Expansion number... whichever number this one is. Anyway, we've been doing more than 30 of these. Darkmoon Faire time! We're jumping straight into the lore; thankfully this is another relatively light one.
I updated the Alternate Heroes segment to talk about Annhylde. Any new Battlegrounds and Duels cards will go on the 'Neo-Classic' page... which will also be where Core lore eventually gets stuffed in as well.
EDIT: Delayed and re-released for the mini-expansion additions. The bulk of this article was written in January 2021, before the mini-expansion. (Coming soon: Book of Heroes, at least the five or six heroes we've gotten so far!)
Darkmoon Faire:
The Darkmoon Faire is a little magical circus that travels around Azeroth, accessible only for short periods of time every month, with portals to Darkmoon Faire appearing on Elwynn Forest (for the Alliance) and Mulgore (for the Horde). In real-life gamer terms, it's a limited event area that players of World of Warcraft can access every second Sunday of the month. Darkmoon Faire itself is filled with sideshow games and short daily quests associated with said games in order to earn prizes.
It has changed a bit since its inception, with the faire originally appearing overnight in either Elwynn Forest or Mulgore, but after Deathwing's restructuring of Azeroth during Cataclysm, Darkmoon Faire has been relocated to Darkmoon Island, accessible via portals where the Faire used to appear in Elwynn and Mulgore. No real explanation has been given to its origins, and while it's mostly a harmless (if magical) carnival, some of the quests do hint that there might be something darker, what with dead carnies hidden in some parts of the island.
And that's about it for Darkmoon Faire, really, without getting too much into specifics.
Madness at the Darkmoon Faire
Hearthstone's expansion, Madness at the Darkmoon Faire, as usual throws in an additional theme. In this case, Darkmoon Faire is taken over by the Old Gods! Which... well, this archway has always had a giant C'thun-esque eyeball in World of Warcraft, so it's actually not the farthest leap to go from Darkmoon Faire to Old God corruption. Not much to say here, it's basically the Old Gods and their associated creatures from Whispers of the Old Gods, they're here to corrupt people and stuff.
Darkmoon Races
The 'mini-expansion' to Madness of the Darkmoon Faire, Darkmoon Races, is based on one of the attractions at the Darkmoon Faire of the same name. It's ran by the goblin Malle Earnhard, and players can play to run the races, going through various coloured checkpoints, taking advantage of boosts and avoiding electrified fences.
Silas Darkmoon
One of the major NPC characters at the Darkmoon Faire is its owner, the gnome Silas Darkmoon. The founder and leader of the Darkmoon Faire, and is a quest-giver that's very much happy to invite and welcome adventurers from both the Alliance and the Horde to come and participate in the festivities of the Faire. While not elaborated too much on, it's known that Silas has a soft spot for the outcasts of the world and often recruits them to be part of his family. In WoW, he's always accompanied by his bodyguard, the ogre Burth.
While in the game itself Silas doesn't really have much beyond just being the proprietor of the Faire, he starred in a story, "Blood Runs Thicker", in the comic series. In there, one of the Faire's performers, the strongwoman Kerri Hicks, was wrongfully accused of the murder of Erik Fallrook in Southshore, and was sentenced to hang. Unable to prove her innocence in time, Silas and the rest of the carnies ended up breaking Kerri out of jail. While this was ultimately unsuccessful, they bought enough time for the Faire's zookeeper, Yebb Neblegear, to find a witness that proved Kerri's innocence. Silas would later find out that the true murderer was the victim's own brother, Cedrick Fallrook, who seized on the opportunity of seeing Erik arguing with Kerri as a way to get a convenient patsy to get rid of his brother and claim the family winery for his own. Silas and the other carnies would abduct Cedrick from his home, tie him up, put him into the same coffin as his brother and bury him alive as revenge against one of their own.
Maxima Blastenheimer
Maxima Blastenheimer is one of the inhabitants of Darkmoon Faire, operating the Blastenheimer 5000 Ultra Cannon as one of the Faire's performers. The "Humanoid Cannonball" minigame involved has Maxima launch adventurers into the air, and they would then have to utilize a makeshift parachute to land on a target in the boardwalk. Her summon line, "step right up to get blown up!" is taken from one of her possible quotes in World of Warcraft.
Sayge, Seer of Darkmoon
Sayge is a quest giver and vendor in Darkmoon Faire, one of the few gnolls in World of Warcraft that is willing to converse amicably with members of the Alliance and Horde. He also has the ability to speak perfect common, unlike other gnolls. Sayge will read the fortune of any adventurer who comes to him, and will give temporary buffs in response to the fortune read -- depending on the answers given, Sayge will grant a different buff. Sayge is also the subject of two repeatable weekly quests, "Putting Trash to Good Use" and "Writing the Future", where he enlists an adventurer's aid to restock his supplies so he can create magical trinkets and souvenirs.
In previous versions of the game, Sayge's fortunes would instead direct the player to a secret lockbox hidden in one of four possible locations. Sayge is also featured in the card art of Deck of Lunacy, and vice versa.
Rinling
While Rinling's Rifle (and the associated Old God corruption) is original to Hearthstone, the name refers to Rinling, a sand troll that runs the shooting gallery in the Darkmoon Faire. Prior to Cataclysm, Rinling is the subject of a short quest chain where he asks the aid of adventurers in gathering the mechanical gizmos required to build his shooting stand, as well as maintaining other parts of the Faire's mechanical machines. After Cataclysm, said stand is up and running, and he offers various weekly and daily quests involving his shooting stand that adventurers can play in and shoot targets for prizes. Rinling also asks adventurers to help him scavenge for Tonk parts to fix the Faire's tonks, as well as to gather items to turn into prizes.
