Know Your Lore: Illidan
by Elizabeth Wachowski 
Jan 12th 2007 at 12:20PM
It has come to our attention that there are quite a few people out there who don't know anything about the Warcraft universe. Considering that the Burning Crusade expansion is chock-full of major lore characters, this is somewhat disturbing. While it's definitely not necessary to play the previous Warcraft games to enjoy WoW, this is an online roleplaying game set in a particular universe, and understanding a little bit of the history behind the game can make your time in Azeroth more enjoyable. Sure, it's not exactly The Wheel Of Time in complexity, but there's some cool stuff going on in the world that you can only "get" if you know who's who.
With that in mind, the new Know Your Lore feature will present quick and dirty biographies of some of the most famous names in Azeroth. Our inaugural article showcases someone you've definitely heard of, and will be hearing much more from in the near future -- Illidan Stormrage, the ultimate boss of the Burning Crusade expansion.
Who: Illidan Stormrage, the Betrayer.
What: Illidan is a Night Elf by birth, but after consuming a demonic skull, plus a bunch of other dirty deals with demons, he can now be considered a Night Elf/demon hybrid. Amusingly, he is a demon hunter by profession.
History: Illidan is the twin brother of Malfurion Stormrage, the first Night Elf druid. Illidan and Malfurion competed for the love of Tyrande Whisperwind, a Night Elf priestess and the current boss of Darnassus. When Archimonde's Burning Legion first invaded Azeroth, Malfurion and Illidan worked to stop him, but Illidan's jealousy over Tyrande eventually led him to betray his brother. Malfurion planned to destroy the Well of Eternity, the fount of arcane magic on Azeroth. Illidan spirited away a couple vials of the well's water before its destruction so he could still have some power after the Burning Legion took over. Illidan used the vials to create a new Well of Eternity, but was caught by his brother and sentenced to be forever imprisoned beneath the earth.
Ten thousand years after Illidan was imprisoned, Tyrande freed him so he could help fight the Scourge. Malfurion and Illidan's keeper, Maiev Shadowsong, opposed this decision and vowed to track down Illidan. Meanwhile, Illidan led some night elves to Felwood and briefly fought Arthas, then the champion of the Lich King. Arthas told him that destroying an artifact called the Skull of Gul'Dan would seriously weaken the Burning Legion. When Illidan found the Skull, he consumed it instead of destroying it, turning himself into a demon hybrid. Illidan thought this would help defeat the Burning Legion and make him look better to Tyrande and Malfurion, but instead they banished him after he defeated the forces of Tichondrius.
Illidan was then visited by Kil'Jaeden, the commander of the Burning Legion. Kil'Jaeden commanded him to destroy the Lich King, Ner'Zhul, since Ner'Zhul had grown too powerful for the Legion to control. Illidan gathered an army of Naga and set forth to find the powerful Eye of Sargeras (killing a large number of his former captors in the process.) He took the Eye to Lordaeron and tried to melt the ice of the polar ice cap and destroy Ner'Zhul's land. Yay for global warming as a plot device! But Malfurion and Maiev stopped him, believing his plan would destroy the whole world.
After Illidan saved Tyrande from a horde of undead, Malfurion allowed him to escape to Outland to get away from Kil'Jaeden's wrath. Maiev followed and recaptured him, but the blood elf Kael'Thas and the naga Lady Vashj freed him. Together, Illidan, Vashj and Kael'Thas conquered Outland. Things were looking good for Illidan -- he had some loyal lieutenants, a new palace, and a whole world to himself. Unfortunately, Outland was metaphorically in Kil'Jaeden's backyard, and the demon soon tracked down Illidan and made him once again promise to destroy the Lich King.
Illidan and his forces returned to Azeroth and fought up to the Lich King's throne. But Ner'Zhul had called his champion, Arthas, to the throne to receive his powers. Arthas and Illidan met in battle once more, and Arthas defeated Illidan and left him for dead. Arthas ascended the Frozen Throne to become the new Lich King, and Illidan was dragged back to Outland in disgrace.
Where he is now: Illidan reigns over Outland from the Black Temple, along with his lieutenants Kael'Thas and Lady Vashj. He controls his own faction, the Illidari, but it is unknown whether he is serving the Burning Legion or his own interests.
Identifying characteristics: According to the official World of Warcraft site, Illidan has retained most of his night elf characteristics despite becoming part-demon, and is therefore pretty unpredictable. Illidan has had his eyes gouged out -- he now has magical vision bestowed by the Burning Legion -- and he has bat-like wings and horns in his demon form.
