Each world keeps its secrets and legends. Legend of the world Warcraft from Blizzard in ten years, from a simple fairy tale about the invasion of green-skinned invaders, it has turned into a huge epic world with its own heroes, memorable places, dates and ancient history.

Now we take Azeroth for granted, as a given. Well, who doesn’t know that the local gnomes are short, the elves have big ears, the tauren moo, and the undead smell bad. But if you think about it, where did these Lordaeron, Kalimdor, Khaz-Modan come from? What are the roots and origins of past and current wars? And how did Azeroth come to life (unlife) like this?

To understand the present, you need to know the past. We must look into the depths of centuries, where the answers to all questions are hidden. We must uncover and read the history of Azeroth.

Titans and the formation of the universe

Nobody knows exactly how it all started. All the witnesses, no matter how many there were, will not tell anyone anything. Recently, the Big Boom theory has been popular in Azeroth - at the suggestion of goblin scientists, no less. The big-eared professors claim that at first everything was Very Empty and Dark, but suddenly there was a deafening explosion, the worlds scattered like billiard balls, and everything started spinning. “However, perhaps the One Goblin created us all,” they immediately modestly add.

For a long time the worlds spun like Christmas decorations among the emptiness, and the roar of an explosion echoed among them. It seemed that everything was ready to settle down, but then, in response to the noise, giant creatures came out from nowhere. Shining stars reflected on their metal bodies. These were robots, although in those days they preferred to call themselves titans.

With a grumble, they swept the asteroids into a heap, tidied up among the planets, sculpted mountains and seas on them, inhaled an atmosphere - sometimes oxygen, and sometimes methane.

The universe has become noticeably cleaner. But the second law of thermodynamics cannot be fooled. Creatures from the world of entropy and chaos, nicknamed by the titans the Distorted Nether World, threatened to nullify all the efforts of the ironskins. Demons from the Lower World disliked cleanliness and order more than anything in the world, striving to inherit and spoil wherever possible: “I hate good deeds! And I see dark things!”

But titans are hard-working people. Such is their titanic lot. Annoying creatures everywhere and everywhere received a good beating.

Sargeras and his betrayal

You can't drive demons out for good - they will always find a gap in the fence to find themselves again where they were not invited. Very soon the annoying creatures drove the titans to the brink. And then the iron pantheon gathered, rattling its hinges, and began to look for the last one.

The last one was found quickly - the titans pushed out a simple bronze robot named Sargeras from their ranks.

So you will be responsible for the demons with us. Sign, get a broom and go.

Why me? - the bronze guy was indignant.

Because it's necessary. Because the demons are worse than cockroaches, and you are the strongest among us. Because the party gave the order. What needs to be said?

Glory to the robots... - Sargeras mumbled without enthusiasm and began the hopeless work alone.

For thousands of years, Sargeras hunted demons and swept them into the Lower World. It was easy, but very boring and pointless work. There were no fewer demons. Most of all, the bronze giant was worried about a gang of Eredar sorcerers, who populated the worlds, played pigs there, turned all the inhabitants into demons and went into the sunset. Seeing the piles of cigarette butts, broken bottles and syringes left behind by the Eredar, Sargeras continually fell into a deep depression.

Another armed group, calling themselves “Nathrezim,” amused itself by sowing stupid, evil, fleeting things in all the worlds that came to hand. And the population of the planets that were under the bad influence suddenly began to wave swords and dashingly launch cavalry attacks on each other. When Sargeras saw these ugly fratricidal wars, he had a nervous breakdown: he ran in circles for a long time, grabbed his bronze head, shouted obscene words and complained to the whole world about the injustice of the titans:

It's just not fair! With my impressionable nature, with my subtle mental organization, I should have been born a poet. And who did you become? Cleaner! Modest. Nobody needs it! Nobody's favorite cleaner. Sargeras is a cleaner!

But there was no one to listen to the complaints of the bronze warrior - all the titans had just left to watch the competition of robot guitarists.

Who needs this order anyway? Breaking is not building. The universe will still face heat death, which means my work is simply of no use to anyone! Well, nothing. Until now you have known me well. Now you will get to know me from the bad side!

Having said these historical words, Sargeras deserted. Finding the abandoned broom, the Titans shrugged and crossed the bronze one off the payroll. The rebel wandered for a long time through the far corners of the Universe and continued to boil, becoming more and more heated. Soon he no longer looked like a bronze robot, but like a walking open-hearth furnace. “What kind of star is wandering there in the distance?” - the carefree titans asked each other, not yet knowing how much headache the cleaning robot would give them.

And Sargeras shook out the eredar and nathrezim from the trash bag and lined up the demons in front of him in an uneven square. At first, the creatures, stunned by such treatment, did not even recognize the former cleaner in the molten titanium.

Be equal! Attention! From now on I am your commander in chief! - the titan immediately took the bull by the horns. He paused at the Moscow Art Theater and continued:

Comrade demons! I will make a real army out of you as is. You will be the best army in this universe - as long as you don’t disgrace the cause - that’s it, that’s it! It’s impossible for one to eat without the other. So, I have to go - that’s the whole story, that’s my commander’s hand.

With a keen eye, the robot examined the rows of demons and found the most decent-looking one:

Kil-Jaeden, nicknamed the Deceiver, comrade chief,” the demon answered lazily.

You'll go recruit armies for me. If you deceive me, I’ll put horns on your tail.

Hands down, comrade chief.

What's your name, little stinking creature?

Archimonde the Dirty, sir! Yes, sir!

Lead my troops into battle. With a commander like you, they won't get lost - just follow the scent.

Sir is sir!

Demons took up residence in the barracks. Training has begun. Sargeras, who had fully embraced the role of the Dark Lord, mercilessly drove them around the planets, forcing them to sing a battle song in chorus: “We will defeat the Titans! And we will follow it everywhere!”

Kil-Jaeden was strictly warned against any attempts to deceive Sargeras. The political work yielded results: the demon did not cheat, but actually brought vampires, lords of horror, from the distant frontiers, ready to serve the new dark lord. Delighted, Sargeras created a secret intelligence service from vampires, searching for primitive worlds and preparing them for invasion. The “Fifth Vampire Column” worked like clockwork, and the best Stirlitz among the new ones turned out to be the bloodthirsty Tichondrius the Dark.

