No fantasy universe is complete without an evolutionary history of all of its living (and unliving) races. In the case of Warcraft, this is not at all uninteresting. All deviations from common ancestors can be explained in one word: corruption.
I will give a brief account of the player races of Azeroth in
three logical sections, grouped according to three unique
circumstances. These are:
- The Seed Races, as created by the Titans;
- Aliens, which more or less were introduced into the Azerothian environment;
- The long-eared and bovine races, whose ultimate origins are not recorded by any surviving written sources.
The Seed Races
When the Lord God made the universe, there were no plants on the earth and no seeds had sprouted, because he had not sent any rain, and there was no one to cultivate the land...
Then the Lord God took some soil from the ground and formed a man out of it; he breathed life-giving breath into its nostrils and the man began to live.
Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the East, and there he put the man he had formed. He made all kinds of beautiful trees grow there and produce good fruit.
Genesis 2:7-9, GNTAzeroth as it (mostly) is today started with the
Ordering thereof. During this period, the
Titans began shaping the natural features of a then chaotic world. At the same time, they created three so-called "
Seed Races" from
living stone, to inhabit the world:
earthen,
vrykul and
giant. As they were made of stone, they were (in the
Warcraft meaning of the word)
immortal. In shaping Azeroth, the Titans encountered the
Old Gods, who were innately evil and symbiotically attached to this world. In destroying the Old Gods, the Titans would also destroy Azeroth, so they were forced to
imprison them deep below the surface.
The "matrix" of nucleotide building blocks in DNA.However, the Old Gods were able to propagate the
Curse of Flesh, a "matrix destabilisation". In effect, it
softened many of the Seed Races, shortening their lifespans dramatically and rendering them
mortal. In creating the earthen, the Titans went through
three iterations. The
Series One experiments were a failure, not only because the resulting form was well short of ideal, it also succumbed to the Curse. This species is currently known as the
troggs. The
Series Two experiments produced the intended form (that of the
dwarves), but the results were still susceptible. The Titans succeeded with their goals with
Series Three, giving birth to
earthen proper. The earthen were able to withstand the Curse, and stay stone-like to the present.
There was only one iteration of the
vrykul, which succumbed to the Curse. They survive to this day.
At some time after the
Pantheon (the ruling council of the Titans) left Azeroth,
Vrykul mothers gave birth to
children who were noticeably smaller and physically weaker than normal.
King Ymiron (vrykul society's head of state) ordered them
culled, but many mothers opted to
abandon them instead. These children were shipped off to the
Eastern Kingdoms (they were
inhabiting Northrend), where they developed as
humans.
Throughout
Warcraft history, the
Burning Legion (a demonic nation) have been trying to
conquer Azeroth. In their third bid, their Supreme Commander
Kil'jaeden converted the orc warlock
Ner'zhul into the
Lich King and tasked him with concocting a
Plague of Undeath to (among others) be spread among the citizens of
Lordaeron. Ner'zhul was successful, and was able to task
Kel'thuzad with
transporting it to the Eastern Kingdoms. There, Kel'thuzad formed the
Cult of the Damned out of oppressed Lordaeron citizens and tasked them with
propagating the Plague. It would kill the infected after a typical three days, then
raise them as
undead beings. These would do the
bidding of the Lich King, as they had lost their
free will in the raising process. The playable
Forsaken undead
regained their free will after a
Nathrezim (dreadlord) raid on Lordaeron, which somewhat
waned the hold of the Lich King over many of the undead.
The
giants were created by the
Aesir (storm giant) Titans to help with
shaping Azeroth during the Ordering and when the Titans left. The direct creations were the
mountain and sea giants, who were respectively tasked with shaping mountains and seas. From the mountain giants developed the
frost giants. The giants have mostly
resisted the effects from the Curse of Flesh, though
Archavon the Stone Watcher
reports having felt a
soft face on himself.
