Worgen

For the playable race, see Worgen (playable).

Worgen
Worgen from Monster Guide.
Faction/Affiliation	Alliance (Gilneas) Scourge (Arugal's Wolfcult) Independent/Hostile Defias Brotherhood (some) Burning Legion (One Corrupted) Bloodsail Buccaneers Blackwater Raiders
Character classes	Barbarian, Death knight, Druid, Hunter, Mage, Priest, Rogue, Warlock, Warrior
Racial capital	Howling Oak, Darnassus (by way of Gilneas City) (Alliance) Shadowfang Keep (Scourge)
Racial leader(s)	King Genn Greymane (Alliance) Archmage Arugal (Wolfcult) Velinde Starsong (other)
Homeworld	Azeroth
Primary language(s)	Worgen, Gilnean (Human-Worgen cursed)
Secondary language(s)	Common, Darnassian? (presumed)
Height	7' - 8' ft
Weight	250 - 300 lbs
Organization(s)	Alliance
Alignment	Always neutral evil (pre-Cataclysm)
Sources: Monster Guide, 146-147

Worgen are large, lupine humanoids reminiscent of a werewolf that walks upright, but lopes on all fours to run.

Introduction

At first, people believed that the Worgen were not native to Azeroth. They believed that they have only recently appeared in remote areas where they menace travelers and small settlements. The Worgen are an erratic race and they can be found in most of the Kingdoms of the East. Some believe they are arrivals from another world in the Twisting Nether, while others think that they might have been created through magical experimentation, or brought here as servants of some evil entity. Whatever the case, they are, for the most part, unwelcome. These creatures are thoroughly evil, delighting in torturing and devouring intelligent creatures. They enjoy hearing the screams of their victims as they tear them apart piece by piece. Worgen never show mercy or remorse. They may seem savage, but they are fairly intelligent and possess a cruel, bestial cunning that can come as a surprise to the unprepared. Worgen society is patriarchal, with the eldest male leading the pack. Worgen never challenge leadership; the patriarch leads until he is physically incapable of doing so any longer, at which point his younger kin devour him. The worgen see this not as cruelty, but a great honor— they consume the bodies of their fallen as well as their victims. They believe the flesh and blood of their own kind improves their strength and cunning. Worgen look like humanoid wolves. They dwell in simple huts and usually wear cured leather scraps as rudimentary armor. Worgen do not use weapons, preferring to tear foes apart with their claws. They stand 6 feet tall, except when loping along on all fours, and weigh around 250 pounds. They speak their own language, made up of a variety of growls, barks, and howls.

These sources, however, have been proven incorrect. The worgen, in fact, derive from an ancient druidic sect known as the Druids of the Scythe who worshiped the wolf Ancient, Goldrinn. The chosen shapeshift form of these druids was the worgen form, but these druids lost themselves to the form's savage nature and descended into feral behaviour.

Most worgen keep their wolf-like forms at all times, but experiments by the mage Arugal have resulted in human/worgen "hybrids" who only appear as worgen under the light of the moon. They carry with them a dark, corrupting malaise that grows wherever they infest, making the surrounding area dark and gloomy.

Worgen are among the few humanoids that can be skinned.

In World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, the Greymane Worgen, have developed a partial cure to the curse which allows them to retain their sanity even while transformed, they are a playable Alliance race.

Description

Much of the following has been retconned and changed with the release of the Cataclysm and the Curse of the Worgen series.

Resembling a cross between human and dire wolf, the hunched over creature is roughly humanoid. Its body is covered in coarse, grayish-black fur with twitching claws and snarling teeth. The creature's eyes are mottled yellow in colour, unblinking and devoid of any discernible emotion other than hunger.

Cursed beings from another dimension, worgen only appear in Azeroth as the result of magical mishaps. True aberrations, they are accidentally drawn through temporary rift tunnels and deposited in this world with no apparent way of returning. Nothing is known about the worgen's home realm, or even precisely how to spawn the rift tunnels through which they come. Worgen are usually encountered in small packs near sites of recent intense magical activity.

Fiercely territorial creatures, they rarely stray from the general vicinity of the place in which they first appeared. Fearless beasts, they brazenly prowl near both villages and monster lairs. Although worgen display an apparent fondness for nighttime and its darkness, they can perform equally well in the daytime.

