N'Zoth

N'Zoth
Title(s)	God of the Deep (spoken by Xal'atath), God of Nothing (spoken by Azshara), and the Corruptor (non-cannon Hearthstone title) The Prime Evil The Beast
Race	Old god (Aberration)
Affiliation	Old Gods, Black Empire
Position	Eldritch Abomination Old God of Madness
Location	Ny'alotha
Status	Unknown (presumed deceased)
Relative(s)	C'Thun Y'Shaarj Yogg-Saron

N'Zoth (pronounced "Ne-Zoth" or "Ni-Zoth") is the Demon Old God of Madness Nightmares Corruption and the Deep and one of the confirmed Old Gods. Speculated to be deep under the sea in Azeroth, N'Zoth has rarely been spoken of throughout the world. However the creature has been noted in writings and has even communicated with Queen Azshara.^{[citation needed]} During the fall of the Black Empire, following the death of Y'Shaarj, N'Zoth was the first of the old gods to be encased in an underground monolithic enchanted prison by the titans.

Due to the destruction of the Well of Eternity (also known as the Sundering) Queen Azshara was blasted far into the deeps of the seas. There, she made a deal with the Old Gods, specifically N'Zoth. She was then cursed and transformed into a Naga alongside with all her Highborne.

N'Zoth's official title is "The Corruptor" due to its involvement and being responsible with the saving and corruption of Queen Azshara, her Highborne into Naga, Neltharion into Deathwing, the creation of the Emerald Nightmare, and driving Malygos to madness despite being the weakest of the four old gods.^{[citation needed]}

Background

Blizzard employee comments

In BlizzCon 2010's Quests and Lore panel, Chris Metzen revealed that the third named Old God, which was said to be revealed in Cataclysm, will be called "Nezoth/Ni'zoth", though its name was actually N'Zoth and several people heard variations like N'Zath because the name was spoken and not written down officialy for awhile. N'Zoth appears to be an Old God which is still active. He seems to be related to the Faceless Ones.

In a preview blog for Patch 4.3, N'Zoth was explicitly mentioned by name as aiding Deathwing via his minion  Warlord Zon'ozz who will appear as part of the Dragon Soul raid.

In Warbringers: Azshara

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The strongest hint of N'Zoth's existence and role in corrupting Queen Azshara is in the animated short, Warbringers: Azshara. The short portrays Azshara and her city of Zin-Azshari being engulfed by the ocean during the Sundering. Azshara creates a local shield to stem the flood for a time, but it eventually fails and she begins to drown while hearing the voices of fellow highborne blaming her. As she faces death, an unnamed voice speaks to her and offers an alternative to death, as a servant of the voice. Azshara rejects and boldly demands a counter-offer, which the voice appears to accept, and she is transformed.

Although the voice is not named, previous lore strongly supports that this is N'Zoth.

In World of Warcraft

This section concerns content exclusive to Cataclysm.

In the Dragon Soul raid, Warlord Zon'ozz says:

Q u o t e:

Warlord Zon'ozz: Gaze into the heart of N'Zoth.
Warlord Zon'ozz: The will of N'Zoth corrupts you.
Warlord Zon'ozz: Your deaths shall sing of N'Zoth's unending glory.
Warlord Zon'ozz: Your skulls shall adorn N'Zoth's writhing throne.
Warlord Zon'ozz: Victory for Deathwing. For the glory of N'Zoth!
Warlord Zon'ozz: Your souls shall sate N'Zoth's endless hunger.
Warlord Zon'ozz: Once more shall the twisted flesh-banners of N'Zoth chitter and howl above the fly-blown corpse of this world. After millennia, we have returned.

Speculated references in World of Warcraft

 This article or section includes speculation, observations or opinions possibly supported by lore or by Blizzard officials.*

Puzzle Box

This section concerns content exclusive to Cataclysm.

In Cataclysm, a new item was introduced, the [Puzzle Box of Yogg-Saron]. The following quotes are some of the possible things the box says when you attempt to open it:

• In the land of Ny'alotha there is only sleep...
• In the sleeping city of Ny'alotha walk only mad things.
• Ny'alotha is a city of old, terrible, unnumbered crimes...
• The drowned god's heart is black ice...
• At the bottom of the ocean even light must die.
• Have you had the dream again? A black goat with seven eyes that watches from the outside.
• In the sunken city, he lays dreaming.^†

^† This may be a reference to Vashj'ir, due to the nature that some of it contains Highborn ruins...)

