Adventurers
The Alliance: Stormwind (Humans) - Lordaeron (Humans) - Gilneas (Humans/Worgen) - Kul Tiras (Humans) (Jaina Proudmoore) - Other Human Kingdoms - Ironforge (Dwarven Clans) - Gnomeregan (Gnomes) - Quel'Thalas/Telogrus Rift (High Elves and Void Elves) - Darnassus (Night Elves) - The Exodar (Draenei) - Vindicaar (Lightforged Draenei) - Mechagon (Mechagnomes)
The Horde: Orgrimmar (Orcs) - The Darkspear Tribe (Trolls) - Thunder Bluff (Tauren) - The Forsaken (Undead) - Quel'Thalas (Blood Elves) - Bilgewater Cartel (Goblins) - Thunder Totem (Highmountain Tauren) - Suramar (Nightborne) - Zandalari Empire (Zandalar Trolls) - Voldunai (Vulpera) - Other (non-playable races)
Other factions: The Old Horde/Iron Horde | The Scourge (Arthas Menethil) | Sylvanas and her followers (Sylvanas Windrunner) | Knights of the Ebon Blade | Illidan and his followers | Garrosh's Horde | Pandaria | Other mortals | The Void (The Old Gods) | The Light | Eternals | Shadowlands (Death) | The Titans (Arcane) | The Burning Legion (Fel) | The Dragonflights | Wild Gods |
Individual media: Warcraft I And II Units | Warcraft III Units | Warcraft III Heroes | Film characters | Hearthstone characters | Warcraft characters in Heroes of the Storm (Assassins - Warriors - Support)
Character page for the 2016 Warcraft (2016) film.
For the characters of the video game franchise, see here.
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The Alliance
In General
The humans inhabiting the kingdom of Stormwind, and the first line of defense of the world of Azeroth against the Horde. They are later joined by other races of Azeroth.
- The Alliance: The end of the film sees the creation of the Alliance between the human kingdoms, the dwarves of Ironforge and the high elves of Quel'Thalas to prepare for a larger scale conflict against the Orcish Horde following King Llane Wrynn's death. Only the human kingdom of Stormwind faced the orcs up to this point, with Ironforge providing them guns.
- Animal Motifs: The lion is the symbol of Stormwind and features heavily on the human side of the story, as the actual Alliance is not formed until the end of the movie.
- Bling of War: Soldiers of Stormwind use armors, swords and shields that are quite elaborate and shiny. King Llane Wrynn especially takes the cake, with his shining silver and gold armor decorated with lions.
- Among the standard troops, the armor worn by the knights and the royal guard is more decorated than the armor worn by the footmen, making them stand out.
- Cool Sword: Stormwind has no shortage of amazing weapons and even the standard-issue swords used by the footmen are pretty impressive. The knights and the royal guard prefer to use a longsword decorated with a silver lion.
◊ - Humans Are Average: Humans are far from being as physically strong as the orcs, but they compensate with agility, tactics and magic support. They are also eventually equipped with dwarven guns.
- Medieval European Fantasy: Human warriors wearing armors, mages with elemental powers, castles, dwarves... you name it. The Alliance (the kingdom of Stormwind in particular) pretty much embodies this setting, even without much Fantasy Gun Control.
- Our Dwarves Are All the Same: As far as the movie has shown, the dwarves of Ironforge are long-bearded, stout and industrious. They provide guns to the human armies of Stormwind and formally join the Alliance at the end of the film.
- Redshirt Army: Human footmen are very much this, but not for lack of trying. After a long era of peace and pitted against unknown, battle-hardened foes, they just don't have the experience or intel to be much more than armored punching bags. Remarkably they still manage to accomplish most of their goals through a combination of magical support, dwarven guns and sheer determination.
Lothar
Anduin Lothar
"I've spent more time protecting my king, than my own son. Does that make me loyal, or a fool?"
Played by: Travis Fimmel
Dubbed by: Alexis Victor (European French)
Lothar is the Commander of Stormwind's army and the focus character for the human side. He is a long time friend of both King Llane and the Guardian Medivh, and his sister Taria is the king's wife. A bit of a distant father to his son Callan, who is a soldier like him.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: Courtesy of the Age Lift.
- Age Lift: Justified. Anduin Lothar is normally depicted as a grandpa, but here he is played by 37-year-old Travis Fimmel. This is because the First War (the time of the film) takes place earlier in the story, before he becomes the badass players know.
- Arch-Enemy: He and Blackhand single out each other as their prime nemesis early on.
- Badass Normal: He's more than capable of fighting the orcs man-to-man, killing them with ease despite their superior strength. Best exemplified at the end of the movie, where he single-handedly kills a fel-powered Blackhand in a Mak'gora.
- Chekhov's Gun: Quite literally and used early in the movie. His first scene is in Ironforge, where he's testing guns with King Magni Bronzebeard. Not much later in his first encounter with the orcs, he desperately uses one of the pistols to fend off Blackhand, saving his life.
- Similarly, his advice to his son, to rely on dexterity and speed against the Mighty Glacier orcs, came in handy for himself at the climax.
- Cool Sword: Lothar uses several different swords throughout the movie, but the one most identified with him is a sword featuring a dragon-themed hilt.◊
- Deadpan Snarker: He is prone to snarky comments, especially at Khadgar's expense.
- Determinator: After Callan gets trapped in the wrong side of Medivh's wall with the orcs, he keeps trying to cross it.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Garona finds him lying on a bar with an empty mug in his hand after Blackhand kills his son Callan.
- Due to the Dead: Goes out of his way to save Llane's corpse, so that it won't be defiled by the orcs.
- Fire-Forged Friends: He initially doesn't get along with Khadgar, but the events of the film cause them to become friends.
- Forced to Watch: Separated by the lightning Medivh calls down, he is forced to watch as Blackhand kills his son while staring at him the entire time.
- Four-Star Badass: Lothar is the Commander of Stormwind's military and their greatest warrior. At the end of the movie, he is also made the Supreme Commander of the newly formed Alliance.
- Giving Them the Strip: After Lothar climbs onto and attacks the clay golem, it attempts to crush him against a wall. Lothar's boots have sunken deep into the clay by this point, requiring him to unfasten them before he jumps off. After that, he remains barefoot up through his fight with Blackhand.
- Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: Unlike King Llane, Lothar does not wear a helmet into battle together with his armor.
- Heroic BSoD: Breaks down emotionally after Callan is killed, causing him to lash out against Medivh and being sent to the cells to calm down.
- Interspecies Romance: The sexual tension between him and Garona is thick, and they eventually fall in love. Unfortunately that is all ruined after Lothar finds Garona's dagger in Llane's neck.
- Knight in Shining Armor: Lothar is a heroic champion and knight of Stormwind.
- Outliving One's Offspring: His son is killed by Blackhand in the mountain pass.
- Rank Scales with Asskicking: Lothar is the leading commander of Stormwind's armies and the best warrior among them.
- Related in the Adaptation: Lothar has no family relations with the royal family in the game lore, while here his sister Taria is the queen, making him uncle to the future king Varian. This is also significant in that it makes Varian a member of the ancient Arathi bloodline through his mother which in the lore Lothar is the last of.
- Weak, but Skilled: Is the first to work out that shields, armor and brute strength are fairly useless against orcs, and than the best way to beat them is to use speed and technique instead.
- Worthy Opponent: To Blackhand, and eventually the entire orcish Horde. Blackhand states early on that there is no challenge in humanity, which might be why he takes such an interest in Lothar after Lothar cripples him in battle. At the end Blackhand convinces the other orcs to let him fight Lothar one on one in ritual combat rather than kill him outright. After Lothar wins and kills Blackhand, the other orcs are united in respect for his prowess, allowing him his mount and the body of his king.
Llane
King Llane Wrynn
"If we do not unite, our world will perish!"