Pure killing beasts, worgen tend to attack any creatures that they encounter, regardless of whether animal, humanoid, Scourge or something even more fearsome. Rumors suggest that worgen somehow receive sustenance continually from their native dimension... as well as guidance from a distant force.

Worgen are usually encountered in small packs near sites of recent intense magical activity. A pack may contain four to twelve individuals. A worgen tribe may contain between twenty and two hundred individuals.

As of Cataclysm

Actually cursed night elf druids from Azeroth's ancient past, the worgen were released from their prison in the Blackwald by several tamperers over the recent years. Unfortunately, the methods of removing them from their prison do not appear to be reversible, leaving the insane druids unfettered and unrestrained. For a long time, the worgens' origins remained a mystery, and their home was thought to be another dimension, or another world.

The worgen are not from another dimension, as they originate on Azeroth, but the other dimension may be interpreted as referring to the Emerald Dream.

The reason for the worgen refusing to devour most of their victims may be some lingering vestige of sanity in the worgen's minds.^{[citation needed]}

Despite promotional drawings depicting them wearing jewelry such as rings and earrings, worgen do not wear any in-game even if shown on their human forms.

Worgen are immune to being raised as Forsaken, and so presumably they were immune to being raised as Scourge as well

Combat

Worgen prefer to hide in shadows before leaping great distances upon their foes. They attack with feral tenacity, slashing with their deadly claws and biting with sharp, infectious fangs. Worgen are nearly fearless and typically fight to the death, relying on their regeneration to save them.

Worgen love nothing more than to pounce on an opponent and tear him to ribbons. If a foe is helpless, the worgen delivers a coup de grace before moving on to another target, unless the fight is well in hand. Then it turns to torture (or "playtime") — and the unfortunate victim is almost certain to wish he had died.

The saliva of a worgen carries a dangerous infection that can prove deadly against those who are bitten. Drinking the blood of a Worgen will cause infection.

History

Concept art of a new Gilnean worgen.

Ur, a mage of Dalaran, did research on worgen but never summoned them. He found out that the worgen seemed to hail from a dark and treacherous world, from which there was no corner which was truly safe. Velinde saw the worgen battle an unflinching enemy in a vicious war- the Lords of the Emerald Flame.

Frustrated by the destruction of Dalaran by the Scourge and against the advice of his peers, Archmage Arugal elected to summon an army of the extra-dimensional entities by using Ur's research. The summoned worgen fought against the undead armies, but quickly turned on the wizards themselves. Driven mad with guilt, Arugal adopted the worgen as his children and retreated to the newly dubbed Shadowfang Keep, where he then cursed the village people of Pyrewood to turn into worgen whenever the sun went down.

At approximately the same time, the night elf Sentinel, Velinde Starsong, was given the task of clearing Felwood of demons. She prayed to Elune and was granted a magical scythe which could summon worgen. Using the Scythe of Elune, she summoned a very large number of the creatures to fight at her side against the demons. Later, Velinde began to notice that some of her force were unaccounted for. It was as though the Scythe of Elune no longer required her presence to perform the summoning process. Perplexed by this development, she ordered the remaining worgen to remain at the Shrine of Mel'Thandris in Ashenvale and began to search for Archmage Arugal, whom she had heard also summoned worgen. From that point on, her fate became a mystery, but it was rumored that she was killed in Duskwood and lost the Scythe of Elune. Black Riders from Deadwind Pass came to Duskwood looking for the Scythe and murdered a family of farmers in the search to find it.

It is also known that the dark mage Morganth was searching for the Scythe of Elune, and stole Ur's Treatise on Shadow Magic as well.

In Wrath of the Lich King

This section concerns content exclusive to Wrath of the Lich King.

In World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, Arthas has discovered Arugal's activities and has brought him back from the dead to work for him. This also means that there are a lot of worgen allied with the Scourge in Northrend and in particular, the Grizzly Hills.

In Cataclysm

This section concerns content exclusive to Cataclysm.

Main article: Worgen (playable)

In World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, it is revealed that the worgen curse has spread into the secluded kingdom of Gilneas, transforming nearly all of it's inhabitants into the worgen. More recent evidence suggests that their true origin has a connection to the night elves and a secretive druidic order from Kalimdor's distant past. At the starting point of the worgen starting experience, many Gilneans believe that a treatment for the worgen curse may exist, although others have nearly given up, fearful that if the barricades should fall, their humanity will be lost forever.

