dalaran, Khadgar is the apprentice of Medivh, and the current Guardian of Azeroth. We talked in length about Khadgar here, when discussing alternate heroes. He has a lot of lore. Khadgar himself also shows up in the Great Dalaran Heist adventure mode as one of the final bosses of Chapter 5.
Veressa Windrunner: Third sister of the Windrunner siblings, to Alleria and Sylvanas, Vereesa has always felt a need to prove herself, considering her sisters were a ranger captain and ranger general respectively. During the Second War, Vereesa fought alongside Alleria against the forest trolls, and was inducted into the Farstriders closely before the second war. Her story is told in the Day of the Dragon novel, where she was an ambassador for the high elves in escorting a young human mage named Rhonin, an assignment that disgusts her and felt was beneath her. However, as this seemingly simple mission continued, Vereesa discovered that the initially simple mission of supposed reconnaissance ended up being far more complex, as they discover that the Dragonmaw orcs in Grim Batol have enslaved the red dragon aspect Alexstrasza, as well as the red dragonflight. The group (joined by Falstad Dragonweaver, a dwarf) would also discover that Rhonin's sponsor, the archmage Krasus, was in reality the human guise of Korialstrasz, favoured consort of Alexstrasza. Together, they fought against the machinations of Deathwing and the orcs of the Dragonmaw Clan, eventually sending Deathwing retreating, freeing Alexstrasza, killing the Dragonmaw orcs, and earning the friendship of the red dragonflight.
Having fallen in love during this adventure, Rhonin and Vereesa would get married soon after, and they traveled across Azeroth as ambassadors of the Alliance. It was this fateful task that spared Vereesa from falling to the undead Scourge's assault on Quel'thalas during the Third War. Vereesa would give birth to twin children, Giramar and Galadrin, around this point. Vereesa would later fend off her children from being kidnapped by the insane blood elf Zendarin, and tracked him down to the depths of the Grim Batol, and killed him.
During the events of Wrath of the Lich King, Vereesa accompanies Rhonin in the Violet Citadel of Dalaran, leading the Silver Covenant, a group of high elf survivors who opposed blood elven inclusion in the Kirin Tor. She would also assist adventurers in fighting off the forces of the Scourge in the Frozen Halls, as well as asking adventurers to help restore the magical high elven blade Quel'Delar after it was shattered by Blood Queen Lana'thel. Vereesa's opposition would be for naught, as the blood elf Sunreavers would found admission within the Kirin Tor. During the events of Cataclysm, she is one of the heroes who joined Vol'jin and Halduron Brightwing to do combat with a revitalized troll empire in Zul'Aman.
During the fateful destruction of Theramore where her husband Rhonin was killed by Garrosh's mana bomb, Vereesa was out of the city while hunting down a Horde spy in Dustwallow Marsh. She was among Jaina's larger supporters in the Alliance in demanding Garrosh's blood during subsequent negotiations. Later on, when the Sunreavers were implicated Garrosh's plot to blow up Theramore, it was Vereesa and her Silver Covenant who rounded up the Sunreavers and their sympathizers in Dalaran.
During the events of Mists of Pandaria, she would be the secondary leader of the Kirin Tor Offensive, being a quest giver and would later join the battle against the mogu in the Bloodied Crossing alongside Jaina Proudmoore, and would later be forced to join forces with the Horde for a while During the Siege of Orgrimmar, Vereesa participated in seizing Bladefist Bay from Hellscream's forces, and would later participate in Garrosh's trial, and attempted to seek her sister Syvlanas's aid in assassinating Garrosh through poison. However, Sylvanas attempted to get Vereesa to join the Forsaken... but eventually decided not to for the sake of her children.
In Legion, Vereesa and a renowned hunter adventurer sought out the potential survival of her sister Alleria, and would uncover Alleria's bow on the Legion world Niskara, and gifted the bow to the powerful hunter who aided her. She would also join the rest of the Unseen Path in taking down Hakkar the Houndmaster, a mighty demon in service to the Legion. Vereesa was heavily involved alongside Tyrande Whisperwind to support the Nightfallen elves of Suramar, aiding them in reclaiming the city from their Burning Legion masters, being one of the primary quest-givers in this mision storyline.
Vereesa would travel abroad the draenei's ship, the Vindicaar, to Argus, witnessing the return of her sister Alleria, as well as her husband Turalyon. She would continue to aid the war effort in fighting against the demons, helping to guard the Vindicaar's position. With Sylvanas being an undead and Alleria being infused with the powers of the void, Vereesa would arrange a meeting between her three sisters, where the three sisters met under a banner of peace and reminisced about the many things that have happened to them over the years, but ended up leaving to their respective families at the end of it.
Kalecgos, the Steward of Magic: Kalecgos was the son of the first blue dragon aspect, Malygos the Spell-Weaver, the aspect of magic. While unexperienced, Kalecgos was the main character of the Warcraft Manga, investigating the residual energies of the Sunwell alongside several allies, eventually discovering that the energies of the Sunwell has transformed into a young human girl named Anveena Teague. Teaming up with Kalecgos's fiancee Tyrygosa and the human paladin Jorad Mace, they faced off against Scourge agents, as well as forsaken agents, while protecting Anveena. Later on, Kalecgos would appear in the game proper during Burning Crusade, as a boss within the Sunwell Plateau. Prior to the events of the raid, the mad blood elf prince Kael'thas arrived, and attacked Kalecgos and Anveena with the forces of the Burning Legion, defeating Kalecgos and causing him to be possessed by the dreadlord known as Sathrovarr the Corrupter. The adventurers that arrived to reclaim the Sunwell and stop Kil'jaeden's summoning had to fight Kalecgos as the first boss, battling both his physical body and entering his inner psyche to help Kalecgos in reclaiming his body from Sathrovarr. Thus freed, Kalecgos would aid the adventurers in stopping Kil'jaeden from entering Azeroth, but it was a victory earned at great cost as Anveena sacrificed herself to stop Kil'jaeden.
The depressed Kalecgos returned to the Nexus, home of the blue dragonflight, where he was met by his father Malygos, who became more and more militant in his stance against magic-wielding mortals. He would later work together begrudgingly with the red dragon Korialstrasz to do battle against Deathwing's consort, Sintharia (a.k.a. Sinestra), and with the aid of several of Korialstrasz's human allies, they took down Sintharia and her mighty twilight dragon creation Dargonax. Kalecgos would be the ambassador for the blue dragonflight in the Wyrmrest Accord, and was opposed to Malygos's stance against mortal mages, but was not involved in the eventual death of Malygos, either in assisting or preventing it. During Cataclysm, the blue dragonflight was leaderless and confused, with Kalecgos being one of the main choices alongside Arygos (whose artwork was used for Azure Dragon in Hearthstone). Arygos took an isolationist, wanting to withdraw from the world, while Kalecgos wished the blue dragonflight not play the role of observer, but actively aid mortals in the world's affairs. Arygos was secretly working with Deathwing, and attempted to have Kalecgos assassinated. This was foiled by the sacrifice of fellow blue dragon Tarecgosa, and after Arygos is driven off, Kalecgos is officially named the new aspect of magic, taking the title "Steward of Magic".
