Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne – Plot Guide
Plot Guide by Lord Zero
Version: 1.6 | Updated: 04/15/05
Warcraft Plot Guide By Lord Zero (dskzero@yahoo.com) Version 1.6 ***************************************************************************** Index: 1.- File History 2.- Intro 3.- About this guide. 4.- Timeline. 5.- The History. 6.- Warcraft: Orcs and Humans. 7.- Warcraft II: The Tides of Darkness. 8.- Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal. 9.- Warcraft III: The Reign of Chaos. 10.- Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. 11.- World of Warcraft. 12.- The adventure that never happened: Warcraft Adventures. 13.- Info about the three books. 14.- The Races. 15.- Miscelleanous Facts About The Storyline. 16.- Frequently Asked Questions. 17.- The Xel'Naga/Titans Theory. 18.- The Colliseum. 19.-Credits. 20.- Legal Stuff. ***************************************************************************** 1.- File History. - 0.1 A plot guide!!! This is an greedy project for me ^_^. Just started typing stuff. Ahhh... this is gonna be fun. (11/06/2002, 16:08) Currently Listening to: Edgecrusher, by Fear Factory. - 0.2 Wow. I've really advanced a lot! Currently writing the resumen for WC III... no music though. Soccer game on TV. - 0.3 Finished the games, the main history... What a lot of stuff to write. I'm advacing though. I think. Ahem. Currently listening to: Bright Eyes, by Blind Guardian. - 0.4 Working on the races section. Damn it's frigging long. (03/28/03, 20:49) Currently listening to: Someday we'll know, By New Radicals. Ahem. - 1.0 Done! Well, until now... (03/28/03, 22:06) Currently Listening to: Head Like a Hole, by The Nine Inch Nails. - 1.1 Messed up the tiers and added some info about the conection between Starcraft and Warcraft. Currently Listening to: Love you to Death, by Type O Negative. Wow. -1.2 Sort of a rushed version, but since I haven't been able to reply to the emails I've gotten, i decided to send this half finished version for now. Hopefully, tommorrow will be ready. Started the Notable Characters for each race. Added how Sargeras was finally Erradicated. Added who killed Medivh. Added how Azeroth was rebuilt after the Second Coming of the Legion. Added how Medivh still had an human and nice side before he was killed. Added the three books to the history. Added more information about the Tiers. Aded how the Titans might be related to the Xel'naga. Added more info about Silvanas Windrunner. Added the info about the Thrall's lost missions in WC III. Removed the Colliseum. And that's it I think. Currently Listening to: Temple of your Dreams, Monster Magnet. 1.3 Added A RIDICULOUS ammount of info about BtDP, thanks to a kind soul who goes by the email <SoulKeeper24@aol.com>>. Currently listening to: Pool of Tears, American Mcgee's Alice sountrack. (06/30/03, 21:27) 1.4 I would love to say that i've been working very hard on this guide... but that would be a lie :) The reason is the Frozen Throne. Anyway, I've added the section corresponding for the game as well as the resume in the main history section. Expanded the races sections a bit, but many notorious characters are still on the shadow (not to mention about Rexxxar), so this will take longer than what i thought. Corrected who killed Antonidas. Currently listening to: Next Mother****er (Remix), Marilyn Manson(08/09/03, 16:32) 1.5 Corrected who led the Alliance during the Second War (ahem). Corrected several errors, as well as adding more info about the characters in the Frozen Throne. Changed my email, corrected more errors, and who knows what else. I've got a headache. A word of advice: Do not play The Thing under any kind of excitement inducing drink. It's fairly annoying. Currently Listening to: Hello, Evanescence(10/28/03, 13:43) "Hello, I'm still here, all that's left of yesterday..." 1.6 Added more info about the Frozen Throne. Addedd whatever happened to Rend and Maim (which was, I must say, I brutal mistake on my part. Sorry). Added some info about the World of Warcraft, but, once again, take it with a buttload of salt. I have no idea about the certainty of this. Added a bit of weirdness about Garona's "half-orc" status. More info about the Murlocs added. It's surprising how far do people go sometimes :S. Corrected the ridiculous mistake of "ILLIDIAN". Ahem. And no, he's not dead. Added a few bits of info around, still researching though the guide is drawning close to an end until WoW is released. Currently listening to: Orestes (live), A Perfect Circle. Geez. (11/29/03, 22:06) CIGARRETES. NOW. ***************************************************************************** 2.-Introduction. Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, one of the most anticipated sequels ever, is finally out. Please take into account that you are reading a guide wrote by a loyal fan, and I know what I'm talking about when that about is Warcraft. Warcraft is an epic tale of war, destruction, demons and survival. And as it is, it has a fairly complicated history. Many characters come and go, and everything seems to go haywire when something happens. This is especially true to the last game of the series, WC III, and it seems as it will certainly wildly shake when World of Warcraft is out, as well as the expansion pack. So, I find it interesting to write a plot guide, as many people are surely confused for not playing the first games, or by not understanding some of the many plot twists around the whole game. Besides, who doesn't want to write a plot guide about a game they love?. So, proudly, I present you my latest guide yet: Warcraft Plot Guide. ***************************************************************************** 3.- About this Guide. IMPORTANT NOTE: My previous Email Address is not working anymore. However, the thing doesn't bounces back the emails with any kind of responses :S. Feel free to resend anything to dskzero@yahoo.com, which is my new email (I WILL NEVER GET A HOTMAIL ACCOUNT!), sorry for the inconveniences ;). This actually goes for ALL of my guides, but I can't do another Mega-Update at the moment :S. ANOTHER IMPORTANT NOTE: This is not a note so much as it is a distress call. Since I do not own FT (Thanks to the fact that my country has been bassically blocked out due to political issues), I simply borrowed a friend's game. However, he never gave me the manual, and thus, perhaps I am missing a lot of info. If anyone can supply a scan of it, a (heavens!) text drop or anything, I'll be eternally glad. Until, to the very least, august, I won't be able to get a formal copy of the game, and thus, a real copy of the manual. (For example, I have no idea what the hell happened to the Murlocs) This guide looks like heaven on 800x600, though now I use 1024x768. However, this isn't standard still, so I left it at the above definition. Besides, I'm too lazy to change all my guides. THIS IS A PLOT GUIDE. For the purposes of this guide, I don't know how to play the game, ok? And I don't know what is a huntress rush and stuff. I do know how to "Mana Burn" an email account if you start annoying me. Finally, if something's wrong, don't yell at me. I'm just a fan. Just ask me nicely what the freak am I talking about and we'll be just fine. Thanx. WC: Warcraft. ROC: Reign of Chaos. I will also say WCIII from time to time. TFT: The Frozen Throne. Expansion for Warcraft. BtDP: Beyond the Dark Portal. TOD: The Tides of Darkness. ***************************************************************************** 4.- Timeline. MAIN COURSE OF EVENTS: A brief Timeline. 10,000 BP (before portal ^_^) The Burning Legion Tries to invade the world in order to drain the magic from it. They are repelled by a unknown, by the time, race, the Night Elves. The Burning Legion seems to remember this defeat and are certainly eager to come back for a second round. The first Well of Eternity is Destroyed. 6,000 Quel'talas is founded. The High Elves appear for the first time. 2,800 Arathor is founded, marking the apparition of humans as an organized race on the world. Also, around these years the Trolls are defeated by the Elves and their kingdoms are reduced to dust, situation that keeps true to this day. 1,200 Seven nations are founded, separating Arathor. Lordaeron is one of these nations, as well as Stromgarde and Azeroth. 45 Aegwyn The Guardian defeats Sargeras, the leader of the Burning Legion. However, Sargeras manages somehow to bond itself with Aegwyn.** 40 Mannoroth the Destructor, in Draenor makes a pact with Ner'zhul the shaman in order to corrupt the shamanistic orcs into a bloodlusted horde. They begin to attack the Draenei, another race of their world, and crush them quickly. 37 Medivh, son of Aewgwyn, is born. 17-3 Somewhere between these years, Medivh makes contact with Gul'dan Warlock of the Horde and Leader of the Shadow Council. 1 The first portal is opened by Medivh, corrupted by the power of Sargeras. The Horde enters Azeroth. In Azeroth, the current year is 583 5 AP The Horde invades Azeroth definitely. Medivh is killed on his tower in Azeroth and is killed by Aduin Lothar While the Horde is able to beat the Humans and takes over Azeroth, Blackhand, the Warchief of the horde is killed by one of his own Generals, Orgrim Doomhamer, who claims he is the new leader of the Horde. Gul'dan is powerless to beat Doomhammer due to being weakened because of being inside Medivh's mind when he died. The King of Azeroth is killed. Lothar rallies their people towards Lordaeron. 6 The Human Alliance is formed, with King Therenas from Azeroth as its leader. Humans, High Elves and Dwarves join forces to beat the Orcish Horde. The Trolls from Quel' Talas, the Goblins and the Ogres from Draenor join the Horde for various reasons. During this year, the Horde is defeated and the Dark Portal is destroyed. Lothar is killed by DoomHammer during the Blackrock Spire siege. Durotan is killed by Rend and Maim. 7 The Orc internments camps are created. 8 Ner'zhul, an Orc Shaman, reopens the portal, and sends raiding parties to find certain artifacts to open multiple portals from Draenor to Azeroth. In response, the Humans send their armies thru the portal and attack their world. Ner'zhul succedes in opening more portals, but he is unable to use them. Draenor is destroyed. 9-24 Thrall joins the history and succedes in freeing his fellow orcs. * 24 Thrall begins his quest to the west due to a mysterious prophet suggesting it. Ner'zhul is resurrected as a Lich, the Lich King. He begins his attacks to Azeroth using a plague which turns its victims to the Undead. Quel'Talas is destroyed. The Human cities are destroyed and the Prince Arthas of Lordaeron falls victim to the Undead, joining them. Archimonde enters Lordaeron. Silvanas Windrunner is turned into the undead by Arthas. Dalaran is destroyed. King Terenas, Muradin Bronzebeard and Uther lightbringer are killed by Arthas. Grom Hellscream joins again the pact with Mannoroth the Destructor. Cenarious is killed by Grom Hellscream. Orcs and Humans joins forces for the first time as Jaina Proudmoore, daughter of the Admiral Proudmoore, and Thrall save Grom. Grom Hellscream dies but takes Mannoroth down with him, breaking the pact definitely with the Burning Legion. Tyrande Whisperwind frees Illidan Stormrage after centuries of imprisonment. Maeiv Shadowsong begins chasing him down. Tichondrious is killed by Illidan Stormrage. Illidan Stormrage leaves the forest forever. The Druids Night Elves awaken from their sleep. The Night elves begin their offensive against the Undead but fail and have to retreat to the World Tree. With the Joined forces of Humans, Orcs and Night Elves, Malfurion Stormrage and Tyrande Whisperwind manage to beat Archimonde. The World Tree is destroyed, but a new branch begins to grow into a new Tree. 25*** Illidan Stormrage joins forces with Kil'Jaeden and the Naga. The Plaguelands are formed. Thrall founds Durotar. The Tomb of Sargeras rises up again from the bottom of the seafloor. Maeiv Shadowsong, chasing down Illidan, uncovers the Tomb of Sargeras once again, and discovers the history behind Gul'dan's search in there and Illidan's plot to melt down Northrend. She also discovers the origin of the Naga. Maeiv Shadowsong and Malfurion Stormrage foil Illidan's plot. The Blood elves join forces with the Naga and the Draenei to slay Magtheridon. They succeed. Silvanas Windrunner, Now a Dark Ranger, tries to kill King Arthas, but fails. She then erradicates any vestiges of the humans and the the Burning Legion from the Plaguelands and claims the land as her own. Arthas reachs Northtrend. Saphirron is turned into the Undead by Arthas. Anub'arak and Arthas reach the kingdom of Azjul'Nerub. A Forgotten one is killed by Anub'arak and Arthas. It is unknown if any other is still on the dead halls of Azjul'Nerub. Anub'arak and Arthas forces battle in the valley of Northtrend with Prince Kael's Blood Elves, and Vashj and Illidan's Naga. They succeed in opening the Frozen Throne tower. Arthas and Illidan clash at the foot of the Frozen Throne tower. Arthas succeedes in vanquishing the Demon Hunter and claims the Frozen Throne. The Lich King merges with Arthas. NOTES: *The complete storyline for Thrall is on a book, named "Thrall's Tale: Lord of the Clans". Furthermore, there was a game that was never released named Warcraft Adventures, which featured this history. Check the games section for more information about it. ** There has been a few discrepanses around when did Aegwyn beat Sargeras. Apparently, she killed him 45 years before (as Blizzard has said), but in the WC II manual, she claims to kill him a hundred years before. So, who's right? The dude who wrote the history? or the gal who killed the mentioned monster? The chicken? or the Egg? *** Call it educated guess, but the mentions of the Legion being destroyed "months ago" makes me think that a new year might have started. Of course this isn't a definitive order of events, there has to be a lot more to the found about the universe of Warcraft. ***************************************************************************** 5.- THE HISTORY ___________ | | | THE START | |___________| The history of Warcraft goes as far as when the world was created. Many milleniums ago, the Titan, a group of Metal-Skinned powerful gods, traveled around the Great Dark Beyond (the outer space)(duh), giving life to the planets they found. Their plans was to create order out of chaos, with life. The Titans had a elite sect of Titans named the Pantheon. They decided the actions, and they decided the rules. The only danger, though great, was the Twisting Nether, a dimension of twisted and chaotic magics, which held captive every demon and evil being in existence. They were struggling to escape, and finally, they succeded. Sargeras, at the time the greatest warrior out of the almighty Titans, was sent to find these demons and slay them for good. For many centuries and millenias, he fought. He eventually began to fell victim to the dark energies of the most powerful races he killed, the Eredar and the Nathrezim, not dying or failing, but desperating and feeling confused that hate and anger had met his once pure mind. He began to feel as if the Titans were responsible for his doom. On its rage, he released the Eredar and the Nathrezim, allied with them, and fleed. During these days, Sargeras choose two helpers among the Eredar. Kil'Jaeden the Deceiver, and Archimonde the Defiler. And now, his rage has been consuming worlds ever since... __________ | | | THE PACT | |__________| The Burning Legion's invasion of the earth was repeled by the Night Elves, an ancient and powerful race. Obviously, this wasn't forgot, and he vowed to attack once again. Details of this war belong to the Night Elves own history. Sargeras was eventually killed about 9,955 years later by Aegwyn, the Guardian of the world, and buried in a particular place no one but she knew. It's said that this tomb contains unknown power. Part of this unknown power was bound to Aegwyn.** Three years later, Medivh, the son of Aegwyn and a key character, was born. Aegwyn gave him her own power, locking it within himself only to awaken when he was sixteen years old. This happened, but when it was released, Medivh was corrupted by Sargeras Power. In the distant world of Draenor, the orc warlock Ner'zhul met a Pit Lord named Manorroth the Destroyer, and signed a pact for power exchanging their service. The Orcs agreed this pact, and drank the demon's blood willingly. The Horde, once a shamanistic and quiet culture, became a group of bloodlusted and demented beasts. The Orcs procedeed to attack their fellow Dreanei, quickly killing all of them.