History WorldOfWarcraft / TropesMToR

* RainbowPimpGear: Often, especially while in ''Burning Crusade'', the most statistically viable piece of gear for a certain slot doesn't match the other pieces you have on. The page image for the trope, in fact, is from a ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'' comic making fun of the way most cloth-wearing casters actually ended up looking like in Hellfire Peninsula. Of course, if you have gold to burn, the Transmogrification merchants can make a piece of gear resemble any that you've collected, making it ''look'' like it matches, at least.

** A quest in the Wetlands requires you to recover stolen supplies from Goblin thieves, including a "stack of questionable publications".

* MessianicArchetype: Tirion Fordring, Highlord of the Argent Crusade, who started out a hermit exiled for showing mercy to an orc, got the CallToAdventure and vowed to rebuild the Silver Hand, and has, by the present, become Azeroth's [[KnightInShiningArmor premier honorable paladin]] who actively urges both sides to join together and destroy the evils threatening them all.
** Thrall becomes this to the orcs, and both the Naaru and Prophet Velen to the draenei.

*** In the Burning Steppes, Horde players go to great lengths to secure materials for a disguise to blend in with the Blackrock Horde nearby. After constructing it in an elaborate sequence, it is revealed to be... a Hallow's End mask.

** The Knights of the Ebon Blade were a highly trained force of undeath serving the Lich King, up until they were sent to rout the Paladins at Light's Hope Chapel. It turns out they were cannon fodder that the Lich King used to draw out Tirion Fordring, so Darion Morgrain turned the Death Knights against the Lick King.

** In ''Dragonflight'', this is used for training for the {{dragon rid|er}}ing skills (takeoff, high speed flight, gliding, acceleration etc)-related quests, with the Dragon Isles being specifically designed for said skills. Also applies to the early quests for the Dracthyr/Evoker race/class itself, which has similar (if less developed, but usable outside the Dragon Isles) abilities.

** In ''Dragonflight'', this is a staple of the eponymous Dragonflight skills (high speed {{dragon ride|r}} takeoff, flight, gliding, acceleration etc)-related quests, with the Dragon Isles being specifically designed for said skills. Also applies to some of the race/class quests for the Dracthyr/Evoker race/class itself, which has those aforementioned abilities.

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* OurDemonsAreDifferent: They're implied to be mostly asexual (with [[HornyDevils succubi]] being the one exception), and a lot of them used to be good. And they're all, relative to the main setting world, aliens.

** Which, in a happy coincidence, allows for a dollop of LesYay whenever a warlock's [[HornyDevils succubus pet or a succubus NPC]] uses her "Seduce" ability on a female character.

** Most orc names tend to be this. Grom/Garrosh Hellscream, Kargath Bladefist, Orgrim Doomhammer, Tagar Spinebreaker, Teron Gorefiend, Nekrum Gutchewer... However, the orcs are one of the few cases where this trope is justified. Last names are given to orcs who did something really impressive in their lives. In a warrior culture, more often than not, this involves beating someone to death in a cool way. Hellscream is called Hellscream because he screams in a cool way, Bladefist actually has a blade for a hand, Doomhammer wields [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment his hammer of doom, the Doomhammer]], Spinebreaker probably broke someone's spine, Gorefiend was a fiend that created a lot of gore and you can probably guess [[WhatItSaysOnTheTin what Gutchewer did]].

** The duel between Saurfang and [[spoiler:Sylvanas]] in ''Reckoning'' is also a recreation of the duel between Durotan and Gul'Dan of the movie: An old orc decides to fight against the Warchief [[spoiler:knowing he won't survive but that it's needed to make the Horde see how evil their Warchief]].

* MadeOfGood: Azerite, the "blood" of Azeroth that sprang to the surface in the wake of Sargeras plunging his sword into it, is more or less this. It's colored a brilliant gold with traces of cyan and is used to power the player character's Heart of Azeroth, and one Azerite Essence fires an orbital beam that deals increased damage to and stuns aberrations while others provide resistance to N'Zoth's corruption. On the other hand, it has an adverse effect on earth elementals and is highly combustible, being used for weapons by the Ashvane and Venture Companies.

