Dark Horde The Dark Horde is a renegade group of orcs , troll s , ogre s , and goblin s who dwell in Blackrock Spire and consist largely of the remnants of the Blackrock clan and Dragonmaw clan . They are ruled by the self - styled Warlord Rend Blackhand . Unlike the other Orcs , they remained steadfast to the ideals of the old Horde , including demon worship , and depraved bloodlust . They became a beacon for orcs who longed for the old days , and soon , their ranks began to swell again . They are fighting a war that nobody told them was over . Nobody believes that they will win the war , not even themselves , and that makes them very dangerous . Orc warlocks and other clans that refuse Thrall ' s leadership are strongest in Azeroth around the Burning Steppes and Blasted Lands . History . Defeat of the Blackrock clan . Blackrock Spire was the base of operations of the Horde during the Second War . At the assault on Blackrock Spire , Orgrim Doomhammer was captured and sent to Lordaeron as a prisoner , and the Blackrock clan was defeated . The survivors fled to their last bastion of hope , The Great Portal , and there they fought alongside the Black Tooth Grin clan , some warriors of the Dragonmaw clan , and the Burning Blade clan . The Alliance ultimately destroyed the Burning Blade clan , and the Black Tooth Grin clan was almost destroyed . The Blackrock clan and the warriors from the Dragonmaw clan were defeated and imprisoned . With this , the Second War was over . However , Rend and Maim survived and slipped into the shadows . Also , although some Dragonmaw warriors died at the Dark Portal defense , most of that clan was still at Grim Batol . Foundation of the Dark Horde . After the Second War , Rend and Maim , serving as dual chieftains over the defeated Black Tooth Grin clan and the weakened Blackrock clan , apparently rescued some of their warriors from the prison camps , set up a base in Blackrock Spire , and formed the Dark Horde . The Smolderthorn tribe , Firetree tribe and Spirestone clan retained their alliances with the Blackrock clan . The Dragonmaw clan was loyal to Blackhand before his death , and when he was killed they pledged their loyalty to his sons ; thus they remained with them as well . Aftermath of the Second War . In the the dark portal reopened and emissaries from Ner ' zhul were sent to Rend and Maim asking them to rejoin the Horde and to borrow the red dragon s held captive by their allied Dragonmaw clan . However , Rend refused . Not long after Nefarian came to Blackrock Spire and took control of the Blackhand brothers and the forces under their control . After the destruction of the second Dark Portal there was only one clan that was large and strong enough to disrupt the peace in Lordaeron , the Dragonmaw clan , lead by Nekros Skullcrusher and located in Grim Batol , they hold control over the Dragonqueen Alexstrasza and the red dragonflight by using the Demon Soul . Nekros planned to reunite the falling Horde , unleash the red dragons over the Alliance and continue the conquest of Azeroth , but Rhonin and his companions , aided with dwarven resistance fighters destroyed the Demon Soul and set free to Alexstrasza , she was full of vengeance and incinerated Nekros and the most of the Dragonmaw clan . The few survivors were rounded and thrown in the internment camps . Rend Blackhand returned from the shadows and took full control of the Blackrock clan after the death of Orgrim Doomhammer . After the Third War . Though the Blackrock orcs were defeated in Lordaeron , in Azeroth Rend Blackhand and his orcs had several encampments in the foothills of Blackrock Spire , claiming the mountain as their own , but refusing entering in the depths of it . They prefer to stay near the Dark Portal . They were in constant war with Stormwind parties and Firegut ogres . Eventually , Dark Iron dwarves from Blackrock Depths tried to destroy the Dark Horde . The Dark Horde fought back , and Maim was killed in savage battle . His sacrifice , plus Rend ' s " alliance " with the black dragonflight , allowed them to drive back the Dark Irons and maintain their hold on Blackrock Spire . Allegiance with the Forsaken . The Forsaken of Lordaeron happily aid the Dark Horde in the area . They don ' t care whether the orcs are evil or not ; it ' s actually easier for them if their allies are evil . Recently the Dark Horde may no longer accept assistance from the Forsaken . The Dark Horde may have started attacking them because they " support Thrall ' s Horde " which they believe is not the real Horde . Current activities . Now the Dark Horde is barricaded inside Blackrock spire under Rend Blackhand ' s command . They are as bloodthirsty and savage as the Horde of old and are as barbaric as the orcs from the First and Second Wars . They still practice demonic magic and their warlock s can summon demons to help them in battle . Also they have contracted some goblin mercenaries and train worg s for war . Apparently the Firegut ogres and the Dark Horde make an alliance even after the ogres were enemies of the Dark Horde and were unwillingly to accept allies other than ogres . The Dragonmaws on Azeroth apparently escaped the