The four dragon aspects would later meet to discuss the way to defeat Deathwing, and Kalecgos's comment about needing a weapon inspired Ysera and Nozdormu to travel back in time to pluck the Dragon Soul out of time. With the aid of former Horde warchief Thrall and the adventurers of the Alliance and the Horde, Kalecgos and the other aspects fought Deathwing multiple times, eventually creating an opening for Thrall to blast Deathwing with the Dragon Soul. While the aspects became mortal after Deathwing's defeat, Kalecgos and the other three accepted this price gladly.
In Hearthstone, Kalecgos is clearly one of the many heroes defending Dalaran, and in his human guise as "Archmage Kalec", he is one of the final bosses in the final part of the adventure mode.
Archmage Vargoth: Vargoth is a prominent character in the Burning Crusade expansion, leader of the mages of Kirin Tor that accompanied the Alliance to Dreanor during the Second War. He founded Kirin'Var Village in the Netherstorm, and while trapped there, the village survived up to a point. The mad blood elven prince Kael'thas Sunstrider massacred every person in the village other than Vargoth himself, who was locked up in a magical prison called the Violet Tower. His apprentice, Ravandwyr, was able to meet up with the adventurers who arrived on Outland during the events of Burning Crusade. The adventurers would kill Vargoth's jailor, the arcane golem Ar'kelos, and free Vargoth.
Vargoth would return to Azeroth, and took up residence in the Violet Citadel of Dalaran, living in a secluded retreat atop a spire accessible only to those who have a book that would teleport adventurers there. Vargoth would send an image of himself to aid adventurers in defending Mt. Hyjal from the forces of Ragnaros during Cataclysm, and during the Isle of Thunder crisis during Mists of Pandaria. Vargoth is involved in a quest during Warlords of Draenor, where his artifacts were launched into the alternate timeline of Draenor and tasked adventurers to find him.
During the events of Legion, Vargoth joined the revamped Council of Six of Dalaran, and is one of the mages who voted in favour of allowing the Horde to the city, as well as allowing the Sunreavers to rejoin the Kirin Tor. Vargoth is later revealed to have ties to the mysterious Empyrean Society, a group of mages who are looking into forbidden magics like fel, causing Khadgar and an adventurer to investigate his loyalty, giving Vargoth the benefit of the doubt since he has been loyal to Dalaran all the while. The adventurer's investigation would reveal that Vargoth was possessed by an agent of the Burning Legion, the dreadlord Kathra'natir. The adventurer defeats Kathra'natir, freeing Vargoth, although he would prove too ill to join further council meetings. Vargoth would bear Aluneth and represent the Tirisgarde for non-mage players in cutscenes. In Hearthstone, Archmage Vargoth is also one of the possible bosses you can encounter in the Great Dalaran Heist adventure mode.
Nozari: The bronze dragon Nozari, sister of Andormu, is one of the many bronze dragons that are stationed to protect the Caverns of Time in Tanaris, a location where the timeways are in flux, and adventurers are recruited by the bronze dragonflight, guardians of time, to prevent the infinite dragonflight from fucking the timeline up. Two Nozaris from different time periods -- one of her as an adult and one of her as a child -- appear in the Caverns of Time, although both are in elven guise instead of her true dragon form. Because of time travel, you see. Nozari serves as a potential final boss in the Great Dalaran Heist adventure mode.
Archivist Elysiana: Archivist Elysiana is a curator affiliated with the Kirin Tor, located in the violet Citadel of Dalaran, and is introduced to allow players who skip quests to get to the Broken Isles immediately to re-experience and replay the other quests in the Legion storyline, ostensibly her "telling a tale from the past" so convincingly that you experience it.
Chef Nomi: Nomi is a young Pandaren child who is introduced during Mists of Pandaria, who is ready and willing to learn cooking from his teacher (you, the adventurer), giving a couple of comedic quests as he attempts to learn how to cook, and always finding a way to bungle it up. By the time of Legion, Nomi has grown into an adult, going to the Broken Isles and eventually getting job to work at a kitchen in Dalaran. Apparently, his cooking has slightly improved over the years.
Barista Lynchen: Mel Lynchen, the Barista, is an NPC working in the Legerdemain Lounge in Dalaran, She is otherwise not particularly remarkable, just being one of the many NPC's found there. The Hearthstone team turned her into a stereotypical Starbucks (or Starbucks-stlye) barista, which is hilarious!
Jepetto Joybuzz: Jepetto is a gnome toy vendor who runs the shop Wonderworks in Dalaran, where he sell a variety of toys and novelty items to the player. He's also involved in a couple of promotions, and has different dialogue lines depending on where Dalaran is at the moment. His name, of course, is a homage to Pinocchio. Jepetto also serves as one of the potential final bosses in the "Streets of Dalaran" chapter of the adventure mode.
Lucentbark & Keeper Stalladris: I'll combine the two of these characters together, because they're both original to Hearthstone. Lucentbark is a mighty ancient, and Stalladris is a Keeper of the Grove, but they both have unique crystal leaves and antlers, based on the Northrend area Crystalsong Forest. Crystalsong Forest doesn't feature either keepers of the grove nor crystal ancients, and is just a pretty area mostly dealing with the rogue blue dragonflight, managed by high elves for the Alliance and blood elves for the Horde. It's tangentially related to Dalaran only by virtue of the fact that Dalaran floated near Crystalsong Forest during the Wrath of the Lich King era. They are just reinforcements called in to help defend Dalaran, it appears.
Apparently Lucentbark was originally supposed to be Applebough, the only druid-related character in Dalaran. Applebough was a treant selling fruit, but the design team decided to instead tie it into Crystalsong Forest instead, with an ancient instead of a treant (to not confuse treant synergy cards) an area that was close to the Lich King-era Dalaran.
Apparently Lucentbark was originally supposed to be Applebough, the only druid-related character in Dalaran. Applebough was a treant selling fruit, but the design team decided to instead tie it into Crystalsong Forest instead, with an ancient instead of a treant (to not confuse treant synergy cards) an area that was close to the Lich King-era Dalaran.
Commander Rhyssa & Oblivitron: Rhyssa is original to Hearthstone, apparently being the captain of Dalaran's guard. She's the only documented instance of a gnome paladin. I originally lumped Oblivitron among the EVIL legendaries because it's a giant machine of doom, but it appears that the Oblivitron is actually chasing Hagatha and the other minions away. It's got Dalaran colours, and it's a Hunter legendary, so it's apparently on the side of good!
