The Lich King The Lich King is the master and lord of the Scourge , which he rules telepathically from the Frozen Throne atop the Icecrown Glacier . Kil ' jaeden created the Lich King ages ago from the spirit of the orc shaman Ner ' zhul to raise an undead army to conquer Azeroth for the Burning Legion . Initially trapped within the Frozen Throne with Frostmourne , the Lich King eventually betrayed Kil ' jaeden and merged with the human Arthas Menethil . When Frostmourne was destroyed and Arthas perished , Bolvar Fordragon became the new Lich King , imprisoning the master of the Scourge within the Frozen Throne once more in order to protect the world from future threats . The Lich King is voiced by Michael McConnohie . Biography . Birth of the Lich King . When Ner ' zhul attempted to escape Draenor , he was immediately apprehended by the demon lord Kil ' jaeden , who enacted the blood pact that Ner ' zhul had sworn many years earlier . Kil ' jaeden ravaged and destroyed his body , but kept his spirit alive and encased it in a block of ice from the Twisting Nether . Kil ' jaeden granted him increased power , including that over death itself . Ner ' zhul ceased to exist , and the Lich King lord of the dead was created . Formation of the Scourge . The Lich King was sent to Azeroth through the Great Dark Beyond , landing in Northrend where the ice that encased him formed into the shape of a throne , The Frozen Throne . Here , he would begin the formation of the Undead Scourge and in the process weaken the world in preparation for the Burning Legion . This new army would not fall victim to the petty infighting that had caused the orc s to fail in conquering Azeroth earlier . Sent to watch over him were the dreadlord s , led by Tichondrius himself . Within the Frozen Throne , the Lich King experimented with his psychic powers and enslaved the local indigenous life forms . The plague of undeath that came from the Frozen Throne transformed each of them into his undead servants . Thus , using his psychic and necromantic powers , he was able to conquer much of Northrend . As he devoured more and more souls , he only grew in power as the individual undead under his control gave him " much needed nourishment " . Thus , his powers began growing at an exponential rate ; a fact that the dreadlords were well aware of and kept a good eye on him . The Lich King entered a war with the kingdom of Azjol - Nerub , whose ancient inhabitants were immune to his plague of undeath . The 10 - year conflict known as the War of the Spider ultimately ended with the Lich King ' s first major triumph ( while the nerubians were immune to the plague , their corpses could still be reanimated ) . The Lich King was impressed by his enemy , however , and adopted nerubian architecture for his own , as a testament to the spider lords ' tenacity and age . Having by now established control over most of Northrend , the dreadlords urged Ner ' zhul to proceed with the agreed - upon plan to prepare the world for the invasion of the Burning Legion . The Lich King then used his telepathy to reach out into Azeroth and summon any dark soul that would hear his call . Kel ' Thuzad , a mage and a prominent member of Dalaran ' s Kirin Tor , answered his call . Kel ' Thuzad was soon ensnared by the Lich King , faithfully serving him as the first of The " Cult of the Damned " ; a cult that would worship the Lich King as a god and be taught necromancy to better aid their undead armies . ( For the full story , please see Road to Damnation ) Kel ' Thuzad and the dreadlord Mal ' Ganis then were instructed to begin paving the way , but Ner ' zhul , ever mindful of Kil ' jaeden ' s schemes , secretly sought a way out of his prison . Scourge of Lordaeron . After preparing for many long months , Kel ' Thuzad and his Cult of the Damned finally struck the first blow by releasing the plague upon Lordaeron . Prince Arthas Menethil and Lady Jaina Proudmoore along with Captain Falric began Lordaeron ' s search for answers on this new threat . Lordaeron ' s northern most settlements were consumed utterly by the Plague . As the ranks of the undead swept across Lordaeron , King Terenas ' s only son , Prince Arthas Menethil , took up the fight against the undead . As was the Lich King ' s intention all along , Arthas succeeded in killing Kel ' Thuzad , but even so , the undead ranks swelled with every soldier that fell defending the land . Frustrated and stymied by the seemingly unstoppable enemy , Arthas took increasingly extreme steps to drive them out - he eventually ordered the slaughter of everyone in Stratholme that had been infected by the plague . This most likely included innocent slaughter to