C'Thun the Shattered; Yogg-Saron Master of Fate; Y'Shaarj the Defiler
There are certainly a lot more NPC's and carnies in the Darkmoon Faire, but in the Hearthstone version, the Darkmoon Faire has been invaded by the Old Gods! We've seen all four main Old Gods before in their eponymous expansion. Click here for a more detailed lore on C'Thun, Yogg-Saron and Y'Shaarj. TL;DR, giant abominations of flesh born of chaos that ruled Azeroth before the Titans came and reordered the world, they were sealed and slumbered until present day, where the chains around them begin to weaken, and their influence and heralds are felt more in the world. C'Thun was ultimately slain in Ahn'Qiraj during World of Warcraft; Yogg-Saron slain in Ulduar during Wrath of the Lich King; and while Y'Shaarj was killed by the Titan Aman'thul in the past, the pieces of his body and soul are the greater evil in Mists of Pandaria.
All four returning Old Gods share the stat-line and cost of their original iterations in Whispers of the Old Gods, and a lot of them have similar effects as well. C'Thun the Shattered's effect is a roundabout reference to his boss encounter in Ahn'Qiraj, where the adventurers would fight C'Thun's body parts individually, fighting first his eye, then his body, and some segments of the fight includes the adventurers being teleported to his stomach. C'Thun's heart never actually shows up, but it's presumably a reference to the Heart of Y'Shaarj, an artifact that Garrosh recovered in Mists of Pandaria and used to gain more power.
Among Yogg-Saron's choice cards, the "Mysterybox" option depicts the Puzzle Box of Yogg-Saron (which already showed up as a card before!), the Rod of Roasting is a reference to a similar card from Hearthstone's Dungeon Run, the Mindflayer Goggles is a reference to the Mind Flayers from Dungeons and Dragons (who inspired the Faceless Ones) and lastly and most importantly, the Curse of Flesh is the curse that the Old God Yogg-Saron cast upon the Titanforged that inhabited Azeroth, turning them from beings of stone and metal into nasty, icky fleshy beings which made them far more susceptible to Old God corruption. Yes, the organic state of Azeroth's sentient species is actually an anomaly, not the intended norm.
N'Zoth, God of the Deep
Since Whispers of the Old Gods, N'Zoth has finally debuted in World of Warcraft and is the primary antagonist of one of the major patches in Battle for Azeroth! So I'm going to talk a bit more about N'Zoth. Known to be the weakest of the four Old Gods of Azeroth, N'Zoth's forces during the days of the Black Empire suffered heavy losses against C'Thun, Yogg-Saron and Y'Shaarj, until all four Old Gods were defeated and sealed deep within Azeroth by the arrival of the Titans. However, N'Zoth was also the most insidious, patient to bide his time and remain hidden unlike his far more aggressive siblings. N'Zoth was far, far more patient to whisper in the ears of other beings, and even work alongside his two sealed siblings, C'Thun and Yogg-Saron, to spread chaos in the world of Azeroth. N'Zoth was either fully or partially responsible for the whispers that drove the black Dragon Aspect Neltharion into madness and ultimately transformed him into Daethwing; corrupting the Emerald Dream into the Emerald Nightmare. N'Zoth's prison was deep underwater, located halfway between the Well of Eternity and Uldaman. When the War of Ancients concluded with the Sundering, the night elf Highborne queen, Azshara, plummeted into the ocean along with her Highborne loyalists. N'Zoth manifested as a strange-eyed fish, whispering Azshara to 'let go', and keeping her and her people from drowning. N'Zoth offered Azshara visions of the Black Empire which he had ruled ages ago in the past, and despite Azshara's attitude, N'Zoth agreed and imparted his gifts to the night elf queen, transforming her and her people into the race of partly-aquatic mutant elves known as the Naga.
N'Zoth remained patient, even as the world of Azeroth was gripped in one crisis after the other. He sat back and watched as those he corrupted wreaked havoc on the planet, and was particularly responsible for the Naga's re-emergence into modern-day Azeroth during Frozen Throne; helped Deathwing's recovery during Cataclysm; and was behind the Emerald Dream's transformation into the Emerald Nightmare during Legion; as well as had a deal in place with the sealed evil within the artifact weapon Xal'atath.
It's not until the Battle for Azeroth where the God of the Deep finally made his move personally. As Queen Azshara and her Naga assault Stormsong Valley, N'Zoth sent out many Faceless Ones to aid the Naga and corrupt members of the location into the Old God's minions. N'Zoth would personally intervene during Azshara's campaign against the Horde and Alliance fleets, although Azshara's true plan was to use the Nazjatar campaign as her own personal bid for power. Azshara succeeded in breaking the chains binding N'Zoth during this event, and the Old God rescued the queen of the Naga from being killed by Lor'themar Theron and Jaina Proudmoore.
Thus freed, N'Zoth also awakens Ny'alotha the Sleeping City, and the armies of the Black Empire threatens to engulf the world and reshape it according to N'Zoth's vision. Champions of the Alliance and Horde rush to Ny'alotha to confront the Old God and put a stop to his machinations. Throughout the campaigns to stop N'Zoth and his encroaching armies, he continues to appear to adventurers and whisper in their minds. N'Zoth was able to create a portal in the halls of Origination, and despite the efforts of Magni Bronzebeard and the adventurers of Azeroth, it took the sacrifice of the Titanforged known as Highkeeper Ra to destroy N'Zoth's portal that would otherwise corrupt the heart of Azeroth itself. Ra himself was pulled into Ny'alotha, and his long-standing despair caused him to be easilty corrupted by the Old God.
