Originally debuting as a popular real-time strategy series, the Warcraft franchise is now the home to the world's most popular online RPG.
Developed by Blizzard Entertainment, Warcraft is an award winning, genre-crossing and highly celebrated series of real-time strategy and massively multiplayer online role-playing games. Set in a high-fantasy universe populated by humans, orcs, goblins, trolls, undead, elves, dwarves, gnomes and others, the Warcraft series has consistently impressed players with solid gameplay, impressive visuals, and an epic storyline that has fostered a deep and almost fanatical fanbase of at least 10 million players.Warcraft: Orcs and Humans
A real-time strategy game released in 1994 for PC and Macintosh, Warcraft: Orcs and Humans features two opposing factions, the brutish orcs and the noble humans. Players choose to control one of these two races in parallel campaigns in which they either defend the world of Azeroth as the humans from the extra-dimensional orcs, or conquer Azeroth and humanity in the name of the Horde. Warcraft was one of the first examples of real-time strategy, and the majority of missions simply require the player to destroy the enemy outright. The storytelling in Warcraft was limited to voiceovers before each mission that set up the premise and objective of that mission.Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness
A highly anticipated sequel, Warcraft II provided the same core real-time strategy gameplay as its predecessor, but integrated several new mechanics as well as significant graphical and sound enhancements. Blizzard increased the graphical resolution significantly, and produced units, structures and terrain as large, colorful sprites. Naval combat was first introduced to the series in Warcraft II. Additionally, the game was highly customizable, leading to the development of several third-party applications by fans which were subsequently adopted for internal use by Blizzard. Like the first game, players could control either the forces of the humans or orcs. However, other likeminded races joined the respective armies. For example, the humans were joined by elves, gnomes, and dwarves, while the orcs were joined by trolls, ogres, and goblins.Warcraft II is set six years after its predecessor, and assumes the orcs were victorious at the end of the first game. The land of Azeroth has fallen, and the human armies are retreating under the onslaught of the orcish Hordes. The orcs, however, driven by war and conflict, constructed a massive armada of ships with which to invade the lands of Lordaeron and finish off their human enemy. Eventually, humanity and its allies prevail, reclaiming Azeroth and destroying the Dark Portal, the original gateway that allowed the orcs into the human world from the dimension of Draenor. Unfortunately, the dimensional rift itself was not closed, allowing the orcs to begin a second invasion in the next game.
Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal
This expansion pack for Warcraft II was the only released Warcraft game jointly developed between Blizzard Entertainment and another studio (Cyberlore Studios). Beyond the Dark Portal took players into a new dimension, to the orc home dimension of Draenor, in an effort to seal the dimensional rift in the world of its origin, and forever prevent another invasion of Azeroth from the orcish Horde. Beyond the Dark Portal included two new single player campaigns, several new multiplayer maps, and 10 new hero units, as well as a new tileset for players to use to create custom maps.Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos
Released many years after its predecessor, Warcraft III again overhauled the franchise, switching from a 2D, sprite-driven engine to a fully 3D engine, providing several new enhancements as well as completely redesigning the core gameplay mechanics of the franchise. Naval combat was removed entirely, two levels of fog of war were added, line-of-sight and elevation damage bonuses were included, and hero units were made the primary focus of gameplay. Additionally, the game provided four races for players to control (humans, orcs, night elves, and the undead). No longer was the player tasked with building massive armies of units; now the game focused on role-playing elements to bolster the abilities of Hero units, which then amassed smaller groups of units around them.In the Warcraft III, a devastating enemy of ancient prophecy, the demonic Burning Legion, arrives on Azeroth to consume the world and destroy all that live there. The player plays as one of the four races involved in the conflict to determine the outcome of the war. In past Warcraft games, each race's campaign was presented as an alternate version of the same timeline. In Warcraft III, however, each of the four races' campaigns happen in a specific sequence and are meant to be played in that sequence to convey one linear storyline.