Click below the break for the Adventure Mode lackeys, the Adventure Mode bosses, as well as the rest of the collectible cards! Blame Kalecgos and Veressa that this article was as long as it is.
Click below the break for the Adventure Mode lackeys, the Adventure Mode bosses, as well as the rest of the collectible cards! Blame Kalecgos and Veressa that this article was as long as it is.
ADVENTURE MODE "LACKEYS":
Mr. Chu: Introduced in Mists of Pandaria, Mister Chu is the bodyguard of the black market dealer Madam Goya (herself having appeared in Hearthstone in the earlier expansion Mean Streets of Gadgetzan). Mister Chu would move around from the Black Market in Pandaria to the Ring of Blood in Nagrand and as of Legion, the Underbelly of Dalaran, following where Madam Goya chose to open her business.
Captain Eudora: Captain Eudora is a member of the Vulpera race, a race of nomadic fox people mainly living in the desert of Vol'dun on Zandalar. However, many Vulpera, Eudora among them, have gone off to the pirate haven Freehold in the Alliance-controlled Kul Tiras. Captain Eudora is a member of the Council o' Captains alongside two humans, Captain Jolly and Captain Raoul, and together, the three of them act as the second boss of the Freehold raid. Eudora is the leader of the Bilge Rats, a pirate crew that are recurring enemies in Kul Tiras areas.
Dark Pharaoh Tekahn: Tekahn, representing the Warlock class, holds the title of "Dark Pharaoh" and was introduced in World of Warcraft's Cataclysm expansion. He is the king of the Neferset tribe, a tribe of Tol'vir who sold their service to the mighty Deathwing and his ally, Al'Akir, in exchange for having their cursed bodies restored back to stone. Tekahn is the subject of a quest where the leader of the Ramhaken Tol'vir, allies to heroes of the Alliance and Horde, tasks them to slay Tekahn. Tekahn is controlling the massive Immortal Colossus, and when the adventurers slay Tekahn, the Colossus crumbled with him.
While Tekahn's World of Warcraft appearance has him depicted with a bird mask-head, his Hearthstone artwork depicts him with a crocodile mask-head instead. He would get the bird mask-head back in Saviors of Uldum.
Rakanishu: The pyromaniacal, diminutive fire elemental Rakanishu first appeared in Kobolds & Catacombs' adventure mode, Dungeon Run, where it's revealed that King Togwaggle's lantern crown contained a powerful fire elemental, Rakanishu, who would fetch random powerful treasures for Togwaggle if he is encountered as the final boss of the Dungeon Run. In Rise of Shadows, Rakanishu runs around as his own man (or, well, flame sprite thing). Rakanishu is a reference to one of the early bosses in Diablo II of the same name, and the lesser Fallen enemies would often yell out his name.
Vessina: Vessina is original to Hearthstone, and is an evil Sethrak Shaman, noted to be working for Hagatha. The Sethrak were introduced in the Battle for Azeroth expansion, a race of serpent people living in Vol'dun, in the island of Zandalar. They worship the loa Sethraliss, a mighty snake loa, and was once allies that lived in harmony with the Zandalari trolls. A large proportion of the Sethrak people were wiped out in the ancient troll/aqir war in the past, where Sethraliss herself was slain by the agent of the old gods, Mythrax the Unraveler. This transformed Vol'dun into a barren desert, causing the trolls to leave Vol'dun. The Sethrak remained there, considering the ground holy and sacred. Thousands of years later, the ancient Sethrak emperor Korthek would gather a group of his followers and unleash the imprisoned Mythrax, in order to use him to assault Zandalar. The remaining Sethrak, a faction calling themselves the Devoted, would seek the aid of Horde heroes to foil this plan.
Ol' Barkeye: Ol' Barkeye is a gnoll given a big-ass Dr. Boom style sniper rifle. He's original to Hearthstone, and represents the Hunter class.
Squeamlish: Squeamlish represents the druid class, and she's apparently a "Druid of the Rat". She's original to Hearthstone, and presumably is one of Togwaggle's many kobold minions. Her dialogue suggests she has access to druidic transformations that turn her into turtles and hedgehogs. None of Squeamlish's forms are accessible to playable druids in WoW.
Kriziki: Kriziki is original to Hearthstone. She's an Arakkoa, specifically a cursed variant. Madame Lazul apparently lured Kriziki into the League of Shadows with promises of allowing her to fly once more, a goal common to many cursed Arakkoa. We've discussed the various tribes and variants of Arakkoa in Whispers of the Old Gods. The broken Arakkoa outcasts of Draenor worship an unnamed Old God, but it seems that Kriziki has resorted to worshiping C'Thun specifically.
George, the Fallen: George is a recurring character in Hearthstone. First mentioned in the flavor text for the Journey to Un'Goro cards "Lost in the Jungle" and "Vinecleaver" as a gag, Karl and George would later appear as dual bosses in Kobolds & Catacombs' Dungeon Run. Judging by George's dialogue and title, Karl apparently perished during the events of Kobolds & Catacombs, and George was driven mad by this, going so far as to join EVIL. In a homage to his origin, George has unique lines if you play Lost in the Jungle or Vinecleaver.
Bartender Bob: [and Bartendertron] Bob is original to Hearthstone, running the many drinking holes that litter Dalaran, and allowing anyone to enter and order a drink... including the lackeys of the organization of villains assaulting Dalaran, allowing them to adjust their decks and recruit extra minions as needed.
ADVENTURE MODE BOSSES:
Erekem: The Violet Hold is a small raid dungeon in World of Warcraft, and Hearthstone adapts a lot of its bosses as bosses in the Violet Hold wing in the adventure mode. Erekem is an Arakkoa that serves as a possible first boss in the original Violet Hold instance -- the first two bosses in Violet Hold is taken from a pool of possbile encounters. Erekem is noted to be one of Outland's criminals, who had attempted to assassinate the Council of Six before his plans was foiled and he was imprisoned. Erekem was broken out by agents of the blue dragonflight during the events of Wrath of the Lich King, where he is happy to assist the blue dragonflight in fighting against Dalaran.
Ichoron: One of the potential first two bosses of the Wrath of the Lich King Violet Hold is the strangely-shaped Water Revenant Ichoron. Ichoron was apparently summoned by a foolish mage apprentice from the Elemental Plane, only to find that Ichoron was a pretty powerful disgruntled soldier that once served the Old Gods. Ichoron stuck in the mortal plane after killing her summoner, and was imprisoned, where she bides her time to escape. Some of her lines in her Hearthstone encounter is taken from her lines in WoW.
Zuramat the Obliterator: A mighty Voidlord that apparently "took one hundred of Dalaran's finest to subdue", Zuramat is a monstrous demon with only obliteration and eradication in his mind. He is so vile and destructive that apparently he was one of the prisoners that Malygos hesitated in ordering the release of. The Void Shift mechanic seen in his boss fight in Hearthstone is a loose adaptation of the Void Shift mechanics of the Zuramat boss fight in WoW.