Magni and Azeroth's champions charged into Ny'alotha, and they would come and rescue Queen Azshara, who was being tortured for her earlier betrayal of N'Zoth. Rescuing Azshara from N'Zoth's lieutenants, Azshara departed, but left the dagger Xal'atath to the black dragon Wrathion. Azeroth's champions struck at N'Zoth's heralds and champions, slaying them all and eventually arriving to face the giant Old God himself. While adventurers fought N'Zoth, Wrathion used Xal'atath to stab N'Zoth while he attempted to corrupt and force the champions of Azeroth to yield and serve. Azeroth's champions ultimately triumphed, and bought enough timme for the Titan weapon known as the Forge of Origination to be activated and vaporized N'Zoth's body and the Waking City of Ny'alotha, killing the final Old God of Azeroth.
Il'gynoth, Corruption Reborn
During the events of Battle for Azeroth, Il'gynoth is revealed to have returned to the depths of Ny'alotha, the Sleeping City, to regain its strength. As Ny'alotha becomes accessible to the heroes of Azeroth, Il'gynoth was one of the minions of N'Zoth who flocked to deter the arrival of the champions of Azeroth. Rising out of the darkness in a new, humanoid body with massive wings, eyeballs in his chest and an armoured head, this incarnation of Il'gynoth, called "Corruption Reborn", is the one represented in his Hearthstone card.Il'gynoth was the final minion of the Old Gods to be faced before the adventurers faced off against N'Zoth himself. Il'gynoth has fused with the architecture of Ny'alotha itself, and has grown much more powerful compared to his original form, able to reform his body so long as the Organs of Corruption exist. This, however, did not save him from the adventurers, who slew him alongside many other minions of N'Zoth the Corruptor.
G'huun, the Blood God
During the ancient times, the Titans attempted to experiment on the three Old Gods imprisoned on Azeroth, trying to find a solution to the problem that the Old Gods faced -- that the Titans cannot remove the Old Gods without harming the nascent Titan slumbering within Azeroth. The result of these experimentation was the accidental creation of the creature known as G'huun. G'huun was the perfect avatar for the Old Gods' unending, ravenous need to corrupt. While significantly weaker than the four Old Gods of Azeroth, G'huun was still very powerful, and was ultimately locked away in the titan facility of Uldir. Three seals kept G'huun at bay -- Atul'nazaman, Atul'Aman and Dazar'alor. While sealed, G'huun would focus his attention towards the Zandalari trolls that lived nearby, turning a sect of the Zandalari to worship the Blood God instead of Bwonsamdi. The earliest attempt to summon the being known as Hakkar the Soulflayer had left many trolls dead, and G'huun's worshippers ended up perfecting blood magic to drain and consume the blood of their victims.
By the time of Battle for Azeroth, G'huun was worshipped by the blood trolls of Nazmir, who styled G'huun as a loa called 'the Blood God'. G'huun was more than happy to allow the blood trolls to think as such, to be his minions and heralds while he spread rot and decay throughout the world. G'huun's followers regressed into the more feral and primitive Blood Trolls, and his corruption spread across Zandalar. G'huun grew powerful enough to start to wrestle control over souls of the dead from Bwonsamdi, the loa of death; and corrupted Hir'eek, the loa of bats. Both Bwonsamdi and the Zandalari empire would hire adventurers of the Horde to whittle at G'huun's trolls and enslaved loa.
Eventually, Mythrax, a giant C'Thraxxi, destroyed the seal of Atul'Aman. A second seal is found to have been destroyed during the Cataclysm. The treacherous troll prophet Zul led his allies to destroy the last remaining seal, intending to have G'huun replace the loa as the gods of the trolls. While the seal of Dazar'alor was ultimately destroyed by Mythrax. While freed, G'huun did not enjoy his freedom for long, for the adventurers of the Horde stormed Uldir. They fought through G'huun's minions and made their way to the end, and slew G'huun permanently before he could break free. Both of G'huun's quotes in Hearthstone is drawn from lines he says during his boss fight.
Grand Empress Shek'zara
During the events of Mists of Pandaria, Princess Zara of the Mantid empire was too young and weak to depose of the Grand Empress Shek'zeer, who has been corrupted by the foul forces of the Sha. To this end, Princess Zara and the rest of the Klaxxi, a group of like-minded Mantid elders, ended up searching for the aid of adventurers that arrived from outside of Pandaria to help slay Shek'zeer. The Klaxxi soon showed their true colours and turned against the adventurers of Alliance and Horde, instead choosing to aid Garrosh Hellsccream, who has been corrupted by the piece of the Old Gods, the Heart of Y'Shaarj. While many members of the Klaxxi fell, Zara did not participate, and instead remained with the rest of the Mantid.
She would make herself known to the world during the Battle for Azeroth, ascending to the empress of the Mantid swarm during the time of the Fourth War, styling herself "Grand Empress Shek'zara". She and her mantid swarm moved across Azeroth to search for Azerite. When the Old God N'Zoth was awakened, Shek'zara gladly and willingly pledged her swarm in servitude of the Old God, and assaulted the Vale of Eternal Blossoms to claim Pandaria for her dread master. Her army of Mantid and Kunchong assaulted Pandaria, but the residents of Pandaria mounted a fierce resistance aided by the heroes of the Alliance and Horde. Her lieutenants would slowly be dismantled by the combined forces of Pandaria, the Alliance and the Horde. Grand Empress Shek'zara, unlike her predecessor, led her army personally, marching to the Gate of the Setting Sun. She can be encountered there as a world boss, and ultimately be slain by the adventurers.