Played by: Dominic Cooper
The King of Stormwind, an old friend of both Lothar and Medivh, and married to Lothar's sister Taria.
- Animal Motifs: The lion is the symbol of Stormwind and his sword, shield and armor are decked out with several lion symbols.
- Badass Normal: Like Lothar, he's able to fight the orcs one-on-one with no problem.
- Better to Die than Be Killed: With the way out blocked and Blackhand coming to kill him, Llane chooses to have Garona kill him, making it so that the Horde will accept her back instead of killing her.
- Bling of War: Llane has the single most blinged out suit of armor◊ in the entire movie.
- Cool Crown: His crown is a silver and gold circlet with a sapphire encrusted in front.
- Cool Helmet: Wears an open-faced helmet in the shape of a lion's head.
- Cool Sword: Llane's sword◊ has an elaborate design, featuring a gold lion with wings on the hilt, and golden lines and writings on the blade. The sword could be obtained as a transmogrification object by Alliance playersnote in World of Warcraft by logging in between May 25th and August 1st 2016.
- Due to the Dead: The orcs toss around his corpse and play with it until Lothar manages to save it. He's then given a proper funeral in front of the Cathedral in Stormwind.
- Face-Design Shield: Has a large golden shield featuring a lion's head, with the top of the shield decorated with wings. Sadly the shield is not used much in the movie, but it does appear on his funeral pyre. Like Llane's sword, the shield can also be obtained as a transmogrification object in World of Warcraft by Alliance players if they log in between May 25th and August 1st 2016.
- The Good King: Llane is a beloved and honorable king, whose first priority is the safety of his people.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Not only do he and his soldiers sacrifice their lives to save as many of their people from captivity as they can, he personally offers his life to Garona so that the Horde won't kill her.
- Honor Before Reason: His decision to keep most of Stormwind's armies in defensive positions to protect the people while only bringing the small number that can be spared to attack the Dark Portal despite the huge stakes involved.
- Locked Out of the Loop: He never learns the truth of Medivh's actions before he dies. Everything he says and does during the final battle paints the picture that he simply thought things had gone horribly wrong and that Medivh had succumbed to his poor health while keeping the portal open for them.
- The Men First: Granted, he didn't know his own escape was soon to be cut off, but it likely wouldn't have affected his decision to let the civilians through the portal first.
- Rank Scales with Asskicking: Llane is both the king and a great warrior.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: He actively leads his men into battle himself.
- Thanatos Gambit: A more benign version of the trope. By allowing Garona to kill him, he not only saved her life, but placed her, a Orc with a more friendly view of mankind, in a position of power in the Orc society.
- You Shall Not Pass!: He and his soldiers hold the line at the portal to allow as many of their people as possible to escape. Ultimately, they hold out for long enough for the portal to shut down.
Taria
Lady Taria Wrynn
Played by: Ruth Negga
The Queen of Stormwind, married to King Llane, and mother of Varian. She is also Lothar's sister.
- Brother–Sister Team: With Lothar they're two of Llane's chief advisors, she on political side, him on military one. After Llane's death, they effectively become a non-romantic ruling couple.
- Canon Foreigner: In a way. Llane's wife / Varian's mother has never been mentioned or named in the franchise prior to this movie. Later became a still unseen Canon Immigrant via supplementary materials, but her relation to Lothar did not make the transition.
- Cool Aunt: To Callan, as she helps him with his military career and appears to care for him more than Anduin doesnote .
- The High Queen: Beautiful, regal, good, kind.
- Named by the Adaptation: Llane's wife / Varian's mother had no name in the lore prior to the film.
- Nice Girl: Brings Garona warm drink and cots to her cell because she fears the half-orc will be cold, and offers to remove Garona's slave collar the moment she notices it. The cloak Garona wears later looks like taken out of Taria's wardrobe, so it's likely the queen gave her her clothes to wear, too.
- Number Two: Shown as being Llane's foremost advisor.
- Related in the Adaptation: While she barely existed in the game, here she's also Lothar's sister, a member of the Arathi bloodline which is passed on to her son whilst in the Lore Lothar was the last of his line.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: She brings food and coats to Garona's cell, and participates actively in politics.
- Rousing Speech: Gives one at the end of the movie.
- Silk Hiding Steel: She's The High Queen, but has a lot of iron will to her.
Varian
Prince Varian Wrynn
Played by: Dylan Schombing
Son of Llane and Taria, Varian is the young prince and heir to Stormwind.
- The Cameo: Appears only in two short scenes, and gets maybe two words of dialogue.
- Fantastic Racism: Like in the games, Varian develops a passionate hatred towards all orcs after the death of his father in the novelization of the movie and wishes to grow up like Lothar and fight them all. Luckily, Khadgar is there to remind him that there are geninuely good orcs like Durotan amongst the Horde.
- Related in the Adaptation: There is no mention of Varian being related to Lothar in the game lore, but here his mother is Lothar's sister, making Lothar his uncle.
- Young Future Famous People: Going by the lore, he will become the king of Stormwind and a great hero of the Alliance, and name his own son after Lothar.
Medivh
Medivh the Guardian
Played by: Ben Foster
The Guardian of Tirisfal and long-time friend of both Lothar and King Llane.
- Animal Motifs: Ravens. There is one on the head of Atiesh (his Magic Staff), there are feathers on his mantle's shoulders and he can turn into a raven.
- Animorphism: He can turn into a raven.
- The Archmage: As the Guardian of Tirisfal, he's the most premier wizard in the franchise.
- Body Horror: His face starts mutating and growing spikes, until he is eventually transformed into a full demon.
- Demonic Possession: He is possessed by a powerful demon who aided Gul'dan in constructing the Dark Portal.
- Dying as Yourself: Medivh dies free of the demon's influence and uses the last of his magic to reconfigure the Dark Portal to go to Stormwind instead, giving the humans an escape from the battle at the portal.
- Evil Is Not a Toy: According to the novel, Medivh believes it is his duty as Guardian to master all forms of magic, including the fel. The fel ends up overwhelming and corrupting him instead, allowing a demonic entity to take over and use the Guardian to bring the orcs to the world of Azeroth.
- Glowing Eyes: His eyes glow blue as he casts powerful magic. And they start to glow green as the demonic fel takes over.
- Heroic RRoD: Medivh is a very powerful wizard, but using his magic drains him physically and he has to rejuvenate himself at the pond of mana in Karazhan.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: The golem he makes and sends after Khadgar and Lothar is ultimately dropped on him, crushing him under it.
- "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Lothar desperately tries to appeal to his old friend and it seems to work at one point, as the glow fades, only for the demon possessing him to take full control.
- In the Hood: Mostly seen wearing a hood over his head.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: He heavily hints to Garona that he visited Draenor and fell in love with her mother, an orc.
- In the novelization, he has a bit of dialogue with Moroes where he explicitly calls Garona his daughter.This is in contrast to game's canon, where not only was Garona's mother a draenei, Medivh and Garona were lovers.
Everybody prefer to forget that last one, though.
- In the novelization, he has a bit of dialogue with Moroes where he explicitly calls Garona his daughter.This is in contrast to game's canon, where not only was Garona's mother a draenei, Medivh and Garona were lovers.
- Life Drain: The first thing he does as the demon possessing him takes over is draining the life of his loyal steward Moroes.
- Mage Tower: Lives in the huge magical tower of Karazhan.
- Magic Staff: Wields his iconic raven-headed staff Atiesh.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Laments in horror over the fact that he unwillingly betrayed his people and brought the orcs to Azeroth.
- Mythology Gag: His demonic form is very similar to the demon that possessed him in the original games: the Avatar of Sargeras. Whether Sargeras actually exists and is in control of Medivh in the film universe is debatable.
- Person of Mass Destruction: Not only does he instantly destroy all the fel-infused orcs in the forest, he later unleashes the full power of the Guardian with an absolutely enormous storm of lightning upon on the orc ambushers in the valley.