The origins of the
mechagnomes are currently unknown, though most have felt the destabilising effects of the Curse. These mechagnomes developed into the current
gnomes. However,
Gearmaster Mechazod found a way to
cure affected gnomes of this Curse, effectively returning them to their robotic selves. Most gnomes would
refuse this cure.
The Aliens
The
eredar race originally lived on the planet
Argus. However,
Sargeras, a formerly
Vanir (earth giant) Titan, was seeing a folly in the
Pantheon's ways and started forming the
Burning Legion to reverse their work. He offered the three eredar leaders (
Archimonde,
Kil'jaeden and
Velen) great
power in exchange for their loyalty. The former two accepted, and as a result much of eredar society transformed into the
man'ari eredar, who joined the Burning Legion. Archie and KJ became high-ranking officers in it.
Velen, being a
prophet, foresaw horrid visions of the Legion's actions, and as a result was inclined
against joining. Naturally, for
conflict-of-interest reasons, Velen and the
uncorrupted eredar under his care were forced to
flee Argus and was
chased throughout the Twisting Nether, hopping worlds until they managed to find the secluded
Draenor. There, they developed into the
draenei and coexisted with the native orcs.
The Legion eventually
found the draenei in Draenor. They introduced
warlock magic to the
orcs after appealing to them and their leader the
then-shaman Ner'zhul. Orcs originally have
brown skin, but
exposure to such demonic magics will turn it
green. This will occur even in orcs that do not practice such magic but are in
regular proximity to practitioners.
The
Mag'har section of orc society remained untouched by corrupting fel energy. They lived in
Garadar, which was originally intended as
isolation from the
red pox outbreak pre-dating the arrival of the Legion. Nonetheless, it also isolated these orcs from practising warlocks, and their skin remains brown to the present.
The draenei fled again from Draenor, though some opted to stay behind. These draenei were particularly
susceptible to demonic corruption, and many
degenerated into the
Broken and
Lost Ones.
Some orcs have also been drinking the corrupting
blood of the pit lord
Magtheridon. over time, this turns them into the current
fel orcs, characterised by great physical strength, red skin and all manner of protrusions.
The long-eared and bovine races
The
Zandalari trolls existed since the beginning of the world, though their creation is unknown. As troll society
expanded, trolls started inhabiting different climates, eventually
adapting to their respective environments. The
ice trolls living in Northrend developed pale blue skin and hardy hair. The
sand trolls living in Tanaris developed golden-yellow, coarse skin. The skin of
forest trolls living in Lordaeron is able to support plant life. The skin of
jungle trolls (of which the playable
Darkspear trolls are part) is covered with nice, soft fur (they would be very nice to hug!) which produces a purple appearance.
At the centre of pre-Sundering Azeroth lay a huge inland ocean called the
Well of Eternity. It
radiated arcane energy from the Twisting Nether and nourished all natural life. The
night elves had developed on its shores, and there is a controversial theory that the Well's energies caused them to
mutate from trolls. Nevertheless, the
high elves are those night elves who
utilised the Well's power in arcane magic.
Abuse of such led to the
Great Sundering, which tore the single continent into Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms and destroyed the Well of Eternity. Arcane magic being
addictive, the high elves developed peach-coloured skin. The playable
blood elves are those high elves that, instead of fighting the addiction, chose to continue gorging themselves with arcane, demonic and holy satisfaction.
Some high elves were
thrusted deep into the ocean during the Great Sundering. While some drowned,
Queen Azshara secured an
agreement with the
Old Gods which allowed many to survive without air. These high elves became the
naga.
The
tauren and
taunka are
ancient races existing before recorded history. They are believed to have been created by the
Earth Mother. However, there are theories
equating the Earth Mother to the night elf god
Elune,
Therazane the Stonemother,
Alexstrasza the Life-Binder (leading the Dragon Aspects), the Vanir Titan
Eonar the Lifebinder and the
Titans in general.
Lorewalker Pao: What a tense atmosphere it must have had! Needless to say, the whole thing was a powder keg ready to go off.
Anduin Wrynn: It felt quite surreal, to have held yourself as you died...