High Exarch Yrel
Yrel is a draenei introduced in Warlords of Draenor, and is a priestess of Karabor who was enslaved by the Iron Horde of the alternate-timeline Draenor. Her 'prime timeline' counterpart has never been seen. Yrel's early life was spent in relative peace, training to be a priestess of the Holy Light under Prophet Velen, quietly caring for those around her... until the Draenei people were shttered by the arrival of the Iron Horde. Heroes from Azeroth arrived to rescue the altered timeline, and Yrel first met them in Tanaan Jungle where she was held by the Iron Horde as a slave in the Umbral Halls. She kills the orc Ankova in self-defense, the first time she has ever taken a life, before the heroes of Azeroth met her. Yrel was then recruited into Khadgar's group, joining the Alliance into Shadowmoon Valley and wandering the garrison that was built there, befriending an adventurer and directing him/her towards some choice targets of the Iron Horde. Yrel's group of Rangari rangers were all captured and executed by the Iron Horde, with Yrel the only survivor. The adventurer would convince Yrel to not give up, and assisted her in obtaining revenge against her squad's killers. Throughout the campaign, Yrel would also lose her sister Samaara to the Iron Horde. She witnessed the warlord Ner'zhul, who summoned the monstrous Void God Karnoth, Shard of the Dark Star; and the subsequent sacrifice of the Velen of her timeline to destroy the foul being. Karnoth was purified back into the naaru K'ara. Eager to make Velen's death mean something, Yrel, the adventurer and K'ara annihilated the enemy forces in Karabor.
Yrel and Vindicator Maraad (from the 'prime' timeline) would be two of the most prominent members of the Draenei in the alternate-universe Draenor, being involved in many, many further expeditions to fight the Iron Horde, among others participating in the Gorgrond, Talador and Nagrand campaigns. During the events in Talador, Maraad would succumb to his wounds fighting the powerful orc warrior Blackhand. Picking up Maraad's hammer, Yrel worked together with the orc Durotan to severely wound Blackhand. After these events, Yrel was granted the title "Vindicator", the same title Maraad carried in life, and grew into an increasingly prominent figure during the Draenor campaign. She would later undergo the Exarch trials under the eye of the Council of Exarchs, and with the aid of her adventurer friend, she would succeed through her trials, rising into the ranks of the Council. She would be seen in various battles afterwards, particularly on the Alliance side of things, facing off against agents of the Iron Horde like Cyrukh the corrupted Firelord or Teron'gor the necromancer, and was present alongside many other champions of the war as they fought against the summoned eredar Archimonde.
While those from the original timeline would return to their home, Yrel and the rest of the draenei of her timeline remained in alternate-timeline Draenor. During the years between Warlords of Draenor and Battle for Azeroth, the Draenei became far more fanatical with the emergence of even more naaru. Yrel rose into the ranks of High Exarch of the organization known as the Lightbound, a group of fanatical draenei and orcs that are devoted to spreading the Light's influence -- by force, if need be. High Exarch Yrel ended up clashing against her old wartime ally Grommash Hellscream, attempting to convert him and the Mag'har to the religion of the Light. The Mag'har managed to escape to Azeroth, but the conclusion of High Exarch Yrel's fight against Grommash is unknown.
Her quotes in Hearthstone is a reference to one of the greetings Yrel can give you in Warlords of Draenor, which, in full, is "Faith is my mirror, but will is my weapon." Yrel is also a playable character in Blizzard's Heroes of the Storm.
Lothraxion, the Redeemed
Introduced in Legion, Lothraxion is a unique being, a Nathrezim who is infused with the powers of the Light. He serves as High Commander of the Grand Army of the Light, a massive army that is dedicated to wield the pure power of the Light itself to fight the forces of the Burning Legion in the Twisting Nether. Lothraxion is unique in that he is one of the very few demons who, not only have broken free from the Burning Legion, but has actively taken a stance allying with the Light. While he did serve the Burning Legion as one of its dreadlords, Lothraxion encountered the enigmatic ethereal Locus-Walker, who killed Lothraxion, but spared him by not killing him within the Twisting Nether (which would permanently destroy a demon), having seen a unique destiny for him. This led Lothraxion to ultimately join the Army of the Light, and his presence was one of the factors on how the dimension-displaced Turalyon and Alleria Windrunner were convinced to join the Army of the Light. Through their crusade, Lothraxion would prove himself to be a very faithful comrade-in-arms for the Azeroth-born champions. Alleria would repay Lothraxion's loyalty by risking the usage of the forbidden powers of the Void to rescue the redeemed Nathrezim from a demonic assassin's poison, and Lothraxion would later beseech the naaru Xe'ra to spare Alleria's life.
During the events of Legion Lothraxion is captured by agents of the Burning Legion in the world of Niskara, and the Highlord of the Silver Hand (i.e. your Paladin character) would mount a raid to free the member of the Army of the Light. Lothraxion would later be found in found in the Sanctum of Light, the order hall of the Silver Handm, and would fight alongside the Highlord against one of his kind, the Dreadlord Balnazzar, who attacked the Netherlight Temple. Lothraxion would continue to participate in various campaigns of the Army of the Light, and would finally reunite with his old friend Turalyon on Argus.
