Tauren (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 tauren lore, see Tauren. For the in-game faction, see Thunder Bluff (faction).

Tauren
Character classes	Druid, Hunter, Shaman, Warrior, Death knight, Paladin, Priest, Monk, Mage, Rogue, Warlock
Main language	Taur-ahe
Secondary language	Orcish
Starting zone	Red Cloud Mesa, Mulgore Exile's Reach
Racial leader	Baine Bloodhoof
Capital	Thunder Bluff
Racial mount	Kodo

The tauren [ˈtɔɹən] (shu'halo in their native tongue) of Thunder Bluff are one of the playable Horde races in World of Warcraft. Originally consisting of numerous scattered tribes, the tauren people came together under the banner of the Bloodhoof tribe and, after receiving their aid against the marauding centaur, found fast friends in the newly arrived orcs.

Tauren begin their journeys in the Red Cloud Mesa, an area of rolling plains atop the high cliffs in southern Mulgore. Their adventures through the zone will eventually lead them to Thunder Bluff, which is also their capital city. The mount of choice for tauren is the kodo. They speak Taur-ahe as a main language, and Orcish as a second.

For the Horde, tauren were the only race capable of being druids until trolls gained access to the class in Cataclysm.

Background

Main article: Tauren#History

Icon of the Earth Mother

Creation screen description

Always the tauren strive to preserve the balance of nature and heed the will of their goddess, the Earth Mother. Recently attacked by murderous centaur, the tauren would have been wiped out, save for a chance encounter with the orcs, who helped defeat the interlopers. To honor this blood-debt, the tauren joined the Horde, solidifying the two races' friendship.

Always the tauren strive to preserve the balance of nature and heed the will of their goddess, the Earth Mother. Many of the nomadic wandering tribes of tauren have gathered together under a single banner to settle in the fertile plains of Mulgore. Were it not for the timely intervention of the orcs, the whole race may have been wiped out by marauding centaur. The tauren honor their blood-debt to this day, fighting alongside the Horde to protect their land.

Classic guide

The spiritual and peaceful Tauren cultivate a kinship with the natural world around them in the name of their goddess, the Earth Mother. They live honorable lives and value peace over the warmongering ways of their allies.

Classic opening cutscene

Once a nomadic people, the tauren roamed the endless plains of the Barrens, hunting the mighty kodo. Scattered across the land, the wandering tribes were united only by their common hatred for their sworn enemy, the marauding centaur. Seeking aid against the centaur, the great chieftain, Cairne Bloodhoof, befriended the savage orcs, who had recently journeyed to Kalimdor. With the orcs’ help, Cairne and his tribe were able to drive back the centaur and claim the grasslands of Mulgore for their own. Upon the windswept mesa of Thunder Bluff, Cairne built a refuge for his people. Over time, the scattered tribes united under a single banner. Though the noble tauren are peaceful in nature, the rites of the Great Hunt are venerated as the heart of their spiritual culture. As a tribesman of Mulgore, you must test your skills in the wild and prove yourself in the Great Hunt.

Cataclysm opening cutscene

Great tragedy has rocked the tauren tribes and shaken their once-stalwart devotion to the Horde. A disagreement between the new orc Warchief, Garrosh Hellscream, and the beloved tauren chieftain, Cairne Bloodhoof, led to a duel that ended in Cairne's death. With his loss, the vile matriarch Magatha Grimtotem launched a murderous attack, attempting to seize control of Thunder Bluff for herself. However, Cairne's brave son, Baine Bloodhoof, successfully repelled the attack and banished the surviving Grimtotem to the farthest reaches of the land. Under Baine's hopeful leadership, the tauren people seek to heal their wounds and restore the balance between the various factions of the Horde. To this end, a new generation of tauren "Sunwalkers" has arisen to lead their people into the Light of a new dawn and the promise of rebirth. As a proud tribesman of Mulgore, you must uphold the honor of your people and safeguard the lands of your ancestors.

History

For countless generations, the bestial tauren roamed the plains of the Barrens, hunted the mighty kodos, and sought the wisdom of their eternal goddess, the Earth Mother. Scattered across the land, the wandering tribes were united only by a common hatred for their sworn enemy, the marauding centaur. Seeking aid against the centaur, the chieftain, Cairne Bloodhoof, befriended Warchief Thrall and the other orcs, who had recently journeyed to Kalimdor.