** With their only enemy extincted, the Horde began to break apart. _____________ | | | THE CONTACT | |_____________| During all this time, a powerful warlock known as Gul'dan, the most powerful orc warlock ever, rose above the other magicians, eventually drawing attention from no one else than Kil'jaeden the Deceiver. As his pupil, he began working into the Twisting Nether, gaining ever more knowledge. When the Horde was tethering over the brink of destruction, he stood and formed the Shadow Council, a group of Warlocks who kept the Horde together under the promise of new lands to conquer. He found a puppet, the young Blackhand, to serve as the new Warchief of the Horde. One time, he found all of his companions and even his master Kil'Jaeden, deeply disturbed because someone had tried to contact them, but not him. Confused by the fact that even Kil'Jaeded was afraid of this power, he sought to find it. He did, and the power had a name: Medivh. Medivh eventually found Gul'dan, and they both offered their treaths. Medivh offered their lands in exchange of the total anihilation of Azeroth, the only kingdom he thought to stand on his way. Medivh has been so corrupt that he was even able to defeat his own mother. He began costructing a portal for the Orcs to pass, and he allowed them to invade Azeroth. Most importantly, he also offered Gul'dan the location of the Tomb of Sargeras. _______________ | | | THE FIRST WAR | |_______________| The Horde invaded Azeroth, but their first attacks were futile. Their first big attack to Stormwind Keep was a disaster. Failed miserably. But they decided to keep on fighting during five long years. During all this time, several things happened. Blackhand's daughter allied herself with the Ogres who also came from Draenor but simply attacked everyone. Blackhand, in exchange, killed her. King Llane was assassinated by Garona, the Half Orc, and the personal assassin of Gul'Dan. Medivh was eventually killed by Lothar (see below), a knight from Azeroth. During his death, Gul'dan tried to steal the location of the Tomb Of Sargeras from his mind, but when he died, Gul'dan fell to a catatonic sleep for weeks because of the mental backslash caused by being inside his mind at the moment of his death. When he woke up, he found out that Blackhand was killed by Orgrim Doomhammer, and he seized his throne. Orgrim suddenly attacked Gul'dan's outpost, and captured him, finding the location of the Shadow Council thanks to capturing Garona and torturing her about it. Orgrim was decided to kill him, but he offered the creation of an army of undead spellcasters if he leaved him alive. Orgrim accepted, and Gul'dan set off to create it. Finally, Doomhammer attacked Stormwind and killed the Human opposition, forcing Lord Lothar to rally his people to Lordaeron in seek of help. ____________________ | | | THE SECOND WAR (I)| |____________________| Lord Aduin Lothar fleed to the lands of Lordaeron seeking help. King Terenas receives and protects him, and, under the menace of the Horde, he decides to form a new offensive named the Alliance. Alterac, Stromgarde, Lordaeron, Azeroth and several other nations joined this movement to defend against humans. The High Elves from Quel'Talas also join, as well as the dwarves and gnomes from Khaz Modan. A formidable tandem against the onslaught. The Horde also summoned help. The Ogres and the Goblins joined out of hatred and to get a good fight, while the Trolls are forced to join in order to extract revenge against the Humans and Elves for destroying their kingoms several thousands years ago. The vicious Gul'dan created the Death Knights, hideous abominations riding black steeds and wielding necromatic magic. Both sides collide, and battle rages on. Both sides have inside problems. For one, the Alliance is betrayed by Alterac, the weakest human nation, who was cooperating with the Horde with information. While its quickly destroyed, this enrages the humans to beat the Horde. The horde affairs are more serious. Gul'dan and Cho'gall, leader of the Ogres, set out by themselves to find the Tomb or Sargeras, and pretty likely is that they succeded! ______________________ | | | THE TOMB OF SARGERAS | |______________________| Gul'dan managed to uncover the power hidden within the tomb. Followed by his Necrolytes and Warlocks, the mage tries to go deeper into the tomb to find a powerful artifact named The Eye of Sargeras. He records his adventures in the walls with Orc Runes. However, the Mage's inmense power isn't even enough to survive the multiple beasts and traps which roam the dark and damp halls of the Tomb, and, left in there to die by his allies, the Warlock is badly wounded. Just before he manages to reach his goal, he faces one last obstacle: The power of Sargeras' itself denies him of his eye. The Titan does the job itself, and kills Gul'dan. _____________________ | | | THE SECOND WAR (II) | |_____________________| With their leader dead, the Stormreaver Clan and the Twilight Hammer Clan are broken and scattered, and Doomhammer's forces attack the insolent orcs, defeating what was left of them in the Tomb itself. However, the Demons released by Gul'dan did most of the Job. This unwanted trouble makes it hard for Doomhammer, and the Allied offensive begins gaining ground. Unable to stop them, the Horde retreats to the Blackrock Spire, where the final siege is laid on the Orcs. Lord lothar is killed, but Turalyon, his right hand, keeps the command, and eventually win. Finally, they retreat to the Dark Portal, where everything settles, and the Alliance finally destroys the wretched portal. Doomhammers whereabouts were unknown at the time. ___________________ | | | BEYOND THE PORTAL | |___________________| A powerful shaman, Ner'zhul, refused to give up. He rebuilt the Dark Portal, and set off to find several artifacts to build more. His raids succeded, but the Alliance also decided to jump to Draenor to end with the orcish Horde for good. Forming an alliance with Deathwing, the Great Black Dragon, and Gorefiend the Deathknight, the four remaining Clans, the Bleeding Hollow Clan, the Shattered Hand Clan, the Warsong Clan and the Shadowmoon Clan, they stage their escape to invade Azeroth once again. Ner'zhul found the artifacts and tried to use them, but their powers were too much for the world of Dreanor, and it was destroyed and ripped apart. Ner'zhul dissapeared, and only two chieftains escaped: Killrog Deadeye, from the Bleeding hollow clan, and Grom Hellscream... _______________________ | | | THE LORD OF THE CLANS | |_______________________| After all this mess, the Trolls, Goblins and Ogres left the Horde and the Orcs remaining in Azeroth were captured and held captive in reclusion camps. Only Grom Hellscream and his Warsong Clan stayed free. As a sequel of the freedom of will of the Orcs, the remaining orcs suffered an unexplained illness which took away their will to fight. They couldn't help themselves, and stayed as a lethargic race. Also, a baby orc was found by an human soldier during the First War, and was raised as a gladiator and as a servant. His name was Thrall, and unknown to him, he was the son of a powerful orc known as Durotan. Once he celebrated his 24 years, he escaped his imprisonement to find his people, whom he had never met. On his travels, he befriended the supersticious Jungle Trolls, who joined him, and met the legendary Hellscream, who inspired him, and helped him to find his ways. He learned the shamanistic culture of his fellow orcs, and eventually found the warchief of the horde, Orgrim Doomhamer. With these three leaders, the Orcs were finally freed of their dream, and they assaulted the different internments camps in order to free their fellow orcs. In one of these assaults, Doomhammer was killed. And, in his place, the young Thrall raised to the throne of Warchief of the Horde. ____________________ | | | THE REIGN OF CHAOS | |____________________| During the eventual madness which followed the fact that the orcs were running rampant again, the necromancer Ner'zhul, former mentor of Gul'Dan had started an strange death cult who offered their followers eternal life. While King Terenas, still ruling Lordaeron nearly 30 years later, noticed this, nothing seemed to be as troubling as the Horde. Azeroth also had a new king, Wyrd, who had made Azeroth a prolific nation once again. However, the Alliance had broken apart after the second war, and the human race might be threatened by their hatred enemies. However, the orcs didn't had to trouble the Humans. Thrall met a strange prophet who told him to travel with his people to Kalimdor, and Thrall agreed. This prophet also contacted King Terenas and was ignored, as his son did, and the mighty Archmage Antonidas. The death cult was something much more sinister, and the Scourge, an army of undead abominations appeared as a sure sign that Lordaeron was once again at trouble. A death plague, who killed and turned the dead bodies to zombies. This was a far more dangerous threat to mankind, and someone noticed. Arthas, the young song of the King, began chasing the responsibles for this slaughter. He eventually finds out that the real responsibles are the cult of the dead, and sets to destroy it, maniatically killing the undead. His mad journey leads him to the frozen lands of Northtrend, where he mets the legendary Mountain King Dwarf Muradin Bronzebeard, and believes to hear a voice that the mythical sword Frostmourne is the only thing that can save his people. He eventually betrays his soldiers, destroying the ships and dooming them all to die in the ice plains of Northtrend. He finds the Frostmourne, gaining incredible power in exchange to the servitude to the one he sought to anihilate... The Lich King. The new name of the Necromancer Ner'zhul. On his undeath. ___________________________________ | | | THE ARRIVAL OF THE BURNING LEGION | |___________________________________| After this, the necromancer Kel'thuzad is revived as a Lich and indirectly as the new mentor of the new Death Knight, Arthas. Their objective is to open the demonic portal which will bring the almighty demon Archimonde to the world to lead the invasion of the Burning Legion onto the world. Arthas faces off the might of the High elves in order to gather the power to prepare the coming of the Burning Legion. He is threatened by a powerful Ranger, Silvanas Wndrunner, but in the end he manages to beat her and turns her into the undead, and succeedes in vanquishing Quel'Talas, and destroys it. With the aid of the cunning Dreadlord Tichondrious, the Death Knight is able to take down the enemies of the scourge and manages to establish the needed facilities near Dalaran to start the ritual of the arrival. This quest ends in the magical city of Dalaran, where the human defenders try with all their power, but they are powerless to stop the ritual as Infernals and Felhounds aid the undead armies. The battle is bloody, but in the end, even if the humans manage to enter the base, the terrorific demon is summoned and without any effort devastates the Violet City of Dalaran, taking the powerful Archmage Antonidas with it. But he didn't knew of the existence of another powerful Archmage still alive: Jaina Proudmoore. ________________________ | | | THE NEW LAND: KALIMDOR | |________________________| During their travels, the Orcs are trapped in the Maelstrom and their ships are badly damaged. They are forced to land on a lost volcanic island, where they meet a band of Jungle Trolls led by Sun'jil, a Witch Doctor. They inform him of a band of Humans hunting them, and he fights them only to fall victim of a cult of Murlocs who worship a Naga Sea Witch. The Orcs and the Trolls manage to escape before the Island sinks, with the farewell coming from the mouth of a cursing Witch. The Orcs have reached Kalimdor and befriended the hulking Tauren, an ancient race of powerful minotaurs. They search for a place to settle in, and suddenly know the reality of the Scourge. With the help of the Tauren, they decide to find a way to destroy them after escaping from a band of Minotaurs. However, tragedy strucks as Grom Hellscreams starts pissing off the Night Elves by defiling the forest. Then he faces the demi-god Cenarius, the protector of the forest. On his hatred of this deity, he finds the Pit Lord Manorroth, and he offers them the power to kill Cenarius. Blinded by rage, he accepts. And turns all his clan again into the bloodlusted barbarians they were 30 years before, and kills the protector of the forest, opening the floodgates for a massive demonic invasion of the Burning Legion. Once Thrall knows, he attempts to make Grom come back to his senses, but he is deep within a fort, surrounded by demons and his damned clan. He then meets the young Archmage Jaina Proudmoore, who with the advice of the Oracle, whom both seek in Stone Talon Peak, asks her for help. While most orcs are still angry at the humans and the humans feel the same, these two charismatic leaders are much more wise and Thrall and Jaina join forces. The plan is to capture Grom with a soul sphere and bring him back with Jaina to help him. After a cataclismic battle, they succeed in bringing him back alive. Thrall and Grom set out to a canyon looking for Manorroth. They engage the powerful demon in battle, and he defeats Thrall with ease. However, the more experienced Grom, still affected by the extra power the demon granted him, is able to take him down at the cost of his life. When he awakens, Thrall finds his old friend dead, and decides to get revenge no matter the cost. ________________ | | | THE WOLRD TREE | |________________| The Priestess of the Moon, Tyrande Whisperwind, sees disturbed how their homeland is being invaded by Humans and Orcs. After killing their leader, Tichondrious appears before her and decimates the humans and orcs. The Night Elves escape, knowing that they are being overwhelmed. She is then trapped and faced by Archimonde himself, but she manages to slip away. Then, the ancient Night Elves set out in a journey to awaken the Druids in order to strenghten the defense of the forest. The battles are hard, and while the undead tries to kill the Druids before they awake, they fail, and the reclusive druids of the talon are back to fighting. The hope of the defenders of the Ashenvale forest are high up when they finally awake the most powerful druid, Malfurion Stormrage, via the legendary Horn of Cenarious, played by Tyrande herself, who challenges the Primal Defenders to find it. Malfurion suggests to look for the Druids of the Claw, who sleep in their bear forms deep in the mountains. When Tyrande and Malfurion enter the caves, Malfurion notices this is the place where his damned brother is captive, Illidan Stormrage. Tyrande and Malfurion argue whether his help would be needed or not, and Tyrande decides to go on her own to free him as she thinks any help could be useful, but Malfurion negates the necessity as his sinner brother is the last one he would ask help to. Malfurion Stormrage uses the Horn of Cenarius and manages to wake the Druids of the Claw. Tyrande, on her own, manages to free the Demon Hunter, Illidan. The two brothers face each other for the first time in ten thousand years, and Malfurion despises him. Illidan sets off his own. Illidan soon meets the Death Knight Arthas, who challenges him to a fight. Realizing they are not going anywhere, the Death Knight proposes him to destroy the Skull of Gul'dan, which would help his master, and disrupt the demonic invasion. Illidan agrees out of desperation for his brother's bless. He faces Tichondrous, and fails, but he then assumes his demon form which has been hidden from his control, and becomes much more powerful than Tichondrous, beating him in battle against him and his Infernals. Malfurion, even more irritated now, banishes him from the forest even though he was fighting for good. Finally, Malfurion and Tyrande (against her will), decide to join a truce between Orcs, Humans and Night Elves, and join forces to stop Archimonde from reaching the world tree. Malfurion has a plan, and the fight ensues. At the foot of the World Tree, three bases are set. The Humans, though brave, are no match for the overwhelming power of the Burning Legion. Jaina Proudmoore falls on this battle, but her spirit lives on to taunt the powerful Archimonde. The Orcs, a more volatile and aggressive race, give a match, but again the Burning Legion combines number with power, and fall. Thrall's spirit leaves the battlefield, his mission accomplished and his life not lost. Finally, the Night Elves fight with all their might to stop the invasion of the World Tree, and fail, but the plan of Malfurion works, and the ancient spirits of the World Tree, prepared to defend their place, kill Archimonde as he reaches the tree. The Night elves have gave their inmortality away, but have saved the world. The World Tree is destroyed, but as the eternal spirit of the forest, it revives on a tiny green branch. ______________________ | | | THE SONG OF THE NAGA | |______________________| In the meantime, the Warden who once guarded the prison which held Illidan captive, is hunting his prey down. She follows his track deep into the forest, where she faces him briefly, but he manages to escape. Sailing into the seas, the Warden eventually hits a series of ghost islands, and much to her surprise, she finds the Tomb of Sargeras, which has risen into the surface by the recent battles and the power released by the Legion. She discovers that Illidan is there, following the steps of Gul'dan more than 30 years ago, and tries to stop him, but she's powerless to fight the powerful Demon Hunter and Illidan, unlike Gul'dan, is successful to retrieve the Eye of Sargeras. The Demon Hunter explains to the Warden that the Naga are the banished High elves who couldn't manage to escape the Maelstrom's fury. She escapes the Tomb just in time, and warns Malfurion of his brother's mad scheme. Malfurion manages to get in time to save the Warden and her troops, but Illidan escapes again. His brother wonders what is he up to this time. ________________________ | | | SHARDS OF THE ALLIANCE | |________________________| Despite her heated differences, Maeiv and Tyrande are forced to work together to find out what is Illidan up to. They meet a young elf prince, Kael, who's escaping the Plaguelands with a caravan. According to Kael, the surviving High elves now call themselves Blood elves, in reference to their fallen kind. Joining forces, they manage to escape the Undead, but Tyrande is missing. Malfurion reports to reveal that he has discovered Illidan's plan to melt Northtrend. Maeiv, both in spite of Tyrande and in order to force Malfurion to help her into capturing Illidan, lies to him and tells him that Tyrande is dead. Blinded by rage, Malfurion leads a massive attack into Illidan's fortress and beats him, preventing him to finish his spell. Illidan reveals that his intention was to kill the Lich King, but Malfurion dismisses his intentions thinking he killed Tyrande. He denies it, but when Kael says the truth, Malfurion's rage is directed to the Warden. The Stormrage brothers then join forces to rescue Tyrande out of common love for the Princess. The Naga and the Night Elves fight together against the Undead, and rescue Tyrande. Even after being enemies, Malfurion and Illidan part ways as temporal allies, and the elder brother forgives his silbling again, perhaps a bad idea. Illidan says farewell then to his long lasting love, and leaves for another world, with Maeiv still hot on his tracks. _________________ | | | THE BLOOD ELVES | |_________________| Mistreated by the humans who still tie them into the Alliance, the Blood Elves serve them out of honor, despite their growing adiction and need for magic. Under a lot of pressure, the Naga come and offer their aid in times of need, and Kael, in order to save his people, accepts Shunned as traitors, the human's imprison them. With the help, once again, of the naga, the Blood Elves escape the blasted city of Dalaran. They flee through a portal into the unknown land of Draenor. In Draenor, the Warden Maeiv manages to trap Illidan and hold him captive. She prepares to send him back into prison, but is intercepted by Kael and Vashj, who free the prisoner. Together they then assault the remaining orcish portals who serve the rogue Pit Lord Magtheridon. They join forces with the remaining Draenei, who were thought to be extincted many years ago by the demonic Horde prior to the First War, but they hid away and survived. Finally they take on Magtheridon and kill him. Now in control of Draenor, Illidan reveals finally the lord he's been working for... Kil'Jaeden the Deceiver.