Who were the Old Gods in World of Warcraft?
If you’re a serious World of Warcraft raider, you most likely have encountered these baddies before. What you might not know is who these mysterious beings are or what their end goal is. Before the Pantheon, a group of Titans tasked with reshaping and protecting the universe, arrived, Azeroth was ruled by four beings known as the Old Gods. These Old Gods were created with the sole purpose of corrupting the spirit of the planet that they inhabit, and in the case of Warcraft Lore, they were trying to corrupt the Titan spirit within Azeroth. The Pantheon found that they could not completely destroy the Old Gods without destroying Azeroth in the process. Therefore, instead of destroying the Old Gods, the Pantheon sealed them away deep within Azeroth, and even through their imprisonment, their evil is still slowly spreading throughout the planet. From the shadowy depths of Azeroth, here’s your list of Old Gods.
5. G'huun
Yum! I love giant grub worms!
First on the list is a pseudo Old God. The Titans experimented with the imprisoned Old Gods in order to learn more about them and to find out how to defeat them without destroying the planet. Through their experiments, they accidentally created G’huun. He wasn’t around during the Black Empire and he may not be as powerful as the authentic Old Gods, but he still presents a very real threat to Azeroth. Called the Blood God, he is worshipped by the Blood Trolls, and he spreads a corrupting pestilence called the “underrot”. G’huun is the final boss of the Uldir raid.
4. N'Zoth
Release the Kraken!
N’Zoth is one of four ruling Old Gods. While he is now the only active of the four Old Gods, he is still mostly a mystery, and much of what we know about him is mostly speculation. He was most likely responsible for directing Deathwing’s descent into madness, and we also know that he was probably responsible for turning Azhara and her Highborne elves into the race we now know as the Naga. With the release of the Battle for Azeroth expansion, we have been seeing more activity from N’Zoth’s forces. Information revealed during Blizzcon 2018 seems to hint that N’Zoth may be playing a very big role in the upcoming story of the expansion.
3. C'Thun
Anyone got some eyedrops?
If you were around during the vanilla days of World of Warcraft, you might remember him as the giant eyeball who was the final boss of the Temple of Ahn’Qiraj raid. He is the second of the four Old Gods that ruled Azeroth during a time when civilization was known as the Black Empire. He was considered to be the Old God of madness and chaos. Imprisoned beneath Silithus, C’Thun was responsible for creating the Qiraji insectoid race, and on several occasions, he used them to invade Azeroth.
2. Yogg-Saron
You should see his dental bills!
The third of the four Old Gods, you’ll remember Yogg-Saron as the final boss of the Ulduar raid. He was imprisoned in Ulduar by the Titans underneath the continent that is now known as Northrend. Yogg-Saron is responsible for planting the seed of corruption in the Emerald Dream, thereby creating the Emerald Nightmare. He was also responsible for creating the Curse of Flesh. This curse caused the mechanical creations of the titans to turn into living, breathing beings. This transformation includes the Earthen race transforming into Dwarves and the mechagnomes transforming into gnomes. He was almost able to escape his prison by corrupting the keepers that were responsible for guarding Ulduar, but before he was able to break free from his prison, he was defeated by the heroes of Azeroth.
1. Y'shaarj
Somebody get this guy a bib!
Y’Shaarj was the most powerful of the four Old Gods, and the only member to be killed by the Titans. The Titans found that after killing Y’Shaarj, they had caused Azeroth to be greatly wounded. They realized that the Old Gods had developed such deep roots, and that killing them would also mean killing Azeroth. After his death, Y’Shaarj’s remains fell on Pandaria and resulted in the creation of the Sha, physical manifestations of negative emotions. Garrosh Hellscream found Y’Shaarj’s heart locked away in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. He tried to use the heart to increase his own power, but was soon defeated by the heroes of Azeroth.
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