Orc (playable)

Core races
Human Dwarf Night elf Gnome Draenei Worgen	Pandaren Dracthyr		Orc Undead Tauren Troll Blood elf Goblin
Allied races
Void elf Lightforged draenei Dark Iron dwarf Kul Tiran Mechagnome		Nightborne Highmountain tauren Mag'har orc Zandalari troll Vulpera

This article is about the playable race. For the orc lore, see Orc. For the in-game faction, see Orgrimmar (faction).

Orcs
Character classes	Hunter, Rogue, Shaman, Warlock, Warrior Death knight Mage Monk
Main language	Orcish
Starting zone	Valley of Trials, Durotar Exile's Reach
Racial leader	Thrall
Capital	Orgrimmar
Racial mount	Wolf

The orcs of Orgrimmar are one of the playable Horde races in World of Warcraft. Once a peaceful race from the world of Draenor, the orcs were demonically corrupted by the Burning Legion forming the Orcish Horde and waged war on the draenei they shared Draenor with, and then they came through the Dark Portal to Azeroth as conquerors. After having conquered the human kingdom of Stormwind in the First War, the orcs were eventually defeated in the Second War, after which they became prisoners of the Alliance of Lordaeron. Under the leadership of Thrall, the orcs were liberated from the camps and formed the New Horde, and after yet another war, the orcish people were able to settle the land of Durotar in Kalimdor.

Orcs start their journeys in the Valley of Trials within this new homeland. Their capital city is Orgrimmar, which is also considered the main base of the entire Horde itself. The chosen orc mount is the worg, and their main language is Orcish. Being the leaders of the Horde, their allies have learned this language from them as well.

Background

Main article: Orc#History

Icon of Battle

Creation screen description

The orc race originated on the planet Draenor. A peaceful people with shamanic beliefs, they were enslaved by the Burning Legion and forced into war with the humans of Azeroth. Although it took many years, the orcs finally escaped the demons' corruption and won their freedom. To this day they fight for honor in an alien world that hates and reviles them.

The orc race originated on the planet Draenor. A peaceful people with shamanic beliefs, they were enslaved by the Burning Legion and forced into war with the humans of Azeroth. Although it took many years, the orcs finally escaped the demons' corruption and won their freedom. To this day they fight for honor in an alien world that hates and reviles them.

Classic guide

The once-peaceful Orcs came to Azeroth from the planet Draenor after falling victim to the corruption of the demonic Burning Legion. Now, the Orcs fight to survive in a world that hates them, prizing blood and honor above all things.

Classic opening cutscene

Long ago, the orcish horde was corrupted by the Burning Legion and lured to the world of Azeroth. For generations, the orcs made war upon the human kingdoms of Stormwind and Lordaeron. Though the Horde was ultimately defeated, a visionary young warchief named Thrall rose to lead his people in their darkest hour. Under Thrall's rule, the orcs freed themselves from the chains of demonic corruption and embraced their shamanistic heritage. After years of wandering, the orcs founded their own kingdom in the harsh wastelands of Durotar. Based in the warrior city of Orgrimmar, they stand ready to destroy all who would challenge their supremacy. As a proud defender of Durotar, it is your duty to crush the enemies, both seen and unseen, for the nefarious agents of the Burning Legion still wander the land.

Cataclysm opening cutscene

The Great Cataclysm has shattered more than just the world. Warchief Thrall, arguably the most powerful living shaman has left his people behind so that he might stop the Cataclysm at its source. Yet, in his absence, the Horde champion Garrosh Hellscream has become the Horde's new Warchief. Though popular amongst the orcs for his victories against the Lich King, Garrosh's reckless leadership has begun to cause a rift between himself and the other leaders of the Horde. With Durotar's natural resources nearly depleted, Garrosh seeks to take whatever his people need to survive regardless of who stands in his way. A dangerous new era for the Horde has dawned and it falls to brave orcs like you to uphold the will of the new Warchief and assure the dominance of your people.