Cyanigosa: The blue dragon Cyanigosa will always be the final boss of Wrath of the Lich King, a blue dragon that was sent by her master Malygos to orchestrate the mass breakout of Violet Hold to break Dalaran from the inside. Leading an army of blue dragonspawn, Cyanigosa rampages against the adventurers and defenders of Dalaran, ranting that she will fulfill Malygos's wishes and raze the city herself. Ultimately, Cyanigosa was slain, admitting that the blue dragonflight have underestimated the mortal mages, before perishing. In the subsequent encounter in the Argent Tournament, Cyanigosa is one of the possible "memory" bosses summoned by Confessor Paletress.
Millificent Manastorm: The second boss in the "Assault on Violet Hold" raid, the Legion-era revamp, is Millificent Manastorm, the wife of Millhouse Manastorm. Where Millhouse is bumbling and kind of a loser, Millificent is the opposite of her husband, being an engineering genius. She was responsible for the creation of a particularly powerful arcane weapon that will siphon the essence of a mage and bind their magic to the object. Said device was shattered during Millificent's arrest by Dalaran mages and would be recovered by Khadgar and a Hunter player attempting to weaponize the weapon to defeat the mighty Burning Legion general, Hakkar the Houndmaster.
Upon being unleashed by the agents of the Burning Legion (who are apparently terrified of Millificent), she ends up attacking the player with her small army of robotic minions, particularly getting enraged when she sees Millhouse Manastorm. Her initial conversation with Millhouse is replicated almost word-for-word in her Hearthstone encounter. After her defeat at the hands of adventurers, Millificent shrinks herself down and escapes into Dalaran, vowing vengeance towards her husband.
Sael'orn: Sael'orn (using the same artwork as the collectible Aranasi Broodmother) is a mighty Aranasi demon that serves as one of the two possible final bosses of Assault on Violet Hold, with the other option being Fel Lord Betrug. Sael'orn herself doesn't really have much lore beyond being a particularly brutal and angry Aranasi commander, albeit with some unique lines.
The Aranasi is a race of arachnid demons that participated in the Burning Legion's latest invasion during the Legion expansion, being giant, humanoid women with massive horns and a large amount of spikes on their back that doubles up as spider-legs in combat. Some Aranasi look 100% like spiders, and some look similar to the likes of Nerubians, and it's noted that the specifics of an Aranasi's life cycle is still unknown. The title "Brood Mother" is also shared by various different Aranasi leaders.
Lieutenant Sinclari: Lieutenant Sinclari is the head of the guards of Violet Hold in Legion, and is the NPC adventurers have to talk to in order to start the Assault on Violet Hold raid. Apparently, after the events of the Nexus War in Wrath of the Lich King, Sinclari tried to advocate for moving the Violet Hold out of Dalaran, but her concerns were not heeded. A very frustrated and tired Sinclari ended up having her fears confirmed when agents of the Burning Legion attempted to break into the Violet Hold in Legion, and, apparently, again, in Hearthstone's Rise of Shadow. Her angry "I told them this would happen!" is taken from her Legion appearance.
Kizi Copperclip: Kizi Copperclip, as you might guess, is the NPC in charge of Dalaran's barber shop, where players can go to pay a fee and make changes to their hairdo and appearance. She doesn't really have much lore in WoW, and Hearthstone's basically where a lot of these random Dalaran vendors get the most personality.
Cravitz Lorent: The "Shady Book Dealer" Cravitz Lorent is a forsaken who sells books in the Underbelly, particularly a series of books called "Steamy Romance Novel", which his wow wiki page lists the contents of. Apparently, Mister Chu is a huge fan of these steamy romance novels!
Applebough: Applebough is a treant that acts as a vendor in Dalaran, selling fruits in particular. He has a little fruit cart, that's adorable! Apparently, he's defending Dalaran by throwing his stock at the League of EVIL members.
Oxana Demonslay: Oxana Demonslay is a night elf demon hunter located in Dalaran's Underbelly, specifically the Black Market. She is involved in a short quest chain where an adventurer assists Archmage Karlain to build an Obliterum Forge, and the adventurer enlists Oxana's help to obtain certain materials. She otherwise sells a bunch of minor items. Her hero power in Hearthstone, Immolation Aura, is a reference to one of the abilities of the Demon Hunter hero in Warcraft III, which shrouds the Demon Slayer with flames and damages all units around it.
Tipsi Wobblerune: Tipsi Wobblerune is added to Dalaran in the Legion expansion, located outside the Alliance-affiliated taverns Legerdemain Lounge and A Hero's Welcome, and is involved in the mini-event called the Kirin Tor Tavern Crawl. Tipsi will task you to go to a random inn around the world, and teleport your character there. Tipsi will leave behind a ghostly projection of herself as she goes on teleporting around the taverns, in case your character is left behind.
Disidra Stormglory, Moon Priestess Nici & Linzi Redgrin: All of these three ladies are a "player-like" NPC that wanders around Dalaran and essentially does a bunch of random things that makes it look like she's one of the many adventurers in Dalaran, rotating between using items like the Hearthstone or checking the bank or going to shops. Disidra's artwork in Hearthstone is taken from the card "Vaakia" from the old WoW TCG.
Timothy Jones: Timothy Jones is the sharply-dressed jewelcrafting trainer found in Dalaran, located in the shop called "Cartier & Co. Fine Jewelry", Timothy will give out quests tasking the adventurer to do jewelcrafting-related quests.
Draemus: As you might gather from his boss fight in Hearthstone, Draemus is an Exotic Pet Supplier and sells a bunch of pets in the shop Magical Menagerie in Dalaran. Among his wares is a plump jellyfish, a river calf (a hippo), a nightwatch swooper, an autumnal sproutling, an Alarm-o-Bot, a Fel Piglet (no, really), and an item called Narcissa's Mirror that turns your pet to look like you.
Mama Diggs: Mama Diggs is a Wildhammer dwarf that functions as a Mining trainer, located in the blacksmithing shop Tanks For Everything. She gives out many mining-related quests.
Awilo, Cooking Trainer: Awilo Lon'gomba is a troll cooking trainer residing in the Horde inn of Dalaran, The Filthy Animal. Awilo offers one of five potential daily cooking quests for anyone with the cooking profession, and based on his dialogue when giving out quests, apparently has a thing about cooking gnomes.
Rasil Fireborne: Rasil is the owner of the art shop Photonic Playground, which contains multiple portraits and paintings on its walls. While Rasil doesn't sell any of its paintings, apparently, in Hearthstone, Rasil is able to bring said paintings to life.