Archimonde distinguished himself and got dirty, gladly taking on the role of commander of the countless army of Darkness. But he did not rely on the vampire intelligence services, but secretly created his own security service under the leadership of the simple and rude Mannoroth the Destroyer.

Soon Sargeras had a huge, well-trained and drilled demonic army under his arms. In the universal emptiness, the horned creatures huddled together and lit fires at the rest, puffing on their pipes (so they awkwardly imitated the fiery appearance of their leader). Looking at the endless rows of fires stretching for many parsecs around, the bronze robot thought for a long time. And finally he barked:

You will be my Burning Legion!

The next morning the Legion set out on its first campaign.

The Old Gods and the Creation of Azeroth

While the distant worlds, one after another, bowed to the power of Sargeras, the titans, who did not know the telegraph, continued to enthusiastically sculpt cakes from the planets. Azeroth was one of the planetoids they came across at that time.

One, two - they took it!

Having looked closely, the surprised robots discovered that the seemingly uninhabited planet was inhabited by elemental spirits who did not at all like to look at the iron faces flashing in the sky. The spirits already had their good old elemental gods. This fact did not bother the titans at all:

We don't care - it's settled. Actually, the plan to restructure the planet has been hanging around in our institution for two hundred years, and you've had time to appeal.

A program is a program, the five-year plan is sacred. The new planet had to be sterilized - and the robots quickly gave the old gods a ragnarok by spraying insecticide on the planet. Everyone got it - the fiery Ragnaros, the stone Terazane, the airy Al-Akir and the sea Neptulon. They all raised their paws up, submitting to brute force and space bulldozers.

“That’s the same thing,” the titans said edifyingly, they shoved the old gods into a stain, a dryer, a straightener and pushed young Azeroth deep underground. The godless world was ready for global cleaning and settlement according to plan.

From the revived stone, the robots created the Earth race, covered the entire population with mothballs and stored them in a distant cave, ordering the sea giants to look after the warehouse. While the giants delved into the essence of the order, the robots set about making the fjords, plains and mountain ranges of the only continent. In order not to go far for precious energy, the robots, without further ado, dug the Well of Eternity and filled it with high-quality high-octane magic.

We don't know exactly what happened next. Maybe the titans left the well in Azeroth on purpose, or maybe they simply forgot to bury it when leaving for other worlds. But the fact remains that the land, saturated with magic, quickly filled with fauna and flora.

The Titans left the remade world at night, when the darkness that came from the east once again descended on their creation. And like true romantics, they called the continent “the land of eternal starlight.”

In our opinion - Kalimdor.

Dragons in the service of good

But when leaving Azeroth, the robots did not leave him unattended. Tame fighting dragons remained on the planet as a limited contingent of progressors, representing centralized power, powers, etc., in Kalimdor.

Huge, powerful and very angry, they patrolled over Kalimdor, tracking and sniffing out sedition. And five Great Dragons were appointed commanders of the dragon army. Well done, miracle heroes, one more beautiful than the other.

The scales of Nozdormu, the pet dragon that once belonged to the main titan Aman-Tul, were bronze. Nozdormu did not bother with trifles. He guarded the fate of the world and time itself, which earned him the nickname “Always Late.”

Dragoness Alexstrasza preferred red to all colors, from afar she resembled a flying Ferrari and was responsible for the lives of all creatures of Azeroth. She rescued chicks that had fallen from the nest, removed cats from trees, and in gratitude, she was the only one among the dragons who received a royal title (which, however, did not mean anything significant).

Green Ysera worked on the plant part. But she was never seen in the skies of Azeroth - and all because Ysera loved to snore and did not crawl out of her cave, managing to watch the tropical forests right in her sleep. Of course, she was nicknamed “Sonya” and nothing else.

The fourth colored dragon was Malygos, a magician - he was always recognized by his characteristic cyanotic blue color. He didn’t do anything special - he flew, set off firecrackers with firecrackers out of nothing to do, and guarded magical secrets. Nelfarion, the stylish black dragon put in charge of the land, was also idle.

So far there were no people willing to steal away the whole of Kalimdor, so Nelfarion and Malygos were forever lost in taverns. Ysera was sleeping, Alexstrasza was rushing from nest to nest, and Nozdromu was watching every second, although no one encroached on the time either.

The invasion of the Burning Legion was only a matter of centuries away.

The Waking World and the Well of Eternity

The Well of Eternity, abandoned by the titans, not only became a source of life for all of Kalimdor - it uncontrollably attracted flocks of small mammals. It soon became clear that it affected them in the same way as Clark's Black Obelisk. The animals quickly descended from the trees, stood on their hind legs and turned into humanoids - wild, but cute. The rapid evolution was not in vain for them, atavisms made themselves felt, and the ears of the first intelligent race (not counting those stored in the caves of the Earthly ones) remained pointed. But in all other respects, the savages turned out to be simply handsome - tall, immortal, well-cut, deftly sculpted.

The night elves (and this, as you guessed, were exactly them) for some unknown reason fell in love with the stars and called themselves Kaldorei, “children of the stars.” The elves quickly realized what the power was. All life energy was fed from the Well, and at first the elves built their first cities only around it. The first religion of the new race likened the mirror surface of the Well to the moon in the heavens, and the priests taught simple elves that during the day the goddess Elune herself rests from night walks across the sky. The elves believed and continued to explore the magical properties of the inexhaustible source of life.

Quickly spreading across Kalimdor, the elves soon came across dragons, which surprised them a lot. Only Isera ignored the big-eared Livingstons - she was sleeping and didn’t care about anything. The remaining dragons gathered and decided for now to consider the elves as harmless eccentrics.

By the way, the night elves did not immediately begin to revere trees and all plant life. They developed a passion for trees, bushes and grass only after meeting the centaur demigod Cenarius, nicknamed the “Silver Hoof.” He has long guarded the rainforests alone and now decided to use the elves as assistants. No one wanted to quarrel with him, so the long-eared creatures patiently sat through Tsenarius’ environmental lectures and meekly took notes. This benefited the forests - they were not cut down even when the night elves settled throughout the continent.

