Warcraft who is the lich king

Now that Ner'zhul had openly defied the will of the Legion, he knew that the wrath of Kil'jaeden and his demonic lackeys would be fierce. Arthas raises Sylvanas as a banshee. After defeating her as a mortal high elf and raising her into a mindless slave to his will, Sylvanas was able to break free from his dominion and subsequently founded the Forsaken. With the death of the Lich King on their main agenda, the Forsaken oversaw the production of a master plague capable of bringing the Scourge to its knees.

Sylvanas herself was not present to see the vengeance of the Forsaken wrought by the plague, though the Lich King whispered Sylvanas's name moments before the deployment. She would later infiltrate Icecrown Citadel with several of her dark rangers , and come face to face with the individual - and the blade - that took her life. After a titanic struggle followed by a narrow escape, Sylvanas was forced to face her inability to defeat Arthas, and contemplated whether even an army of her allies could either.

Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider , the scion of Quel'Thalas , felt the brunt of Arthas's fury both directly and indirectly. Kael'thas was on icy terms with Arthas Menethil even before his dark ascension; Kael'thas harboring resentment towards Arthas's relationship with the object of his affection, Jaina Proudmoore.

After Arthas slaughtered his way through Quel'Thalas, murdered Kael's father and destroyed the high elven Sunwell , Kael'thas rushed to his homeland and dubbed the survivors " blood elves " - stronger for being broken and filled with purpose - that purpose being to see Arthas fall. Kael made numerous attempts to annihilate the Lich King's champion after joining forces with Illidan Stormrage , even reforging [ Felo'melorn ] to counter Frostmourne. However, he was unable to defeat his arch-nemesis, and fled to the shattered world of Outland.

Kael'thas would ultimately not outlive his hated enemy, who at that point had merged with Ner'zhul on the Frozen Throne. Tirion Fordring was another of the Lich King's most hated enemies. As the leader of the Argent Crusade , whose sole purpose is to fight the Scourge , Tirion defies everything that the Lich King stands for and thus the Lich King sees Tirion as his arch-nemesis. Tirion has disrupted many of the Lich King's plans and the two have confronted each other multiple times.

Tirion views the Lich King as the most evil being Azeroth has had to face and vows to strike him down, while the Lich King intends to make Tirion, and those close to him, suffer more than anything and watch everything he cherishes fall. The Lich King had a rather interesting relationship with the adventurers who fought in the Northrend war. Rather than see the adventurers as a complete nuisance, he realized that the adventurers had much potential and intended to draw out that potential.

As such, he constantly threw many of his strongest minions against the adventurers, seeking to test their abilities and their resolve. During their betrayal of Drakuru , the Lich King was amused rather than angered by their defeat of his servant.

Finally, during the raid on his fortress of Icecrown Citadel , the Lich King revealed his true intentions: to kill the adventurers and raise them as his undead minions, giving him the strongest fighting force in the world. This backfires on him, however, since it is the adventurers and Tirion Fordring who manage to defeat him in the end.

Young heroes I was once like you. You have come to this place seeking to bring judgement upon the damned. You will venture deep into forgotten lands. You will see wonders beyond imagining. But be warned. The land itself will rise up against you. Long forgotten terrors will smother your courage.

Sacrifice everything as the final darkness falls Only then will you understand - you've been following in my footsteps all along. So come then, you heroes! Come in all your power and glory! For in the final hour, all must serve the one There has been a debate in some areas of the Warcraft community as to what exactly happened when Arthas and Ner'zhul merged. When asked, "What's the truth about the new Lich King?

After peering into the Lich King's heart , Tirion Fordring remarks that "there's nothing left to redeem" and "there is no Arthas Menethil anymore - there is only the Lich King. In a dream state where Arthas sees past, present, and future, presented by Ner'zhul, Arthas murders the child manifestation of his humanity representing love, compassion, and so forth.

Delighted at this decision, Ner'zhul states, "We are one, Arthas. Together we are the Lich King. No more Ner'zhul, no more Arthas -- only this one glorious being. No one tells me what to do. I've got everything I need from you -- now the power is mine and mine alone.

Now there is only I. I am the Lich King. And I am ready. It was said that Ner'zhul would soon be "nothing at all". In the manga story Fate , the Lich King says, "Ner'zhul is no more. Will Ner'zhul appear at any point in 3. Well, he is a chunk of the Lich King now.

