History Sandbox / MonsterWarcraft

* The first BigBad, Gul'dan is a power-hungry [[OurOrcsAreDifferent orc]] who voluntarily corrupted his people into a [[Characters/WarcraftTheHordeOldHorde bloodthirsty horde]] which he secretly controls, planned the Draenei Genocide and brought the orcs into Azeroth so they could trigger two wars. He also created Garona as a "breeding experiment" between an orc soldier and a female Draenei prisoner, after which she was magically aged, tortured and mind controlled into becoming his personal assassin. Finally, he betrayed the Horde to follow his own goals, which caused the defeat of the orcs. Even after his death his evil lingered around his skull, corrupting everything around it.

[[AC:[[EldritchAbomination The Old Gods and their Minions]]]]

* [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Azshara]], the [[LightIsNotGood Light of Lights]], is the former ancient queen of the Night Elves who, in her endless goal to obtain power and perfection, nearly led all of Azeroth to total ruin. 10,000 years ago, Azshara used her magic to enthrall her people to love her without question while also seeking to purify the world of any she deemed imperfect, who included all but herself and her Highborne servants. While attempting to enact this purification with the power of the Well of Eternity, she caught the attention of [[GreaterScopeVillain Sargeras]], creator of the omnicidal Burning Legion. When he offered to aid in her goal in exchange for her opening a portal for his armies to rampage over Azeroth, Azshara agreed without question. Her actions to satisfy her own limitless vanity led to the War of the Ancients, the deaths of countless innocents, and the breaking of the entire world. Azshara then makes a deal with [[Characters/WarcraftTheOldGods N'Zoth]], who turns her and her servants into the first [[SnakePeople naga]]. As their Empress, Azshara oversees the enslavement and slaughter of countless beings over the course of thousands of years.

[[AC:[[EldritchAbomination The Old Gods and their Minions]]

[[AC:Franchise-Wide]]
* [[PersonOfMassDestruction Archimonde the Defiler]] is the supreme commander of [[Characters/WarcraftTheBurningLegion the Burning Legion]] and [[TheDragon the right hand]] of the Dark Titan Sargeras. Archimonde began his rise to power by betraying his master and [[AndIMustScream torturously imprisoning]] his soul in his skull for millennia, and later rose to become one of the masters of the Eredar alongside Kil'jaeden and Velen. Behind his comrade's backs, he sold out his people and forged a pact with Sargeras to turn them into the Man'ari, the overlords of the Legion. As their commander, Archimonde masterminded the destruction of countless worlds and the genocide of billions before setting his sights on the world of Azeroth. His first invasion during the War of the Ancients led to the deaths of most of the wild gods and the near-extinction of the night elven race, and his second attempt sparked the Third War and the destruction of Dalaran and the remaining human kingdoms in Lordaeron. He ultimately sought to devour the power of WorldTree of Azeroth to overthrow Sargeras and become the Legion's new master. Never shown to have his master's [[WellIntentionedExtremist intentions]] or Kil'jaeden's regrets, Archimonde was the greatest monster in all the Legion.

* [[GeniusBruiser Blackhand]], former chieftain of the Blackrock Clan and the first Warchief of the Horde, is an [[AmbitionIsEvil ambitious]] brute well known for his tactical brilliance and conquest of numerous enemies. Allying with Gul'dan, the warlock stroking Blackhand's ego and hunger for power, the Warchief magically ages [[AbusiveParents his children]] to make them weapons for his new horde and stamps out all dissent with violence. Leading the [[FinalSolution genocide]] of the Draeni people of Draenor, Blackhand happily allows Gul'dan's twisted rape and breeding experiments with captive Draeni women. Upon discovering Azeroth, Blackhand initiates a mass slaughter of human villages with intent to butcher and enslave every human on Azeroth. Caring nothing for his own race and family, Blackhand has the orcs drink the blood of Mannoroth to make them the servants of demons and even orders his own daughter Griselda [[OffingTheOffspring murdered]] when she flees the Horde.