But the elven queen Azshara, taking advantage of her official position, built her residence right off the banks of the Well. Having become arrogant, she bathed in the well and in luxury, forgot about the aspirations of the simple eared people and even called herself and her entourage High Elves. The people were silent - at that time the dark elves were not yet keen on revolutions, although no one liked the impudence and arrogance of the High Ones.

Meanwhile, fundamental research into the Well of Eternity continued. Scientists took samples, carried out physical analyses, tried to find out the composition and nature of the energy substance, and even sank deep-sea vehicles into the Well several times. Success gradually came, and with it dizziness. The elves managed to subjugate free magical energy, which Azshara and her courtiers quickly learned about. The rampant exploitation of the Well began. It was in vain that old Tsenarius shook his head - the volumes of magical energy consumed were growing exponentially every day.

Unlimited power completely corrupted the High Elves. The well was used solely by Azshara and several of her close priests. To all questions the queen arrogantly answered: “What! Even if I’m greedy, it’s from the bottom of my heart.” The lords of the elves became terribly far from the people.

But who cared? Perhaps the young, promising druid scientist Malfurion Stormrage, who more and more often said: “To be in trouble! Oh, bad luck! My heart knows this won’t end well.”

War of the Ancients

The elves did not even suspect that the more they used the Well of Eternity, the more noticeable Azeroth became among other planets. By the time it came to megaton spells, the planet glowed in the radio range no worse than any other neutron star.

Sargeras was just trying on titles and wondering if “Destroyer of Worlds, Great Enemy of Existence, Dark God of the Nameless Void, with his feet in the Universe” sounded good when he felt a disturbance in the great Power. Turning on the receiver, he quickly caught the elven transmissions and immediately rushed to the intelligence department, where he gave the vampires who had overlooked the promising planet a terrible headache.

Nothing can be entrusted! - he yelled at Tichondrius. - You have to do everything yourself!

The frightened vampires prepared an operational information on Azeroth for the leader in twenty-four hours. As it turns out, the source of the disturbance is a gigantic supply of free magic in the Well left by the titans.

It was just magic and energy that the Dark Lord lacked, as he relied on dynamos and portable generators. He personally led an army of one million demon thugs and gave them an incendiary speech. Archimonde and Mannoroth saluted and gave the command to move.

Sargeras's plan was truly diabolical. He got in touch just at the moment when Queen Azshara and all her entourage were lying around on a magical high. The dialogue between the bronze robot and the stupefied Azshara looked something like this:

Who's there? - the queen whispered.

I am part of that force that always wants evil and always does good.

Wow, what a god! Come in, of course. “I’ll open the portal now,” Azshara perked up noticeably.

I can't get through, I'm too big. First I'll let my retinue pass, okay?

No problem. For a real god, we organize everything according to the first category.

Azshara gathered everyone in the throne room who could be distracted from looking at the pink elephants and explained to them that a god was coming (no one was surprised). Then she explained once again that this was God, and not just another vision - and, together with the courtiers, she opened a portal right in the Well of Eternity, so as not to pull the power cord too far.

“They’re not scared idiots,” Archimonde muttered quietly, looking at the opening window into Azeroth.

Of course,” Sargeras sighed. - It's time to scare. Well, this is your finest hour. Start your blitzkrieg.

Archimonde took the radio and gave a short order. The first mobile assault columns entered the glittering portal. (In about ten thousand years, orc hordes from Draenor will enter Azeroth in exactly the same way).

The advanced assault troops instantly captured the queen's palace without encountering any resistance. Demons walked through the portal in an endless stream, immediately deployed into battle formations and began implementing the plans of the command and personally of comrade Sargeras.

Hell fell upon the sleeping elven cities. The demons of hell, the infernal paratroopers summoned by the sorcerers, fell from heaven to earth like fiery meteors. Hellish guards walked across the fields and forests of Kalimdor, rattling their otherworldly chains. Packs of horned magical bloodhounds burst into defenseless villages. In several places, the warriors, alerted in time, desperately defended their positions. But the forces were unequal, and the elves retreated step by step.

Awakened by the noise and distant cannonade, Malfurion Stormrage put on his glasses, looked out the window and immediately realized that the game was over. He had long suspected something was wrong, seeing how his brother Illidan, who had fallen into the ranks of the High Elves, was slowly but surely getting hooked on the magical high from the Eternal Well.

But this time the frightened Illidan really got through it.

Remember what all this magical nonsense leads to! - Malfurion hissed. - You and I need to immediately go in search of Cenarius, if anyone will help the elves, it will be him. But you will need to quit.

Of course of course! - Illidan muttered. - I’m completely done!

Look at me. Let's take Tyrande with us into the forests, it's not safe here.

Tyrande was the name of the young priestess, for whom both brothers were pining - at least until Illidan became so addicted to magic that all amorous matters became of no concern to him.

Three elves walked for a long time along guerrilla paths to Moonglade. Illidan felt noticeably worse - he was sweating and constantly freezing even near the fire. When the elf was finally found, Cenarius was brief:

Think? What should we think? We need to get going! Only dragons can do something with this horde, and even then... If the demons did escape from the portal, I’ll tell you straight, it’s damn difficult to push them back. Dragons are our last hope.

Early in the morning, a joyful cry was heard over the capital of Kalimdor: “Dragons are flying!”

All five dragons flew as a combat unit to fight the demons - even Ysera woke up to save Kalimdor. The flight commander was Alexstrasza, her sparkling red scales terrified even the demons who were accustomed to everything.

Tsenarius, having called for an air strike, wasted no time - he awakened his faithful Forest Brothers from hibernation. Military doctrine suggested using them in guerrilla raids on enemy lines - it’s hard to think of a better use for a crowd of walking trees. But this time we had to go all-in to build on the success on earth, if the dragons achieve it at all. Entire forests, supported by small groves, moved towards the capital.