Why we have to kill him: If Illidan's serving the Burning Legion, he's helping them plan the destruction of Azeroth. If he's not serving the Burning Legion, then we're basically invading his country for revenge, which makes us kind of jerks. Most likely, Illidan has some sort of plot against Azeroth that requires us to step in and Save The World Again. Plus, there's a chance we won't kill him -- rumor is that we merely "get in his way."
You: Are not prepared.
For more information: Illidan on the World of Warcraft site, Illidan on WoWWiki, Arthas v. lllidan on Youtube.
Know Your Lore is not infallible and is still working through the Warcraft games, so most of the information comes from the official World of Warcraft site and WoWWiki. Feel free to submit possible corrections -- and recommendations for other Warcraft figures to cover -- in your comments!
Filed under: Features, The Burning Crusade, Lore, Know your Lore
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
xyba Aug 22nd 2008 6:03AM
erm anyone knows where he got his blades of azzinoth from? i always wanted to know that since i started playing WoW
cowfordflorida May 4th 2010 6:37PM
This article is extremely biased against Illidan and bends the truth to make him appear like a villain when he is not. We are the villains for killing him, and blizzard are the villains for ruining the lore behind him. He was the most complex character blizzard ever created and in BC they turned him into a one-dimensional villain with designated insanity.
Phort Sep 12th 2010 11:19PM
1. How could we not kill him? He IS a villan. He is/was the tyranical ruler of Outland and ruled with, well, an iron hoof.
2. Blizzard can HARDILY ruin the lore behind him because they CREATED the lore behind him! If it wasnt for that, the final boss of Burning Crusade could have been, hell, a large, rainbow colored core hound!
3. The most complex character? I beg to differ. I would say The Lich King is, because not only was Arthas Menethil a crusader for Humans, Paladins, Lorderon, and just good 'ol righteousness. He betrayed all of the above stated, slaughtered his mentor, and also fused his soul with an equally dynamic character: Ner'zhul.
He was one of the most popular and important figures in orcish society, hailing as chief Shaman for the Shadowmoon Clan. He was contacted by his dead wife's soul, and told to betray the friendship with the Draenei, systematicly causing the genocide of the fugitives of the Burning Legion. He later figured out this was the demon lord Kil'jaeden, and ceased all actions against the Draenei, but it was too late for him. His apprentice Gul'dan was enticed by Kil'jaeden, took command of the new orcish "Horde", and contenued to slaughter innocents, rip the planet apart witht he help of Medivh (another equally evil character, as he was consumend by Seargas), invade Azeroth, and start a war (or 2).
His body was destroyed by Kil'jaeden, his soul contenuenly tourtured, and then forced to server the demon, and his soul then bound to the armor we see Arthas wearing, which ended up fusing their souls together, serving Kil'jaeden as one, and ultimatly creating the scourage, destroying Lorderon, killing billions and transforming them into their own enemy, taking over of who knows how many factions and species such as the Nerubians, and becoming the reason we fight him in the latest expansion.
Lorewise, the Lich King triumphs Illidan any day.
and lastley,
4. Designated insanity? He betrayed his brother, the entire Nelf people, became half demon, and might just be working for the Burning Leigon. How could he NOT be insane?
I hope Iv made my point.
KingTrolloretheloretroll Dec 29th 2010 11:47AM
No Phort, no.
The LICH KING is an amalgamation of two other characters. Sure, independently, they are big stories. But no, they are not complex in the same fashion as Illidan. Ner'zhul is NOT Guldan, he was simply his teacher. Adding that stuff about teaching the guy who lead the Orcish Horde- is like anyone else drawing the argument that Illidan, equally impressive, inspired Malfurion Stormrage, his twin brother, to lead the NightElves to banish the demons from Azeroth, twice... Thats not straight lore, and its just not that kind of a ho-down.
Illidan, was over 10,000 years old. And instrumental in MANY parts of the lore. He was NEVER the bad guy, just as Cowfordflorida posted. He never betrayed his brother, at least not in his own eyes. Reread the story from a less biased position man. If there was EVER a story about how a man could take it all on the chin (no Deathwing pun intended), its Illidan.
If you have no idea what kind of duality Illidan goes about in his plans throughout the entire Warcraft series, you will think that he is simply The Betrayer and simply working for the Burning Legion with punchcard in-hand. That, is the BC lore that was presented to raiders. To make sense of us busting up in his joint and killing him.
