Warlock ( lore ) The warlocks of Azeroth are users of the highly destructive fel magic , which all titans ( living worlds ) were uniquely susceptible to . If the energies of disorder can obliterate living worlds and the living beings of those worlds , then the energies of disorder might destroy Azeroth . Its this highly destructive power that warlocks use in their incantations and rituals . These ( spi ) ritualists have the ability to make but an insignificant sacrifice - - a living necrolyte or two , a few strands of felweed - - to fuel fel magic . Sacrificial magic was considered the greatest violation of life and the titans had hounds , instantly attuned to punished those who delved into such sorcery , police the use of arcane magics . Warlocks have a rich history as acolytes who assist a master warlock in rituals ( e . g . rituals of doom , rituals of souls , rituals of summoning , etc . ) or ( pseudo - ) felsworn priests who aid warlock acolytes in rituals . Background . Before life even began , before even the cosmos took shape , there was Light . . . and Void . In the form of a boundless prismatic sea , the Light swelled across all existence . The ocean of Light was dynamic and ever shifting . Yet as it expanded , some of its energies faded and dimmed , leaving behind pockets of cold nothingness . From the absence of Light in these spaces , a new power coalesced and came to be . This power was the Void , a dark and vampiric force driven to devour all energy , to twist creation inward to feed upon itself . The Void quickly grew and spread its influence , moving against the waves of Light . The mounting tension between these two opposing yet inseparable energies eventually ignited a series of catastrophic explosions , rupturing the fabric of creation and birthing a new realm into existence . In that moment , the physical universe was born . The energies released by the clash of Light and Void raged across the nascent cosmos , raw matter merging and spinning into primordial worlds without number . The most common forms of life to appear were the elemental spirits — primordial beings of fire , water , earth , and air . These creatures were native to nearly every physical world . Occasionally , cloud of fractured Light gathered and gave shape to beings of far greater power , of far greater potential . Among them were the titans . Composed of the primordial matter from which the universe was born , the titans were godlike beings . Their spirits — known as world - souls — formed deep within the fiery core of a small number of worlds . These energies suffused the celestial bodies they have inhabited . Fel Magic — The Magic Of Sargeras ' Demonic Acolytes . The most unstable energies coalesced into an astral dimension known as the Twisting Nether . The creatures that had emerged from this realm were known as demons . They had been formed as a result of the Light and Void energies that had bled together at the borders of the Twisting Nether . The demons embraced their furious passions and reveled in pushing the boundaries of their power , heedless of the consequences . Many of these abberations indulged in the energy that pervaded the Nether . Some learned to wield the all - consuming powers of fel magic and , before long , the bloodthisty demons clawed their way into the physical universe , terrorizing mortal civilizations and bringing ruin to world after world . The titans feared that the demons would disturb their quest to find and awaken world - souls . They sent their greatest warrior , Sargeras , to war with the demons . As his battled dragged on , he discovered some demons had learned to wield Void energies . These energies are the energies of the void lords and they do not exist , not in reality anyways . Sargeras pondered how to stop the void lords ' plans to corrupt a world - soul and , as he did , he came to a troubling conclusion . Creation is flawed and , to scour creation , he needed the very beings he sought to destroy - the very beings who are ultimately responsible for him discovering the non - existent void lords ' plan . He created the unholy Legion , scoured his kin , and sought to find the very beings who would serve him as deathbringers , necrolytes , and necromancers who command unruly demons and bring living beings to a state of oblivion . Argus And Its Warlocks . Sargeras found what he wanted in the eredar . Sargeras bent the eredar to his unholy will . Fanatical fel whisperings surged through the minds of the world ' s inhabitants , drowning out their ability to reason . Sargeras also infused the eredar with fel energies , twisting their forms to resemble hideous demons . Sargeras found quick use for his new fel - corrupted converts . Born of the eredar race , warlocks are absolutely corrupt and unimaginably powerful . Their chaos magics have burnt out whole worlds and