The remnants of the elven armies also launched a psychic attack on the demon troops guarding the Well. What was the queen doing at this time? She, alive and well, was looking forward to meeting God and preparing to expand the portal in the Well so much that Sargeras himself could pass through it. To do this, it was necessary to gather together the magical powers of all the High Elves. Portal specialists ran throughout the palace, catching the netters. But there wasn’t enough strength yet.

The shadow of the dragon's wings fell on the palace. And five winged guards fell upon the demons.

Decoding the dragons' negotiations will help to reconstruct subsequent events:

Attention, I'm red. Cover, I dive, then make a combat turn.

Got you, red. Black, lights out.

There are so many of them here!

Heavy anti-aircraft fire. Maneuvers, maneuvers!

They go through the Well.

Left, left! [inaudible] Blue, throw some light on!

I'm going to the third turn. Red, you have a demon on your tail.

I can't shake it off!

Stay above the target.

He's on my tail!

Stay above the target!

Great spit, green...

Black, where, where? Stay in line!

Nelfarion, what are you doing?!

Red, watch out! [unintelligible screams on the air] ...oh, damn it!

Fire, fire!

Black, you're crazy! Nelfarion!

- You don't know the full power of the Dark Side!!! I am no longer Nelfarion. I am the Black Cloak!

The black dragon Detwing, Deathwing, former Nelfarion, without any warning attacked the remaining dragons and with a few well-aimed spits of fire forced them to retreat. The sudden betrayal crippled the colored team morally. All of them unanimously decided that the game was not worth the candle, and, in fact, they had no need to protect Azeroth - health was more valuable.

Malfurion saw firsthand the outcome of the battle in heaven. He managed to jump into the trench and go to the rear before the demons, inspired by an unexpected ally, finally took possession of the battlefield.

"Light! Light! They're crawling into the light! The well must be closed. Otherwise, everything is screwed,” the young scientist whispered to Cenarius and Tyrande. - “We need to break into Azshara’s palace at any cost and destroy the portal itself! By the way, where is Illidan? He was just here...

To be continued.

So, the long-awaited film adaptation of the Warcraft universe has hit the big screens. Whether there will be success and what kind of success will be shown by ratings and the box office, but regardless of these results there will be those who will be interested in the world of Warcraft. This material is intended for beginners who want to learn more about this universe and may want to play World of Warcraft.

So, let's go through the main points.

A Brief History of the Warcraft Universe

It is quite difficult to briefly retell the history of the world - without exaggeration, this is a truly massive setting, but we will try.

There are two main opposing forces of the universe - Light and Abyss. The forces of Light, naturally, are only for the prosperity and happiness of the entire universe, and the forces of the Abyss want to devour it all. The most powerful representatives of the Light are the race of Naaru and Titans, and the second played a more significant role in the formation of order than the first.

Titans are supernatural beings who began life in the so-called soul worlds. The first Titan was Aman'Thul, who, having awakened, began to look for his own kind. He awakened several more Titans and together with him they continued their search. Finding the next soul-world, they put the world in order in order to facilitate the awakening of the next Titan. Thus, life, including thinking, arose and developed on the planets.

The problem was that in addition to the physical universe in which the Titans lived, there was a parallel dimension - the Twisting Nether, in which demons lived (not to be confused with the Abyss, this is another evil and in another dimension). Demons penetrated the physical world and caused all sorts of outrages there. Two of the best titan warriors, Sargeras and Aggramar, were sent to fight these creatures. More or less successfully, they weeded out this infection and many demons ended up imprisoned on the prison planet, Mardum.

One day, Sargeras found a world where he discovered a sleeping Titan. At the same time, the planet was already struck by an infection - the Ancient Gods. Horrified by what he saw, he destroyed both the planet and the Ancient Gods and the unborn Titan. The act brought no less horror to the Pantheon of the Titans, and the act of Sargeras was condemned. Sargeras, in turn, seeing that he was not understood, left the Pantheon and went into exile, stopping the fight against demons.

After some time, Aggramar discovered another soul world and, again, the Ancient Gods on this planet. He called on the Titans for help and they decided to create an army of Titan-born - creatures with sufficient power to defeat the Ancient Gods. The military campaign began successfully and all the Ancient Gods except one were neutralized (but not killed). The Last Ancient One put up such powerful resistance that Aman'Thul had to intervene himself and literally tear him out of the planet. But the victory was still incomplete - the Ancient Gods could not be completely destroyed, since this could destroy it and kill the baby titan. Therefore, the Ancient Gods were imprisoned and the Titan-Born were assigned to them.

The Titans dealt with this problem, but another one arose. Sargeras, who went into exile, came to the conclusion that the Lords of the Abyss could only be stopped by destroying life in the physical world along with the Ancient Gods. And if life has already arisen once, it will arise again. This task was beyond his capabilities alone, so he decided to create an army. To do this, he freed the demons from Mardum and led them, becoming evil himself. The army of the Burning Legion, led by the Fallen Titan Sargeras, began a Crusade, destroying one world after another.

The Titans, having learned about this, decided to stop him, but did not succeed and all died in a battle with Sargeras and his demons. But besides this, Sargeras learned about the last Titan and the soul world, which was called... Azeroth. Since then, his goal has been to find this world and destroy it, so that the Lords of the Abyss could not create a powerful Dark Titan that would destroy the physical world completely (and not just life, as Sargeras wanted). Thus, Azeroth is a world in which the interests of powerful forces of good and evil intersect. The Lords of the Abyss need the Dark Titan, and Sargeras wants to destroy the world so that he does not appear. Well, the inhabitants of Azeroth want simple human happiness.

Sargeras eventually managed to find out where Azeroth was located and the Burning Legion made several assault attempts. The first attempt led to the War of the Ancients and the Great Schism, a global catastrophe that radically changed the geography of the planet. Sargeras made a second attempt ten thousand years later. To do this, it was decided to use the orcs, a people from the planet Draenor, who had previously been turned by Sargeras' emissaries into an army obedient to his will. The orc shamans were promised power, they drank the blood of one of the demons of the Burning Legion, and then other orcs did the same. Their skin turned green, and they themselves turned from harsh but peaceful hunters into bloodthirsty warriors. Then a passage was created between the worlds - the Dark Portal - and an army of orcs rushed to conquer this world. This is how the First War between Orcs and Humans happened.