But if you mean will he appear as an orc, we're not ready to tell his story just yet. We have a lot of stories left to tell, but his is a good one. On the official forums, CM Crygil made the following statement in response to a claim that Arthas "erased" Ner'zhul upon merging with him at the end of The Frozen Throne :.

He didn't actually erase the persona of Ner'zhul. In point of fact, these two beings merged to make up what was collectively known as "The Lich King". I have a question regarding the storyline of Ner'zhul: is he finished, or what's going on with that?

Yeah, Ner'zhul is done. He served us well in that capacity, but really the Lich King idea Ner'zhul's done. The "There must always be a Lich King" mantra seemed awfully suspicious, coming from ghosts trapped in Frostmourne.

Was there something else going on there? To save people from generating elaborate conspiracy theories, we'll be serious for a moment and say, definitively, no.

The ghosts of Uther and Terenas understood that the Scourge would run rampant without someone to keep them in check.

Yes, that does also mean that Arthas and Ner'zhul were not unleashing the full force of the Scourge during their respective reigns: you are welcome to speculate on the reasons for that. In , Chris Metzen tweeted that as far as he's concerned, Ner'zhul is completely gone.

In , Sean Copeland corroborated the novel's account of Arthas destroying Ner'zhul's spirit:. Okay, my friend and I are at each other's throats over this. Is Ner'zhul's spirit destroyed canonically or not? So it seems per the Arthas novel p. A debate that has arisen among fans is whether the Lich King can be classified as a god.

His origins lie with Kil'jaeden, but his power has continued to increase at an exponential rate beyond Kil'jaeden's intentions.

Most of the other gods in the Warcraft universe have their origins with the Pantheon. However, most of them have contributed something to the world of Azeroth. Elune gave birth to the night elves according to their own legends , while the Dragon Aspects guard specific elements of Azeroth depending on their origins in the dragonflights.

The Lich King contributed the undead to this world; unlike the contributions of other gods this wasn't a positive change, but it might still elevate the Lich King to the title.

The Warcraft Encyclopedia provided by Blizzard classifies a "god" in two ways:. Although it is true that the Lich King does not age, it is arguable whether or not he is an object of worship. The members of the Cult of the Damned and the mortals who serve him as acolytes in Reign of Chaos and The Frozen Throne , as well as the unknown number of intelligent undead he controls in addition to the countless mindless ones obviously worship him and provide a strong backing for this criterion.

The vrykul revere him as a death god and it is speculated that the tuskarr have identified him with their death-god, Karkut. King Ymiron refers to offering player's hearts as gifts to the death god, as well. From both his name, occupation, and appearance of his armor, it's been widely speculated amoungst fans that the Lich King was at least partially inspired by two figures from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series from the world of Middle Earth.

Like the Witch-King of Angmar, the Lich King is an undead leader of a vast army who uses dark magic, rules over a frozen and grim domain to the north, wields a cursed blade that can turn living beings into the undead, wears a spiny helmet, and can only be defeated by specific means.

Their castles and citadels also bear a passing resemblance. Like the King of the Dead Men of the Mountains, the Lich King can only be harmed meaningfully by blessed weapons, commands an army of the undead, and is notable for breaking an oath. It seems probable that the Helm of Domination and Frostmourne, supposedly 'forged by the Nathrezim' had in fact been delivered to Denathrius through his path to the Maw, which he then instructed the Nathrezim to provide to Kil'jaeden.

The Lich King as he appears in Manual of Monsters. The Lich King with his old model before patch note the way he is standing in this picture. The Lich King on the cover of the unreleased Lich King comic. Icecrown TCG set key art, Tirion vs. On the right of the Hearthstone Battlegrounds key art. The Lich King in the Heroes of the Storm cinematic. Wowpedia Explore. Main Page All Pages. World of Warcraft. Classic Vanilla The Frozen Throne Reforged.

Explore Wikis Community Central. Register Don't have an account? Lich King. View source. History Talk For the Icecrown Citadel encounter, see Lich King tactics. For other appearances, see Lich King disambiguation. This section concerns content related to Wrath of the Lich King.

This section concerns content related to the Warcraft manga or comics. This section concerns content related to the Warcraft novels , novellas , or short stories. This section concerns content related to Warlords of Draenor. This section concerns content related to Legion. This section concerns content related to Battle for Azeroth.

