The Forsaken (Warcraft)

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The Forsaken are a faction of the Undead in the fantasy Warcraft Universe. They are currently led by Sylvanas Windrunner and are currently allied with the Horde.

Contents 1 Appearance 2 Physiology 3 Linguistics 4 History 5 Territory 6 The Forsaken's place in Azeroth 7 Trivia 8 See also 9 External links

[edit] Appearance

In appearance, the Forsaken look no different than their Scourge counterparts. Male or female, they are all corpses in various stages of decay, some nothing more than walking intact skeletons with bits of rotting flesh still clinging to their bones. Though they can "see" in the same fashion as the living, they do not have eyes, their eye sockets being either empty or occupied by glowing orbs of light. Most give little thought to clothing and simply dress in whatever rags they can find, though they still value strong shields and armor, as their bodies are not indestructible. Forsaken Mages and Warlocks wear enchanted robes, which they use as would any living magic user. As with all Undead on Azeroth, the Forsaken have a hunchback but are also able to stand up straight if they wish.

[edit] Physiology

The Forsaken have no need to eat, drink, sleep, or even breathe; nonetheless, they still feel cold when they are being taken over by the scourge and can still consume food and drink to regain mana and hit points in the game, and also possess the Cannibalize racial ability, which enables them to derive nourishment from feeding on humanoid, undead, and NPC corpses. In addition, the Forsaken are able to remain underwater for three times as long as members of any other race.

[edit] Linguistics

As members of the Horde, they are fluent in Orcish, and use Gutterspeak amongst themselves, a language used by criminals and rogues. Also, though the Forsaken were once human, they are unable to speak Common, the faction-spanning language of the Alliance. This is because Blizzard wanted to limit, if not eliminate, verbal communication between the factions, which might have escalated into personal attacks and unpleasant experiences for players. This does not mean Forsaken cannot speak common, simply that forsaken players are not capable of doing so. Note that gutterspeak does not have its own vocabulary, the ingame filter simply makes the words look like gutterspeak, which means no matter whether a character speaks common or orcish, a "lol" in gutterspeak will always come out as something else.

[edit] History

When the Burning Legion's lieutenant, Kil'Jaeden, discovered that his creation the Lich King was becoming too powerful to control, the demon approached the Betrayer, Illidan Stormrage, and offered him great power in return for destroying the Lich King. Using an artifact called the Eye of Sargeras, Illidan succeeded in cracking the glacial ice that kept the Lich King imprisoned, though he failed to destroy him due to the interference of Maiev Shadowsong. With his Frozen Throne broken, the Lich King's power began to wane and many of the stronger-minded Undead regained their free will. Chief amongst them was the former High Elf Ranger General Sylvanas Windrunner. In control of her own mind and once again possessing corporeal form, Sylvanas set about to free as many free-willed Undead that she could and eventually enslaved the Dreadlord Varimathras as well. Naming her new army the Forsaken, Sylvanas claimed the ruined capital of Lordearon as her own and has turned the royal crypts beneath the crumbling castle into a bastion of Undeath called the Undercity. The Forsaken refer to Sylvanas as The Dark Lady and loyally obey her every command.

Sylvanas's army consisted only of Banshees and Ghouls before she enslaved Varimathras. Because the lack of brute force initially commanded by her legion, Sylvanas had her Banshees bolster their forces with whomever they could recruit, be they ogres, trolls, murlocs, gnolls, or bandits.

[edit] Territory

The Forsaken are the most dominant force in Tirisfal Glades and Silverpine Forest, though their efforts to assert their influence are hampered by the Scourge and scattered groups of Dalaran survivors. They have also recently had to contend with a new human resistance force, the corrupted Scarlet Crusade, whose members have dedicated themselves to wiping out all of the Undead, Scourge and Forsaken alike. The Forsaken have near total sway of the neighboring Silverpine Forest, but still find occasional resistance there as well in the form of Dalaran wizards and the Archmage, Arugal.

[edit] The Forsaken's place in Azeroth

Having no necromancers in her flock, Sylvanas has found it difficult to increase the Forsaken's numbers. She gladly welcomes any free-willed Undead to her ranks and is especially keen on recruiting Undead Mages and Warlocks. Sylvanas's general aim is to take revenge upon Arthas and free as many Undead as she can. To this end, Sylvanas formed the Royal Apothecary Society, led by the Forsaken Master Apothecary Farranel. He and his assistants work to create a new plague, one that will destroy not only the living but the Undead Scourge as well. The dreadlord Varimathras still serves the Forsaken Queen and acts as her majordomo, working to ensure the security of the Undercity.

