Thrall, born as Go'el, is a fictional character who appears in the Warcraft series of video games by Blizzard Entertainment. Within the series, Thrall is an orc shaman who served for a time as a Warchief of the Horde, one of the major factions of the Warcraft universe, as well as the leader of a shaman faction dedicated to preserving the balance between elemental forces in the world of Azeroth known as the Earthen Ring. Originally introduced in promotional material released by Blizzard Entertainment as the protagonist of the canceled video game Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans, which was co-developed by Blizzard and Animation Magic from 1996 until 1998, Thrall's first proper appearance is in the 2001 novelization of the canceled video game's narrative authored by American novelist Christie Golden. The novel's story is set during his youth, where he is depicted as a slave who was raised by an abusive human military officer, but eventually rebelled and escaped captivity.
The character's first major appearance is in the 2002 video game Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, where he acts as the leader of a united Horde. Thrall also appears as a supporting character in the Warcraft III expansion pack The Frozen Throne, as well as the massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft and its series of expansions. Thrall's other appearances include sequel novels set in the Warcraft series, and the collectible card game Hearthstone. Thrall is a playable character in the crossover multiplayer online battle arena video game Heroes of the Storm. Chris Metzen, the character's creator, voices Thrall in most media, with the exception of Warcraft Adventures where Clancy Brown was the voice actor, and Hearthstone where he is voiced by Lance Henriksen .
Thrall has been well received by players and video game journalists, and is considered one of the most iconic and recognizable characters from the Warcraft franchise.
Character overview Within series lore, Thrall is the son of Durotan, former chieftain of the Frostwolf Clan, who refused to drink the Blood of Mannoroth and was killed by agents of the orc warlock Gul'dan. Thrall's journey from birth, to slavery as a gladiator and finally his path on the journey to becoming Warchief of the Horde was covered in extensive detail by contributing writers from Joystiq in a recurring series called Know Your Lore.
Thrall was raised by Aedelas Blackmoore, a self-serving military commander who runs the encampments where the orcs were imprisoned, as his slave. Blackmoore's plans were to raise Thrall to command an orc army to overrun the Alliance, allowing him to forcibly take the position of king. Thrall was trained to handle every weapon and learned battle tactics; he was even forced to compete in many gladiator tournaments that benefit Blackmoore financially following each victory. He also had the opportunity to study basic writing and history. Thrall eventually escapes from Blackmoore with the help of a young human girl named Taretha Foxton. During his captivity, she would sneak notes to Thrall and was considered to be one of his only friends. From Taretha and Thrall's combat instructor, a human warrior simply known as the Sergeant, Thrall learned mercy, kindness and honor, characteristics that changed him and becomes pivotal to his destiny. Instead of a bloodthirsty tribal leader as Blackmoore had planned, he eventually becomes a leader of compassion and honor. His journey during Lord of the Clans depicts the character as a young inexperienced orc leader who is nevertheless ready to lead his people in peace and understanding, whereas Warcraft III leads Thrall to explore the possibility of diplomacy and peace between Alliance and Horde, though the time between Warcraft III and World of Warcraft sees a tenuous glimpse at a peaceful world shattered.
Development
Thrall was originally developed as the protagonist for the Warcraft Adventures graphic adventure game by series writer Chris Metzen and producer Bill Roper. Thrall was envisioned as an orc who lived his life in human captivity before escaping from his human master. Metzen and his colleagues wanted to present another side to the orcs who are stereotyped as "brutal, savage dudes who use foul language." Metzen drew comparisons between the orcs of Azeroth and real-life Native American cultures, and the described the former to originally have a "complex culture" which is connected to the land and rooted in shamanism; the goal to show the orcs as the best they can be, yet retaining a "hard edge". According to Metzen, Thrall's story arc is the "archetypal tale of adventure and discovery" which is directly inspired by the work of Joseph Campbell, in particular the hero's journey. Metzen described Thrall as a traveler through his people's lands yet a stranger to them as he is not raised within an orc culture, and eventually he would meet wiser, more experienced orc characters who recognizes his potential and helps him attain the status to unite the scattered clans of their people.
Although Warcraft Adventures was eventually canceled, Metzen liked Thrall's origin story and wanted to see the concept utilized for another storytelling medium. Christie Golden, the author of Lord of the Clans, recalled that she was given an outline summary of the canceled game's plot, which helps save her time as she usually needs three months to complete a novel and she considered the deadline for Lord of the Clans to be "tight". She would then discuss with Metzen on what parts of the outline would work in a novel, and what should be changed as part of the novelization format. Noting that such cooperation "is unheard of in this line of work", Golden mentioned an example where her request that Thrall's eyes be made blue was granted without hesitation; she reacted with elation when she first saw a preview trailer for the then-upcoming World of Warcraft which properly depicts Thrall's facial features.
