What are dragons in World of Warcraft and what is their history? We summarize the most important information about dragons for you.
In World of Warcraft, the release of the latest expansion “Dragonflight” is imminent. We are heading to the Dragon Isles, where we must help the various dragonflights solve a variety of problems. However, those who have not followed the story of Blizzard’s MMORPG from the beginning may not understand the dragons very well.
- Do the colors have a special meaning?
- Who are the leaders of the dragons?
- Why are dragons so important to Azeroth?
- Aren’t dragons actually evil?
With this article, we want to summarize the story of the dragons of World of Warcraft – so that you have enough knowledge to understand what is really going on in Dragonflight. Please note that we cannot explicitly cover every detail of the dragon’s story, as that already fills several books. Instead, this article is meant to provide you with the most important information to understand the larger context.
The Origin of the Dragonflights
In the early days of Azeroth, though much later than the battle of the Old Gods against the Titans, proto-dragons began to appear in Azeroth. According to legend, these dragons slowly evolved from elemental beings, conquering the skies and becoming the dominant species on Azeroth.
These proto-dragons visually resembled very little of the dragons we know today – their appearance was more brutish, their nature much more chaotic, and they were not as intelligent as they would later become. However, even then, different colors began to emerge among the proto-dragons, which would later correspond to the colors of the known dragonflights.
Among all the proto-dragons, there was a beast known as Galakrond. A gigantic dragon that continued to grow and threatened to swallow all other dragons. Corrupted by the Old Gods in the earth, this monster grew larger and more horrific, causing the otherwise warring dragonflights to see no other chance than to overcome their instinct to flee and stand together against Galakrond.
The five greatest dragons ultimately managed to defeat Galakrond. Impressed by this feat, the Titans chose these five great dragons to bestow a part of their power upon them. They were to be the guardians of Azeroth from then on. This marked the birth of the five great dragonflights:
- The red dragon Alexstrasza became the Life-Binder and Queen of all dragons.
- Her green sister Ysera became the Lady of Dreams and Guardian of the Emerald Dream.
- The blue dragon Malygos became the Lord of Magic and Guardian of the Arcane.
- The bronze dragon Nozdormu became the Master of Time and Guardian of Timeways.
- The black dragon Neltharion became the Earth-Warder.
These dragons became known as the “Aspects”. The five great Aspects of Azeroth, each with their own area of responsibility, shared the mission to protect the planet.
In the cinematic “Legacy – Chapter 1”, Nozdormu recounts his perspective on the creation of the Aspects:
Through the power of the Titans, the appearance of the proto-dragons changed to the majestic dragon forms as we know them today. Their intelligence increased further, and they were also able to take on a humanoid form when interacting with other races.
For many millennia, the dragonflights thrived under Alexstrasza’s leadership, observing as the mortal races of Azeroth slowly came into existence. The Aspects worked hand in hand and took their role as guardians of Azeroth very seriously.
For this purpose, they also populated a specific archipelago, where they established their home – the Dragon Isles.
The Betrayal of the Earth-Warder
However, during all this time, Neltharion slowly began to alienate himself from his brothers and sisters. This was because the black dragon was haunted by whispers that emanated from the depths of the earth and reached him as the Earth-Warder. Slowly but surely, he succumbed to the whispers of the Old Gods and began to devise a plan to elevate himself and his flight over all dragons.
When the Burning Legion attacked during the “War of the Ancients” over 10,000 years ago, Neltharion put his plan into action. The dragonflights helped the mortals defend against the Legion’s demons, but their strength was not enough. So, Neltharion demanded the other Aspects to give part of their essence into an artifact – the Dragon Soul.
This relic possessed unimaginable power; however, the process weakened the Aspects – except for Neltharion, who retained all his power for himself.
Neltharion attacked his brothers and sisters, and the entire black flight turned against the other dragons. Many dragons died in the process, especially the blue flight was drastically reduced.
Although Neltharion failed to annihilate the other Aspects and seize world domination, he became one of Azeroth’s greatest threats. He renounced his role as Earth-Warder and henceforth called himself “Deathwing” or “Aspect of Death”.