The curse originated from the druidic order who followed Goldrinn, known as Druids of the Scythe. They shapeshifted into the feral worgen and eventually lost their minds to its violent nature. The other Druids agreed that they must be locked away, and thus put them into eternal slumber deep beneath a tree... until the days Arugal utilized Ur's research, and Velinde Starsong used the Scythe of Elune. It was the night elves, after all, who created the curse in the first place. Obliged to help their newfound allies, they re-introduce them to the Alliance.

Worgen groups

Alliance

• Greymane - Playable race found in various areas of the world, homeland in Gilneas
• Bloodfang - Found in Gilneas and Silverpine Forest, supporters of the Gilneas Liberation Front

Scourge

• Wolfcult/Bloodmoon - Found in the Grizzly Hills

Independent/Hostile

• Brashwater Crew - A group of worgen pirates
• Lycanthoth - Found in Mount Hyjal
• Nightbane - Found in Duskwood
• Moonrage - Found in Silverpine Forest
• Shadowfang - Found in Shadowfang Keep
• Terrowulf - Found in Ashenvale Forest

Notable worgen

Name	Role	Condition	Location	Allegiance
Genn Greymane	King of Gilneas	Alive	Gilneas and Stormwind City	Kingdom of Gilneas, Alliance
Darius Crowley	Leader of the Gilneas Liberation Front, former dissenter	Alive	Gilneas and Silverpine Forest	Kingdom of Gilneas, Alliance
Tobias Mistmantle	Gilneas Liberation Front	Alive	Gilneas and Duskwood	Kingdom of Gilneas, Alliance
Marl Wormthorn	Corrupted druid loyal to Burning Legion	Killable	Blasted Lands	Burning Legion
Admiral Ripsnarl	Defias Admiral	Killable	Sentinel Hill, Westfall	Defias Brotherhood
Ivar Bloodfang	Leader of the Bloodfang pack	Alive	Gilneas	Bloodfang pack, Alliance
Big Bad Wolf	Karazhan opera house boss	Killable	Karazhan, Deadwind Pass	Independent
Garwal	Alpha worg of Rivenwood	Killable	Rivenwood, Howling Fjord	Wolfcult, Scourge
Selas	Arugal's lieutenant	Killable	Bloodmoon Isle, Grizzly Hills	Wolfcult, Scourge
Eviscerator	Prisoner/Gladiator	Killable	Blackrock Depths	Independent

Inspiration

The worgen bear a strong resemblance to the "Myrkridia" from Bungie's Myth II: Soulblighter (a contemporary of Warcraft I and II), especially the idea of them being from another dimension. Beside that, the worgen obviously resemble a werewolf as it is known in popular fiction, particularly the part where they managed to get the curse under control and only changed when the moon was up.

Hunter pet

Garwal was a tamable pet during 3.1 until a hotfix was deployed on 7 July, shortly after the discovery was widely known on the internet. During this time, the tamed Garwal pets were no longer an effective pet as they were stripped of their abilities and could not even be fed.

Community Manager Zarhym responded on the forums shortly after the hotfix with this statement:

Re: Worgen pet. | 2009-07-07 22:49 | Zarhym

The worgen should not technically belong to any of the pet families and was therefore removed. This means the pet no longer has access to pet talents or abilities. Whether or not similar circumstances with hunter pets in the past have occurred isn’t really relevant. Given the nature of the creature that was tamed in this case, we feel it should not belong to any of the eligible pet families from which a hunter can choose his or her combat companion.

...We don't want hunters to have worgens as pets. That is the reason whether you find it reasonable or not.

View original post

Only 21 July, the Garwal skin (appearance) was changed to a normal white worg for all players who had tamed him, and normal pet abilities were restored for those players.

Media

Images

Worgen (Pre-Cataclysm)

Worgen in Northrend

Playable female worgen
(work in progress)

Playable Gilnean worgen in human form. (Concept art)

Worgen Invaders fighting Stormglen guards before you get there (during the beginning but you don't see it because you're in the marketplace; this was a beta screenshot)

See also

• Tainted one
• The Book of Ur
• Jitters' Completed Journal
• Velinde's Journal
• Torment of the Worgen
• Faded Journal
• Werewolf
• Garwal

External links

WoW Official Game Site (US) Worgen

WoW Official Game Site (EU) Worgen