If you think you got his story in the bag, check again, because you've probably missed a few things- I have typed this next part out for the last hour while editing it all out so I don't rant any further... But its 3am, I'm not going to do the work for you, go get the books, sit down and read, find out what it means for a Nightelf to become a Demon Hunter and for goodness sake; the guy was cut by the soul stealing blade... And spent the rest of his days awaiting fiery death which could come at any moment, only to be killed by the stalkerish warden of the barrow dens (where he spent 10 thousand years paying for pretty much granting Nightelves immortality) and us, a bunch of ill prepared misfits.
Whereas Arthas died after being strung up like a piñata 1 shot by Tirion Fordring. (Yes I am aware of the technicalities of this)
Do you still want to make the argument that they don't "ruin" their own lore?
Dahlaine Jan 12th 2007 12:59PM
Just a quick addition. Illidan's consuming of the Skull of Gul'Dan only really completed his demonic transformation.
During the first invasion of the Burning Legion, Illidan allied himself with Sargeras is a foolish attempt to disrupt their plans from the inside. During a conversation between Illidan and the Sargeras, Illidan had his eyes burned away and was infused with the power of the Legion (which is where his glowing tattooes came from). He wears a scarf to hide the fact that his sockets are pretty much just bone with green fiery orbs inside.
Basically, Illidan was always problematic as his desire to do good was always corrupted by his lust for greater power.
Wreck Jan 12th 2007 1:48PM
Wow great work on the first "Know Your Lore" this is the kinda of article I have been waiting for on Insider. Can't wait till the next one...Medivh maybe?
jreffy Jan 12th 2007 12:53PM
Thanks so much for doing this! I've always been aware of Warcraft, but never have I immersed myself in this universe until I started playing WoW. I'm always trying to do searches and find backround information and timelines to fully understand and appreciate instances, characters, and other parts of the Warcraft world.
Immelmann Jan 12th 2007 1:22PM
This is great, I enjoy hearing about the lore of this game. I am one of the Knew nothing about warcraft lore before WoW.
Sideshow Jan 12th 2007 2:19PM
Another great place for Lore updates, or just lore of specific characters, is wowwiki.com. I usually check there if I'm curious about someone new.
SeiferTim Jan 12th 2007 2:35PM
A very nice primer for WoW Lore - for those who want more, click on that link to WoWWiki, you won't be disappointed.
Tarik Jan 12th 2007 2:41PM
Just a quick note, Illidan did not gouge out his eyes because of Kil'Jaeden or any Burning Legion influence.
http://www.wowwiki.com/Demon_Hunter
"Demon Hunters are dark, shadowy warriors who are shunned by the greater Night Elf society. They made a pact, long ago, to fight against the forces of chaos using its own terrible powers against it. These mysterious warriors ritually blind themselves so that they develop 'spectral sight' that enables them to see demons and undead with greater clarity"
That is why Illidan has the scarf around his eyes. When he consumed the Skull of Gul'Dan that's when he got the rest of his non-Night Elf features.
Great idea for a regular post, but don't forget to include lore that pre-dates WoW, from the previous Warcraft games.
Obsidian Jan 12th 2007 2:55PM
The Last Guardian (Medivh)
45 years before Warcraft I
The Guardian Aegwynn grew powerful over the years and used the Tirisfal energies to greatly extend her life. Foolishly believing that she had defeated Sargeras for good, she continued to safeguard the world from the demon king's minions for nearly nine hundred years. However, the Council of Tirisfal finally decreed that her stewardship had come to an end. The Council ordered Aegwynn to return to Dalaran so that they could choose a new successor for the Guardian power. Yet Aegwynn, ever distrustful of the Council, decided to choose a successor on her own.
The proud Aegwynn planned to give birth to a son whom she would divest her power to. She had no intention of allowing the Order of Tirisfal to manipulate her successor as they had tried to manipulate her. Traveling to the southern nation of Azeroth, Aegwynn found the perfect man to father her son: a skilled human magician known as Nielas Aran. Aran was the court conjuror and advisor for Azeroth's king. Aegwynn seduced the magician and conceived a son by him. Nielas' natural affinity for magic would run deep within the unborn child and define the tragic steps the child would later take. The power of Tirisfal was also implanted in the child, yet it wasn't to awaken until he reached physical maturity.