Zai, the Outcast
Zai the Incredible is very likely the same person as Zai the Outcast (and the title is really the only thing this guy has in common to Demon Hunters), a level 20-35 Jinyu found in Inkgill Mere of the Kun-Lai Summit. Zai the Outcast is a Jinyu who, like the rest of the tribe in Kun-Lai, have been corrupted by the Sha, and is hostile to anyone who approaches him.
Tenwu of the Red Smoke
Tenwu of the Red Smoke is a level 90 member of the Shado-Pan. He is located in Townlong Steppes, and would first introduce himself to the player as a deadly Wu Kao rogue who challenges the player to a battle. Noted to be overly proud of his skills, the defeat at the hands of an adventurer would teach the prideful Tenwu some humility. He would then assist the adventurer in Shado-Pan daily quests, and is involved in some quests like the Siege of Niuzao Temple and the assault on the Isle of Thunder.
E.T.C., God of Metal
We've covered ETC, a.k.a. Elite Tauren Chieftain, before, in the Reward set, before he was migrated into the Hall of fame. ETC is a metal band both in real life (comprised of employees of Blizzard entertainment) and within the world of Azeroth (represented by a travelling group of Horde musicians). They performed some songs, which is first seen in the credits of Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, and in World of Warcraft, the ETC band could be seen in Shattrath City, in Blackrock Depth's Grim Guzzler, and at rest in Silvermoon City. "ETC" also refers to the lead performer, the tauren represented in the card, who has also starred in Heroes of the Storm as a playable character.
Moonfang
Moonfang, the Darkmoon Den Mother, is a world boss located in the woods on western Darkmoon Island, and is only accessible when the Darkmoon Faire is active. Adventurers must kill Moonfang's pack, taking out the Moonfang Snarlers and subsequently Moonfang Dreadhowls, before Moonfang herself emerges out of her den. Upon taking her out, one of the most desirable loots from her is her baby cub Moon Moon.
Dark Inquisitor Xanesh
Dark Inquisitor Xanesh is a boss in the Ny'alotha raid. She was first encountered by the adventurer and Wrathion in the Vault of the Shadowflame, where they encountered Xanesh as she tried to revive Nefarian's experiments, and ultimately revive the twin children of Deathwing Nefarian and Onyxia to serve N'Zoth. The adventurer defeated her, forcing her to retreat to Ny'alotha. Within Ny'alotha, she tortured the Naga Queen Azshara for betraying N'Zoth. It is noted that her role within N'Zoth's rule is to deal with those who resist the whispers of the Old God, and she delights in carving the sanity away from those in her tender mercies. Xanesh is the fourth boss in the Ny'alotha raid, where Wrathion and a group of adventurers encountered her, slew her and rescued Azshara from her tender mercies. Azshara, while not allied with the adventurers, would tell them of an important way to defeat N'Zoth before retreating.
I'm not entirely sure what she is riding, some sort of giant Old God tentacle, I guess? Xanesh is also featured in the artwork for Hysteria.
Deck of Lunacy
The Deck of Lunacy (or, rather, the Lunacy Deck) is a deck of cards that players can crafted after looting and obtaining the cards that it is comprised of -- Ace through Eight of Lunacy, which can be looted in various places in Azeroth. A series of different 'decks' are added in Wrath of the Lich King as collectible trinkets that are crafted from various items found all over Azeroth. Handing the Lunacy Deck in to the Darkmoon Faire awards the "Darkmoon Card: Madness", which is depicted in both the WoW icon and the central card seen in Deck of Lunacy's Hearthstone card art. The trinket will give a buff of 51 stamina, and the ability to gain a random buff whenever you land a killing blow on a target. The card art also features the hands of Sayge, the gnoll seer.
Deck of Chaos
The Chaos Deck in World of Warcraft, like the Lunacy Deck, is also a collectible item that can be combined by looting Ace through Eight of Chaos, with each card having different requirements to obtain. This would lead to the creation of the Chaos Deck, which, in turn, can be handed into Darkmoon Faire for the "Darkmoon Card: Berserker" item, which gives the player a chance to enter a berserker state when he/she takes damage.
Kiri Chosen of Elune, Greybough & The Nameless One
Kiri, Chosen of Elune is original to Hearthstone, although it depicts the Moonkin form of a Balance Druid -- which is reflected by Kiri having both Solar and Lunar Eclipse in her art and card effect. Greybough is an Ancient of Lore, unique to Hearthstone. The Nameless One is presumably (but not definitely) a disguised Faceless One, also unique to Hearthstone.
Kiri, Chosen of Elune is original to Hearthstone, although it depicts the Moonkin form of a Balance Druid -- which is reflected by Kiri having both Solar and Lunar Eclipse in her art and card effect. Greybough is an Ancient of Lore, unique to Hearthstone. The Nameless One is presumably (but not definitely) a disguised Faceless One, also unique to Hearthstone.
Grand Totem Eys'or & Inara Stormcrash
Grand Totem Eys'or is a totem that's original to Hearthstone. Inara Stormcrash is a Wildhammer dwarf unique to Hearthstone, presumably a performer and a fighter in Darkmoon Faire's fight pit. Inara Stormccrash is featured in the artwork of Stormstrike.
Tickatus & Ringmaster Whatley
Both original to Hearthstone, Tickatus is an Abyssal, while Ringmaster Whatley is a Worgen. Tickatus's Battlegrounds blurb notes that he stalks the Darkmoon Faire at night, looking for tickets -- although it's not certain what he wants the tickets for. Note the Ringmaster's Baton in Whatley's hand, another collectible card from this expansion.
