Warcraft (series)

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The Warcraft universe is a fictional universe in which a series of games and books published by Blizzard Entertainment are set. Players were first introduced to this universe in the original Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in Eastern Kingdoms of the Planet Azeroth. Known worlds in the Warcraft universe include Azeroth, Draenor the Red World (later called Outland), Argus, K'aresh, and Xoroth.

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[edit] Concept and creation

The Warcraft universe's background, plot, and setting, like most Blizzard games, bear notable resemblance to tabletop role-playing games such as Warhammer Fantasy Battle by Games Workshop, and Dungeons & Dragons from TSR, Inc (later bought out by Wizards of the Coast in 1997). The fantasy works of J. R. R. Tolkien also serve as a foundation; many of the races, such as Orcs and Dwarves, are patterned after Tolkien's, and the Elvish languages used in the game, Thalassian and Darnassian, are similar to Sindarin and Quenya, the Elvish languages used in The Lord of the Rings. However, the series often counters stereotypes of the fantasy inspiration, with good Orcs, lanky Trolls, good Titans, and good 'Night Elves'. However, large portions of the setting are drawn from modern-day sources and references, ranging from Star Trek (Scotty, and Spock), to Star Wars (Toshley's Station), Cthulhu Mythos, and Thundercats.

[edit] Geography

The majority of media in the Warcraft universe takes place upon a planet called Azeroth. This planet has three continents, named Azeroth (from which the world is named), Northrend (The world polar cap) and Kalimdor, all of which are separated by a giant ocean called the Great Sea. In the center of the Great Sea is an enormous, everlasting vortex called the Maelstrom (created as a result of a cataclysm, splitting the super continent Kalimdor into the three major continents, Azeroth, Northrend and Kalimdor)

The continent of Azeroth (originally the human kingdom depicted in Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, later changed to the Eastern Continent, and finally to the world itself) is the setting of the majority of the Warcraft stories. In Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos the northern part of the continent is overrun by the Scourge.

The continent of Kalimdor was introduced in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos. Whereas Azeroth (the continent) can be described as the equivalent of medieval Europe, with kingdoms and empires, Kalimdor can be compared to the Americas at their time of discovery by Europeans. The geology of Kalimdor is similar to North America, with massive, ancient forests covering the Northern parts and vast deserts the South.

The third continent, Northrend, is the Northern Polar Cap of Azeroth and is the primary stronghold of the malevolent Undead Scourge. Northrend is featured in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and its expansion set, and will be featured in World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, the second expansion pack to World of Warcraft.

Second in importance to Azeroth is the planet of Draenor, now known as Outland, the original homeland of the Orcs and Ogres. The Eredar who refused to ally themselves with Sargeras and the Burning Legion fled to this planet and became known as the Draenei ("Exiled Ones" in their native tongue; Dreanor being "home of the exiled"). Draenor was torn apart when an Orc warlock named Ner'zhul opened too many gateways to other worlds, when trying to escape the invading Alliance Armies coming from Azeroth, causing it to crumble and phase into the mysterious parallel dimension called the Twisting Nether, Home of the Demons. The remnants of the world are now known as the Outlands, and it features in Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal and Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, and most prominently in World of Warcraft's first expansion World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade.

Other planets in the universe include Argus, the original home-world of the Eredar race; K'aresh, the original home-world of the Ethereal race and Xoroth, the home-world of the Nethrezim and Dreadsteeds. The planet of Azeroth has two moons, named White Lady (a physical manifestation of the mysterious Night Elf goddess Elune) and Blue Child. Dreanor, having been shattered into many pieces, has no known moons.

Places beyond the planets include the Great Dark Beyond, Warcraft's equivalent of outer space; the Emerald Dream, a dream-scape resembling what Azeroth would look like if animals or sentient races had never in any way altered it; an Elemental Plane where the elemental lieutenants of the malevolent deities called the Old Gods are banished; and the Dark Below, a hellish, little-referenced underworld the canon of which is debatable.