Xur'ios: The ethereal Xur'ios is a vendor with the title "Vaultkeeper of the Void", introduced in Legion. He hangs around the Antonidas Memorial, and sells a bunch of odd trinkets like recipes, mounts, unique toys and formulas.
Ol' Toomba: Ol' Toomba is a troll dressed in pirate garb that sits in the bottom floor of the Legerdemain Lounge in Dalaran, briefly involved in a Silver Hand quest to recruit Maximillian of Northshire. Toomba was one of the Dalaran citizens that the adventurer must ask to investigate Maximillian's "lover", Doloria.
Kaye Toogie: Kaye Toogie in World of Warcraft is a Forsaken member of the Kirin Tor, sitting at the bottom of a well outside of the tavern The Filthy Animal. She's a bit of an easter egg, as the only way to reach her is to teleport there with the item Wormhole Generator: Northrend and selecting "underground". Apparently, Hearthstone's depiction of Kaye shows her when she's still alive, and sort of explains that she ended up getting herself trapped in the little chamber within the well due to a portal accident.
Dazzik "Hellscream": Dazzik "Hellscream" is a reference to Dazzik "Proudmoore", a goblin vendor that sells magical trinkets found in the Circle of Wills in Dalaran's Underbelly. Dazzik is a male goblin dressed up in Jaina Proudmoore's outfit. Apparently, in Rise of Shadows, Dazzik has taken up to cosplaying Garrosh Hellscream, with his card art pose being a reference to Garrosh's own Hearthstone art.
The Great Akazamzarak: Akazamzarak is a goblin magician found mostly entertaining Dalaran citizens at the Eventide, and is deceptively an actually powerful Mage well-versed in portals. In Legion, a mage adventurer rose to be come head of the newly-formed Tirisgarde, and one of the powerful mages that they recruited was Akazamzarak. The mage essentially gets Akazamzarak's attention with coin, and is instrumental in managing the portals that allow the members of the Tirisgarde to hunt down agents of the Burning Legion. He also gives out a couple of humourous quests where he attempts some get-rich-quick schemes.
In World of Warcraft, one of Akazamzarak's performances is a card trick involving Hearthstone cards, with Akazamzarak pulling out a golden Dr. Boom. As a neat little Easter Egg to this line of dialogue in WoW, if you play against Akazamzarak in Hearthstone and he gives you a Dr. Boom card, he'll get flustered and take back the card.
The Rat King: While a literal rat with a crown, the character with the title 'Rat King' in WoW is an undead man introduced in Legion with the ability to control rats. Whether this Rat King is supposed to be an incarnation or a successor of WoW's Rat King, or just a simple implementation of the whole "rats in sewers" trope, we don't know.
Kazamon Steelskin: A unique bit here, because Kazamon Steelskin is a reference to a character from the now-defunct World of Warcraft Trading Card Game. Kazamon's card has "Hardiness" repeated 20 times as a bit of a joke on the formatting, meaning it can block 20 instances of damage, something that's sort of reflected with his self-damage preventing hero power in Hearthstone.
Madam Goya: Previously covered in Mean Streets of Gadgetzan when she shows up as a collectible card, Madam Goya's appearance here is a reference to her very first appearance in World of Warcraft, where she runs the Black Market in Dalaran's Underbelly.
Boommaster Flark: Flark is, of course, a member of Dr. Boom's Boom Labs, and one of the legendaries representing Dr. Boom's many scientist minions in The Boomsday Project expansion. Apparently, Flark has a huge, huge problem about Dr. Boom joining up with a bunch of other villains and seemingly abandoning Boom Labs. Aww.
Trade Prince Gallywix: Gallywix, the sneaky corrupt goblin trade prince, has appeared as a collectible card in Goblins vs. Gnomes. He's a member of Horde leadership, a former antagonist to the Horde-allied goblins, and eventual tribal leader of the Horde's goblins.
Queen Wagtoggle, Noz Timbertail, Mo Eniwhiskers: These three are original to Hearthstone, but are clearly former allies of King Togwaggle before certain differences (probably fighting over gold) caused them to part ways.
Dalaran Fountain Golem; Aki the Brilliant; Gold Elemental; Lilayell Suntear: The Dalaran Fountain Golem (like the collectible Walking Fountain... but the two have different artwork!) is original to Hearthstone, although the fountain itself definitely exists in Dalaran. Aki shares his card art with the collectible Proud Defender. Gold Elemental, meanwhile, shares his card art with the Soldier of Fortune, and the brief flavour text seems to imply that the Gold Elemental is the coins within the Dalaran fountain came to life. Lilayell Suntear shares her card art with Sunreaver Warmage. All are original to Hearthstone
Albin Eastoft, Alchemist Wendy, Anarii Duskgrove, Archivist Oshi, Banker Biggs, Bookmaster Bae Chao, Captain Hannigan, Chomper, Carousel Gryphon, Commander Bolan, Dagg Cruelmight, Dancin Deryl, Flight Master Belnaara, Haro Setting-Sun, Hesutu Stonewind, Kara Stamper, Locksmith Zibb, Magistrix Norroa, Marei Loom, POGO, Ranger Ar'ha, Sharky McFin, Sky Captain Smiggs, Soothsayer Zoie, Tala Stonerage, The Amazing Bonepaw, Tierra Blythe, Ungan Oddkind, Valdera Highborne, Vas'no, Wirth the All-Knowing: These are a bunch more of adventurers and guards who are original to hearthstone, but I have nothing else to talk about. Bookmaster Bae Chao's name is a pun, with "Bie Chao" meaning "don't be noisy" in Chinese. Commander Bolan's flavour text, as well as boss fight mechanics, references the huge exclamation marks that denote quest-givers in World of Warcraft. Belnaara is interesting, because WoW's Dalaran's flight master actually looks like the artwork for Belnaara, but is called Aludane Whitecloud. POGO is a larger, upgraded version of the Pogo-Hopper card from Boomsday Project. Wirth the All-Knowing is a homage to the Diablo character Wirt, who has been a running gag when his leg is found as an easter egg item in Warcraft III and World of Warcraft. Dancing Deryl depicts the dancing 'baby murloc' novelty pet, and may or may not be related to Dirty Daryl, a murloc NPC in World of Warcraft.
It's impressive the sheer amount of bosses in the Great Dalaran Heist, huh?
I considered trying to cover some of the treasures too, but man, there's a lot of Adventure Mode bosses and we still haven't even covered the collectible cards. We'll see. I might amend this and add a couple of the new treasures and gimmicks if there's some sort of significant lore.
COLLECTIBLE MINIONS:
E.V.I.L.!