Envoy Rustwix & Keywarden Ivory
These two legendaries are a bit of a callback to previous sets. Envoy Rustwix has a brief cameo in some of the trailers for Ashes of Outland, as part of the Rusted Legion. Keywarden Ivory is noted to be the daughter of Scholomance Academy's Keymaster Alabaster (himself original to Hearthstone) and skipped out on classes to enter the Darkmoon Races. Both Rustwix and Ivory have features that represent their 'home' expansions.
These two legendaries are a bit of a callback to previous sets. Envoy Rustwix has a brief cameo in some of the trailers for Ashes of Outland, as part of the Rusted Legion. Keywarden Ivory is noted to be the daughter of Scholomance Academy's Keymaster Alabaster (himself original to Hearthstone) and skipped out on classes to enter the Darkmoon Races. Both Rustwix and Ivory have features that represent their 'home' expansions.
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Non-Legendary Minions
Darkmoon Dirigible: The Darkmoon Dirigible is a mount in World of Warcraft, and is purchasable at the Darkmoon Faire from the exotic goods vendor Lhara for 1000 Prize Tickets, added in Legion.
Carousel Gryphon: A carousel exists in Darkmoon Faire as one of its attractions, and one of the battle pets you can earn as a prize in Darkmoon Faire is the Darkmoon "Gryphon", a wooden gryphon based on the carousel added in the Mists of Pandaria expansion. Players can purchase Darkmoon "Gryphon"s from the goblin vendor Gelvas Grimegate.
The following cards are all various Darkmoon Faire-goers or carnies, but as far as I can tell, they are all original to Hearthstone: Parade Leader, Prize Vendor, Darkmoon Statue, Inconspicuous Riders, Circus Medic, Knife Vendor, Claw Machine, Banana Vendor, Circus Amalgam, Optimistic Ogre, Strongman, Safety Inspector, Carnival Clown, Line Cutter, Stiltstepper, Bladed Lady, Renowned Performer, Faire Arborist, Mystery Winner, Confection Cyclone, Game Master, Firework Elemental, Carnival Barker, Balloon Merchant, Fairground Fool, Foxy Fraud, Sweet Tooth, Prize Plunderer, Cagematch Custodian, Fire Breather, Stage Hand, Redscale Dragontamer, Magicfin, Bumper Car, Ring Matron, Sword Eater and Tent Thrasher. Banana Vendor is, of course, a reference to Banana Buffoon, who was also selling bananas back in his first appearance in Rastakhan's Rumble. While as far as I can tell there isn't any specific one-to-one comparisons, a lot of the Hunter beasts are a reference to the zoo area of WoW's Darkmoon Faire.
Wriggling Horror: No specific mob called "Wriggling Horror" exists, but it is a Fleshbeast -- a mysterious type of creature that was first seen in Old God-related areas or created by mad mages, although the Fleshbeasts found earlier looked somewhat different. The Fleshbeasts seen during Battle for Azeroth had a different look (i.e. an updated model), with a mainly purple appearance, and three prominent eyeballs above a fanged mouth. Not much is known about the Fleshbeasts.
Fortune Teller: While the Fortune Teller in Hearthstone is a robotic booth akin to many similar attractions in real life, the NPC known as "Darkmoon Fortune Teller" is a series of wandering fortune tellers found in the Darkmoon Faire. Three variations -- a gnome, a human and a forsaken -- exist, and they are summoned from several Darkmoon Faire decks. By using the deck, the fortune tellers will grant you a boon.
Derailed Coaster: While there is a roller-coaster in WoW's Darkmoon Faire, it never actually gets derailed. Of course, Hearthstone's Darkmoon Faire has all these Old Gods running around; even the roller coaster cars gets turned into Old God minions!
Darkmoon Strider, Fleetfoot Pearltusk & Trampling Rhino: Summoned by the Petting Zoo spell, Darkmoon Striders are level 20 Tallstriders found near Darkmoon Faire's entrance and would allow arrivals fast travel from the entrance to the fairgrounds proper. In the Darkmoon Zoo, a particularly large tallstrider called Violet is one of the attractions. Trampling Rhino is, of course, a homage to the 'Trample' mechanic from Magic: The Gathering. While perhaps a coincidence, there is a rhino (named "Crush") and a family of Elekks ("Jumbo", "Jumbina" and "Jumbo Jr.") in the Darkmoon Zoo which might have been the inspiration for Trampling Rhino and Fleetfoot Pearltusk respectively.
Darkmoon Tonk: Tonks are a common attraction in Darkmoon, being smaller Steam Tanks used for (presumably and hopefully) non-lethal purposes. Players can ride Steam Tonks in the Darkmoon Faire, allowing for more playful PvP where players will drive around the faire shooting each other with tonks. The specific term "Darkmoon Tonk" also refers to a toy version of it that acts as a cute little companion sold by Lhara, one of the Darkmoon Faire vendors.
Fantastic Firebird: While we've talked about Firebirds and Phoenixes before, the Fantastic Firebird is a specific reference to a minigame in Darkmoon Island, called the Firebird's Challenge, where players must fly through as many floating rings of fire in a set amount of time with the aid of a firework-jetpack given by the goblin Ziggie Sparks.
Fizzy Elemental: While no specific mob in Hearthstone has that name, various similar "Alementals" have shown up in various quests in Mists of Pandaria, where some water elemental spirits were formed out of alcoholic beverages, like the Fizzy Brew Alemental. They mainly feature in quests relating to Chen Stormstout.
