Draenei

Draenei are the last of the original Eredar, who, led by the prophet Velen, one of the three great lords of the Eredar, fled their homeworld of Argus to escape the corruption that the Dark Titan Sargeras was spreading. The two other Eredar lords, Archimonde and Kil'Jaeden, were seduced by Sargeras, after he promised them unfathomable power in exchange for their service. They accepted willingly, and thus the foundations of the Burning Legion were established. The exiled Eredar traveled through the cosmos aboard the naaru Dimensional Ship, Oshu'gun, and landed on a remote world.

Here they came into contact with the shamanistic orcs. Naming the planet Draenor, or "Exile's Refuge", the Draenei went about the process of building a new civilization. But the Burning Legion did not stop hunting them. Although for a time there was peace between the Orcs and Draenei, the Legion saw an untapped potential for the Orcs to become killing machines. Kil'Jaeden approached the great Orc shaman Ner'zhul (who would ultimately become a being of great power - The Lich King), and tried to convert him to the Legion's cause. When Kil'Jaeden was met by defiance from the Orc, the demon turned to his apprentice, Gul'dan, who was much easier to corrupt. Gul'dan turned the Orcs against the Draenei resulting in the destruction of much of the Draenei race. After a great cataclysm which saw the destruction of Draenor, the Draenei captured another vessel of naaru design, the Exodar, and used it to abandon the world, eventually arriving on Azeroth. The Exodar fell from the skies above northern Kalimdor, and crashed on a pair of islands to the west of the coastal region of Darkshore. Bloodmyst and Azuremyst Isles, became the Draenei's new home and so did Azeroth, for they would join the cause of the Alliance and stand against the demonic might of the Burning Legion with their new found comrades in the various races of Azeroth. They greatly respect the Alliance's devout reverence for the Holy Light.

Draenei have skin ranging from purple to pale blue, and both genders are relatively tall compared to humans, have cloven, goat-like hooves, and tails that resemble those of a lizard. Males usually have tentacle-like appendages extending from their chin, and occasionally large, complex structures on their forehead, while females have two horns on their temples extending backwards and thinner versions of the male's appendages hanging from behind the back of the jaw.

The Orcs

The Orcs were eventually led into Night Elf territory and fought several skirmishes against them as they attempted to set up camps. Here, the Pit Lord Mannoroth returned and tempted Grom Hellscream into drinking from corrupted waters, placing the Warsong Clan back under the corruption of the Burning Legion. Grom then led his clan on a warpath through Night Elf lands and slaughtered the demi-god Cenarius. However, Grom was eventually freed and atoned for his deeds by aiding Thrall in defeating Pit Lord Mannoroth, sacrificing himself in the process and liberating the Orcs from their blood pact.

The liberated Orcs set aside their differences with the Night Elves and Humans to help defeat Archimonde at the Battle for Hyjal Summit. The Orcs then set out to carve a place for themselves on Azeroth in Kalimdor. They called their new homeland Durotar, after Thrall's father, Durotan. Their capital city was named Orgrimmar, after Orgrim Doomhammer, the former War chief.

As of the present time, the following Orcish clans survive within the Horde under Thrall:

* The Frostwolf Clan
* The Warsong Clan
* The Bleeding Hollow Clan
* The Shattered Hand Clan

These Orc clans are merely examples of the very few numbers of Orcs who hold strong to their old shamanistic beliefs and clansmen ship. Almost all the original clans are divided among the different Hordes (the Fel Horde in Outland and the Blackrock Clan in Blackrock Mountain both consider themselves to be the "True Horde"). However almost all Frostwolves, Warsong and Bleeding Hollow orcs are in the New Horde, ruled by Thrall. All other orcs in the New Horde have given up their clan affiliations; apart from a few Shattered Hand orcs, who make up the Assassins of the New Horde. However, most Shattered Hand orcs belong to the Fel Horde in Outland ruled by Kargath Bladefist.

