History VideoGame / Warcraft

* TheAlliance: The Alliance in both the sequels, and the Horde in ''Warcraft 3''.

* VillainousVow: Prince Arthas ThePaladin makes what he thinks is a HeroicVow to hunt down the demon general Mal'ganis, even to the end of the earth... however, it turns out that Mal'ganis was manipulating him all along to do so, and his rash vow made in anger is what leads to Arthas' fall, undeath, and, ultimately, transformation into the lich king.

* OurGhoulsAreCreepier: They're deceidedly not-okay lumberjacks, for one thing (AIIIIIEEEEE!). They're described as mutant zombies with a ravenous hunger for flesh and brains.

** The first game had 'conjurers' summon a multitude of these using the 'Rain of Fire' spell. It was then abscent from WarcraftII as their counterparts in that game, the 'mage', conjured blizzards instead. By the third game the 'Archmage' still summoned blizzards and left the Flaming Meteor summoning to the demons in the form of the 'Rain of Fire' ability, used by both the Pit Lord HeroUnit and the Doomguard (which, incidentally, can be summoned by the Pit Lord for double the fiery fun).

* FlamingMeteor: Warcraft has featured flaming meteors since its first instalments, always summoned by spellcasters:

** Admiral Proudmoore is this in ''The Frozen Throne'', moreso in ''Reforged'' where "The Founding of Durotar" is unlocked last. By himself is not very difficult to defeat, but is accompanied by his elite guard, a Paladin and an Archmage (both level 15).

*** The second part of the Rexxar bonus campaign's 3rd Act, "A Blaze of Glory," is quite easy to cheese. The map expects ya to help the Horde slowly invade through Theramore Isle from three different entrances with your hero group as if you're playing a [[Main/MultiplayerOnlineBattleArena MOBA]]. However, your group of heroes (especially if you have the optional Pandaren Brewmaster) should be so leveled up and decked out on items and such that you can easily just rush over to Daelin Proudmoore's location, and quickly kill the enemy boss and his defenders without the help of the Horde forces.

*** Human Mission 7. The mission is in two parts where you have to rescue a group of peasants before being able to properly build up your main base. However, your starting army (4 Knights, 4 Archers, 2 Clerics and a Catapult) is already quite powerful that with decent enough micro, you can instead just destroy the enemy's main base.

** The Tinker's ultimate transforms him into a TankTreadMecha, increasing his damage (especially against buildings) and making him immune to a number of spells by making him a Mechanical unit. However, this includes healing spells, requiring the use of healing items or a WorkerUnit to slowly repair him.

** Many, ''many'' models in ''Reforged'' were changed to show hierarchy and aesthetic of similar types of units. For example, some High and Blood elves units were merely recolors of night elves and human units in the original ''Warcraft III'' but were given pieces that wouldn't look out of place in ''World of Warcraft''. Listing ''all''' examples would take too much text, as Reforged gives ''every'' unit (and building) that in Warcraft III Classic was a resizing, recolour, both or plain identical of another's model their own unique models (even if the alterations are minimal for units that are supposed to look similar).

** The giant phoenix in the orc bonus campaign. Initially is a boss that the player has to defeat to get an egg and that Chen joins the team. After that becomes a standard enemy, with several of them being in the same area. Although facing them is optional, because the player has no need to return to that area, beyond farming experience and gold.

** After being awakened, Malfurion turns an ''entire forest'' into an army of Treants, who proceed to lay waste a nearby Undead base. While Malfurion can turn trees into Treants, he obviously can only do it to a much smaller scale.

* ConstructAdditionalPylons: Farms for both sides in the first two games. The orcs switched from farms to burrows in ''III'', while the two new factions got their own equivalents: Moon Wells for the Night Elves and Ziggurats for the Undead. Unlike most Pylon-type buildings, all of them except the farm have other functions: Burrows can be garrisoned by Peons to attack enemies, Ziggurats can be upgraded to defense towers, and Moon Wells can heal and restore mana to nearby units. The main draw of farms is that one only generates 6 supply points instead of 10, but is very inexpensive to construct, and thus multiple can be built to form a relatively [[BoringButPractical low cost wall around vital areas]] while raising the supply limit.