The Lackeys: Each of the five possible Lackeys generated by cards in this expansion are one of the many disposable minions that serve the E.V.I.L. organization, and each represent one of the main villains in E.V.I.L. The Ethereal Lackey is an ethereal like Rafaam; the Goblin Lackey is a goblin like Boom; and the Kobold Lackey is a kobold like Togwaggle. While not an orc, the Witchy Lackey is one of the many witches of various races that serve under Hagatha in the Witchwood, while the Faceless Lackey is a faceless one, the main minions of the Old Gods that Madam Lazul worships. 
Hench-Clan Hogsteed, Hench-Clan Shadequill, Hench-Clan Burglar, Hench-Clan Hag & Hench-Clan Sneak: The Hench-Clan is original to Hearthstone, introduced in The Witchwood with the Hench-Clan Thug. Apparently there are other races other than Quillboars in the Hench-Clan (although the Sneak and Shadequill certainly one), as the Hogsteed features a baby Murloc and a Boar. Hench-Clan Burglar is a Kobold, of course. Hench-Clan Hag, meanwhile, appears to be a harpy of some sort, and the amalgams that she summons is a reference to the Nightmare Amalgam from The Witchwood. Look at the cute little buddy she is holding in her card artwork.
Burly Shovelfist: One of Togwaggle's many kobold henchmen, the Burly Shovelfist is a particularly large and massive Kobold, a variant that has never been seen in World of Warcraft before. Presumably he's of the same breed as the Kobold Brute, but larger.
Tunnel Blaster, EVIL Miscreant & Recurring Villain: One of the many maniacal, bomb-happy kobolds in Togwaggle's employ, these are otherwise original to Hearthstone.
Convincing Infiltrator: The Convincing Infiltrator is a Faceless One in a poorly-made robe and wooden mask, very convincingly infiltrating himself among his "fellow humans". The joke here, of course, is that Faceless Ones can already shapeshift into any other creature, so... also, he's one of the minions Madam Lazul brings to the table, clearly.
EVIL Conscripter: A Qiraji prophet similar to Skeram, the EVIL Conscripter is one of the many forces of the Old Gods that has joined Madame Lazul as part of EVIL. It seems to be manipulating a bunch of random citizens to follow him.
Shadowy Figure: The Shadowy Figure is clearly a massive, bulky and shadow-covered Faceless One. It's unique to Hearthstone, although the term "Shadowy Figure" has been used to refer to a bunch of NPC's, before, including necromancer mobs in Stratholme, a tauren in Wailing Caverns, Vanessa VanCleef before her identity is revealed, and an orc in the Deadmines.
Faceless Rager: The Faceless Rager is a strange variation of a Faceless One, with a body made partially of shadows. It's one in a long, long line of Ragers in Hearthstone.
Batterhead: Original to Hearthstone, he's an ogre that has been enhanced with Dr. Boom's technological advancements.
Clockwork Goblin: Clockwork Goblins are a reference to a Warcraft III unit, hooray! One of the abilities of the neutral Goblin Tinker hero unit is the creation of a Pocket Factory, which, in turn, will summon these little Clockwork Goblins to fight for the Tinker. Like some Goblin units, Clockwork Goblins have access to the "Kaboom!" ability which causes the Clockwork Goblin to self-destruct and deal damage in an area. Clockwork Goblins are noted to be poorly made, and they are some of the first creations that a Goblin Tinker would first make -- it's noted that the 'cooldown' on the Clockwork Goblin is a sign of the poor worksmanship of these goblins, a nice bit of nod to how summoned units in WCIII have a cooldown.
Vicious Scraphound: Like most mechs created by Dr. Boom, this one is of a make that's original to Hearthstone.
Omega Devastator: Omega Devastator is original to Hearthstone, and is a callback card to the Omega cards from Boomsday Project. The card art used is interesting, though -- the card art here was initially used for Omega Defender from Boomsday Project, as seen in some of the earliest trailers. After complaints that the Omega Defender should be a mech since all Shredder-style piloted armour has been mechs, the artwork was replaced with a more neutral-looking goblin, since the team was unwilling to give the Defender the mech tag. Now the artwork's found a new home, yay!
Muckmorpher: The Muckmorpher appears to be an adult version of the Mucklings seen in some cards during the Witchwood expansion. Like the Mucklings, it's original to Hearthstone.
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| Wicker Man |
Drustvar Horror: Drustvar Horror, the minion created by Hagatha, borrows its name from the western-most part of the Kul Tiras nation, introduced in the Battle for Azeroth expansion. It's the seat of the House Waycrest, one of Kul Tiras's most powerful families. The Horror itself is a wicker construct, specifically a wicker-man (behemoth, beast and brute variants exist), which are golems created by the Heartsbane Coven -- a coven of witches that terrorize Drustvar -- from wood, flesh, bones and fur, and are powered by the souls of human victim. This might hint at some connection between Hagatha and the Heartsbane Coven of witches, perhaps.
EVIL Genius: The EVIL Genius is a Nerubian, specifically those of the Vizier breed, working for the EVIL organization. Presumably he's one of Rafaam's minions, just by virtue of his class? None of the EVIL head honchos really have anything to do with Nerubians.
Eager Underling: A random gnome that works for EVIL. He's original to Hearthstone.
EVIL Cable Rat: EVIL Cable Rat is apparently a giant rat following the orders of a smaller rat to lay down cables, and is presumably one of Togwaggle's minions. He's original to Hearthstone.
Mad Summoner: Mad Summoner is a Satyr, and the second Satyr we've gotten in Hearthstone as a collectible card after Witchwood Summoner. I've covered Satyrs in both the Karazhan and Witchwood. I'm lumping the demons here because they're likely to be evil.
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| Terrorguard |
Portal Overfiend: The Portal Overfiend is a Terrorguard, larger, stockier variants of Doomguards with a fanged face and a second giant jaw on its torso. Introduced all the way back in vanilla World of Warcraft, Terrorguards are also known as Terrorfiends, which is where Portal Overfiend borrows its name from. They tend to be portrayed as elite members of the Burning Legion, often found in military-leadership positions. (For Aranasi Broodmother, scroll up to Sael'orn)
Jumbo Imp: Giant Imps are original to Hearthstone, surprisingly enough.
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| Sunreaver War Mages |
Sunreaver Spy: The Sunreavers are a faction of blood elves mage that represented the Horde in Dalaran, led by Archmage Aethas Sunreaver. Trying to rekindle the friendship that Silvermoon once had with the Alliance which was ruined after the events of the Third War, Aethas Sunreaver sought to mend fences with at least the mages of Dalaran, and the Sunreavers assisted Dalaran forces throughout many of the Northrend campaign, but saw much pushback from the Alliance-heavy Council. While council members Rhonin and Modera approved of their presence, a lot of others -- particularly Grand Magister Rommeth, Rhonin's wife Vereesa and later a post-Theramore Jain Proudmoore -- strongly opposed the Sunreavers' presence. The Sunreavers' place was tested when one of the Sunreaver mages, Thalen Songweaver, betrayed the Sunreavers and Dalaran's neutrality by allowing Garrosh Hellscream to enter Theramore unopposed, which would lead to the chain of events that caused the city to be wiped out by a mana bomb. The Sunreavers were rounded up by vengeful Alliance forces, causing civil war to erupt on the streets of Dalaran, forcing many to retreat via portals back to Silvermoon. While they were eventually released, there was significant bad blood between them and the rest of Dalaran, and crushed all possible chance of the blood elves ever rejoining the Alliance. During the events of Legion, Aethas would eventually rejoin Dalaran once more -- something helped by the fact that Jaina Proudmoore had abdicated her post as a member of the Council.