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne
Taking place immediately after Warcraft III, The Frozen Throne expansion pack continued the story of the exiled night elf Illidan Stormrage and the corrupted paladin Arthas Menethil. The game added a multitude of new units and structures for each race, an increased unit cap, neutral Hero units that could be hired during a mission, and significantly more resources which could be accessed through the Warcraft III map editor. The Frozen Throne also set up events and circumstances that led directly into the fiction used in World of Warcraft.World of Warcraft
With 10 million subscribers, World of Warcraft is the single most popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game on the planet. The gameplay is similar to other MMORPGs, giving players the ability to generate their own character avatar from ten races and nine classes. Played from a third-person perspective, the game has players run around within a persistent world, fighting monsters, exploring the environment, completing quests, and building up their characters' statistics and abilities over time. The game takes place after the events of Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, and allows player (with currently available and planned expansion packs) to travel across the majority of the Warcraft universe.World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade
The first expansion pack to World of Warcraft, The Burning Crusade adds two new races to create characters with, several new instances (i.e. lands and dungeons) to embark upon, a new battleground for player vs. player combat, and potentially dozens of hours of new content for players overall. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
Wrath of the Lich King is the second expansion pack to World of Warcraft, and involves characters and events which took place within Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. Players are able to travel through 10 zones in total; however many of them are restricted by the player's level. Wrath of the Lich King introduces many new features, including the increase of the game's level cap to 80, hundreds of new items, quests, creatures, and spells, as well as siege weapons, new character customization options, updated graphics and special effects, new factions, and more. Additionally, Blizzard is debuting the Hero class, Death Knight. It is designed to start at level 55 and fills the role of either a damage dealer or a tank but players are limited to one Death Knight per account per server.
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm is Blizzard's upcoming third expansion for World of Warcraft. Most of the new content for Cataclysm will take place in a revamped Azeroth where familiar zones across the original continents of the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor have been altered forever and updated with new content. Players are able to travel through 7 new zones in total and Cataclysm will introduces many new features, including the increase of the game's level cap to 85 as well as hundreds of new items, quests, creatures and abilities. Additionally, Blizzard have announced two new races, Worgen for the Alliance and Goblins for the Horde. It has been revealed that Deathwing the Destroyer has made his return into Azeroth from Deepholm, causing a new Sundering, and that he is the main antagonist of Cataclysm.
Key Characters
Arthas
Prince Arthas Menethil was born to King Terenas Menethil II, four years before the start of the Second War. He was trained in combat by Muradin Bronzebeard as a skilled swordsman and under Uther the Lightbringer, Arthas was inducted into the Knights of the Silver Hand. It was during this time that Arthas met the youngest daughter of Daelin Proudmoore, the sorceress Jaina. She and Arthas shared a strong friendship that lead to very serious romance, however the Scourge invasion and their duties to Lordaeron and Dalaran forced them to put their relationship on hold for a time. Their relationships are described in the novel Arthas: Rise of the Lich King.
In the Warcraft III story arc, Arthas is best know for the purging of Stratholme. When Uther refused to purge the city as ordered, Arthas charged him with treason, despanding the Order of the Silver Hand. He demanded that any true to the king stay with him and see to the town's destruction. Jaina turned and followed Uther to Arthas' surprise. As Arthas began to slay the citizens of Stratholme, he was met by Mal'Ganis himself. After destroying the city, Arthas arrives at the only part of Stratholme not infected and finds Mal'Ganis. Mal'Ganis flees, however, vowing to meet him in Northrend.
Arthas followes Mal'Ganis to Northrend, where he meets his mentor, Muradin Bronzebeard, who was searching for the runeblade Frostmourne. After some time, Arthas and Muradin findes the runeblade, but is confronted by the Guardian, who tried to keep him away. Muradin warns Artha, reading an inscription, that the blade was cursed, but is struck by a rogue shard of ice when Arthas picked up Frostmourne, leaving Muradin for dead.
Arthas defeated Mal'Ganis' undead army and finally confronted the demon, Mal'Ganis tells him that the voice he was now hearing was that of the Lich King. However, Arthas replied that voice was instructing him to destroy Mal'Ganis. After slaying the dreadlord, Arthas fled into the frozen north where he soon lost the last remnants of sanity
Months later, the prince returned to Lordaeron, he approached his father and kneeled before the throne. However, Arthas rose and drew Frostmourne and
The urn was, however, protected by the Knights of the Silver Hand. Arthas, on his quest to obtain the urn met with Uther the Lightbringer who explained the urn he sought contained his father’s ashes. But without hesitation, Arthas murdered Uther and took the urn; he then replaced his father’s remains with those of Kel’Thuzad. Arthas used the Sunwell to bring life to Kel’Thuzad. After they reached the demon gate in Alterac to speak with the demon lord Archimonde, it became clear that they would have to obtain the spell book of Medivh in the city of Dalaran to summon the demon lord into Azeroth. They eventually killed the Archmage Antonidas and claimed the Book of Medivh. Once Archimonde was successfully summoned, he claimed that Lich King was to be replaced by Tichondrius as the Scourge commander. Arthas and Kel’Thuzad then disappeared again. Several months later, Arthas confronted the demon hunter Illidan instructing him on how to claim the Skull of Gul’dan’s, currently controlled by Tichondrius, eventually leading to Tichondrius’ death and the disappearance of Arthas again.