Tauren

The Forsaken are a rebel group of undead, once part of the undead Scourge. When the Lich King's power began waning and his control over the Scourge began to fall, Sylvanas Windrunner, a banshee created from one of his enemies during the battle with the high elves, regained her sense of free will. She harbored an intense hatred for Arthas Menethil, and planned to kill him as revenge for condemning her to an eternity of undeath. After failing to kill him, she gained the support of a dreadlord, Varimathras (who, along with the Royal Apothecary Society, betrayed Lady Sylvanas Windrunner, and the Horde in the Wrath of the Lich King Expansion).

The Forsaken control the western parts of the former human Kingdom of Lordaeron, namely the Tirisfal Glades and Silverpine Forest. Much of these lands were tainted by the mark of undeath left behind by the plague and The Scourge, so the lands themselves are haunting, dark and deathly in appearance. Tirisfal was once a beautiful forest, but is now a dark place under a corpse like sky. But the Forsaken have other scattered holdings in the Northlands such as Tarren Mill in the Hillsbrad Foothills, and in the Alliance lands, they have a presence in Duskwood, the shadowy forest beyond Stormwind's southern border. Sylvanas and the Forsaken have joined the Horde. Though they are said to care little about the alliance, they seem to show sympathy for the blood elves. This could be because of Sylvanas' undying love for her ancestral homeland. In life, she was a devoted soldier and the Ranger-General of Silvermoon, and fought valiantly against the horrors of the Scourge. Her lust for vengeance upon the Scourge could imply that the desecration of Quel'thalas affected her deeply, and that even though she is Queen of the Forsaken, somewhere in her soul she is still Sylvanas the High Elf of Quel'thalas. Their ultimate goal is establishing a place for themselves in a world that hates them, and creating a plague capable of wiping out the undead Scourge; they will wipe out anyone who stands in their way. They harbor no allegiance to their former allies, and vice versa. The Forsaken's alliance with the Horde is one of mere convenience.

Trolls

Sylvanas and the Forsaken have joined the Horde. Though they are said to care little about the alliance, they seem to show sympathy for the blood elves. This could be because of Sylvanas' undying love for her ancestral homeland. In life, she was a devoted soldier and the Ranger-General of Silvermoon, and fought valiantly against the horrors of the Scourge. Her lust for vengeance upon the Scourge could imply that the desecration of Quel'thalas affected her deeply, and that even though she is Queen of the Forsaken, somewhere in her soul she is still Sylvanas the High Elf of Quel'thalas. Their ultimate goal is establishing a place for themselves in a world that hates them, and creating a plague capable of wiping out the undead Scourge; they will wipe out anyone who stands in their way. They harbor no allegiance to their former allies, and vice versa. The Forsaken's alliance with the Horde is one of mere convenience.

The Tauren are one of the oldest races in Azeroth, a proud and tenacious race with bull-like features and a culture that is very similar to an evolved Native American culture. They are druidic, shamanistic, peaceful, and powerful beings. They resemble minotaurs, having horned bulls heads, large hooves in place of feet, three fingered hands, and a towering body structure. The largest Tauren tribe, the Bloodhoof Tauren, reside on the top of a cluster of tall mesas known as Thunder Bluff, in the grasslands of Mulgore. They are led by the High Chieftan Cairne Bloodhoof.

Mulgore, in Kalimdor, was fought over by the defending Tauren and the marauding Centaur. The Tauren would have been nearly wiped out, but the Orcish Horde, led by the War chief Thrall, intervened and came to the aid of the Tauren at the request of Cairne Bloodhoof. The Tauren were then honor-bound and allied themselves with the Horde.

Unallied groups

The Darkspear trolls of the Warcraft Universe differ significantly from traditional depictions in fiction, instead being very similar to the trolls of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise. They have a vast and very diverse background with many different tribes, of which only the Darkspear are playable. The four major troll ethnicities include Forest, Jungle, Ice, and Desert. Other notable mentions include Dark trolls, about which very little is known, Zanzil the Outcast and his Followers, and the earliest of all trolls - the Zandalar tribe; from which all other trolls are said to have descended. Inside each of the four ethnicities, trolls are further divided into separate tribes with various allegiances.

