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.