* TheOldGods:
** [[TheCorruptor N'Zoth]], lord of Ny'alotha, is the weakest of the four Old Gods who arrived on Azeroth in ages past. The [[TheChessmaster craftiest]] and most wicked of his kin, N'Zoth ruled part of the Black Empire with numerous atrocities until the arrival of the Titans. [[SealedEvilInACan Sealed away]] at the bottom of the seas, N'Zoth found a way to whisper in the mind of the Dragon Aspect Neltharion. Steadily swaying Neltharion to become the evil Deathwing and helping to facilitate the genocide of the Blue Dragonflight, N'Zoth also transformed queen Azshara and her followers into the Naga with intent to overwhelm the surface one day. In modern day, N'Zoth twists the Emerald Dream with the Emerald Nightmare to corrupt and destroy the dreaming through his agent Xavius. Empowering Deathwing to cause the Cataclysm and wipe out the face of Azeroth, N'Zoth secretly plans to dispose of the dragon when he is free. Finally unleashing the Naga after arranging a new war between Horde and Alliance, N'Zoth intends to restore the Black Empire to glory in endless atrocity and return creation to the Void.
** [[EldritchAbomination Yogg-Saron]] is the Old God of [[GodOfTheDead Death]], and he proves himself to be every bit as vile as his rival N'Zoth. Forming the Black Empire with the other Old Gods, Yogg-Saron would last longer than his rivals and had his C'thraxxi minions slaughter many Titanforged before he was finally [[SealedEvilInACan locked away]] in the prison city of Ulduar. While imprisoned, [[ManipulativeBastard Yogg-Saron]] would take advantage of Keeper Loken having an affair with Keeper Thorim's wife Sif; Yogg-Saron tricked Loken into killing Sif, and got him to start a war between Thorim and his Frost Giant allies while Yogg-Saron corrupted the Forge of Wills with the Curse of Flesh to make Titanforged easier to corrupt while also tainting the world tree Vordrassil and creating the [[MindRape Emerald Nightmare]], all the while enslaving his jailers and getting Loken to manipulate himself into the position of Prime Designate, assuring that the death of Yogg-Saron's foremost pawn would usher in [[OmnicidalManiac the death of all life on Azeroth]].

* [[EvilSorceror Xavius]], once [[TheDragon the high councilor]] to Queen Azshara, is best known for the evils he committed as the first satyr and the Nightmare Lord. Xavius can be considered the mastermind behind the Burning Legion's first invasion, when he convinced Azshara and the Highborne that Sargeras was a deity and would lead them to godhood. After his first death, he became the first satyr and [[TheCorrupter corrupted many of his brethren]] into that form while also seeking eternal vengeance on Malfurion Stormrage, who was responsible for his first and second defeats. Changing his allegiance to the Old Gods, Xavius would go on to become the creator and master of the Emerald Nightmare. As the Nightmare Lord, he corrupted much of the Green Dragonflight and entrapped many druids, including Malfurion. Now his prisoner and plaything, Xavius upheld his end of the bargain and began destroying Azeroth. He swallowed much of the world into the Emerald Nightmare causing countless people to become [[AndIMustScream eternal victims of their own worst nightmares]]. Eventually defeated again by Malfurion, Xavius would later pledge the Nightmare to the Burning Legion to deliver his wrath to both Malfurion and all of Azeroth.

* [[TheCorruptor N'Zoth]], lord of Ny'alotha, is the weakest of the four Old Gods who arrived on Azeroth in ages past. The [[TheChessmaster craftiest]] and most wicked of his kin, N'Zoth ruled part of the Black Empire with numerous atrocities until the arrival of the Titans. [[SealedEvilInACan Sealed away]] at the bottom of the seas, N'Zoth found a way to whisper in the mind of the Dragon Aspect Neltharion. Steadily swaying Neltharion to become the evil Deathwing and helping to facilitate the genocide of the Blue Dragonflight, N'Zoth also transformed queen Azshara and her followers into the Naga with intent to overwhelm the surface one day. In modern day, N'Zoth twists the Emerald Dream with the Emerald Nightmare to corrupt and destroy the dreaming through his agent Xavius. Empowering Deathwing to cause the Cataclysm and wipe out the face of Azeroth, N'Zoth secretly plans to dispose of the dragon when he is free. Finally unleashing the Naga after arranging a new war between Horde and Alliance, N'Zoth intends to restore the Black Empire to glory in endless atrocity and return creation to the Void.

* [[AxCrazy Fyrakk the Blazing]] is the most mentally unstable and destructive of the Primal Incarnates threatening the Dragonflights. Utterly devoted to the power of the elements, Fyrakk led the armies of the Primalists in the ancient and cataclysmic war against the Order-aligned dragons and was among the first to be imprisoned. Awakened in modern Azeroth, Fyrakk wastes little time in finding and consuming the [[TheCorruption corruptive shadowflame]] to empower himself and wage a renewed war against the mortal races. Fyrakk seeks to corrupt the newly born World Tree Amirdrassil and forcibly infuses its guardians with shadowflame that painfully burns away their mind and soul and turns them into [[AndIMustScream Fyrakk's loyal slaves]]. Between killing and consuming his own forces and mocking the Dragon Queen Alexstrasza for her past torture and rape, Fyrakk sought to engulf all life on Azeroth in shadowflame to turn them into his tortured servants.

