Kil ' jaeden Kil ' jaeden ( pronounced " Kill - Jay - Den " ) was a powerful eredar demon lord and acting leader of the Burning Legion . Appointed twenty - five thousand years ago as the chief lieutenant of Sargeras , he had the same rank as Archimonde . While Archimonde led the Legion ' s armies , Kil ' jaeden ' s agenda was to assimilate every race possible into the folds of the Burning Legion . He was responsible for manipulating Gul ' dan and the creation of the tyrannical Lich King from the spirit of the shaman Ner ' zhul . Since the apparent banishment of Sargeras and the death of Archimonde , he had assumed the role of supreme commander ; in the end he was defeated by the heroes in orbit above Argus . Before his death , the Deceiver finally made amends with his brother figure , Velen . Biography . Destroyer ' s offer and the flight of Velen . Twenty - five millennia ago , the world of Argus was the home of the wondrous eredar civilization , a race of natural magic - wielders . Kil ' jaeden , respected for his intelligence , a genius among a race of geniuses , quickly rose to become one of the three most prominent leaders of the eredar , along with his colleague Archimonde and best friend , Velen . Kil ' jaeden had trusted and loved Velen like a brother . Eredar society was shattered when these three leaders were contacted by Sargeras the Destroyer . Sargeras offered a deal : in exchange for their loyalty , the eredar would gain untold power and prestige . Kil ' jaeden and Archimonde readily accepted , though Velen held back . As the eredar were preparing to receive their new powers , Kil ' jaeden learned that Velen and his followers had sided with Sargeras ' s enemies , the naaru , and were in the process of fleeing Argus . Enraged by this " betrayal " Kil ' jaeden used his new powers and minions on the " Exiled Ones " , or draenei , and relentlessly pursued them across the cosmos for five thousand years . . . but Velen was as cunning as the Deceiver , and the draenei soon vanished . Orcs , the oath , and the Deceiver ' s revenge . Following the failure of the invasion of Azeroth , some fifteen thousand years after accepting Sargeras ' s offer , Kil ' jaeden was ordered to find a mortal army , that could be used to invade worlds " en masse " . Kil ' jaeden prowled the Nether for millennia for the perfect soldiers . Then , one day , Kil ' jaeden ' s favored servant , Talgath , stumbled upon a world that showed signs of the draenei ' s magic . Though they initially assumed it was just another one of the planets the draenei briefly stopped upon , further investigations quickly discovered that the draenei had actually " settled " there , even going so far as to give it an Eredun name : Draenor , meaning " Exiles ' Refuge " . Sharing the " Exiles ' Refuge " with his nemesis were a race of shamanistic beings called " orc s " . Intrigued by their potential , Kil ' jaeden realized that they were exactly what he was looking for . Going straight to the Horde ' s most respected leader , and using the guise of the orcs ' sacred ancestors , Kil ' jaeden tricked the elder shaman , Ner ' zhul , into thinking that the draenei were plotting against the orcs , and subtly introduced warlock magic and bloodlust to the clans . Soon , the clans began to launch successful skirmishes and raids against the draenei , believing it to be their ancestors ' will that they be exterminated . However , plans faltered when Ner ' zhul travelled to Oshu ' gun , was shown the truth about his new patron , and attempted to undo his actions . Kil ' jaeden , however , was already aware of Ner ' zhul ' s actions and stripped the elderly shaman of his power , investing the greatest and darkest of warlock magicks into Ner ' zhul ' s betrayer : his erstwhile apprentice , Gul ' dan . Eventually , as the Elemental Spirits refused to grant their powers to the shaman , these warlock powers would overtake the orcs . Gul ' dan ' s indomitable lust for power and his selfish personality made him the perfect pawn for the demon . After proving the orcs ' ability to fight the draenei , Mannoroth ' s blood was given to the orc chieftains to drink , and they degraded into a horrible bloodlust . As both a test of his new minions and as revenge to his wayward brethren , Kil ' jaeden ordered Gul ' dan to finish the slaughter of the draenei in one climactic battle at Shattrath City . The attack was a brutal massacre with much of Shattrath being destroyed . To all appearances , Kil ' jaeden ' s pawns had finally triumphed over the Exiled Ones . Second invasion . The first return . Kil ’ jaeden , like the rest of the eredar warlocks , felt the presence of Medivh when he began his astral roaming . Kil ' jaeden , relatively pleased with the Horde ' s destruction of the Draenei , took this as a sign that Sargeras required his energies elsewhere . The Eredar demon