- Power Echoes: His voice starts echoing as the demon possessing him takes over.
- Related in the Adaptation: In the game lore Medivh and Garona were not related to each other, but lovers. Here they are instead father and daughter.
- Shapeshifter: Retains his iconic ability to turn into a raven.
- Shock and Awe: Unleashes an enormous storm of magical lightning on the orcs ambushing the meeting between Durotan and Llane. Unfortunately this leaves Lothar's son Callan trapped on the other side of the lightning, to be killed by Blackhand.
- Single Tear: Sheds a single tear as he dies in remorse for unwittingly bringing the orcs to Azeroth.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: Questions Garona in her cell about who brought the orcs to Azeroth, then disappears the next moment as Taria enters the cells.
- Teleportation/Mass Teleportation: One of his powers and a staple of any Kirin Tor mage's range of powers. He can teleport other people with him.
Khadgar
Khadgar
Played by: Ben Schnetzer
The young Guardian Initiate, Khadgar was under training to become the next Guardian until he left the Kirin Tor.
- Badass Bookworm: Constantly studying magical lore and Lothar even outright calls him a bookworm. However, once he uses his magic he's a powerful force to be reckoned with.
- Barrier Warrior: Makes magical barriers to keep people from getting harmed.
- Butt-Monkey: Poor Khadgar is treated with absolutely no respect at the beginning of the movie, getting tossed around by Lothar and blasted against a bookcase by Medivh. The orcs also steal his horse in his first encounter with them.
- Constantly Curious: Khadgar has a knack for being where he's not supposed to, be it inspecting life-drained soldiers in Stormwind's barracks or snooping around Medivh's library.
- Defector from Decadence: Alodi suggests the growing decadence of Kirin Tor was part of the reason he ran away. He never elaborates, though.
- Expy: Of Samwell Tarly from Game of Thrones. Both are Badass Bookworms in awe when walking in a library, both belong to a renowned order (the Night's Watch and the Kirin Tor), both are family rejects, they are seemingly destined to achieve the highest status in their field (Maester for Sam Tarly and Guardian for Khadgar) and they they sometimes think breaking rules is necessary. They're both shy and dorky, their awkwardness is source of comic relief, and they share similar facial features (a small moustache most notably).
- Fire-Forged Friends: He and Lothar initially don't get along, but the events of the film cause them to become friends.
- Forced Transformation: Turns an unfortunate cellguard into a sheep to spring Lothar from the cell. For sixty seconds exactly.
- Glowing Eyes: Like Medivh, his eyes glow blue as he casts powerful magic.
- Heroic Willpower: Manages to resist fel's corruption by sheer willpower.
- Parental Abandonment: His parents gave him to the Kirin Tor when he was 6, since it was seen as a great honor to give a child to be trained in magic.
- Person of Mass Destruction: When fighting the Fel to purify Medivh, he ends up leveling the whole surrounding area, leaving it barren. Luckily, he took care of casting a shield around Lothar so he wouldn't be hurt.
- Playing with Fire: Uses fireballs as part of his arsenal.
- Power Tattoo: Has the mark of the Kirin Tor on his left arm, which begins to glow as he snoops around Medivh's library, leading him to a book containing clues to the mystery of where the orcs came from and who brought them there.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Khadgar has been a mage-in-training since he was 6 years old, but left the Kirin Tor behind as a young adult due to disagreements in how to best see and protect Azeroth
- Shrinking Violet: Young awkward Khadgar has a hard time fitting in with the hardened soldiers of Stormwind. Garona also teases him by insinuating he wants to sleep with her, getting him flustered.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Not spared from death (as he is still alive in the current time in the game's universe), but spared from the life draining spell Medivh cast on him in the game's universe, which aged him to the appearance of an old man at age 17.
- Teleportation/Mass Teleportation: He masters this technique over the course of the film, with a bit of help from Medivh at some point.
- Took a Level in Badass: He grows progressively more self-confident over the course of the film
- Trespassing Hero: He first appears in the story when he's arrested for trying to break into Lothar's garrison to examine them for fel corruption.
- Unskilled, but Strong: Underplayed. While he's a powerful mage, he has to aid himself with chalk drawings when it comes to more complex spells, like teleportation, while Medivh does it with little effort.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: Lothar considers him one when Khadgar refuses to believe Garona killed Llane in cold blood. He's actually right, though.
Callan
Callan Lothar
Played by: Burkely Duffield
Anduin Lothar's son and a sergeant in the Stormwind military.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: Briefly, but in the canyon battle, he manages to figure out and create a tortoise formation on the fly to kill orcs with it.
- Badass Normal: After his first close encounter with the orcs, he learns how to properly fight them and holds his own against them despite their superior strength.
- Canon Foreigner: There is no mention of Lothar having any family in the games and novels.
- Cool Sword: Wields a knight's longsword with a large silver lion on the guard.
- Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: Like his father, Callan wears full plate armor without a helmet.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Blackhand impales him with his new claw-hand as revenge for the hand Lothar took from him.
- Last Stand: With his escape blocked by Medivh's lightning, he makes a final stand against the orcs until Grom Hellscream disarms him and Blackhand kills him.
- Knightly Sword and Shield: Armored and sword-bearing like a knight, and has a shield, which he makes very good use of his shield together with his soldiers, forming a shieldwall to stop Blackhand's wolf dead in its tracks and stab it to death.
- Maternal Death? Blame the Child!: While grieving him Lothar confesses that he blamed his son for his mother's Death by Childbirth and that he now regrets it.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: He is desperate for his father's attention and love, and goes to great risk to earn it.
Moroes
Moroes
Played by: Callum Keith Rennie
The steward of Karazhan and Medivh's personal servant.
- Life Drain: Moroes is Medivh's first victim as the demon within him takes over, draining him of life.
- Oh, Crap!: Starts panicking when the demon possessing Medivh takes control and the pond of mana in Karazhan turns green with fel corruption.
- Old Retainer: An old man who has served Medivh for a long time.
Magni
King Magni Bronzebeard
Played by: Michael Adamthwaite
The dwarven king of Ironforge.
- BFG: He presents a new dwarven gun to Lothar as he's visiting him in Ironforge. The arrival of a messenger prevents the demonstration.
- Bit Character: Appears only in a few short scenes, and only has lines in two of them.
- Braids of Barbarism: He's braided his beard and decorated it with golden rings.
- Cool Crown: Seen wearing a golden crown with a ruby encrusted in the middle.
- Meaningful Name: Like his family name suggests, yes, his beard is indeed of bronze colour.
Antonidas
Archmage Antonidas
Played by: Toby Kebbell
The Grand Magus of the Kirin Tor and ruler of Dalaran.
- The Archmage: He is the leading archmage of a magocratic city state.
- Bald Mystic: Antonidas has a bald head, and is both a powerful mage and a respected leader.
- Glowing Eyes: As a testament to his power and authority, his eyes are constantly glowing.
- The Magocracy: Dalaran is a city of mages, built by mages to train mages, and ruled by mages.
- Mystical High Collar: The mantle of his robe is set up in a high collar, which fits his station as an archmage.
- Power Echoes: Speaks with an echoing voice as Khadgar appears before the council.
- Purple Is Powerful: His eyes glow purple, and one assumes he got that title for a reason.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He is initially hostile to Khadgar's return to Dalaran because he left, but listens to him when he mentions Alodi together with the Dark Portal that the orcs are building, then shows him to it.
Karos
Karos
Played by: Ryan Robbins
A high-ranking officer of the Stormwind military.
- Big "NO!": Is witness to Garona stabbing Llane in the neck, and shouts "no" twice as he is being dragged away by the orcs.
- Canon Foreigner: Karos is an original character to the movie.
