Warcraft Lore Timeline

Quickly learn the major events of Warcraft Lore. If you want more detail, try these resources: World of Warcraft, WOWwiki and BlizzPlanet.


The Beginning
	-147,000	The Mighty Titans arrive and place the Well of Eternity on Kalimdor, the only continent on Azeroth
	-10,250	Some Kaldorei (Night Elves) abuse the Well's arcane magic and call themselves the Highborn Sargeras, leader of The Burning Legion, takes advantage of the Highborne and enters Azeroth through the Well
	-10,000	The Burning Legion invades Azeroth
	-9,999	Illidan Stormrage and others defeat the Legion and destroy the well The Well implodes and creates the Maelstrom splitting Kalimdor into several continents Many kaldorei are dragged to the bottom of the sea and transformed into serpents now known as the Naga. Illidan creates a new Well of Eternity at Mount Hyjal and is locked away in an underground prison for doing so
	-9,998	Three dragons, Alexstrasza, Ysera and Nozdormu plant the World Tree, Nordrassil, over the new Well to hide it
	-4,000	The Highborne, now called High Elves, establish Quel’Thalas and create a new source of magic, The Sunwell
	-2,800	Humans arrive from Arathor, ally with the High Elves and learn arcane magic
	-100	Kil’jaeden, begins to corrupt the Orcs on the world of Draenor and turns the peaceful race into a violent and savage one
	-41	The Orcs learn demonic arcane magic becoming warlocks and necromancers
	-40	The Orcs form into the Horde, a corrupt group of warriors and subjugators
	-19	After conquering all races on Draenor and defiling the land with dark magic, the Horde falls into anarchy and civil war
	-5	Medivh forges the Dark Portal between Draenor and Azeroth
		The Dark Portal
	0	Orc scouts enter the Dark Portal and build a small outpost in the Black Morass
	1	The First War Medivh opens the Portal wider for the Horde to invade Azeroth
	2	Durotan, chief of the Frostwolf, is assassinated, his infant son is saved by humans, given the name of Thrall, and raised as a slave
	4	Blackhand leads the Horde to attack Stormwind Keep and the humans flee north to Lordaeron ending the First War Orgrim Doomhammer (Horde) assassinates Blackhand Gul’dan raises Stormwind’s fallen soldiers and names them Death Knights
	5	The humans, dwarves and high elves form the Alliance, vowing to defeat the orcs
	6	The Second War The Horde takes its army with their new allies, the jungle Trolls, north into Lordaeron The Alliance rallies and pushes the Horde back to Stormwind Keep Gul’dan raises the Sargeras Tomb from the ocean, freeing a swarm of demons trapped inside killing him and damaging Horde forces The Alliance pushes the Horde all the way back to the Dark Portal shattering it Many of the orcs who remain in Azeroth are incarcerated in prison camps by the Alliance ending the second war
	7	Ner’zhul accidentally tears Draenor apart in a catastrophic explosion by opening too many portals. The shards become known as Outland, now part of the Twisting Nether Kil’jaeden captures Ner’zhul and transforms him into a Lich King, encasing him in the ice of Northrend
	10	Ner’zhul, still powerful, corrupts the Archmage Kel’Thuzad and directs him to begin spreading a plague of undeath across Lordaeron
	16	Thrall escapes from Blackmoore and searches for other orcs to teach him of his heritage. He hears of the Warsong clan, the only free orcs and of its ferocious leader, Grom Hellscream
	23	After joining with Orgrim Doomhammer and Hellscream, Thrall frees the captive Orcs and reforms the Horde
	24	Doomhammer is slain in battle and Thrall becomes Warchief reintroducing the abandoned shaman culture
	25	The Cult of the Damned infects Lordaeron with the Lich King’s plague Prince Arthas of Lordaeron tracks the source of the plague to the Lich King in Northrend He loses his soul to the cursed blade Frostmourne becoming the Lich King’s servant as a death knight Arthas returns to Lordaeron, assassinates King Terenas, and takes charge of the Scourge The Third War Kel’Thuzad, once an agent of Ner’zhul and now a lich himself, summons the Burning Legion Archimonde and his host of demons arrive in Dalaran Fleeing the demons and Undead, Alliance and Horde forces both travel west to the forgotten continent of Kalimdor The Burning Legion arrives on Kalimdor, seeking the World Tree and the Well of Eternity Desperate for help, Tyrande Whisperwind frees Illidan from his prison who slays the demon responsible for corrupting Hellscream and his orcs, but is transformed into a demon and banished by Malfurion The desperate Alliance, Horde and Night Elves unite against the Burning Legion in a final stand at the World Tree which fails. The night elves imbue the Tree with their immortality and power that rushes out of the tree destroying Archimonde and his forces ending the Third War The Night Elves join the Alliance, recognizing the need for allies now that they are without their former power Thrall and the Horde found a homeland in the desert of Kalimdor, naming it Durotar Jaina leads the Alliance to an island off the coast of Kalimdor, founding Theramore, the new home of the Alliance
	26	Illidan opens a portal from Lordaeron to Outland and flees there with his allies
	28	Arthas and his Scourge travel to Northrend to investigate Lich King Ner’zhul’s throne. Illidan’s forces return from Outland and lie in wait for Arthas and the Undead Arthas’ forces win the ensuing battle, he frees Lich King Ner’zhul and infuses his body with his spirit becoming The Lich King, the true lord of the Scourge The merging causes an explosion in the glacier forming the throne of Icecrown Citadel where the Scourge forces lurk below Human forces begin to raid Durotar’s small villages. Thrall sends scouts to investigate
	29	Admiral Proudmoore, Jaina’s father, arrives on Theramore with the remainder of the Kul Tiras navy. He lands on Kalimdor and engages the Horde in a series of battles The Horde pushes the battle back to Theramore, killing Admiral Proudmoore but leaving Jaina and those loyal to her alive
	30	Start of the World of Warcraft