Elements of the novel like Taretha, the Sergeant character, and the majority of Blackmoore's character development were contributions from Golden, who wanted to explore the relationship between Thrall and other human characters to be morally ambiguous. She particularly liked the relationship between Thrall and Taretha and noted that it was very well received by readers. Golden noted that as the overarching plot of Warcraft III requires that several of the races work together in order to stop an otherworldly invasion, the groundwork for it need to be developed in the novel for it to be plausible. On Thrall's relationship dynamics with the orcess Aggra, who would eventually become his wife, Golden commented that Thrall is used to dealing with human women such as Taretha and Jaina Proudmoore, and is initially unused to Aggra due to ingrained cultural differences, but gradually learns to value and appreciate her defining traits, namely "her bluntness, and her honesty, and her kind of in-your-face attitude", and in turn he teaches her to respect and value others even if they are not orc by culture or heritage. Golden considers Thrall to be the embodiment of "non-toxic masculinity"
On the relationship between Thrall and his eventual successor as Warchief, Garrosh Hellscream, Golden said she enjoyed writing their interactions and felt that there was a lot of chemistry between the two characters. Golden noted that Garrosh developed into a darker character over time and believed that he has a weak personality at his core, as he was ashamed of his father Grom and needed external validation from Thrall. Golden said Thrall and Garrosh gravitated towards each other, not out of their differences or the notion that opposite attract, but that they were in fact kindred spirits who are fundamentally very similar characters, whose "hearts are wounded and guarded but not closed" in her words.
Thrall's concept design in Heroes of the Storm as a powerful melee fighter was described by the game's Technical Designer John Hodgson as "a prime example of top-down design"; that is, the developmental team started with the "high concept" or "feel" of Thrall as a fantasy character to generate ideas, and then tested and locked down these ideas through the practice of play. His abilities harken back to elements such as his signature large hammer, the character's history as an experienced orc shaman, and the developmental team's own experiences from playing Farseer units in Warcraft III as well as Enhancement Shamans in World of Warcraft. According to Hodgson, the team spent a lot of iteration time trying to figure out which five abilities they could settle Thrall on given the length and breadth of what the character is conceptually capable of within series lore, which are tested against the game's mechanics in identifying what the character needed from a gameplay perspective "in order to feel fun and effective".
Appearances
Lord of the Clans Shortly after his birth, Thrall's parents, Durotan and Draka, are killed by assassins sent by Gul'dan. Found by Aedelas Blackmoore of Durnholde Keep, Thrall was raised from a young age as a gladiator and trained in many forms of combat. After earning his freedom thanks to his childhood friend Taretha, Thrall escapes Durnholde and sets out to find a group of orcs that had evaded Blackmoore. He finds these orcs to be those of the Warsong clan, led by Grom Hellscream. After learning some of his cultural history from Grom, Thrall heads for the mountains of Alterac to find his clan, the Frostwolves. There he met with their leader, the shaman Drek'Thar, who teaches Thrall the old ways of shamanism in orc culture. Thrall is visited by the former Warchief Orgrim Doomhammer, and learns more about his past and the reasons for his parents' death. With his new power and knowledge provided by both Drek'Thar and Orgrim, Thrall raises an army by freeing his people from the prison encampments, rallying them under the goal of freedom and a return to the orcish life before the war. Orgrim falls in a battle liberating one of the encampments, and in his final moments, names Thrall as the new Warchief of the Horde and bequeaths him his black armor and namesake war hammer.
Thrall launches an attack on the fortress of Durnholde to free all the remaining entrapped orcs at once by cutting off any more reinforcements. He succeeds in taking Durnholde fortress and kills Blackmoore. However, he is too late to save Taretha. At the end of the book, Thrall crushes Durnholde with his elemental powers, then addresses the Horde, promising they will succeed under his leadership. For a time, the Horde travels throughout Lordaeron, never staying in one location for too long. In the novella Of Blood and Honor Thrall liberates the city of Stratholme and encounters the veteran orc Eitrigg, along with Eitrigg's "blood brother" Tirion Fordring, a human paladin who had just been exiled for rescuing Eitrigg. Upon learning that the Horde has rediscovered its shamanistic roots, Eitrigg readily joins Thrall, eventually becoming his advisor, while Thrall and Tirion depart on friendly terms.
Warcraft III Thrall is plagued by visions from a mysterious prophet, telling him to take the Horde west across the sea. Deciding to learn more about his visions, Thrall meets the prophet, who insists that he must sail across the ocean to Kalimdor. Thrall gathers the other orc clans and steals some human ships to sail to Kalimdor. Thrall and a few of the other ships find themselves caught amidst a storm and later finds himself taken captive by a tribe of murlocs to be used as a sacrifice. Thrall is able to break free, but is not able to save fellow captive Sen'jin, leader of the local troll Darkspear tribe and the first to be sacrificed, though the surviving Darkspear led by Sen'jin's son Vol'jin join the Horde.