Pit Master: The Pit Master, in addition to the Shaman spell the Deathmatch Pavilion, is a reference to... well, the eponymous Deathmatch Pavilion, a PvP arena within Darkmoon Faire. The art for Pit Master specifically seems to depict the Mag'har orc Korgol Crushskull, the Pit Master, a level 60 character who runs the Deathmatch Pavilion and is an NPC that players can talk to in order to participate in the deathmatch.
Ticket Master: While there are various goblins working in Darkmoon Faire, only two male goblins work as vendors -- Sazz Coincatcher sells coins, while Gelvas Grimegate exchanges tickets for novelty toys and trinkets. While the Ticket Master might not be meant to represent a specific NPC, those two are probably the closest one -- particularly Gelvas, which, as I mentioned, sells toys.
Darkmoon Rabbit: A loving homage to Monty Python, the Darkmoon Rabbit is a level ??? boss found in the Darkmoon Island Cave, a cute little bunny with blood stains on its mouth and front paws. The Darkmoon Rabbit is a highly dangerous boss, who will attempt to rip the throat out of the player that seems to be at the highest threat, able to deal 25% of the target's health every second. If killed, the Darkmoon Rabbit will drop the Darkmoon Rabbit companion.
Felsaber: Felsabers are (presumably) demon-corrupted nightsabers. They were first seen in Legion, where they were a possible mount that Demon Hunters would get, where they were granted to the player by the Ashtongue captain Gaardoun, who claimed that they were a gift to the player character from Illidan Stormrage himself. In addition to the Illidari faction, some Felsworn Nightborne are known to ride Felsabers as well.
Crabrider: While the Crabrider in Darkmoon Racers is far, far more comical and the crab is noticeably much smaller, there is actually a crab-riding murloc in WoW called Crab Rider Grmlrml, riding around in Shipwreck Cove.
Imprisoned Celestial: The Imprisoned Celestial is based on the mount Celestial Steed, from World of Warcraft. It is a Celestial (the same Constellar-style races that Algalon hails from) freshly born from the Twisting Nether that conveniently takes the form of a horse for adventurers to ride upon. It is the first mount available in the Blizzard Store that's available to be purchased for real-world money.
Likewise, the following cards from Darkmoon Races are original to Hearthstone: Saddlemaster, Sparkjoy Cheat, Mistrunner, Felfire Deadeye, Luckysoul Hoarder, Imprisoned Phoenix, Dreaming Drake, Glacier Racer, Ironclad, Armor Vendor, Runaway Blackwing and Deathwarden. Runaway Blackwing, of course, is a reference to the Nefarian-allied Blackwing organization. The Mistrunner (which is part of the Mistlurker race) shares its name with a tribe of Tauren. Imprisoned Phoenix is, of course, a reference to the Imprisoned series of minions in Ashes of Outland. Dreaming Drake's corrupted form is a member of the Nightmare Dragonflight, which is what the dream-forms of the green dragons were turned into when they were corrupted by N'Zoth's influence in the Emerald Dream.
Surprisingly, the Lightsteed is original to Hearthstone. Close to three dozen horse mounts, and none of them are holy-elemental themed? Really? Everything is undead or skeletal? I genuinely was surprised; the closest I can get is Tyrael's Charger, and that's an angelic horse. Judging by its tag, it's a Lightspawn/Light Elemental in the shape of a horse.
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Old Gods, now!
Blood of G'huun: The Blood of G'huun is a Blood Elemental, a new type of creature introduced in Battle for Azeroth, created from the blood of the Old Gods like G'huun and N'Zoth. Due to his title, Blood of G'huun seems to be a specific reference to Vectis, the fifth boss in the Uldir, the Titanforged facility where G'huun was entombed. Vectis was formed out of a combination of G'huun's blood and the isolated corpses of those killed by the plague of corrupted blood caused by Hakkar the Soulflayer. With the essences of two foul blood magic combined, the creature known as Vectis was born, hungering for fresh victims. Like all the inhabitants of Uldir, Vectis was ultimately slain by adventurers who descended into the facility to destroy the Blood God.
Nazmani Bloodweaver: Nazmani Bloodweavers are level 121 blood trolls located in Uldir, being members of the Nazmani tribe, a group of blood trolls that fanatically serve G'huun.
Gyreworm: First seen when adventurers ventured into the earth elemental plane of Deepholm during the events of Cataclysmi, the Gyreworms were powerful, large elementals that resembled giant tunneling worms. With a body made by a series of concentric floating rings and a massive maw of crystals, the Gyreworms burrow their way through Deepholm, and some have even burst through into Azeroth in Kezan. The Earth Elementals serving under Therazane consider them as vermin, but also respect their single-minded hunger and ability to destroy rock and minerals. The specific mob called just a 'Gyreworm' is a level 30-35 mob in Deepholm.
K'thir Ritualist: The K'thir are a new type of Faceless Ones first encountered in Kul Tiras during the events of Battle for Azeroth. The K'thir are a lot smaller than their brethren and their body are far more humanoid (although they have a similar tentacled face, albeit with five very distinct tentacles), but are no less dangerous. Legends of the K'thir abound in Kul Tiras even before the Fourth War of beings that look and act like humans, but upon death show their terrible true forms as beings that are decidedly not. Wielding many of the same dark powers that their larger Faceless One brethren do, the K'thir infiltrate humanity, sowing the seeds of their dark masters and using their insidious powers to bend the wills of their enemy. Throughout the Kul Tiras campaign, many Alliance adventurers unveiled a massive conspiracy where various docks have been completely taken over by disguised K'thir, and found even evidence of rituals where fanatical human cultists transform themselves into K'thir.
