Gul'dan
Gul'dan is a male video game Orc who features in Warcraft.
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Biography
Gul'dan was a male Orc born a deformed weak cripple in a village in Gorgrond on Draenor. His condition made him a constant source of mockery and abuse causing him to hate his own clan. One day, he came to beaten to nearly to death with the clan shaman stopping them. He told Gul'dan that he sensed greatness in the young Orc and advised him to go to the Throne of the Elements in order to seek his destiny. Gul'dan though agrnily rejected the shaman and afterwards the chieftain banished him from the village. Alone, the Orc had nothing to sustain him except his bitterness that ate at him until nothing was left of him. He wandered for months alone through the astes where he starved and he came to believe that the safety of the clan was perhaps better than the endless suffering he experienced in his banishment. Gul'dan decided to heed the old shaman's words and dragged himself to the Throne of the Elements where he offered himself in the service to whatever would end his anguish. This saw the spirits of fire, earth, water and air approached him but recoiled after sensing the darkness and fury in his heart. In the absence of the furies, he came to hear a whisper that was from the demon lord Kil'jaeden who offered Gul'dan power in return to becoming the harbinger of his fury.
Kil'jaeden needed a public figure to unite the orcs against the draenei, but Gul'dan could not inspire or lead his people by example. Instead, the demon Kil'jaeden ordered him to ally with someone who could do so but first he would need to eliminate everyone who knew of his past. This saw Gul'dan returning to his village where he was draped in tattered robes. When the chieftain furiously reminded Gul'dan that he was never allowed to return to his people, Gul'dan roared that he had no people and obliterated the chieftain with fel energy. Gul'dan then went on a rampage, killing all of his former brethren at his former home. As the village burned, Gul'dan spotted the village shaman - the only source of any relative kindness in his life. Gul'dan earnestly thanked the shaman, saying that he had found his destiny, then killed him as well. Claiming the shaman's staff and a ring, Gul'dan left the burning ruins of his birthplace behind forever. Its name and existence would be lost to history - just as the vengeful Gul'dan preferred.
Careful to hide his fel powers, Gul'dan approached the Shadowmoon clan, whose shaman commanded respect from all orcs, perfect for Kil'jaeden's plan. He told them that his village had been destroyed by ogres and he was the only survivor. Orcs accepting newcomers into clans was uncommon, but the Shadowmoon took pity on Gul'dan and did just that. Gul'dan carefully observed the clan's shaman for one that would work, and eventually settled on the chieftain Ner'zhul. He was dedicated, forthright, and persistent, but also held turmoil and sorrow because of the death of his mate Rulkan and the recent trouble with elemental spirits. Gul'dan preyed on Ner'zhul's inner darkness. He told the chieftain of his own troubles, of the family and friends he had lost at his village, and in time befriended him, and convinced him to take him on as an, unbeknownst to him, pretend shaman apprentice. Through Gul'dan, Kil'jaeden now had access to a public figure. As the demon began to manipulate Ner'zhul, he tasked Gul'dan with making the orcs see the draenei as enemies. Gul'dan was known to had been present at the Kosh'harg celebration in Nagrand.
As Ner'zhul rallied the orcs for a war against the draenei at the behest of a powerful ancestor referred to as the Beautiful One, Gul'dan supported Ner'zhul fully. However, when Ner'zhul began to notice that they could no longer call upon the power of the elements or the ancestors, the shaman began to sense something was amiss. He discovered at Oshu'gun that he had been duped by Kil'jaeden and attempted to back out. To Ner'zhul's horror, he discovered that Gul'dan had seen everything at Oshu'gun and told Kil'jaeden of it all before Ner'zhul returned. As a necessity of his bid for power, Gul'dan trained a number of like-minded and powerful orcs, whom he named the Shadow Council. The Council was soon using its power and influence to direct almost every aspect of orc society, so as to distract those few who opposed his dark ideals from their true masters, Gul'dan and Kil'jaeden. He opened schools of demonology and necromancy to teach shamans new power to replace their lost connections to the elements, transforming them into necrolytes and warlocks. To seal the bargain between him and Kil'jaeden, Gul'dan and the Shadow Council offered the clan chieftains the Blood of Mannoroth. The first chieftain to accept his gift was Grommash Hellscream, with majority of the remaining following suit right after. The resulting Horde was bloodthirsty, barbaric, and evil, an extension of the demons whom they now worshiped. While creating the Shadow Council Gul'dan would encounter the ogre Cho'gall, who had been forced to flee from Highmaul after escaping assassination. Gul'dan became intrigued by Cho'gall's confidence and lust for power and made him his foremost apprentice, teaching him fel magic and of the existence of the Burning Legion. Around this time, he also came to gain the services of a half-Orc and half-Draenei outcast named Garona. Gul'dan bound her mind to his will and began to secretly train her in the art of assassination. She did not fully understand his intentions, but she grew to resent his cruelty but still obeyed him as her survival demanded her to do so.
Driven by his first for power, Gul'dan sought the Tomb of Sargeras located somewhere out at sea in Azeroth. Thus, on the eve of Doomhammer's attack on Lordaeron, Gul'dan took the Stormreaver and Twilight Hammer clans in search for it. The missing two clans resulted in half of Doomhammer's standing forces being gone and forcing him to retreat where he sought to take his revenge against the traitorous warlock. As a result, the reprieve allowed the Alliance forces to regroup and launch a retaliatory strike against the Orc Horde. Meanwhile, Gul'dan came to find the Tomb which he rose from the ocean floor with his magic thus creating the Broken Shore. With his closest followers, he cast upon the door and went in search for the Eye of Sargeras to claim its power for himself in order to become a god. However, he instead found a swarm of insane demons that had long been drawn to the tomb due to the remains of Sargeras and they tore apart the Orc Warlock. Within his final moments, he came to realise that he had been a pawn and that Sargeras had used him to achieve his own end. In the meantime, Doomhammer's forces arrived a the scene where he took his retribution against the traitorous clans who were all slaughtered.
Overview
Personality and attributes
He regarded himself as being Darkness Incarnate and refused to be denied his wishes.
It was his power hungry nature that saw him attempting to claim the power of Sargeras for himself and use it to ravage the world of Azeroth. The reason was to attain ultimate power and use it to burn all of creation.
Powers and abilities
Thus, he came to be the first warlock among his people and Medivh acknowledged Gul'dan as the single most powerful warlock among the Orcs.
Even after his death, his remains such as the Skull of Gul'dan were an incredibly powerful focus of warlock magic.
He could create a wave of Fel Flames that he sent in front of him. Such was his power that he could raise gigantic fel volcanos that devastated the land. In one instance, he severed the orcs from the elemental spirits of Draenor which resulted in the emergence of one such volcano that became known as the Hand of Gul'dan.
Among his most powerful spells was the Rain of Destruction where he summoned a rain of meteors to crash all around a location.
After corrupting his people, Gul'dan came to establish the Shadow Council that consisted of warlocks, necrolytes, and chieftains. Officially, they served as advisors to the Warchief of the Horde but in reality they were the true rulers of the Orcs of Draenor.
Notes
- Gul'dan was created by Blizzard Entertainment where he featured in the setting of the Warcraft universe.
Alternate Versions
In other media
Films
- In Warcraft, Gul'dan appeared as the primary antagonist in the 2016 live-action fantasy film where he was portrayed by actor Daniel Wu
Video games
- In Heroes of the Storm, Gul'dan appeared as a playable character in the setting of the MOBA video game.
Appearances
- Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness:
- Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne:
- World of Warcraft: Legion:
- World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor:
External Links
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