With the orcs’ help, Cairne and his Bloodhoof tribe were able to drive back the centaur and claim the grasslands of Mulgore for their own. For the first time in hundreds of years, the tauren had a land to call their own. Upon the windswept mesa of Thunder Bluff, Cairne built a refuge for his people, where tauren of every tribe is welcome. Over time, the scattered tauren tribes united under Cairne’s rule. There are a few tribes who disagree about the direction their new nation should take, but all agree that Cairne is the wisest and best suited to lead them towards the future.

Though the noble tauren are peaceful in nature, the rites of the Great Hunt are venerated as the heart of their spiritual culture. Every tauren, warrior or otherwise, seeks identity both as a hunter and as a child of the Earth Mother. Having reached the age of maturity, you must test your skills in the wild and prove yourself in the Great Hunt.

Character

Starting attributes

	Base	Druid	Hunter	Shaman	Warrior	Death knight	Paladin	Priest	Monk
Strength	25	26	25	26	28	113	27	25	26
Agility	15	15	18	15	15	69	15	15	16
Stamina	22	22	23	23	24	100	24	22	23
Intellect	15	17	15	16	15	25	15	17	17
Spirit	22	24	23	24	22	44	23	25	22

Classes

•  Death knight
•  Druid
•  Hunter
•  Mage
•  Monk
•  Priest
•  Paladin
•  Rogue
•  Shaman
•  Warlock
•  Warrior

Racial traits

[War Stomp] - active - 0.5 sec cast - 2 min cooldown
Stuns up to 5 enemies within 8 yards for 2 seconds.
[Endurance] - passive
Increases your Stamina by 197 [at level 100] (scales with level).
[Brawn] - passive
Critical strike bonus damage and healing increased by 2%.
[Cultivation] - passive
Herbalism skill increased by 15 and you gather herbs faster than normal herbalists.
[Nature Resistance] - passive
Reduces Nature damage taken by 1%.

Female tauren healer

Character size

The tauren character model is large. In the beginning, tauren player characters will not notice this; everything is tauren-sized and is scaled to the tauren point of view. Later, when the character interacts with other races, the difference becomes apparent. Occasionally, tight quarters will hamper the tauren player character's movement, especially when mounted and/or having any size-increasing buffs. Any tauren experiencing such problems can use items that decrease one's size or alter their appearance in certain ways (such as  [Noggenfogger Elixir] or  [Savory Deviate Delight]) as a workaround.

Quotes

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

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

Trivia

• The tauren were the third playable race announced for World of Warcraft, before they were even formally introduced in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos.
• At one point during development, tauren were planned to have a "bull rush" attack as a racial ability. In the beta, tauren did not have mounts, but instead had a racial skill called [Plainsrunning] to move fast over distances.
• Prior to Patch 3.0.8, tauren's great size led to them having the most restricted selection of mounts of any race. Among the racial mount vendors, the tauren could only use their own kodo and the orc's dire wolf. From the racial PvP mounts, they could also select the troll's raptor. Mounts beyond these needed to be hardier, because the ones available to the Horde can all bear a tauren. Oddly, the tauren had no restrictions on flying mounts.
• Tauren are the first race that produces the proper sound effects when you use the /moo emote, with their mountain-dwelling kin being the second.
• The male tauren are voiced by Steve Blum.
• The female Tauren are possibly voiced by Lani Minella.

Gallery

• 

  Tauren shaman totems, used by all Horde races prior to patch 3.3.

• 

  Sunwalker Kodo a mount exclusive to tauren paladins.

• 

  Great Sunwalker Kodo a mount exclusive to tauren paladins.

• 

  Tauren art.

Videos

• Tauren opening cinematic since ''Cataclysm'' in 4K UHD
• The previous opening cinematic from the beginning

Patch changes

• Patch 10.0.0 (2022-10-25): Tauren now have access to the mage and rogue classes.
  
• Patch 8.2.0 (2019-06-25): Heritage armor added, alongside the questline to obtain it.

  Undocumented changes: Female tauren model updated to no longer use a ModelScale of 1.25. Male tauren model updated to no longer use a CreatureModelScale of 1.35.
  

• Patch 6.0.2 (2014-10-14):
  • [Brawn] racial added.
  • Model updated.
    
• Patch 5.0.4 (2012-08-28): Tauren now have access to the monk class.
  
• Patch 4.0.3a (2010-11-23): Tauren now have access to the priest and paladin classes.
  
• Patch 3.0.2 (2008-10-14): Tauren now have access to the death knight class.
  

External links

• Wowhead
• World of Warcraft Community Site