During the second war, the Forest Trolls of Lordaeron allied with the Horde to help combat their ancient enemies, the High Elves, who had aligned with the Alliance. This alliance dissipated upon defeat of the Horde and internment of the remaining Orc clans.

The playable trolls, the Darkspear, are led by Vol'jin and fled the continent after splitting off from the Gurubashi (Jungle) Empire. When Thrall and his orc forces left the Eastern Kingdoms to sail to Kalimdor they crashed on an island near the center of the ocean where they were met by the troll Sen'jin. Sen'jin, Thrall, and several other orcs and trolls were captured by murlocs soon after their arrival. Thrall managed to break from his cell and free many, but Sen'jin was sacrificed by a murloc sorcerer. It was in Sen'jin's honor that the Darkspear were allowed into the Horde.

Blood Elves

During the Third War, the undead Scourge destroyed the High Elf capital and the source of their power, the Sunwell, along with most of the High Elf population. The remaining High Elves split into two factions - approximately 10% kept their original heritage, but the rest followed Prince Kael'Thas Sunstrider and began calling themselves Sin'dorei (which in their tongue means "children of the blood" - more commonly referred to as "Blood Elves") in homage to their loss. With the leadership of their prince, the Blood Elves continued to defend their homeland from the terror of the Scourge. In their continued struggles on Azeroth, Kael'Thas met the Naga, led by Lady Vashj, and accepted her help in protecting his people. This led to much suspicion from the humans for whom Kael'Thas was stationed under. Grand Marshall Garithos, leader of the remaining Alliance forces in Lordaeron, accused Kael'thas of consorting with vile beings and imprisoned him in the jails of Dalaran. Kael'thas and his lieutenants were eventually rescued by Vashj and her Naga. They then proceeded to flee to Outland to rendezvous with the exiled Illidan Stormrage who with their aid later dethroned the Pit Lord Magtheridon and gained dominion over Outland. Kael'Thas later betrayed Illidan and began seeking power on his own, forming an alliance with the Burning Legion. Cheating his death in Tempest Keep, he later returned to the Isle of Quel'danas and re-ignited the Sunwell, where he attempted to summon Kil'jaedan into Azeroth.

The elves who remained in Eversong Woods have renounced their allegiance to Kael'Thas and are now led by Lor'themar Theron. The Alliance mistrusts the Blood Elves and their lust for a source of magic, so their race has aligned with the Horde for the mutual benefit of reaching Outland.

Burning Legion

Founded by the titan Sargeras, the Burning Legion includes many demonic races, the most prominent of which include the Man'ari Eredar (such as Archimonde and Kil'jaeden), Nathrezim (or Dreadlords, such as Varimathras) and Annihilan (such as Mannoroth).

The Burning Legion is notorious for its conquering and eventual destruction of entire worlds. So far the Burning Legion has committed three major attacks on Azeroth, the first one was against the night elves in the War Of The Ancients and the second was the invasion of orcs during the First and Second Wars while the third was when the Undead Scourge summoned Archimonde into the world along with demonic agents of the Legion to destroy Azeroth and steal the energies of the World Tree. The first attack was led by Archimonde and his lieutenant Mannoroth.

After being defeated in the War Of The Ancients the main aim of the Burning Legion has been towards destroying Azeroth through mortal pawns such as the orcs and the Scourge. One of them was Sargeras hiding his essence in Aegwynn, a guardian of Tirisfal and later possessing her son Medivh. While being possessed by Sargeras, Medivh opened the Dark Portal that led the orcs into Azeroth for the first time. No one knows what happened to Sargeras after Medivh died.

The Third War was spearheaded by Kil'jaedan's pet the Lich King (Ner'zhul) who destroyed the Kingdom of Lordaeron and shattered the Human Alliance, which paved the way for the summoning of Archimonde at Dalaran and the Legion invasion that finished off at the Battle Of Mount Hyjal. There the joined forces of humans, orcs and night elves defeated the Burning Legion with the death of Archimonde. The most noticeable agents of the Burning Legion are Mannoroth, the brothers, Archimonde and Kil'jaeden of the Eredar, the Dread Lords of the Nathrezim and previously Ner'zhul, the warlock of the shadow council and now the dreaded Lich King.