retreated from Draenor , abandoning the Horde . Aware that the time had come to unfold his stratagem , Medivh manipulated Gul ' dan into opening the Dark Portal and sending the Horde deep into Azeroth . He promised Gul ' dan a home for his people , and plenty of inhabitants to slaughter to satisfy their blood lust . Medivh ' s agendas were nearly fulfilled as the Horde made their way into Azeroth , spreading their dark , demonic energies wherever they went . They heralded the destruction that would wipe out any resistance that could be offered to defend against the Legion , destroying the Kingdom of Azeroth , almost completely subjugating Khaz Modan , and enslaving the mighty Alexstrasza . However , two events occurred that would inevitably doom the orcs ' invasion to failure . The first was the assassination of Medivh , which in turn caused the great spirit of the Dark Titan in him to be banished to the Abyss . The second , ironically , was caused by Gul ' dan ' s lust for power , the same trait that had originally been used to corrupt the orcs . Gul ' dan facilitated the Horde ' s fall in the Second War by seeking out the Tomb of Sargeras which , as told to him by Sargeras himself through Medivh , he believed would give him all the powers held by the Dark Titan before his demise eight hundred years before . As a result of his actions , Orgrim Doomhammer lost nearly half his standing forces and the orcs lost their one chance of wiping out the last bastion of human power for good . Given enough time to regather and reorganize , the humans followed with a fierce counter - attack that ultimately won them the war . The orcs had failed . The Lich King . Kil ' jaeden , infuriated , knew that the time had come to take matters into his own hands . Recalling the Nathrezim ' s experiments with undead during the War of the Ancients , and realizing that it was free will that led to the downfall of the orcs ( the betrayals of Doomhammer , the Stormreaver and the Laughing Skull clans ) , he formulated a most sinister plan : Why not create an army of enslaved undead , under the control of a single cunning mind cowed in fear to the Legion ? Calling in an unpaid vendetta , the Deceiver found Ner ’ zhul within the Twisting Nether , and , seeking vengeance against the shaman ' s defiance , tortured the orc for an impossibly long time , destroying his body piece by piece until finally , nothing remained but the shaman ' s tortured soul . Kil ' jaeden offered the remnant of the soul a choice : remain in eternal pain in the eredar torture dimension , or become the ruler of an army of undeath . Ner ' zhul , predictably , chose the latter , and his soul was transformed into the demonic Lich King . Recalling Ner ' zhul ' s previous duplicity and Gul ' dan ' s failure , Kil ' jaeden took no chances whatsoever . He refused to give the Lich King a body , instead sealing the Lich King ' s soul with armor he personally forged , and put him into the Frozen Throne . Just in case Ner ' zhul wasn ' t daunted by immobility , he dispatched the Dreadlords to make sure he stayed on task . The Lich King was to succeed where the orcs had failed : His undead servants would wipe out any potential resistance , and raise the unfortunate fallen as undead legions . The Scourge was just that , and wiped out Quel ' Thalas and much of Lordaeron to prepare for the Legion ' s invasion . By the time Archimonde entered Azeroth , the remaining forces of Lordaeron were no match for them . However , the Lich King , aware of the eredar ' s hatred for the immortal elves , betrayed the Legion by breaking the pact he had forged with Kil ' jaeden which bound him to the latter ' s will . In informing Illidan of the Skull of Gul ' dan through his pawn Arthas , he facilitated the death of one of the Legion ' s greatest tacticians , Tichondrius , and dealt the first blow against the Legion that led to the ultimate fall of their forces in the Battle of Mount Hyjal . Betrayer . Although Kil ' jaeden was infuriated at the failure and death of Archimonde , he knew better than to take reckless vengeance . Aware that the Lich King had grown out of his control , he then went about to acquire a new pawn . He found Illidan , and told him that , despite his part in the Legion ' s downfall , The Deceiver was willing to offer him a chance at power . Illidan was informed that if he destroyed the Frozen Throne , thus killing the Lich King , that Kil ' jaeden would reward him with power beyond his imagination ( whether or not Kil ' jaeden actually intended to do so is a moot point ) . He gave Illidan the Orb of Kil ' jaeden to aid him in his task . Illidan first gained the allegiance of the naga , who helped him first flee from Kalimdor and then later seek out the Eye of Sargeras . With it , they performed an arcane ritual to tear Northrend , the base of the undead Scourge , apart . Thus , the minions of Kil ' jaeden came full circle , back to the power of the Dark Titan . But , due to interferences from Illidan ' s brother , Malfurion Stormrage , the Eye was instead destroyed before Illidan managed to destroy The Frozen Throne . Having failed Kil ' jaeden , Illidan instead went on to rescue Tyrande from the Scourge along with his brother . Aware of Kil ' jaeden ' s capabilities , he fled to Outland to evade capture , during which he gained the loyalty of one more former highborne race , the blood elves . With his new servitors , Illidan eventually moved against the pit lord Magtheridon by destroying the dimensional gates Ner ' zhul had opened decades before . The stratagem was meant to keep Kil ' jaeden and his minions away from Outland and would have stopped Magtheridon from calling in reinforcements . Without any further demonic aid to strengthen his standing forces , Magtheridon was quick to fall before Illidan and his followers . But Kil ' jaeden was no fool . Because of Draenor ' s former importance as the homeworld of the orcs and the refuge of the draenei ( and Magtheridon himself an agent of the Legion ) , Kil ' jaeden kept at least half an eye on the torn planet . Quickly uncovering what had happened ( or perhaps watching all along ) , the Deceiver once again appeared in front of Illidan and commanded him to return to the icy continent to finish what he had started ( citing that his new servitors showed " " some " promise " ; while Kil ' jaeden probably didn ' t buy Illidan ' s story , he knew that his best bet in destroying the traitor still lay in Illidan ) , and told him that if he failed again , he would face his " eternal wrath . " However , Illidan failed and the Lich King persists , having cheated the Deceiver by merging with Arthas . For now , Kil ' jaeden ' s vengeance is embodied in the mighty fel reaver Doomwalker , who lays siege to the gates of the Black Temple . The Lord of the Legion has made plans elsewhere … In Warcraft III . Kil ' jaeden appears in a few cutscenes in " Warcraft III " and is placeable in the " Warcraft III World Editor " . Here , he has two models , one looks like a retextured burning Archimonde and the other looks like a huge burning eredar . In World of Warcraft . Kil ' jaeden made his " World of Warcraft " appearance with the release of the Sunwell Plateau , the 25 - man raid introduced in patch 2 . 4 . 0 . He appears as a combination of man ' ari eredar and the winged , horned daemon appearance as seen in the manual to Warcraft II . Players face off against Kil ' jaeden himself , who is still being summoned into Azeroth through the Sunwell itself by his new lieutenant , Kael ' thas Sunstrider . Anveena , the embodiment of the Sunwell ' s energies , is held in an arcane barrier , her powers being drained to feed the portal , but later in the encounter she is sacrificed to weaken the Deceiver , who can then successfully be banished back into the Nether . Defeat . It can be noted that , at the end of the fight , Kil ' jaeden does not die . Instead the magics of the Sunwell simply react against him , and he is pulled back through it and into the Twisting Nether . During the events of Blizzcon , 2010 , Chris Metzen said , in reply to a question about Kil ' jaeden , " . . . but now he ' s dealing with " completely " different emotions . " He explained that back then he " . . . wanted to eradicate all life , and it wasn ' t really personal . . . Now it ' s personal . We will likely see him . . . AGAIN . " This suggests the return of The Deceiver looms above us . It is his very large necklace that rips off and lands on the surface of the Sunwell after he sinks in that is looted by players . In Warlords of Draenor . Kil ' jaden planned to corrupt the orc s on alternate Draenor in order to use them against the draenei he hated so much . Kil ' jaeden ' s plans failed when Garrosh Hellscream stopped the orcs from drinking the blood of Mannoroth . In Legion . After Archimonde ' s defeat in Hellfire Citadel , Gul ' dan was sent to Azeroth . Kil ' jaeden spoke to Gul ' dan telepathically and told him to reopen the Tomb of Sargeras to facilitate the Burning Legion invading Azeroth once again but he was killed by stormrage . In the Artifact Weapon storyline , Kil ' jaeden makes a brief appearance in the Shadowgore Citadel as he is summoned by , which then Kil ' jaeden imbues the weapons of Akaari , . Kil ' jaeden appears to be still in the Twisting Nether , apparently in orbit around his homeworld , Argus . He is in regular contact with Sargeras to discuss the lack of progress against the forces of . Although he is not technically in the Tomb , appears as the final boss for the Tomb of Sargeras raid introduced in Patch 7 . 