Y'Shaarj

Y'Shaarj (pronounced YAH-Sha-Raj) was the most powerful and wicked of the Old Gods, eldritch horrors who threatened the world of Azeroth millennia ago. Y'Shaarj was the only one of the four Old Gods to be killed by the titans, and its heart was imprisoned in a vault beneath the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. The heart later found and restored by Garrosh Hellscream, who then transported it to Orgrimmar's Underhold. The heart was used by Garrosh to increase his power during the final battle of the Siege of Orgrimmar. As Garrosh was defeated, the heart and its power dissipated, leaving nothing left of Y'Shaarj's corrupting influence.

Y'Shaarj was also known as "the seven headed one" or "the beast of seven heads", and is said to have inhaled courage and breathed fear. When it died, its last, terrible breath manifested as the seven prime sha — Anger, Hatred, Violence, Fear, Doubt, Despair and Pride. Y'Shaarj is fervently worshipped by the mantid, a race of violent, expansionistic insectoids who dwell in the lands west of the Serpent's Spine wall.

Y'Shaarj serves as the posthumous antagonist in Mists of Pandaria.

Before the ordering of Azeroth
Y'Shaarj was the most powerful of the four Old Gods to plummet into Azeroth from the Great Dark Beyond, and the greatest bastion of the Black Empire was built around its gargantuan bulk.

When the godlike titans arrived to shape and order Azeroth, they created the titan-forged to battle the Old Gods and their enslaved elemental servants. Though the titan-forged were successful in defeating and imprisoning the Elemental Lords, the titans realized that Y'Shaarj would prove too great a challenge for them; as the titan-forged approached the temple city that lay at the heart of the Black Empire, Y'Shaarj twisted their thoughts and drew out their darkest emotions. Thus, Aman'Thul, the Highfather himself, reached down through Azeroth's skies and heaved the Old God from the surface of the world. At that moment, the massive bulk of the Old One was ripped apart, and its death rattle caused entire mountains to shatter and hundreds of titan-forged to be instantly obliterated where they stood.

Aman'Thul had inadvertently ripped open a wound in Azeroth's surface, and the world-soul's arcane lifeblood flowed to the surface. It was then that the Pantheon realized that the Old Gods had entrenched themselves too deep to excise without destroying Azeroth itself, and instead they resolved to imprison the remaining three Old Gods rather than killing them outright.

Influence after death
As the titan-forged known as Highkeeper Ra made his way to establish the stronghold of Uldum in the southwestern reaches of Azeroth, he came upon the remains of Y'Shaarj, the largest intact part of which was its twisted heart. Ra resolved to seal the heart in a subterranean vault below the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, in the hope that studying it would help the titan-forged gain a better understanding of the Old Gods and the Void. Ra then charged some of his mogu followers to watch over the vault and the surrounding lands, before continuing west.

After the war between the aqir and the trolls, many years after Y'Shaarj's death, a colony of aqir congregated around the southern areas of Azeroth. Though they did not know it, they were drawn to the lingering presence of the Old One and were soon warped into a new race, known as the mantid. The mantid continued to worship their Old God masters for millennia to come.

Later still, Y'Shaarj's lingering presence also began giving rise to the sha: malevolent spirits who fed on negative emotions.

Excavation
At the command of Garrosh Hellscream, goblin engineers began excavations in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms to find a mysterious artifact, but found more than they bargained for. With the mining crew terrorized by an ancient power in the depths, adventurers were called in to retrieve whatever remained of the excavation. After clearing the mine full of the Blood of Y'Shaarj, adventurers blasted their way into an underground room with an Echo of Y'Shaarj. Inside the Vault of Y'Shaarj was found a chest, suspended from chains, which contained the Heart of Y'Shaarj.

Final breath
Garrosh Hellscream later fully restored the Heart of Y'Shaarj using the pools of Pandaria. Fortunately, the whole God was not resurrected. The heart was taken to Orgrimmar, and placed in the Underhold, Garrosh's new seat of power.

After Garrosh's defeat, the Heart has suffered a failure and the Fading Breath briefly remained on the floor of the Underhold, then faded from existence, ending the life, influence, and corruption of Y'Shaarj. With every Sha Prime and its heart dead, nothing remains of its power.

The Klaxxi
Upon reaching exalted with the Klaxxi, a faction of mantid that have turned against their queen, Kil'ruk the Wind-Reaver will tell the player the story of the mantid's origins and Y'Shaarj.


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This story foreshadows the events that took during the Siege of Orgrimmar, as the Paragons of the Klaxxi ultimately sided with Garrosh Hellscream, who managed to uncover the Heart of Y'Shaarj and even wield its power to some extent.

Quotes


During the fight against Garrosh Hellscream in Siege of Orgrimmar, players can periodically hear the whisperings of Y'Shaarj coming from its reanimated heart.
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You can also hear whispers from Xal'atoh, Desecrated Image of Gorehowl.
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Notes and trivia

 * A small remnant of the power of Y'Shaarj that spawned the sha, a single Drop of Y'Shaarj can magnify emotional states for thousands of yards, causing entire towns to shut down in fear or doubt.
 * Some theories state that Xal'atath, Blade of the Black Empire was crafted from a claw of Y'Shaarj, ripped from the Old God's monstrous form and bestowed upon its servants for use in ritual sacrifices.
 * The mogu lore object Shadow, Storm, and Stone and Dave Kosak described Y'Shaarj being killed by the mogu. Later, Chronicle Volume 1 described Aman'Thul reaching down and killing Y'Shaarj himself.
 * Y'Shaarj is voiced by Keith Ferguson.
 * Y'Shaarj appears as a legendary card in the Whispers of the Old Gods set for Hearthstone. Its flavor text reads: "When he's working out, he binds all that rage back into a ponytail."
 * There is also a common Druid spell called Mark of Y'Shaarj. The flavor text reads: "Y'shaarj had three sons: Mark, Theodore and Chris."
 * Y'Shaarj's Strength is one of the two spell effects that can be chosen when playing the Mire Keeper card.
 * It reappeared in HS Madness at the Darkmoon Faire as Y'Shaarj, the Defiler. Its flavor text reads "Y'Shaarj made an excellent office intern, doing the copying AND defiling.".
 * Y'Shaarj has never been depicted with more than one head, but its overall body has also never been seen, only a long neck/torso that presumably attaches to something with six other bodies/heads.

Inspiration

 * Y'Shaarj has several distinct similarities with the dragon Tathamet from Blizzard's Diablo universe. Both Y'Shaarj and Tathamet are seven-headed entities of evil who were slain by godlike beings countless millennia ago (Aman'Thul and Anu, respectively), and both of them left behind seven entities of darkness, each embodying a different negative aspect, after their death (the seven prime sha and the seven Great Evils, respectively).

Speculation
Y'Shaarj's seven heads may explain why hydras such as Aku'mai, also multi-headed creatures, are associated with the Old Gods.

Puzzle Box of Yogg-Saron
Cataclysm introduced a new item, the Puzzle Box of Yogg-Saron, which whispers to the player on each attempt to open it. While most of these (extremely vague and cryptic) whispers are thought to describe N'Zoth, one describes a "black goat with seven eyes", which may refer to Y'Shaarj due to the similar theme of seven eyes/heads. As shown in Hearthstone, Y'Shaarj indeed has seven eyes and goat-like horns (though it should be noted that Y'Shaarj is said to have had seven heads, suggesting the card is only showing one of them).


 * Whisper

Gallery

 * Official