**** ___________________ | | | THE FROZEN THRONE | |___________________| Due to Illidan's spell to melt down the Frozen Throne, the Lich King is losing power over the Undead. He tries to reach Arthas, his general, who's still in Lordaeron. Arthas, followed by his liteunauts Kel'Thuzad the Lich and Silvanas Windrunner the Dark Ranger, is moping up the remnants of the humans in Lordaeron, and assumes the kingship of the kingdom. He is then betrayed by the Dreadlords who still serve the, uberstknown to them, dead Archimonde, and has to flee from the Plaguelands. Due to the Lich King's weakening, he is quickly losing power. In the road, Silvanas Windrunner also breaks free from the Lich King's control, as well as Arthas' commandship, and tries to ambush him, but Kel'thuzad arrives just in time to save him. With the Lich's help, he manages to escape into Northtrend, while the Dark Ranger quickly gains control of the Plaguelands, naming herself and her forces as The Forsaken. Kel'Thuzad bids farewell to the Death Knight, and his destiny is unknown. ___________________ | | | THE FORGOTTEN ONE | |___________________| Shortly after arriving Northtrend, the King Arthas is greeted by a enormous undead beetle-beast. The undead insect introduces itself as Anub'arak, and joins him to reach the Frozen Throne before Illidan, who's also trying to find it to destroy it, reachs it. The Crypt Lord, being a mighty former King of the Nerubians, suggests taking the dangerous halls of Nerub-Azjol in order to reach the Frozen Throne in the less possible time. Arthas agree and set foot in the forgotten halls. In there, a terrible monster has been released due to Illidan's Spell. For the lack of a better word, Anub'arak introduces the convoluted mass of eyes, unknown flesh and tentacles as a Forgotten One, who attacks the party. Though weakened, the combination of the powerful Crypt Lord and the mighty Death Knight send the monster back into oblivion. The cave begins to collapses and the two generals escape the dark corridors of the Nerubian Kingdom just in time to organize the defense of the Frozen Throne. _______________________________ | | | A SYMPHONY OF FROST AND FLAME | *** |_______________________________| At the feet of the Frozen Throne tower, the forces of Arthas and Anub'Arak battle off against the combined forces of Kael's Blood elves, and Illidan's and Lady Vashj's Naga. The battle is fierce, and the key to open the Frozen Throne lies in activating four obelisks. The Lich King grants whatever power he can spend to help Arthas. With the help of Anub'arak and his Crypt Fiends, Arthas and the Undead succeed in pushing the Elvish offensive and beating the Naga forces. With all the four obelisks activated, the Demon Hunter and the Death Knight face each other in the ultimate fight. Arthas takes the offensive and leads with a overhead strike. The Demon Hunter manages to stop the slash and they both struggle for a few seconds, when Illidan pushes the Death Knight back and counter attacks with several slashes. Arthas stops a high attack by the Demon Hunter, and tries a thrust hit which Illidan evades. The demon-elf then jumps back to put some ground between him and the mighty human, but Arthas doesn't allows this and runs towards Illidan, and jumps at him and attacks him. He succeedes in slashing his chest and defeats the mighty Demon Hunter. Triumphant, the Death Knight reachs the summit of the tower, and slashes open the ice carcass which keeps the Lich King captive. He then joins his master, in body and in mind. The last thing we see is the Death Knight wearing the Lich King's armor, sitting on the Frozen Throne. And the world rests in peace for the moment... NOTES: * This history is told in the book "The Last Guardian". Sargeras didn't managed to get a firm hold on Medivh, however, until Medivh reached puberty, where his hormones exploded, and Sargeras succeded in corrupting his soul. Talk about teen angst. Aegwyn didn't knew or cared to tell about this though. ** For the hell of it, this wasn't right. The Draenei for some reason survived, and reached Lordaeron, and are still alive 30 years afterwards. *** In order to describe the oh-so-cool fight between Arthas and Illidan, I ran the frigging game and watched it once again. I'm so awesome. **** I have to mention that Kil'Jaeden looks nothing like he looked in the WCII manual. Actually, the thing we see that is inferred to be Sargeras looks a lot more like the Kil'Jaeden i knew. (and actually Sargeras in the WC III manual looks kinda different to the thing) ***************************************************************************** 6.- WARCRAFT: ORCS AND HUMANS (1994). WC I starts right after the first war has begun and the first invasion begins. Both campaigns, Orcs and Humans, are parallel and pretty much true. Mostly, or most of the events in WC I are supposed to ocurr except the destruction of the Blackrock spire. The order of events in WC I are, for the most part, irrevelant. Both campaigns seem to actually happen in the oficial storyline, but the Orc Campaign is certainly pointless, even though it is more important than the human one, since it's the tale of Doomhammer ascent to power. The subplots of Warcraft I include Blackhand's daughter Griselda and the rescue of Aduin Lothar are quite useless and seem to add nothing to the history, probably added only to fill in more dungeon scenarios. However, the pursuit and killing of Medivh (though it happens without Lothar) and the rescue of Garona are very real parts of the history and are needed. For the purposes of the game, the First War is as long as five years, and ends with the partial victory of the Orcs after killing the King and destroying Stormwind Keep. Warcraft I also mentions quite a few towns, but none of them are actually appear anywhere else in the series, and includes an strange tileset which is very similar to Dreanor ¬_¬, but can also be interpreted as a wasteland. Points to be noted: The daemons summoned from the Warlocks are not actual demons thought their resemblance with the Doom Guards from WC III is certainly striking. They are much weaker (storyline wise, not gameplay wise. Daemons are without a doubt the most destructive things ever created) Gameplay wise, this is the only game which presented normal units which had the purpose of summoning several kinds units. This was probably scrapped in WC II since the pace of game is so much faster and the game could be easily destroyed by hundreds of spiders or scorpions. Also, WC featured some NPCs never seen again, the Fire Elemental. ***************************************************************************** 7.- WARCRAFT II: THE TIDES OF DARKNESS(1996). WC II begins right away when the first game is over, Stormwind is taken, and King Llane killed. Sir Aduin Lothar rallies his people towards Lordaeron, looking for help and unknown to him putting the whole world in danger. The Alliance is then formed by seven powerful human nations, the aid of elves, gryphons and dwarves, while the bloothirsty Horde is joined by trolls, ogres, goblins and dragons. Warcraft II history greatly is tied to the different nations-clans which join the Alliance and the Horde. Check the appropiate section for descriptions. Again, is kinda obvious most of Warcraft II actually happened in the official storyline, though there are some strange inconsistences during the history, such as the fact that the ogres are still with the horde even after the Twilight's Clan is exterminated by their orcish "allies" ^_^, but there are some important and interesting official moments: - Gul'dan actually manages to find the Tomb of Sargeras, but is killed by the demons he released during its opening. Torn apart, the rest of the Stormreaver Clan is obliterated by the Blackrock Clan. It's interesting to note that the Daemons flying over the location where Cho'Gall and Gul'dan are hiding are either a)out to get him or b)making a severe inconsistence in the game, plot-wise ^_^. It can also be argued that the Daemons made a pact with Gul'Dan, but this is certainly stupid, since the Daemons are supposing to be serving Archimonde or Kil'Jaeden, then again, they can be rebels.(Kinda like Magtheridon) - Doomhammer engages Lothar in battle and kills him. This is not clearly shown in the game since Doomhammer has no sprite. Dammit. - The first portal, created by Medivh, is destroyed. - Zul'Jin is probably still alive. Pointless but true. He was captured but rescued and joined the Horde. - Alterac is destroyed by the Alliance after betraying it. - Khaz Modan is devastated but is recovered from the hands of the Orcish Horde a few years laters. - The Portal is destroyed by Khadgar, Medivh's former pupil. - Turalyon, Lothar's first litenaut, is the one who leads with fellow allies to the victory over the Blackrock Spire. Obviously, to this point everyone ought to understand that this game is probably a huge mess of conflicting storylines, as it's nearly impossible to note each and every point of the campaign since most of it seems to be either a)contradicting the other campaign or b)having no point in the storyline. About the endings: Khagdar destroys the dark portal. It doesn't gets much farther than that. The orcish ending, on the other part, is completely false as King Terenas is obviously alive and well until WC III. Well, pretty old and he seems to be a narcoleptic. The biggest slop in this game is definitely Alexzastra. For crying out loud, she's SUPPOSED TO BE RED!! And SHE'S GREEN IN THIS GAME, as WELL AS ALL OF HER OFFSPRINGS!! Why the hell did Blizzard changed her into a red dragon in WC III is beyond me... ***************************************************************************** 8.- WARCRAFT II: BEYOND THE DARK PORTAL. Beyond the dark portal is, storyline-wise, a cornerstone since it explains much of the mess the third game is. The plot of BTDP is basically Ner'zhul, at the time a normal orcish shaman decides to open a new portal to send a raiding party to Lordaeron in order to steal a variety of artifacts from the human world which would empower him to the point of being able to open more portals to invade the human world again. He succedes, but Draenor is finally destroyed due to the overcharge of power ripping it apart. Two chieftains and their clans escape, and Ner'zhul also manages to escape. This plot is certainly stupid at the time, since it just seems to be another intent of the orcs to invade Lordaeron, of course, it isn't as simple as that. Check WC III for the full history. The most important fact storyline-wise thing that happens during this game: -Deathwing, a black "rebel" dragon is either killed or he dissapears during this game. Blizzard suddenly changed this aspect claiming Deathwing to be the Black Dragon who rules over every black dragon and a mortal enemy to Alexzastra. This is certainly funny ^_^, especially because there are more Great Dragons empowered by the Titans which are nowhere to be seen in ages. The only one who's "excused" is the Green Dragon, Dragonflight who's supposed to be flying around in the Emerald Dream. Kudos to the fixes on the road. Thanks to <SoulKeeper24@aol.com>, I have received a good resume for this game. I'm copying and pasting here, so all credit goes to this selfless kind soul: "Unlike the previous two games, both of Beyond the Dark Portal's campaigns appear 'official' just parallel each other, so it can be confusing. The clans that had been left behind by Blackhand on Draenor are led by Ner'Zuhl, along with Grom Hellscream of the Warsong and Kargoth Bladefist of the Shattered Hand, then there is you, Ner'Zuhl's chief lieutenant, leader of the Shadowmoon Clan. Ner'zuhl knows Draenor is dying, but he is tired of playing with the humans on Azeroth, he wants new lands to conquer. To this end he forms a pact with Teron Gorefiend, a prominent Death Knight. Without Gul'Dan to keep the Death Knights in check, they leave the Horde, but Gorefiend brings them back. Back in Azeroth, most of the clans have been destroyed, save Kilrog Deadeye's clan, who has hidden from the Alliance and managed to escape the Internment camps. Deadeye leads his warriors to the remains of the Dark Portal, which is somehow reformed. Deadeye delivers his report to Ner'zuhl, further driving the shaman of the Horde to spurning Azeroth. However, before they leave both worlds behind, Ner'zuhl must retrieve several artifacts from Azeroth. To this end, Shadowmoon, Warsong, and Shattered Hand invade Azeroth. In retribution, the Alliance sends Azeroth's army to attack Draenor. Before Shadowmoon can truly launch it's offensive however, it needs dragons. It forms a pact with Deathwing to have dragons aid the Horde once again. Note- with the extermination of the Dragonmaw clan at the end of Tides of Darkness, the horde supposedly lost all of it's dragons. The Horde also uses Dentarg to keep the ogre-mages in line. The alliance along with Alleria, an elven ranger and Danath, a warrior from Stromgarde. Turalyon also joins the Azerothians, he intends to take retribution for the death of Lothar. It is important to note that Lothar was not personally killed by Doomhammer. Doomhammer claimed to want to form an alliance and had Lothar killed in an ambush. This is depicted in one of the levels of Tides of Darkness. (a fast typer could turn god mode on and save Lothar though :P) <NOTE FROM LORD ZERO: I did it :) Actually, Doomhammer did killed Lothar on face to face battle, though the initial proposal could have been a treaty. The problem is that Orgrim does not have a working sprite on WC II. Blizzard retroactively changed this to show the honor ideal the Orcs were supposed to keep. Back with his resume. Actually, you can only add god mode to your knights present with Lothar, and kill all the enemies before Lothar himself is killed. Lothar just kinda stays there afterwards> Khadgar himself aids the alliance in Draenor, in an attempt to recover the book of Medivh. In the end the alliance fails. Ner'zuhl opens up hundreds of portals on Draenor. He then leads Shadowmoon through one of the portals. They part ways with Teron Gorefiend, who leads the Death Knights to a world of their own, while the Azerothians have no choice but to chase after Ner'zuhl, accepting the fact that they'll never see Azeroth again. In Warcraft III with Ner'zuhl as the apparent head of the Undead Scourge, this certainly leads to some interesting theories... I was annoyed that part III didn't follow Khadgar and the rest of the Draenor Expedition Forces. But meh... Either way, when Shadowmoon left Draenor, they had a chance to claim Warsong and Shattered Hand from Azeroth, they never did. The Azerothians themselves could have returned home, but choose to follow Ner'zuhl instead. Supposedly Kargoth Bladefist is still in Azeroth, just as Grom is, although he's disappeared in War III. It's of special note that Grom is quite a bit different in War III then from War II. In War II he was known for his high- pitched voice and his screaming, part of the Warsong function, the clans were all named for a specific reason. (In the case of Shattered Hand and Kargoth, it was because he had only one hand, the other was a blade.) <NOTE FROM LORD ZERO: Very true. Black Tooth Grin members had to knock off one of their own teeth and Bleeding Hollow clan leader Killrog had only one eye.> At any rate, that is Beyond the Dark Portal in brief, and the story is quite a bit more relevant to War III then at first glance. It also explains why the Horde no longer has Death Knights. Also, without Lothar Kul'Tiras leaves the alliance to go on it's own. Kul'Tiras is led by Daelin Proudmoore, who is Jaine's father I do believe. The alliance is broken by War III although everyone still seems to be getting along rather amicably. I was particularly glad to see the return of orcish raiders in War III (Part 1 had them as wolf riders, good units) There are probably some other key points but I can't think of anything else off the top of my head." ***************************************************************************** 9.- WARCRAFT III: REIGN OF CHAOS. Reign of Chaos picks up around thirty years after the end of the second war, that is, after the end of Beyond the Dark Portal. The story is centered on a young orc named Thrall, who was picked up by a human during the second war who raised and educated him. He grew up to be a fairly wise, intelligent and strong orc, and decides to escape one day, eager to find his people, eventually finding and joining Grom Hellscream, another powerful orc chieftain, and setting on a journey to help his fellow orcs, who are found to be affected by some kind of "social Withdrawn" which has turned them to a lethargic sleep which has literally stopped their lives. The story also follows the story of Prince Arthas, son of King Therenas and heir to the throne of Lordaeron, besides all around interesting guy with stupid haircut (I had to say it). He's in love with the beautiful daughter of Admiral Proudmoore, Jaina, but their relationship had to stop due to their busy schedules. Prince Arthas is a fierce defender of his country, and will take it to the extreme ways in order to save his people. Starring also is the Night Elf princess, Tyrande Whisperwind, who starts her quest to wake up the druids in order to defend the forest and stop the menace to come. But what is that endangers the existence of the world? The second arrival of the Burning Legion, the army which Sargeras created ages ago to destroy and consume all life on the universe. The plot of Warcraft III is, without a doubt, the most elaborate plot ever created for any RTS game. While is somewhat similar to the plot of Starcraft (Alliances, good guy who turns evil, funny and annoying characters) is however totally original and very unexpected. I especially enjoyed this game. A few points to note. - Originally, The Burning Legion was to be a playable race, but it was played around until it simply became unplayable. It went for a playable race, to a random scourge against everyone in multiplayer games, and finally became an NPC race. Funny indeed. - Archimonde is killed, this leaves only Kil' Jaeden out there to command the Burning Legion. Problem is: The Burning Legion and the Undead are, apparently, separated, and probably future enemies. - Kel'Thuzad and Arthas whereabouts are unknown at the moment. - The Night Elves gave up their inmortality and will age as mortals do. Their powers over nature will dissapear in time, as Tyrande notes. - Muradin Bronzebeard, Tichondrious, Malganis, Silvana Windrunner, Uther Lightbringer, Grom Hellscream, Mannoroth and Antonidas are certainly dead. Silvana's currently a Dark Ranger, though. - Lordaeron and Dalaran are destroyed. Lordaeron was literally overrun while Dalaran was razed by Archimonde after a serious siege laid by the Undead armies led by Arthas. - Cenarious, the guardian of the forest is dead. - Illidan was banished from the forest and is arguably seeking vengeance. - Lordaeron is lacking an official king... or an official _anything_ at the moment. - The Lich King is still alive. The dragons are still having fun somewhere else. When are they gonna show up and why haven't they shown up already is beyond my comprension. Coward flying lizards. The endings: Archimonde is killed. Pretty obvious. Ahem. There is little more to be commented about it. THE LOST MISSIONS Three missions from the Orcs' Tutorial campaign were removed from the game prior to their release. These three missions starred Thrall's escape and his adventures during his travel from Azeroth to Kalimdor. During his travel, the Orcs were trapped in the Maelstrom, and their ships were heavily damaged and they had to hit land on some lost Island were they meet Sun'jil, a Witch Doctor who befriends Thrall, and after some small incident with some Sea Witch (presumably a Naga, though the model used is from a Banshee) and the Murlocs, they escape from the Island. The missions were recently released on a Warcraft III Demo Version, and are available on the Frozen Throne. No reason was given ever about these missions mission on the original game, though. ***************************************************************************** 10.