* ProudMerchantRace: Goblins. Ethereals in Outland and Grummles in Pandaria, as well.
* ProudScholarRaceGuy: Gnomes, and draenei to a lesser extent. In ''Cataclysm'', the Blood Elves also have this going on.

** The Mogu. Apparently, the Twin Consorts, the penultimate boss in Throne of Thunder, are, according to the Dungeon Journal, "the only known female Mogu in existence", and the developers comment that they are literally carved out of stone.

** In Gameplay, Every class ends up being this against normal world mobs once they reach max level and get geared out. Acknowledged in-game during a ''Mists of Pandaria'' daily quest. The quest giver sends you to fight some invading monsters, claiming that the only things around that could stop them are the local PhysicalGod, and [[PlayerCharacter you.]]

** In Korthia, the player is tasked with helping Caretaker Kah-Than locate Fatescribe Roh-Kalo, presumably to keep him safe from the Mawsworn, [[spoiler:then it turns out Kah-Than was actually a dreadlord who captures Roh-Kalo and takes him to Torghast. The next time you see him, he's been subjugated by the Jailer and is a boss in the Sanctum of Domination.]]

** Sargeras was once the Titans' champion, but [[spoiler:then he realized the universe he was trying to defend was beyond normal means of saving, in his eyes, and turned to more...[[KillEmAll radical methods]].]]

** In Eversong Woods, a local magister tasks the player with punishing two of his students by temporarily [[BalefulPolymorph turning them into boars]].

* RivalTurnedEvil: Ellia eventually becomes filled with despair after repeatedly losing to you and fights you in the final battle of the Chi-ji series of daily quest.

* OurAngelsAreDifferent: The Naaru, which are basically extremely powerful, LawfulGood shards of light.
** [[StarfishAliens And an alien race.]]
* OurDemonsAreDifferent: They're implied to be mostly asexual (with [[HornyDevils succubi]] being the one exception), and a lot of them used to be good.
** And they're all, relative to the main setting world, aliens.

* RevengeIsNotJustice: By the time of ''World Of Warcraft'', Arthas has slain his mentor, Uther. When the ''Shadowlands'' expansion, centered around the afterlife, rolls around long after Arthas himself has been slain, we learn that Uther, now a [[{{Psychopomp}} Kyrian]], with a bit of goading from a [[FallenAngel Forsworn]], tossed Arthas' soul directly into [[{{Hell}} The Maw]] without it receiving the JudgementOfTheDead it was due under the guise of it being 'justice' for all the atrocities Arthas committed in life, and definitely not vengeance. This puts Uther in line with the rest of the Forsworn during a civil war between them and their Kyrian brethren, and when the Forsworn's connection to The Maw is revealed, Uther has a HeelRealization that no, what he did was very much vengeance, and his refusal to see that means he played a part in a plot that might have doomed the Shadowlands as a whole.
* RevenueEnhancingDevices: The [[CollectibleCardGame ''World of Warcraft'' TCG]], paid server transfers and character race/faction/name changes, and the Pet and Mount Store.

* {{Retraux}}: The ''Classic'' rereleases of old expansions add models from the modern release that weren't present in the originals, but are intentionally made lower in detail so as not to clash with the older graphics. ''The Burning Crusade Classic'' does this with the incubus warlock minion and ''Wrath of the Lich King Classic'' does this with the Kalu'ak Whalebone Glider mount included in the Northrend Epic Upgrade.

* OurOrcsAreDifferent: They started out as the stereotypical evil [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk ORC SMASH]] kind, but were retconned into being [[NobleSavage noble savages]] with a shamanistic-hunter-warrior culture.

* MassiveRaceSelection: Far more than the [[VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} previous games]]. ''World of Warcraft'' began with eight playable races, all inherited from the [=RTSs=], plus at least a dozen nonplayable sapient races inherited from previous games. Three expansions since ''World of Warcraft'' was first released have each added half a dozen new races or more while making some existing races that had been nonplayable playable. As of patch 8.3, there are 23 playable races and even more non-playable intelligent races.

* NiceHat: Many hats in the game, but the top hats that the citizens of Gilneas wear takes the cake. The player can acquire one after [[spoiler:thwarting Godfrey's betrayal of the king]].