prevent Mal ' Ganis from adding the citizens to the army of the dead , and strike at Mal ' Ganis himself . Arthas failed to trap Mal ' Ganis , who escaped to Northrend . Finally Arthas ' s comrades warned him that he was losing his hold on his humanity . Arthas ' s fear and resolve proved to be his ultimate undoing . He tracked the plague ' s source to Northrend , intending to end its threat forever by killing its supposed leader Mal ' Ganis . He stumbled across his long - time friend , Muradin Bronzebeard , brother to the dwarven King Magni , and the dwarf led him to a legendary weapon they hoped would help them combat the Scourge . Instead , Prince Arthas himself fell prey to the Lich King ' s tremendous power . Believing that it would help him save his people , Arthas took up the cursed runeblade , Frostmourne . Though the sword did grant him great power , the cost was high : Muradin ( or so Arthas believed ) lay dead , and Arthas began to lose his soul , transformed into the first and greatest of the Lich King ' s Death Knight s . Arthas finally exacted revenge upon Mal ' Ganis , removing one of the Lich King ' s more dangerous jailers and completing the unholy transformation . With his soul cast aside and his sanity shattered , Arthas led the Scourge against his own kingdom — Lordaeron . Arthas started The Scourging of Lordaeron with the murder of his own father , King Terenas Menethil II , and crushed Lordaeron with his newfound unholy strength . Path of the Damned . With Arthas as his champion , Ner ' zhul spread the Plague throughout Lordaeron . What remained of the Order of the Silver Hand struck back , but even mighty Uther fell to the Death Knight ' s power . On orders from Tichondrius , Arthas took the Scourge north , to the high elven kingdom of Quel ' Thalas , to resurrect the Summoner of Archimonde — Kel ' Thuzad . The high elves never stood a chance , and their capital , Silvermoon , was ravaged — their millennia - aged Sunwell was warped and used to resurrect Kel ' Thuzad as a lich . Thus , both masters were appeased : the Lich King ' s most loyal worshiper was returned , and the Summoner was unleashed . Having progressed too far into the Legion ' s plan ( and guarded too closely by Tichondrius ) to back out now , Ner ' zhul ' s minions laid siege to Dalaran , reclaiming a spellbook of Medivh , which contained the incantations needed for Kel ' Thuzad to summon Archimonde . Before the Summoning , Kel ' Thuzad had been reading through the spellbook and noted to Arthas that Medivh ' s knowledge of demons alone was staggering and that he was far more powerful than anyone had ever realized . Finally , Archimonde was summoned outside Dalaran , and he immediately gave control of the Scourge to Tichondrius and the Dreadlords . But the Lich King was not done yet . Archimonde may have removed Ner ' zhul ' s control over the undead , but in his eagerness for vengeance against the night elves , he forgot to return the Frozen Throne to Kil ' jaeden . Thus , the Lich King remained at large . During the Legion ' s invasion of Ashenvale , Illidan Stormrage was released from his barrow prison after ten thousand years of captivity . Realizing Illidan ' s addiction to magic , and having utilized the Skull of Gul ' dan himself years earlier , the Lich King dispatched Arthas to Kalimdor . There , Arthas covertly told Illidan about the powers of the Skull of Gul ' dan . Unable to resist such power , Illidan took up the skull and harnessed its vast energies . By doing so , Illidan developed demonic features and vastly magnified power . Illidan , exactly as the Lich King had planned , then proceeded to kill Tichondrius and liberate Felwood . Without Tichondrius ' s support team , Archimonde ' s overconfident ascent of Mount Hyjal led to the unexpected : his annihilation . Legacy of the Damned . Bristling with power and free to roam the world once more , Illidan set out to find his own place in the great scheme of things . However , Kil ' jaeden confronted Illidan and made him an offer he could not refuse . Kil ' jaeden was angered by Archimonde ' s defeat at Mount Hyjal , but he had greater concerns than vengeance . Sensing that his creation , the Lich King , was out of his control , Kil ' jaeden ordered Illidan to destroy Ner ' zhul and put an end to the undead Scourge once and for all . In exchange , Illidan would receive untold power and a true place amongst the remaining lords of the Burning Legion . Illidan agreed and immediately set out to destroy the Frozen Throne , the icy crystal cask in which the Lich King ' s spirit resided . Illidan knew that he would need a mighty artifact to destroy the Frozen Throne . Using the knowledge he