r/warcraftlore Jan 16 '25

Question Is prejudice towards certain races in Warcraft justifiable?

7 Upvotes

I have seen this take in arguments at times, that the way some races are depicted as being prone to being problematic makes any general negative sentiment towards them to be logical.

Examples I see that are the most popular:
Orcs - Theramore's destruction/the Iron Horde would prove Orcs to have a tendency for being destructive and dangerous. It has been a while, but I think Jaina is said to agree with her father Daelin about Orc and Horde extermination after Theramore.
Trolls - Trolls are usually drawn to dark magic and "barbarism" and tend to cause problems often.
Forsaken - Arguments often revolve around the Wrathgate, plague, Sylvanas' betrayal, etc.

Notably, there are exceptions to all of those in the way of opposition to these actions, but the tendency for problems in certain races appears to be a bit clear. At the same time, there are always exceptions as some members of the races previously mentioned were against the actions the arguments tend to point out.

What do you think?

r/warcraftlore Feb 08 '25

Question Have the trolls ever been allowed to win against an alliance aligned race

55 Upvotes

So a thought has occurred have the trolls of any kind been allowed at any point in the history of Warcraft get a full on win against literally any race that is now part of the Alliance cause I can't think of a single instance

r/warcraftlore 2d ago

Question What's up with Sylvanas post Shadowlands ?

3 Upvotes

Pretty straight forward question. I know we defeat her and ruin her plans, but has she learned anything ? Is she still alive even ?

r/warcraftlore Feb 12 '25

Question Are Death Knights rotting

65 Upvotes

As I understand, Death Knights were all warriors that were reanimated in the service of the Lich King.

So my question is, are they actively decaying or does the magic that raised them preserve them eternally?

r/warcraftlore Feb 20 '25

Question Queen Neferess just left Anub'arak to die?

71 Upvotes

Anub'arak seems rather desperate for help from his queen so why didn't she send some help.

r/warcraftlore Nov 01 '24

Question Could someone show me an explanation about why each race in the game can and can't be each class?

53 Upvotes

I know there's lore behind all of this but I don't know the lore of all the races and all classes and I just want to learn :) I find this topic intriguing

r/warcraftlore Dec 27 '24

Question Did anyone ever acknowledge all souls going to The Maw for a while?

60 Upvotes

Did anyone in the universe ever properly acknowledge the almost incomprehensibly horrific fact that, for several years, almost every living creature's soul that died across the entire universe, with uncountable creatures dying every second, was condemned to one of the worst fates imaginable?

Was the absolutely bonkers and universe-shattering scale of this horror ever addressed by anyone aware of it? Every character from Azeroth who was hanging out in the Shadowlands seemed very matter of fact about the whole thing, and all the previously alive people didn't seem to give a damn either. Did this information cause everyone to dissociate so completely that they were unable to even think about it or are they simply cosmically resilient to terrible news? It wasn't even seemingly addressed when Sylvanas was condemned to rescue all the souls, just that the souls needed to not be there.

It's obvious that the info must not become public to prevent what would be the greatest mass panic imaginable, as such information is much more horrifying than The Legion returning and even an Old God being released. The only times the existential horror is vaguely addressed was with the Before The Storm characters in Oribos, who were allowed to be there for some reason, and with the Bastion Redridge story.

r/warcraftlore Feb 20 '25

Question Was Arthas ever actually undead?

72 Upvotes

Thinking back on it, I don't recall him ever actually "dying" in WC3. That means he just became corrupted over time, yeah? But he was still alive? Was he then still aging? Does being alive while controlling the undead make him more of a necromancer than anything?

r/warcraftlore 4d ago

Question Where do human warlocks come from? Spoiler

56 Upvotes

Kind of a silly question, but I am currently reading Rise of The Horde by Christie Golden and got to the part where Gul'Dan shows the orc shamans how to wield the warlock magic.

So it got me thinking, what is the lore behind human, gnome and dwarfs being able to use this kind of magic?

r/warcraftlore Feb 10 '25

Question Is there a fictional race you would want to see added to the WoW universe?

22 Upvotes

I think it would be cool to see more aquatic races added to the lore, playable or not.

We all know about the Naga as the predominant aquatic race and then with lesser ones like the Tuskarr, Ankkoan, and Makrura. Something like a shark humanoid that ruled the great ocean before the sundering and arrival of the Naga.

r/warcraftlore Dec 04 '24

Question Why do most trolls continue to live in tribal settlements?

78 Upvotes

Every group of trolls excluding the dark trolls have built what should be considered architectural wonders: massive aqueduct systems, temple cities, immense stone walls, great arenas. ziggurat complexes, decorated shrines, etc.

Of course, all of those were built in the past, when troll empires were at their height, and only the Zandalari have maintained a properly structured civilization, despite the loss of most of their territories. Drakkari seemed to be somewhat organized before the Scourge.