Sunreaver Warmage: Sunreaver War Mages are bodyguards of the Sunreaver mage Myralion Sunblaze, a Horde-friendly questgiver who appears in Icecrown Citadel during the events of Wrath of the Lich King, who sent out heroes to restore the sacred blood elven relic Quel'Delar.
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| Kirin Tor Guardia |
Dalaran Crusader: The Dalaran Crusader has the specific armour and mask combination used by the Kirin Tor Guardians, NPC's added as guard units in Dalaran in the Mists of Pandaria expansion, and seen in other Dalaran-related areas. Sometimes they fly around on flying discs.
Kirin Tor Tricaster: The title Tricaster is unique to Hearthstone, but she's presumably one of the many mages that serve the Kirin Tor Council.
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| Violet Hold Guard |
Violet Warden: The title "Warden" refers to a specific group of night elven elite units that Maiev Shadowsong is a member of, but the card art is noted by many to resemble the Violet Hold Guards, a group of generic humans soldier NPC's that guard the guard the Violet Hold part of Dalaran.
Violet Spellsword: The title "Violet Spellsword" is original to Hearthstone, but the prefix of "Violet" tells us that she's definitely aligned heavily with the forces of Dalaran. The class "Spellsword" is something seen in many other fantasy settings, but not in Warcraft until now.
Flight Master: Flight Masters are a term used to refer to a common type of NPC found in almost all cities and settlements, allowing players access to flight paths in order to travel between major cities of a certain faction. Players have to manually speak to the flight master of a certain area to unlock the traveling to-and-from the different areas. Depending on the location of the flight master, they tend to use different mounts -- common ones include bats (forsaken), wyverns (orc), dragonhawks (blood elves), gyphons (humans) and hippogryphs (night elves). Interestingly, this blood elf flight master offers gryphon rides, one that is far more strongly associated with humans of the Alliance faction.
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| Isarami |
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| Mei |
Heroic Innkeeper: The Heroic Innkeeper is based on the NPC Isarami Fairwind, a high elf innkeeper of the inn "A Hero's Welcome", one of the inns in Dalaran, particularly her Jaina-esque outfit. While a simple vendor in World of Warcraft, the Hearthstone version of her apparently keeps a goddamn katana hidden in her broom.
Exotic Mountseller: The Exotic Moutnseller's appearance is a direct reference to Mei Francis, a mount vendor in Dalaran who sells some particularly interesting mounts, and is in particular the one that in-universe 'mails' any mounts that players obtain through achievements or the Blizzard online store to the playres.
Dalaran Librarian: Dalaran does have an impressive library, but the librarian is definitely not an orc lady, but rather a human male called Garren.
Crystal Dryad: Summoned by the Hearthstone-original spell Dreamway Guardians, Crystal Dryads are the only real crystal creatures originating from World of Warcraft, and is presumably the source of inspiration behind the likes of Stalladris and Lucentbark. Crystal Dryads are a race of dryads living in the Crystalsong Forest of Northrend. Presumably, they were transformed alongside the tress of Crystalsong Forest?
Spellbook Binder, Potion Vendor, Eccentric Scribe, Big Bad Archmage, Spellward Jeweler, Acornbearer, Lifeweaver, Arcane Fletcher, Dragon Speaker: These are all original to Hearthstone, presumably representing the many random mages and heroes living in Dalaran. Presumably the Dragon Speaker is associated with Nozari and the other bronze dragons in the expansion.
Traveling Healer: She's a Tortollan, and clearly has traveled a long way from either Un'Goro or the Broken Isles, whichever Tortollan community she hails from.
Proud Defender: The title is original, but Proud Defender is a Lightforged Draenei, a group of draenei that is one of the Alliance's new playable races introduced in Battle for Azeroth. While originally part of the same Draenei group that left Argus alongside Velen's group, the Draenei abroad the ship split into two -- the Genedar ended up going to Draenor with Velen, while the Xenedar waged war against the Burning Legion with the naaru Xe'ra. During the process, these Xenedari Draenei were infused with the power of the holy light and became a distinct subspecies, the Lightforged, and form the backbone of the Army of Light who fought the Burning Legion. They would team up with the Alliance during the events of Legion, and after the crisis of the Burning Legion is resolved, they decided to serve alongside their allies in the Alliance.
Underbelly Fence: The title is original, but the Underbelly Fence is clearly one of the many rogues that live in Underbelly, the sewer system beneath the sprawling city of Dalaran, a location with some quests and black market vendors, and was eventually remodeled into the Hall of Shadows by a cabal of Rogues known as the Uncrowned during the Legion expansion. She's probably one of the rogues that are a member of the Uncrowned.
Beasts, Elementals, Dragons, Mechs and More!
Crystal Stag: Original to Hearthstone, presumably one of Keeper Stalladris's familiars.
Magic Dart Frog: Dart Frogs are a group of battle pets that are available in World of Warcraft, but none are associated with mages or are explicitly magical in nature.
Shimmerfly: Shimmerfly is original to Hearthstone, and in fact, I don't believe World of Warcraft has a butterfly model, just giant moths.
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| Arcane Servant (WoW) |
Arcane Servant: Arcane Elementals are a common sight in Dalaran and Dalaran-related areas. The Arcane Servant is a specific enemy mob found in the Mechanar, a wing of the Tempest Keep instance introduced in Burning Crusade. They are level 70 arcane elemental mobs summoned by Sunseeker Netherbinders.
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| Opulence (WoW) |
Mana Reservoir: An arcane elemental; the specific name is original to Hearthstone.
Whirlwind Tempest: Whirlwind Tempests are air elementals that are original to Hearthstone.
Mana Cyclone: Most arcane elementals share the model of the voidwalkers, but the mana cyclone is a unique arcane elemental whose appearance is directly based off of air elementals. It's unique to Hearthstone.
Soldier of Fortune: The Soldier of Fortune is original to Hearthstone, but the concept of a pile of treasures being brought to life as an elemental brings to mind Opulence, a boss in the Dazar'alor raid in which Alliance Forces would face off against a pile of Zandalari treasures brought to life.