After the Third War the Legion has tried to destroy the Frozen Throne and kill Ner'zhul to eliminate the Scourge threat due to the Lich King's defection from the Legion. Their first attempt was through Illidan Stormrage who tried to use the Eye of Sargeras to destroy the Frozen Throne through massive seismic tremors. The attempt failed however as night elves led by Illidan's brother Malfurion Stormrage and Maiev Shadowsong arrived and disrupted the casting. Illidan then fled to Outland (the remains of the world of Draenor) to escape Kil'jaedan's wrath.

After the Third War

The Third War was spearheaded by Kil'jaedan's pet the Lich King (Ner'zhul) who destroyed the Kingdom of Lordaeron and shattered the Human Alliance, which paved the way for the summoning of Archimonde at Dalaran and the Legion invasion that finished off at the Battle Of Mount Hyjal. There the joined forces of humans, orcs and night elves defeated the Burning Legion with the death of Archimonde. The most noticeable agents of the Burning Legion are Mannoroth, the brothers, Archimonde and Kil'jaeden of the Eredar, the Dread Lords of the Nathrezim and previously Ner'zhul, the warlock of the shadow council and now the dreaded Lich King.

After the Third War the Legion has tried to destroy the Frozen Throne and kill Ner'zhul to eliminate the Scourge threat due to the Lich King's defection from the Legion. Their first attempt was through Illidan Stormrage who tried to use the Eye of Sargeras to destroy the Frozen Throne through massive seismic tremors. The attempt failed however as night elves led by Illidan's brother Malfurion Stormrage and Maiev Shadowsong arrived and disrupted the casting. Illidan then fled to Outland (the remains of the world of Draenor) to escape Kil'jaedan's wrath. Inevitably, Kil'jaeden located Illidan and gave him one final chance to destroy the Frozen Throne. In the end it led to a showdown between Arthas, the former Prince of Lordaeron turned death knight and Illidan himself. In the end Arthas defeated Illidan leaving him to die in the frozen wastes. After his failure, Illidan returned to Outland with his lieutenants Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider and Lady Vashj. Illidan no longer serves the Legion, but Kael'thas has turned his loyalties to Kil'jaedan. Kael'thas' last known whereabouts are on the Isle of Quel'danas, where he attempted to summon Kil'jaedan into Azeroth through the Sunwell, which would have started a fourth invasion of Azeroth. Due to the efforts of several venerable adventurers, he did not succeed.

Scourge

First introduced in Warcraft III, the Scourge is an army of Undead created by the Lich King to destroy all life on Azeroth. It includes undead humans, elves, Nerubians and several other assorted races. The Scourge was created by the Burning Legion as a means of weakening the races of Azeroth, primarily the Human Alliance, to prepare for the invasion of the Legion itself. The Legion captured the spirit of the former Orc Shaman Ner'zhul and forced him to become the Lich King, the power and mind behind the Scourge. As Ner'zhul's power grew, he began to become powerful enough to corrupt paladins to join the Scourge as Death Knights, one of these being Arthas Menethil, heir to the human kingdom of Lordaeron. Ner'zhul began crafting a plan to break out of his imprisonment, and to break away from the Burning Legion. When Kil'Jaeden realized what he was up to, he sent Illidan to destroy the Frozen Throne and Ner'zhul to end his treacherous endeavour. However, Ner'zhul commanded Arthas, his new champion, to come to his aid. Arthas fought Illidan and defeated him, then went to Icecrown and shattered the Frozen Throne, putting on Ner'zhul's helm. Ner'zhul's soul merged with Arthas' mind and body, and they became one of the most powerful beings on Azeroth.

Now, Arthas seeks to rebuild the Scourge, and he prepares to invade Azeroth once more.

Introduced in Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, goblins are diminutive, green-skinned humanoids. The goblins as a whole have always been neutral, however a number of goblins joined the Horde during the timeframe of Warcraft II. Goblin mercenaries are recruitable in Warcraft III.