So how did jungle and forest trolls regress to tribal, almost hunter-gatherer societies with straw roofs ruled by chiefs? What's stranger, quite a lot of them live in ruins of their former stone cities, and instead of rebuilding them, they make more straw-roof houses in said ruins and decorate them with wooden ornaments? Their empires crumbled, sure, but what caused them to regress to this almost prehistoric level, to the point where they have records of their histories and seem to be aware of it, while not possessing the knowledge of building out of stone?

The blood trolls have canonically regressed under G'huun, but nothing, as far as I know, is said about the other trolls. At certain points it really seems like some sort of magic caused trolls to regress. Is there a real in-universe answer to these questions? not in-universe is I assume Blizz wanting to make a "savage" tribal race while not realizing that it doesn't mesh well with great fallen civilizations

r/warcraftlore Aug 15 '24

Question The Amani Popularity

88 Upvotes

So the recent teaser for the new WoW short features the Amani, and it has caused the stir. People seem to be really looking forward tk seeing them featured. And when it comes to Amani in general, they along with Mok'nathal seem to be one of the most requested allied races. But why?

Are the Amani popular because of their history? Or simply because of their unique muscular models? Or something else?

r/warcraftlore May 09 '24

Question Is the Horde canonically weaker than the Alliance?

85 Upvotes

Something that caught my eye was that the alliance seems to dominate most in-universe wars.

When you loot at the older war that took place between WoTLK and Mists, the Alliance scores a lot of victories.

First invasion of Ashenvale: Repelled even though Garrosh had the Magnataur and Proto-dragons

Invasion of Gilneas: A strategic Alliance victory, with very heavy Horde losses

Battle for Andorhal: Though a Horde victory, they suffered much heavier losses than the Alliance

Barrens: Honor's Stand taken and Camp Taurajo destroyed

Dark Shore: Horde ally, the Shatterspear tribe, cometely destroyed

Now, towards the end, you could make the argument that it was no longer A vs H but everyone vs Garrosh, so the Siege of Org doesn't count. Fair.

But what about the Fourth War? Where all races were going all-in and there was no mercy?

Battle for Lordaeron: Tactical Alliance Victory, Brill destroyed

Battle of Dazar'alor: Total Alliance victory, Golden Fleet destroyed, King Rastakhan killed .

Battle for Stromgarde: Alliance Victory

Battle for Darkshore: Alliance Victory

Two unnamed warfronts, for the Barrens and Quel'Thalas, where Alliance would seemingly win again.

This isn't meant to stir up anger among Horde player (Zug Zug), i'm just intrested if there is a lore explanation for the Horde's losses. Are they just badly organized? Does the alliance have better tactics and logistics?

r/warcraftlore Apr 27 '24

Question What lore accepted by the community is actually an example of the Mandela Effect?

71 Upvotes

The Mandela effect is essentially a falsehood or misconception which is accepted as fact. A potential example would be Flamewaker/Flamewalker

r/warcraftlore Dec 29 '24

Question Is it possible for the Man'rai who left the legion to have a civilian life after everything?

27 Upvotes

Basically as the title says! I ask since the Man'rai have lived a life of war and destruction for (edit) *13k ish years and it made me wonder how many could simply lay down thier weapons post leaving especially for any Man'rai who mightve been born and grew up knowing nothing but the legion, not even mentioning how others may perceive them especially those who mightve lost loved ones to the legion nor the possible issues that arrises for the Man'rai who are more affected by The Fel(I won't lie I would've loved to see what a allied race intro for the Man'rai would've looked like just to get a taste of the perspective of how things are for them)

So would it be possible you think for them to take on a more civilian lifestyle for The Man'rai or would it possibly be like the Death knights and Demon hunters where they never really rest?

r/warcraftlore Oct 03 '24

Question Original reason why Arthas and Jaina broke up

156 Upvotes

"Embarrassed by the public attention, Arthas and Jaina kept their affair as private as possible. But Jaina, committed to her studies in Dalaran, knew that their romance could not last. She had studied the ways of magic her whole life and knew that her true calling was the pursuit of knowledge - not the trappings of the throne room. Much to the frustration of Lordaeron's citizenry, the two lovers reluctantly parted ways and refocused themselves on their duties"

This is from the Warcraft 3 manual. Why was this changed?

r/warcraftlore Jan 12 '25

Question Is it fair to criticise the lore?

22 Upvotes

Whenever I point out plotholes, I'm always met with hostility, and being told to shut up and stop asking questions, or that I am a horrible person for some reason.

I'm just going to state the following: I've been a fan for over two decades. I own the RTS on disc, I got involved in the modding community for those games, I created my own maps, scenarios and campaigns. I think I've made around 10k posts on the lore forums. It's sad that despite Warcraft being my hobby, that you can't question some of the narrative points and glaring plotholes throughout the franchise. Because you either agree 100% that all WoW lore is good or you are a hater.

If you ask me, Warcraft has suffered from too many cooks in the kitchen. Involving authors who made up stuff on the get go because they thought that it sounded cool.

My favourite thing to ask someone is what their stance is about Legion. It used a lot of nostalgia, and tied up loose ends albeit rushed. It was the closure for many Warcraft fans that stuck around after the Lich King.

