How to roleplay a worgen No one can tell you exactly how to roleplay anything , so take below as a helping hand and a guide - not a rulebook . With the announcement of World of Warcraft : Cataclysm , the Worgen became quite popular . While they are based on werewolves they also subvert many werewolf archetypes ; they can change forms at will , and do not lose control in their more bestial form . This contrary nature , along with the mysterious history of the kingdom of Gilneas , makes for some interesting roleplaying . History . " " Damn the orcs , damn the Alliance , and damn you ! The last thing Gilneas needs is sponges from other nations drawing from our resources , Dalaran wizards meddling with our affairs , and someone else ' s enemies killing our soldiers ! Gilneas is its own nation and it always will be . " " - Genn Greymane , on foreign relations . All playable worgen are citizens of Gilneas , an isolationist kingdom , reluctant to assist other nations in times of war , going so far as to completely withdraw from the rest of Azeroth with the construction of Greymane Wall roughly twenty years ago . Gilneans did not participate in the Third War , even refusing to allow Lordearonian refugees of the Scourge invasion to enter the kingdom . During the events of the Scourge of Lordaeron and the following years , the city of Gilneas is attacked by a group of Worgen , the products of a curse created and spread by the Archmage Arugal in the nearby Silverpine Forest . These attackers spread the curse to those of the city ' s population that survived being attacked by the invading Worgen . Those who were affected became viscious worgen , unable to stop themselves from killing their former friends , neighbours , and family . After a civil war of sorts between the cursed and un - cursed Gilneans , the human side developed a serum which gave the curse ' s victims some control over their transformation . You will start as a Gilnean citizen who has assisted with the defense of Gilneas against the invading Worgen , only to be bitten and cursed yourself . Eventually you become a cursed worgen who has recently been captured and injected with a double - dose of this serum . While you are still working to cure others and fighting off an attack from the Forsaken , the cataclysm occurs , reducing the Greymane Wall to ruins and bringing an end to your kingdom ' s isolation . Eventually you come across a group of Night Elf Druids of the Scythe . After a conversation with them , you come to discover that the Worgen Curse originated from them when they attempted to take the form of their patron , Goldrinn . In doing so , they lost themselves to the ferocity and animosity of their new forms , turning them into mindless humanoid wolves . Their fellow druids who remained unaffected put them into a magical sleep beneath the tree of Tal ' doren . There they slept until discovered by Arugal . He sought to use their magical state for his experiments , and in doing so , created the Worgen Curse . After learning this story , you work with the Druids of the Scythe to preform a to prevent you from devolving into a mindless beast , as the medication you have been given will only last so long . How does the history of Gilneas affect you ? Remember , Gilneas and its people have had almost no contact with the outside world for about twenty years . ( Keep this in mind when deciding your age . ) The years of isolation have likely shaped your history and personality more than anything , aside from your curse . If you are young , you would have have never ventured outside of Gilneas , or at least have no memories of doing so . If you are older , you may have participated in the Second War . Regardless of your age , recent events such as the discovery of Kalimdor , the specifics of the Third War , the arrival of the draenei , the defection of the blood elves to the Horde , the reopening of the Dark Portal , and rise and fall of the Lich King , may be completely unknown to you or only rumors . ( Lore connections to the Third War are so ubiquitous in WoW , it may be a good idea to read up on it just to remind yourself what your character " wasn ' t " connected to and wouldn ' t know about . ) Name . You are a citizen of the human kingdom of Gilneas first and a worgen second . Your curse is a recent one , so regardless of age you ' ve spent most of your life as a human . Remember these facts when choosing your name . So far , the NPC names we ' ve seen in the worgen starting zone have been human sounding , indicating the most Gilneans have not used their recent curse as an excuse to change their name to Bloodpelt , Gorefang , or Feralclaw . However , it is not yet clear which NPCs have been affected by the curse and which have not . ( the obvious exception being the Gilnean king , Genn Greymane and his ilk ) If you are going the split personality route , and your personalities have two separate names , then you will need to decide which one is your screen name . This decision should flow from how you are going to introduce yourself to strangers . Do you carry a shameful curse , or are you proud of your new abilities ? Are your feral aspects dominant , or are they kept in check ? Using Blizzard ' s paid character re - customization service , you could even start with one name , and switch to another as you develop . For your surname , you could take a cue from Genn Greymane , and simply have gotten lucky , having already had a feral sounding last name ( Barker , Wolff , et cetera ) . There is a strong precedent for such occurrences in fiction ( Captain Hook , Otto Octavius ) , but it may come off as slightly cheesy . If you are more of a strict lore - follower , you may want to borrow your surname from a Gilnean NPC since it is likely a relatively small kingdom like Gilneas has a relatively small number of families . As Gilnean dress and architecture seems to be inspired by Victorian era England , you could also take your first and / or last name from a list of British names . There are also a good deal of Gilnean names that are not strictly English , but ones like ' Archibald ' and ' Sean ' that are Welsh or Irish . These are also acceptable . You could , of course , always adopt yourself a title , changing your last name . Your name only has as much meaning to it as you give it , and as such , your name is whatever you identify yourself as . Perhaps you have found your " curse " to be a boon , and are proud of your new found abilities , and you wish to leave your old , " worthless and weak " identity behind you . You could then choose a surname reflecting your achievements , or personality , much in the manner of Gnomes . Just be sure to make it