- WARCRAFT III: THE FROZEN THRONE. A few months after Archimonde's death, the Frozen Throne is a mess of convoluted storylines and slips up which definitely leave the plot very open and very confusing. The plot begins following the adventures of the once-guardian of Illidan, Maeiv Shadowsong, when she's following Illidan. She fails to bring him back, whoever, and witnesses along with Malfurion and Tyrande his fight to bring down the Frozen Throne. The story then shifts to Kael, a young High Elf (now named Blood Elves) prince, who leaves the Alliance and joins the Naga, led by the Queen Lady Vashj and the Demon hunter Illidan- who is forgiven by Malfurion for saving Tyrande. Finally, we follow the journey of Arthas to reach the Frozen Throne and face his final enemy, Illdian Stormrage. As an expansion which was supposed to cover what was left after the Reign of Chaos, I'm kinda dissapointed about it. But more or less I'm dissapointed because some missions are ridiculously boring. Some points to be noted: - Illidan was killed by Arthas. Haha. Well, not really. He was just really and soundly beaten, but he's still alive. Blah. - Kael and Arthas were rivals ever since before the Second Coming of the Legion due to being both in love with Jaina. - A great portion of Lordaeron is now named the Plaguelands and are ruled by Silvanas Windrunner. - Maeiv is probably still trapped in Draenor. And she will probably stay there. - The Draenei survived the orcs and are rebuilding their culture. - Kil'jaeden tried to destroy the Lich King and failed. - The Elves have definitely left the Alliance by now. The Dwarves are still loyal to it, though. - The Burning Legion, the Scourge, and the Forsaken are now three separated factions and are enemies. Well, whatever is left of 'em. - The Orcs have founded a new city, Durotar, and are completely oblivous to the rest of the world. - Dalaran was being rebuilt. It is unknown if it's actually rebuilt after the happenings of the Frozen Throne. (Garithos is killed and he was the one rebuilding it)(One can argue that the dude was an idiot anyway and nobody was actually paying attention to Dalaran) - Kel'Thuzad's whereabouts are unknown at the moment. - Kael and Lady Vashj survived, and picked up Illidan's almost dead body and left. - The Lich King and Arthas have merged and now share the same body and conscience. The Ending, after that ultra-cool battle, shows how Arthas joins the Lich King. Very little can be said about it, though, and there isn't anything to note what happens afterwards. Furthermore, the Orc Campaign is about as connected to the main game as John Doe is connected to his identity. Blizzard plans to release new missions for the Orcs later this month, which will hopefully add some backstory. ***************************************************************************** 11.- WORLD OF WARCRAFT. The last game announced in the series, happens four years after The Frozen Throne. The game will revolve around the races rebuilding their kingdoms. Despite being a MMORPG, and as thus being a very long lasting history, Blizzard has stated that this game is an official sequel for the Warcraft universe. Storyline wise, this game will add little of value to the series except what was left of the world after The Frozen Throne and, thus, I will probably not add much to the guide once the game is out. I myself am not very excited about this game (it's a frigging Massively Online RPG and those games always frustrated me and always will. Ewww.). This game is gonna be a pain in the ass to add in the guide :(. ***************************************************************************** 12.- The adventure that never happened: WARCRAFT ADVENTURES. This game was supposed to be released shortly after Starcraft: Broodwars, and was mysteriously cancelled, offering a reason months later. It was a graphic adventure game with cartoon-like graphics where you took control of no one else than Thrall on his escape and eventually his rescue of the divided clans. The characters present were Thrall (main character), Durotan (who in turn we discover that he was killed by Rend and Maim), Grom Hellscream, Alextrasza (Who would be one bitchy dragon ^_^), Zul'jin, who would have received some actual storyline, alongside other characters who never appeared again, like Drek'Thar (an orc), Gazlowe (A goblin)(!), and Blackmoore (a human), who was the bad guy as it seems. Funnily enough, Drek'thar and Gazlowe are present in the Orc bonus campaign in the Frozen Throne as NPCs. The other characters have been already used, which strenghtens the point of the conection with the Warcraft Universe. As a matter of facts, Drek'Thar has a voice set in the world editor, which adds more to the point that the guy is even playable, and we'll get to know more about 'em eventually. That, or they are easter eggs. A short and interesting movie was included in the Starcraft CD which showed some footage and ended with a Thrall shouting at Blackmoore "Blackmoore, Tonight you sleep in HELL!" as he grabbed him. The Official Press declaration which Blizzard offered after receiving a petition to continue work on the game was as follows (And I quote): "Blizzard wants to take a minute to respond to the Warcraft Adventures petition that is circulating on the Internet. First, we want to express our gratitude to the Warcraft fans that took the time to organize such an effort. We recognize that the cancellation of Warcraft Adventures has disappointed some of our customers, and we appreciate that they have shared their opinions with us. Secondly, we want let you know that stopping development was not a decision that was taken lightly. It was a hard call to make, but each of us knows that it was the right choice. The cancellation was not a business or marketing decision or even a statement about the adventure genre. The decision centered around the level of value that we want to give our customers. In essence, it was a case of stepping up and really proving to ourselves and gamers that we will not sell out on the quality of our games. And finally, we hope that Warcraft fans will consider our track record and trust our judgement on ending the project. The cancellation of Warcraft Adventures does not signal the demise of Azeroth. We have every intention of returning to the Warcraft world because there are still chapters to be told. We will keep you informed as we announce future Warcraft plans." So, Blizzard wasn't happy about the quality of the game and, I wasn't particullary either (So they noticed about me and cancelled it ^_^), because a) The Adventure genre would be, while interesting, very unrelated to the War theme of the games (everything happens on the wars) and b) the graphics in particular were somewhat dissapointing. Most of the storyline about this game was released afterwards on the novel "Lord Of the Clans". Screenshots of the game and some other info can be found on (www.warcraftiii.net), I don't know if I'm allowed to post a link to the article but I'll do it anyways: http://www.warcraftiii.net/articles/warcraftadventures/index.shtml ***************************************************************************** 13.- Info about the three books. The Three books (neither of which have I read yet) are part of the real storyline, and are quite interesting i've heard. The Last Guardian shows the last days of the Corrupted Medivh and his struggle to regain control. It's the story of the life of the last Guardian of the Order of Tristfal until his first death. The Lord of the Clans is the history of Thrall and his escape from Blackmoore and his adventures prior to meet the Prophet. Finally, the Day of the Dragons is the tale of the adventure of Rhonin, a maverick Mage from Dalaran on his quest to free Alextrasza. Any info or resume someone might want to write is welcome, though rest assure I'm on the move to find all three books. ***************************************************************************** 14.- THE RACES. All the Races despicted in the game. What a lot of work >_<. Undead characters are added in the race they belonged to in their life. TITANS: Insanely powerful beings with skins of metal which spend their time creating worlds and life. They created the earth and empowered the Night Elves when the world was formed. They also created the Dragons. They also have an elite sector known as The Pantheon which holds the leaders of the Titans. One of the most powerful Titans was Sargeras, before he went insane after being corrupted by the evil races he fought and became evil. Interesting notes: See the The Xel'Naga/Titans Theory section for a bit of zaniness. SARGERAS Alignment: The Burning Legion, evil. Age: Unknown. Whereabouts: Dead. Or so it seems. One of the most powerful titans ever, Sargeras was a honorable fighter who lost his sanity after dealing with the corrupting power of the Nathzerim, or Dreadlords. He liberated the races he imprisoned himself, and set out to destroy and consume all life throughout the universe which was created by his kind. Sargeras was confronted and killed (At least his physical pressence) by Aegwyn, Guadian of the Order of Tristfall and Medivh's mother, but his evil power tainted her soul and eventually her son, which turned evil when his power manifested. He was finally killed and banished when Khadgar killed Medivh, at which time he tried to manifest his power, but was inmediatly decapitated by Lothar. Medivh lived on without him. The Burning Legion still remains faithfull to his memory and his last general, Kil'jaeden, is very likely to keep on his unholy mission to hunt down all life on the universe. That, of course, is not to say he's dead at last. HUMANS: Main race in Azeroth, the most advanced technologically and the most prosperous as it seems. Humans are simple beings which live pacefully and in groups. Meh. Is hard to write a resume being a human ^_^. The Humans history goes back to 2800 years before the first war. They appeared, formed a society and bassically lived in safety until the last guardian, Medivh, went insane and opened the portal to Draenor after making contact with the Orcish Warlock Gul'dan, which unleashes the first invasion, which beats the humans and makes them retreat to Lordaeron, where they form a shaky alliance between all the human nations, the Dwarves and the High Elves. Humans have been present in all games, and have eventually allied with High Elves and Dwarves (From Warcraft II and on). They have faced the Orcish Horde thrice and was defeated once and victorious once too. The humans have been a continuous presence on the game as the "good guys" and as the first race that oppossed the Orcish invasion. Physically, they are weak, maybe the weakest race after the elves, but their technology and their limited magic powers have always been much more advanced and their bravery they have always been a stone to move. Interesting notes: The humans have kept two distinctive spells during all three games: Heal and Invisibility. The humans have been repressented by the: Peasants, Militia, Knights, Conjurers, Mages, Footmen, Archers, Paladins, Bandits, Brigands, Enforcers, Assasin, Enforcer, Bandit Lord. Notorious humans: LORD ADUIN LOTHAR Alliegance: The Alliance, the Brotherhood of the Horse, Good. Age: Around 60 (at the time of death). Whereabouts: Dead. Lord Aduin Lothar was a hero during the First War and alongside Khagdar killed Medivh on a raid on his tower. After losing Stormkeep and King Llane was found dead, he rallied the survivors to Lordaeron, where he asked for help, and the Alliance was founded. Lothar led an exploration mission in order to reach the Tome of Divinity in the Dead Mines during the first war. He never succeeded though. I have the slight idea that Griselda, Blackhand's daughter, had something to do with it, as she is killed in the same place. On the last and decisive strike on the Blackrock Spire, Lothar and his Paladins were confronted by Orgrim Doomhammer and his liteunauts on open ground by the entrance of the Blackrock spire. On one-on-one battle, Lothar was killed by Doomhammer. MEDIVH Alignment: Good. Age: Supposed to be dead when he was 42 years old, and apparently stopped aging. He's actually 61 years old. Whereabouts: Wandering around the world. Medivh is the last Guardian of the order of Tristfall, son of the legendary Aegwyn, the previous Guardian, and the Conjurer Nielas Aran. When fighting against Aegwyn, Sargeras the Destroyer managed to stain her soul, and thus infusing himself with her, eventually gaining control of her son. Medivh opened the first portal, and was killed during the first War by his own apprentice, Khadgar, but more or less he was freed from his curse when Lothar beheaded him, at the sight of his transformation to Sargeras. He was then left to wander one way or another to prepare for the Second Invasion of the Burning Legion. When the Second Invasion was about to start, he warned the young orc Thrall, who would start a journey to meet the Tauren and then finally the Oracle, who didn't actually existed, but the orcs and tauren reached Mount Hyjal where they joined the battle against the Legion. He tried warning the Humans and most likely the High Elves, but they didn't paid attention. Medivh, before he died the first time, had a good side as well as a corrupted side, and he was constantly struggling to remain in control. However, Sargeras' side was much more powerful as Medivh wasn't as experienced, and won over him. After the war was over he left the forest, but his exact whereabouts are unknown. Thanks to a reader named "Normal Guy" (Best. Nickname. Evar), <nolimittostupidity@yahoo.com>we get a clue how he survived and a bit of back history about the Guardians (Medivh, if you didn't knew, is a Guardian): "And medivh, guess how he lived. He cant die. At the end of warcraft 3, he said he be leaving, right? Diddn't Say die, did he? Nope. You see, a guardian goes to a resting place, like a heaven. When they are needed, they go down into the world, drawing from the ancient titans power. Guardians were designed by the Titans to guard the mortal world from being corrupted and destroyed. So Medivh got killed on the mortal plane, and Gul'Dan got a stroke. He got a stroke because Gul'Dan cant exist on the "Heavenly Plane', So he got a stroke. Haha. Stroke" (I actually found that "stroke" stuff funny as well) Makes a lot of sense. Kinda like how elves go to a resting place after they "die" in Tolkien's universe (You know, the dude who wrote the books about the rings)(Ahem), and seeing how Warcraft is *heavily* influenced by Tolkien's ideas, I think Normal Guy has a point. Of course, he then talked about the 3rd coming of the Burning Legion. But... when the hell? Another thousand years later? ARTHAS Alignment: The Alliance (former member), The Knight of the Silver Hand (Former member), The Undead, evil. Age: 24. Whereabouts: Sitting on the Frozen Throne sharing souls with the Lich King. Prince Arthas is the son of King Therenas and current heir to the throne of Lordaeron. He is a very gifted fighter yet he is quite cocky and impulsive. When the Second Invasion was about to start, he decided to chase the Death Plague up to Northtrend, where he started to go insane, and eventually learned of Frostmourne, a powerful sword, which he found and, after killing Muradin Bronzebeard, claimed. The Sword was just a tool for the Lich King to make him submit to his will. He then reportedly went lost into the frozen plains and lost what was left of his sanity, and became a Death Knight, with barely any remembrance of his past life. He came back to Lordaeron and killed his father and Antonidas, prior to summoning with the help of Kel'Thuzad the beast Archimonde. He was in love with Jaina Proudmoore but their relationship was short lived as they were living in wildy different life styles. Due to this, Kael was bitter with him since he was also in love with Jaina. He is chosen to be the host for the Lich King, and pursued his quest to merge with him from Lordaeron to Northtrend, where he faced Illidan Stormrage and killed him in combat, then merged bodies and conscience with The Lich King. Despite the fact that he killed Kel'Thuzad, he trusts him a lot and seems to appreciate the Lich as a friend. He also seemed to recover some of his memory by the time The Frozen Throne events happens. I'd like to note that 'Arthas' and 'Arthur' sound quite alike. Not really something important, though, as similarities end there. Well, and the fact that Arthas finds Frostmourne on a stone (ice cube), and Arthur finds Excalibur on another stone. And the fact that Arthur had Merlin and Arthas has Kel'Thuzad. I think the original legend had Arthur pulling the thing out of his father's tomb, but my little sister is just watching Disney's "The Sword in the Stone", and it just dawned on me. Well, yes perhaps he is actually partially based on Arthur. KEL'THUZAD Alignmennt: The Kirin Tor (Former member), the Undead, evil. Age: Unknown (Aged, as said in the manual). Whereabouts: Unknown, last seen in the Plaguelands. Kel'Thuzad was a charismatic and prominent member of the Kirin Tor who was expulsed after not giving up on his efforts to study the dark magics. Alone, he kept on his researchs until he was summoned by the Mighty Lich King, and given the chance to join him. He accepted, and crafted the Cult of the Death, an fanatical religion which adored the Lich King as their god and promised the eternal Unlife to its members. Pursued through Lordaeron by the Prince Arthas, he was killed by him. Later, the same Prince Arthas, now part of the Scourge, would be the one responsible for his arise as a Lich, now wielding the powers of the Undead. Kel'Thuzad is, above everything else, a very loyal soldier to the Lich King, and, as thus, to Arthas. He would give up whatever its needed to see the will of the Frozen Throne done. Despite the fact that he was killed by Arthas, he will go on to save him from a certain death in the hands of the Dark Ranger Silvanas Windrunner, and the Death Knight trusts him and appreciates the lich as a friend. SIR UTHER LIGHTBRINGER Alignment: Knights of The Silver Hand, the Alliance, good. Age: 64(At the time of death). Whereabouts: Dead. Uther was the apprentice to Alonsus Faol, the Archbishop who led the clerics during the first war. However, he decided to also learn to defend his people, and founded the Knights of The Silver Hand. He actively fought in the second war, and taught the ways of the Paladins to the young Arthas, and was his tutor. Little did he knew that his own favored pupil would be the one