Mechagon mechagnome

Mechagnomes (previously referred to as junker gnomes by Blizzard but not in-game) are a race of partially mechanical to fully mechanical gnomes that inhabit the island of Mechagon and are descended from the regular gnomes of Gnomeregan. They span a variety of different types. The higher-caste gnomes live in an advanced society inside a huge vault, where they previously dedicated themselves to their ruler King Mechagon. Under King Mechagon's society, the more robot parts one has, the higher one's social standing is.



Having lived for centuries in relative peace, a group of mechagnomes rejected King Mechagon's vision of a mechanical world as his ambitions turned from invention and advancement to mechanizing the entire planet. Known as the Rustbolt Resistance, this group was led by Mechagon's own son, Erazmin. Setting up in the outside Junker Wastes, they were beset by death robots and other Mechagnomes who sought to end the resistance one way or another. The Rustbolt had fewer mechanical parts and tended to be partially deteriorating. As the Alliance and Horde arrived on Mechagon, they befriended the group in an effort to break into the mechagnomes' city and stop King Mechagon.

Following Operation: Mechagon, the mechagnomes re-joined Gnomeregan under High Tinker Gelbin Mekkatorque and joined the Alliance. Following the ascension of Gelbin Mekkatorque as King of Gnomes with Prince Erazmin as his advisor, the goal of the Mechagnomes shifted from mechanization and removal of flesh to finding harmony between flesh and metal.

Culture
Some mechagnomes seem to have a mechanocat racing and customizing subculture inspired by the American, complete with sweet pompadours.

Based on the dialogue between Mechagnomes, their speech patterns are less casual than other races. They often speak imperatively, akin to stereotypes concerning robots in fiction. Their society has an extreme emphasis on upgrading and innovating, akin to regular gnomes.

Mechanization is accomplished through surgical removal of a body part and replacement with a desired mechanical equivalent. Within Mechagon, this process has been streamlined so that it can largely be automated with machines and completed within a short period of time. At least when it comes to arms or legs, no form of sedation or anesthesia is bothered with presumably because such replacement pretty much takes no time at all. However, that doesn't mean that the patient doesn't experience any pain - far from it, in fact.

Notes and trivia

 * Many of the Mechagon mechagnomes that use the armor with the same appearance as the heritage armor are of a mechanical creature type.
 * Many of there have the "clockworkgnome" sound files.
 * P.O.S.T. Workers that use the same appearance show up working in Tazavesh, the Veiled Market in the Shadowlands, but they could be unrelated robots working for the Brokers.
 * The names "junker gnome" and "mechagnome" are inconsistently used:
 * At the BlizzCon 2018 World of Warcraft What's Next panel, "junker gnome" and "mechagnome" were seemingly used interchangeably to refer to this race, despite the fact that "mechagnome" is already the name of a separate existing race.
 * In a June 18, 2019 developer live stream, Ion Hazzikostas described the Rustbolt Resistance as a "scrappy group of junker gnomes" and King Mechagon as the "leader of the mechagnomes", implying that "junker gnome" is specifically used for the members of the Rustbolt Resistance while "mechagnome" is used for the Arcforged.
 * It seems most likely that the "junker gnome" term had some sort of cross-development inspiration with the ultimately unused area name "Junker Wastes", and used internally by Blizzard as a convenient way to prevent confusion when discussing the Rustbolt Resistance and the Arcforged during development.
 * In the Mechagon Island Visitor's Guide blog post, published on June 19th, "mechagnome" is used to refer to both the Arcforged and the Rustbolt Resistance, and the name "junker gnome" is not mentioned at all.
 * There are several mobs and NPCs called "Junker" that were added but not released in the patch 8.2 PTR.
 * References to gnomes wanting to turn themselves into machines in Battle for Azeroth foreshadowed the mechagnomes:
 * In Zuldazar Foothold, Kelsey Steelspark states say
 * While piloting a mechano-tank in Many Fine Heroes, Kelsey comments that say
 * In Test Case 1; Mech vs. Mekkatorque, Jastor Gallywix mocks Gelbin Mekkatorque by saying say
 * There seems to be no direct connection between the Mechagon mechagnomes and their ancestral progenitors, the mechagnomes, and the two groups seem to have never directly interacted.
 * During the Battle for Azeroth beta, "Junker Gnome Caverns" and "Mechagnome Island" maps were datamined alongside the other island expeditions.
 * The description of the Mechanical Prairie Dog pet ("This adorable mass of whirlers, cogs, and sprockets wasn't assembled in Gnomeregan. Where then?") is a reference to Mechagon since the pet can only be obtained after completing Inspection Gadget.
 * The concept of gnomes enhancing themselves with robotic parts is an old one: in classic World of Warcraft, Gerenzo Wrenchwhistle was stated to have replaced some of his limbs with mechanical ones.

Speculation
Drust Stele: Conflict includes a depiction of a battle between the Drust and small beings resembling gnomes in stature. These may have been the gnomes of Kul Tiras.

Those that are classified as mechanicals could possibly be considered regular mechagnomes? In the quest My Father's Armies it's stated that there was nothing left of the original gnomes that followed King Mechagon and only robots remain.
 * Also in the quest My Father's Armies there are gnomebots and spider tanks that are named "Mechanized" meaning they could have originally been gnomes that were turned into these other types of robots.