This war was not the last, nor were the Burning Legion's attempts to invade Azeroth.

Plots of games and films in the general chronology of Warcraft

Now let’s talk about how the above relates to the plot of the film and games based on the setting.

The Warcraft universe was first embodied in the strategy game Warcraft: Orcs & Humans back in 1994. It was the events of the First War that formed the basis of this game. As a result of the First War, the orcs destroyed Stormwind, the capital of people, and occupied part of the lands. Having escaped, the people went by sea to the kingdom of Lordaeron. The orc army was later called the Horde.

It was this period in the history of Azeroth that was used as the basis for the current film adaptation. I won’t spoil it (they’re doing it now without me). Thus, what was the plot of the first computer game more than twenty years ago has now become the plot of the first (I hope) film based on the Warcraft universe.

In 1995, the second part, Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, was released. Events take place six years later. The orcs decide to continue expansion, but people are not sitting idly by either. Through a series of political agreements, an Alliance of Men, Dwarves and Elves is formed. The second war ends with the victory of the Alliance. The orcs are driven back to Draenor, the Dark Portal is closed (for the time being). In addition to the second part, Beyond the Dark Portal, people infiltrate Draenor and conduct military operations there.

We had to wait seven long years for the continuation, when in the summer of 2002 Blizzard released the third part of Warcraft: Reign of Chaos. Here people have to fight off the invasion of the Burning Legion for the second time. Moreover, the threat is so great that the Horde and the Alliance had to forget about mutual claims and present a united front. The Frozen Throne add-on was released for this part.

Somewhere in the late 90s, the studio began developing an MMO game based on this popular setting. The game was released in 2004 and was a stunning success. Over the course of more than a decade, Blizzard has released five expansions and now the sixth is on the way, World of Warcraft: Legion, which will be released on August 30, 2016.

As for the current plot of the game, the Warlords of Draenor expansion is currently relevant and the action takes place several decades after the First War between Orcs and Men. I won’t retell it, because everything turned out to be very confusing from the point of view of time lines. One thing I will say is that the Draenor you will find yourself in if you start playing is the Draenor from an alternative timeline. For those who want to understand the details.

As for the upcoming expansion, everything is relatively simple - the Burning Legion, led by Sargeras, is making another attempt to invade Azeroth. Actually, that’s why the sixth addition will be called World of Warcraft: Legion. That is, in fact, if you want to try the game, now is the time. In the remaining three months, it is quite possible to level up to a level where you can fully start playing in the new addition.

That's it, in short. If not briefly, I recommend that you familiarize yourself with, which was released by Blizzard in March of this year. This is the latest version of the official history of the universe, which covers the period from the beginning of the universe and approximately 16 thousand years of history (don't worry, there are only one and a half hundred pages of text). The first volume ends 45 years before the opening of the Dark Portal.

Now a little about the setting itself. If they tell you that Wacraft is pure fantasy, they will only be partly right. In fact, there are strong elements of other fantasy genres, such as steampunk. There are high technologies and spaceships and much more. All this is retold in thousands of quests, which often represent fascinating story chains. In addition, a dozen and a half weighty books and several comics were published on the setting. That is, this is a truly rich world in events and heroes, which is comparable in scale to “The Lord of the Rings”, Star Wars and other popular fantasy franchises. Those critics who talk about it as a hodgepodge of fantasy cliches, in which there is nothing original, simply do not own the subject.

MMO World of Warcraft: for those who want to play

As for the World of Warсraft game itself, this MMO project will turn twelve years old this year. The period is sufficient and, despite the rather serious age, the number of players here is still in the millions. If you are interested in the history of the project, then you can read about it.

In order to start playing World of Warcraft, you need to purchase the game and pay for playing time. Currently, the game's starter pack includes all add-ons, including Warlords of Draenor. It costs 549 rubles. The cost of the Legion add-on is 1999 rubles (standard package). It is best to buy on the official website - eu.battle.net. The latest version of the game will be downloaded directly from the site and installed on your computer. You can subscribe on the same site.

In short, that's all for now.

We are like gods for the creatures of the field, my jigit.
We know the hour of their birth and the hour of death.
In the meantime, we have responsibilities to them.
.

Online game World of Warcraft at one time it literally entered the Guinness Book of Records as the most popular MMORPG on the planet. The universe of Azeroth, where WOW takes place, is known today to millions of users better than the geographical details of their own countries. The game has already educated several generations, becoming for many one of the best memories of their youth.

A long time ago Warcraft- this is much more than simple entertainment. This is a philosophy, a lifestyle and a way of self-realization. And damn me if I don’t consider World of Warcraft one of the most successful games of our time!

Where did World of Warcraft come from?

What do you know about the company Blizzard? I’m sure there are quite a few: these talented guys own such platinum hits as Diablo And Starcraft. And, of course, World of Warcraft. Agree, it’s difficult to explain such a champion lineup by luck alone. Behind millions of sales and tens of millions of subscribers is a colossal amount of work and a selfless love for games.

And it was this love that prompted a group of developers from the then unknown Blizzard to create an RTS on a fantasy theme in 1994. Moreover, the ideological inspirer of such a step was the once incredibly popular, but now completely sunk into oblivion Dune 2. Having turned the code a little in their hands and studied some basic principles, the programmers from Blizzard firmly decided that they could do no worse.

And now, after very little time, the “great uncle” of World of Warcraft appears on the arena - the game "Orcs and Humans". Of course, the appearance of the game would plunge a modern gamer into an aesthetic shock, but for gamers of that time it was a breakthrough and an ideal of beauty. Yes, a lot of things were still buggy and didn’t want to behave correctly, but the playability was already at its best. The main thing that interests us about the game is that it laid the initial foundation for the special gaming world of Warcraft, which today has turned into a huge universe with its own history.

After just a little time, already in 1995, a real hit of the end of the 20th century appeared - the game Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness. The same orcs and people who were present in the first part continued to conduct their usual showdowns. But now it happened in a much more meaningful and convenient way for the player. And the appearance of the game has changed significantly. And although the second part of Warcraft was written for MS-DOS, it worked perfectly on Windows 95. In addition, there was also a special version for Macintosh.