to kill him prior to the Second Coming. Uther is the name of the king who predates Arthur in the Disney animated movie "The Sword in the Stone". Dunno if it's the same as the legend or in real life. JAINA PROUDMOORE Alignment: The Kirin Tor, The Alliance, good. Age: 23 Whereabouts: Leading the survivors of Lordaeron. Jaina is the daughter of Daelin Proudmoore, the ruler of Kul Tiras. She's a gifted sorceress, and has lived in Dalaran almost all her life. She led the human forces during the last effort to delay Archimonde at the summit of Mount Hyjal. She survived the Second Invasion. She was in love with Prince Arthas but their relationship was short lived as they were living in wildy different life styles. She was also loved by the Prince Kael but she either didn't gave a damn, or simply didn't knew. Heh. She's called to be the most powerful human magician ever. In previous versions of this documents, I stated than Jaina was actually rebuilding Dalaran, which was pretty silly since the one directing the thing was actualy Garithos. Despite this, is very likely that Jaina (Under her father's directions, of course) is leading the Alliance and was probably involved on that. Reportedly she's also building a fortress on Mulgore, named Theramore. Whatever for, I have no idea, but this is World of Warcraft material :S ANTONIDAS Alignment: The Kirin Tor, the Alliance, good. Age: 71 (At the time of death). Whereabouts: Dead. Antonidas was the head of the Kirin Tor and Jaina's mentor. He's quite old, so he depends on Jaina to serve as his eyes and ears in the world. He was killed during the siege in Dalaran by Arthas. KHADGAR Alignment: The Alliance, good. Age: Unknown. Whereabouts: Unknown. Khadgar was one of the two people who led the assault on Medivh's Tower prior to the First War, and face Medivh himself. He aided on the demise of the Guardian, and eventually was the one to destroy the first Dark Portal, reportedly using the power from Guldan's Skull to destroy it. He's currently missing. TURALYON Alignment: The Alliance, good. Age: Unknown. Whereabouts: Dead. Turalyon was Lothar's first litenaut, and was present on the battle between Doomhammer and Aduin Lothar. They were apparently good friends, and after the Knight's death, he rallied the forces of the Alliance over the Blackrock Spire. He later played an important part on the attack on Draenor, and died when the Portals were destroyed. RHONIN Alignment: The Alliance, the Kirin Tor, good. Age: Unknown. Whereabouts: Unknown. Main character of the book "Day of the Dragons", who goes on a quest to free Alextrasza from the grip of Nekros and the Dragonmaw Clan. He was a wizard from Dalaran, and afterwards he dissapeared. As a cultural note, a Ronin (or Rhonin) is actually a Samurai who lost his or her master, and these kind of guys or girls were ussually shunned by society and finally worked as mercenaries. ORCS: Originary from Draenor, the Orcs were a shamanistic and peaceful race before Ner'zhul sealed a pact with a demon to grant them a unnatural strenght in order to get more power. From that moment, the Orcs became a savage horde which started to wreak havoc across their world. Not a drop of trust between them and not even partnership. They only went together to kill. The Orcs are one of the strongest races known. Their strenght and shamanistic powers are very high and they're known for their strategic warfare. The Orcs are also known for their once successful imprisonement of the single most powerful entity in the human world, the Dragon Queen Alextrasza. They are also hinted to be a very ancient race, though no clear sign is shown. Technically and socially, the orcs are not very developed. For years, their only motivation was war all around, and thus, their intelligence and general interest toward technology was limited. Once back into their original form, they remain highly supersticious and shamanistic and that might limit their possibilities. The orcs have been a pressence for the first two games as the bad guys, the invaders. On the third game they become suddenly the good guys thanks to Thrall, the new warchief, who was raised by humans and raised as an educated warrior. Interesting notes: The towers in the third game have Blackrock clan banners for some strange reason. The Orcs have been represented by the: Peons, Grunts, Spearmen, Wolf Riders, Shamans, Warlocks, Blademasters, Wyvern Riders, Far Seers, Kodo Beasts (the riders). Notorious Orcs: GUL'DAN, Destroyer of Dreams Alignment: Inner Circle, Shadow Council, the Horde, evil. Age: Unknown (around 70 at the time of death). Whereabouts: Dead. Powerful orcish warlock trained by Kil'Jaeden himself, Gul'dan was the orc which managed to contact Medivh, and sealed the pact to open the portals to the human world. Gul'dan was obssessed with obtaining infinite power, and at the time of his death he was very likely the most powerful orcish magician ever. He created and organized the Horde, and created the Shadow Council, which controlled the whole war machine. He also was the one to name Blackhand the Warchief of the Horde. After the first war and the death of Blackhand, Orgrim Doomhammer managed to find the location of the Shadow Council and attacked it. He defeated the magicians in there and captured Gul'dan, who was forced to recgonize him as the new Warchief. During the second War, he went by himself to find the tomb of Sargeras with the backup of Cho'gall and his ogres. He found it, only to be killed by the Demons there hiding as Orgrim Doomhammer and his Blackrock Clan slaughtered the rest of his allies. Gul'dan was the mastermind behind the creations of the Ogre-magi and the Death Knights (The first ones at least). His skull was kept deep in the heart of Mount Hyjal in order to power up the demonic portal hidden in there. THRALL, Son of Durotan Alignment: The Horde, good. Age: 24 Whereabouts: Ruling the Horde, currently living in Kalimdor. Son of Durotan, orc chieftain who was killed by Rend and Maim, who in turn where the sons of Blackhand, he was found when he was a baby by a human soldier, and raised as a gladiator and slave. He keeps a rather strange appreciation to humans, perhaps due to his early life. He escaped when he grew up and joined Grom Hellscream, Chieftain of the Warsong clan, where he learned to be a shaman, and led the free orcs to free his brethren from the internments camps. During his raids he met Orgrim Doomhammer, who was living as a hermit, and invited him to join him. He did, and helped him on his quest. He was killed, however, during an assault, and Thrall is now wearing his armor and hammer. He's a very merciful leader, but is fierce and courageous in battle. He was chosen for his efforts as the new warchief of the Horde. He survived the Second Coming, and is currently leading the Orcs to find a place to settle down and live in peace. ORGRIM DOOMHAMMER Alignment: The Horde. Age: Unknown (around 60-70 at the time of the death). Whereabouts: Dead. Arguably the most powerful orc fighter ever, Orgrim Doomhammer was one of Blackhand's lietunauts. He turned on him and killed him, saying it was because he was incompentent as a Warchief. He then took his place as a Warchief, defeated Gul'dan, and promptly striked Stormwind, defeated the humans and winning the First War. Doomhammer's original plan was to take over the Horde as a way to dispel the curse. Unfortunately, he was driven mad as well. Orgrim Doomhammer then continued his attack on the Human Alliance, but Gul'dan, who was his former ally, betrayed him. He went after Gul'dan, but in the meantime, the humans could make up some lost terrain, and launched an all-out attack at the Blackrock Spire, the core of the Orcish Horde. On a desperation attack, he took his most trusted warriors, and attacked the human leader, Aduin Lothar, and his paladins. He succeded in killing him, but his death was useless as it didn't seemed to slow down the human advance, and the Blackrock Spire was destroyed. Orgrim then became an hermit for years until he joined Thrall's crusade, and was killed on a assault on one of the many internments camps. His legendary armor and hammer are being used by Thrall. Originally, the act despicted his hammer as having an small serrated blade on the top, but it was removed for ROC. GROM HELLSCREAM Alignment: The Horde, good. Age: 46 (at the time of death). Whereabouts: Dead. Grom Hellscream was an skilled warrior and the Chieftain of the Warsong Clan. His was the last surviving functional Clan after the Second War and one of the Clans which escaped the destruction of Draenor. He then lived in the shadows, using stealth strikes to try and free his fellow orcs. He was found by Thrall, and under his leadership, Grom managed to free many orcs. He was, however, under constant pressure by Thrall to keep his battle lust under control, and he didn't managed to do it while gathering wood for the Horde, and attacked the Night Elves. Oppossed by the Demi-God Cenarious, he fell back to the curse which haunted the Orcs, and killed Cenarious under its influence. He was rescued by Thrall and Jaina. He then joined Thrall to hunt down the Pitlord Mannoroth, who knocked Thrall unconsciouss. He was then attacked by the more experienced Grom Hellscream, who managed to mortally wound the demon. He was killed afterwards due to the massive energy explosion caused by the demon's death. It's hinted that he knew and was probably a friend of Durotan. NER'ZHUL Alignment: The Horde, the Scourge, the Burning Legion (Former Member), evil as hell. Age: Unknown. Whereabouts: sharing souls with Arthas in the Frozen Throne. While is often difficult to know, it was Ner'zhul himself the one to seal the pact with the Demons and doom the Horde. The powerful Warlock was one of Gul'Dan's mentors, though the younger orc's power was much more developed than the aged Ner'zhul's. Ner'zhul stood silent during the first war, but took all the chances to keep the portals open after the destruction of the first Portal in the Wastelands. Helped by Grom Hellscream, Khadgar, Deathwing and many others, he fought in order to steal several artifacts to power up the portals in Draenor. All he succeded though was to destroy the red world, and doom many of his warriors, and ultimately fall into the hands of the furious Kil'jaeden. Kil'Jaeden, very pissed off with the slave, killed him painfully and made him serve him once again as a Lich. Trapped in a diamond-hard ice case, he was sent into Northtrend, where he crafted the terrible Death Plague which killed and raised the dead as Undead, which joined its forces. This way, the Lich King, as he named himself, formed a mighty kingdom and a mighty army of the dead. He also faced and decimated the Nerubians, forcing them to join them as well. Finally, he also managed to get Arthas, the Prince of Lordaeron into his forces. He would become the one host for the Lich King. Illidan, now part of Kil'Jaeden's forces, would try to kill him, but the Night Elves, and finally Arthas himself would save him, when the two powerful minds would join as one body, in the Frozen Throne. BLACKHAND THE DESTROYER Alignment: The Horde, evil. Age: Unknown (around 45 at the time of death). Whereabouts: Dead. Blackhand was a lustful orc choosen by Gul'dan to be the Warchief of the horde. While powerful, intelligent and reckless, he was very careless, and was killed by his own liutenant Doomhammer prior to the second assault at Stormwind Keep. He had two sons, Rend and Maim, and a daughter, Griselda, who he killed when she betrayed him and joined a band of Ogres. DUROTAN Alignment: The horde, evil. Age: Unknown. Whereabouts: Dead. Thrall's Father. Killed by Rend and Maim though that fact remains secret to most of the Horde as only Gul'dan, Rend and Maim knew it and they are all dead. Not that it matters now, of course. He was the Chieftain for the Frostwolves. REND AND MAIM Alignment: The Scourge, The Horde, evil. Age: Unknown. Whereabouts: Dead. Now for real. Rend and Maim were Blackhand's sons, who opposed Doomhammer's reign. They killed Durotan at some point after the destruction of the Blackrock Spire, and dissapeared shortly thereafter. On the mission "Lord of the Outland" On the Blood Elves campaign on the Frozen Throne, there are two Blademasters named Rend and Maim. While it is entirely possible that this fact is a canon point and that Rend and Maim are corrupted (but living) orcs, meaning they survived the destruction of Draenor, it is also possible that this is barely a easter egg, since their apparition is never screamed out loud, and one would think that Durotan's assassins would be more important on the plot. Until something else proves me wrong, though, I will go with the game's version, and as such, they were serving Magtheridon unwillingly, and were killed by Illidan's forces. GARONA Alignment: The Horde, evil. Age: Unknown. Whereabouts: Unknown. Garona the Half-orc was Gul'dan's personal assassin. She was the one who killed King Llane from Azeroth prior to the first War. She was capturated by Doomhammer and tortured to extract the location of the Shadow Council. Her current status is unknown, but there is a render of a rather attractive (actually just big breasted) female orc by Blizzard rolling around which probably refers to the fact that she's still alive. She's a "Half-Orc". This raises a very interesting (though probably pointless) question: Who or what was her father or mother in order to mate with an orc to give birth to a "Half-Orc"? Garona looks fairly demi-human-like, and as such, one could guess she's mixed with a human, elf or something similar. The only remotely demi-human race in Draenor we know of are the Draenei, and they don't really look that much human. She should have been at least on her late teen years prior to the first war, and that is the first time the orcs came in contact with humans - physically at least -... so the most important question is: Have elves or humans reached Draenor before? Perhaps Draenor and Lordaeron were one once? Have the Zerg something to do with it? All in all, I believe this is a simple mistake from blizzard, and the answer will never surface. Look how Garona was left out from WC III. Silly Blizzard. Please, for whatever's sacred, don't let the Zerg have something with it. Either she was killed by Doomhammer or she's still around, since someone as stealthy as she was is not likely to be around to join Thrall and die on some siege. Or she's an hermit now. Who knows? ELVES: Elves are divided in two tribes: Night Elves and High Elves.The only real difference between them is their physical appearance: Night elves are purple while High Elves are caucasian. Besides that, the Night Elves are very reclusive and never appeared again until the second arrival of the Burning legion, while the High Elves offered their help to repel the second orcish invasion. They did withdrawed after that, though. Grom Hellscream at some point mentions that the Night Elves are "Far too tall and far too savage" to be elves. The elves are weak physically but they possess amazing magical powers due to their bond with nature. Plus, thanks to their conection to the world tree, they are almost immortal. NIGHT ELVES: The night elves from Azeroth are the most powerful kind of elves, but also the most shy and reclusive kind. Their story goes back to the very start of the world, as the first race empowered by the Titans. When the world was created, the Night Elves were created. As simple as that. Their source of power was the Well of Eternity, a formidable lake which serve as a magical source of power for the elves. From this well, however, doom was spelt. The Highborne, a group of favored elves who were chosen by the Queen, controled the magical power of the Well and wished to control and cultivate it, began to be corrupted by the power of the Burning Legion. However, a powerful elf known as Malfurion Stormrage with the support of the Priestess of the Moon Tyrande Whisperwind decided to make it stop, but the Highborne wouldn't listen. E ventually, Malfurion's brother Illidan, joined his brother in the fight. This rose to a big struggle and the Queen Azshara actually managed to open a portal in the middle of the Well big enough for the Legion. Thanks to the demigod Cenarious, the Night Elvesd managed to stop both threats. Illidan eventually betrayed his brother and built another Well of Eternity, but he was caught and, instead of destroying this one, a collosal tree was planted, the Tree of Eternity, which was tied to the Elves and made them inmortal. With Cenarious as their protector, the forest was recovered. Malfurion, annoyed with Illidan decided to chain him and throw him down into a deep cave so his madness would be trapped there for the rest of eternity. However, there was another catch. In order to keep the forest safe against another invasion, the Dragons joined this (With the exception of the black Dragons) and granted the Elves a number of gifts, but the Druids then had to sleep in a dimension of sorts ruled by the Green leviathan Ysera named the Emerald Dream. Finally, the High Borne were banished from the forest (though they claim that they left on their own). The Night Elves are, thus, the most ancient race in the world (Save perhaps the Trolls, though this isn't clear yet). The Night elves technologically aren't exacly very advanced, their brightest work is the creation of the Ballistas, however, their magical power make up more than enough for the lack of interest towards tech. An interesting point is that all the male Night Elves are part of a big brotherhood and are labeled as Druids, with the sole exeption of the Demon Hunters. The Night Elves first and only apparition was in the third game of the series, as the decisive force which unites the Orcs and Humans against the Burning Legion. Despite this, they have quite a long history. Dammit. Interesting Notes: The Night Elves are pretty likely to be inspired by Tolkien's dark elves (The Drow) from the Silmarillion. The Night Elves have been represented by the: (night elf) Archers, Huntress, Priestess of the Moon, Druids of the Claw, Druids of the Talon. Notorious Night Elves: TYRANDE WHISPERWIND Alignment: The Sentinel. Age: 13,836. Whereabouts: Alive, still guarding the forest and rebuilding it. Tyrande Whisperwind is an idealistic and strong-willed elf princess who's in love with Furion Stormrage. She was one of the leaders of the defensive against the Burning Legion during the First Coming. Tyrande is technically Furion's girlfriend, but Illidan is also madly in love with the princess, which was one of the reason why he betrayed his brother, not only the magic stuff. She was the one to free him, but he didn't seemed to show too much gratitude. Perhaps he didn't noticed as he's blind oO. Tyrande didn't really trusted humans or orcs until the very end. She also has a grudge with Maeiv Shadowsong, since she released Illidan, and Maeiv is fanatically commited to get him back. Tyrande, despite her "damisel in distress" syndrome, is a very powerful and valiant