History

Long ago, the noble orcish race was corrupted by the Burning Legion and transformed into the merciless, destructive Horde. Lured to the world of Azeroth, the orcs were forced to make war upon the human kingdoms of Stormwind and Lordaeron in what would become known as the First and Second Wars. Though the Horde nearly succeeded in annihilating humanity, it ultimately devoured itself from within and collapsed. The defeated orcs spent many years within guarded prisons, unable to function without the prospect of conquest and warfare. After many years, a visionary young warchief rose to lead his people in their darkest hour. Fittingly enough, the young orc’s name was Thrall. Under his rule, the orcs freed themselves from the chains of demonic corruption and embraced their shamanistic heritage.

At the behest of a strange prophet, Thrall led his people to the ancient lands of Kalimdor. There, Thrall and the Horde came face to face with their old oppressor, the Burning Legion. With the aid of the humans and night elves, the orcs defeated the Legion and set out to find their own path in their adopted world. The orcs claimed the harsh wastelands of Durotar as their kingdom in Kalimdor.

Now based in the warrior city of Orgrimmar, the orcs look forward to a shining new future for their people. Though they are no longer driven by dreams of conquest, they stand ready to destroy all who would challenge their sovereignty or their supremacy. It is your duty to crush the enemies of Durotar, both seen and unseen, for the nefarious agents of the Burning Legion still wander the land.

Appearance

Male orcs are large, hunched and frightening, wielding axes and hammers as well as massive fists the size of a small child. They have flat, wide noses and beady red eyes. Female orcs have tiny, squashed noses and angry, slanted eyes. Female orcs have very shapely bodies and very exotic hairstyles with either messy hair poking out in every direction or thick braids—or no hair at all. All orcs have some variation of green skin.

Male orcs average 7' in height, while females average 6-6.5'.

Character

Eitrigg, an olive-skinned orc

The orcs start in the Valley of Trials, an area located in southern Durotar.

Starting attributes

	Base	Hunter	Rogue	Shaman	Warlock	Warrior	Death knight	Mage	Monk
Strength	23	23	24	24	23	26	111	23	24
Agility	17	20	20	17	17	17	70	17	18
Stamina	22	23	23	23	23	24	100	22	23
Intellect	17	17	17	18	19	17	26	20	19
Spirit	23	24	23	25	25	23	44	25	23

• Death Knight class is available since the release of the World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King expansion.
• Mage class is available since the release of the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm expansion.
• Monk class is available since the release of the World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria expansion.

Racial traits

[Blood Fury] - instant - 2 min cooldown
Increases attack power by (Level*4)+2 and your spell power by (Level*2)+3. Lasts 15 seconds.
[Hardiness] - passive
Duration of Stun effects reduced by an additional 20%.
[Command] - passive
Damage dealt by Death Knight, Hunter and Warlock pets increased by 1%.

Removed from game

[Axe Specialization] - passive
Expertise with Axes, Two-Handed Axes and Fist Weapons increased by 1%.

Reasons for racial traits

Orcs have racial abilities due to a long history as a warrior race. They had been corrupted by the Blood of Mannoroth which Grom Hellscream eventually removed.

• The Blood of Mannoroth caused them to enter a form of demon fury which was the cause of their viciousness in the First War. Orcs can work themselves up into a natural berserker frenzy called [Blood Fury].
• Orcs are also notoriously tough — a young teenage orc will already dwarf a robust human adult, and their skeletal structure is far more suited for battle, mostly due to the harsh environment that orcs live in. This has led to a [Hardiness] which makes them resilient to being knocked out.
• For reasons unknown, orcs also share a great natural affinity with animals. Many animal-orc friendships are made as soon as they look into one another's eyes and find the same primal soul within each other. Their close mental connection to these beasts has led them to be able to [Command] beasts with ease, or when faced with enslaving a demonic entity.
• Their culture has long relied on the Axe as the weapon of choice, from infantry to generals. This instrument of war is valued so highly that it is taught to all orcs, resulting in them being skilled in [Axe Specialization].

Classes

Orc warrior

• Hunter - Orcs have a bond with animals, specifically wolves, and their original culture on Draenor included many hunting rituals. Most Frostwolves have wolf companions. With the hunter using [Blood Fury], and their animal companion being augmented by [Command], both hunter and pet make a formidable team even the strongest opponent have trouble dealing with.

• Rogue - Orcish rogues are not as subtle as other rogues, but they can almost always assure a quick, hard blow which is very certain to kill the target, and they are the toughest, most hardhitting rogues. They are somewhat rare due to some orcs viewing their style of combat as dishonorable, but they do believe that it is an effective art. The most famous orc rogue is Garona though she is only Half-Orc. Other orc rogues are Rokaro and Jediga.

