Do you want to start with WoW Forever but aren’t sure which race to choose? Then take a look at the Humans. This likely most common race of Azeroth is definitely more interesting than it seems at first glance.
In many fantasy settings, Humans are considered the most boring choice, even though they sometimes possess the strongest traits. But who wants to play a Human when they could alternatively be an Orc, Elf, or Dwarf?
However, in World of Warcraft, Humans are not just a race that somehow descends from strange apes and has always been there, compared to the ancient Elves and Dwarves, considered “primitive”.
Humans in WoW are actually aliens. Or more precisely: beings created by entities that are not from this world. In any case, they are not “native” to Azeroth, and their current form exists only because of an Old God.
The lore applies not only to WoW Forever but also to World of Warcraft in general. We are elaborating the story a bit for new and interested players.
Iron Vrykul: Humans have their origin as creations of the Titans
Those who have played Wrath of the Lich King will probably know that Humans actually descend from Vrykul. However, the story of their origin goes back even further, as Vrykul are not the origin either.
To protect – or rather guard – Azeroth, the Titans created their Keepers, all highly inspired by Norse mythology: Mimiron, Freya, Tyr, Odyn, etc. All of this served primarily for a great war against the Old Gods for the world soul of Azeroth. More about that can be found here:
To secure the status quo after the apparent victory, the Titans left their Keepers blueprints, including for Iron Vrykul: titanforged creatures made of metal with certain abilities to control storm magic.
With the help of the Forge of Souls, the Keepers were able to create more and more of these Iron Vrykul – which also happened through the Keeper Loken, albeit under the influence of the Old Gods.
The curse of an Old God turns titan machines into proto-humans
As the Old Gods could not be killed permanently without destroying Azeroth, they were able to continue to act from their prisons. In the flood of new Iron Vrykul, the Old God Yogg-Saron unleashed a curse: the curse of flesh.
This turned the metallic bodies of the Iron Vrykul over millennia into weak and mortal flesh. By the way, this also happened to the Earthen, the predecessors of the Dwarves, and the Mechagnomes.
Attempts by the guardians to lift or reverse the curse all failed, and the Titans had long since turned away by that time. Thus, the curse spread – with further serious consequences.
As a probable later result of the curse, some Vrykul, now made of flesh, gave birth to small and weak children: the first Humans. In a culture that emphasizes combat and strength, this is unthinkable and nearly led to the end of humanity before it could truly live in the first place.
Humans still exist thanks to the love of some parents
The ruling Vrykul king Ymiron decreed that all children born so “deformed” and not resembling Vrykul should be killed. With this infanticide, he almost succeeded.
However, some parents did not want to do this to their offspring and hid their children to send them from the cold Northrend to the south. There, they settled, the first Humans, who founded the kingdom of Arathor in the north of the Eastern Kingdoms.
Later, Arathor splintered into new kingdoms that you know from the modern history of WoW: Gilneas, Dalaran, Lordaeron, Kul Tiras, Stormwind, and Stromgarde. Arathor had a new appearance in The War Within – fittingly in the realm of those Earthen who had not yet been struck by the curse of flesh.
If you play a Human in WoW, you are not just Johnny Human with sword and shield, but a descendant of warmongering half-giants from the north who once were metallic giants with dominion over the storms – even if the Humans at the time of Forever do not yet know anything about their irony origin.
History shows that Humans are a resilient people that was not broken even by the curse of an Old God. For a long time, this was clearly reflected in WoW with the racial bonus The Human Spirit
. However, there are a few adjustments in WoW Forever: All races and their racial abilities in WoW Forever – Which are suitable for PvE and PvP?
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