Ragnaros Ragnaros the Firelord is an incredibly powerful Elemental Lord and master of all fire elementals . He once ruled over his minions from deep inside the fiery core of Blackrock Mountain . In the Molten Core instance ; It is possible for two handed mace wielders to obtain a mortal - sized copy of his weapon , . He now rules from the Firelands plotting to engulf Azeroth in flame . Ragnaros is voiced by Chris Metzen . Ragnaros appears in " World of Warcraft " as the final encounter in Molten Core and also in Mount Hyjal during a quest . Background . The Firelord and his brethren once held sway over the entire world . As a servant of the Old Gods , he fought against the Titan s for domination over the planet . The victorious Titans banished him and his brethren to the Elemental Plane — there to remain imprisoned until the end of time . It was then and there that the brothers turned on each other . For five millennia a battle was fought at the core of this world . It was during the Elemental Sundering that Ragnaros attacked Thunderaan , Prince of Air . Thunderaan was utterly defeated and the Firelord feasted upon his essence , but was unable to consume him entirely . Ragnaros divided what remained between his servants , Baron Geddon and Garr . In the center of a vast lake of fire in the Elemental Plane stands Sulfuron Keep , the home of Ragnaros . Until comparatively recently , he ruled his underground land with a molten iron fist . Around three hundred years ago the ambitious and ruthless Dark Iron clan initiated a war against their dwarven brethren , the Bronzebeard clan and Wildhammer clan , thinking that they were about to unite against the Dark Irons . During this War of the Three Hammers , the Dark Iron dwarf leader named Thaurissan lay siege to the Bronzebeard ' s capital city of Ironforge , while his wife Modgud attacked the Wildhammer capital of Grim Batol . Modgud was succesful in her assault upon the Wildhammer dwarves , but Thaurissan proved less succesful . The Bronzebeard dwarves repelled his attack and quickly dispatched aid to the Wildhammer dwarves . In a short time , the Dark Irons ' fortunes took a turn for the worse , and they were pushed back to the city of Thaurissan , the Dark Iron dwarven home . Thaurissan , seeking to summon a supernatural minion that would turn the tide of the war back to his favor , called upon the ancient powers sleeping beneath the world . To Thaurissan ' s surprise , and ultimately his doom , the creature that emerged was more terrible than any nightmare he could have imagined . Now , freed by Thaurissan ' s call , Ragnaros erupted into being once again . Ragnaros ' apocalyptic rebirth into Azeroth shattered the Redridge Mountains and created a raging volcano at the center of the devastation . The volcano , known as Blackrock Mountain , was bordered by what is now known as the Searing Gorge , to the north , and the Burning Steppes , to the south . Though Thaurissan was killed by the forces he had unleashed , his surviving Dark Iron clan brethren were ultimately enslaved by Ragnaros and his elementals . Many Dark Iron dwarves remain within the lower areas of the mountain , especially Blackrock Depths , toiling away at the behest of Ragnaros and the Firelord ' s lieutenants . They worship Ragnaros , considering him not only a Elemental Lord but also an Old God , although he is only affiliated with the Old Gods . The Bronzebeards and Wildhammers , however , remain free . Witnessing the horrific devastation and the fires spreading across the southern mountains , the Bronzebeards ' King Madoran and Wildhammers ' King Khardros halted their armies and hastily turned back towards their kingdoms , unwilling to face the awesome wrath of Ragnaros . Now he lies at the bottom of that volcano on Azeroth , striving to find a way home , as well as to gather his strength once again so he can burn away Azeroth and take it for his own . Meanwhile , in Sulfuron Keep and elsewhere across the Firelands , his elemental princes battle constantly for dominance . He and his dwarven minions took control of the Blackrock mountain ' s volcanic depths and made war on the orc s in the Upper Blackrock Spire , which served as the seat of power for Nefarian the black dragon . Ragnaros has uncovered the secret to creating life from stone and plans to build an army of unstoppable golem s to aid him in conquering the whole of Blackrock Mountain . World of Warcraft : Cataclysm . After being defeated in Molten Core , Ragnaros was banished back to the Elemental Plane . He is now located in Sulfuron Keep , his seat of power within the Firelands . He and his armies will be launching a full scale assault on Mount Hyjal , attempting to burn the now - regrowing World Tree . It seems that he has allied with Deathwing , therefore ending his war against Nefarian ' s forces , and uniting them as a single army . He would be one of two Elemental Lords allied with Deathwing , the other being Al ' Akir . His assault on World Tree is run by several of his lieutenants ( notably Baron Geddon ) assisted by troops of the Twilight ' s Hammer clan and various members of Twilight dragonflight . According to a series of quests in Mount Hyjal , the assault of Ragnaros was repulsed with the help of some recently revived Eternal s and Guardians of Hyjal . He makes an appearance during the quest in Mount Hyjal . He will make another appearance in Patch 4 . 2 . 0 as the final boss of the Firelands outdoor raid . Objective of . " Within the Inner Spire " Midsummer Fire Festival . The Midsummer Fire Festival involves festivities including a " rebirth " of player activities involving Ragnaros . During the Festival , there is a number of references to Ragnaros the Fire Lord including a Summer Scorchling that , when given an incense , grows in size until he " jokes " about becoming the Herald of the Fire Lord and showing new players a slight glimpse of Ragnaros himself . Elemental War Reborn ! During the Midsummer Fire Festival , high level players can face the true threat facing the world . The Earthen Ring send adventurers across the globe on a quest to save the world from an Elemental War . The Twilight ' s Hammer plans to summon the Frost Lord into the world so that he may face Ragnaros bringing an elemental war to the world once again . Players are then sent to Slave Pens to face Ahune and defeat him before he may gain full strength and begin his attack on the Fire Lord . World of Warcraft : Shaman . It is revealed part of Ragnaros power was absorbed by Shotoa which gives him power to command elemental spirit , mainly the spirit of fire . Death ? Ragnaros is fought as the final boss of the Firelands raid instance . On normal difficulty , he retreats when his health hits 10 % , but on heroic difficulty , players must bring down his health to zero in order to defeat him . There ' s been some debate about whether Ragnaros actually dies when players complete the heroic mode encounter . During the quest , Hamuul Runetotem claimed that if Ragnaros were to be defeated in his own realm ( the Firelands ) , he would be forever vanquished . If Hamuul ' s words hold true , Ragnaros may be permanently killed lore - wise . " Text # 9426 - BY FIRE BE PURGED ! " was datamined from files within the WoD beta , sparking rumors of the Firelord ' s likely return in some way or the other . However , this was eventually revealed to instead be from the revamped version of the Molten Core raid for World of Warcraft ' s 10th anniversary .