ArticulateT ' s guide to Roleplaying a Half - Elf Hi there , I decided to write this guide as a basis for a matter which , apparrently , is a rather touchy subject among many players in the Roleplay community of WoW . With that in mind , here ' s a guide on how to play a Half - Elf Foreword . Now , before I begin , I should point out that not only will playing a Half - Elf be difficult because of racial tensions , it will also be difficult because , to do it right , may mean not doing it very often . You ' ll see why as you read through this guide , but if you are a person who plays an MMO purely for the RP , then maybe a Half - Elf isn ' t for you . I should also point out that playing a Half - Elf will mean having to explain that you ' re a Half - Elf often , since there ' s no information box you can fill in on a character that people can read . This can disrupt the flow of RP , and mean a lot of repetitive typing for you , so , that ' s some fair warning aswell . Finally , as I stated before , playing a Half - Elf is a very touchy subject . Some players will be willing to give you a go , but a fair amount of others will not be happy with your race choice . Be prepared for a fair bit of flak . With that in mind , let ' s begin . Which game race to choose / Which class to be . Before we get into the fluff , we should analyse the game mechanics of it all . Since Half - Elves have no in - game playable race , it means having to pick from the three most obvious : Human , Blood Elf or Night Elf . Half - Elves are commonly born of a union between a Human and a High Elf , but known cases have occured between a Human and a Night Elf , so that ' s not totally out of the question . It ' s a shame , really , because the easiest one to roleplay would be the latter , since they reside in the same faction ( Perhaps you could get other players to be your parents ) , but the more likely is the former . To be perfectly honest , this choice is up to you . Look at your backstory , then back to me , then back at your backstory . Depending on the career path your character has chosen , how they were raised and the interaction with their parents will shape who they are today , and are the biggest factors when choosing which race to play as . A child who was raised by a human ranger , for example , may be more inclined to follow in those footsteps , taking on the features and mannerisms associated with that lifestyle . In relation to this , not only will you have to read up on the Half - Elf article , you ' ll have to look into the Human article and whatever elf is your parent article . Both races will have Radically differing lifestyles , and , unless you were raised by only one parent , or were adopted into a new family , chances are , you would have been affected by both . Below , I ' ll include an example of a half - elf I made a while back , and explain how the different aspects in his life had a major influence on him . The reason why I say this is because , again , a lot of factors are important to the life of a Half - Elf , and even if you don ' t plan on making your character terribly complex , they are still going to be terribly complex to play . Age . Age gets its own section because , while the human and elven races have been around for a fair amount of time , how old your character is will depend on what parents you had . To begin , if you claim to be the child of a Blood Elf and a Human , you ' ll recieve immediate flak . Why ? Blood Elves changed their identity from High Elves very , VERY recently . Chances are , you ' ll only be just entering the double digits in your age , and since we can ' t play kids in this game , you may want to reconsider your choice to be a High Elf child instead . The same goes for Felblood Elves . Wretched Elves would be a very difficult thing to justify , and Undead Elves ? Yeah , that ' s impossible , straight up . You also have to consider that with the events of the first , second and third wars , the relationships between the Humans , High Elves and Night Elves will determine how likely it is that your parents hooked up and when . Of course , love is a bound that surpasses all , blah , blah , blah , but you have to remember , Azeroth is a world still in the midsts of chaos ( especially with the Cataclysm ) and a ' quiet , tollerant social life ' is actually a hard thing to come by . so , yes , this requires more reading , or , in a more entertaining capacity , dig up the Warcraft games ( they should be pennies by now ) and play through them . Lifestyle and Culture . One core thing to remember is that Half - Elves essentially don ' t have one , or , a set one , at least . They have no racial capital , no defined racial leader ( there is the Windrunner Dynasty but that ' s Sylvanas and she ' s busy being the leader of the Forsaken ) and while they largely work with the Alliance , there ' s nothing stopping them working with the Horde or being independant . To be a Half - Elf means to integrate yourself with a society that will have you , or being a Nomad , and if you chose the former , your mannerisms and personality will be affected by that as well ( Yet more reading . I did say this is a difficult one to play , didn ' t I ? ) . Either way , this is a reason why playing a Half - Elf means not playing it often . Chances are small that you ' ll reside in RP focussed meeting spots , and constantly