Cho'gall

Cho'gall (sometimes spelled Cho'Gall) was a powerful ogre mage, Initiate of the Fifth Circle of the Shadow Council, and Chieftain of the Twilight's Hammer clan. Cho'gall and remnants of his clan managed to survive after Gul'dan was torn to shreds by demons during his quest to find the Tomb of Sargeras toward the end of the Second War. Fleeing to Kalimdor and taking refuge within the ruined city of Ahn'Qiraj, Cho'gall became a servant of the Old Gods.

With the return of Deathwing and the Shattering that followed in his wake, Cho'gall aligned himself and the Twilight's Hammer with the corrupted Aspect and his allies, the powerful Elemental Lords Al'Akir and Ragnaros, to help usher in the Hour of Twilight. He oversaw the cult's efforts from his Twilight Citadel in the Twilight Highlands, until he was struck down by champions of Azeroth.

Draenor
Cho'gall was born in Highmaul, capital of the Gorian Empire. As a rare two-headed ogre, he was treated as an omen of good fortune. He lived a life of privilege in Highmaul and was tutored by the most talented ogre sorcerers. He had a natural affinity to the arcane arts and gained an immense following among the city's commoners, but not the aristocracy. Cho'gall's arrogance and lust for power put him at odds with the ruling elite, who feared that his growing popularity would allow him to seize control of the city. They attempted to assassinate him and he barely escaped, but was forced to flee from Highmaul. Cho'gall knew he would need more power to exact his vengeance, and as he searched the world for knowledge and weapons he came across Gul'dan.

The orc warlock was creating a Shadow Council to rule the Old Horde behind the scenes, and was intrigued by Cho'gall's confidence and lust for power. He made Cho'gall his foremost apprentice, teaching him fel and of the existence of the Burning Legion. But Cho'gall was prepared to break his loyalty to Gul'dan. He only wanted power and was not interested in Gul'dan's ideologies concerning demons and the Legion. The moment Gul'dan and the Shadow Council ceased being useful, Cho'gall was prepared to turn his back on them.

Beneath the land of Nagrand, a society of exiled orcs known as the Pale lived in catacombs under Oshu'gun. They reveled in the powers of the Void that leaked from the injured naaru K'ure, and through the Void they communed with the void lords that sought to bring about an end to all existence. The Pale orcs' dark power rivaled even fel magic in potency, and rumors of the Pale and their otherworldly abilities eventually reached Gul'dan. Though he paid little heed to the stories, his master, the eredar lord Kil'jaeden, was intrigued. Because Kil'jaeden pressed Gul'dan to ensure victory over the draenei at any cost, that meant investigating the Pale to determine if their magic could strengthen the Horde. Gul'dan sent Cho'gall to investigate the Pale, and if they proved as mighty as the rumors claimed, to bring them into the Horde.

Cho'gall stormed into the Underpale expecting a fight, but found none. The Pale did not resist his intrusion for they were eager to share their prophecy of doom: the Hour of Twilight, a time when the shadow would envelop the universe and snuff out all life in existence. Cho'gall had little interest in their prophecy but was very interested in their unfamiliar shadow magic. To win the Pale over, Cho'gall used their beliefs to his advantage and claimed that Horde was a weapon by which they could bring about the Hour of Twilight. The Pale reveled in the opportunity to serve as agents of the apocalypse. They committed themselves to the Horde and formed a new clan: the Twilight's Hammer clan.

As he too learned to master shadow magic, Cho'gall would see the truth in the Pale's prophecy. It would take him many years, but he would eventually devote himself to their quest.

After the fall of Shattrath City, the Twilight's Hammer and Warsong clan were sent to deal with the last holdout of non-Horde ogres: Highmaul. Cho'gall was all too eager to exact vengeance for what Highmaul had done to him and personally confronted Imperator Mar'gok, the emperor. With the powers of fel and the Void, he bound Mar'gok to his throne and burned him alive.