annihilated countless species over the aeons . Under Archimonde , the warlocks serve as the Legion ' s tacticians and strategists . Azshara and the Highborne Mages — The First Warlocks of Azeroth ? The fallen titan hoped to use sorcerers and their great magic to expedite the Legion ' s journey to Azeroth . Without a suitable gateway , he knew that traveling to the world would take ages . Much as he done with the eredar on Argus , Sargeras reached out to a group of elves known as the Highborne and capitalized on their hubris . The first Highborne to hear Sargeras ' s call was Lord Xavius and the power hungry Highborne brought Sargeras to Queen Azshara ' s attention . The fallen titan promised to grant the night elf queen and her servitors unfathomable power , thereby allowing them to remake Kalimdor into a paradise . Sargeras requested that Azshara and her followers summon his agents into the world of Azeroth so that they could give the Highborne this power . Jeweled Scepter of Sargeras . After his defeat at the Well of Eternity , Sargeras immediately planned his next method of infiltrating Azeroth . He knew he couldn ' t rely on a static portal ; to serve a titan , such a gateway required an astronomical amount of power , and the most promising source had been destroyed in his last attempt . Moreover , the Highborne ' s laborious preparation and spellwork had given away his intentions , which had allowed the night elf resistance to thwart him . If he wanted to overcome Azeroth ' s defenders , Sargeras needed to enter the world with minimal warning . Thus he commanded the eredar to forge a tool that would wrench open rifts between worlds for only a short time , just long enough to let a portion of his soul through . Although that meant he couldn ' t enter Azeroth in his most devastating form , such an instrument would clear a path for his avatar to lead the Legion ' s invasion or carry out subtler schemes . Such an instrument would also weaken the integrity of the physical universe and threaten to collapse it , but Sargeras considered those to be only side benefits . Sargeras ordered his most talented eredar sorcerers to construct him a cosmic battering ram . They did not disappoint . First , scores of magi conducted dark rituals to channel countless portals into a single staff . They then projected the empowered artifact into every corner of the Great Dark Beyond , weaving it into the fabric of reality , creating a thread that could be pulled to unravel the seams of the physical universe at will . To fuel this monstrous undertaking , a hundred warlocks sacrificed a hundred demons , selecting them from among the Legion troops that had been part of the failed invasion of Azeroth . Orc Warlocks of Draenor . Kil ’ jaeden , infuriated by the draenei ’ s flight from Argus and their refusal of Sargeras ’ offer , led the Legion ’ s armies in pursuit of his former people throughout the cosmos . But the draenei eluded their hunters , discovering sanctuary on a remote world that they would name Draenor , the homeworld of the orcs . However , Kil ' jaeden eventually found Draenor and found the perfect candidate to serve him as the harbinger of the Legion - Gul ' dan . Gul ' dan was a crippled outcast on the brink of death when he heard the whisperings of Kil ' jaeden . Kil ' jaeden promised him power and exchange he would serve the Legion , aiding Kil ' jaeden with destroying the draenei . He agreed to this shadow pact and Kil ' jaeden then instructed his new servant in the ways of fel magic . He blighted Draenor , afflicting living beings with red pox plague , destroying them , and caused fear amongst the orcs . He eventually joined the Shadowmoon clan , becomining the shamanic apprentice of the elder shaman Ner ' zhul , and was used as a conduit to corrupt Ner ' zhul into forming the Horde . Gul ' dan eventually taught the ways of the warlock to orc shaman , the first being Teron ' gor , and formed the necrolytes — a group dedicated to the dark arts of necromancy . Through it , they would be able to spread plague and raise the dead . Draenor was slowly dying to the necrolytes ' fel energies and with the aid of the sorcerer Medivh and the Dark Portal that connected Draenor to Azeroth , Gul ' dan led his orcish horde to Azeroth . Background Of Warcraft 1 and Warcraft III . Warcraft 1 . If the energies of this world can be used for destruction , then the energies of the underworld could destroy Azeroth . It is this destructive power that the Orcish Warlocks use in their incantations and rituals . As the most powerful of the Orcish sects , these dark brethren of Hades go where none others dare in search of ultimate power . Their Towers hold the keys to unleashing the very essence of evil upon those they see as a threat to their devious plans . Spells that channel the fire and brimstone of hell through their