Other miscellaneous minions that are original to Hearthstone: Rock Rager, Showstopper, Felsteel Executioner, Insatiable Felhound, Redeemed Pariah, Umbral Owl, Occult Conjurer, Midway Maniac, Man'ari Mosher and Revenant Rascal. Rock Rager is, of course, a reference on the ever-recurring 'Rager' series of elementals in Hearthstone. I'm not actually sure what the heck Showstopper is, and I'm not sure if it's meant to be a creature from World of Warcraft. I guess it could just be an Old God tentacle that ends in a mouth instead of eyes and spikes?
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Spells:
Cenarion Ward: Cenarion Ward is a level 15 Restoration Druid talent, which will protect a friendly target with a ward that consumes damage and heal the target instead.
Solar Eclipse/Lunar Eclipse: The 'Eclipse Bar' is a secondary resource for balance-spec druids prior to Legion, which will alternate and cycle between Lunar and Solar. The Eclipse bar, depending on the cycle, will boost the damage of their arcane or nature spells respectively.
Auspicious Spirits: Added in Warlords of Draenor, Auspicious Spirits is a is a level 75 Shadow priest talent, which increases the power of Shadow Apparitions.
Cloak of Shadows: Cloak of Shadows is a level 58 rogue ability that has been around since the original version of WoW. Its current iteration enables the rogue to remove spell debuffs on them and become resistant to all spells for 5 seconds. An item with the same name also appears in Warcraft III, granting any hero that carries it the ability to Shadowmeld.
Stormstrike: Stormstrike is a level 26 Enhancement Shaman attack that strikes an enemy with both weapons after charging them with the power of lightning. Many Shaman cards in Madness at the Darkmoon Faire draw from the flavour of Enhancement Shamans, who channel the power of the elements to empower their weapons. Stormstrike's artwork features Inara Stormcrash from this very expansion.
Rigged Faire Game: The Rigged Faire Game depicts the Shooting Gallery ran by Rinling in World of Warcraft, although the card art here shows Game Master clearly being a lot more willing to swindle his customers.
Ring Toss: The Ring Toss is a minigame in the Southern Pavilion, where fairegoers will toss 10 rings and attempt to land them on Dubenko the turtle. It's ran by Jessica Rogers, a female human. Dubenko seems to have the time of his life being corrupted by the Old Gods in Hearthstone, it seems!
Stage Dive: Stage Dive is one of ETC's abilities in the Heroes of the Storm game.
The four Old God Jewels -- Jewel of N'Zoth, Mask of C'Thun, Idol of Y'Shaarj and Oh My Yogg! are all original to Hearthstone, but all reference the original Whispers of the Old Gods effects of the four Old Gods' original cards in Hearthstone.
Landslide: Darkmoon Races spells now! Landslide shares its name with a WoW Enhancement Shaman talent, added in Legion and removed in Battle for Azeroth. Landslide is a passive talent that enhances the ability Rockbiter.
Bola Shot: Bola Shot was a talent in the beta version of Warlords of Draenor, which would launch a bola at an enemy and cause AOE damage. This ability never actually made it out of the beta, however.
Libram of Judgment: The Libram of Judgment is based on the Libram of Divine Judgment from Burning Crusade. It's a level 128 relic that buffs certain stats on your hero when you equip it. Like all the Librams, it was removed from WoW in Mists of Pandaria. The whole 'Libram' theme is, of course, a follow-up on Ashes of Outland.
Hysteria: While it's a dual-class Warlock/Priest card in Hearthstone, Hysteria in World of Warcraft is a Death Knight ability that induces a friendly unit into a killing frenzy, increasing their attack but causing them to take damage over time.
Nitroboost Poison: The Nitroboost Poison is based on the Nitro Boost, a permanent enchantment that WoW engineers can craft onto their belt. The Nitro Boost can greatly increase a character's running speed for short periods of time, and only veeeeery rarely explode, either debuffing the character or launching them into the air for fatal damage.
The following Darkmoon Races spells are original to Hearthstone: Resizing Pouch, Guidance, Illidari Studies, Backfire, Rally!, Barricade, Arbor Up and Shenanigans. Illidari Studies is a reference to the 'Studies' cycle from Scholomance Academy.
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Weapons:
Dreadlord's Bite: The Dreadlord's Bite is a visual skin for the Vengeance Demon Hunter artifact weapon, the Aldrachi Warblades. The Demon Hunter could obtain the Dreadlord's Bite appearance after completing the Balance of Power questline, specifically after aiding in the fall of Gul'dan.
Hammer of the Naaru: Introduced in Burning Crusade, the Hammer of the Naaru is an epic two-handed level 32 mace, obtained from the High King Maulgar of the Bladespire ogres, located in Gruul's Lair. The Hammer of the Naaru is most notable for lending its appearance for the iconic crystal war-hammer of Vindicator Maraad (very prominently featured in the Burning Crusade cinematic), and later Exarch Yrel.
Whack-a-Gnoll Hammer: While not a lootable item, the Whack-a-Gnoll Hammer is based on the hammer used for the Whack-a-Gnoll minigame, a sideshow attraction located near the entrance of the Darkmoon Faire ran by Mola the orc. Players will use the mallet to whack stuffed gnolls that pop out of nine barrels, with Hogger puppets getting more points and baby gnolls giving you a penalty. Don't hit the babies!
The Felsteel Executioner and Ringmaster's Baton are both original to Hearthstone. From Darkmoon Races, the Spiked Wheel is also original to Hearthstone.
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