In “Legacy – Chapter 2”, Nozdormu recounts the betrayal of the Earth-Warder:
In the next 10,000 years, little was known about the dragons. The remaining Aspects continued to fulfill their duties, while Deathwing attempted to manipulate the various races from within using his black dragons to plunge them into war time and again.
The Subjugation of the Red by the Orcs
A particularly pivotal moment for the dragons is the story surrounding Alexstrasza during the time of the Second War (Warcraft II). The Dragon Soul – now called the “Demon Soul” – was discovered by the orc Zuluhed, whom Deathwing had led to the Demon Soul. With the Demon Soul, the orcs of the Dragonmaw clan managed to subjugate Alexstrasza. The other red dragons could not save Alexstrasza for fear that the orc would annihilate them with the Demon Soul.
During this time, Alexstrasza was forced by the orcs to lay eggs continuously. The dragons and hatchlings that emerged were subsequently trained by the orcs, stripped of their will to serve as loyal mounts, bringing death and devastation to all of the orcs’ enemies.
As the Guardian of Life, Alexstrasza suffered particularly from this abuse – not only the compulsion to continually create new offspring, but also the fact that her children were now responsible for the deaths of countless beings.
When Alexstrasza was to be taken from one prison to another, Deathwing attacked to steal some of the Dragon Queen’s eggs – he wanted to create children for his own flight from them. However, this attack ultimately allowed Alexstrasza to be freed and the Demon Soul was destroyed by the human mage Rhonin.
The red dragons then disappeared from the scene and retreated to recover physically and emotionally from the tortures they and their queen had endured.
The Nexus War and the Death of the Blue Aspect
Since Malygos lost a large part of his flight during Deathwing’s betrayal, he was not the same anymore. He lived in seclusion with the remaining blue dragons and became more focused. Ultimately, he concluded during the era of “Wrath of the Lich King” that magic is something that mortal races must be deprived of. After all, magic had indirectly caused much suffering.
Malygos began to imprison and kill the mages of the mortal races while hoarding the magic of the world and its relics.
Although the other Aspects advised against this and especially Alexstrasza tried to convince Malygos, his plan stood: he wanted to eradicate all “evil” magic users from the world, which included the Kirin Tor of Dalaran and all other mortal magic users.
Alexstrasza then rallied the other dragonflights around her, leading to the “Nexus War” – the battle against Malygos, which ended with the death of the blue Aspect.
For several years, the position of Aspect remained vacant before the blue dragon Kalecgos took this position during the events of “Cataclysm”.
The Downfall of the Aspects
Just a few years ago, the Aspects lost a significant part of their titanic power. During the “Cataclysm” expansion, the final battle against Deathwing took place. He erupted from the earth and devastated Azeroth to bring about the “Hour of Twilight” – a twisted version of the world where the Old Gods had won and even Deathwing himself had died.
To stop the former Earth-Warder, the remaining Aspects brought the Dragon Soul from the past with the help of heroes and channeled their energy into it again. This ultimately allowed them to defeat Deathwing and put an end to his Cataclysm.
However, the recharging of the Dragon Soul came with a price, as the Aspects lost their immortality and much of the power that had been granted to them by the Titans. Along with that came the loss of fertility – since the Cataclysm, the great dragonflights can no longer lay eggs, limiting their number and causing it to continue to decrease.
Consequently, the dragons took a step back from world events and could only fulfill their duty of protecting the world to a lesser extent.
Having been robbed of a large part of their power, a few years later, the satyr Xavius managed to corrupt the green Aspect Ysera and turn her into a being of nightmare. Ysera then attacked the Temple of Elune and was slain by Tyrande and the heroes. However, Ysera’s soul was saved by the Moon Goddess and taken directly to Ardenweald, a realm of the Shadowlands. There, players could experience in “Shadowlands” how Ysera was resurrected and now occupies a place in the afterlife.
There is already speculation that Ysera may soon return to the world of the living.
The 5 Great Dragonflights
There are a total of 5 great dragonflights. We have summarized the most important information here briefly, so that you know what to expect from each dragon.