had gained from Gul ' dan ' s memories , Illidan decided to seek out the Tomb of Sargeras and claim the Dark Titan ' s remains . Using his vast , demonic powers , he lured the serpentine naga from their dark undersea lairs . Led by the cunning witch Lady Vashj the naga helped Illidan reach the Broken Isles , where Sargeras ' s tomb was rumored to be located . With the powerful Eye of Sargeras in his possession , Illidan traveled to Dalaran . Strengthened by the city ' s ley energy lines , Illidan used the Eye to cast a destructive spell against the Lich King ' s citadel of Icecrown in distant Northrend . Illidan ' s attack shattered the Lich King ' s defenses and ruptured the very roof of the world . The Lich King had no defense against this spell , and he would have been forever vanquished that day . But at the final moment , Illidan ' s destructive spell was stopped when his brother Malfurion intervened , sensing that the spell was causing great damage to the world . Civil War in the Plaguelands . Now that Ner ' zhul had openly defied the will of the Legion , he knew that the wrath of Kil ' jaeden and his demonic lackeys would be fierce - and at the worst possible time , Ner ' zhul was losing his magical power . When he had pushed Frostmourne from the throne , he had caused a crack within the icy cask . Illidan ' s spell had caused this crack to worsen and now the Lich King ' s powers were rapidly seeping out like blood from an open wound . Half - way across Azeroth , residing over the unholy remains of his father ' s kingdom , Arthas was losing power as well — his powers came directly from the Frozen Throne , through his blade Frostmourne , and his hold over the undead was also slipping . Ner ' zhul knew that his time was short . Imprisoned within the Frozen Throne , he suspected ( correctly ) that Kil ' jaeden would send his agents to destroy him . Desperate to save himself , he called his greatest mortal servant to his side : the death knight Arthas . Though his powers were drained by the Lich King ' s weakness , Arthas had been involved in a civil war in Lordaeron . Half of the standing undead forces , led by the banshee Sylvanas Windrunner , had been freed by the Lich King ' s sudden loss of influence and resented what they had become . Also , another group of undead was still under the control of the Legion ' s remaining commanders : the three dreadlords Varimathras , Detheroc and Balnazzar . Arthas , called by the Lich King , was forced to leave the Scourge in the hands of his lieutenant , Kel ' Thuzad , as the war escalated throughout the Plaguelands . Ultimately , Sylvanas and her rebel undead ( known as the Forsaken ) claimed the ruined capital city of Lordaeron as their own . Consuming the old sewers beneath the wrecked Capital City , the Forsaken vowed to defeat the Scourge and drive Kel ' Thuzad and his minions from the land . The Lich King was powerless to stop them . Weakened , but determined to save his master , Arthas reached Northrend only to find Illidan ' s naga and blood elves waiting for him . He and his nerubian allies ( in the form of Crypt Fiends led by the fallen Spider Lord Anub ' arak ) raced against Illidan ' s forces to reach the Icecrown Glacier and defend the Frozen Throne . The Lich King Triumphant . Arthas , with Anub ' arak ' s help , battled his way through their forces until faced with Prince Kael ' thas , who challenged him . Kael ' thas used the fact that Jaina now hated Arthas to make him hesitate , and fought with his father ' s reforged runeblade , Felo ' melorn ( Flamestrike ) . Flamestrike clashed against Frostmourne but in the end Arthas forced Kael ' thas to flee , leaving the path open . He then proceeded to magically activate the four Icecrown obelisk s around the glacier , opening the doors to the Frozen Throne . However , Illidan was waiting for him . An intense battle commenced in which Illidan displayed his newfound demonic powers and nearly defeated Arthas . Until , coming in for the finishing blow , he inadvertently left himself open and Arthas quickly took advantage of it , slicing open the demon hunter ' s chest . Illidan collapsed , grievously wounded . Arthas then turned towards the open doors of Icecrown , leaving Illidan on the ground instead of finishing him . Rather , before he walked away , Arthas warned Illidan to leave Azeroth and never return . Arthas entered the hollow glacier and beheld a winding pinnacle chained to the ice . As he strode up the stairs towards his destiny , the voices of those he had forsaken flooded through his mind . First he heard again Uther warning him " If we allow our passions to turn to bloodlust , then we will become as vile as the orcs . " Then he heard again more angry remarks from Uther and Muradin , as well as his own responses to them , yet he ignored them , continuing his ascent . Finally , he reached the pinnacle and before him he saw an icy cask , within which was a suit of armour , arranged as if seated on a massive throne . Now only two voices spoke to him : Medivh ' s previous warning to Jaina and the rasping whisper of Ner ’ zhul : " Your young prince will find only death in the cold north . " " Return the blade . . . complete the circle . . . release me from this prison ! " With a great cry of strength , Arthas brought the might of Frostmourne to bear against the Lich King ' s icy prison and with a haunting scream , the Frozen Throne exploded , and shards of the crystal scattered on the ground . With Ner ' zhul ' s thorny helm at his feet , Arthas leaned forward , picked it up and then placed the unimaginably powerful artifact on his head . " " Now " , " Ner ' zhul ' s voice echoed within his mind and throughout the chamber , " " we are one " ! " It was at that moment , Ner ' zhul and Arthas ' s spirits fused into a single mighty being , just as the Lich King had always planned . And thus one of the most powerful entities on Azeroth was born . Interlude . After the merger , the Lich King sat dormant for several years while storms raged across Northrend and his minions constructed Icecrown Citadel around the Frozen Throne . While the Lich King dreamt , the various personas in his mind - the death knight Arthas Menethil , the orc shaman Ner ' zhul , and Matthias Lehner , the personification of the remnants of Arthas ' s humanity - fought for influence and control over the entity . It is noticeable that if arranged accordingly , Matthias Lehner is an anagram of Arthas Menethil . Matthias tried to reason with Arthas , but Arthas killed him by running him through with Frostmourne . Ner ' zhul was delighted by this , declaring that he and Arthas were now free to merge into a single glorious being . Arthas rejected this offer , stating that only he was worthy of the power of the Lich King , no one would tell him what to do again . He impaled the stunned Ner ' zhul with Frostmourne , becoming the dominant personality of the Lich King and ending the dream . In World of Warcraft : Wrath of the Lich King . Awakening . When the Lich King finally awakened after decades , he silenced his own heart , believing that anything that made him at all mortal made him weak . Afterwards he journeyed to Sindragosa ' s Fall where he raised the ancient massive dragon Sindragosa , the first consort to Malygos , as a frost wyrm , then watched his massive undead army prepare for war . Attacking Horde and Alliance . The capitals of Azeroth began receiving mysterious packages with infected grain . As their citizens ate grain from the infected packages , they were turned into bloodthirsty ghoul s if not treated by members of the Argent Dawn . With all the major capitals thrown into chaos , necropoleis appeared around the world , triggering a second Scourge war . Adventurers from both the Alliance and the Horde fought back the disease and the advancing Scourge armies . Outraged by this treachery , Warchief Thrall with his fellow Horde leaders , and King Varian Wrynn planned an invasion on Northrend to deal with the Lich King once and for all . The final straw occurred when the Lich King directly attacked the capitals of the Horde and the Alliance . Orgrimmar and Stormwind were attacked by large Scourge armies consisting of frost wyrm s and abomination s . The Battles for Stormwind and Orgrimmar were won by the brave adventurers and their leaders once more , thus forming the Horde Expedition and the Alliance Vanguard . These attacks were intended to lure powerful heroes to Northrend , where the Lich King sought to corrupt them and use them against their own people , in a reflection of Arthas ' s own journey . Fall of the Scarlet Enclave . Not content to just lure the Champions of Azeroth into his service , the Lich King decided to remove the anti - Scourge presence within the plaguelands . To this end he created a new order of death knights . This new order was led by Highlord Darion Mograine and successfully forced the Scarlet Crusade from Lordaeron , with the survivors becoming the Scarlet Onslaught and heading to Northrend . During the battle , he sensed an old enemy he destroyed long ago , but he was content to ignore that at the time . Battle for Light ' s Hope Chapel . Empowered by the destruction of the Scarlet Crusade , the Scourge prepared to attack Light ' s Hope Chapel and destroy the Argent Dawn . Despite the odds , the Argent Dawn won against the army of damned , largely