I can say the following about the popularity of the game: in 1996, there were already more than 1 million officially sold copies of the game. It was also incredibly popular in Russia, but I’m not sure that there would have been even a hundred official versions in the whole country. The current rampant piracy is nothing compared to what happened before. However, this is already lyrics.

And so, the next stop is 1999, when Blizzard releases a version WarCraft II: Battle.net Edition.

You are absolutely right, in this version it was already possible to play via LAN and . It became clear that, having tasted success, the company would not stop. The gaming world was agitated by the most incredible rumors. Something was expected that the gaming community had not yet seen. And then 2003 came...

The emergence of World of Warcraft

In 2003, the long-awaited third part of Warcraft was released - The Frozen Throne. It was a triumph! The popularity of the game became simply incredible: fresh copies were sold out in the hundreds of thousands. It would seem that it’s time to calm down: write addons and . But Blizzard is not the type to be content with half measures. At the beginning of 2004, a Battle.net representative office opened in Europe, and then, in November 2004, the long-awaited premiere - World of Warcraft - was released. with amazing features and excellent functionality.

Reports from that time indicate that tens of thousands of players subscribed to the game every day, thereby once again proving the correctness of the company’s path. Gradually, Blizzard is patching up gaps, fixing bugs and conducting a massive PR campaign, attracting more and more new adherents to the game.

WOW recognition

In 2007, the Guinness Book staff announced their verdict: MMORPG World of Warcraft gains more than 8 million subscribers and becomes the most popular online game in the world. By 2010, the number of fans of the game increased to 10 million. And these are just flowers: according to official data from the company at the beginning of 2014, the total number of WOW players is estimated at a crazy figure - 100 million people. It couldn't be more serious.

In the period from 2004 to 2014, several add-ons were released at once, which became the main source of game traffic. It was noticed that as soon as the company announced a new addition, the number of subscribers immediately increased. What can we say, Blizzard knows the gaming market very well and is well versed in how to attract its audience.

And the game became so popular that full-fledged works of fiction were written based on it, and it was even announced that in the future it was planned to release a full-fledged feature film based on this already quite popular franchise. In addition to selling services at its gaming games, the company earns enormous sums from the sale of souvenirs and paraphernalia based on the game. There is even a separate board game based on the world of WOW.

And a little tar...

What else can you say at the end? Perhaps we need to remember that every coin has two sides. Likewise, World of Warcraft is not going smoothly from a moral point of view. Facts of gamers dying from exhaustion and overwork after a multi-day gaming “marathon” are already known. A consistent pattern was identified: after the appearance of new game addons, the number of gaming-related suicides (especially in the younger age group) increases significantly. Some public organizations are even sounding the alarm, equating adherence to World of Warcraft to drug addiction.

And yet I will not allow myself to condemn the creators of the game: it is not their fault that they love their work so much that they created a game so crazy in terms of drive. They did their job and, I must admit, they did it perfectly. Good luck to you, WOW!

Indeed, the history of the Warcraft universe cannot simply be retold, but understanding how it is organized and which side is best to approach it is not so difficult. The following review will have a navigation function, and may be useful even to those who are in the know but would like to expand their knowledge. My goal in this answer will not be to retell the content of numerous sources, but to give the most general outline of events and show what place each source occupies in this outline.

Conventionally, the history of the universe can be divided into three sources: strategy, MMORPG World of Warcraft, books and comics. It seems that there are also board card games, but I don’t know anything about them, and these three layers of the universe will be more than enough for you.

The history covered in strategies can be divided into three parts, in accordance with the parts of the games.

Warcraft I, it’s the first war. A recently released film was made based on this part. It tells about the Horde's invasion of Azeroth, about Medivh, about the fall of Stormwind, about the death of King Llane.

Game: Warcraft: Orcs & Humans

Warcraft II, second war. Events after the fall of Stormwind, the story of how Anduin Lothar, Turalyon and Daelin Proudmoore fought back against the Horde. Then - the Alliance’s counter-offensive on the homeland of the orcs, Draenor, where Ner’zhul, since nothing worked out with Azeroth, wants to open portals to other worlds.

Games: Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness; Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal.

Warcraft III, third war. The most intense and popular part of the game. The remaining orcs in Azeroth are kept in camps, and short-term peace and tranquility comes to Lordaeron. However, not everything is so rosy, since on the northern continent of Azeroth, Northrend, Ner'zhul, imprisoned in an ice throne, is gathering forces to start a third war.

Simultaneously with these events, the young slave Thrall begins to have strange dreams in which a stranger calls on him to lead the orcs to Kalimdor, the western mainland of Azeroth. In this part of the strategy, we get acquainted with the most famous heroes of the universe, with whom Warcraft is now actually associated: Arthas, Illidan, Kael’thas.

Games: Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne

The explanations that I give for each part are not even a retelling, but almost randomly selected facts to just give an idea of ​​what is happening in the game series, and, naturally, so as not to spoil it.

A logical continuation of the history of strategies was the famous World of Warcraft, which is also divided, but not into parts, but into addons.

WoW Classic: The Forsaken (Undead who no longer obey Arthas) join the Horde, so we get two coalitions that are unfriendly to each other.
Alliance: People, Dwarves, Dwarves, Night Elves. Horde: Orcs, Trolls, Taurens, Forsaken. The main antagonists of this stage are black dragons, ancient gods and Kel'Thuzad, who again began to spread the plague across Azeroth on the orders of Arthas, now the Lich King.

WoW Burning Crusade: A new people appears in Azeroth, the Draenei, whom the Alliance accepts into its ranks. The blood elves under the leadership of Lor "themar Theron join the Horde. The Dark Portal through which the orcs entered Azeroth during the first war opens again. The antagonists of the addition: Kael'thas, Illidan and the Burning Legion itself in the person of Kil'Jaden.

WoW Wrath of the Lich King: Some death knights join the Alliance and Horde, who decide to take the fight to the Lich King on his territory in this expansion. In this expansion, players will have to confront the Titans themselves, the creators of Azeroth and the Lich King.