[edit] Races

[edit] Humans

Humans were introduced in Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, a game originally meant to be an adaptation of Games Workshop's Warhammer[citation needed]. Throughout the first two Warcraft games, the human race was depicted as the archetypal European kingdom, and in Warcraft II they were also depicted as Christian, though this was abandoned in the third game.

In Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne we see the human nation of Lordearon, the nation which is depicted throughout the second game as the main protagonists. The nation is exposed to a plague of undeath which turns those infected into undead monsters who serve the will of the Lich King (Nehr'zul). The prince of Lordearon, Arthas Menethil, also succumbs to the will of the Lich King and is instrumental in bringing about the downfall of his kingdom and, eventually, the invasion of the Burning Legion. He is one of the main characters of the third game and its expansion and an anti-hero.

In World of Warcraft human characters are of the kingdom of Stormwind, Lordearon's Southern counterpart. Skin coloration is varied, from dark brown to white, Blizzard seems to be concerned about racial issues.

The humans are descended from an ancient tribe known as the Arathi, who conquered the other warring human tribes and founded the nation of Arathi and the great city of Stromguard. The Arathi seem to be based on the Celtic cultures of ancient Europe, Stromguard being in the Arathi Highlands, an area designed to resemble the archetypal fantasy lands, which are in turn generally designed to resemble the Gaelic lands.

The Arathi formed an alliance with the High Elves of the far north after they aided them in a war against the Amani Empire of trolls.

[edit] Gnomes

[edit] Night Elves

The night elves were the first race to arise on Azeroth. More than ten thousand years ago a tribe of humanoids settled on the shores of the Well of Eternity. The Wells influence changed them fundamentally, but most importantly gave them the ability to use magic. After many years a schism occured between the so-called Highborn, who were supported by the queen and were addicted to magic, and the rest of the population. An elf named Malfurion then discovered that the corrupted titan Sargeras and his Burning Legion were using the well to enter into the world, and probably destroy it. Malfurion, his lover Tyrande and the demigod Cenarus raced to the well to try and destroy it. After a battle with the Highborn forces, they succeeded. The cataclysm not only destroyed the Well, but also most of the rest of the continent, resulting in a vast ocean seperating the continents today.

For the next ten thousand years, the survivors lived peacefully. The reaminder of the Highborn were exiled, and sailed over the sea to Lordaeron where they named themselves High Elves. Later it was discovered that Malfurions brother Illidan managed to create a second Well of Eternity, so to stop another disaster a massive World Tree, Nordrassil, was planted over it. It gave the night elves several new abilities, for instance making them immortal.

[edit] Dwarfs

[edit] Draenei

[edit] Orcs

Orcs were introduced in Warcraft: Orcs & Humans as bloodthirsty monsters meant to resemble the Orcs of Warhammer[citation needed]. They served demon overlords and invaded Azeroth through a portal from their homeworld, Dreanor. The Orcs of Warcraft look like massive, green skinned humans with small tusks and powerful muscles. Throughout Warcraft history they have stood tall and broad chested, as do humans. However in the game World of Warcraft they were changed to have a more hunched over, less impressive appearance.

The Orcs are native to the world of Dreanor. they were a shamanistic, honorable, warlike race who had tremendous respect for the earth and the elements. However, when the refugee Eredar (Dreanei) made their home on Dreanor, the Demons looking for them manipulated the Orcs into forming a blood pact with the demons and entering a bloodthirst. They then slaughtered the Dreanei and most of the sentient races of Dreanor. The Burning Legion then directed them to invade Azeroth through the use of portals, which is were the first game picks up.

Throughout the first and second games, the orcs are the savage slaves of their demon overlords, slaughtering whoever defies the Burning Legion. However the third game, Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos sees the orcs freed from their blood pact and returned to their natural state. The Orc portion of the game follows the story of Thrall, who takes up the call of Warchief and leads his followers to the continent of Kalimdor and a new Orcish nation.

[edit] Undead

[edit] Tauren

[edit] Blood Elves

[edit] Trolls

[edit] Media set in the Warcraft universe

[edit] Computer games

Other

[edit] Other media

Tabletop games

Collectible card games

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