Neither their personalities nor their skills are lost, but their souls belong to the Lich King. Some who devote themselves to his cause become the horrors known as death knights - elite members of the Scourge who lead the Lich King’s armies. Of the Scourge Death knights of the ScourgeĮven the most honorable warriors can fall prey to the temptations of the Lich King. So far, the only physical death knight that has been spotted is the infamous Teron Gorefiend, who has joined forces with Illidan. The undead Ghostriders of Karabor still haunt the roads of Shadowmoon Valley. This is speculated on in Alliance Player's Guide and Horde Player's Guide. It is believed by some that the Black Riders of Deadwind Pass are surviving death knights of this order (perhaps Attumen). Not all travelled with Ner'zhul, as evidenced by the Ghostriders. Nonetheless, it is possible that a few death knights may remain. Any in Azeroth would likely have been destroyed by the Alliance of Lordaeron. While a new, distinct order of death knights has arisen in Azeroth, no death knights of the original order are known to have survived. Karabor Ghostrider, remnant of Gorefiend's death knights. The Ghostriders of Karabor are the remnants of those death knights stranded in Outland.Īfter the Second War and Draenor Fail:Deathknight.JPG
With the Alliance victory, most of the death knights were destroyed, though some of them were rallied by Teron Gorefiend, who offered his allegiance to Ner'zhul in exchange of a world for the death knights alone to conquer.ĭuring the destruction of Draenor, many death knights ventured alongside Ner'zhul into the Twisting Nether, where they were captured by the Burning Legion and transformed into liches. Some, such as Ragnok and Gaz Soulripper, were assigned special duties during the conflicts. The dreaded undead spellcasters were distributed among the Horde clans, and some of them crossed the Dark Portal and established themselves in Draenor, joining the forces of the Elder Shaman Ner'zhul as well as Mogor the Ogre-Lord. Doomhammer was pleased with Gul'dan's creations, however, he overlooked the fact that the spirits of the Shadow Council warlocks remained loyal to Gul'dan. Each death knight was given a jeweled truncheon into which the powers of the slain necrolytes was imbued. This sacrifice allowed him to imbue the spirits of the members of the Shadow Council into the corpses of the fallen Knights of Stormwind. After a number of failures, Gul'dan summoned his necrolyte followers to a conjunction spell and sacrificed them while they were channeling. Seeking to please Doomhammer, Gul'dan promised him an army of undead warriors loyal only to him. Only Gul'dan the Warlock and a few others survived by pledging allegiance to the new warchief.Ī death knight rides an undead horse in Warcraft II. However, when Orgrim Doomhammer seized power for himself, the warlocks of the Shadow Council were branded as traitors to the Horde and executed en masse, leaving the Horde without its leading practitioners of demonic magic.
Varies according to height, decay and rigor mortisĭuring the First War, warlocks and necrolytes composed the magic users of the Horde. Gul'dan, Teron Gorefiend, Ner'zhul, Illidan Stormrage, Gaz Soulripper None, formerly Fortress Shadowmoon, Black Temple