WoW Cataclysm: The maddened Aspect of the Earth, the black dragon Deathwing, has awakened in the depths of the Underdark and is determined to destroy all of Azeroth with the help of the cult of the black hammer. Recently, the Kezan goblins have made enemies within the Alliance - several unexpectedly unprofitable transactions have forced some merchant magnates to abandon their comfortable position of neutrality. Old agreements with the Horde were renewed, and the Horde welcomed the goblins with open arms. Behind the wall of Greymane, in the city of people Gilneas, meanwhile, a strange madness gripped the inhabitants. It turned people into bloodthirsty werewolves, attacking anyone and everyone. Having dealt with this madness, the Gilneans began to call themselves Worgen, half-human, half-wolf, and found their home in the ranks of the Alliance.

WoW Mists of Pandaria: Suddenly, a new continent, Pandaria, previously hidden from view by a dense layer of mists, was discovered in the southern part of Azeroth. The Horde and the Alliance raced to this continent, started a war on it, thereby awakening strange Sha creatures, personifying our bad emotions and feelings. Some Pandaren decide to join the Horde and Alliance. Garrosh Hellscream, who became the leader of the Horde during the Cataclysm era, goes mad and brings back to life the heart of the ancient god I'Shaarj in order to strengthen his army and destroy the Alliance. Heroes of both factions are forced to begin the siege of Orgrimmar, the main city of the Horde, in order to overthrow the tyrant.

WoW Warlords of Draenor: Garrosh escapes justice with the help of the bronze dragon Kairozdormu (bronze dragons in World of Warcraft have the ability to manipulate time). Garrosh returns to the past, to a time when the orcs had not yet made their way into Azeroth. There he finds his father, Grommash, and shares the technology with which Garrosh hoped to destroy the Alliance. Grommash united all the scattered clans of the orcs of Draenor under his banner, making their leaders his warlords and began an invasion of Azeroth, not in the Azeroth of the first war, but in the times after the Pandaria campaign. Players become participants in the events of this most changed Draenor of the past.

And in August Legion awaits us, a new page in the history of Warcraft.

As you can see, the further the game's story develops, the more confusing and uninformative my retelling becomes. The reason for this is the complication of the story, the number of key characters increases several times. If for Warcraft I Garrona, Durotan and Lothar are important to us, then in Warcraft III Jaina, Arthas, Uther, Kel'Thuzad, Thrall, Medivh, Illidan, Maev and Kael'thas are equally important. Naturally, in order to adequately complete the stories of all these characters, the game space is completely insufficient. Therefore, the creators attract the third and final layer of sources - books.

At the moment, 22 books have been published, which are divided into three series.

I. Warcraft Series
Includes books that are not connected by a common plot:

1. Blood and Honor is the very first novel in the Warcraft universe, written by Chris Metzen (the father of the entire Warcraft universe). It tells the story of Tirion Fordring. The timeline, if I'm not mistaken, is after the second war.
2. Day of the Dragon - tells about the events after the second war. The main character of the book, the magician Ronin, rescues the supreme aspect, Alexstrasza, from captivity of the Horde.
3. Lord of the Clans - tells the story of Thrall (the same little orc who makes GRRR at the end of the film), how he began to revive the Horde, freeing the orcs from the Alliance camps.
4. The Last Guardian - narrated by Medivh the Guardian, with whom many are now also familiar thanks to the film.

II. Warcraft Series: War of the Ancients Trilogy
It tells about the events after the Battle of Mount Hyjal (Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos) and at the same time about those events that took place several thousand years before the first war.

Books included: 1. Source of Eternity 2. Soul of a Demon 3. Schism

III. World of Warcraft series
Also included are books loosely connected by a common plot:

1. Circle of Hatred - events a year before WoW, that is, after the first war. It tells how Jaina Proudmoore and Thrall tried to maintain peace between the Horde and the Alliance.
2. Rise of the Horde is the book that everyone should read before going to the movies to see Warcraft. It tells us who the orcs are and why they needed to attack Azeroth. He also introduces us to the draenei people, these are the same blue-skinned dudes who were killed at the beginning of the film.
3. Dark Tides - tells about the events of Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness.
4. On the other side of the dark portal - tells about the events of Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal.
5. Day of the Dragon is, in a sense, a continuation of Night of the Dragon and tells the story of the events between the Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King.
6. Arthas: Rise of the Lich King - biography of Arthas, naturally.
7. Stormrage - the only book that I can't localize in a time frame, talks about what the Emerald Dream is and about Malfurion Stormrage.
8. The Sundering: Prelude to Cataclysm - tells the story of the events between Wrath of the Lich King and Cataclysm.
9. Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects is a continuation of the previous book.
10. Heart of the Wolf - tells about the events after the Cataclysm, about how the leaders of the Alliance tried to protect Ashenvale from Garrosh, who was already beginning to go crazy.
11. Jaina Proudmoore: Tides of War - tells the story of Jaina Proudmoore, taking place before Mists of Pandaria.
12. Dawn of the Aspects - tells about the events after the Cataclysm, about what happened to the five Aspects after they gave up immortal power in the name of defeating Deathwing.
13. Vol'jin: Shadows of the Horde - captures the events of Mists of Pandaria, specifically update 5.1.0 tells us about Vol'jin, who at the end of this addon becomes the new leader of the Horde.
14. War Crimes - tells about the events after Mists of Pandaria, about what happened to Garrosh after the Siege of Orgrimmar.
15. Illidan - the book was published in 2016, and as far as I understand, is a biography of Illidan Stormrage.

As you can see, these books are crazy, but there are also manga and comics that I won’t even write about here.

Whether you play World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, or have never heard anything about the legendary universe (which will be very strange), sometimes even ardent fans of the series have a hard time figuring out who is who, who they came from, and what they are fighting for. In this article I will try to briefly tell the history of the World of Warcraft because... It will be extremely difficult to tell about this game with all the details - the universe is truly huge.