warrior. She fights bravely against the Undead while the Stormrage brothers try to rescue her, and she never gives up despite the odds. For some, it might be worth noting that she's the one elf that manages to see an Hydralisk. Yeah. Stuff. *runs* MALFURION STORMRAGE Alignment: The Sentinel. Age: 15,032 Whereabouts: Alive, now outside the Emerald Dream. Furion was the first elf to oppose the use of magic by the high-borne or any elf. He's also regarded to be the first Druid amongst elves, and, more important, was the one to lead the defensive against the First Coming. He and his brother pushed the demons back, and, after his brother betrayed him, he chained him and threw him down into a cave for the rest of eternity. When released, Illidan faced his brother for the first time in a hundred years. He banished him from the forest. Later, they would cross ways once again, and he would stop his plan to melt down Northtrend, uberstknown to him though was his brother's plans, and they joined forces in a fragile alliance to rescue Tyrande. With Tyrand freed, Malfurion forgave his brother for his sins, but he reminded Illidan that while he might have forgotten them, the rest of the world will not. That would be the last time the Stormrage brothers would meet. He's in love with Tyrande, and, after the end of WC III, i would dare to say they have consumed their love. But, as a second thought, he's a frigging pedophile. He is almost 1,500 years older than his girlfriend, for crying out loud. ILLIDAN STORMRAGE Alignment: None. Age: 15,032 Whereabouts: Unknown. Good Riddance. Illidan was a High-Borne sorceror who was hopelessly addicted to magic. He, however, out of care for his brother, joined the battle against the Burninn legion even though that would mean the destruction of the Well of Eternity. He eventually betrayed his brother to save his magic, corrupting himself and becoming, very likely, the first Demon Hunter. He was trapped in a cave for ages, and during the preparatives for the Second Coming, Tyrande released him, perhaps due to the friendship that once united them. He was in love once with the princess, but now he doesn't seems to like her a lot. He managed to kill Tichondrious, and reach his demon form, achieving ridiculous powers, but he was banished from the forest by his brother, claiming that he was no longer an elf. Afterwards, Kil'Jaeden contacted Illidan and offered him the chance to join him. Thirsting for magic, the once-elf agreed to help him. Joining the damned naga, the once High Elves, he tried a reckless plot to melt down Northtrend and kill the Lich King. He failed, due to his brother's intervention. Illidan fleed Kil'Jaeden's wrath to Dreanor, where he joined forces with the Blood Elves and their Prince Kael. There, however, Kil'Jaeden found him, and gave him one last chance. The Naga, the Blood Elves, and Illidan assaulted then the tower where the Frozen Throne rests. There, Arthas and Anub'Arak faced them, and beat them. At the foot of the tower, Illidan and Arthas faced off for one last fight, and the Demon Hunter was defeated. Stephen Hsu <stephen_y_hsu@yahoo.com>, However, has this to say: "First, Illidan is definitely not dead. Blizzard has explicitly stated this, and it can be found on their website." I honestly spent like half an hour looking for this statement, and wasn't able to found it. If anything needs to be clear, is that Illidan's physical body, to say the very least, it's very dead. Other than that, we do not know, for Kil'jaeden's known to recycle his servants and promptly get shafted by them. NOTE FROM VERSION 1.6: Illidan is a character on the D&D set based on the Warcraft Universe. He apparently managed to survive and was sent into the Badlands where he is hiding. I don't really know how much of this is to be taken seriously, though. MAEIV SHADOWSONG Alignment: The Watchers, good. Age: Unknown. Whereabouts: Unknown. Last seen in Draenor. Maeiv Shadowsong was the Warden who watched over Illidan's. After Tyrande freed him, she started a hunt to get him back, no matter the cost. While Maeiv is good, and her intentions are good, she is bitter at Tyrande for killing her Warden sisters, and, more importantly, she is fanatically commited to her task, often overlooking other more pressing facts, such as her allies' safety, in favor of trapping Illidan. Maeiv followed her prey until Draenor itself. In there, she managed to capture the Demon Hunter (It is not explained how did she managed to do it, and is sort of strange that it happens), but the Blood Mage Prince Kael and the Naga Sea Witch Lady Vashj attack her caravan and release Illidan. Maeiv was then trapped in Draenor. Her future is uncertain as she is not likely to be welcomed by the remnants of the Legion or the Dreanei in the Red World. HIGH ELVES: The High Elves from Azeroth were once part of the Night Elves society before being kicked out for their reckless use of magic after the tragedy of the Well of Eternity. The history of the High Elves after their exile isn't really important. They traveled west and founded Quel'Talas. In there, they built their empire and lived peacefully, their only enemies being the Trolls. A savage and long war was fought and the Trolls' ancient empire was destroyed, and since that day, the High Elves and the Forest Trolls are deadly enemies. The High Elves eventually joined the Humans and the Dwarves in order to repel the second Orcish Invasion. However, after this war, they retreated again to the forest claiming the Humans were careless about magic (talk about hypocrisy!), but probably they just wanted to be left alone. A few elves though remained faithful to the Alliance. Shortly after the start of the Second Coming of the Burning Legion the forest of Quel'Talas was decimated and the High Elves' future is uncertain. The High Elves are physically weaker than their Night counterparts and their magic powers aren't nearly as obscene as the Night Elves. Their First apparition was in the second game as Allies of the Humans. Interesting Notes: The sorceress dress still has the emblem of the Kirin Tor. The High Elves have been represented by the: (elven) archers, Arch Mages, Sorceress, Priests. Notorious High Elves: SILVANAS WINDRUNNER Alignment: The Forsaken. Age: Unknown. Whereabouts: Reigning in the Plaguelands as a Dark Ranger. Silvanas was a valiant Ranger who oppossed Arthas on his quest to rise Kel'Thuzad as a Lich. He needed the power of the well in Quel'Talas, and Silvanas did whatever she could to stop him. While brave, the Ranger army was eventually overwhelmed by the fury of the Scourge, and Silvanas was faced off by the Death Knight himself. Boiling in anger, Arthas refused to give her rest, and turned her into a Dark Ranger. Now part of the undead, she followed her hated killer unwillingly. However, Illidan's attack on the Frozen Throne broke the bond between Arthas and the undead- including Silvanas herself. Using her new found powers, she ambushed the King Arthas, but Kel'thuzad ultimately foiled her plan. Free to decide, she attacked the last renmants of the Legion in the Plaguelands: The Dreadlords. She forced her enemies to join her using her possessing powers, and, killing the ones who opposed her, now she rules over the faction of the undead settled in the Plaguelands, and now calls it The Forsaken. BLOOD ELVES: In the aftermath of the destruction of Quel'Talas and the destruction of the well which empowered them, many High Elves died. The Survivors call themselves the Blood Elves. Thirsty for magic, they join Illidan and the Naga under the promise of magic to quench them. Their reckless use of magic is their trademark. Notorious Blood Elves: PRINCE KAEL'TALAS Alignment: The Blood Elves. Age: Unknown. Whereabouts: Unknown. A powerful mage himself, the young Prince Kael is a loyal agent of the Alliance who holds their part of the pact to repay the humans for saving what was left of their race after the destruction of Quel'Talas. However, he feels like their efforts to help are being ignored, and the mistreatment for the Blood Elves is humilliating. Being left to die near Dalaran, the Prince finds himself in the decision to live by allying with the Naga, or dying alone. They join the Naga, and are trapped as traitors by the alliance. With the help of Lady Vashj, Kael rallies his people in a daring escape from Dalaran, and joins Illidan on his quest to destroy Magtheridon, and finally the Frozen Throne. He is/was in love with Jaina Proudmoore but Arthas and his haircut managed to get away with her briefly. It is very, but VERY likely that Jaina didn't even knew about it anyway. Dunno exactly why, but for crying out loud, she doesn't even appears in the expansion pack. He was very likely killed during the assault on the Frozen Throne Tower, or killed in the aftermath. SATYRS: The Satyrs are also elves which were corrupted by the power of magic, and so, their apperance was drastically changed. They worship the Burning Legion and act as their agents. NERUBIANS: Powerful spider-like creatures which lived in Northtrend before the Lich King settled in. The Nerubian City of Azjol-Nerub was destroyed by the Undead army and thus, the Nerubians are almost extinct though a few groups of these dark warriors still live on. The Nerubians bassically ruled Northtrend as their subterrean world was almost as big as Northtrend itself, and were the last race which resisted the Lich King's attacks. The past of the Nerubians is unknown and their present situation makes their future uncertain as best, and probably we will lose contact of these creatures after the Frozen Throne. While they are not particulary good or evil, they seem to be at least a very agressive, bloodthirsty and savage race. Their culture and architecture is based off the ancient egiptian culture, but you probably already knew that. Interesting Notes: The Crypt Lord, even when considered a Nerubian, is not a spider, but a beetle. Perhaps is just an overly muscular spider, which doesn't really makes sense. The Nerubians have been represented by : (nerubian) Seer, Warrior, Queen, Trapper, Crypt Lords, Crypt Fiend. Their first apparition is on the third game. Notorious Nerubians: ANUB'ARAK Alignment: The Scourge. Age: Unknown. Whereabouts: Probably now is the third in command for the Lich King. Anub'Arak is a powerful Crypt Lord who joins King Arthas in Northtred, and leads him into the dead halls of Azjol-Nerub, and then finally joins the final battle between Arthas' Forces, and Illidan's Forces. Anub'Arak is a very wise Crypt Lord. He acts as a friggin Tour Guide while he drives Arthas' forces thru Azjol-Nerub. His name is a derivate of Anubis (an egiptian god, represented as a man with the head of a jackal), and Arachnide, the scientific clasification for spiders, but you probably already knew that. Not to mention he's not a spider, but a beetle. DRAGONS: The Dragons are enourmous flying lizards which are amongst the more powerful creatures of the world. They come in a variety of colors, named Dragonflights: Blue Dragons, ruled by Malygos, lords of magic. Fought with the Black Dragons for years and were defeated. Only a few of them remain. Can be found in Northtrend. Red Dragons, ruled by Alextrasza. They are numerous and powerful, noble and protectors of all life. Originally, though, Blizzard intended Alextrasza to be a manipulative evil being, but after Warcraft Adventures was cancelled, they dropped it and turned the red Dragons into good people. Is important to note that the dragons in Warcraft II are supposed to be red, but they aren't. Ahem. Green Dragons, ruled by Ysera. The green dragons are ethereal and magical creatures and are most likely found flying around the Emerald Dream with their queen. Black Dragons, ruled once by Deathwing, but since Deathwing is either dead or missing (very likely to be dead, though), the black dragons are certainly now all by themselves. The black dragons were almost exterminated due to their tendence to be very evil and thus they were obliterated by the elves or humans (Is not clear who hunted them, however). Last, and probably least, are the rather forgotten Bronze Dragons. Led by Nozdormu, the Timeless, the Bronze Dragons are mentioned in the storyline but they are nowhere to be found on the game itself. Interesting notes: Alextrasza offspring were actually green in the second game. Nozdormu is an erratic character which hasn't really appeared and is often overlooked in the storyline. TROLLS: Supersticious, canibal and very funny looking, the Trolls are the second most ancient race of Azeroth. The Trolls from Azeroth were the owners of a vast empire but they were attacked and destroyed almost entirely by the humans and the elves, clear reason for their hatred towards these two races. The Trolls are extremely strong and agile, as well as having a very fast regeneration ability, being very difficult to completely kill a troll. (Technically, the only way of killing a Troll would be burning it, or dropping acid on it.) The Trolls joined the Horde looking for vengance during the Second War, but the Horde lost and the Trolls left the alliance, obviously because they were going to be eaten alive by the Alliance. They befriended the Horde again in WC III after Thrall saved a group of Jungle Trolls from the destruction of their island home by a volcano. There are several kinds of Trolls. They are very similar except for their environment. The Jungle Trolls, the Forest Trolls and the Ice Trolls. Is kinda obvious where they live ;). The Jungle Trolls are the ones in WC III, and is pretty likely that ones in WC II are Forest Trolls. Interesting Notes: Why do trolls sound like jamaican rastas??? The Trolls have been represented by: Troll Witch Doctor, Troll Axethrower, Trolls Berserker, Jungle, Ice, Trapper, Warlord, Dark (troll), Headhunter, Shadowhunters, Wind Riders. Notorious Trolls: ZUL'JIN Alignment: None. Age: Unknown. Whereabouts: Unknown, very likely to be dead. Zul'jin is a rogue troll who's more or less regarded as the leader of the forest Trolls in Azeroth. He was captured at the start of the Second War, and, in a way to thank the Orcs who released him, he joined with his fellow Trolls their crusade to destroy humans, elves and dwarves and everything else in between. Zul'jin was well known for his bravery, and survived the Second War. He then left Azeroth and became a trader. He probably died afterwards. SUN'JIN Alignment: None. Age: Unknown (He says he's old). Whereabouts: Dead. Sun'jin was a Troll Witch Doctor who meets Thrall when the young Orc is stranded on his island. He reports the increased presence of the Humans in the island, and the uprising of the Murlocs. Sun'jin is killed as a sacrifice to the Sea Witch by the Murlocs, but his dying wish was to make Thrall escape and help his kindred Trolls to escape the island before the volcano which laid dormant hours ago explodes. I have been told that he was Zul'Jin's son, but it is very unlikely as he's old, much older than 30, and Zul'jin was no older than 29 by the time of WC II, making it very difficult. OGRES: Big lumbering thingies. The Ogres are one of the very few races still present in azeroth that are not indigenous to this land. They came with the Horde during the first invasion but they didn't allied with them until the second war. During the first one they bassically... did nothing except allying for some reason with Blackhand's daughter and getting her killed. (Duh) During the second war they allied with the Orcs and kicked some serious ass, including capturing the Runestone in Daer Carrow and thus being able to create an army of Ogre-Magi. However, after the defeat of the orcs, they quickly withdrawed their support and grouped in small groups. Most Ogres aren't very smart, however, amongst them are a group of intelligent ones which have organized their kind and bassically live terrorizing small villages and are very likely to be extinct due to their lack of a society. Ogres during the first game had only one head, but in the second and third they had two heads. The reason for this is that the Ogres during the second and third games (the ones brought by the Horde into Azeroth) were part of the experiments to create the Ogre Magi, the second head being a sequel of the magics used on them. Regular Horde-free Ogres have only one head. Interesting Notes: Ogres have kept their almost exactly same pissed off quotes from WC II to WC III. The Ogres have been represented by: Ogres (duh), Ogre Magi, Ogre Maulers, Ogre Lords. Notorious Ogres: CHO'GALL Alignment: The Horder, The Twilight's Hammer Clan, evil. Age: Unknown. Whereabouts: Dead. Cho'gall was the first Ogre Mage ever (or so to speak), and the leader of the Twilight's Hammer Clan, who allied with the Orcs during the second war, believing their mission was to bring sacred apocalyptic oblivion to the human world, but in reality they joined following Gul'dan's quest for the Tomb Of Sargeras. Cho'gall's Clan later, with the help of Gul'dan, strikes on Caer Darrow, capturing the Runestone in there. With it, Gul'dan and Cho'gall created the legion of Ogre-Magi. Cho'gall was killed by Doomhammer's forces at the entrance of the Tomb. DWARVES: The stout Dwarves of Lordaeron are one of the most prolific races in the known world. Hiden in their undermountain kingdom of Khaz Modan, the Dwarves stood indifferent to the first orcish invasion. However, during the second war, the Horde invaded their subterrean halls they were forced to join the alliance in order to save their people, and since then the Dwarves and the Humans have become allies and friends. The Dwarves also seems to maintain a grudge with the Gnolls of Lordaeron. Dwarves are smaller but stronger and faster than humans, and also live much longer than them. They are also quite brilliant and inventive, but as it seems their most important goal in life seems to mine minerals out of the galleries O_o. There is no evidence of their supposed grudge with the Goblins. Interesting Notes: Apparently, a Dwarven Mountain King once defeated a horde of Gnolls with a single Thunderclap. Wow. The Dwarves have been represented by: Mountain Kings, Gnomish Flying Machine, Gyrocopter, Dwarven Sharpshooter, Dwarven Demolition Team. Notorious Dwarves: MURADIN BRONZEBEARD Alignment: Explorer's Guild of Iron Forge, the Alliance, good. Age: 221 Whereabouts: Dead. Muradin was one of the founders of the Explorer's Guild, a group of, well, explorers who are dedicated to uncovers the secrets of the unknown lands. He's also the brother of the King Magni Bronzebeard. Muradin was the abassador of the dwarves during the second war, where he served as the link between the humans and dwarves. He also taught Arthas all he knew about blades. While out on his explorations, he was attacked in Northtrend by the Undead, and Arthas saved him. He followed the young prince, and was finally killed by the power of Frostmourne. GOBLINS: Small green funny looking thingies, the Goblins are a race of demi-human creatures. They are born from the rock and mountain, and so can be