- Cool Sword: Wields a knight's longsword, decorated with a large silver lion on either side of the guard.
- Fantastic Racism: The trailers have him expressing that the orcs are beasts that should all be destroyed, but the line is not in the final film. Instead he remarks that Garona looks more like a human than an orc.
- Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: Does not wear a helmet throughout the entire movie.
- Mauve Shirt: Appears in several scenes throughout the film as one of the leading officers, but is mostly seen ordering soldiers and being ordered around. He also fights at the Dark Portal and is not seen killed.
- The Musketeer: Switches between using a dwarven pistol and his sword at the Dark Portal, but doesn't use them together.
- Tap on the Head: Durotan knocks him out off-screen while sneaking up on Garona and Khadgar to arrange a meeting with the humans. He wakes up groaning shortly after.
Varis
Varis
Played by: Dean Redman
High-ranking officer of the Stormwind military.
- Canon Foreigner: Varis is an original character to the movie.
- Cool Sword: Wields the same kind of sword as Karos above, featuring a large silver lion on either side of the guard.
- Gun And Sword: Wields a dwarven-made pistol together with his sword at the Dark Portal.
- Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: Does not wear a helmet throughout the entire movie.
- Mauve Shirt: Appears in several scenes throughout the film as one of the leading officers, but mostly gives reports and is ordered around. He also fights at the Dark Portal, but unlike Karos is seen being killed by Kilrogg Deadeye.
- Neck Snap: Poor Varis gets his neck completely crushed by Kilrogg Deadeye at the final battle.
Alodi
Alodi
Played by: Glenn Close
An ancient being that served as a protector of Azeroth before the formal position of Guardian was established among human mages, she becomes active again when the Horde appears.
- Adaptational Badass: Alodi in the source material was the first Guardian of Tirisfal. While powerful,he was stated as not as powerful as Aegwynn (who was hailed as the strongest Guardian ever) or Medivh (Aegwynn's Designer Baby Tyke Bomb who was even more powerful than her). Here, she's an ancient being that served as a protector of Azeroth before the formal position of Guardian was established, thus putting her on par with the Dragonflights and other demigod protector of Azeroth.
- Bigger on the Inside: From the outside, Alodi's form looks like a cube four metres tall, wide and high. It's much bigger, possibly endlessly so, on the inside.
- Chekhov's Gunman: She first appears as a mysterious shadow in Medivh's library which leads Khadgar to a book on the Portal, and later Khadgar reads her name in margin notes in the same book. She makes her actual appearance at the beginning of the third act.
- Dark Is Not Evil: She first appears as a black and threatening shadow figure, but later it becomes apparent that she's on the heroes' side.
- Dark Secret: Kirin Tor seems to consider her this, as Antonidas flips out when Khadgar mentions the name, and later warns him to never talk of Alodi to anyone.
- A Form You Are Comfortable With: She can take a shape of humanoid figure in black cloak, as well as that of an aging woman, but her "true form" is a hovering cube that's bigger on the inside.
- Gender Flip: Alodi's male in original game, but female (or at least female-appearing) in the film.
- Guardian Entity: For all of Azeroth, guarding it against the fel.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When the cube opens to admit Khadgar in, Antonidas notices in alarm that it's never done that before. The matter does, indeed, prove serious.
- Purple Is Powerful: Her cube is surrounded by torrents of purple magic, and she's one of more powerful magic beings in the film.
- Race Lift: In the original canon, Alodi was a male half-elf. Here, she seems to take on the appearance of an elderly human. This may be a case of the A Form You Are Comfortable With mentioned above, though.
- Secretly Dying: Implied; when Khadgar sees her inside her cube, she looks injured or ill, and she notes that she's spent the rest of her strength trying to bring him to her. On the outside, she looks the same way she always did.
- Time Abyss: It's uncertain how old she is, but she's been Azeroth's protector since times immemorial.
The Horde
In General
The Orcish clans that have been united by Gul'dan the warlock. They seek to invade Azeroth for their own survival since their homeworld (Draenor) is dying, but Gul'dan has other motivations.
- Alien Blood: Apparently, the Fel magic has caused not only the orcs' skin to turn green, but their blood as well, best seen when Draka tears out another orc's throat with her teeth.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: The natural color of the orcs' skin is brown. Gul'dan's fel turns it green.
- Body Horror: Downplayed, but the green color of orcish skin and blood, and the exaggerated maws of jagged, elongated tusks, are a result of Fel corruption.
- The Clan: The Orcish Horde is an alliance of clans. The ones prominently featured in the film are the Frostwolf clan (Durotan's) and the Blackrock clan (Blackhand's).
- Code of Honour: Orcs have strong respect for Worthy Opponents and winners of the mak'gora (if the combat has been won fairly).
- The Horde: Very close to a straight example of its namesake when it follows Evil Sorcerer Gul'dan to brutally conquer Azeroth, but Durotan sows seeds of change, first by not joining in the pillages then by questionning and eventually openly defying Gul'dan's rule. See Our Orcs Are Different and White-and-Grey Morality below.
- Humanoid Aliens: They come from another world than Azeroth, so technically they are aliens to Azerothians.
- Invading Refugees: Their homeworld is dying, and they invade Azeroth to seek a new place to develop. Though it's later revealed it's because of the Fel, and Gul'dan has other motivations.
- No Name Given: Their dying homeworld is never named, but going by WarCraft lore, it's Draenor.
- Our Orcs Are Different: There's a reason the second kind of orcs in this trope is nicknamed "Blizzard-style". Orcs are shown having human-like qualities (like being Good Parents) and a strong sense of honor. Some of them also prefer listening to reason than obeying the Obviously Evil leader.
- Proud Warrior Race: Orgrim sums it up quite well: "For orcs, there is no other life than war".
- Rape, Pillage, and Burn: What Gul'dan directs them to do upon reaching Azeroth, under the justification that, since they are strong and their world is dying, they "deserve" to take this lush new world from its "weakling" defenders.
- Red Baron: Many orcs have rather imposing titles, like Doomhammer, Blackhand or Hellscream.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: While there are many who joined the Horde for the thrill of conquest and battle, most of the Orcs only joined because their world is dying and Azeroth is the only other place where their people could survive. And they tend to solve disputes over land and resources through war, which makes peace with the humans a laughable concept.
- White-and-Grey Morality: With the obvious exception of Gul'dan, all major orc characters (including Blackhand) are shown to have at least some redeemable qualities, and it's made rather clear they are invading Azeroth because their own world is dying, making their motivations sympathetic. Meanwhile, humans are overall portrayed as unambiguously good and just defending themselves against the Horde's invasion.
Durotan
Durotan
"Our world is destroyed, there is nothing to go back to. Is war the only answer?"
Played by: Toby Kebbell
The Chieftain of the Frostwolf clan and the focus character for the orc side. Son of Garad and Durkosh.
- Braids of Barbarism: Wears his hair in elaborate braids.
- Canine Companion: Aided by his very large frostwolf companion, whose back is almost the same height as his head.
- Curbstomp Battle: Durotan gives one to an orc named Dark Scar in a deleted scene to earn his clan's acceptance into the Horde. Durotan punches Dark Scar in the throat, then picks him up and drops him onto a set of spikes in their arena.
- Decoy Protagonist: Despite sharing half of the movie poster, Durotan shares only one scene with his human counterpart Lothar (and even then, they only talk through Garona's translations), and the two of them never work together, despite what the trailers implied. Eventually, he becomes a sacrificial lion, dying in the beginning of the last act of the movie. The focus of the movie then shifts almost entirely to Lothar, Khadgar and Garona.
- Defiant to the End: Continues to defy Gul'dan as he drains the life out of him.
- Doomed Moral Victor: Durotan ultimately has no chance against Gul'dan's magic and is drained to a lifeless husk by the end of their duel, but his determination against the odds and the fact that Gul'dan had to resort to cheating by using magic starts turning the Horde against him, sowing the seeds of doubt in his leadership.