This section concerns content related to Shadowlands. This section contains information that is out-of-date. This article or section includes speculation, observations or opinions possibly supported by lore or by Blizzard officials. It should not be taken as representing official lore. The Lich King on top of Naxxanar. The Lich King in the Howling Fjord. Lich King by Mark Gibbons. The Arthas toy from BlizzCon Luchador Arthas from BlizzCon He whispers to you through the blade you wield.

What does he say, young human? What does the Dark Lord of the Dead tell you now? Death God! Retrieved on Or most well known as The Lich King. For the one true king! Thunder King. But LK is smarter. Archived from the original on With an angry demigod chasing you from behind Undead Scourge.

Banshee Ghost Shade Val'kyr Wraith. Ziggurat Necropolis Plague spreader Soul grinder. Civil War in the Plaguelands Undead category.

Universal Conquest Wiki. Necromancer , Death knight. Master of the Scourge, Master of the Ebon Blade [4]. Dave Fennoy Bwonsamdi as Bwonsamdi voice. Samantha Inoue Harte. Jeffrey Kaplan game director. More like this. Storyline Edit. In the cold, harsh northlands Did you know Edit. Trivia In the Sholazar Basin, there is a small island in the middle of the lake which has hatch and when you mouse over the window to the hatch the numbers 5,9,16,17,24, This is a tribute to the TV series Lost Quotes King Terenas : My son.

User reviews 2 Review. Top review. Gold is easier to amass. The new LFG system is one of the best additions ever to the game. Recruit a friend bonuses and perks make for fast leveling. Heirloom items bound to account make leveling Alts fun and very smooth. The Game has never been this well rounded before. I've played since original launch and have never had this much of a good time playing.

The new LFG system is painless and you are able to gain emblems with extreme ease. Recruiting a friend makes the whole game a lot more fun. Bristling with power and free to roam the world once more, Illidan set out to find his own place in the great scheme of things. However, Kil'jaeden confronted Illidan and made him an offer he could not refuse. Kil'jaeden was angered by Archimonde's defeat at Mount Hyjal , but he had greater concerns than vengeance.

Sensing that his creation, the Lich King, was out of his control, Kil'jaeden ordered Illidan to destroy Ner'zhul and put an end to the undead Scourge once and for all. In exchange, Illidan would receive untold power and a true place amongst the remaining lords of the Burning Legion. Illidan agreed and immediately set out to destroy the Frozen Throne, the icy crystal cask in which the Lich King's spirit resided. Illidan knew that he would need a mighty artifact to destroy the Frozen Throne.

Using the knowledge he had gained from Gul'dan's memories, Illidan decided to seek out the Tomb of Sargeras and claim the Dark Titan 's remains. Using his vast, demonic powers, he lured the serpentine naga from their dark undersea lairs. Led by the cunning witch Lady Vashj the naga helped Illidan reach the Broken Isles , where Sargeras's tomb was rumored to be located. With the powerful Eye of Sargeras in his possession, Illidan traveled to Dalaran.

Strengthened by the city's ley energy lines , Illidan used the Eye to cast a destructive spell against the Lich King's citadel of Icecrown in distant Northrend. Illidan's attack shattered the Lich King's defenses and ruptured the very roof of the world.

The Lich King had no defense against this spell, and he would have been forever vanquished that day. But at the final moment, Illidan's destructive spell was stopped when his brother Malfurion intervened, sensing that the spell was causing great damage to the world. Now that Ner'zhul had openly defied the will of the Legion, he knew that the wrath of Kil'jaeden and his demonic lackeys would be fierce - and at the worst possible time, Ner'zhul was losing his magical power.

When he had pushed Frostmourne from the throne, he had caused a crack within the icy cask. Illidan's spell had caused this crack to worsen and now the Lich King's powers were rapidly seeping out like blood from an open wound. Half-way across Azeroth, residing over the unholy remains of his father's kingdom, Arthas was losing power as well — his powers came directly from the Frozen Throne, through his blade Frostmourne, and his hold over the undead was also slipping.

Ner'zhul knew that his time was short. Imprisoned within the Frozen Throne, he suspected correctly that Kil'jaeden would send his agents to destroy him. Desperate to save himself, he called his greatest mortal servant to his side: the death knight Arthas. Though his powers were drained by the Lich King's weakness, Arthas had been involved in a civil war in Lordaeron.