moving around relies on bumping into RPers around the world . Half - Elves work a variety of jobs , blacksmith , sailor , woodsman , that sort of thing . These aspects would have become a part of your lifestyle and taught to you in your youth by your parents and peers . Bear in mind , however , that due to your very existance , and the near - bigotted views of the world , you may not have had many friends in your youth . If you ' re a Night Human offspring , then it ' ll be alright . Night Elves and Humans get along relatively well , being part of the same faction and all , and there shouldn ' t be too much trouble beyond childish bullying and the odd occassion of mild identity crisis , but nothing too severe or angst worthy about . High Human offspring , on the other hand . . . Humans , as a whole ( this does count for both types of half - elf here ) will be jealous of your longevity and ( this one just for the High Elf side ) suspicious of your affiliation with a race that they may believe abandonned them and joined the ' Savage ' Horde . Night Elves will be suspicious of you due to these same ties , considering the events of the Sundering . High Elves ( or rather , Blood Elves now ) will be the worst of the three . They will look down on you for your ' tainted ' blood , and while they won ' t slay you for being an ' abomination unto their pure and superior race ' you will not be too welcome in Silvermoon ( it ' s for this reason that you can ' t really claim to be in Quel ' Thalas during the tutorial In - Characterly unless you want to set yourself up for a difficult time . ) Infact , if your High Elf parent upholds their traditions , they will more than likely abandon you after your birth , probably to a caring couple or , in very worst cases , to your own devices . If your Human parent is still around , they may care for you , or even mannage to convince the High Elf to stay and care for you ( though , this is quite idealistic and cliche , so becareful using this ) The Tauren , in their shamanistic ways , may infact be the most tollerant of the races in the horde , and while they won ' t welcome you with open arms and a big smile , they will probably allow you to stay with them , so long as you respect their culture and lifestyle ( no burger jokes here , people ) Goblins may also allow your presence , so long as it makes a profit . If you can proove yourself a valuable asset to them , they ' ll probably employ you , only to drop you if you begin to fall behind . Neutral cities , like Dalaraan or Gadgetzaan , will probably be more welcoming as a whole . To be neutral , there is usually a level of tollerance that exists among the races that reside there , but , due to age old predjudices among out of towners and some residents , don ' t be surprised if you experience the same problems described above . hell , you could even be a sailor , since most boats are racially neutral with their crews . Personality . I ' ll start by saying that , no , Half - Elves in WoW are not the same as they are in DnD . They aren ' t charismatic confident speakers who wind up as diplomats , and by now , reading through this , you ' ll agree with me . Considering your lifestyle , you may not be the most social of creatures . Your entire existance is viewed in a negative light by most of three races . Growing up , you will more than likely had few friends , been home schooled , and interacted with your parents most of the time . There ' s a very high chance you would be a very lonely person , have difficult to mannage social skills and have lived a rather sheltered life . This can branch out to you being a very apologetic individual , seeing yourself as always in the wrong , the cause of most problems , and / or silently resenting yourself , or acting out , transfering your hate and frustration to the world around you . No matter what personality your go with , one of these two aspects ( maybe even both if you can pull it off well ) must be found in your psychology somewhere , because what would make a Half - Elf complex and driven is the desire to be accepted , by someone , no matter who . Also , because of this sheltered lifestyle , you may wish for your character to be unaware of various events in the world . In the case of a High Human , you may want to restrict your character to speaking Thalassian ( having not learned Orcish because of your seclusion from the Horde ) , and if you wish to interact with members of the Alliance , my best suggestion is to get to know a player in the Alliance , exchange Skype , Raidcall or MSN information then tell them what you ' re typing ( yes , this does double the time it takes to say anything , but in leau of being able to learn Common , what ' re you gonna do ? ) Finally , personality traits can be attributed to each character class in the same way they are for the other races , but one class in particular will influence you , and that , of course , is a Death Knight . Being a Death Knight will only add to the secluded feeling because , not only are you an unwelcome halfbreed , you ' re an abomination against nature , a perversion of life itself . Your progress towards being accepted sundered because of the Lich King , and cannonically , it ' s not like you can get revenge for it , is it ? Dammit , Tirion Fordring , kill stealing son of a . . . Example : Morganek Demonbane . As promised , here ' s