- Family-Unfriendly Death: Life-drained by Gul'dan during their duel. His well-built, massive body is reduced to a skinny and pale husk with the blood vessels plainly visibly under the skin.
- Good Is Not Soft: Don't let the fact that he's one of the most level-headed and reasonable orcs fool you. Durotan is a clan chieftain of a race where Asskicking Leads to Leadership. In a deleted scene Blackhand is unimpressed with Durotan, up until the latter dispatches of the big, intimidating Dark Scar in about ten seconds without breaking a sweat.
- Heroic Sacrifice: His death triggers the very first breeze of rebellion against Gul'dan's rule among the orcs.
- In-Series Nickname: He's often referred to as "Young chieftain", most often by Blackhand.
- My Name Is Inigo Montoya: To challenge Gul'dan to Mak'gora, Durotan stands beside his clan's banner to call him out.Durotan: I am Durotan, son of Garad. Chieftain of the Frostwolf clan. And I am here to kill Gul'dan.
- Nemean Skinning: Wears a wolf's pelt and head as he goes to confront Gul'dan, then drops it.
- Only Sane Man: He is the only orc leader to realize something is fishy with Gul'dan from the start (and to point out their world started to die out right when Gul'dan began to abuse his Fel Magic) and decides to actually do something about it. In a bit of Lampshade Hanging, Gul'dan himself acknowledges that Frostwolves are renowned for having the most common sense and practicality among orc clans.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Aside from seeing through Gul'dan, he was willing to give peace with the humans a chance when he tried to secure an alliance with Stormwind.
- Sacrificial Lion: He's one of the main characters of the movie and has a prominent plotline, but is killed early in the climax, setting the stage for the deaths to come.
- Thanatos Gambit: Challenges Gul'dan in a mak'gora and ultimately forces him to use his fel magic to win the fight, even standing back up to prove his point. If he had won, he would have become a leader of the Horde and been able to broker peace between Orcs and Humans; when he died, he assured Gul'dan's leadership of the Horde is severely weakened by forcing him to cheat.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: He sees the conflict between Orcs and Humans to be an inevitable conflict because they can't simply go back to their dying world as much as they want to. But he is willing to risk treason with the Horde by conspiring with the humans to overthrow Gul'dan's rule if it means stopping the Fel magic from destroying Azeroth as well.
Draka
Draka
Played by: Anna Galvin
Draka, daughter of Kelkar, son of Rhakish. Durotan's wife and Go'el's mother.
- Action Girl: She's a warrior just like her husband.
- Braids of Barbarism: Wears her hair in braids.
- Death by Irony: She's fatally impaled on her own dagger whilst protecting her son, Go'el.
- The Exile: in the prequel Durotan, Draka was exiled from the Frostwolf Clan for being very weak physically. Two years later, she was able to return to the clan after building her strength up.
- Mama Bear: Savagely attacks one of her pursuers to save her baby. Unfortunately, while she tears out her pursuer's throat, she dies in the process, being stabbed by her own dagger.
- Man Bites Man: Savagely tears out her pursuer's throat with her teeth to protect her son.
- Mutual Kill: While she kills her pursuer with her teeth, she's stabbed with her own dagger during the fight and dies immediately after.
Go'el
Go'el
"You are the son of Durotan and Draka, an unbroken line of chieftains."
The baby son of Durotan and Draka. Better known as "Thrall" as an adult.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: His skin turns green when he is revived by Gul'dan with fel magic (his parents' natural skin color is brown).
- Back from the Dead: Stillborn because of Draka going through the portal to Azeroth. Gul'dan takes his lifeless corpse out of Draka's womb, sucks the life out of a nearby deer and revives him with his fel powers.
- Last-Minute Baby Naming: Durotan names him "Go'el" before Blackhand takes him away to lock him in a cage for treason. He will never see his son again.
- Moses in the Bulrushes: Draka sends him off on a river in a basket to save him from their pursuers and he is found by humans.
- Shout-Out: It might be unintentional but the "el" in his name reminds of someone else, who was also born when his parents' home world was dying and was left to drift as a baby to ensure his survival.
- Young Future Famous People: Going by the lore, he will become Thrall, a great Warchief and hero who will free the Orcs who remained on Azeroth from both the fel's corruption and captivity in human camps, then create and lead a new and much more honorable Horde in Kalimdor.
Orgrim
Orgrim Doomhammer
"For orcs, there is no other life than war."
Played by: Robert Kazinsky
Orgrim Doomhammer, son of Telkar, son of Ruvash. Durotan's best friend and second-in-command.
- Armour-Piercing Question: Asks one of the assembled Horde after they have all seen Gul'dan use his magic to cheat in the Mak'gora and murder Durotan.Orgrim: You follow this...thing?! Will you? You will follow this demon?! I will not!
- Childhood Friend: With Durotan. The two grew up together in Frostwolf Ridge according to the prequel book Durotan.
- Conflicting Loyalties: He is Durotan's closest friend, but is somewhat reluctant to betray Gul'dan as he suggests, feeling uncomfortable at the idea of siding with humans to fight his own brothers.
- Heel–Face Revolving Door: He is Durotan's best friend but betrays him to Blackhand and Gul'dan, believing that siding with their own kind instead of the humans is better, since they're orcs. However he quickly realizes how much he just screwed up and lets Draka escape with her baby, killing some of their pursuers in process. He also frees Durotan and allows him to challenge Gul'dan, and when Durotan is killed by Gul'dan's magic, he sows the seeds of doubt in his leadership.
- Humongous-Headed Hammer: True to the original videogame, Orgrim Doomhammer wields a huge warhammer that he can effortlessly use to kill other orcs in a single blow.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Realises just what it costs him to betray his chieftain as the other orcs run rampant through the Frostwolf camp.
- Number Two: Orgrim is Durotan's second-in-command of the Frostwolves.
- Related in the Adaptation: In the games he was part of the Blackrock clan, but had a close friendship with Durotan across the clans that was considered unusual. In this version, their friendship is made less complicated by Orgrim being part of the Frostwolf clan instead.
- You Shall Not Pass!: Stands in the way of Draka's pursuers, allowing her to escape with her baby.
Garona
Garona Halforcen
Played by: Paula Patton
Dubbed by: Nathalie Homs (European French), Maryana Spivak (Russian)
A half-orc servant in service to Gul'dan. Her mother was burned alive for the child she gave birth to, but Gul'dan kept her alive. She is eventually captured and forced to work with the humans of Stormwind.
- Action Girl: Garona can more than handle her own in combat.
- All Amazons Want Hercules: One of the reasons Garona is attracted to Lothar is his prowess in battle and his dedication to defend his people.
- Fake Defector: Deconstructed. She reluctantly becomes one on Llane request by killing him in front of the Horde, rejoining the Horde as a heroine so she can help arrange peace later on. Unfortunately, they have no way to tell anyone on the human side about this plan, meaning she is now seen as a real traitor by them, including her lover Lothar.
- Fang Thpeak: Given that Garona is the only orc whose teeth aren't digital, the expected speech impediment of two prostethic fangs in her lower jaw is very present.
- Fish out of Water: She is a half-orc who was raised for most of her life in orcish culture. As a result, she finds humans and most things about their sense of morality confusing.
- Green-Skinned Space Babe: She's an attractive green-skinned humanoid who comes from another world (the orcs' dying world is not mentioned as "Draenor" yet).
- Half-Breed Discrimination: She is treated with disdain and as a slave by the other orcs because of her half-breed status, to the point her mother was burnt alive for giving birth to her, and she was only spared herself because Gul'dan ordered so.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Half-orc, half... something. Medivh heavily hints that he is her father, implying that he went to Draenor and fell in love with her mother, making her half-human.