After the death of Tichondrius, the dreadlords left behind to control Lordaeron fled once Arthas returned for his throne. Once the land was rid of all
Once they finally reached their destination after various attacks from groups of dwarves loyal to Muradin they were confronted with Illidan’s forces. Arthas, with the help of Anub’arak, fought his way through the forces of naga and blood elves. Using the Icecrown Obelisks he was able to open the doors to the Frozen Throne. However, to his surprise, Illidan was waiting for him.
Thrall
A prominent character in Blizzard Entertainment's Warcraft universe, Thrall initially became a primary character in the Warcraft storyline through his role as warchief of the orcs in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, a role which Blizzard continues to expand upon in World of Warcraft.Backstory
Born of an orc tribe that stoically believed in the ancient shamanistic roots of the orc people, the infant Thrall was found among the bodies of his recently murdered parents by the commander of
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos
Sometime after the freedom of the orcs was assured, Thrall received a vision detailing great conflict in the near future, and followed the instructions of a mysterious prophet, leading his people across the Great Sea to the continent of Kalimdor. Throughout the campaign of Warcraft III, Thrall befriends the tauren and wyvern peoples, allies with human forces, frees his friend Grom Hellscream's soul of demonic corruption, defeats the demonic pit lord Mannoroth, and aids in the destruction Archimonde, commander of the Burning Legion.World of Warcraft
After the destruction of the Burning Legion, Thrall established the orcish nation of Durotar and its capital city of Orgrimmar, which serves as the starting location for orc and troll players in World of Warcraft. Thrall is a quest-giving NPC for characters around levels 5 to 10, and in one particular quest sends players to Ragefire Chasm. Additionally, alliance characters can attack and kill Thrall in well-orchestrated, high-level raids.World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade
In The Burning Crusade expansion Thrall continues his role as warchief of the Horde. There is a long questchain which triggers an event in Nagrand where he arrives to visit his long lost orc relatives. In the instance Caverns of Time: Durnholde Keep, players can rescue a younger Thrall from Durnholde in Hillsbrad so he may fulfill his destiny as warchief.Illidan Stormrage
Illidan Stormrage was born a night elf along with his twin brother Malfurion Stormrage. Malfurion became a master of the druidic forces, while Illidan was strangely called to the sorcerer magic. During Archimonde's invasion of Azeroth, Illidan began to become curious and drawn to the powers of the Burning Legion. At this time Illidan had strong feelings for Tyrande Whisperwind, he was in love, but it was clear from the beginning that she was only interested in his twin brother, Malfurion. A satyr named Xavius, knowing this, manipulated Illidan by furthering his jealous rage of his brother eventually leading to him disbanding from the defenders of the invasion.
Illidan was then given a gift for his new allegiance to Sargeras, his eyes were replaced with fire orbs allowing him the ability to see all forms of magic, and his body was also covered with arcane tattoos. After the Well of Eternity, his source of magic, was destroyed, Illidan discovered a small lake on the peak of Mount Hyjal were he would form a new Well of Eternity. He was, however, discovered by his brother and the rest of the Kaldorei leadership, who having realized Illidan's horrific treachery tried to explain that the magic that had taken a hold of him would always bring destruction to the world. Illidan already so engulfed by the magic thought his brother to be an unknowing fool and simply claimed it would be a necessity if the Burning Legion were to return. Malfurion, horrified and distraught, understood that his brother had become a slave to the powers of the Burning Legion. He ordered his imprisonment deep below Mount Hyjal in a jail kept far from sight.
