Kel'Thuzad

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Kel'Thuzad

Gender	Male
Race	Undead
Character class	Lich (formerly Necromancer)
Affiliation	The Scourge, formerly the Alliance
Occupation	Majordomo of the Lich King, Master of Naxxramas

Kel'Thuzad is a fictional character from the Warcraft fantasy universe.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

1 Origins
2 The Cult of the Damned
- 2.1 The Resurrection, and the Summoning
3 Aftermath of the Legion's Defeat
4 Kel'Thuzad in "World of Warcraft"
5 External links

[edit] Origins

Kel'Thuzad was a wizard of aristocratic origin that began his magical career in the nation of Dalaran, where he toiled ceaselessly to uncover the mysteries of the Great Dark Beyond. There, he became a member of the Kirin Tor, a friend of Antonidas himself, and a very wealthy magocrat.

Soon, however, his curiosity for power got the better of him. A god-like power began to pull on his mind, and he found himself researching the forbidden arts of necromancy. He was shunned by his peers, and so he left Dalaran, lured by the malevolent Lich King to the frozen lands of Northrend. There, amongst the blizzards and storms of ice and hail, he reached the Icecrown Glacier. To his surprise, the undead allowed him through and guided him to the Frozen Throne. In awe of the Lich King's sheer presence, he offered his soul, devoting all he was and all he had to whatever the Lich King demanded. Kel'Thuzad's mind was opened up to the knowledge of all that the Lich King had seen, and all that he knew, and the necromancer was given his first mission. He was to return to Lordaeron and facilitate the production of a vast army of undead by creating the Cult of the Damned.

[edit] The Cult of the Damned

Using his power and vast wealth to create the secretive Cult of the Damned, Kel'Thuzad approached the disenfranchised peasants and citizens of Lordaeron, who found themselves easily swayed from their faith in the Holy Light by the Cult's offerings of social equality and immortality in exchange for their eternal loyalty to the Lich King, who was regarded by the Cult as a god. Kel'Thuzad and his most trusted acolytes, hidden in plain sight among the general populace, began to infect the granaries at Andorhal, one of the primary distributors of grain in Lordaeron, with the Lich King's undead plague.

Kel'Thuzad, upon the Lich King's instruction, oversaw the infection of the small town of Brill, where he was discovered by Jaina Proudmoore and Prince Arthas. From there, he quickly fled, and they followed him back to Andorhal, where he told Arthas of Mal'Ganis in Stratholme. Arthas, in a rage, hunted Kel'Thuzad down and killed him. But Kel'Thuzad was not out of the picture long. He waited patiently as a ghostly apparition until his protector, Gavinrad the Dire, was slain by a now-corrupted Arthas, and his remains were reclaimed for transport to Quel'Thalas - ironically, in the urn of Arthas' father, King Terenas, murdered by what his son had become. He appeared only to Arthas, and told him that he was not to trust the Dreadlords, promising to explain all of the Lich King's plans to Arthas once he walked the earth again in Quel'Thalas.

Kel'Thuzad watched over Arthas as he made the slow procession to the Sunwell in Silvermoon against the stratagems of Sylvanas Windrunner, Silvermoon's Ranger-General. Eventually, Arthas ravaged his way through the two Elf gates and finally breached Silvermoon itself, killing Sylvanas and raising her as a banshee - forever bound to the Lich King's will...or so it was thought.

[edit] The Resurrection, and the Summoning

With the help of Tichondrius, Kel'Thuzad was reborn into the terrifying form of a lich, while corrupting the high elves' source of magic in the process. Arthas demanded his promised explanation, and Kel'Thuzad obliged - but not where they were. First they had to get far enough out of the sight of the dreadlords, high in the mountains surrounding the ruined city of Alterac. As they traveled to Alterac, Kel'Thuzad explained that the Scourge was merely the harbinger of the Burning Legion, and that he would summon the first of the demons, the Eredar warlock Archimonde, to the mortal world. After destroying the orcs guarding the Demon Gate, Kel'Thuzad communed with the dark lord, who told him that he must go to Dalaran and steal the Book of Medivh, which went into great detail on demons and their summoning. Medivh, the corrupted Guardian, had inherited millennia of knowledge accumulated by the Kirin Tor, the High Elves, and his predecessors.