Walking Fountain: The Walking Fountain is a reference to the famous Dalaran Fountain, an iconic lion fountain with floating fish located in Dalaran, and the site of a fun little flavour bit where you can fish out little coins that were thrown into the well by some of the most famous figures in Azeroth's history that has been in Dalaran at some point -- among them Jaina, Kael'thas, Fandral, Maiev, Kel'Thuzad, Medivh and Sylvanas. The artwork features both the giant lion (or part of it) as well as the fishies. 
Azerite Elemental: The Azerite Elemental is a variant of Earth Elementals introduced in Battle for Azeroth, and they are Earth Elementals infused and driven mad by the power of Azerite. Azerite itself is the name given to the crystallized blood of Azeroth, the titan slumbering and slowly stirring from within the planet. Azerite Elementals are a lot more black in the actual WoW game, but the Azerite itself is a golden-purple glow, which the Hearthstone artist took more inspiration from.
Underbelly Ooze: While it is original to Hearthstone, the Underbelly Ooze is a massive, toothy Ooze that lives in the Underbelly, the aforementioned sewer system of Dalaran.
Bronze Herald: The Bronze Herald is a member of the bronze dragonflight that has apparently arrived on Dalaran in response to the crisis. I can't find any bronze dragons with the title "Bronze Herald".
Toxfin, Sludge Slurper & Underbelly Angler: All three are Murlocs that are original to Hearthstone. The Underbelly Angler is a deep-sea Murloc and is clearly a deep-sea murloc like Coldlight Oracle.
Safeguard, Ursatron and Hecklebot: All of these are mechs whose name and design are original to Hearthstone.
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| Rhonin |
Arcane Watcher: The shape of Arcane Watcher's artwork brings to mind the statue erected of the heroic mage Rhonin after his untimely death during the attack of Theramore. As far as I can tell, though, that statue is unable to walk and punch people in the face, spell damage or not.
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| Flying Carpet |
Magic Carpet: The Magic Carpet is a reference to the many "Flying Carpet" mounts that are able to be crafted by adventurers with the tailoring profession since Wrath of the Lich King. None are specifically called "Magic Carpet", though.
SPELLS:
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| Speedy <3 |
Blessing of the Ancients: Blessing of the Ancients is a level 90 talent for Balance-specialty druids added in the Legion expansion, which swaps around buffs and either stacks up Astral Power, or increases Astral Power as the druid casts certain spells. The card artwork contains a reference to the popular WoW battle pet, Speedy the tortoise, who is a speedy tortoise and a pet that was released in vanilla World of Warcraft as a Children's Day promotion.
Marked Shot: Marked Shot is a Hunter ability that was introduced in Legion, dealing damage to all targets afflicted with the Hunter's Mark ability and debuffing them with the "Vulnerable" status.
Rapid Fire: Introduced in Mists of Pandaria, Rapid Fire is a Hunter ability that increases a hunter's Haste temporarily and reduces the casting time of some other "Shot" spells. It was removed in Legion.
Hunting Party: Hunting Party is a passive ability for Marksmanship Hunters that reduces the cooldown of a hunter's Exhilaration ability whenever they kill an enemy.
Ray of Frost: Ray of Frost is a Frost Mage talent that deals gradually increasing damage over ten seconds, while also slowing down the enemy.
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| Akazamarak |
Magic Trick: Magic Trick itself is original to Hearthstone, but the goblin featured in its artwork is the Great Akazamarak, one of the more popular goblin NPC's in Dalaran, dressed in a suit and top-hat with distinctive monocle and nose piercing thing going on with his face -- Akazamarak is a quest giver and an expert with portals, being instrumental in defending Dalaran against the forces of the Burning Legion in Legion. Akazamarak himself shows up as a possible boss in some levels of the Great Dalaran Heist adventure mode.
Never Surrender: While the card in Hearthstone is a Paladin spell, Never Surrender in WoW is a Protection Warrior talent that buffs the effects of the ability Ignore Pain.
Duel: Dueling is something that players can battle each other in a PvE environment, by selecting a player's name and choosing "Duel", causing a duel flag to drop from the sky and for the two players to be specifically only be marked hostile against each other. Unlike PvP, duel ends at 1 health. Dueling is disabled in all cities and dungeons, except for Dalaran's Underbelly.
Forbidden Words, Unidentified Contract: Similar to the Forbidden Spells featured in Whispers of the Old Gods, Forbidden Words functions off of the same mechanic, and seems to be Madame Lazul herself chanting forbidden Old God spells at the enemy. Meanwhile, Unidentified Contract is a reference to the various Unidentified items from Kobolds & Catacombs, functioning in the same way.
Mass Resurrection: Mass Resurrection is a Discipline/Holy Priest ability added in Legion that brings all dead party members back to life with 35% health and mana.
Vendetta: Vendetta is a Rogue ability that marks a target enemy, causing them to always be visible to the Rogue, and increasing the damage the rogue does to said marked enemy.
Sweeping Strikes: Sweeping Strikes is an Arms warrior ability that causes all of a warrior's single-target ability to hit an additional target for 75% damage, and this lasts for 12 seconds. It's been around since vanilla, and has seen a lot of modifications over the years.
Dimensional Ripper: Dimensional Rippers are devices that are able to be created by engineers, especially those that specialize in goblin engineering. Two varieties are available -- the Everlook and Area 52 variants, which transport the user to those two specific areas. Since it's a goblin device, it often malfunctions and sometimes the user gets set on fire, be polymorphed into either a kobold or ogre, be replaced by an "Evil Twin" for 2 hours, or be teleported in the air above the location.
Lazul's Scheme, Rafaam's Scheme, Dr. Boom's Scheme, Togwaggle's Scheme, Hagatha's Scheme: Not much to say here, they are all schemes that our villains do, and with each turn that passes, the scheme is prepared more and more so the effects are larger.
Crystal Power, Crystalsong Portal, the Forest's Aid, Nine Lives, Conjurer's Calling, Power of Creation, Lightforged Blessing, Desperate Measures, Call to Adventure, Unsleeping Soul, Daring Escape, Mutate, Soul of the Murloc, Witch's Brew, Plot Twist, Impferno, Darkest Hour, Improve Morale: These are all spells and abilities original to Hearthstone. Power of Creation features Khadgar in its card art; while Lightforged Blessing seemingly shows a Draenei being transformed into a Lightforged Draenei. Daring Escape's card art features Boom and Togwaggle.
WEAPONS:
Wrenchcalibur: The Wrenchcalibur is the favoured weapon of the leader of the gnomes, High Tinker Gelbin Mekkatorque, a modified wrench that has been modified to also double as a mace. Its name is glorious. There has been no way for players to obtain the Wrenchcalibur for their own use.
Mysterious Blade: Original to Hearthstone. Not much to say.
Waggle Pick: Original to Hearthstone, Waggle Pick is presumably the name of the pick that King/Heistbaron Togwaggle utilizes in combat.
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