The Red Dragonflight
Current leader: Alexstrasza
The red dragonflight is responsible for the protection of life and creation as such. Accordingly, the dragon queen is often referred to as the “Mother of all Life” and many mothers of Azeroth even “pray” to Alexstrasza when asking for the protection of their children.
Known members: Korialstrasz
The Green Dragonflight
Current leader: None, candidate is Merithra (daughter of Ysera)
Former leader: Ysera
The green dragonflight watches over nature and thereby over the Emerald Dream. Therefore, druids of the mortal races have a strong connection to this dragonflight. In the physical world, these dragons are often in deep sleep, as they spend more time in the Emerald Dream than in the waking world. However, this also makes them susceptible to the Nightmare, which has already consumed many green dragons and ultimately cost their lives.
Known members: Merithra
The Blue Dragonflight
Current leader: Kalecgos
Former leaders: Malygos
The blue dragonflight is the guardian of magic and ley lines. Many of them collect magical artifacts to hide them especially from the “careless mortals.” They consider magic their domain and are more often found in cold areas. The blue dragonflight has been the most drastically reduced over the years – once due to Deathwing’s betrayal and once due to the Nexus War (“Wrath of the Lich King”).
Known members: Azuregos
The Bronze Dragonflight
Current leader: Nozdormu
The bronze dragons guard the timelines and ensure that history unfolds as it should. Their great adversaries are the followers of the “Eternal Dragonflight,” who seek to divert Azeroth from the true timeline and bring about other events. Therefore, the bronze dragons are constantly busy observing the past and future to identify and eliminate errors in the sequence before they have consequences for the present.
Known members: Chronormu (known as gnome “Chromie”)
The Black Dragonflight
Current leader: None, candidate is Furorion
Former leaders: Neltharion, later known as Deathwing
The black dragonflight reigns over the land and the mountains and is capable of shaping entire regions. However, this has also made the members of this flight vulnerable to the Old Gods that had nested deep in the earth. Almost all black dragons are enemies, and many have tried to undermine the mortal races to influence the fates of humans and sow discord.
Known members: Onyxia, Nefarian, Furorion
The Smaller Dragonflights
Aside from the 5 great dragonflights, there are also a number of smaller dragonflights, which mostly emerged from the others. They play only a minor role in the story of World of Warcraft, often taking the side of the antagonists – but their influence is still worth mentioning.
The Chromatic Dragonflight
A small, experimental flight that was bred by the black dragons. Neltharion and Nefarian (Neltharion’s son) attempted to unite all five dragonflights, creating some aberrations, few of which were viable. However, a handful of experiments succeeded at least partially and became fearsome creatures.
The Eternal Dragonflight
These dragons were once bronze dragons but were corrupted by various influences. They are the direct opponents of the bronze dragons and seek to throw the timelines out of balance to create a different narrative.
The Netherwings
Some black dragon eggs were taken to the swirling Nether and infused with its wild magics. The resulting dragons are called “Netherwings,” who mainly live in the shattered world and were used as mounts by the orcs. The “flight” is free now, but little is known about its fate.
Nightmare Dragons
The nightmare dragons are former green dragons who have fallen to the corruption of the nightmare. They are thus the direct opponents of the green dragons and seek to further spread the corruption of the nightmare. The corruption is so powerful that even the green Aspect Ysera was consumed by it.
Plague Dragons
Not an actual “flight”, but the attempt of the Cult of the Damned to manipulate dragons with the plague already in the egg. The dragons subsequently have necromantic powers and are supposed to help the cult spread the plague of undead further.
Twilight Dragons
A further experiment by the black dragons, carried out by Sintharia, a former companion of Neltharion. She attempted to alter some black dragon eggs with knowledge of the Nether dragons, creating the Twilight Dragons, which can cause particularly great destruction but are also very close to the madness of the Old Gods.
With Dragonflight, the story of the dragons will be further elaborated, and new details will come to light. However, with all the knowledge from this article, you should at least know the basics to ultimately understand what is really going on on the Dragon Isles.
