After the defeat of the Burning Legion, Kil’jaeden approached Illidan, who agreed to serve the demon and destroy his rogue creation, the Lich King, who had grown far too powerful for the demon lord to control.

Intent on re-capturing Illidan, Maiev searched for him throughout the Ashenvale forest. They found that Illidan’s use of magic had twisted him into a hybrid between Night Elf and Demon. Illidan also recruited the Naga, former Highborne Elves who were trapped beneath the sea when the Well of Eternity was destroyed, and slowly warped into amphibious snake-like creatures over time.

With the help of the Naga, Illidan located the Tomb of Sargeras which contained the Eye of Sargeras, an immensely powerful ancient artifact. At the command of the supreme Demon Lord Kil’jaeden, Illidan was directed to destroy the Frozen Throne and kill the Lich King. Illidan traveled to the Eastern Kingdoms (particularly the ruins of the destroyed wizard kingdom of Dalaran, destroyed by Archimonde during the events of Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos) with his minions to cast a spell that would destroy the Lich King. Ignorant of Illidan’s true intentions and distraught over his perceived loss of Tyrande, Malfurion arrived and halted the earth-shattering spell half-way through.

Malfurion was ready to take his brother back into custody and even go so far as to have him executed, but relented after making two revelations. First, Illidan explained that the spell had been an attempt to destroy the Undead Scourge, which was the enemy of the Night Elves as well as Illidan’s forces. Secondly, Malfurion learned that Tyrande was not dead as he had been led to believe.

In truth, Tyrande had merely been separated from the rest of the Night Elf party after falling into a river and being swept away by the currents. Maiev, putting vengeance above Tyrande’s life, opted to abandon her. Instead, she lied to Malfurion telling him that she had seen his beloved “torn apart” by the Undead, and played on Malfurion’s grief to support her against Illidan.

The truth came out when Malfurion angrily informed Illidan that Tyrande had died because of his actions. Illidan was understandably horrified and shocked by this statement, but a moment later Prince Kael’thas, who had witnessed Tyrande’s plunge into the river, told Malfurion what had really happened and that there was a chance Tyrande was still alive. Enraged to find out that his love had not been “torn apart” at all and that Maiev had lied to him, Malfurion confronted the warden, whose feeble attempts to explain and justify her deception fell on deaf ears. Illidan then told his brother that he and the Naga would be willing to aid in the search for Tyrande—after all, Illidan loved her as well and would never wish her to come to harm. Malfurion accepted his brother’s offer, cutting off Maiev’s incredulous objection and threatening to deal with her later.

Tyrande had washed ashore in the heart of Scourge-controlled territory. Working together, the Brothers Stormrage and their respective forces were successful in finding her and bringing her to safety. Malfurion and Tyrande were grateful for Illidan’s help, and allowed him to go free on the condition that he never threaten the Night Elves again. Illidan, wishing for an end to the conflict with his brother and Tyrande, agreed and bade them farewell before leaving for Outland to escape both Maiev and the Kil’jaeden’s punishment for his failure to destroy the Lich King. Seconds later, Maiev and her Watchers burst onto the scene. The Warden was outraged that Illidan had been allowed to leave and chased him through the dimensional portal he had conjured before anybody could act to stop her.

Maiev tracked Illidan down and recaptured him in Outland, but she was again deprived of her quarry when Lady Vashj and Prince Kael’thas, leading a combined force of Naga and Blood Elves, sprung him from his cage.

Free once again, Illidan focused on taking control of Outland for himself. Commanding the combined forces of the Naga and the Blood Elves, he destroyed the four dimensional gates linking Outland to the Twisting Nether, hoping to avoid the punishment of Kil’jaeden. With the gates destroyed and all outside access to the world supposedly cut off, Illidan’s forces then concentrated on defeating the armies of demons and corrupted orcs whom remained. These remnant forces were under the command of the Pit Lord known as Magtheridon. They eventually succeeded with the help of the surviving Draenei. Unfortunately for Illidan, moments after his victory over Magtheridon, Kil’jaeden appeared. The gigantic demon towered over Illidan and his allies, all of whom were now at Kil’jaeden’s mercy. Kil’jaeden had discovered where Illidan had fled and evidently did not need a dimensional gate to travel there. However, instead of destroying or punishing him, Kil’jaeden gave him a second chance at destroying the Frozen Throne, while promising untold powers of magic. Illidan set out on the quest with the Naga and the Blood Elves he had recruited.

At Northrend, he confronted the Lich King’s greatest servant, the Death Knight Arthas. After a heated battle, however, Illidan was defeated by Arthas and his runeblade, Frostmourne.

Following the battle, Arthas left Illidan lying motionless in the snow and ascended to the Frozen Throne, where he merged with the Lich King. It is unclear what happened to Illidan afterwards, but he did indeed survive and return to Outland, whether he travelled under his own power or had to be taken back by Kael and Vashj and nursed back to health. According to IMDb, “The in-game animation between Illidan and Arthas was originally planned to be a video cinematic. Time constraints, however, forced the scene to be done inside the game. The developers have said that their greatest regret about this change is that many assumed Illidan died, when the video would have revealed that Illidan survived to watch Arthas’s transformation.” Illidan then escaped back to Outland, where he is a fightable boss character in the MMORPG “World of Warcraft.”

Shortly after the return of the Burning Legion, Priestess Tyrande and Archdruid Malfurion made a desperate journey down into the Barrow Deeps of the Druids of the Claw. These druids had been in hibernation, exploring the Emerald Dream where Ysera lives, but had nestled very close to the prison of Illidan. In the depths of the Barrow Deeps, at the entrance to the prison, Tyrande decided to free Illidan, allowing him to face the Burning Legion with his powers. Malfurion opposed this, and the two went in separate ways. Tyrande and a small cadre of Night Elf Sentinels fought their way to the cell containing Illidan and set him free.