Half of the standing undead forces, led by the banshee Sylvanas Windrunner , had been freed by the Lich King's sudden loss of influence and resented what they had become. Also, another group of undead was still under the control of the Legion's remaining commanders: the three dreadlords Varimathras , Detheroc and Balnazzar. Arthas, called by the Lich King, was forced to leave the Scourge in the hands of his lieutenant, Kel'Thuzad, as the war escalated throughout the Plaguelands.

Ultimately, Sylvanas and her rebel undead known as the Forsaken claimed the ruined capital city of Lordaeron as their own. Consuming the old sewers beneath the wrecked Capital City , the Forsaken vowed to defeat the Scourge and drive Kel'Thuzad and his minions from the land.

The Lich King was powerless to stop them. Weakened, but determined to save his master, Arthas reached Northrend only to find Illidan's naga and blood elves waiting for him. He and his nerubian allies in the form of Crypt Fiends led by the fallen Spider Lord Anub'arak raced against Illidan's forces to reach the Icecrown Glacier and defend the Frozen Throne. Arthas, with Anub'arak's help, battled his way through their forces until faced with Prince Kael'thas , who challenged him.

Kael'thas used the fact that Jaina now hated Arthas to make him hesitate, and fought with his father's reforged runeblade, Felo'melorn Flamestrike. Flamestrike clashed against Frostmourne but in the end Arthas forced Kael'thas to flee, leaving the path open. He then proceeded to magically activate the four Icecrown obelisks around the glacier, opening the doors to the Frozen Throne.

However, Illidan was waiting for him. An intense battle commenced in which Illidan displayed his newfound demonic powers and nearly defeated Arthas. Until, coming in for the finishing blow, he inadvertently left himself open and Arthas quickly took advantage of it, slicing open the demon hunter's chest. Illidan collapsed, grievously wounded. Arthas then turned towards the open doors of Icecrown, leaving Illidan on the ground instead of finishing him.

Rather, before he walked away, Arthas warned Illidan to leave Azeroth and never return. Arthas entered the hollow glacier and beheld a winding pinnacle chained to the ice.

As he strode up the stairs towards his destiny, the voices of those he had forsaken flooded through his mind. First he heard again Uther warning him "If we allow our passions to turn to bloodlust, then we will become as vile as the orcs. Finally, he reached the pinnacle and before him he saw an icy cask, within which was a suit of armour , arranged as if seated on a massive throne. With a great cry of strength, Arthas brought the might of Frostmourne to bear against the Lich King's icy prison and with a haunting scream, the Frozen Throne exploded, and shards of the crystal scattered on the ground.

With Ner'zhul's thorny helm at his feet, Arthas leaned forward, picked it up and then placed the unimaginably powerful artifact on his head. It was at that moment, Ner'zhul and Arthas's spirits fused into a single mighty being, just as the Lich King had always planned. And thus one of the most powerful entities on Azeroth was born.

This section concerns content exclusive to the Warcraft novels or short stories. After the merger, the Lich King sat dormant for several years while storms raged across Northrend and his minions constructed Icecrown Citadel around the Frozen Throne. While the Lich King dreamt, the various personas in his mind - the death knight Arthas Menethil, the orc shaman Ner'zhul, and Matthias Lehner , the personification of the remnants of Arthas's humanity - fought for influence and control over the entity.

It is noticeable that if arranged accordingly, Matthias Lehner is an anagram of Arthas Menethil. Matthias tried to reason with Arthas, but Arthas killed him by running him through with Frostmourne.

Ner'zhul was delighted by this, declaring that he and Arthas were now free to merge into a single glorious being. Arthas rejected this offer, stating that only he was worthy of the power of the Lich King, no one would tell him what to do again. He impaled the stunned Ner'zhul with Frostmourne, becoming the dominant personality of the Lich King and ending the dream.

This section concerns content exclusive to Wrath of the Lich King. When the Lich King finally awakened after decades, he silenced his own heart, believing that anything that made him at all mortal made him weak. Afterwards he journeyed to Sindragosa's Fall where he raised the ancient massive dragon Sindragosa , the first consort to Malygos , as a frost wyrm, then watched his massive undead army prepare for war.