Ny'alotha and the Emerald Nightmare

Ny'alotha may be the Emerald Nightmare, the core of pure evil, in the Emerald Dream. The box also says: "In the sleeping city of Ny'alotha walk only mad things." The mad things may be the unwaking people, victims of the Emerald Nightmare which are captured in the Emerald Dream, forced to stay there forever. That was however proven false, due to the death quote of Il'gynoth, Hearth of Corruption. "N'zoth... I journey... To Ny'alotha..." Therefore,the Emerald Nightmare cannot be Ny'alotha.

N'Zoth is the one who is truly responsible for the Emerald Nightmare, and not Xavius, who was merely a pawn of a greater evil, as stated in Stormrage.

The "drowned god" could be N'Zoth.

Vashj'ir

This section concerns content exclusive to Cataclysm.

The underwater zone Vashj'ir contains a few possible references to an Old God underneath. A cave called the Undershell below L'ghorek sprouts tentacles characteristic of an old god. Three ogre magi can be found there, maintaining a ritual to connect L’ghorek with the thing below.

In the quest  [82] ... It Will Come, Ick'thys the Unfathomable is summoned and states:
"I laugh at you, feeble <name>, but I will oblige. Now, let us return to my master, below!"

In a quest which follows,  [82] Unplug L'ghorek, Erunak Stonespeaker states:
"L'ghorek is the ancient that rests upon the shelf across from us. It is being controlled and its life energies slowly consumed by something immense beneath us."

Stormrage

This section concerns content exclusive to the Warcraft novels or short stories.

The first time the living were made ​​aware of (what was presumably) N'Zoth's existence was when Malfurion Stormrage sensed something deep down within the Rift of Aln, which he called 'an ancient evil'.

Malfurion tells players of this tale in World of Warcraft, during the quest  [100] Dark Waters:

Q u o t e:

Malfurion Stormrage: I have encountered this power once before, within the depths of the Emerald Dream, near an abyss known as the Rift of Aln.
Malfurion Stormrage: That place radiated an ancient evil with such intensity that we dared not venture closer.
Malfurion Stormrage: It was all we could do to attempt to seal the taint away from the rest of the Dream. But it appears that we failed.
Malfurion Stormrage: And now, to find a fragment of that power in the hands of the Legion? A terrible portent....

N'Zoth was probably also the Old God that drove Neltharion to the brink of insanity and drove and orders Malygos to began a terrible war purge the world of "rogue" magic users, including the Kirin Tor of Dalaran.

Location of N'Zoth's prison

This section concerns content exclusive to the Warcraft novels or short stories.

Based on maps which depict Azeroth at various points throughout its history (both pre and post-sundering) contained in World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 1, it appears as though the location of N'Zoth's prison may be somewhere under the sea, south of Suramar City.

Media

Images

Hearthstone wallpaper from the "Whispers of the Old Gods" expansion

Full-size Hearthstone artwork by Tyson Murphy.

The location of N'Zoth's prison in the pre-sundered world

Overlay of two pre-sundering maps, depicting the location of N'Zoth's prison in relation to Suramar.

Possible location of N'Zoth's prison in present-day Azeroth.

Queen Azshara's apparent vision of N'zoth, as seen in Warbringers: Azshara

Trivia

• The whispers of the Puzzlebox draw parallels to the Cthulhu mythos of H. P. Lovecraft. The term 'sunken city' might refer to R'lyeh, also from Lovecraft's works.
• "N'zoth" is the name of a planet in the Star Wars universe.
• N'Zoth is the first Old God to debut outside of World of Warcraft, being revealed to be a card in Hearthstone.
• N'zoth's name literally means "the seeker" in the Old God Language. This can be revealed by typing his name in the chat when you are playing as a shadow priest.

• In Heroes of the storm , a skin for the Taldarim Highlord Alarak is named "Herald of N'zoth".
• bilzzard took most of its concept (including name spelling and sound) from H.P Lovecrafts old god called azathoth who dwells in the depths of space. and is also a old god in the universe of lovecraft (here is the source info https://lovecraft.fandom.com/wiki/Azathoth)

External links

WoW Insider Know Your Lore, TFH Edition: The Dangerous Enlightenment by Matthew Rossi Feb 5th 2014 12:00PM

AdventuresInPoorTaste.com Is N’Zoth Being Built as the Main Antagonist in World of Warcraft? Anthony Armenio August 8, 2013