Feeling that perhaps the primitive races of Azeroth could help her, Sylvanas entered into an alliance of convenience with the Horde, though she has no deep-seated loyalty to them. For the most part, her friendship has been welcomed by the other Horde commanders. The Warchief Thrall in particular sympathizes with the Forsaken, whose previous enslavement by the Lich King he views as comparable to that of the Orcs by the Burning Legion. Cairne Bloodhoof, the leader of the Tauren, declared at the outset of the agreement that even the Undead deserved a second chance. His people have since welcomed those Forsaken seeking to cure themselves of their undeath into their settlement at Thunder Bluff. The Darkspear Trolls, however, are not fond of the Forsaken and barely tolerate their presence in the Horde ranks. In spite of their alliance, even Thrall and Cairne do not fully trust Sylvanas and are reluctant to reveal their designs to her in full.

It is easy to assume that the Forsaken are the one "evil" race in the game, but after playing their quest lines, one can see this is not true: the Forsaken are merely misunderstood by the greater races of Azeroth.^{[citation needed]} One point of view is that just like any of the other races, they are trying to find their place in the world, and their primary goal is looking out for the well-being of their people.^{[citation needed]} Many players applaud Blizzard's decision to make the Forsaken merely "dark" and not "evil,"^{[citation needed]} as it makes more clear that the conflict present in Azeroth is not one of simple good-vs.-evil, but one of political misunderstanding between nations. The Forsaken are the only Player race with the stated goal of eliminating all other life on the face of their planet; the other races may be combative towards their opponents, but are not so directly genocidal. However, a quest in the Burning Crusade has Sylvannas Windrunner, Leader of the Forsaken, singing a song that sympathises with the Blood Elves. This questions the Forsaken's goal of eliminating all life, once again putting the Forsaken's true motive into question. [ Quest name: The Lady`s Pendent, obtainable at level 15 ].

Leonid Bartholomew the Revered in Light's Hope Chapel is a member of the Argent Dawn, but seeing as he is an intelligent undead with free will, he is most likely an ex-member of the Forsaken. He is also one of these undead that sees undeath as an illness to be cured, as do several members of The Forsaken in Thunderbluff.

[edit] Trivia

• The male Forsaken's dance consists of a typical mosh (which includes headbanging and playing airguitar), while the female Forsaken's dance seems to be a type of dancing known as Liquid dancing.

• The Undead Priest's racial abilities are Devouring Plague and Touch of Weakness.

• In the game World of Warcraft, the Forsaken is the most popular race for the Horde on North American and European servers, as well as the third most popular race in general, bested in popularity by humans and night elves.

• Although most Forsaken are unquestionably loyal to Sylvanas there are some traitors to her; most notable are the four Forsaken in the Lordaeron Internment Camp, Horde players can perform a quest that involves killing them and taking bloodstones they stole from The Forsaken.

• Although it was originally stated that the Forsaken wanted to create a plague that would kill all non-Forsaken on Azeroth^{[citation needed]}, it has been shown that Sylvanas Windrunner still has compassion for the blood elves, which casts doubt on the prospect of the Forsaken attempting to kill all other races in the world.

[edit] See also

Playable Races and Classes in World of Warcraft

	Races (* indicates only available in the Burning Crusade expansion pack)
Classes	Human	Night Elf	Gnome	Dwarf	Draenei*	Troll	Tauren	Orc	Undead	Blood Elf*
Druid	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
Hunter	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Mage	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
Paladin	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes
Priest	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
Rogue	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Shaman	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Warlock	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Warrior	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No

Warcraft Universe
Humans | Dwarves | Gnomes | Night Elves | Draenei | Orcs | Tauren | Trolls | The Forsaken | Blood Elves Undead | Goblins | Pandaren | High Elves | Ogres | Murlocs | Naga
Games | Books | Races | Locations | Characters | Organizations | Items

[edit] External links

• Undead, World of Warcraft Game Guide
• Forsaken at WoWWiki, a World of Warcraft wiki

Warcraft Universe
Alliance | Argent Dawn | Azeroth Kingdom | Burning Legion | Dalaran | Darkspear Tribe | The Forsaken | Horde | Kirin Tor | Lordaeron | Quel'Thalas | Royal Apothecary Society | Scarlet Crusade | The Scourge | Silver Hand | Wildhammer Clan
Games | Books | Races | Locations | Characters | Organizations | Items