* [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Azshara]], the [[LightIsNotGood Light of Lights]], is the former ancient queen of the Night Elves who, in her endless goal to obtain power and perfection, nearly led all of Azeroth to total ruin. 10,000 years ago, Azshara used her magic to enthrall her people to love her without question while also seeking to purify the world of any she deemed imperfect, who included all but herself and her Highborne servants. While attempting to enact this purification with the power of the Well of Eternity, she caught the attention of [[GreaterScopeVillain Sargeras]], creator of the omnicidal Burning Legion. When he offered to aid in her goal in exchange for allowing his armies to rampage over Azeroth, Azshara agreed without question. Her actions to satisfy her own limitless vanity led to the War of the Ancients, the deaths of countless innocents, and the breaking of the entire world. Azshara then makes a deal with [[Characters/WarcraftTheOldGods the Old Gods]], who turn her and her servants into the first [[SnakePeople naga]]. As their Empress, Azshara can be held directly responsible for every atrocity committed by the naga throughout the franchise.

[[AC:Tabletop Game]]

* Across three different timelines, [[EvilSorcerer Gul'dan]] has proved that he will always be a heartless, ambitious, and power-hungry monster.
** The first BigBad, Gul'dan is a power-hungry [[OurOrcsAreDifferent orc]] who voluntarily corrupted his people into a [[Characters/WarcraftTheHordeOldHorde bloodthirsty horde]] which he secretly controls, planned the Draenei Genocide and brought the orcs into Azeroth so they could trigger two wars. He also created Garona as a "breeding experiment" between an orc soldier and a female Draenei prisoner, after which she was magically aged, tortured and mind controlled into becoming his personal assassin. Finally, he betrayed the Horde to follow his own goals, which caused the defeat of the orcs. Even after his death his evil lingered around his skull, corrupting everything around it.
** Gul'dan from the alternate universe Draenor matches his main timeline counterpart for wickedness. While he initially fails to get his fellow orcs to drink the demon blood, Gul'dan quickly makes up for failure by serving as the Burning Legion's vanguard. He sends Cho'gall to Oshu'gun to subjugate the Naaru there, sends Teron'gor to Auchindoun to empower the Shadow Council by [[SoulEating devouring the souls]] of dead Draenei, and tries himself to cause a volcano to erupt in Shadowmoon Valley. As the Iron Horde falls apart, he takes advantage by [[TheCorrupter finally corrupting his people]] like his prime counterpart. Victorious at last, Gul'dan tries to deliver the deathblow to Draenor by destroying its elements with the Cipher of Damnation and siphons the world's ley lines—like power lines, only with magical energy instead of electricity—to power a new portal to allow the Legion to arrive in all its might. After the Legion's invasion of Draenor fails, Gul'dan is forcibly sent to Azeroth, whereupon he opens a portal in the tomb of Sargeras and causes a massive invasion by the Legion which claims the lives of many innocent people, some of whom die directly at Gul'dan's hands. Finally, after blackmailing the Nightborne into joining the Legion, Gul'dan tries to summon Sargeras into the world using the combined powers of the Nightwell and Illidan Stormrage's body before finally dying at the hands of a revived Illidan. Regardless of the circumstances provided by a new timeline, Gul'dan proves that he will always be a heartless monster willing to sacrifice everything to gain power.
** In the [[Film/WarCraft2016 2016 live-action film]], [[EvilOldFolks Gul'dan]] is a ruthless orc [[EvilSorcerer warlock]] who [[BigBad reigns over the Horde]] with an iron fist. Addicted to dark fel magic, Gul'dan seeks to expand the Horde into the world of Azeroth to conquer. Opening a portal by [[PoweredByAForsakenChild draining the lives of hundreds of innocent Draenei prisoners]], he sends the Horde out to conquer and destroy all in its path. Eventually it is revealed that Draenor was rendered a dying world by Gul'dan's own abuse of the fel, and Gul'dan has zero compunction about doing the same to Azeroth. Rounding up human captives to empower his magic, Gul'dan tortures one by [[LifeDrain slowly draining his life]], plotting to use the rest to open up the portal for the rest of the Horde. When the honorable chieftain Durotan tries to stand against Gul'dan, Gul'dan orders his clan slaughtered, including [[WouldHurtAChild Durotan's baby son]]. When Durotan challenges Gul'dan to a duel, Gul'dan cheats to win by using his magic to drain Durotan's life after he finds himself without the advantage and promptly murders several orcs when they turn from him in disgust. Even at the end, Gul'dan demonstrates he has no loyalty to his people or their traditions when he orders the heroic Anduin Lothar killed after Lothar defeats Gul'dan right-hand orc Blackhand in fair combat. Greedy, power-hungry, and insatiable in his desires, Gul'dan will happily condemn any world to destruction as long as he can fuel his addiction to the fel.

%% NOTE: Due to the controversial nature of this trope, any changes (additions, removals, edits) should be discussed here or here.

Whether in the [[VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} original games]], ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' ''(WoW)'', or the Franchise/WarcraftExpandedUniverse, Azeroth has played host to many characters. Here are [[CompleteMonster the most vile]].