massively reproduced. They are supposed to hold a grudge with the Dwarves but no evidence can be found. They were recruited by the orcs during the second war, but after the orcs were defeated, they went by themselves. The goblins are fond of technology, trading and destruction. They are very bright but are most of them completely insane, leading them into a very likely death by explosion or something similar. Their appetite for destruction is very effectively repressented in their Sappers. Interesting Notes: Are Goblins native from Azeroth or did they came from Draenor? If so, what justifies the lack of shops in WC II or the knowledge of their trading interests? The Goblins have been represented by: Goblin Sappers, Goblin Zepellins, Goblin Shredders. Notorious Goblins: none. TAUREN: The minotaurs from Kalimdor are a peaceful race of powerful warriors (ironic, isn't it?), who are grouped in tribes. They join Thrall when he reaches Kalimdor, and he decides to try and help them from the constant attacks from the Centaurs. The Tauren and very strong and noble, they revel in combat armed with their totems. They also have an slightly longer span of life than humans or orcs. They hold a grudge with the Centaurs. They are gonna be in the new World of Warcraft game, so they are probably a new and important race, which represents the first created race for Blizzard. Congrats ^_^. Now make something that reaches the degrees of cuteness of the Chocobos or Moogles, and you'll be on your way ^_^. Interesting Notes: Tauren are, obviously, minotaurs with different names. Just pointing out the obvious since about ten people have already told me. The Tauren have been represented by: Tauren, Tauren's Chieftain, Tauren Spirit Walker. Notorious Tauren: CAIRNE BLOODHOOF Alignment: The Horde, The Bloodhoof Tribe, good. Age: 99 Whereabouts: Unknown. Last seen on the plains of Kalimdor. Cairne is the aged leader of his tribe, who befriends Thrall when the orc Warchief saves his people from the relentless attacks of the Centaurs. He's a powerful fighter and a great leader, only weakened by his age. Cairne follows Thralls quest to find the Oracle, and is finally thrown into the mix of the battle between the Horde and the damned Warsong clan to save Grom Hellscream. Conjecturing out of his way of acting, he probably left the forest and led his people back into the desert of Kalimdor to keep living in peace. GNOLLS: Prosperous but relatively young race in Lordaeron, they are a race which is somehow a mix of a human and a hyena. They are certainly agressive and strong, not to mention very fast, but they are stupid as they come. They hold a grudge against the Dwarves, though probably there is not logical reason for this hatred. It's probably because they noticed that they were smaller, and then decided to attack them ^_^. They are not very bright, they can be found fighting amongst themselves over stupid things, and as such, the lack of organization and leadership makes them a minor nuisance to humans, orcs, and elves. Interesting Notes: As obscure as they are, the Gnolls are not original creations by Blizzard. The Gnolls have been represented by: (Gnoll) Poacher, Assassin, Brute, Warden, Overseer, Gnoll. KOBOLDS: The Kobolds are a relatively weak race of underground rat-like people, which main concern is to mine precious stones from the caverns. They are evil by nature, but their cowardice is bigger than their hatred towards any other race. They haven't held any important role in the history yet. Interesting Notes: None. Heh. Well, I could elaborate about how funny were the Magic: The Gathering kobold cards, but that wouldn't be interesting if you don't play Magic :P. The Kobolds have been represented by: Kobolds, (Kobold) Geomancer, Tunneler, Taskmaster. MURLOCS: NOTE: I'm not very sure if this race is also original by Blizzard. Any help? NOTE FROM VERSION 1.6: Responding to my pleas of help, Cheater Hijacker <cheater_hijacker@hotmail.com> adds two cents to this: "You asked about Murlocs in the faq. I am fairly certain (say 80%) that these are an original Blizzard creation. Why, the name appears to come from two seperate refrences both of which are pretty modern, making it difficult to believe this is an olden day race revamped (like gnolls or goblins, etc.) If you want to know what the two parts of the name SEEM to mean (keeping in mind I am venturing a guess here but it is logical and you'll see why. Mur = Mur is a river in southern Austria and Northern Croatia. (Probably not a coincidence). LOCS = perhaps a change in spelling for Lox which is smoked samon. So I suppose Murlocs are smoked samon from a river in austria. ;) Either way I think it is too coincidental that Mur happens to be a river and Locs (AKA Lox) happens to be a fish." True or not, I have to give him credit for a very good point. Until someone proves otherwise, I think Cheater Hijacker is right. The Murlocs are a mysterious race of amphibious toad-like people, which are, while not indigenous to Lordaeron, are very likely to be much, but much older than most races present. It is strongly hinted that the Murlocs are intelligent and evil by nature, yet as it seems, they don't have any particular interest in waging war against the humans, orcs, or elves. They have a social structure, but not much is known about them yet. They can speak human language, and are highly supersticious. Interesting Notes: Murlocs are apparently actually part toad, part fish and part humans. The Murlocs have been represented by: (Murloc) Tiderunner, Huntsman, Plaguebearer, Flesheater, Nightcrawler, Mutant. QUILLBOARS: NOTE: See Murlocs. The Quillboars are a race of very agressive pig-like people which lurk in the plains of Kalimdor. Their culture is primitive, but their agressivity makes them fearsome opponents. Interesting Notes: The Quillboars were one of the first revealed creeps during early development stages. Some people thought they were part of the Burning Legion >_<. The Quillboars have been represent by: Quillboars, (Razormane) Scout, Brute, Medic, Chieftain. DRAENEI: Not much is known about the Draenei. The partners of the Orcs in Draenor before the first war, the Draenei were a peaceful race before it was obliterated and completely eradicated by the Horde before the first portal was open. They, however, by some reason survived and resurged from their ashes or something similar to join the Naga and High Elves into defeating Magtheridon. Interesting Notes: How did the Draenei survived in Draenor if they were suposedly extinct before the First War? And even then, how the hell did they managed to survive the apocalypse? Notorious Draenei: AKAMA, ELDER SAGE Alignment: none, neutral. Age: Unknown. Whereabouts: Living on Draenor. Akama is the leader of the surviving Draenei, and joins Illidan on his efforts to eliminate the Burning Legion and Orcs still dwelling on Draenor. Together, they take down Magtheridon, and they are left to live in peace in Draenor. He's quite a powerful mage and a gifted warrior, but he prefers peace to any kind of war, and he tries to keep his people out of any coming conflict as well. EREDAR: One of the most vile and powerful races in the Great Beyond, the only remains of the Eredar are the Orcish Warlocks and the powers wield by the Burning Legion... and Kil' Jaeden. They are a race of demons. They were nearly annihilated by Sargeras when he was a lawful Titan, but when he went insane, he released them, and choose Kil' Jaeden and Archimonde from them to become his generals. Archimonde was recently killed, but Kil' Jaeden is probably still around. Interesting Notes: Kil'Jaeden was originally designed as a horned and winged demon, but in the Frozen Throne he looks exactly like Archimonde. As a matter of fact, the slight glimpse we have of the Corrupted Sargeras during the flashback in the Tomb of Sargeras in the Frozen Throne's Elves campaign is much more like the original Kil'Jaeden. The Eredar have been represented by: Doom Guards and Daemons, Warlocks. Interesting Notes: None. Notorious Eredar: KIL'JAEDEN THE DECEIVER Alignment: The Burning Legion, Evil. Age: Unknown. Whereabouts: Unknown. He's still alive, though. Kil'Jaeden is the left hand or so to speak of Sargeras when he was still around (well, proven to be around at least). Unlike Archimonde, Kil'Jaeden is known for his powerful magics and subtle tactics. Kil'Jaeden was the mastermind behind the creation of the Pact between the Orcs and the Demons, and choose Ner'zhul as his puppet to move his ideas. He eventually knew of Gul'dan, and offered him the opportunity to become his student. He eventually dissapeared shortly before the Second War, only appearing again to punish Ner'zhul and turning him, as his last chance, into the Lich King. He dissapeared until Archimonde was killed, when he forged a pact with Illidan Stormrage, in order to destroy the Lich King. He hasn't been seen ever since. ARCHIMONDE THE DEFILER Alignment: The Burning Legion, Evil. Age: Unknown. Whereabouts: Dead. Archimonde was the right hand or so to speak of Sargeras when he was still around (well, proven to be around at least). Unlike Kil'Jaeden, he isn't really subtle and would prefer to burn his way into the World Tree rather than trust in the Undead. Archimonde is never shown as anything else than the warchief of the Burning Legion, and he commands the siege at the Summit of Mount Hyjal. He also destroys Dalaran, after he is summoned by Arthas and Kel'Thuzad. He was killed by the spirits of the forest when he reached the World Tree. PIT LORDS Pit Lords are ridiculously powerful demons, probably related to the Eredar race, as quoted from the ROC manual "Living engines of hate and destruction". The Pit Lords were led once by Manorroth, who in turn did everything he could for the Burning Legion. The Pit Lords live only for the battle and to destroy everything they can get to. Thanks to their enourmous strenght and magical powers, they have little to no trouble getting it done. While is unlikely that all of them are as powerful as Manorroth, they are probably one of the strongest races known. After the death of Archimonde, the Pit Lords ran amok and some of them decided to work as mercenaries, while others simply went on their own path. MANORROTH THE DESTRUCTOR Alignment: The Burning Legion, Evil. Age: Unknown. Whereabouts: Dead. An inmensely powerful demon, Manorroth was one of the field generals of the Burning Legion as well as the leader of the Pit lords, who were fanatically loyal to him. Manorroth's blood was the vessel for the pact between the Demons and Orcs, and as such, he's known as the one who enslaved the Orcs. He eventually managed to bind them to his will again, using Grom Hellscream, and using him again to kill Cenarious. Manorroth and Cenarious had fought several times on the past with no clear winner. He was finally killed by Grom Hellscream himself on a canyon, taken down by the power of the Orc who used his own power against Manorroth. MAGTHERIDON Alignment: None. Age: Unknown. Whereabouts: Dead. Magtheridon was a rogue Pit Lord who rallied the surviving orcs during the apocalypse in Draenor, where he seized what control was left of that wasteland. He then struck on the hapless Draenei survivors, who barely worked their way to stay alive. His fortress was attacked by the combined efforts of the Naga, the Blood Elves and the Draenei, led by Illidan Stormrage, who killed the Pit Lord and took control of the Fortress. Amongst Magtheridon henchmen were none other than Rend and Maim, Blackhand's sons. NATHREZIM: A race of vampiric demons, they were attacked and defeated by Sargeras before the Burning Legion was created. They were released later by the same Sargeras. The Nathrezim are also known as Dreadlords. Their powers of manipulation and mind control are inmense, as well as their dominion over several evil creatures. They have a code of honor which disallows them to kill other Nathrezim. Interesting Notes: The Dreadlords were at first designed wearing a funny looking gown much like the ones the Liches use. That's where the pissed off quote about the dress comes from. The Nathrezim have been represented by: Dreadlords. Notorious Nathzerim: TICHONDRIOUS THE DARKENER Alignment: The Burning Legion, Evil. Age: Unknown. Whereabouts: Dead. Arguably the most powerful Dreadlord ever, Tichondrious was the one sent to watch over the Lich King. He was always suspicious of Ner'zhul, and unfortunately for him, he was right. Tichondrious was killed on the forest of Mount Hyjal by Illidan via a plot by Arthas who asked the Demon Hunter to destroy the Skull of Gul'dan, and Illidan decided to take the Dreadlord as well. MALGANIS Alignment: The Burning Legion, Evil. Age: Unknown. Whereabouts: Dead. Malganis was a Dreadlord who bassically pestered Arthas around, turning him insane and driving him into the Undead. He was killed in Northtrend by the power of Frostmourne. DETHEROC Alignment: The Burning Legion (Former member), The Forsaken, Evil. Age: Unknown. Whereabouts: Right hand of Silvanas on the Plaguelands. Detheroc was one of the three Dreadlords looking over Lordaeron in place of Archimonde. Since they did not know that Archimonde was dead, they kept reigning there until Arthas came back. They forge an strange pact with Silvanas to overthrow the king, but ultimately they fail, and Arthas escapes Silvanas assasination attempt. Detheroc tried to force Silvanas to join him, but Silvanas instead turned the tables and, after wiping out his base and his forces, forced him to submit to her will instead and serve her. Under her command, they destroyed the remaining Burning Legion forces with the help of Garithos, who had been also defeated by Silvanas. OTHER RACES AND CREATURES IN AZEROTH, LORDAERON, KALIMDOR AND NORTHTREND: Harpies, Sasquatchs, Pandarens, various undead monsters, Owlbears, Lizards and Wyrms, Golems, Spiders, Wendigos, Wolves, and other creatures are not listed with their own section because a)The information available is scarce, b) they are not very interesting per se ^_^ c) they are not classified as a "race" (The undead race, the revenants and the like are not a race, but more like a bunch of different ones joined together. This includes the Burning Legion). This also includes random creeps, elementals, Infernals and Felhounds. I might, however, add a little run down about the kind of undeads. Don't ask about the Zerg. The Pandaren might get some history by the time the Frozen Throne is released, seeing how there is a pandaren hero. NOTE FROM VERSION 1.5: Well, they didn't. Bummer. ***************************************************************************** 15.- Miscelleneous facts about the storyline. _____________ | | | POWER TIERS | |_____________| There is a certain order power-wise to the characters in the game. Some of these characters are dead, but I'm facing them to their last seen state. TIER 1 The Titans. This isn't even a tier since this race were giants who were creating worlds and life and for crying out loud they are too big, they should be able to kill someone just by screaming. TIER 2 Aegwyn, Sargeras, Medivh. TIER 2.5 Kil'Jaeden, Archimonde, Cenarious, Deathwing?, Mannoroth, King Arthas. TIER 3 Gul'Dan, Illidan Stormrage, Tichondrious, the five remaining Legendary Dragons, Grom Hellscream. TIER 4 Orgrim Doomhammer, Malfurion Stormrage, Thrall, Kel'Thuzad, Aduin Lothar. TIER 5 Tyrande Whisperwind, Uther Lightbringer, Antonidas, Blackhand, Muradin Bronzebeard, Jaina Proudmoore, Khadgar, Alleria, Danath, Turalyon, Kurdran, Cho'gall, Zul'Jin, Silvanas Windrunner, Kargath Bladefist, Teron Gorefiend, Dentarg, Anub'arak. TIER 6 Bassically everyone else who's mentioned on the storyline. The first two Tiers are pretty much obvious as they are simply too powerful to be classified with anyone else. The Titans, Aegwyn, Archimonde and Medivh are god-like people. Tier 2.5 is because they are much more powerful than the third tier, but they aren't nearly as powerful as the others. Blame me. Deathwing is thrown in here because of his superior dragon status as he stole the power of the other dragons when they were created. He's only slightly more powerful though. Cenarious is a pain in the ass. Enough said. King Arthas is now definitely more powerful than any other living beast, as he is now part Lich King, part Frostmourne, and part gifted warrior, which turns him into a monster. He also beat Illidan Stormrage one-on-one combat, and with the help of Anub'Arak killed the Forgotten one. He rules. Tier three is sort of confusing: Gul'Dan was the most powerful warlock, the only Orc of his time who managed to roam the Twisting Nether without losing his mind, and actually found the Tomb Of Sargeras. Got killed by it, but, hey, he managed to do it. The conditions of the story of Warcraft don't really favor him at any time (He's compared to Medivh, defeated after weakening because of Medivh's psychic backslash when he died, faces Doomhammer twice in disadvantage and finally gets torn apart by a throng of demons. Ahem.) Grom Hellscream killed Mannoroth, who in turn beats Thrall, so both are hellish strong. Both Hellscream and Mannoroth are overly more powerful than the rest of the heroes, Hellscream is an experienced fighter, while Mannoroth is a Pit Lord, which is enough (These frigging things are the most powerful heroes in the game!). However, Grom had a fraction of Mannoroth's power, while Mannoroth says that he and Cenarious fought before, with no clear winner. Tichondrious was arguably the most powerful Dreadlord, and Illidan killed him, ahem...So they both can be placed here (Is hinted that Malfurion couldn't really kill Tichondrious by himself)(I can't really recall where though). Tichondrious is able to summon Infernals and is the first in command after Archimonde. Illidan was bound for years and becomes strong enough to find his devil form and eventually kill Tichondrous. He was, however, beat by Arthas. Hahah! Finally, the four remaining dragons, who are more or less similar in power, can be placed here as Alextraza was named "The most powerful being in Azeroth". The tier four : Orgrim Doomhammer was the most powerful orc fighter to ever exist, he survived the assault on the Blackrock Spire, managed to kill Lothar in one on one battle, and even survived the rest of the war until he got killed after years of being an hermit on an assault to a prison. Well, the years of eating rocks probably lessened his skill. Lord Lothar is one hell of a guy, he survived the two first wars, and took one full Doomhammer to kill him. Aduin Lothar was one powerful fighter, we can consider he was already somewhat old when he faced Orgrim, and thus that he wasn't at his peak of strenght. Kel'Thuzad is also very poweful, because Liches storyline-wise are supposed to be extremely powerful, and this one is the most powerful of them all ^_^. Actually, Kel'Thuzad is a loose part on the storyline, his strenght is really huge as he could summon Archimonde, he is Arthas mentor, and he is (more importantly) still alive. Well, probably. I'm sure