Forest troll Long before the rise and fall of the kingdoms of men , the Amani troll s of Lordaeron had built an enormous troll - empire . After centuries of war and hate , an alliance of elves and humans finally dealt a crushing blow to the Amani when they defeated a great troll army at the foot of the Alterac Mountains . The empire did not recover from the defeat , and the trolls never rose as one nation again . Yet some forest trolls survived , each generation nurturing their hatred of the elves in the dark forests of the north for thousands of years . During the Second War , the Amani trolls were briefly allied to the Horde , and the forest troll Zul ' jin was one of the greatest heroes the trolls have ever known . Introduction . As their name suggests , these trolls are found in forests — at least , forests not dominated by elves or other humanoid species . Some forest trolls are jealous of their jungle and ice kin , as these forest trolls have never known the glories of their own kingdom . Forest trolls hold all other races in contempt — especially high elves , whom they consider the despoilers of their ancient homeland . ( The civilization of the forest trolls of Lordaeron predates that of the high elves by several thousand years . ) They will only work with others if it means the elimination of an even more hated enemy . They allied with the Horde during the Second War in this manner , abandoning the orcs after their defeat . Forest troll culture is tribal and as primitive as their dark troll cousins . Though not as violent as dark trolls , forest trolls nonetheless have a fearsome reputation in battle . History . In the depths of time . Forest trolls are native to northern Lordaeron . In the time before the rise of the night elves , the trolls ruled the vast Amani Empire . Together with the jungle troll ' s Gurubashi Empire they fought the aqir , eventually disrupting the insectoid empire into two nations . It is rumored that exiles from the Amani Empire journeyed to the Well of Eternity and were transformed into the first night elves , though this has never been proven . With the arising of the night elves the Amani Empire was all but dismantled with the magics of the Kaldorei . With the arrival of the Burning Legion the forest trolls retreated into the wilderness and took no direct part in the conflict . The rebuilding and the Troll Wars . In the aftermath of Kalimdor ' s shattering , the forest trolls began to once again expand their lands across the newly formed Lordaeron , naming their new territory Zul ' Aman . However the arrival of the high elves led to a burning rivalry that would last millennia . The high elves founded their new Kingdom on an ancient troll city that was sacred . This led to the forest trolls attacking the fledgling elven kingdom for the desecration of their city . The stubborn elves , by using magic , drove the trolls back and for a time no conflict arose between the elves and trolls . After two thousand years had passed the Amani warbands , armed with their own magic , struck out of Zul ' Aman determined to destroy the high elves once and for all . They scored victory after victory against the elves , pushing them slowly back . The desperate elves forged an alliance with the human empire of Arathor , teaching a hundred humans the way of magic . The combined human and elf armies met the trolls at the base of the Alterac Mountains . For days the trolls assaulted the allies ' lines until , at the right moment , the more powerful human and elven magi unleashed a fury of fiery magic onto the forest troll army . The searing flames stopped the troll ' s wounds from regenerating and then the human knights charged , slaughtering most of the troll army and driving them back into Zul ' Aman . The trolls suffered a defeat from which they would never recover . The Second War . At the time of the First War orc ish warchief Blackhand sent Orgrim Doomhammer to invite the forest trolls to join the horde . The trolls declined , having little interest in anything beyond their own forests . However at the beginning of the Second War orc forces rescued the troll ' s leader , Zul ' jin , from Alliance soldiers and in gratitude Zul ' jin pledged the forest trolls to the now warchief Doomhammer . Zul ' jin had done what no other forest troll had done since the Troll Wars : he united the numerous tribes of Zul ' Aman under one banner and joined the Horde . He hoped that by joining the orcish invaders they could attempt to retake Quel ' Thalas from the elves . The forest trolls contributed their axe throwers , berserkers , and destroyer ships to the forces of the Horde fighting with the Orcs throughout the Hinterlands and Quel ' thalas , slaughtered thousands of humans and elves and razed to the ground all villages they found in their way . Ogrim Doomhammer and Zul ' jin attacked the elf homeland and made it to Eversong Woods until Alliance reinforcements could arrive . Doomhammer however focused his strength on Lordaeron and did not destroy Quel ' Thalas as Zul ' jin wanted . When defeat for the orcs seemed inevitable , the trolls abandoned the Horde as suddenly as they joined . Recent times . In the aftermath of the Second War , the forest trolls returned to the old ways of rivalry and fighting between the tribes . Two tribes , the Smolderthorn and Firetree joined Rend Blackhand ' s Dark Horde and took up residence in Blackrock Mountain . During the Third War the majority of the forest trolls remained untouched by the Scourge ' s destruction of Lordaeron with only small numbers falling and being reanimated as mindless undead . The destruction of Quel ' Thalas and Lordaeron provided a unique opportunity to once again attempt to reclaim their ancestral lands , and in the wake of the loss of the Sunwell several tribes attacked the weakened elves . Zul ' jin also returned after years missing to lead the trolls against the elves and their new allies – the Horde . One tribe , the Revantusk s , still felt some loyalty toward the Horde , and agreed to a pact of friendship and mutual assistance with the new Horde under Thrall . However they declined to fully join up as the Darkspears had , remembering the recklessness and corruption of the first Horde . Culture . Magic and religion . Like other trolls , forest trolls practice Voodoo magic as well as shaman ism and priest magics . The forest trolls also worship a serpent goddess named Ula - tek . She appears to be one of the Loa . A small minority of forest trolls also worship Hakkar the Soulflayer , though his cult never achieved the dominance it enjoyed among the jungle troll s . Relationships . Forest trolls are vicious and cunning . As cannibals , they eat the flesh of their enemies and even sometimes each other . Forest trolls have few allies , they hate orc s who they see as weak and who failed on their promise to return the forest trolls to their former glory . Many of tribes of forest trolls are also hostile towards each other . The Revantusk tribe is the only tribe friendly towards the Horde . Relations between the Alliance and forest trolls is unknown as it has not been stated anywhere , but they no doubt hold a grudge towards the human s for helping the high elves at the end of the conflict between the trolls and high elves . Forest Trolls and High Elves . Forest trolls and high elves see each other as sworn enemies . The trolls hate the elves as they invaded their lands and almost wiped them out , and the elves see the forest trolls as barbarians intent on destroying their homeland . The high elves had been in the dominant position for centuries since the Troll War s . However , with the recent destruction of their homeland , the elves are weakened and the forest trolls see a chance for revenge . Appearance . Forest trolls resemble their jungle troll cousins , but are taller and more muscled . Their hair ranges from red to black , while their skins are green . Forest trolls decorate their bodies with ritual scarring and piercings , and they prefer white or dark warpaint symbolizing their power and glory . These humanoids are easily seven feet tall , with an impressive build and mottled , dark green skin covered with moss . Yellow teeth show under a large , hooked nose . Due to a mutation that took place many millennia ago , the forest trolls ' bodies can support plant life to a limited extent . A thin layer of moss inevitably grows on the skin of forest trolls shortly after they are born and gives them their characteristic green coloring .