* BrokenArmorBossBattle: Some boss characters in ''Warcraft III'' have "Divine"-type armor that makes them immune to anything except "Chaos"-type attacks. Getting units with chaos-type attacks to defeat divine-armored enemies becomes a plot point in two of the campaign missions:

** The Steam Tank in the original game was, for all intents and purposes, a battering ram, a mobile building that could only attack buildings at short range. In the expansion, it was replaced by the Siege Engine, which serves the same purpose but has a multitarget anti-air attack.

** '''Crypt Fiend''': [[Franchise/SpiderMan Spider sense... tingling.]]

** While not exactly a CaptainErsatz the similarities between Arthas Menethil and Anakin Skywalker are obvious. [[LoveMakesYouEvil Driven to the dark side by what they love]] (Padmé/Lordaeron), killing the thing they love, exchanging their good weapon for an evil one, and eventually killing their old mentor. And don't forget the angst.

* SelectiveObliviousness: ''Warcraft 2''. Level 8: There's been a peasant revolt by guys wearing Alterac colors -- how strange. Level 9: Uther Lightbringer was almost killed by Alliance ships sailing with Alterac colors -- how strange. Level 10: Let's interrogate these traitors who were wearing Alterac colors when they were caught. Level 11: Alterac has betrayed us! So ''that's'' why their national banner has a [[http://www.wowpedia.org/File:Alterac.jpg?c=1 Horde emblem on it]].

* WorldOfMuscleMen: For example, [[http://www.wowwiki.com/File:Male_villager.jpg the standard villager's arms are about as thick as his head.]] Even elf units like the Worker and [[SquishyWizard Druid of the Talon]] have highly defined muscles.

** The ''Reign of Chaos'' demo campaign has the Underworld Minions as a villainous faction, Murlocs worshipping a Sea Witch and sacrificing the Darkspear Trolls. At the end of the campaign the Sea Witch makes a BadassBoast that "the whole world will be drowned beneath wrath of the tides". Though this plot element becomes incorporated into the Naga in ''The Frozen Throne'' and the Old Gods in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', it's inconsequential to the main plot, which features the Undead Scourge and the Burning Legion as its villains. This may have been why the missions were cut in the final game, though they are restored partially in ''The Frozen Throne'' and fully in ''Reforged''.

* DoubleEdgedBuff:

--> '''Jaina:''' Thrall, the sky is... burning!
--> '''Thrall:''' Blessed ancestors... This is no natural storm!

** In the final cutscene of ''The Frozen Throne'', once Arthas dons the Helm of Domination, Ner'zhul makes a similar quote to the Franchise/StarCraft Dark Archon, noting his merging with Arthas:

*** '''Ner'zhul:''' [[VideoGame/StarCraft1 Now, we are one!]]

** The final mission in the ''Warcraft III'' expansion is called "A Symphony of Frost and Flame", referencing George R. R. Martin's ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''.

* RedHerring: The ''Warcraft 2'' manual has a few. Gilneas thinks its army is powerful enough to face the Horde alone? Well, no need to find out. The Black Tooth Grin Clan is led by the sons of Blackhand, who was killed by the current Horde leader Doomhammer, and now they're secretly plotting revenge? And the Dragonmaw Clan has close ties to them? Well, no worries; you won't hear anything about them, ever. However, these storylines have been developed further in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''.

** The cinematic ending of the orc campaign has Thrall charging his hammer with electricity and throwing it at Mannoroth (a move that sorta does exist... but is used by the dwarf Mountain King), while Grom kills him in one hit (admittedly, Grom does have [[CriticalHit Critical Strike]]).

* AuthorAppeal: Character Designer Samwise Didier's love of [[PandaingToTheAudience pandas]] led to the creation of the Pandaren, though it was the fans' affection for the notion that finally made them canon. You have to squint to see it, but Illidan also has tiny pictures of panda faces on the hilts of his weapons (which also appear on certain gates). And there's somebody in the Blizzard staff (probably several) who really, really likes Creator/MontyPython.

** The [[PandaingToTheAudience Pandaren]] are a race of anthropromorphised [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin pandas]]. Nevermind being the mascot of Chinese culture, the Pandarens also believe in a religion similar to Daoism, practise similar style martial arts, wear stereotypical Asian clothing and have an equally stereotypical accent.

* PandaingToTheAudience: Pandaren form a large number of {{Easter Egg}}s in ''Warcraft III'', from pandas hidden in secret areas to Chen Stormstout being an optional party member in ''The Frozen Throne's'' bonus campaign. The Pandaren Brewmaster is also one of the neutral heroes you can hire at the Tavern in multiplayer games.