The capitals of Azeroth began receiving mysterious packages with infected grain. As their citizens ate grain from the infected packages, they were turned into bloodthirsty ghouls if not treated by members of the Argent Dawn.

With all the major capitals thrown into chaos, necropoleis appeared around the world, triggering a second Scourge war. Adventurers from both the Alliance and the Horde fought back the disease and the advancing Scourge armies.

Outraged by this treachery, Warchief Thrall with his fellow Horde leaders, and King Varian Wrynn planned an invasion on Northrend to deal with the Lich King once and for all. The final straw occurred when the Lich King directly attacked the capitals of the Horde and the Alliance. Orgrimmar and Stormwind were attacked by large Scourge armies consisting of frost wyrms and abominations.

The Battles for Stormwind and Orgrimmar were won by the brave adventurers and their leaders once more, thus forming the Horde Expedition and the Alliance Vanguard. These attacks were intended to lure powerful heroes to Northrend, where the Lich King sought to corrupt them and use them against their own people, in a reflection of Arthas's own journey. Not content to just lure the Champions of Azeroth into his service, the Lich King decided to remove the anti-Scourge presence within the plaguelands.

To this end he created a new order of death knights. This new order was led by Highlord Darion Mograine and successfully forced the Scarlet Crusade from Lordaeron , with the survivors becoming the Scarlet Onslaught and heading to Northrend. During the battle, he sensed an old enemy he destroyed long ago, but he was content to ignore that at the time. Despite the odds, the Argent Dawn won against the army of damned, largely thanks to the arrival of Tirion Fordring.

The spirit of Alexandros Mograine , the original Ashbringer, appeared to speak with his defeated son Darion. The Lich King then took to the field himself, sealing away Alexandros's soul. Realizing how he had been betrayed, Darion attacks the Lich King, only to be swatted aside. Fordring comes forward in preparation to battle the Lich King.

The Lich King incapacitates him, stating that sacrificing a small army of death knights was a small price to pay to draw Tirion out of hiding. Lord Maxwell Tyrosus gives the order to attack, and while the remaining Defenders of the Light charge the Lich King, they are easily blasted away. Having heard from the Lich King himself of why he would throw away Darion and the death knights under his command, Darion uses Arthas's focus on Tirion against him, and throws the Corrupted Ashbringer to Fordring.

The combination of Fordring's own faith and the holy ground of Light's Hope cleanses the Ashbringer , restoring the sword to its original glory. With this new power, Tirion escapes the Lich King's spell and strikes him with the holy sword. Stunned by this turn of events, the Lich King retreats after promising that the next time he meets Fordring, it will not be on holy ground.

Members of the Horde and the Alliance fighting at the siege for Angrathar the Wrathgate formed a temporary alliance, focusing their attacks on the Scourge instead of each other. With the dragonflights providing aerial support, both factions made a daring attack on the gate, seizing control from the Scourge. There, Bolvar Fordragon and Saurfang the Younger taunted the Lich King to fight his own battles instead of sending his minions. The Lich King entered the battle and quickly slew Saurfang the Younger.

The Lich King was injured and forced to retreat. This betrayal and the Battle for the Undercity that followed ended upwards of seven years of cold war between the Horde and the Alliance. Thus the Ashen Verdict was born, a combination of opposing orders for a common purpose: the final assault against the Scourge in Icecrown Citadel and the eventual fall of the Lich King. After intelligence spoke of an opening directly to the Lich King's private chambers, Jaina Proudmoore led adventurers from the Alliance while Sylvanas Windrunner led adventurers from the Horde into the Frozen Halls.

While Jaina hoped to find a little trace of Arthas left in the Lich King, Sylvanas planned to simply sneak past all of the Lich King's defenses while he was preoccupied with the Ashen Verdict invasion and claim her revenge. Once inside they discovered that the Lich King had left Frostmourne unattended within the Halls of Reflection. Both Jaina and Sylvanas attempted to speak with the spirits of the blade in an attempt to find the Lich King's weakness, and both were met by the spirit of Uther the Lightbringer.

Uther warned that the Lich King could see what Frostmourne saw and was on his way. Uther finally told them that any trace of Arthas was simply a fading presence inside the Lich King's mind, and that to destroy him, he must be slain at the place where Arthas merged with Ner'zhul, at the top of the Frozen Throne.