bodies , or can summon forth great creatures — even daemons — are theirs to use . Warcraft 3 . Born of the Eredar race , warlocks are absolutely corrupt and unimaginably powerful . Their chaos magics have burnt out whole worlds and annihilated countless species over the aeons . Kil ' jaeden taught the orcs the secrets of warlock magics , but the orcs could never master the powers of entropy and destruction as well as the wicked Eredar . Under Archimonde ' s command , the warlocks serve as the Legion ' s tacticians and strategists . Class Fantasy Preview Series . Warlocks are the most volatile and insatiable of spellcasters . Though they often pledge themselves to the service of noble causes and are not innately evil , their desire to understand darker magics and exercise unwavering command over demonic forces breeds mistrust among even their closest allies . Warlocks peer into the Void without hesitation , leveraging the chaos they glimpse within to devastating ends in battle — their greatest abilities are fueled by the souls they ’ ve harvested from their victims . They exploit powerful shadow magic to manipulate and degrade the minds and bodies of their enemies . They employ fire magic , dropping hellish rain from the sky , to immolate the opposition . They summon and command indomitable demons from the Twisting Nether to do their bidding , or even to be sacrificed as the warlock sees fit , empowering and protecting the dark caster from harm . Please Note : Even though the Warcraft 1 manual clearly established that orc warlocks — as disciples of chaos — are not the masters of chaos , daemons ( the true lords of chaos ) , and shadow magic , the ( role ) playable warlocks of Azeroth are described as masters of chaos , demons , and shadow magic . Affliction . Affliction warlocks , indulging in fel energies that wither away their life force over time , are the masters of shadow magic . Demonology . Demonology is a term with definitions that should not exist . Demonology can be defined as a study of demons , but demons are from the astral dimension known as the Twisting Nether , which is fundamentally separate from the realm of existence that the godlike titans ( living worlds ) and arcanists are from . As such , arcanists or demonologists would not know of ( or would not have known anything about ) demons until demons somehow got into the physical universe and / or their existence was made known . When regarding to Azeroth , the World of Warcraft was first invaded by fel demons and their demonic fel energies when the mage Azshara and her Highborne mages used the Well of Eternity ' s volatile arcane energies to bring the Legion ' s fel minions and their fel energies into Azeroth . Some would say that these mages aren ' t the first warlocks , so perhaps being a warlock is more than being about summoning the Legion ' s fel minions and their demonic energies ? Perhaps it ' s best to understand demonology from the orc warlocks ? The orc warlocks hail from the world Draenor and the first of them was Gul ' dan . As the first orc warlock , Gul ' dan was a servant of the demon lord Kil ' jaeden , formed the necrolytes with Kil ' jaeden ' s help , and spouted ideologies concerning demons and the Legion . As the first orc trained by Kil ' jaeden the Deceiver , Gul ' dan was a deceiver himself and if he told someone that an orc demonologist is not a necrolyte or necromancer and that a demonologist is a master of demons , he lied . Of course , Gul ’ dan was eventually abandoned by his benefactors but was then contacted by Medivh . Gul ’ dan sensed something demonic in Medivh . He believed that this visitor was a demon who spoke on behalf of Sargeras even though he was just a mage possessed by a portion of Sargeras ’ demonic soul . He disavowed his connection with the benefactors who had taught the orcs fel magic , claiming that they had betrayed and abandoned him . After Sargeras had commanded Kil ’ jaeden to reconnect with Gul ’ dan , the demon lord once again promised the warlock power if he followed the Legion ’ s will . It is stated that Kil ’ jaeden had every intention of making good on his promise , but Gul ’ dan did not trust him . He had grown tired of serving as the Legion ’ s pawn . Though Gul ’ dan feigned obedience , he plotted betrayal . The warlock had hidden his intentions well from the demon lord but both Kil ’ jaeden and Sargeras eventually found out about his betrayal . Gul ’ dan eventually raised the Tomb of Sargeras and died to demons who flayed him alive at Sargeras ’ s command in his search of godhood . Now , if there is a single orc demonologist who can have absolute control over creatures , he certainly didn ' t get his practices from Gul ’ dan . Gul ’ dan was essentially a necrolyte or necromancer who revered demons , only betraying his faith in Kil ’ jaeden after Kil ’ jaeden abandoned