The Legion returned to Azeroth with the Scourge ten thousand years later. Illidan was rescued from his jail by Tyrande, who wanted his help to defeat the Legion in return for his freedom. With his love for her, unchanged even after all the years imprisoned, Illidan agreed to help. His brother, Malfurion, was opposed to the idea of freeing him. Illidan, wanting to prove his brother wrong, went to Feelwood to fight the Legion as promised. He was tracked by Arthas which in turn led to his knowledge of the Skull of Gul'dan. Arthas, knowing of Illidan’s thirst for power, explained all the forces he could obtain upon finding the skull. Illidan eventually obtained the skull, and instead of destroying it to end the corruption of the forest, he took it for his own use. However, the skull's powers changed him, he was transformed into a demon and his brother sensed this. Malfurion felt his brother had traded his soul for the search for power and banished him from the forests. Illidan left the night elf lands for good.
Illidan was given a chance to serve for the Legion again by Kil'jaeden after his banishment. With the promise of more power and magic, he accepted the opportunity. He was given the task of destroying the Frozen Throne. He eventually arrived on the Broken Isles during his quest where he was able to obtain the Eye of Sargeras, he was also confronted by Maiev Shadowsong which led to a great battle. Eventually Malfurion and Tyrande came with reinforcements, Illidan escaped by sea after capturing Tyrande. She went on to explain why she shunned Illidan so long ago and chose his brother. He had become too drunk with power and had forgotten his inner strength. Malfurion held on to that strength within him even after his sudden increases in power.
Illidan had finally come to grips with these feelings and began to understand. After landing on Lordaeron, Illidan made his way to Dalaran where he intended to destroy the Frozen Throne using the Eye of Sargeras. He was interrupted by Maiev and Malfurion before he could finish the spell. Maiev had told Malfurion earlier that Tyrande had been killed and identified Illidan as the cause. The two brothers were heartbroken, but hope was restored when Prince Kael'thas explained that Tyrande was not killed but instead was “swept away by a river’s currents.” The twins went separate ways but with the same objective, to track Tyrande. Illidan eventually found her under attack by undead forces. After defeating the undead, Illidan brought Tyrande back to his brother. For this, Malfurion told him he was free to go as long as he will never threaten the night elves again. Illidan agreed.
Since he had failed in his last chance for the Legion, he knew that Kil'jaeden would seek his death. To escape his grasp, Illidan opened a portal to Outland and fled to the ruined remains of Draenor. Although he was safe from Kil'jaeden, Illidan had been tracked once again by Maiev and the Watchers. Maiev was able to capture and imprison him again. But he was rescued by Kael and Vashj, Illidan in turn accepted allegiance to the blood elves. He then continued to rid Outland of the demonic influence to stay out of Kil'jaeden's grasp, this lead to the siege on the Black Temple. With the aid of the Broken, Illidan succeeded in defeating the current lord of Outland, Magtheridon. Illidan imprisoned Magtheridon beneath Hellfire Citadel, and claimed the Black Temple for himself.
Illidan Stormrage the Betrayer is now known as a Demon Hunter and resides within the Black Temple as the self-proclaimed Lord of Outland.
| Name | Platforms | Developer | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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World of Warcraft: Cataclysm |
MAC, PC | Blizzard Entertainment |
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World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King released on Nov. 13, 2008 |
PC, MAC | Blizzard Entertainment |
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World of Warcraft: Battle Chest released on Oct. 30, 2007 |
PC, MAC | Blizzard Entertainment |
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World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade released on Jan. 16, 2007 |
PC, MAC | Blizzard Entertainment |
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World of Warcraft released on Nov. 23, 2004 |
PC, MAC | Blizzard Entertainment |
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Warcraft III: Battle Chest released on Sept. 19, 2003 |
PC | Blizzard Entertainment |
|
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Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne released on July 1, 2003 |
PC, MAC | Blizzard Entertainment |
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Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos released on July 3, 2002 |
PC, MAC | Blizzard Entertainment |
|
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Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition |
PC, MAC | Blizzard Entertainment |
|
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Warcraft II: Battle Chest Platinum |
PC | Blizzard Entertainment |
| Name: | Warcraft |
| Total games: | 18 games |
| First game: | Warcraft: Orcs & Humans |
| Aliases: |
|
Dwarves |
12
|
|
Magni Bronzebeard first in Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness |
9
|
|
Arthas Menethil first in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos |
8
|
|
Thrall first in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos |
8
|
|
Medivh first in Warcraft: Orcs & Humans |
7
|
|
Murloc first in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos |
7
|
|
Zul'jin first in Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness |
7
|
|
Sargeras first in Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness |
7
|
|
Tyrande Whisperwind first in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos |
7
|
|
Muradin Bronzebeard first in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos |
7
|
| See all » |