• Shaman - After the orcs have freed themselves of demonic corruption they have returned to their original shamanistic roots. The shamanic path is not for everyone, and therefore all shamans are highly revered in the orcish society. Famous orc shamans include Thrall (who is as renowned for his Shaman abilities as he is for his skills as a Warrior), Drek'Thar, Mother Kashur, and Greatmother Geyah.

• Warlock - Though there was a time when they were common, orc warlocks are now rare. Most are enemies to the Horde, like the Burning Blade. But a small number work for the Horde. They were illegal in the Horde during the Third War and are barely tolerated now. The few orc warlocks residing in the Cleft of Shadow are under the watchful eye of the Horde. The most famous warlock in the orcish history is Gul'dan, the founder of the Shadow Council.

• Warrior - Orcs are born warriors; as Eitrigg in Of Blood and Honor says, all orcs are warriors (this is a hyperbole as many orcs are peons). Subgroups of orc warriors are grunts and raiders. Famous orc warriors include Grom Hellscream, Durotan, and Orgrim Doomhammer.

• Death Knight - The original death knights of the Second War were created by orcish warlocks. That generation of death knights, however, is mostly, if not completely, extinct, with the only one encountered in World of Warcraft being Teron Gorefiend. More recently, as orcish soldiers in the Plaguelands were killed during the war with the Lich King, they were resurrected as malevolent soldiers of the Scourge. After the battle at Light's Hope Chapel many of them were freed, becoming Knights of the Ebon Blade.

• Mage - Orcs are somewhat unusual in that their first experience with arcane magic was through warlocks trained by Kil'jaeden, rather than through mages. Because of that orcs viewed arcane magic with distrust and fear, but at the same time longed for it. Only shortly before the Shattering did the orcs start to train mages in large numbers, becoming a playable class for orc characters in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm.

Quotes

Main articles: Jokes#Orc male, Jokes#Orc female

Main articles: Flirt#Orc male, Flirt#Orc female

Following patch 7.0.3, orc characters who use the /whoa emote also say "Thrall's balls!".

Trivia

• The male orc dance is a reference to MC Hammer's dance in the music video for "U Can't Touch This".
• The male orc are voiced by Steve Blum.
• The female orc are possibly voiced by Lani Minella.
• They are the only race to have a racial leader step down and later step up for leadership.
• When approached or attacked by members of the Alliance, both orc and troll NPCs say: "[Orcish]: Grunts! Attack!"; causing additional guards for that town or city to summon in aid of that NPC. Troll and orc NPCs are the only two races that share a common language when making such calls-to-arms, reflecting their close loyalty and friendship.
• The orcs were without a racial leader for two periods of time within World of Warcraft.
  • The first being from the Darkspear Rebellion and the Siege of Orgrimmar in which they rejected and aided in the defeat of Garrosh Hellscream up until World of Warcraft: Legion revealed Varok Saurfang as their new leader.
  • The second was following the death of Saurfang in the Reckoning up until  [50] Warchief of the Horde revealed that Thrall, was once more, their racial leader.

Gallery

• 

  Early orc models

• 

  Models before and after the patch 6.0.2 player character revamp

• 

  Models before and after the patch 6.0.2 player character revamp

• 

  Orc with straight back posture added in patch 8.0.1

• 

  Orc shaman totems from patch 3.3.

• 

  Before patch 3.3 shaman totems were same for all Horde races.

• 

  Orc on the character creation screen as seen before patch 9.0.1.

Videos

• Orc opening cinematic since ''Cataclysm'' [4K]
• The previous opening cinematic from the beginning

Patch changes

• Patch 8.0.1 (2018-07-17): New straight back posture for male orcs added.
  
• Patch 6.0.2 (2014-10-14):
  • [Axe Specialization] racial removed.
  • Model updated.
    
• Patch 5.0.4 (2012-08-28): Orcs now have access to the monk class.
  
• Patch 4.0.3a (2010-11-23): Orcs now have access to the mage class.
  
• Patch 3.0.2 (2008-10-14): Orcs now have access to the death knight class.
  

External links

World of Warcraft Community Site