him . He only died because he betrayed his demon masters . Destruction . " I assisted Putress in the creation of the new plague used to destroy the living and undead alike . It was I who gathered the materials that formed the grim weapon . " — the forsaken warlock Felgrim If there is a single forsaken warlock that does not seek to destroy Azeroth and its living beings or does not inherently bring the living beings to a state of oblivion , the warlock certainly did not get her practices from the warlock Kil ' jaeden the Deceiver despite the fact that he created the Lich King and is partially responsible for the forsaken warlocks ' existence . Kil ' jaeden is a warlock with necromantic abilities . According to Justin Parker however , warlocks can have necromantic abilities and practice necromancy without being necromancers . This belief that warlocks can practice necromancy without being necromancers is flawed because if a warlock has the ability to sacrifice acolytes or necrolytes and use their necromantic energies to create or reanimate the dead , why don ' t warlocks reanimate the dead ? Inferring that they don ' t based on the faulty premise that they cannot is wrong . Anyways , one of the very first definitions of fel energy was given when Chris Metzen defined it as death energy , demonic energy , and entropic energy . However , it seems that he retconed fel energy being essentially death energy to being the magic of disorder . Still , fel magic , which the warlock Gul ' dan claimed to be a higher form of shamanism , is what all titans were uniquely susceptible to and basically kills living worlds . As such , perhaps fel magic is merely a death - giving force and warlocks are just an overall master of the damnation part of necromancy . Some would say that to ( re ) create things , one must destroy . Demonic Objects . Bloodstone . Bloodstones are stones that contain a great deal of power that can only be awakened once they are fed . A bloodstone was neither living nor dead and blood that had spilled near a bloodstone pendant can — or does — slowly move toward the piece of jewelry , as if gravity had somehow bent itself toward it . The blood that touched the pendant can — or does — seem to disappear , and the red colour of the stone can - or does - deepen as it drank more blood . In addition to blood , there are elemental forces fused within the stone . Fire , water , thunder and rock are mixed with the blood and although this mixture is outwardly inert , all these forces seem to rage inwardly against each other . Bloodstones can be fed with the blood of demons . A warlock can use a bloodstone artifact to summon demons in large numbers and can hope to use bloodstone to bend the will of demons that would otherwise not be so easily controlled . Warlockian Orbs . The spirit of a fel construct such as an infernal can be used in the creation of a warlockian orb . This orb is used to imprison a spirit and make it serve a warlock . Demonic Temples . Temple of the Damned . The Temple of the Damned was once used by the orcish horde and its warlocks to channel demonic energies . From the Temple the insidious necromancers emerge to animate fallen corpses and the tormented spirits of the banshees are called into service . The Black Temple . Long ago on Draenor , the Temple of Karabor was the center of draenei worship . But the devout priests who prayed there are long dead , slaughtered by marauding , demoniacally corrupted orcs . In the massacre ' s aftermath the warlocks of the Shadow Council seized the structure and bestowed upon it a new name : the Black Temple . There the warlocks practiced their twisted magic that corrupted the land . For years the Shadow Council bloodied the Black Temple with foul demonic rituals , but after the Second War the dark spellcasters fell to the Alliance ' s devastating invasion of Draenor . The shaman Ner ' zhul hastily opened several dimensional portals in order to stage a retreat , and the resulting magical backlash ripped the world apart . In what had become the fractured realm of Outland , Ner ' zhul ' s portals were a strategic advantage that appealed to the demon general Magtheridon , who quickly seized the Black Temple as his seat of power . Demonic Worship . Demonic worship is the worship of a demon ( or demons ) . The Shadow Council , foul warlocks behind nearly every attempt to bring demons into Azeroth , perpetuates the corruption of the land known as Felwood . At a place called Jaedenar , named in worship of Kil ' jaeden himself , they worship the demons of the Burning Legion , and work to open the path for their masters to return to this world . The Burning Blade - a foul , demon - worshipping cult - is simply a cult of warlocks under the demon Zmoldor ' s direction that are bringing out the natural hostility in orcs . Demonic Sacrifices . " Blood is a