Upon returning to the surface, Illidan led the Night Elves in destroying some of the dimensional gates, then disappeared. Illidan was soon led by (in the sense that he told him about the artifact to achieve his own goals without letting him know about the consequences) the Death Knight Arthas to find a powerful demon artifact, the Skull of Gul’dan, that the Burning Legion was using to corrupt and poison the Felwood forest. Illidan destroyed the artifact, absorbing the power and some of the memories of Gul’dan, and transforming him into a demi-demon; the transformation granted him wings and horns as well as new demonic powers. He then hunted down and killed Tichondrius, lord of the Nathrezim. Despite Illidan’s role in saving the forest, Malfurion was shocked that his brother had so totally given himself over to the quest for power and banished Illidan from Ashenvale. The fuming Illidan then stormed off leaving a burning trail in his wake.

In the current Warcraft universe, there are multiple types of trolls, each in their own tribe. It is speculated that a small group of Trolls are what were drawn to the Well of Eternity and evolved into Night Elves, although the Night Elves fiercely deny this. Trolls are thin, cunning and agile, with pointed features, rather than hulking brutes like traditional trolls. Before the time of multiple tribes of trolls, they were at one time united in the Gurubashi and Amani Empires that encompassed much of Azeroth. The Amani eventually attacked the Elven kingdom of Quel’thalas and seemed to almost destroy it. However, when the elves allied with the human state of Arathor, the combined might of the two armies destroyed the trolls, along with the Amani empire. It was this defeat that led to the division of the trolls into their particular tribes. The five types are:

[edit] Dark Trolls
Dark Trolls are dark purple in colour and live in Ashenvale forest. Although they appear extremely hostile to the Night Elves, a band of dark trolls assisted in fighting the Burning Legion on Mount Hyjal. This type of troll has yet to make an appearance in World of Warcraft. According to recent information released on troll tribes by Blizzard, Dark Trolls are not a tribe in of themselves but are actually all from different tribes and seem to be outcasts of some sort. They were speculated to be the new Alliance race during the early stages of development on The Burning Crusade, but this rumor was debunked when the Draenei were announced as the new race instead.

[edit] Forest Trolls
Led by one of their greatest heroes, Zul’jin, they allied with the Orcs during the Second War. They were enemies with the High Elves, who took their land when they were exiled from Kalimdor and landed in Quel’thalas. Since the Elves were allied with Humans, an alliance between the Orcs and Trolls was logical. They are savage, and very much into ritual sacrifices and cannibalism. They are green in colour, and most do not still serve the Horde, especially since the Blood Elves would probably not join a faction containing one of their ancient enemies (who haven’t changed), and in the tutorial campaign in Warcraft III (featuring the Orc race), Thrall and his orcs can find a group of Forest Troll creeps and fight them, with Thrall saying “Forest Trolls. It shames me to think they were ever a part of the Horde.” tribes: shadowpine,amani,firetree,mossflayer,vilebranch,witherbark,raventusk.

[edit] Ice Trolls
Main article: Ice Trolls
The Ice Trolls are huge and light blue, adapted for life in extremely cold climates. They can be found in Northrend, as well as in cold, mountainous regions of Khaz Modan. They also practice cannibalism.

[edit] Jungle Trolls
Jungle Trolls are blue-skinned, and originate from Stranglethorn Vale, a jungle south of Azeroth. They practice voodoo, dark magic, and cannibalism. The Darkspear Tribe lived on an island in the great sea though were still considered Jungle trolls. After Thrall and his newly reformed Horde rescued the tribe from Murlocs and their sea witch leader (not a naga as she looks like a banshee), during the conflict, their leader Sen’jin was killed but the tribe swore eternal allegiance to the Horde. First they settled on the Echo Isles, but after being driven out by the crazed troll witch doctor, Zalazane, they now reside with the Orcs in Durotar, off the coast parallel to the Echo Isles in the Sen’jin Village. Vol’jin (Sen’jin’s son), a shadow hunter, is their leader. To appease the Orcs, the Darkspear Tribe changed some of their customs. They officially gave up cannibalism upon joining the Horde and practice voodoo with some discretion, though the Darkspear Voodoo priests still practice their Hexs and Shadow Magic. Aside from the Darkspears, the Skullsplitters among other tribes remaining in Stranglethorn Vale have re-united under the evil rule of the resurgent Blood God Hakkar the Soulflayer, who now resides in the ancient city of Zul’Gurub. Thus, the Gurubashi Empire has begun to reassemble itself at last, despite the fact that it is once again under the vicegrip rule of an evil god. tribes: darkspear,skullsplitter,gurubashi,atal’ai,hakkari( simply a priesthood from atal’ai ),bloodscalp,shatterspear.

[edit] Sand Trolls
The Sand Trolls live in the desert region of Tanaris. They have pink skin tones and act as marauders. They live in a great temple in the desert called Zul’Farrak where they worship dark gods. They have a friendly relationship with the Jungle Trolls and Forest Trolls that worship Hakkar, however they are not themselves worshipers of this dark god.

Half deer and half-night elf in appearance, Dryads are the frolicking daughters of Cenarius. Like their Keeper brothers, Dryads are protectors of the Ashenvale forest and have joined the Sentinels to defend nature from those who dare to defile it. Weaker than Keepers, Dryads are nonetheless immune to magic.

Though not actual Dragons, they police the Emerald Dream for misuse of magic. They are immune to magic and when out of the Emerald Dream, have the ability to phase into it for a short duration, evading damage. They resemble small, non-aggressive, brightly colored lizards with wings. They can be found near the moonwells of Ashenvale, near Stonetalon Peak, and in the forests of Feralas.