First War
In time, Cho'gall became one of the most feared and respected members of the Old Horde during the First and Second Wars against the humans. Doomhammer considered him dangerous as he was as fanatical as the orcs who followed him. After entering into Azeroth alongside Kilrogg Deadeye, Cho'gall led the failed first siege of Stormwind Keep.

As the war raged, the Twilight's Hammer became a problem for Warchief Blackhand. The Pale were prone to disobey orders and too many wandered off, never to be seen again. Blackhand considered making an example of them and wiping the entire clan out, but Cho'gall intervened; so far, he had only been the Twilight's Hammer's de facto leader, and he offered to become their official chieftain to keep them in line. Blackhand let him try, and was pleasantly surprised when Cho'gall was able to keep the Pale obedient, effective soldiers almost overnight.

Cho'gall's success was in his understanding of the Pale and their beliefs. They worshiped the powers of the Void, and the moment they had arrived on Azeroth they felt the Void call out louder and clearer than they ever had before. The Twilight's Hammer had been hearing the whispers of the Old Gods, ancient evils imprisoned deep within the earth that served the void lords. Discovering them had overwhelmed the Pale, driving them into a state of pure ecstasy. It was seen by the clan as a sign of destiny, that they had found the place where they belonged: the place where they would bring about the Hour of Twilight. As for Cho'gall, while he had believed the Void was a force, he had cared little at first for his clan's mad ravings about dark gods. But now, he had proof they existed. He agreed to help the Pale and brought them under control with a simple notion: the Hour of Twilight was not far off, and the Horde's success was the best way to bring it to fruition. Until then, they had to keep up appearances to Blackhand and obey their true masters in secret. The Pale agreed, and the Old Gods seemed please with the Horde's lust for war and destruction, so it was no great sacrifice to proceed with the conquest of the world.

As the weeks passed and Cho'gall attuned himself to the Old Gods, he branded the Twilight's Hammer's prophecies onto the skin of the Pale orcs. He then cut off their flesh to form pages, making a book that codified teachings of the Void: the Twilight Canticle. The book would become a source of power and motivation for the followers of the Old Gods for decades.

When the Shadow Council moved into Blackrock Mountain, they were confronted by the fire elemental and Dark Iron dwarf minions of Ragnaros. Cho'gall used his fledgling connection to the Old Gods to convince the dwarves and Ragnaros's lieutenants, who also served the Old Gods, to let the Shadow Council stay in the upper reaches of the mountain, Blackrock Spire. If the warlocks remained there, they would not be disturbed by Ragnaros or his followers. Gul'dan was angered that he could not have the whole mountain, but was pleased by Cho'gall's effective diplomacy. However, he was unaware of the true reason it had worked.

Second War
Though Cho'gall was extremely powerful, he was also dangerously insane. The clan, less of a tribe and more of a religious cult, was devoted to bringing about the apocalypse. In his capacity as a chieftain and as the right hand of Gul'dan, Cho'gall aided his master in the creation of the death knights and the Altars of Storms, and in the transformation of normal ogres into ogre magi.

At some point, Cho'gall personally went to inspect the refineries at Grim Batol. Cho'gall and his convoy were traveling through the Badlands of Khaz Modan, and an ambush by Stromgarde warriors was expected. Doomhammer sent additional warriors to protect the ogre mage. The mission was a success and Cho'gall reported that the Khaz Modan refineries were well maintained and fulfilling their quotas.

Cho'gall and the Twilight's Hammer followed Gul'dan and the Stormreaver clan when the warlock went to discover the Tomb of Sargeras. Though he did not enter the tomb himself, Cho'gall was assaulted while defending Gul'dan from the Black Tooth Grin led by Rend and Maim, the sons of Blackhand, who had been sent by Orgrim Doomhammer to destroy the traitor clans that had abandoned the war on the Alliance just before the final push on Capital City. While many perished on the Broken Isles, some members of the Twilight's Hammer clan were able to survive, including Cho'gall, who had long been presumed dead at the hands of the sons of Blackhand and their Black Tooth Grin clan. While Cho'gall survived, he would then forever have a cross-shaped scar on the chest where Rend and Maim sliced him open.