- This is actually spelled out in the novelization, where Medivh explicitly calls Garona his daughter while talking to Moroes.
- In the games she was initially half-orc and half-human, via the convoluted explanation of using magic to drastically accelerate her physical development after conception, but this was later changed to her being half-draenei when the draenei race was introduced in the lore.
- Hypercompetent Sidekick: At the beginning of the movie, she is essentially kept by orcs as little more than a slave, and treated as such; however, she is shown to be rather intelligent, educated enough that she can understand Draenei language, and manages to learn human language pretty fast once on Azeroth just by listening to captives and speaking to them. She also is a rather skilled fighter, as seen in battle over the course of the movie. For someone who was raised as a slave, that is quite impressive.
- Interspecies Romance: The sexual tension between her and Lothar is thick, and they eventually fall in love. In a deleted version of the scene where she comforts him after Callan's death, it's quite explicit that they had sex. Unfortunately that is all ruined after Garona stabs Llane in the neck at his own insistence, and Lothar finds the dagger in Llane's neck.
- Meaningful Name: "Garona" means "Cursed" in Orcish. The orcs see Garona's half-breed status as a curse of weakness.
- Related in the Adaptation: In the game lore Garona and Medivh were not related to each other, but lovers. Here they are instead father and daughter.
- Slave Collar: Garona wears a metal collar with a chain as a slave, which Gul'dan leads her around with. It is later removed by Queen Taria.
- Sex Slave: Implied during her conversation with Lothar and Khadgar about the dangers of mating with orcs, and how frail human bodies would suffer injury. Lothar comments that she seems very much human physically.Garona: Broken bones heal stronger... Mine are very strong.
- Token Heroic Orc: Well, only half-orc, and Orcs technically aren't Always Chaotic Evil in this universe, but she is on the human side for most of the movie. This is exploited by Llane at the end of the movie, where he orders her to kill him whiling making it look like she betrayed him, allowing her to rejoin the Horde as a heroine in the hope she can help establish peace between their people later.
- Tragic Keepsake: She bears one of her mother's tusks as a necklace, a gift from Gul'dan. She later gives it to Lothar, before going to the battle at the Dark Portal.
Gul'dan
Gul'dan
"Now claim my new world!"
Played by: Daniel Wu
Gul'dan, son of No Orc and of No Clan. An ambitious warlock that controls the Horde and channels a dark kind of magic called "Fel". He is the one responsible for opening the Portal and bringing the Horde to Azeroth, promising them a new land here.
- Adaptational Badass: While Gul'dan's magic is as threatening as it's always been, he was never a physical fighter in the games, always being portrayed as rather frail. This version of Gul'dan however is fully capable of slugging it out in a drawn-out fist-fight with Durotan.
- Bad Boss: Gul'dan treats all the orcs as tools for his agenda and has no tolerance to any sign of weakness within the Horde. When Blackhand is forced to make a retreat after encountering genuinely tough human forces, Gul'dan tries to have the Warchief executed in front of the clans. When Durotan is caught conspiring with the humans and he offers himself for punishment in order to spare the Frostwolf clan, Gul'dan orders the clan to be razed and massacred anyways despite knowing and talking to Frostwolf loyalists like Orgrim. And when a few orcs decide to leave Gul'dan for cheating in a mak'gora duel against Durotan, Gul'dan saps their life force and forcibly integrates them into Blackhand, turning him into a fel-hulking monster.
- Beard of Evil: His long wizard-like beard only serves to make him look more villainous.
- Berserk Button: When Durotan says Blackhand's orcs died because "a human warlock" used the Fel against them, Gul'dan loudly declares that only he can control the Fel, with a nearby felfire raging in response to his anger.
- Big Bad: He's the main villain of the movie.
- Clark Kent Outfit: At first glance, Gul'dan is a hunched, hobbling, decrepit old warlock. Beneath that mantle, however, he's ripped.
- Damn You, Muscle Memory!: A variation, but one that proves to be his undoing; during his honor duel with Durotan — which is meant to be a purely physical competition, no magic allowed — he reverts to using his Life Drain ability on Durotan; if you watch his face closely, it seems like he didn't even mean to, and it takes a second for him to register what he's doing. After so many decades of relying on Fel, it just became reflex to him. But, nonetheless the entire Horde has just seen him cheat in a sacred ritual, so he just doubles down...
- Dark Messiah: As the only orc capable of opening the Dark Portal, Gul'dan lures many orcish clans struggling to survive their dying world to join his Horde with the promise of new fertile lands to conquer and call home. He also uses this status to promote the use of fel magic, stating that it will make the Horde more powerful.
- Delivery Guy: Gul'dan is this to Draka.
- Dick Dastardly Stops to Cheat: During his fight with Durotan, Gul'dan finds himself pressed for time. However, despite having basically already won the mak'gora (Durotan at this point is lying facedown in the dust) Gul'dan flagrantly and unnecessarily resorts to magic to finish the duel. He doesn't even seem to save himself any time, and ends up turning a chunk of the Horde against him for cheating when he could have easily won fair and square.
- Didn't Think This Through: Gul'dan reeks of this throughout the movie. When he first confronts Durotan, he unleashes his Fel to cause all those affected by it pain, Durotan and Orgrim are unaffected showing Gul'dan for the bully he is. Next he orders the slaughter of the Frostwolves to show how merciless he is but that causes the rest of the Horde to grow suspicious of him. When Durotan challenges him to Mak'gora, he believes he can win, but resorts to cheating in the Orcs' most sacred tradition IN FRONT OF ALL OF THEM. He then lashes out against them for disowning him showing he truly doesn't care for them. Lastly, when Lothar bests their leader in Mak'gora, he freaks out and demands Lothar's death. All these actions cause him to, within a 24 hour period, lose the support of the Horde as a whole and earn their hatred. It all shows that Gul'dan is very impulsive and doesn't think of the consequences of any of his actions. Oh, and let's not forget, he saves Baby Thrall's life, the one who will grow to bring an end to all of Gul'dan's evil and bring the Horde to a brighter future.
- Dirty Coward: It doesn't take him long into his Mak'gora with Durotan to perform Life Drain in front of the entire Horde.
- Disproportionate Retribution: His response to Durotan trying to form an alliance with the humans to overthrow him? Wipe out his entire clan and have their corpses be displayed as a warning to all dissenters. After offering Durotan's old position as chieftain to Orgrim for his loyalty to the Horde.
- Establishing Character Moment: Gul'dan is first seen dragging Garona with a long chain, giving orders to Warchief Blackhand and monitoring his draenei prisoners/victims. When a draenei mother begs to Gul'dan to save her child, Gul'dan cruelly replies he needs every last one of them for the Dark Portal.
- Evil Old Folks: Despite his age and seeming frailty, Gul'dan can throw it down with the best of them in a physical fight.
- Evil Sorcerer: Gul'dan is a master of fel magic and the most iconic warlock in the franchise.
- Glowing Eyes: His eyes are already glowing green, but they glow even more as he uses his fel magic.
- Hated by All: His reputation is in tatters among the orcs at the end of the movie, because he cheated in his fight with Durotan and tried to have Lothar killed despite having won his Mak'gora and freedom. He only manages to keep them in line through fear of his magic and the power he promises.
- The Heavy: Much like his video game counterpart, he is the source of the corruption of the Orcish race and the primary instigator of their conflicts with other races. However, his influence over the Horde in the film is far more overt: while he leaves Blackhand as a figurehead, no one doubts that Gul'dan is the Horde's true leader and driving force.
- Hypocrite: Gul'dan shames Blackhand for retreating in his first real battle with the humans, citing that the orcish traditions calls for the chieftain to be burned to death for cowardice. Yet when Gul'dan has no problem with breaking orcish traditions when it suits him, such as violating the rules of mak'gora to gain an assured victory or demanding execution of a human who won his mak'gora fairly.