pure offering to those who give us these vast powers . . . " - Gul ' dan A demon can be sacrificed in order to gain demonic power . Warlocks seem to make sacrificial offerings to their demon masters in exchange for demonic powers . Creatures of the Warlocks . " . . . the demons capering at the heels of the warlocks can destroy and torment , but they cannot heal or feed the starving . " - Durotan Felhunters . Felhunters seem to be the manifestations of disorder . They are creatures out of nightmare : bodies of fel flesh and twisting tendrils that devour energy like a dark and vampiric void within the worlds of the Great Dark . These malignant entities can — and do — serve warlocks , and they seem to exist only to transform the worlds they infest into places of despair and lifelessness . Felhunters feed on arcane energy , an energy that fel energy is counteracted by . Volatile arcane energies — the lifeblood of a nascent titan — are the energies of the Twisting Nether and so the warlocks ' felhunters presumably reside in the Twisting Nether , searching for arcane energy to feast upon , or travel in - between the Twisting Nether and the physical universe . Imps . The imps are , presumably , former grell who have been destroyed and trapped between life and nether . Presumably , these beings derive power from the fel energies that pervade the nether . Demons hungered for nothing less than the destruction of all life in the universe . As such , if imps have any life , imps hungered for nothing less than the destruction of it when they ' re in the universe . An imp can be hit with a fel bolt that transforms the cackling monster into a pool of bubbling slime , which means that imps are not immune to destruction from the highly destructive fel magic . The Necrolyte clan believes that the strange slimes found in certain areas seek to eat blood . No magiks could have created these crawling masses , but yet they exist . This slime seems attracted to the heat of bodies , and will seep through to drain into the pores of its victims and sap them of strength and life . Infernals . Warlocks can summon many demonic soldiers to destroy their enemies . The powerful Infernal is just one of these . Infernals seem to be constructed fel elementals who are trapped between fel construction and fel destruction . Despite that fact , it seems that Jeremy Feasel believes that controlling these constructs composed with fel fire and stone isn ' t dark shamanism because they ' re fel constructs . It seems that he doesn ' t know that elementals can be constructed : One example of elementals that can be constructed are fire elementals . The spells of the warlocks and other dark sorcerers of the Legion made infernals a force nigh unstoppable . Succubi . " A succubus is a devourer of souls , destroyer of hearts , tempter of men . A creature of profound evil and of singular mind . It cannot be brought into our world without a stimulus . Thus we use its own strength against it . With the hearts of good men , pure men , loving men , the succubus will be unable to resist , and will cross into our world . " - Carendin Halgar Succubi , or sayaad , are agile fighters with command of the mystic arts — particularly the ability to magically charm their targets — and they have overrun even the strongest of minds . While there are many sayaad that loyally serve the Burning Legion , there are also those that serve only themselves or can be impressed by a warlock master . Those in the grasp of a warlock ' s succubi can undergo brainwashing and so a warlock can , presumably , use his ( or her ) succubus to brainwash his ( or her ) victim into servitude — whether the victim is alive or undead . Voidwalkers . Enigmatic and emanating pure demonic fury , a voidwalker is sometimes the last thing someone encounters before crossing over into death . Notable Spells . These spells are warlockian spells that should be noted for they are iconic warlockian abilities despite the fact that they seem to be — or are — necromantic spells ( or variations on necromantic spells ) used by necromancers . By infusing corpses with the energies of these seemingly necromantic spells , warlocks can , presumably , raise the dead . Fel Armor . Fel armor seems to be ( or is ) a variation on unholy armor , a death knight ' s and necrolyte ' s spell . The fel armor seems to be an ancient necromantic spell , like the death knight ' s Unholy Armor spell , that transforms a portion of the warlock ' s own life force into into armor , like the death knight ' s unholy armor spell . Shadow Bolt . Shadow Bolt seems to be ( or is ) a variation on Shadow Spear , a necrolyte ' s spell . When a naaru dies , the naaru would descend into Void . The warlocks seem to have learned how to siphon the black energies of this plane and use it for their own purposes . This weapon of darkness seems