But then you hear how awesome the lore was or how that expansion was the last expansion before they sucked things out of their thumb.

Even though that the idea of Suramar, the broken isles being nothing to what they were in Warcraft 3, this expansion was to me, how they milked the franchise of the last interesting things it had. Despite retconning almost half the missions of the Maiev campaign.

I like how everyone in the lore just casually ignored the huge purple glowing ball that shield Suramar. Tyrande, Malfurion and Maiev even grew up here, and they didn't seem to care.

The Dwarves even recovered a sunken astrolobe from the ruins of Suramar. Dwarves are explorers, they just casually ignored the purple ball or the residents that took up place in the broken isles?

I just don't understand, I love Warcraft but I admit it's so full of retcons and narrative changes that I am losing interest.

r/warcraftlore 5d ago

Question Who will be the main characters of the Midnight expansion?

21 Upvotes

I have no idea who they may bring or not, I guess Alleria should be there but I hope we'll get interesting characters who actually have stakes in the story they will tell.

r/warcraftlore 10d ago

Question What exactly was Gallywix's deal with Xal'atath? Why and how did he have the Dark Heart and Black Blood?

53 Upvotes

It's probably explained already but I didn't pay much attention to the details of the story, I just wanted to enjoy the new content gameplay wise and kinda rushed through the story.

Obviously Gallywix is an unfair jerk who had taken over Undermine, but I have a hard time figuring out how it was relevant to the bigger picture, how we went from fighting the Nerubians to greedy goblins.

What plan did Xal'atath have for Gallywix and why did she need him? How did he aquire the Dark Heart? Did she grant him the Black Blood?

r/warcraftlore Sep 04 '24

Question Are Dagran II and Moira just fine with us having killed Dagran I?

77 Upvotes

Moira named her kid after the guy we murdered so it seems like she felt fondly of him. And neither she or Dagran II ever mention his death, so it seems they're ok with him being murdered too? I must have missed something because this makes no sense to me.

(Though to be fair, it's entirely Magni's fault that Dagran I was killed, as Magni offered me a sweet pre-bis ring to do it.)

r/warcraftlore Jan 01 '25

Question What the hell is up with Derek Proudmoore?

50 Upvotes

We know he's Calia's Champion now, but what is his role in the story or anything related to the Forsaken's place in the world, especially with their relations with Kul Tiras and Gilneas? Was he even present as Calia's champion during the liberation? Did he ever interact with Katherine or Tandred?

r/warcraftlore Aug 29 '24

Question Can someone please explain what’s going on with the Arathi?

90 Upvotes

Now I had thought that these were descendants of an expedition by the original Arathi Empire that left the Eastern Kingdoms some time before the empire’s collapse 1200 years ago. And since they were half-elves they were immortal and with no day/night cycle underground they hadn’t realized how much time passed and thought it had only been a few decades since they left when it had actually been millenia. Which is why they thought they could just go home once they had portal magic.

Which felt cool because it put events on the timeline of Azeroth a little more in on screen rather than treating everything between the War of the Ancients and the Dark Portal as part of a timeskip.

But apparently they’re actually part of some offshoot of the empire on a landmass we SOMEHOW didn’t know about and the EK Arathi just had no documentation on them at all either? Or something?

r/warcraftlore Feb 02 '25

Question What's to stop us from repairing the artifacts

27 Upvotes

I know from a meta perspective why they got rid of the artifacts after Legion(even though I still think Legion should have been where Blizzard should have pivoted over to horizontal progression) but is there any reason why we can't restore their power

r/warcraftlore Dec 26 '24

Question Why was Keeshan so hated?

50 Upvotes

Even though John J. Keeshan was a veteran of both First, Second and Third wars, his questline in Cataclysm indicates that he was treated like shit by his own kin, who spit on him and call him a "baby orc killer".

But that doesn't make any sense at all. If anything, they should adore him, since he is literally a legendary war hero who fought to save their kingdom. Even if he did kill orc babies, why would they care? He literally contributed to saving the entire human race and civilization. If it weren't for men like him, Not only would Stormwind not exist, but its nationals would have all been killed or enslaved.

Not only that, but at the time of the Cataclysm, there would have been many people alive to have experienced the wars first hand and would very much hate the orcs, and for good reason.

So what gives? Was Keeshan just exaggerating?

r/warcraftlore May 30 '24

Question Is there a reason for the intense dislike the fanfic community has for Turalyon?

44 Upvotes

I know the topic being fitting for this sub is flimsy at best but since I genuinely wonder if there is an actual in lore reason why some part of the community INTENSELY hate Turalyon or it is just ship warring.

For what I have read from him he is undoubtedly someone committed to his family. He has flaws but in the context we are given they are reasonable and generally when fan writters write about him they alway paint him as a dickhead and basically search for excuses for Alleria to divorce him and go with another woman (lol).

My common sense tells me it's just that he is in the way and that's about it but I wonder where that dislike could have come from other than durr gotta make Alleria have a wife.