After Arthas led the attack on Dalaran and killed Antonidas, the book was retrieved, and Kel'Thuzad began the lengthy summoning process, with Arthas defending him from the many attacks of Dalaran and the Kirin Tor. Finally, all was complete, and Archimonde was set loose upon the world. His first act was to promote Tichondrius to leader of the Scourge, rendering Arthas and Kel'Thuzad of little use. However, Kel'Thuzad, confident in the Lich King's grand design, disappeared amidst the chaos of Dalaran's destruction.

[edit] Aftermath of the Legion's Defeat

Kel'Thuzad resurfaced as the Legion raked across Lordaeron, and in the aftermath of the invasion, he remained in the Capital as one of the Lich King's lieutenants. Arthas had gone to Kalimdor on Ner'zhul's command, and so only Kel'Thuzad and the banshee Sylvanas Windrunner remained in his stead. But they knew that the Legion was defeated long before the Dreadlords who remained in Lordaeron did.

Arthas returned in a fury and chased the Dreadlords out of the Capital, and Kel'Thuzad was relieved to see him. With the Legion's generals gone, they turned to the human villagers who were escaping to the mountain passes. Kel'Thuzad thought that perhaps they would be a fitting sacrifice to the Lich King. But as they cut a swath through the human forces, Arthas suffered some violent seizures, and Kel'Thuzad considered recalling their forces. But the King forbade it, and they continued on their macabre mission.

In the aftermath, Arthas received a vision from Ner'zhul, who told him to return to Northrend. Kel'Thuzad immediately prepared for his departure, but they were abruptly ambushed by the Dreadlords, and separated. The Dreadlords unleashed all their forces against Arthas, but Kel'Thuzad found his own way out of the city. As he fled, Kel'Thuzad surmised that only Sylvanas had the position to arrange for this assassination attempt, and knew that until he reached Arthas, he was in grave danger.

Kel'Thuzad came upon Arthas in the clutches of Sylvanas and her wicked banshees. She was about to strike when Kel'Thuzad unleashed his forces against her and drove her away. Kel'Thuzad escorted Arthas to the shore, where he had prepared a fleet of ships for his departure.

Arthas asked Kel'Thuzad, as his most loyal servant and trusted friend, to remain in Lordaeron and ensure that his legacy remain. Kel'Thuzad swore on what was left of his life to carry out that mission at all cost. In the battle that would follow between Sylvanas and the Dreadlords, Kel'Thuzad took his forces into hiding, where he would plot his resurfacing into the new powers of the Plaguelands.

Currently Kel'Thuzad rules over the scourge forces in Lordaeron from Naxxramas, his personal Necropolis that is located above the undead city of Stratholme.

[edit] Kel'Thuzad in "World of Warcraft"

Kel'Thuzad is the last of 15 boss encounters in the 40-man instance, Naxxramas. He is the most difficult boss encounter in Azeroth. With the release of patch 1.11, a major Scourge invasion took place, and may recur in the future. The regions of Azshara, Tanaris and Winterspring in Kalimdor, and the Blasted Lands, Burning Steppes and Eastern Plaguelands in the Eastern Kingdoms were invaded by Kel'Thuzad's shock troops in an attempt to establish new bases of operation. In addition to this, several new Scourge bosses, only present during the event, appeared in Scholomance, Stratholme, Dire Maul, Shadowfang Keep, the Scarlet Monastery, and Razorfen Downs. While necropolises appeared to threaten the outlying regions and capital cities, the Black Citadel of Naxxramas now drifts over Stratholme in the Eastern Plaguelands.

Interestingly, inside Naxxramas it would appear Kel'Thuzad has a pet cat named "Mr. Bigglesworth", the name is a reference to Austin Powers. The reason the cat is assumed to be Kel'Thuzad's pet is because if one of the players kill it Kel'Thuzad yells "No!!! A curse upon you, interlopers! The armies of the Lich King will hunt you down. You will not escape your fate..."

Kel'Thuzad's human form can be seen at Old Hillsbrad instance in Caverns of Time. He is in a purple robe and is intitled with the Kirin Tor.