to be a manifestation of black souls , and seems to cause excruciating pain to those it strike . Souls ( Life Essences ) . Soul - Consuming . Fel energies can — or does — consume souls . It is presumed that when fel energies consume souls , a fragment of the soul is left behind . This fragment is , presumably , known as a soul shard . A demonic resource , a soul shard is a foul crystal that creates a connection to the Twisting Nether , pulling a demon and , by extension , its demonic powers through against its will . Soul shards can be combined into a soul trap . The Denizens of the Cosmos . " " There are few enough interested in learning the ways of the warlock . . . " " - Ruzan The following below this section are races that can practice the warlockian arts : Dreadlords . The dreadlords are incredibly powerful demons who wield the powers of darkness and mental domination . The dreadlord marks the pinnacle of his dark powers with the devastating ability to summon a fiery infernal with the Inferno spell , the warlocks ' Inferno spell . At his call , the infernal will streak down from the sky , stunning and wounding forces when it crashes to the earth . The infernal , engulfed in searing flame , will then rise to do the dreadlord ' s bidding as if a corpse rising from a ground . According to Sean Copeland , calling dreadlords necromancers seems to pigeonhole their abilities because they ' re demons . Perhaps warlocks should not be called necromancers because they possess the knowledge of demons and are thus essentially demons themselves . Eredar . The eredar , the Legion ' s warlocks , are skilled sorcerers in both fel and shadow magics . They are credited as the first race to practice the warlockian arts even though , technically , dreadlords were wielding shadow magics and summoning infernals long before the eredar were transformed into man ' ari . The eredar warlocks were not only the sorcerers of the Burning Legion , but they also acted as its officers and strategists . There were scores of eredar warlocks and even though they had no wings , they kept aloft through spells . Orcs . Despite no longer having warlocks in their ranks , the orcs of Thrall ' s Horde still carried within them the unmistakable mark of the Burning Legion upon their very souls up until the moment that Grom Hellscream defeated Mannoroth . Cenarius , as a being so attuned to nature that he can sense the slightest corruption , assumed that the orcs in Ashenvale were scouts of the Legion . This , ironically , sent the Warsong clan back into the service of Mannoroth and lead to the reestablishment of their connection to the potent fel magics that first bound them to the Legion . Undead . " Even the dead might feel alive , with that power coursing through us . " - Venya Marthand The undead warlocks are former mortals who have died and become trapped between life and death . These tragic beings derive power from the necromantic energies that pervade the universe . It is stated that most undead warlocks are driven by vengeance and hatred to destroy the one thing that they can never have again : life . Speculation Section . Are The Demons Of Warlocks Liches ? A demon ' s demonic , chaotic energies can rip apart and remake beings in the Twisting Nether as skeletal liches . Liches are abberations that bind their souls to phylacteries and then use the phylacteries to generate physical forms . As such , demons seem to be liches themselves : Despite the fact that demons seem to be astral spirits from the Twisting Nether , it is stated that the demons that fill the rank of the Burning Legion are aberrations that have their spirits tethered to the Twisting Nether . It is stated that even if a demon dies in the physical universe , its spirit will return to the Twisting Nether . Are The Demons Of Warlocks Living Beings That Die ? Demons are immortals and , as immortals , are the opposite of mortals — living beings that die . They are the opposite of living beings that die and the antonym of living is dead . Despite the fact that demons are dead , the game designer Jeremy Feasel claims that the wow team made warlocks about living demons - which doesn ' t seem true - and that demons can die - which also doesn ' t seem true . Demons are immortals and , as immortals , they cannot die . They cannot die because if they can die , they can become dead . And if they can become dead , they can become undead . Demons can ' t become undead — not if they ' re already undead — and death , according to the Lich King , is for the living . Jeremy Feasel ' s claim that demons are merely living beings that can die should not fool anyone looking at this section . If demons are living beings that can die , they ' re merely mortals who cheat death , which means that they can become undead ( former mortals ) just so long as their death - cheating way is