- In the Hood: Covers the top of his head with a hood.
- Kick the Dog: His response to the draenei mother pleading for her child's life?Gul'dan: But I need him. I need all of them.
- Kung-Fu Wizard: When Durotan challenges him to mak'gora, Gul'dan obliges, takes off his robe and slugs it out in a drawn-out fist fight.
- Lean and Mean: The slimiest and nastiest orc around also happens to be one of the slimmer and lankier ones—he's still bigger and stronger than any human, but it's likely based on his proportions that his bulging muscles were grown artificially by the fel and his natural build is leaner.
- Life Drain: Drains life from living creatures to fuel his magics.
- Magic Staff: His staff is a crude work of humanoid and animal skulls pierced by spikes sitting atop a long stick.
- The staff is obtainable as a transmogrification object by Horde players in World of Warcraft by logging in between May 25th and August 1st 2016.
- The staff is obtainable as a transmogrification object by Horde players
- Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: According to Daniel Wu, Gul'dan believes that fel magic is the key to the survival of his people after their homeworld Draenor became a wasteland, thereby justifying his use of it despite the destructive side-effects. However, it was his fel magic that caused Draenor to die in the first place, and Gul'dan has no problem in wiping out an entire clan in response to a few rebels within his Horde despite having limited resources.
- Obfuscating Disability: He appears hunched over in robes and leaning on a staff, indicating he's a physical weakling relying on magic. However, when he fights Durotan, he throws the robe off and straightens to show he's actually quite physically formidable and holds his own well in battle.
- Obviously Evil: None of the orcs really look like someone you'd want to meet in a dark alley, but Gul'dan a creepy old guy with Spikes of Villainy growing directly from his back, green skin (which at this point still is a rarity for orcs) and uses a magic powered by Life Drain. Really, it's a surprise that Durotan initially was the only one to figure out something was wrong with him.
- Pet the Dog:
- Most of his more reasonable actions are clearly simply pragmatism, but forgiving Durotan for bringing his pregnant wife and saving the life of his prematurely born son offered him no immediate benefit.
- It's also mentioned that he had Garona spared after her mother gave birth to her, and after her mother was burned alive he allowed Garona to keep one of her tusks to remember her.
- When Garona kills Llane as part of the latter's Thanatos Gambit, Gul'dan appears to sincerely welcome her back into the Horde.
- Skeletons in the Coat Closet: Gul'Dan's staff, robes, and back spikes are all decorated with various skulls.
- Smug Snake: Gul'dan is so confident in his own power that he believes he could easily finish off Durotan in a one-on-one mak'gora before Medivh begins the incantation spell to open the Dark Portal. However, Durotan is more resilient than Gul'dan anticipates and the duel continues till the Dark Portal begins to activate. Realizing that he's running out of time, he demands Blackhand for help only for Blackhand to coldly remind him that he is bounded by the rules of mak'gora. Because of this, Gul'dan is forced to cheat with his fel magic, which damaged his reputation amongst the orcs.
- Sorcerous Overlord: Blackhand may be the Warchief, but Gul'dan is one who truly rules over the Horde with his fel magic.
- Spikes of Villainy: Those huge spikes on his back aren't worn, they've grown out of his back.
- Squishy Wizard: Subverted. Despite his appearance, he's more than a match for Durotan, initially fighting him head-on and giving him a good beating. However, once the fight goes Durotan's way and the ritual to open the Dark Portal begins before he is finished, he starts cheating by using his magic.
- Unskilled, but Strong: His body is enhanced by the fel, making him much stronger than Durotan. However, Durotan's greater skill allows him to drag out the fight longer than Gul'dan is willing to tolerate, so he resorts to Life Drain when Durotan simply won't stay down.
- Ur-Example: Surprisingly averted. In the games, Gul'dan was only the first and greatest of the fel-wielding orcish warlocks. In the film's universe, Gul'dan is seemingly the only orcish warlock in existence, and angrily rejects the idea that there could be others. This may be because his universe's Draenor fell apart too quickly for Gul'dan to train apprentices, or that this Gul'dan is even more phenomenally arrogant than his other versions.
- Villain Ball: Gul'dan could have just easily ignored Durotan's issue of mak'gora and just have him executed as Blackhand suggested since he is not bound by any orcish honor or tradition. But he is arrogant enough to accept Durotan's challenge in order to make an example out of him personally, not realizing that the fight may prevent him from opening the Dark Portal or create a martyr out of Durotan.
- Villainous Breakdown: Lothar killing a Fel-empowered Blackhand in a mak'gora seems to cause a Freak Out in Gul'Dan. While he starts out subdued, simply growling out that Lothar be killed, the Horde's refusal to obey him causes him to lose his cool more and more until he's left impotently screaming at them. He then moves in to do the job himself before Garona points out that he's on the verge of having the entire Horde outright turn on him right when he needs them most.Gul'dan: Kill him...KILL HIM! (...) I will not be disobeyed! What are you waiting for!? DO AS I SAY!!
- Villain with Good Publicity: What he starts the movie as, due to being able to lead the Horde to greener lands. He solidifies himself here when he saves Go'el's life, proudly stating that the Horde has a new warrior born in the new land.
- Walking Wasteland: Orgrim accuses Gul'dan of being one.
- Would Hurt a Child: He doesn't spare children from being used to fuel the Dark Portal, be they draenei or humans. Even Go'el, who Gul'dan had personally saved through his fel magic, was marked for death after his father was caught secretly negotiating with the humans.
- You Have Failed Me: When Blackhand is forced to flee from the humans, Gul'dan humiliates the Warchief in front of the entire Horde and orders him to put his hand (or what remains of it) into the fire and be burned alive for his cowardice. Blackhand is only spared when Durotan interrupts the process.
Blackhand
Warchief Blackhand the Destroyer
"There must a worthy foe somewhere on this dung heap."
Played by: Clancy Brown
Warchief of the Horde and chieftain of the Blackrock clan.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: To a very limited extent, as he still is one of the least sympathetic orcs, but compared to his game counterpart, he is shown to have some redeeming qualities. Despite the Honor Before Reason entry below, he is shown to be honorable in a good way on some occasions, such as when he refuses to interfere in the duel between Gul'dan and Durotan.
- An Arm and a Leg: After Lothar's gun blasts his left hand to pieces and Gul'dan tries to punish him by burning him with felfire from the hand up, Durotan cuts off said hand with his axe to save his life.
- Appropriated Appellation: Named after his cracked black right hand.
- Arch-Enemy: He and Lothar single out each other as their prime nemesis early on.
- Beard of Barbarism: Has a long unshaven and messy beard.
- Blood Knight: Blackhand is eager to find a worthy foe and is initially disappointed in the humans' lack of resistance.
- Body Horror: The damage he takes to his left hand when Lothar blasts it off with a point-blank pistol shot.
- Exaggerated after Gul'dan forcibly empowers him with the fel, which causes him to grow larger, and grow more teeth. Most notable is how his replacement claw-hand fuses with his arm, with green skin growing over the hand and turning it into a half-rotted appendage, and how his flesh fuses his skeletal pauldrons to his body.
- Canis Major: Rides a huge black wolf that is eventually killed by Callan and his soldiers.
- The Dog Bites Back: Openly denies Gul'Dan his requested aid during the latter's duel to the death with Durotan. While mostly for the sake of honor and tradition, the way he mimics Gul'Dan's use of the phrase "Respect our tradition," coupled with how he unceremoniously hurls the warlock's staff to the ground in defiance, hints at his actions also being out of spite for his "master."
- The Dragon: Blackhand might be the Warchief of the Horde, but he openly answers to Gul'dan.
- Duel to the Death: Denied killing Llane and wishing to settle the score with Lothar, he challenges him to a Mak'gora. Lothar wins and then carries off Llane's corpse.