Time passed, and Aegwynn gave birth to her son in a secluded grove. Naming the boy Medivh, which means "keeper of secrets" in the high elven tongue, Aegwynn believed that the boy would mature to become the next Guardian. Unfortunately the malignant spirit of Sargeras, which had been hiding inside her, had possessed the defenseless child while it was still in her womb. Aegwynn had no idea that the world's newest Guardian was already possessed by its greatest nemesis.
Certain that her baby was healthy and sound, Aegwynn delivered young Medivh to the court of Azeroth and left him there to be raised by his mortal father and his people. She then wandered into the wilderness and prepared to pass into whatever afterlife awaited her. Medivh grew to become a strong boy and had no idea of the potential power of his Tirisfalin birthright.
Sargeras bided his time until the youth's power manifested itself. By the time Medivh had reached his teenage years, he had become very popular in Azeroth for his magical prowess and often went off on adventures with his two friends: Llane, the prince of Azeroth, and Anduin Lothar, one of the last descendents of the Arathi bloodline. The three boys constantly caused mischief around the kingdom, but they were well liked by the general citizenry.
When Medivh reached the age of fourteen, the cosmic power inside him awakened and clashed with the pervasive spirit of Sargeras that lurked within his soul. Medivh fell into a catatonic state which lasted for many years. When he awakened from his coma, he found that he had grown to adulthood, and his friends Llane and Anduin had become the regents of Azeroth. Though he wished to use his incredible newfound powers to protect the land he called home, the dark spirit of Sargeras twisted his thoughts and emotions towards an insidious end.
Sargeras reveled within the darkening heart of Medivh, for he knew that his plans for the second invasion of the world were nearing completion, and that the world's last Guardian would bring them all to fruition.
Dahlaine Jan 12th 2007 3:42PM
The description I got for how Illidan got his eyes came from the War of the Ancients Trilogy: The Sundering, Book 3 by Richard Knaak. Whether you hold these as canon is up to you, but I have not read any other specific description as to exactly what happened in the case of Illidan. The demon hunters that followed him may have followed a ritual in order to mimic his original power.
Ekimus Jan 12th 2007 3:50PM
WoWWiki is amazing, my hats of to the contributors to the site. I've been immersed in the Warcraft universe since it's inception, and I still find myself reading WoWWiki.
Generally, while soloing, I'll have WoWWiki up so I can alt-tab when I come across a new or interesting NPC or location.
Grimolfr Jan 12th 2007 5:00PM
Illidan is a demon hunter, one of the three original hero classes from warcraft 3. Following that line of thinking, all Demon Hunters poked their eyes out in order to better attune their senses or whatever. He had wings in warcraft 3 before consuming the skull, not sure about the horns.
Tim Jan 12th 2007 6:04PM
I don't know if it's just me but I found that description to be a major snooze. I want to know the background of these major figures, but after a few names bisected by apostrophes, I start to nod off. WoW should not be homework.
Namisar Jan 12th 2007 7:29PM
Malfurion Stormrage was the first "Arch-Druid" which is like the best of the best for druid.
He wasn't the first druid.
Sorry for nitpicking but I starting playing WoW cause I love Warcraft, it could've been a flight simulatorm I'd still play it =P
MAtadorBID Jan 13th 2007 5:26PM
A) Nothing canon has ever talked about what it really means to be a Demon Hunter. According to the WoW site's encyclopedia:
"Illidan swore allegiance to the dark titan, who granted Illidan great power in return. Sargeras burned Illidan's eyes to ash and endowed the scorched eye sockets with magically enhanced sight. As further reward, Sargeras marked much of Illidan's body with an intricate pattern of tattoos that filled the night elf with powerful arcane energy."
B) Malfurion WAS the first druid. Again from the WoW site's encyclopedia:
"the first mortal druid on Azeroth was Archdruid Malfurion Stormrage."
C) The only error I saw in the actual article was concerning Malfurion seeking to destroy the Well of Eternity. That was never his intention, only to stop the Highborne and the Burning Legion, and close their portal.
Landmark Jan 15th 2007 4:18AM
It seems to me quite a few people enjoy Warcraft lore as I do. But as much as I do enjoy the story behind the game, I just don't have the patience to read all that while I play.
Having that information here in tasty little bits is great, and I thank you guys for writing about it. I'm also thinking of getting one of the books to read on a trip ahead. If you guys can critique those books as well (I don't know if you're THAT into the lore or not), that would be great. More Warcraft can't be a bad thing.
Can it?
Silvertusk Jan 15th 2007 10:56AM
You need to hire Ghostwalka to write up your lore posts.
Not that this is bad, but Ghostwalka.. well.. he's the Ghostwalka!