that Arthas, basking on his glory and playing guitar wouldn't forget his... friend? We'll have to wait and see. The fifth tier is bassically everyone else who slipped by on the storyline and on the games but aren't really as monstruous as the others, yet their powers are important enough. Silvanas' the most powerful of the bunch alongside Anub'Arak. The sixth tier... What can I say? ___________________ | | | NATIONS AND CLANS | |___________________| NATIONS OF THE ALLIANCE: AZEROTH: still the main nation, obviously, no one would say otherwise. Their leader during Warcraft II is Lord Aduin Lothar, and it's main star status is highly due to the fact that the whole game is about driving the Horde out of Azeroth. Destroyed in Warcraft III. Rebuilt fifteen years after the Second Coming apparently (We'll have to wait and see). LORDAERON: still the most powerful human nation (even in Warcraft III is still the biggest one), Lordaeron is ruled by King Terenas, and is the one who forms the alliance against the Horde. A highly religious nation. Destroyed in WC III. STROMGARDE: Thoras Trollbane is the king of this powerful martial nation. Destroyed by the Horde early during the Second War. KUL TIRAS: Daelin Proudmoore is an old friend of King Terenas and joins this nation to the alliance as a powerful sea army. His daughter, Jaina, is an important character in WCIII. GILNEAS: ruled by Glenn Greymane. Even though is mentioned quite a few times, this nation holds no real role in the history. Destroyed during the Second War. DALARAN: The Violet City of Dalaran, ruled by the Kirin Tor, a powerful group of mages, is the center of all magics in the world. While attacked by the Orcs at some point during the Second War, it stands still until Warcraft III where is destroyed by Archimonde. ALTERAC: Betrays the Alliance, but Perenolde and his nation don't seem to be much of a match to the rest of the Alliance as they don't really seem to be affected by this lost. Perenolde makes a cameo appearance on WC III... as a Death Knight (Lord Perenolde). Pretty interesting. CLANS OF THE HORDE NOTE: Most of the clans of the Horde take their name in one way or another from some characteristic in the leader or some strange tradition within. The exceptions are Blackrock Clan, Stormreaver, and Twilight's Hammer, which can be argued as one is based in the Blackrock Spire, the second was more or less improvised by Gul'dan to avoid getting killed (or 'stormed') and the third was actually an Ogre Clan. Dunno about the Shadowmoon though. BLACKROCK CLAN: Originally directed by Blackhand the Destroyer, is overtaken by Orgrim Doomhammer in WC II. The most powerful Orc Clan which ever existed, was reduced to ashes in WC II, and finally destroyed in WC III, as well as any orc conections with dragons. Main clan during WC II. STORMREAVER CLAN: Ruled by Gul'Dan, is totally eradicated in WC II. Is controled by the player quite a few times but ultimately destroyed by Orgrim Doomhammer and his Blackrock Clan at the Tomb Of Sargeras. TWILIGHTS'S HAMMER CLAN: led by Cho'gall, this clan is mainly composed by the Ogres and Ogre-Magi for the Horde. It's not clear what happened to the ogres after Warcraft II, but all seems to point that there are no remnants of this clan (The Ogres are referred as "Ogre Legion"). Falls alongside the Stormreaver Clan. THE BLACK TOOTH GRIN CLAN: Led by Rend and Maim, the other two sons of Blackhand (Griselda, his only daughter is killed by himself during WC I). This clan is the only one which opposses Doomhammer openly, though this never interferes the Horde's greatest plans for destruction. However, stands loyal to the horde until the end of WC II, dissapears shortly thereafter. They had the tradition of knocking one of their teeth off in order to show their devotion to the clan, and thus the name. BLEEDING HOLLOW CLAN: The leader is Kilrogg Deadeye, a fanatically loyal orc to the Horde. Guarding the refinement operations in Khaz Modan, they are one of the last clans to fall victims to the Alliance. The name comes from Kilrogg, who's missing an eye. DRAGONMAW CLAN: Led by Zuluhead the Whacked, they are the ones who captured Alexstraza, the great red dragon. Are decimated shortly thereafter the destruction of the Dark Portal. The Dragonmaw Clan is very likely named for their conections to Dragons, and is very likely one of the younger clans of the Horde. BURNING BLADE: a brotherhood of leaderless orcs with nearly no participation during Warcraft II. Their name comes from their most prominent warriors, the Blademasters, who, freed from their curse, now battle with the Horde for greater good. SHADOWMOON CLAN: Led by Ner'zhul during BtDP. Eliminated with the Apocalypse in Draenor. FROSTWOLVES CLAN: Led by Durotan. Dissapear one way or another after their leader's death. WARSONG CLAN: The only Clan or so to speak functioning as such until ROC, is led by Grom Hellscream. Apparently, the name came from their... tradition to attack screaming like lost souls. I remember reading something like that. Anyway, their warriors seemed to be reknown for their ferocity in combat. They evade capture, and are likely disbanded after their leader's death. _______________ | | | ODDS AND ENDS | |_______________| - There is a certainly confusing cinematic scene in Warcraft II which despicts a demon brutally attacking a wizard. This is most likely the demise of Gul'dan (Fairly confusing before Warcraft III as we can't seriously guess what happens to Gul'dan on the mission where we attack his clan, since the guy is there and the demons are allied to him). - Tichondrious during the last undead mission in WCIII mentions that Medivh wasn't "powerful enough to evade death". As it seems, Medivh certainly dissapeared from this plane for 24-25 years after his "death". - Contrary to popular belief, Arthas wasn't the first Death Knight. The Death Knight group was formed when a group of Paladins invaded Northtrend prior to Thrall's visions after sensing the war between the Nerubians and the Lich King. Arthas is very likely the *last* Death Knight. - It's been strongly hinted that Deathwing is still alive. - The Blademasters banner is a very stylized version of the Burning Blade Clan banner. - London is in England. Eh. - Apparently, Kel'Thuzad knew that Archimonde was going to dispose of them both and even then he agreed to summon him. - The Book of Medivh was mentioned during the Beyond the Dark Portal though whatever was there isn't said around. ***************************************************************************** 16.- FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Or so I think they will be. Q. Is Warcraft somehow related to Starcraft? A. Why would it be? Warcraft happens in the very far past and Starcraft happens in the very far future. This question is probably out of the funny easter egg of the Hydralisk on the Night Elves Campaign and the pressence of the Zerglings and the Zerg eggs in the editor, as well as the hidden ending with the Terran Marines. If one was to take seriously every easter egg, we would have to assume that Warcraft and Starcraft happen in two different worlds as the annoyed response of the Protoss observer notes (The observer is a little satelite, and one of its annoyed responses is a static mixed transmission saying "This is a small step for the man *static* Stop poking meeeeee!!" the last one being the annoyed response of the orcs in the first game). The last link is the annoyed response of the Acolytes "My life for Aiur... I mean, Ner'zhul!!" NOTE: This question has become a bit more insistent. To be fair and honest, I don't even THINK Blizzard wants both games to be related, and that includes the (ugh) Diablo series. Any appearance should be noted as a easter egg, so far. Besides, if I start talking about the connections, I will end up talking about the connection between the Protoss society with Satanism, and answering questions about what are my theories on the Guardian's means of flying, and that will drawn out a lot of weirdos and whatnot, nobody wants that. So no. If I ever write a plot guide about STARCRAFT, there I will tell you how does a Guardian fly. So there. Q. Where did you got all this information? A. Reading the manual from WC II and WC III, lots of guessing, playing like an obssessed idiot, and lots of hours to spare. A few websites helped too. Q. How can you tell it's true? A. Because... well.. my sources are official! NOTE: I realize this is a ridiculous reason. But it is funny. Q. Where did you saw the Hydralisk on WC III? A. The thing is cheerfully hidden in the second night elf mission, after you get the Catapults, look to the north and you might spot it. Shoot the trees down and claim the Hydra. It's pretty powerful but it has like -5 armor and is about as tough as a mosquito. Q. And the Zerglings?? And the Marines??? A. Dude, finish the game on hard and you will get to see that and a lot more including a new vision of WCII Introduction movie (Yeah, the one where the human lancer scratches the back of his head *through* the helmet). Q. So Starcraft and Warcraft ARE connected, right? A. No idea. Sorry. Q. The Power tiers are wrong!!! They should be (this way, that way, bits, bats, brackets, rockets...)... etc... A. As I say, they are my own guesses. And they are pretty good. Feel free to add some kind of reasonable reasons to back you up though (Not the kind of "DEATHWING RULZ TOO MUCH and his FIRE is HOTTER than the SUN and it should MELT DOWN TITANS CUZ THEY ARE MADE OF METAL"). Q. I just wanted to add that there is a little inconsistency between WC II and WC III, according to WC III it says Gul' Dan was killed by demons in Sargeras' tomb (in one of the NE mission in the Frozen Throne), while in WC II if you remeber way back then you were suppose to kill Gul' Dan in that one mission, and the demons were also against you. <nukedawhales@hotmail.com> A. I've also noted that, and the only reason might be that they were renegade demons, or, perhaps summoned ones. That, or it's something that was retroactively changed by Blizzard. Besides, they are demons. Not necesarily because you're out to get Gul'dan are they going to shake your hand and bring you coffee. Q. Is Sun'Jil Zul'jin's son? A. NO, dammit. And, for a last reason, they are different kind of trolls. Jil was a Jungle Troll, while Jin was a Forest Troll. Q. So... what the hell are those demons doing with Gul'Dan in WCII? A. This has been asked several times and its getting annoying. I haven't the slightest clue about why are they flying over Gul'dan if they are supposed to be killing him. Ditto with the ones guarding the Fortress in the last human mission (Conveniently, no one seemed to notice this. Ahem.). There is an answer after all. Somewhere in the WC III manual, states that Gul'dan had made a pact with demons to find Sargeras tomb. That doesn't answers why the demons are also at the Blackrock spire, but no one has asked me yet ¬_¬. The point is that very likely they killed Gul'dan before you could get there but not before you started the siege on his island. Q. Who wrote Medivh's book? A. No god damn idea about it, and it has been bugging me for awhile. Is either Medivh under Sargeras influence but on his own sanity, or Sargeras himself to help out warlocks. Probably this answer will never surface. Q. ILLIDAN CAN'T BE DEAD!!!! A. He isn't. Q. NOOOOO!! A. Uh? Q. Sorry. A. oO Q. Will you write a more comphrensive summary of the games? A. I've been told about it, but, certainly, this game doesn't needs it. If we have to face against a MMORP where I have to go and write word by word what the hell is happening, I will. Damn you Blizzard. Q. Is it possible that Khadgar is still on Draenor? A. While it's entirely possible for Khadgar and company to have survived thirty years in Draenor, I'm led to believe he didn't, and more so now that Rend and Maim are comfirmed to have been in Draenor alive all that time. It's much more likely that he died after destroying the portals, or that he was killed by Magtheridon forces, or that the remaining orcs killed him, and who knows what else could have happened, because if he was alive, he would have appeared one way or another on ROC or TFT. Furthermore, Medivh probably would have mentioned it. Q. What happened to gnomes after WC II? A. No idea. I'm led to believe as well that the appearance of gnomes in WC II was more or less a mistake - Gnomes on Warcraft are wildly different to regular gnomes from other medieval gnomes, they are ussually magical or mechanical. They are scheduled to appear in the World of Warcraft, though. Q. When was planned Warcraft Adventures to fit on the storyline? A. (Insistent question) Right before WC III. Not really that obscure of an issue. Q. Who won the wars? A. The first one was won by the orcs, and the second one by the humans. The invasion on Draenor didn't really had a winner, not to mention that in wars nobody wins... *chokes* Q. Why did Medivh first contacted Gul'dan? A. It wasn't Medivh. It was Sargeras, who was looking for someone with such hunger for power that would make a pact with him. He wasn't very successful, though. Q. How does a Zerg Guardian flies? A. Via beans. You see, you get a lot of beans, particulary venezuelan black beans, and eat 'em all. You will soon see how does the damn thing fly. ***************************************************************************** 17.- The Colliseum. Here's the section where your emails will be posted in order for other fans to agree or disagree with you. Yeah, I know the name's confusing. <Note From Lord Zero: I removed the emails here, and I will start collecting emails from now on. A next version will have each and every Email I've gotten until now> ***************************************************************************** 18.- The Xel'Naga/Titans Theory. WARNING: Don't take this seriously until further notice. From <zatewffairy@aol.com>: "My friends and I think that the Titans of Warcraft are in fact the Xel'Naga of Starcraft. However this is just a therory and is not to be taken seriously in anyway. And you cannot say that Warcraft is not related to Starcraft because the similarities in Reign of Chaos' story and Starcraft in general are extreamly similar. Here is what we figure: Kerrigan ---> Arthas Undead Plauge ---> Zerg Manifestation I understand that these are just similarities, but we belive that Kerrigan and Arthas are pulled together through the Burning Leigon. This is all just therory I just thought that I should bring to your attention that it might be true. " Does it makes any sense? Hell yes it does. Both races are almighty, both of them create worlds and life, both of them are hellish mysterious, and both of them are completely an unknown part of the story. I smell a link... I strongly believe in this. If it is, that's the final proof to say that both universes are connected. The fact that the storylines are funnily similar shows that perhaps, the same Burning Legion has been hitting over and over again on the same world, ours. The Earth. The Zerg might be just another form of the plague to take over the worlds before the Burning Legion attacks again. Perhaps the Zerg was being engineered ever since the events of the Second Coming were happening? I'm off to research about this :). ***************************************************************************** 19.- Credits. - To Blizzard, to start with. They are the best game developer ever, and I hope this series never dies. Go Blizzard! - <SoulKeeper24@aol.com> for bassically all the info I have about BtDP. Thanks a lot dude, but i wasn't able to reach you back. You have all my gratitude though :). - Daniel Greenberd <daniel_g@ameritech.net> and Wade Wilson <the_deadpool2000@hotmail.com> for his input on the Tiers. - Edward Fu <edfuemail@yahoo.com> for his input about the acolyte quote regarding Warcraft and Starcraft. - Aaron Ross <grimm2@citlink.net>, Thomas Wojtow <tf_kramer@hotmail.com>, and Gunnar Hesler <reaver@yifan.net> who deserves most of the credit, for telling me how did Medivh die. - <ZaTewffairy@aol.com> for the idea about the Xel'Naga and the Titans, as well as other info. - ".. .." <nukedawhales@hotmail.com>, Jeff Ligon<ligon@celito.net>, Mat <Tonberry@sympatico.ca>, Frederick Erendale <frederickelendale@hotmail.com>, Mike Bot <nightscreamer20@hotmail.com>, <TirisfalGuardian@aol.com> for various pieces of info and input. - Seph Novas <sephzack@hotmail.com> for some info about the Jungle Trolls Joining the Horde. - Darwin Yonatan <masamune_shiro2@yahoo.com> for bringing Silvanas' current state to my attention. - Stephen Hsu <stephen_y_hsu@yahoo.com> for a lot of info about, well, a lot of stuff. Thanks! - Normal Guy <nolimittostupidity@yahoo.com> for the bit about the Guardians. - To my little sister and her obsession with Disney's movies, for bringing the Arthas and Arthur similarities to my attention. - To War3.com, warcraft.org, and who knows how many other sites I have been in where I found every little piece of info. These are the two I can remember, if you feel I took something from your site, you can email me if you want credit, or if you want me to remove it. - To the comunity in gamefaqs.com for making my life a little bit more interesting. - To the people who were in the Use your Fist not your Mouth BBS (The official Marilyn Manson BBS) before the board was closed. One of the best boards I've been, and certainly the funnier. It's a shame eveything ended the way it did. - To... erm... Marilyn Manson ^_^. I think that Jack Off Jill and their god-damned-frigging-song-that-I-cannot-get-out-of-my-freaking-head named "Strawberry Gashes" also deserves some credit. - To you, the reader for reading this. - And Obviously me, thy almighty Lord Zero. Haha. *runs away* ***************************************************************************** 20.- Legal Stuff. This file is owned by Lord Zero (dskzero@yahoo.com) You MAY distribute, print, read, show to your friends or enemies this guide freely, AS LONG as you credit Lord Zero as the author, keep the copyright on it, and is used for non-profit purposes. You MAY NOT change ANYTHING on this guide, adding or taking anything out of it, including banners, links, or anything else. You MAY NOT distribute this guide on any non-electronic media. All I ask from you if you wish to publish this guide on your site, is to keep it updated, and to notificate me of your URL. All Rights Reserved. Anything not mentioned on this text can be discussed via email to the address below. Copyright 2002-2003 By Lord Zero (dskzero@yahoo.com). The last version can always be found in gamefaqs.com. __ / \ \||/ ______ ______ |||| <_____ \ <_____ \ |||| ____ __________________________\ \______\ \__||||______ / \ \ / Lord Zero (dskzero@yahoo.com) / |||| / / /| \ /\ < --------------------------------< ||||/ / / | < @ \__________________________ ______ \_||||_/_/__| / \/ _____/ / _____/ / |||| \_/__/ <______/ <______/ |||| |||| /||\ \__/ "End of File (You can stop reading now)"
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