After their defeat on the Broken Isles, Cho'gall and his surviving minions sailed west to the mysterious continent of Kalimdor, drawn in by the whispers of the Old Gods. They were followed by Garona, who was eager to hunt out the last members of the Shadow Council.

Ahn'Qiraj
At some point after the battle at the Broken Isles Cho'gall made his way to southern Kalimdor, where he took shelter with his Twilight cult within the chamber of C'Thun deep inside the Temple of Ahn'Qiraj. Stasia eventually brought Garona back to meet him. Cho'gall was terribly pleased to see Garona, and even more pleased to see that the control words Gul'dan used on her were still effective. Garona would be a useful tool for him and make it that much easier to get to her son Med'an, the subject of a prophecy.

Cho'gall had also caught wind of the peace summit to be held in Theramore and came up with a plan that would use Garona to her full potential. Using the control words to bend her to his will, he ordered her to seek out and murder King Varian Wrynn, followed by his son Anduin Wrynn and then the Warchief Thrall. If Garona failed to kill Varian, each side would still be more likely to blame the other, declaring open war on the spot and completely ignoring the Twilight's Hammer and whatever they happened to be up to in the south. And if for some reason Garona failed and got herself killed, it'd be that much easier to get her son, Med'an. He then ordered Garona to forget all about both him and Ahn'Qiraj the moment she stepped out of the city - to her, it would be as if she were working under her own volition.

Cho'gall's plan succeeded in making all hell break loose as Garona and the Twilight's Hammer began their attack. Med'an managed to show up in time to save Anduin and try to rescue his mother - and for his efforts, Stasia caught him, knocking him unconscious and carrying him away. Med'an woke up in Ahn'Qiraj to the dulcet tones of Cho'gall, who was berating Stasia for her failure in bringing Garona back, to Stasia's protests. After Stasia admitted she was just trying to get Garona killed, Med'an tried to attack them both and got himself flung across the room for his troubles - landing right on top of the corpse of C'thun. Despite being a corpse, the thing immediately starting whispering sweet nothings of chaos and destruction in Med'an's horrified ears. Meryl teleported himself and Valeera Sanguinar into Ahn'Qiraj right into the middle of a very surprised and very angry group of Twilight's Hammer, who were none too happy to see the two of them. After a long battle in which Med'an was rescued they got out.

Meanwhile Garona decided to kill Cho'gall. After she reached Ahn'Qiraj Garona witnessed the terrifying transformation of Cho'gall as he was twisted into a monstrous mockery of the ogre he'd once been by his "master." Said master demanded Med'an's immediate recapture and gave Cho'gall the power to summon something to help him - a Faceless One. Everyone in Theramore tried to fight the Faceless One back, but it was Med'an who managed to kill it with an impressive blast of arcane and shamanic magic woven together. In Ahn'Qiraj, Chogall's "master" showed his displeasure at Cho'gall's failure by warping his body even further. Cho'gall decided since the boy couldn't be captured and bent, he would simply have to be sacrificed - and with proper engineering, his death would accomplish what Cho'gall had wanted all along. The energy discharged upon Med'an's death would break the bonds that imprisoned his master and free him to unleash chaos onto Azeroth. Cho'gall's plan all along was to release the Old God.

Cho'gall sought to bring forth the chaos foretold in a prophecy, to weaken the barrier between Azeroth and the elemental plane and allow his master to reclaim its former elemental servants and send them to rampage across the world. Cho'gall unleashed four elementals to attack Theramore, to bring Med'an to him. However Med'an gained enough power to cast a blast that weakened the elements considerably. Later the New Council of Tirisfal gave their powers to Med'an, and he teleported to Ahn'Qiraj, to defeat Cho'gall once and for all.