2 . After being defeated in Argus ' orbit , Kil ' Jaeden in the throes of death bitterly admits that he was always envious of Velen ' s gift , faith and vision , and that he never believed Sargeras could be stopped . He now believes that perhaps , Velen might prove him wrong . Velen shows sympathy towards Kil ' jaeden while touching the forehead of his old friend as a sign of forgiveness as he and the heroes return to azeroth . Before he dies , he closes his eyes and accepts his fate . The Deceiver then explodes ending his reign of terror once and for all . Since he died in the Twisting Nether , he will not return . Personality . Kil ' jaeden seems to have no problem keeping his ego from dominating judgment . He is surprisingly forgiving to failed servitors , provided they aren ' t complete failures . Kil ' jaeden possesses an extremely long - term mindset , and views individual events as nothing more than single links in the thousand - year long chains of his schemes . Perhaps because of this outlook , Kil ' jaeden is extremely tenacious and rarely lets short - term defeats or missteps prevent him from reaching his goals . If one method of completing a scheme is prevented for whatever reason , he simply finds other ways to proceed . However , he also has a long memory when it comes to individuals who , either intentionally or unintentionally , obstruct his plans . Kil ' jaeden does not forget those who hinder him in any way , and often comes back to brutally punish them later , in his own time . His bidding is typically carried out by minions or intermediaries , and Kil ’ jaeden rarely meets individuals face to face . When he does , it is usually to force them to his will or to slay them once and for all . He consistently allows those who serve under him chances to redeem themselves , a policy which acts to cement their loyalty . Kil ' jaeden also takes the excuses and explanations of those who serve under him with careful consideration and merit . These policies are in direct contrast to Archimonde ' s approach , which can be summed up as " succeed or die . " Kil ' jaeden regards Velen , who was once closer to him than a brother , as his arch - nemesis , and has spent millennia in a fury over what he perceives as Velen ' s betrayal , much to the confusion of his servitors and Archimonde . Even in this vendetta , however , Kil ' jaeden was able to keep his ego safely out of the equation , thereby making his vengeance upon the draenei perhaps more terrible than that visited upon any of the Legion ' s other foes . . . Powers . Kil ' jaeden the Deceiver has a highly adaptable physical presence and frequently shifts among several forms . He usually tries to assume whatever shape the people around him will trust the most or be the most awestruck by . He attains his goals through a combination of subtle coercion and blatant intimidation . The exact powers at the Deceiver ' s command are unknown . As his ultimatum to Illidan and his appearance to Ner ' zhul and the orcs exemplifies , he is a master of illusions . Kil ' jaeden has also shown ability to control his overall size ( an ability shared by Archimonde ) , but that may not be the limit to his shapeshifting abilities . Though these are the only powers observed in recent years , assuming that these cantrips are the limits of his power is a grave mistake . He is credited with " enslaving " the dreadlords , a feat that would have required immense cunning and awesome magic , and his rank within the Legion and the eredar are listed as higher than Archimonde ' s . Even prior to the eredar ' s transformation , Velen acknowledged that Kil ' jaeden was his , as well as Archimonde ' s , superior in matters of the arcane . With the death of Archimonde and the banishment of Sargeras between dimensions , it is likely that Kil ' jaeden has become the most powerful demon in existence . However , Kil ' jaeden ' s full powers lie not within the boundaries of physical and magical ability , but in the mind . His unrivaled cunning placed him first in position in the ranks of the Burning Legion , and so aptly gave him the title of the Deceiver . He managed the corruption of the orcs with very little magical expenditure , a plan executed almost entirely by manipulation . As with Archimonde , Kil ' jaeden has his own hiearchy of demons . The dreadlords , like Tichondrius , serve under him . Risen terror s and shadow priest s serve under him also . Character development . Like most demons , Kil ' jaeden ' s original position in Warcraft lore was a minor one ; in this case , he was the tutor of Gul ' dan , one of the major characters in Warcraft II . After the role of Sargeras was built up from a footnote to that of the major lore antagonist , Kil ' jaeden ' s role was also increased , to the extent that he is now one of the most significant behind - the - scenes villains . In fact , only Sargeras himself holds a more constant and terrifying presence within the lore ( the Old Gods having acted against Azeroth directly ) .