- Fingore: Lothar blasts his left hand to pieces with a point-blank shot from a pistol while he's grabbing it. The audience gets to see a close-up of the still-twiching stump.
- Groin Attack: Suffers one from Lothar's sword in their final fight.
- Honor Before Reason: Blackhand is a loyal adherent to the orcs' sense of honor and tradition, and will not only invoke it for others, he's quite willing to adhere to it himself.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: He impales Lothar's son, and Lothar finishes him off this way in their final battle.
- Ironic Echo: Gul'dan belittles Blackhand for retreating in a battle and tells him that he will respect their tradition by being burned for cowardice. When Gul'dan asks for Blackhand's help during his fight against Durotan, Blackhand refuses, sneering that he will respect their tradition.
- Kick the Dog: As revenge for Lothar blasting his hand to pieces with a pistol, he impales Lothar's son Callan with his new claw hand while he watches, looking at him the entire time.
- Large and in Charge: He's a head taller than the other orcs and is the Warchief of the Horde.
- Noble Demon: For all the Blue-and-Orange Morality involved, Blackhand genuinely believes in his people's traditions, and will always respect them. As such, he refuses to help Gul'dan during his mak'gora with Durotan, and gives Lothar a chance to defeat him in a fair fight when he could have easily let his warriors kill him.
- The mak'gora with Lothar is less this, and more regaining the honor lost from Garona stealing the kill, and more about revenge, and the obvious easy win over a captured human who has more testicular fortitude than sense.
- One-Winged Angel: When Gul'dan infuses Blackhand with the Fel, Blackhand doesn't just turn green. He grows all the more monstrous, sprouting extra teeth, spikes from his forearms and bits of his armor were fused into his flesh.
- Pet the Dog: When Durotan offers himself up in exchange for sparing his clan, Blackhand accepts. Unfortunately, this is quickly undone by Gul'dan who sics the other orcs on the Frostwolf camp.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Blackhand refuses to give Durotan the chance to challenge Gul'dan in a mak'gora, citing that the warlock is needed for the Dark Portal's opening and that he could easily dispose the former chieftain right there and now. His advice is rejected by Gul'dan, who is confident in his abilities to make short work of Durotan.
- Red Right Hand: Quite literally, as his right hand is black with cracked skin. His left hand gets even worse as Gul'dan forcefully empowers him with the Fel, fusing his replacement claw-hand with his arm stump.
- Shoulders of Doom: Wears a pair of spiky pauldrons with huge animal skulls added on top.
- Skeletons in the Coat Closet: His pauldrons are made of animal skulls, with their spines still attached and trailing behind him.
- Unskilled, but Strong: Blackhand is one of the strongest orcs around and shows off his strength by picking up a horse and tossing it, but he lacks speed and technique. He gets even stronger after empowered by Gul'dan, to the point where he easily crushes a helmeted soldier's head in his hand, but is beaten by Lothar, who manages to slide under him during their duel and slash open his groin with his sword.
- Wolverine Claws: Replaces his left hand with a crude metal claw-hand.
Grom
Grommash "Grom" Hellscream
"Why be "strong enough", when there is stronger still?"
Played by: Terry Notary
Chieftain of the Warsong clan.
- Adaptational Early Appearance: Due to not debuting until Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal, Grom was not present for the First War.
- Barehanded Blade Block: Grabs Callan's sword with one hand as he stabs it at him, then pulls it out of his hands.
- Demoted to Extra: He was a pretty major character in the games, where he was one of the first to receive the corruption willingly. None of this is mentioned in the movie, and with all his speaking scenes cut from the final film, he gets little more than cameos. Granted, he might get a bigger role in a potential sequel.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Grom is among the crowd who personally blocks Gul'dan from killing Lothar after he fairly won the mak'gora duel against Blackhand.
- Evil Feels Good: In a deleted scene, where he has a speaking role, he revels in his newfound strength, though he knows full well enough that it is death magic that fuels him.
- Pec Flex: A deleted scene has him flex his muscles to show off how strong Gul'dan's fel magic has made him.
- Shoulders of Doom: Wears a single but large pauldron as one of his few pieces of armor.
- The Strength of Ten Men: Invokes this, again in the deleted scene. While speaking to the Frostwolf clan, he assures them they'll feel the strength of five once fel-touched.
Kilrogg
Kilrogg Deadeye
Chieftain of the Bleeding Hollow clan.
- Demoted to Extra: While not a very important character, in the game lore Kilrogg was one of the most prominent orc leaders of the First War, but here he is little more than a cameo.
- Eyepatch of Power: His most iconic feature is the hollow black spot in place of his left eye.
- Neck Lift: Grabs the human officer Varis by the throat with one hand, lifts him up and then brutally crushes his neck with his hand.
Kargath
Kargath Bladefist
Chieftain of the Shattered Hand clan.
- Blade Below the Shoulder: Instead of carrying a weapon, he uses the large blade he's put in place of his missing left hand.
- Demoted to Extra: While never very important in the First War, Kargath's role in the leadership of the Horde is vastly reduced and he is little more than a cameo here.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Like Grom, Kargath also gets in Gul'dan's way when he tries to kill Lothar after the mak'gora duel.
- Hook Hand: Replaced his left hand with a huge blade.
Red Walkers
The Red Walkers
As Draenor slowly died, the Frostwolf clan faced the challenge of the Red Walkers. Orcs who covered themselves with blood and preyed on all, beast or orc. Featured in the Durotan prequel novel.
- Blood-Splattered Warrior: The Red Walkers are named so because they cover themselves in the blood of their kills. They never wash off this blood, leaving it to harden and cake on their bodies.
- Hannibal Lecture: Durotan spared the Red Walker chieftain to ask him questions. The chieftain's calm rational demeanor deeply unnerves Durotan as he talks about why the Red Walkers became what they are.
- I Am a Humanitarian: The Red Walkers eventually develop a taste for fellow orc. Their chieftain justifies that as the world dies, meat is meat.
- "Not So Different" Remark: The Red Walker chieftain claims this about his clan and the Frostwolf clan. Both chose to refuse Gul'dan's invitation into the Horde, and would endure without him.
- Rape, Pillage, and Burn: The Red Walkers take everything in their path. Kill and eat draenai and orcs and steal their equipment for themselves.
- We Can Rule Together: The Red Walker chieftain offers Durotan and the Frostwolves to partake of the Red Walkers they killed, and for their two clans to join together as the Red Wolves.
Other characters
Draenei Prisoners
Draenei Prisoners
Played by: Elena Wurlitzer (the mother)
The hapless caged humanoids from the Orcs' dying homeworld who end up being sacrificed by Gul'dan for the Dark Portal's first opening.
- Horned Humanoid: They have ram-like horns protuding out of their heads.
- Human Sacrifice: Humanoid sacrifice, that is. Gul'dan drains their life to open the Dark Portal and send the first wave of Orcs through it.
- Humanoid Aliens: They are humanoid in appearance (their feet are not seen however, and going by the lore, they have hooves).
- Minor Major Character: The Draenei are very much important in the WarCraft lore, it's their presence that attracted the Burning Legion, which corrupted Gul'dan and his followers with the Fel then had the whole Horde genocide them. In the film, the only ones that are seen are simply hapless prisoners who are sacrificed to open the Dark Portal. Although, it should be noted that the race was not featured in the 1994 video game the film's story is based on, they were introduced much later, as were the masterminds behind the Orcs' invasion of Azeroth.
- No Name Given: Their species' name is never addressed in the film, but anyone familiar with the WarCraft lore can easily identify them as Draenei. There's also a motion capture production still◊ where the species is named.
- Take Care of the Kids: As Garona walks past a cage, a female Draenei reaches out and grabs the half-Orc's arm, pleading with her and Gul'dan to spare her child's life. Although Garona translates her request, Gul'dan refuses, stating that he needs them all, and ends up draining their life.