Garona found the Base of Atiesh within the corpse of C'thun and brought it back to the surface. While Med'an's powers were truly phenomenal, it looked as though they would not be enough to defeat Cho'gall - now a horrifyingly deformed avatar for the Old God - and desperation set in. Cho'gall began the spell that would summon the Old God to Azeroth and signal the world's destruction. In a desperate gambit, Meryl channeled the fel energy that tainted Atiesh's base to Med'an, who used his powers to cleanse it and strengthened himself further. Furthermore Aegwynn's power fueled Med'an even further, and when he touched the base of Atiesh, it reformed. With the combined powers of the Council, Meryl, Aegwynn and the staff of Atiesh, Med'an defeated Cho'gall, burying him beneath the rubble of Ahn'Qiraj.

Elemental Unrest
Cho'gall apparently survived his encounter with Med'an and reappeared around the time of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. His image appeared around Azeroth speaking with the cultists of his Doomsday cult.

During the fourth phase of pre-Cataclysm Elemental Unrest event, he commanded four of his elemental lieutenants to attack Horde and Alliance capital cities. In addition players witnessed his personal conversation with Crown Princess Theradras, who was put in charge of Earth Elementals assigned to invade Orgrimmar and Ironforge. He also praised Hydromancer Kulratha of the Sandfury Tribe, sister to the late Hydromancer Velratha, for strengthening Gahz'rilla, a favored pet of the Old Gods.

Cataclysm
In Dire Maul Cho'gall gave the Gordunni Ogres power as a reward for their loyalty and work for the Twilight's Hammer clan. Despite his attempts though, Cho'gall was pushed out of Dire Maul by adventurers of the Horde and Alliance.

At the same time Cho'gall and the Twilight's Hammer were in the process of conquering the Twilight Highlands, and indeed had already claimed most of it. Leading the clan, Cho'gall also had its members attack various people including King Varian Wrynn to buy time for the clan. The ogre-mage, at the bidding of Deathwing and the Old Gods, was seeking to forge the Twilight's Hammer into a powerful army with the Highlands as their capital. To this end Cho'gall and the Twilight's Hammer systematically enslaved hundreds of elementals, spread twilight corruption across the region, and summoned corrupted elementium tendrils from the ground to shape into buildings and walls. They even summoned a massive maw (presumed to be a forgotten one) named Iso'rath to the surface.

Eventually, as the Alliance and Horde proved themselves to be a very real threat to the plans of his masters, Cho'gall personally sent assassins to Stormwind and Orgrimmar to kill King Varian Wrynn and Warchief Garrosh Hellscream. These attempts on the two leader's lives pushed both factions into open war with the Twilight's Hammer alongside the dragonflights, Earthen Ring and Cenarion Circle. The adventurers enlisted by the Alliance and Horde slowly work their way through the Highlands and dismantle Twilight's Hammer operations, before ultimately moving to try and destroy the Hammer of Twilight.

This final move is met with failure, however, as Cho'gall appears to claim his new weapon and direct his forces against the adventurers. He himself retreats to the Bastion of Twilight.

Some time later the adventurers of the Alliance and Horde storm the towering Bastion of Twilight and fight their way through Cho'gall's defenses and the strongest commanders that the Twilight's Hammer has to offer. In the end none of them possess the might to stop the invaders and the adventurers confront Cho'gall himself. Despite his Hammer, his powerful command of twilight magic, and summoning faceless ones to aid him, Cho'gall is killed in the ensuing battle. With his dying breath, however, he sends the adventurers plummeting into the depths of the Bastion where they confront the dark secret at its heart.

Legacy
Following Cho'gall's demise, the Twilight Cult became disorganized until the Twilight Father took over the role of overseeing what remains of the cult. The Twilight Father's legacy would continue, for Bishop Farthing would succeed Benedictus as leader of the Twilight's Hammer some time later, known now as Twilight Deacon Farthing. He too would eventually die at the hands of a shadow priest adventurer, betrayed by the blade Xal'atath.