known when necessary . Personality . " " Pah , the fountains in Gilneas could grant ten times as many wishes as Dalaran ' s ! " " - Genn ' s Copper Coin Creating a personality for your worgen isn ' t much different than creating that of a human or any other race . There are however , three key ways you are different from other races ; your strong sense of nationalism , your humiliation by recent events , and your worgen curse . Try starting with the alignment and personality of your choice , and then adding these three traits on top of that . You might get something interesting . Nationalism . Integrating Nationalism into your personality is the easiest of the three . You love your country , and you think it ' s the best . The above quote is a perfect example . You believe that Gilnean people are the best , the Gilnean army is the most powerful , your king is the best leader ever , Gilnean food tastes the best , the culture is the most advanced , etc . How nationalistic your are has probably been determined by your age more than anything . If you are young , you would have grown up behind the Greymane Wall , surrounded and raised by people with a very high opinion of Gilneas , without any exposure to other cultures and ideas . If this is the case , imagine what it would be like to venture out in the world for the first time and learn the most outsiders don ' t think so highly of your king and your people . How would hearing a contrary opinion for the first time in your life affect you ? Older characters may be more traveled , giving them a greater sense of Gilneas ' s place in the world , or what they ' ve seen may have only further convinced them of Gilnean superiority . Once you ' ve decided just how nationalistic you are and why , you need to think of creative ways for that nationalism to manifest in your RP . You could like to brag about how super - awesome Gilneas is , or be prone to getting into duels while defending your kingdom ' s honor , or you may keep your opinions to yourself while a festering hatred for all other nations slowly builds inside you . However you decide to ( or not to ) express your nationalism , as with all actions in RP , it should always flow from your personality and history . Humiliation . Within a ( somewhat nebulous ) short period of time , your kingdom has been cursed , ravaged by civil war , had its precious wall broken by an evil molten dragon ' s return from another dimension , and been attacked by the Forsaken . As if that wasn ' t bad enough , these events have forced Gilneas to come crawling back to the same Alliance it reluctantly joined during the Second War and gave a big middle finger to during the Third . How much these events have tempered your pride and nationalism depends on your personality before they occurred . Regardless of where you start and where you end up , these major blows to your culture , along with being cursed , should have " some " effect on you . This change may have already happened , or it may be an ongoing part of your development as you slowly come to grips with what has happened . The Curse . Complete Control . It may be the case that the worgen curse hasn ' t affected your personality at all . Now you are a human , with all your memories and cognitive functions intact , who has merely gained the ability to transform into a " feral - looking " form . Sound boring ? Well , a worgen with complete control is not necessarily without inner conflict . You may see this curse as a blemish on the good name of Gilneas , or perhaps you are vain and disgusted with your own appearance . You may also become more feral simply because you " believe " you are an animal . Take the prince in Disney ' s “ The Beauty and the Beast , ” for example . It is never stated that the enchantment affected his personality , but for psychological reasons he still became bestial in nature ; growling , walking on all fours , and being generally anti - social . By the end of the movie , he ' s essentially acting human again , even before his magical tear - jerking transformation . Perhaps your human mind and Gilnean pride has seen your new status as a gift , a means to defend Gilneas , or bring others to see how great ( you think ) it is . Your new strength and agility have given your courage and bolstered you ( well earned or otherwise ) pride in yourself . You retain a human mind and yet embrace your new body . Two Minds . Another way to roleplay a Gilnean worgen that is popular with some roleplayers is the idea of two conflicting ( or coexisting ) minds within your character . The first is your character ' s original human personality and the second is the worgen personality introduced into your mind by the curse . You may be strictly human when you are human and worgen when you are worgen ( ala Dr . Jekyll and Mr . Hyde ) or that line may be more fuzzy , with your form merely dictating which personality is dominant at the time . You may be normal as a human , yet fighting the usual aggressive nature of the worgen while in feral form . Needless to say , this method is not for everyone , and should be used with caution . It can be a bit difficult to pull off correctly . Or , if you prefer the comedic route , you can treat each form as a separate person and argue with yourself . Feral Instincts . The middle ground in worgen RP is the " feral instincts " approach . As with “ complete control , ” you have a single personality , but the curse has made that personality more feral . Your level of “ ferality ” while in your two different forms may be the same or it may be very different . If you ' re willing to bend the lore a bit , you could even be " more " civilized in your worgen form ! ( Though you better have a damn good explanation as to why that is . ) Death Knight . The only origin exception you have is if you chose to be a Death Knight . As a Worgen Death Knight , you are a former slave of Arugal . Instead of talking over how you feel about the curse , you should instead talk about your ' freedom ' or treatment by Arugal . Appearance . This part looks simple , you are a normal human , or you may choose to stay in worgen form . Either way , remember that Gilneans care about what they look like . They are aristocratic in appearance , wearing clothing typical of the Victorian Era . Even if you ' re more of a blue - collar type , just remember to always look good . After all , you ' re a Gilnean , you ' re way better than everyone , right ? And you need to be dressed and ready to climb that social ladder among your own people , to become the " elite of the elite " so to speak . Lore . To know a little more about worgen and the history of Gilneas , see the following links :