Goblins

Arthas fought Illidan and defeated him, then went to Icecrown and shattered the Frozen Throne, putting on Ner'zhul's helm. Ner'zhul's soul merged with Arthas' mind and body, and they became one of the most powerful beings on Azeroth. Now, Arthas seeks to rebuild the Scourge, and he prepares to invade Azeroth once more.

Introduced in Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, goblins are diminutive, green-skinned humanoids. The goblins as a whole have always been neutral, however a number of goblins joined the Horde during the timeframe of Warcraft II. Goblin mercenaries are recruitable in Warcraft III. Goblins are not a playable race in World of Warcraft. The goblin capital is Undermine, a city beneath the surface of the island of Kezan. As of March 2009, Kezan has not been included in any game in the Warcraft series.

In World of Warcraft, the Goblins role varies greatly. They range from engineers, to ship captains, to adventurers and merchants. They have several cities which are neutral to both the Horde and Alliance.

* Booty Bay, a sea port located on the southern most point of Stranglethorn Vale.
* Ratchet, a sea port located on the eastern beaches of The Barrens.
* Gadgetzan, a town located in northern Tanaris (a desert region).
* Area 52, a "top secret" engineer town in Netherstorm that has an X-52 rocket in construction (potentially for space flight).
* Everlook, a town in Winterspring.
* K3, a town in The Storm Peaks (near the new Dalaran in Northrend).

Recently, they have also set up several outposts in Northrend.

Goblin Engineers are best known for their affinity for explosives, their signature explosives being the Goblin Sapper Charges, a portable explosive which upon detonation deals devastating damage to anyone in its wake. Rocket launchers, various experimental explosives, and dangerous "Dimensional Rippers" make up most their arsenal of flimsy, yet devastating equipment.

Ogres

Goblin Engineers are best known for their affinity for explosives, their signature explosives being the Goblin Sapper Charges, a portable explosive which upon detonation deals devastating damage to anyone in its wake. Rocket launchers, various experimental explosives, and dangerous "Dimensional Rippers" make up most their arsenal of flimsy, yet devastating equipment.

Introduced in Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, Ogres are a large, strong, yellow-skinned, race of humanoids with limited intelligence; they are native to Draenor. Ogres can have one or two heads and one or two eyes per head; some ogres also have horns. Ogre-magi are magically transformed ogres with increased intelligence, the ability to use magic and blue skin. Notable Ogre-magi included Cho'gall, former leader of the Twilight's Hammer clan and Dentarg, bodyguard of the shaman Ner'zhul. Ogres are members of the Horde in Warcraft II; however, they are neutral and independent of the Horde in subsequent games. In Warcraft III: Frozen Throne, Ogres join the Horde at the battle of Theramore Isle after Rexxar defeats Ogre Warlord Cougal. Ogres are not a playable race in World of Warcraft.

Media set in the Warcraft universe

The Naga are mutated Highborne. They have snakelike tails in place of legs, and have other serpentine features, such as scales and fins. The Naga were created when the Well of Eternity imploded and sundered the land. Many of the Highborne went down with their city into the depths of the sea. Their queen named Azshara made a pact with the Old Gods to save the remaining Highborne, thus the Old Gods cursed them and twisted them into the Naga, due to the remaining residual energies of the Well of Eternity they took on new shapes, new powers and started to fester a new hatred for their former brethren the night elves. Males are large, with muscular arms and torso, additionally, they have two dorsal fins starting near their tail and running up their back, short tentacles erupting from their chin, and are most often dark blue. Females are slimmer by comparison, but still fairly large. They have four arms, larger dorsal fins and are usually a pale green color. Also, their faces are much more humanoid compared to the males snake-like snouts. In Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne they are lead by the Naga Sea Witch Lady Vashj who is under the servitude of Illidan "The Betrayer" Stormrage. They make multiple appearances throughout the first two campaigns, as enemies in the first campaign and allies in the second. In World of Warcraft, the Naga are not a playable race. However, they appear as NPC characters or as enemies, being present in almost every region with a coastline and in certain dungeons. The Naga capital lies underneath the Great Maelstrom.

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• After the Third War
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• Ogres
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