prevented . Are Warlocks Channelers Of The Powers Of Spirits ? " I quickly gathered together the few Warlocks who had shown some spark of passion and desire to rise above the petty quarrelling of the clans . To these Warlocks I bestowed the knowledge of the dead by leading them in secret rituals and communing with the spirits of the Twisting Nether . Those who were incapable of channeling this power were destroyed . After a time a pact was forged between the members of our circle and the dark spirits whose energies we had learned to invoke . " - Gul ' dan Warlocks are channelers of forbidden powers and channelers can be defined as people who convey thoughts or energy from a source believed to be outside the person ' s body or conscious mind ; specifically : those who speak for nonphysical beings or spirits . Because the Twisting Nether is an astral coalition of unstable energies , it would - or does - not have physical barriers or borders . It would be - or is - a nonphysical place and claiming that the physical can exist inside the non - physical is akin to claiming that a rock can exist inside a ghost . As such , demons would be - or are - nonphysical beings that warlocks can speak for if demons are from the Twisting Nether . Despite that fact , Matt Burns stated that he believes there are physical stuff in the Twisting Nether . Truth be told , he cannot honestly believe that because the physical is separate from the non - physical . If the physical can exist inside the non - physical , the non - physical is not separate from the physical . Are Warlocks Manipulators of Life and Death ? " Still others rejected us outright , choosing to follow Gul ' dan and his warlock magic of death instead of us , and our magic of life . " - the Spirit of Life " Warlock . I should have known the moment I saw you . You deal in death , but you hope to convince me to join you with talk of life . " - Garad " . . . " practitioners of unspeakable magic , macabre manipulators of life and death : necromancers . " " Warlocks ( according to how the game designer Dave Kosak would describe it ) convert life into fel , draining the victim as a source of power . Fel is the primal force of chaos and it can pool into a green goop when it ' s in physical form . It is a substance that can be animated ( is that substance alive when animate ? ) . Prior to being animated , fel would be — or is — inanimate and so warlocks can , presumably , animate the fel by drawing life from living beings . If warlocks convert life into fel or animate the fel with life , warlocks can be defined as manipulators of life . And because life and death are connected , manipulating one would — or does — entail manipulating the other . As such , warlocks seem to be manipulators of life and death — necromancers . Despite that fact , the Historian known as Justin Parker claims that warlocks aren ' t necromancers even though they have necromantic abilities . It seems that Justin Parker doesn ' t understand that warlocks can ' t have the abilities of necromancers without being necromancers themselves . Are Warlocks Necrolytes ? " In pursuit of furthering our magical resources , I opened a new school of magical disicpline that became known as Necromancy . We began training young Warlocks in the arcane mysteries of life and death . Again , with the tutelage from the Daemon Kil ' jaeden , these Necrolytes delved into the dark arts , eventually gaining power enough to animate and control the bodies of the newly dead . " - Gul ' dan Warlocks are harvesters of souls who exploit powerful shadow magic . As such , they seem to be - or are similar to - necrolytes , binders of souls who command the black powers that hold control over the earth . The necrolytes , when regarding to the TCG , are depicted as warlocks , former mages ( or shaman ) who have delved too deeply into the roots of demonic power and might be trained in the arcane mysteries - the mysteries that necrolytes , young warlocks , are trained in . Consumed by a lust for dark knowledge , the warlocks tapped into chaotic magics from beyond the world — magics that connected the myriad worlds together — and as living worlds , the titans awoke and were uniquely susceptible to fel magic — the ways of the warlock . With the strength to command the spirits of the living and the dead with fel magic , Sataiel was the so - called first necrolyte and an acolyte of the Burning Legion . This army feeds warlocks their powers , allowing them to channel destructive energies and call upon the powerful emissaries of their demon masters , beings who seem to be the dark masters of the necrolytes given that necrolytes are warlocks trained by Kil ' jaeden according to the Warcraft II manual . And although necrolytes can raise and bind the bodies of the dead , necrolytes aren ' t defined by the ability to raise and bind the bodies