War of the Gods and Titans

How did it all begin? Azeroth, the planet on which all the action of World of Warcraft takes place, is only one single planet in the universe, where there are other inhabited planets with other civilizations. Initially, Azeroth was inhabited for quite a long time by bloodthirsty elementals who worshiped their old Gods. Well, the current story began with the appearance of the titans - gods whose power is even greater. These same Titans travel across the universe from planet to planet, cover with vegetation, create rivers, seas, mountains and leave settlers, in general benefactors.

Azeroth was no exception to the rule. A long battle took place, as a result of which the Titans sent the elementals into custody, and went about their usual business - sowing the reasonable, the good, the eternal. Soon the continent of Kalimdor was created, which was settled by the first races without hesitation. And the guards were assigned dragons - powerful creatures and demigods.

Each of the dragons had their own sphere of activity and their own responsibilities: for example, Alexstrasza was responsible for life.

However, it was not possible to create an ideal world as usual. As soon as the Titans left Azeroth, the population began to experience great troubles and troubles. One of the dragons thought and decided to betray the Titans, and then go over to the side of evil. It was the dragon Neltharion (the same Deathwing from World of Warcraft and Hearthstone). Also, for no apparent reason, Sargeras, the most powerful of the Titans, changed his mind about being a good guy.

Sargeras began his conquest of Azeroth by enslaving the elves (a young race skilled in magic). The attack was repulsed, but the price of victory was great - Kalimdor split into 2 continents, and the elves themselves divided into 2 large camps and settled across different continents. Later, the population of Azeroth also expanded to include trolls, humans, and dwarves.

Where did the Orcs come from?

Those who are familiar with the game World of Warcraft were lucky enough to see the home world of the orcs - Draenor. Well, those who have recently encountered Warcraft most often think that orcs are such strong, evil barbarians that don’t feed them bread - let them fight. However, over time, it becomes clear that behind the rudeness lies courage, nobility and honor, and upon closer acquaintance with the orcs, it becomes clear that fellow orcs are much more peaceful than most of the inhabitants of Azeroth.

Indeed, on their home planet, the orcs manage to get along calmly with the draenei, a powerful and developed race. Initially, the orcs preferred a nomadic lifestyle, worshiping spirits and hunting peacefully. Well, then it happened that the orc race attracted the attention of Sargeras, who decided to carry out a series of events with the orcs and make them reliable allies.

One of Sargeras' minions, a certain magician Kil'jaeden, managed to take over the mind during the implementation of this insidious plan Gul'dana, a young and extremely capable orc shaman. Having gained unprecedented power in his hands, Gul'dan organizes the Council of Shadows. Having joined the ranks of this sect, simple peace-loving hunters in the past, under the instructions of Gul’dan, began to drink the blood of demons and turn into evil and cruel warriors with one single desire - to kill.

The Warsong clan, led by Grommash Hellscream, stood out prominently in the Orc Horde. However, the insidious Gul’dan was not happy with the enormous authority of the leader and, through intrigue, managed to transfer the post to Blackhand, under whose leadership the orcs easily defeated the draenei, with whom they had recently been friends. Well, the overthrown Grommash was in the forefront among those who began to drink the blood of the demon Mannoroth, and despite this, his life will end in a mortal battle with this same Mannoroth, in which he will be able to defeat the demon, die, but save his people from a terrible curse.

Having defeated all the draenei, the Orc Horde began preparations for an attack on Azeroth. The Dark Portal became the means of transportation to the new planet. On the other side of this portal, a human magician recruited by Sargeras, Medivh, was waiting for the Horde. The transition plan worked and the Horde began an invasion of Azeroth. However, not everyone in the ranks of the orcs was happy with the changes to their race. Durotan, the leader of the Frostwolf clan, unexpectedly stood up against Gul'dan, despite the fact that the forces were clearly unequal. But Gul’dan couldn’t just kill Durotan, because he had enormous authority and respect. I had to simply expel Durotan and his loyal allies to the remote edge of Azeroth.

The war between the Orc Horde and humans became the largest in the history of Azeroth. At a certain point, the orcs even managed to capture and destroy Stormwind, the capital of people, but the betrayal of Gul’dan (he unexpectedly left the horde) did not allow them to achieve complete victory. Having lost their leader, the Horde retreated until they returned to Draenor. Of course, the Okri simply did not calm down and built several more portals, but the magical ritual that was required to implement the plan worked completely differently this time, and the orc planet fell apart into separate parts. Those orcs who managed to move to Azeroth were sent to special camps; they were able to recover and became much less dangerous.

Thrall and the new Horde

And at this stage the story of the orc began Tralla, who was the son of Durotan and grew up among men. Thrall was raised in the family of a highly respected knight, where he learned many important things, such as fencing, battle tactics, and even reading books. Having matured, Thrall left home and went in search of his tribe, who lived in Azeroth. Thrall did a lot to create peace between people and orcs; he became friends with one of the most powerful and respected magicians of the entire alliance - Jaina.

Thrall again led the orcs against the people, but this time for freedom. Under his leadership, the orcs raided camps and freed their fellow tribesmen from slavery. Thrall was distinguished by the fact that he could not tolerate senseless, unnecessary cruelty, and this is what made it possible to create a new Horde, find allies among the trolls, undead and tauren, and after some time sign peace with the Alliance (orcs and people united against the lich king and his army, which began to threaten all of Azeroth).

Latest events

All the events described above are well covered directly in the Warcraft strategy series. And in the online game World of Warcraft, the topic of the first war between orcs and humans was touched upon only once (in the expansion The Burning Crusade, where players will be sent to one of the fragments of the former world of orcs).

The story of World of Warcraft ends when the new leader of the Horde, Garrosh Hellscream (directly the son of Grommash) again attempts to take over Azeroth, but is defeated. After the final battle, Garrosh manages to escape into the past.

Well, in the Warlords of Draenor add-on, Garrosh goes to Draenor, at a time when the orcs were not yet enslaved by Gul'dan, he convinces his father not to drink the blood of demons, after which the orcs create the same Horde and the Dark Portal, but in order to attack to modern Azeroth. Players will also be sent to Draenor in pursuit of Garrosh; they will need to strike at the Horde on its own territory.

A Brief History of the World of Warcraft was last modified: November 16, 2014 by admin