Generally speaking, World of Warcraft stands out more so than some other MMORPG titles due to its ever-expanding lore, constantly developing and evolving through new expansion packs. Throughout the brutal wars and events that took place throughout the classic game and the expansions, villains in World of Warcraft have committed many terrible deeds.
Some have done far more terrible things than others, generally resulting in a big impact on the lore as a whole. From Garrosh Hellscream destroying a part of the Pandaren's sacred Vale of Eternal Blossoms to the death of Varian Wrynn, here are the 10 worst things the villains did throughout the lore.
10 Garrosh Hellscream Destroys The Vale Of Eternal Blossoms
The Siege of Orgrimmar patch was an interesting time for World of Warcraft. It brought a pretty fun raid and a fairly strong ending to the expansion. Garrosh was becoming more evil than ever and showed his true colors when turning his back on the horde to start his own. After defeating Taran Zhu in a fight, Garrosh destroys a significant portion of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. It was a low blow to the Pandaren race and caused suffering for many years to come.
9 Arthas Purges Stratholme
Arthas Menethil was the crown prince of Lordaeron and had a bright future ahead of him before his fall from grace. In World of Warcraft, we get to see events that unfolded in Stratholme. When the city is faced with a deadly plague and its citizens are in danger of becoming the scourge, Arthas takes it upon himself and purges the city. It ultimately leads to his downfall and transformation into the Lich King.
8 Sylvanas Ruins The Honor Of The Horde
The Battle For Azeroth expansion was a huge turning point for the banshee queen known as Sylvanas Windrunner. Since some of the earlier expansions, fans have speculated that there she may have a hidden agenda.
In Battle For Azeroth, she takes a lot of matters into her own hands, not seeming to care about the image of the horde and acts out of vengeance rather than honor. The Battle for Lordaeron shows this, as Sylvanas abandons her own faction. She's not fit to lead the horde and her actions continue to prove that.
7 Arthas Turns Sylvanas Into A Banshee
This was one of the darker events that led to Sylvanas turning into the ruthless war chief she is now. In a lot of ways, this stripped Sylvanas of any emotions she had from her past. Arthas put Sylvanas on the path of vengeance. When Arthas turned Sylvanas into a banshee, she basically became a slave to him and her hate for the Lich King is very much justified. What's not justified is the person she became leading up to Battle For Azeroth.
6 Deathwing Scars Azeroth
The Cataclysm was a huge change for Azeroth as it scarred most of its land in flames and destruction. It completely changed a lot of the iconic zones in World of Warcraft as Deathwing made his return. Thankfully a lot of those areas today have been somewhat restored to their original glory, but it's impossible to fully repair the damage that Deathwing did to Azeroth. Deathwing was finally stopped at the end of the expansion, but his son Wrathion is still alive and very much present in the new expansions.
5 Sylvanas Burns Teldrassil
One of the first events leading up to Battle for Azeroth was the Burning of Teldrassil. Intending to refuel old hatreds between the Alliance and Horde, Sylvanas made a huge mistake by burning the Night Elf home of Teldrassil. It was a very low blow as at the time, as the Alliance and Horde had just gotten over the invasion of the Legion and Sylvanas was basically instigating. It's more proof that Sylvanas has a hidden agenda and seems to want to keep the Alliance and Horde fighting against each other as long as possible.
4 Gul'dan Starts Another War
After Garrosh Hellscream pretty much ruined the timeline by going back in time to alter the events before the Orcs became servants of the Burning Legion, Gul'dan sets out to open a portal that would start another invasion of The Burning Legion on Azeroth.
It's now up to the heroes of Azeroth to once again stop Gul'dan and also put an end to the Burning Legion. This all could have been prevented had Garrosh never changed the events that happened. It's crazy how one event led to such a huge, chaotic outcome. One positive thing out of this is that the Demon Hunters and Illidan Stormrage finally saw redemption.
3 Garrosh Destroys Theramore
Prior to the terrible events that take place in Pandaria, Garrosh was still showing Azeroth how ruthless a war chief he was. Garrosh orchestrates an attack on Theramore that results in its destruction and elevates Jaina Proudmoore's hatred against the horde to a new level. It's not even the fact that he destroyed Theramore more than it is the way he did it. A mana bomb is dropped from the sky onto the city, which is virtually the World of Warcraft's "nuclear option." It was extremely brutal and it resulted in the abrupt end of many innocent lives.
2 Sargeras Betrays Pantheon
Sargeras was once the chosen champion of the Pantheon to defend the worlds under the order of the titans. He did so for some time but eventually set out to destroy the worlds instead. Sargeras betrayed the Pantheon and became the Supreme Commander of the Burning Legion. In fact, Sargeras is yet to be defeated for good, making him a cool potential villain for a future patch to focus on.
1 Gul'dan Kills Varian Wrynn
Varian Wrynn was a great leader for the Alliance. He understood the core values of what made a great King and he led the Alliance through some of its major conflicts while still caring and showing honor toward his enemies. He knew that in some of the battles he had to work with the Horde to win, and he had no problem doing so till his final moments. Varian stayed behind to defend Azeroth and ultimately met his fate when Gul'dan killed him. Varian Wrynn was an incredible leader, and we certainly hope Anduin can live up to his level of honor.