of the dead : The necrolytes gained the ability to raise and bind the bodies of the dead only after receiving more tutelage from Kil ' jaeden according to the Warcraft II manual . Acolytes are stated to be beings who have given themselves over to the power of Ner ' zhul and the Scourge . However , warlock acolytes are most likely beings who have given themselves over to the power of Sargeras and the Burning Legion . When demons of the Legion fall out of favor , their spirits are imprisoned within orbs and distributed to their mages and warlocks , magical practitioners who seek to understand darker , fel - based magics , including destructive spells . While many warlocks willingly follow the Burning Legion , there are those who work against it , using their magic to fight against evil . Warlocks have proven themselves to be powerful allies — as well as powerful foes . Can Warlocks Exist Without A Demon ? Demonic power is a nether - touched power that exists in - and is ultimately derived from - the Twisting Nether because demons are from the Twisting Nether . Despite that fact , when asked if perhaps warlocks are harnessing their power from the Twisting Nether , the Blizzard Historian known as Sean Copeland stated , “ No , that ’ d be magi , IIRC . They gain power by the destruction of another source ( recall the undead warlock in original cinematic ) . " Additionally , he claims that demons contain fel magic but aren ' t the source , stating that the nature of this magic is created by destroying something else . It seems that Sean Copeland doesn ' t understand that fel energy is demonic and destructive . If anything , demons are constructs that are being destroyed by their own destructive fel energies , energies that would be - or are - released from demons during that process . After he was asked how demons can be alive since fel magic is destructive , Sean Copeland stated , " it ' s magic ; ) " . As such , Sean Copeland is joking and should not be taken seriously . Do Warlocks Bind , And Control , Demonic Souls Whether They Are Disembodied Or Not ? Warlock energy spreads like radiation and could seep into - and exist inside - warlocks . As warlocks would be a - if not the - source of demonic power ( or warlock magics ) , warlocks would have a connection to demons and , by extension , the Twisting Nether . This soulbond a warlock can have with a demon would - or does - allow the warlock to control the soul , whether it is disembodied ( undead ) or not . Despite that fact , it seems that Jeremy Feasel believes warlocks don ' t control souls even though they enslave demons and steal souls , controlling where they go . After he was asked if perhaps the warlocks ' soul - controlling abilities are non - canon , he stated , " Of course you use souls , you have soul shards . You dont use them to raise the dead though . " Lore - wise , there isn ' t anything that ' s preventing a warlock from using souls to raise corpses and canon has established that . And even if all warlocks don ' t use souls to raise corpses , necromancy still extends to harvesting souls and manipulating the souls of the dead : the specialty of , master of necromancy , is manipulating the souls of the dead . Eventually , Jeremy Feasel stated that it ' s okay to have your own definition of necromancy . Control of souls vs . raising soulless UD . RPG Information . Warlocks are a class dedicated to interacting with the worlds beyond and summoning demons . Demons were mortal once , but have been transformed by the conversion into demonic beings . This change includes a powerful command of arcane energy . Eredar Warlock . Eredar were supreme sorcerers at the dawn of the universe . Some believe that they devoured their own world by using radical warlock magics . They consumed all life around them and set out to find more places of mystical power . The eredar were Sargeras ' s recruits in the Burning Legion , serving as tactical advisors and intelligence officers . Eredar warlocks are counted as some of the greatest sorcerers in the universe . Preeminence in eredar warlock society depends almost entirely upon magical power . Those who command the greatest selection of paramount spells - - and thus in theory the greatest magical arsenal - - rise to higher ranks . Spellcasters first , eredar warlocks have been known to flick their fingers in an enemy ' s direction , causing flesh , bone , and even steel to flare with entropic fire . Shadowmage . While most warlocks specialize in conjuration and demonic pacts , some focus on other areas of the dark arts . Shadowmagi eschew summoning in favor of the destructive power of raw entropy . Some same shadowmagi developed the shadow bolt spell and it encaspulates their magical style . As well as fel evocations , shadowmagi enjoy spells that weaken minds and bodies and those that create darkness .