World of Warcraft has a myriad of interesting and unique races that players can choose to be their own characters. Each one has a background, culture, and a special place in World of Warcraft’s story. There are two races in the game, however, whose current situations will make it extremely difficult to carry on beyond the foreseeable future.
These races are the fierce worgen and the wily Forsaken. Both these peoples were created under very specific circumstances, and now that those situations have faded away, both these races will inevitably die out unless they find a way to carry on. The Forsaken in World of Warcraft face a particularly difficult dilemma, and their future remains uncertain.
World of Warcraft's Forsaken Face a Moral Dilemma
The Forsaken are the undead members of the Horde who used to be humans living in Lordaeron. When Arthas Menethil returned to his homeland and murdered his own father, he decimated the land by unleashing his Scourge army upon it. The innocent denizens of Lordaeron fell beneath the onslaught of the undead masses, many being raised into undeath themselves. A while later, with the help of Sylvanas Windrunner, Arthas was driven back to Northrend, and his absence freed much of the undead in Lordaeron from his grasp.
Ever grateful for their newfound free will, the Forsaken undead pledged themselves to Sylvanas, their Banshee Queen. Then, after the events of Wrath of the Lich King, Sylvanas managed to gain the fealty of nine Val’kyr, undead winged warriors who held sway over the powers of undeath. Using these Val’kyr, Sylvanas could refresh her ranks by making new Forsaken, which kept the race going for years.
However, when Sylvanas abandoned the Horde and fled to the Shadowlands, she took her remaining Val’kyr with her. They were slain by players in the Sanctum of Domination raid, leaving Azeroth’s Forsaken both leaderless and hopeless. Although this was a heavy blow to morale, the Forsaken have found new hope in leaders like Lilian Voss and Calia Menethil, who believe that the Forsaken can depend on one another for strength.
This still begs the question, however, as to how the Forsaken plan to keep going. Perhaps they don’t and are simply content to organically dwindle in number, as many consider it cruel to raise the deceased into undeath and deprive them of a deserved afterlife. That being said, Calia Menethil was raised into undeath by a Naaru, making her the only Lightforged Undead, which could be a solution going forward for more Forsaken. Ultimately, however, there are ways to refill their ranks, but the Forsaken just have to decide whether they believe those methods to be justifiable or even necessary to begin with.
World of Warcraft's Worgen Can't Procreate
The worgen, on the other hand, are a product of a Druidic spell gone wrong. Genn Greymane sought to defend his lands from the Scourge, so he used the Archmage Arugal to summon the worgen, who had been imprisoned in the Emerald Dream by the night elves. The worgen did defeat the Scourge and save Gilneas, but it wasn’t long before they began to attack the city itself. A single bite would turn any Gilnean human into a worgen, but it takes a very specific ritual to allow the worgen to control their bestial alter egos.
Worgen Gilneans might be cursed, but their children won’t inherit this lycanthropy. If the worgen want to keep their ranks strong, they have to bite willing participants. However, the necessary next step is for the infected to undergo a ritual to tame their savage nature, which requires a special location within Gilneas. At this moment, the worgen don’t have access to this sacred place, as their homeland was abandoned after the Cataclysm. Ergo, their ability to procreate and expand their race is severely limited.
Both these races have become quintessential to the Warcraft franchise, embodied by famous characters like Genn Greymane and Sylvanas Windrunner. It would be a shame for their journey on Azeroth to be so short-lived, and one can only hope World of Warcraft will find a way to justify their continued existence.
World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is available now for PC.