The Warcraft Encyclopedia/Burning Legion

This article is a copy of "The Warcraft Encyclopedia," an official article by Blizzard Entertainment. It presented information about a variety of things in the Warcraft universe. The original article, formerly located at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/encyclopedia/index.xml, did not survive the overhaul of the World of Warcraft Official Website.

Status: Active

Leader: Kil'jaeden

Primary language: Eredun

The Burning Legion is a vast demonic army that has wrought havoc throughout the universe for millennia.



Membership
Through deliberate choice or magical addiction, many creatures have fallen under the sway of the titan Sargeras and sworn fealty to him in return for what he offered: immortality and power beyond imagining. Entire races have joined the Legion for the sake of that compelling promise. Yet not all members of the Legion are sentient. Some are merely beasts unfortunate enough to have caught Sargeras' attention. Although most members of the Legion are demons, there are exceptions, as is evidenced by infernals.

Whatever the case, willing or not, a creature is transformed into a demon when its body is saturated with fel energy. Not all demons are part of the Legion, as Illidan Stormrage can attest, but Sargeras has created countless demons over the millennia so as to bolster the ranks of his destructive Legion.

History and Organization
Once a noble warrior for order and peace, Sargeras came to believe that there was a fundamental flaw in the universe, a flaw that made his primary purpose an impossible goal. He decided that the other titans were deeply misguided in trying to establish order throughout creation. Under the circumstances, the struggle was futile. The universe had to be destroyed utterly and remade without the underlying defect. Only then could true order be achieved. Thus, Sargeras conceived of a sweeping campaign to bring about the end of all things: the Burning Crusade.

To carry out his plan, he created the Legion, whose ranks he bolstered by creating demons: immortal creatures whose hunger, power, and malice made them perfect killing machines. As a result, the Legion has grown immense and consumed countless worlds. To date, the only planet that has managed to thwart the Legion's power is Azeroth, a fact which enraged Sargeras and made him all the more determined to bring Azeroth to its knees.

The eredar were the first sentient race to pledge their allegiance to Sargeras, and they remain its primary commanders to this day. Knowing that other sentient beings would inevitably join the Legion, the eredar declared that their primary language, Eredun, would be the Legion's common language.

Sargeras was the Burning Legion's creator and its original leader. However, there have been no reported sightings of the titan since the death of the human wizard Medivh, who was possessed by Sargeras' spirit at the time. In Sargeras' absence, the demon lord Kil'jaeden assumed leadership of the Legion.

A number of demons on Azeroth have survived the Legion's defeat at the Battle of Mount Hyjal. Gathering in small groups throughout Azeroth, they are obviously in communication with one another, for they occasionally act in a coordinated manner. Certain demons are spreading corruption or guarding sites of power; others are assembling in specific locations to further some unknown design.

The Legion's most notable activity since the Third War has taken place in the Blasted Lands. Demons under the command of Lord Kazzak have rebuilt the Azeroth end of the Dark Portal on the site that first housed it. Thus far, the demons have only reconstructed the physical structure of the portal; they have not been able to reactivate it.

Beliefs and Practices
All demons once feared Sargeras' vast might and fury. However, most demons in the Legion served him simply because they enjoy doing so. The highest-ranking and most intelligent demons knew their creator's ultimate purpose. Even today such demons do not fear the cataclysm they work toward, for they have been promised that they will rule the newborn universe to come.

In the past, the Legion particularly targeted worlds that had been visited by the titans. Ultimately, though, no world is safe: the Legion works to devour or destroy all life and magic. The Legion will inevitably achieve its terrible goals unless it is vanquished. Such a victory would require an army of comparable size and might. An army fighting for the Light, for hope and peace, for the very fabric of creation....

An army that does not exist.