internment camps and are now led by Chieftain Nek ' rosh , son of Nekros Skullcrusher , now they ' ve regained strength , and have an encampment northeast of Menethil Harbor . They allied with the Torchbelcher tribe and the Torchbelcher provide them with warriors and mages . Nek ' rosh has built catapults and aims to lay siege to Menethil . Thrall would have eliminated this renegade group if it wasn ' t for Nefarian , because the big black dragon is protecting them . Nefarian has taken control of Blackrock Spire and has made the Dark Horde as his pawns . They constantly fight the Dark Iron dwarves and their master , Ragnaros , that reside in the depths of the volcano . Nefarian and his brood are at work creating a Chromatic dragonflight with the powers of all the flights to release on the fire elemental s and eventually the races of Azeroth . It ' s rumored that Rend is willing to allow naga , furbolg s and goblin s to join him . Organization . Rend Blackhand , son of Blackhand the Destroyer , is in charge of the Dark Horde . He calls himself warchief , and all the other members of the Dark Horde address him as such . The true ruler of Blackrock Spire is Nefarian the black dragon . All Dragonmaw orcs belong to Rend ' s force ; their clan leader , Chieftain Nek ' rosh Skullcrusher , leads one band far to the north , in the Wetlands . From the official WoW site : Military tactics . The remnants of the Blackrock and Dagonmaw clans , along with their forest troll , ogre and goblin allies , form a brutal though small force . They are outnumbered in a hostile land , these orc s and their allies have developed more sophisticated tactics than those they used in the past . The original Horde that came from Draenor had the benefit of large numbers ; it appeared that for every orc that fell , ten more came to take his place . Now these renegades temper their chaotic , bloodthirsty natures with caution , as they no longer have the forces to support reckless charges . The Dark Horde uses the terrain around Blackrock Spire to its advantage . Orc and goblin lookouts hide behind carefully stacked rockfalls they can trigger in an instant , burying enemies on the path below . The renegades engage enemies in bottlenecks , where a pack of ogres or forest trolls make short work of assailants forced to approach one at a time . The renegades also know the best ambush sites on the Spire , where they throw rocks and fire missile weapons at enemies in shallow canyons . When engaging enemies outside their territory , these renegades prefer to scout the land and pick defensible positions before attacking . The orcs try to have one or two locations to which they retreat when hard - pressed , usually rocky terrain with plenty of cover or thick forest ( unless they are fighting night elves ) . The warriors attempt to lure their foes into unfamiliar ground where , if the orcs have no advantage , at least neither does the opposition . The Dark Horde places its toughest warriors , usually ogres , in the front ranks , keeping weaker fighters in the back with ranged weapons and healing magic . In rare cases , the strongest orc leaders might appear mounted on the backs of black drake s , but such a sight is never seen outside Blackrock Spire . The melee fighters use intelligent tactics in battle , however , after a few attacks the bloodlust can take over the orc . Warriors lose control and lash out wildly at their opponents . Instead of using multiple attacks on one enemy , an orc may swing once at every enemy in range . These renegades train themselves to focus their attacks on the strongest enemy they can see until he falls , but in the heat of combat they often forget such training and may chase weakened stragglers across the battlefield . Two types of spellcasters support the renegades . First , orc warlock s call down annihilating magical barrages and summon fiendish monstrosities . Second , forest troll healer s , usually voodoo priest s , assist the troops with healing magic and defensive spells . Orc warlocks who serve the Burning Legion also assist them . Skin color . Unlike other orcs , the skin tone of some of the orcs within the Dark Horde is a dull gray rather than green . It is unknown why and whether they originally had this skin tone or attained it in some way . Either way , the trolls and ogres within the Dark Horde seem to have the " regular " skin tones of their respective races . It might be that the dark skin is simply a natural adaptation to the barren , ashen steppes around Blackrock Mountain . Some people have speculated that the skin color is from corrupt orcs ( also in Warcraft I & II ) , but not red as Fel Orcs , because they aren ' t directly corrupted like the Warsong once were . Another possibility is that they may be tainted orc s as they are said to have mottled gray in their green skins . Perhaps the Dark Horde continued mutating more than a tainted orc and they became completely gray . It is also possible that the Blackrocks affiliation with the black dragonflight might have something to do with their skin color . Supposedly , the black dragons ' magic or possibly even genes contributed to a new or at least a different breed of orc .