Cho'gall's death also marked the end of Deathwing's plan to turn the Twilight Cult into a formidable, large-scale army from within the Twilight Highlands.

In the RPG
As with a number of ogres of his type, he actually had two names, one for each head — Cho and Gall.

Cho'gall became the Chieftain of an orc clan after the previous one was executed for disobeying the Shadow Council. Cho'gall renamed the clan as the Twilight's Hammer, while all records of both the clan's old name and the chieftain's one were destroyed.

Tides of Darkness

 * "He took control, Gul'dan. While you were unconscious! He attacked the Shadow Council and killed most of them! Only you and I and a few of the lesser warlocks remain!"

Comic

 * "When the child of the three realms becomes as light, the ancient power will be released. The earth will tremble. The seas will rise up in answer, and all will be madness. A new day will dawn, bringing with it chaos or peace. Our master is a god of chaos! Pandemonium will aid the old one's release! To this end, we will weaken the barrier between Azeroth and the Elemental Plane. This will allow our great master to reclaim its former elemental servants and send them to rampage throughout our world."


 * "Ah! The powerless Aegwynn! And Meryl -- ancient, undead and nearly useless -- who now carries a diabolical hint of fel magic...and is host to that delicious demon! Tell me mage, isn't that carrying the adage "Keep your enemies close" a bit too far?"

Heroes of the Storm trailer

 * Cho: The pathetic wretches of this new realm already fear me.
 * Gall: They should! So many souls for me to harness...
 * Cho: And I shall begin with theirs! This Nexus, all its power... it will be MINE!
 * Gall: Those who oppose me invite their own demise!
 * Cho: If the two of us have learned anything fighting fools like these before, it's that...
 * Gall: ... when we work as one, NONE CAN STAND AGAINST US!
 * Cho'Gall: We are... CHO'GALL!
 * Cho: We will rule the Nexus...
 * Gall: ... or destroy it!

Notes and trivia

 * Cho'gall was once claimed to be one of the first ogre-magi, or indeed the first. Warlords of Draenor and Lords of War retconned this by introducing the Gorian Empire as a centuries old ogre civilization ruled by a long line of ogre-magi. It may be, instead, that Cho'gall was one of the first, if not the first, ogre-magi of the Old Horde.
 * Before Chronicle Volume 2, it had been established that Cho'gall was found by Gul'dan when he was still young and was trained carefully in the arts of the arcane of the Twisting Nether. Cho'gall was also described as very loyal.
 * In the canceled Warcraft Adventures, the ogre mage Mugg'roth wanted to reach the level of mastery attained by Cho'gall.
 * A blood elf warlock known as Shinfel was present during the fall of Cho'gall and was cursed during the fight.
 * In the beta for Cataclysm, Cho'gall spoke with one voice as most two-headed ogres do, but during all encounters in the final game his heads speak independently of each other; each head has its own subpersonality, with Cho being the more intelligent and well-spoken and Gall being the more fanatical and loud-mouthed, and the two even refer to one another as "brother" during the Bastion of Twilight encounter. The heads have been doing things most ogre heads don't, such as talking one after the other, noticing things independently of each other and, on at least one occasion, disagreeing and talking over each other. Gall's quotes are usually put within parentheses in-game.
 * Cho'gall is voiced by Patrick Seitz (left head) and Grant George (right head).
 * Cho'Gall is a playable character in Heroes of the Storm. He is unique among the playable heroes in that his two heads, Cho and Gall, are controlled by two different players sharing the same character.
 * Cho'gall appears as a legendary card for the Warlock class in the Whispers of the Old Gods expansion for Hearthstone. His flavor text reads: "Even after all this time, Gul'dan still makes Cho'gall go get donuts and coffee."
 * Several ogres are known to imitate the appearance Cho'gall had before his gift from the Old Gods, even down to the cross-shaped scar on the chest.
 * Collar of Cho'gall drops from Gruul the Dragonkiller in Gruul's Lair.

Items

 * Collar of Cho'gall