an example of what , considering the previous guide , may be a working Half - Elf build . Morganek was born to a High Elf mother and Human father during the later parts of the second war . His father was a Gilnean ( a rather tollerant one at that ) and quite a caring man . He only just mannaged to convince his love to stay and help care for the child , and the life was a fiarly good one up until Morganek , at that point named Mendell , was about 7 years old . At that point , Zorias , his father , left for Gilneas to see some sick relatives , but was trapped there behind the wall ( it ' s possible , at this point , to make a Worgen half - sibling , or even Zorias himself and still have it make sense , but , we won ' t delve into that ) Atrea , Mendell ' s mother , took him further north after a year of waiting , and then fell for another High Elf , who was far more proud of his heritage . Manipulating Atrea , she went back south with Mendell , then left him to his own devices . Both Atrea and her new Husband dwelt in Suncrowne , and were killed when the Scourge hit . Mendell grew tired , hungry and ill , only to be found by a wandering human paladin named Morganek Demonbane . He raised the boy and taught him the values of compassion and courage , educated him in his own perceptions of the holy light , and when Mendell was thirty , Morganek was slain by a Scourge ambush . Mendell wandered for days , beside himself that the only people in his life who accepted him so were now gone . An idea came to him that he could repay Morganek by taking his name , and travelling the world , doing good deeds and earning him the recognition he believed the old man deserved . Like most in this situation , while he is a caring person , Morganek would be shy and socially awkward , with the inherent desire to become accepted in the world . Unintentionally , he has trapped himself in a paradox : his desire on this quest is to gain recognition and acceptance for someone else , betraying his own psychological need , leading to a depression that is seemingly obvious . Not only is the desire to be accepted from his seclusion , but to to the disappearance of his father and the acts of his easily - led mother , Morganek suffers from abandonment issues , and unless he finds Zorias , chances are , he ' ll never get the chance to resolve them in a direct confrontation . The name is a human one , so people talking about him would assume a human Paladin of the church of light . However , since he covers most of his facial features , some would assume , due his build and what they can see of his face , to be a High Elf , possibly going so far to assume him to be a Blood Knight of Silvermoon . Raising his reputation will also raise questions as to his racial identity , and being a Half - Elf , that ' s a problem . While he is a nomad , and has no defined home , he does what he can to avoid Silvermoon and Quel ' Thalas as much as possible , only ever venturing there if in need of some supplies he can ' t find anywhere else . ICly , due to his heritage , he can ' t use the Hawkstrider mounts ( He avoids Silvermoon , where would he get one ? ) , or the Blood Elf magic drain ability ( lacking the magical prowess and the magical addiction the blood elves have . ) While he will willingly work with the horde ( he spent a lot of his time in Kalimdor ) he is mainly independant , doing whatever he can for both sides . As a character ? It works , to a degree . Yes , there are a variety of issues . For starters , this is merely assuming that Morganek ' s mother was heartless enough to simply leave her eight year old son , on his own , at the end of the second war / start of the third war . It uses a cliche that his mother was also easily manipulated enough to ' accept ' him as her son to begin with , as well as to use a Gilnean that was tollerant enough to fall for and bed a High Elf ( Romeo and Juliet stories like these can become less believable over time ) . It works , it merely requires a basic improvement to make the character A ) more believable B ) less benevolent and selfless . We could : drop the premise of gaining recognition for his dead mentor and foster father , and merely have him stuck in that state of wandering , not finding the right place to call home , and only doing good deads for those that would accept him , adding a quality of Naivete . Perhaps instead of his Mother staying , we could have her leaving Zarias shortly after the birth , who cares for Mendell , leaving him in Morganek ' s hands before heading to Gilneas , never to be seen again , adding the sidequest " Find my father , " to the list . Hell , Zorias may not even need to be from Gilneas at all , perhaps Morganek was the biological father . There are a wide variety of possibilities here , ones that , perhaps require the player to think over said concept , but they ' ll have to remember , this is going to be a concept that will hardly ever be played . Epilogue . With that in mind , remember what I said at the begining : This is a VERY difficult race to play correctly , and chances are , even if you mannage it , it won ' t be entertaining . Think long and hard before going ahead with it , possibly resign it to being an NPC that you play on the rare occassion . If you ' re sure this is what you want to be , and have a solid concept down that you can RP , then give it a go , and enjoy .