thanks to the arrival of Tirion Fordring . The spirit of Alexandros Mograine , the original Ashbringer , appeared to speak with his defeated son Darion . The Lich King then took to the field himself , sealing away Alexandros ' s soul . Realizing how he had been betrayed , Darion attacks the Lich King , only to be swatted aside . Fordring comes forward in preparation to battle the Lich King . The Lich King incapacitates him , stating that sacrificing a small army of death knights was a small price to pay to draw Tirion out of hiding . Lord Maxwell Tyrosus gives the order to attack , and while the remaining Defenders of the Light charge the Lich King , they are easily blasted away . Having heard from the Lich King himself of why he would throw away Darion and the death knights under his command , Darion uses Arthas ' s focus on Tirion against him , and throws the Corrupted Ashbringer to Fordring . The combination of Fordring ' s own faith and the holy ground of Light ' s Hope cleanses the Ashbringer , restoring the sword to its original glory . With this new power , Tirion escapes the Lich King ' s spell and strikes him with the holy sword . Stunned by this turn of events , the Lich King retreats after promising that the next time he meets Fordring , it will not be on holy ground . This battle led to the creation of two of the Lich King ' s greatest enemies : Tirion Fordring ' s Argent Crusade ( a combination of the Argent Dawn and Silver Hand ) and Darion Mograine ' s Knights of the Ebon Blade ( an order of death knights who broke free from the Lich King ' s control ) . Angrathar the Wrathgate . Members of the Horde and the Alliance fighting at the siege for Angrathar the Wrathgate formed a temporary alliance , focusing their attacks on the Scourge instead of each other . With the dragonflights providing aerial support , both factions made a daring attack on the gate , seizing control from the Scourge . There , Bolvar Fordragon and Saurfang the Younger taunted the Lich King to fight his own battles instead of sending his minions . The Lich King entered the battle and quickly slew Saurfang the Younger . Before Bolvar and the Lich King could trade blows , Grand Apothecary Putress , chief of the Forsaken ' s Royal Apothecary Society and the creator of the New Plague , betrayed the Horde and unleashed his plague on the combatants below . The plague killed most of the Alliance , Horde , and Scourge forces at the Wrath Gate indiscriminately , including Bolvar Fordragon . The Lich King was injured and forced to retreat . This betrayal and the Battle for the Undercity that followed ended upwards of seven years of cold war between the Horde and the Alliance . Fall of the Lich King . After the Argent Tournament ended with the death of Anub ' arak , the Argent Crusade , led by Highlord Tirion Fordring , struck an alliance with the Knights of the Ebon Blade , led by Highlord Darion Mograine . Thus the Ashen Verdict was born , a combination of opposing orders for a common purpose : the final assault against the Scourge in Icecrown Citadel and the eventual fall of the Lich King . Icecrown Citadel : The Frozen Halls . After intelligence spoke of an opening directly to the Lich King ' s private chambers , Jaina Proudmoore led adventurers from the Alliance while Sylvanas Windrunner led adventurers from the Horde into the Frozen Halls . While Jaina hoped to find a little trace of Arthas left in the Lich King , Sylvanas planned to simply sneak past all of the Lich King ' s defenses while he was preoccupied with the Ashen Verdict invasion and claim her revenge . Once inside they discovered that the Lich King had left Frostmourne unattended within the Halls of Reflection . Both Jaina and Sylvanas attempted to speak with the spirits of the blade in an attempt to find the Lich King ' s weakness , and both were met by the spirit of Uther the Lightbringer . Uther warned that the Lich King could see what Frostmourne saw and was on his way . Uther finally told them that any trace of Arthas was simply a fading presence inside the Lich King ' s mind , and that to destroy him , he must be slain at the place where Arthas merged with Ner ' zhul , at the top of the Frozen Throne . Finally , Uther revealed that after the Lich King is slain , someone must take his place - without a master to keep them in check , the vast armies of the Scourge would indiscriminately swarm across Azeroth . When the Lich King arrived in the hall , he banished Uther ' s soul back into Frostmourne and called his loyal captains Falric and Marwyn to deal with the intruders . He returned to his private chambers , followed by Sylvanas and Jaina . Once the adventurers defeated the captains , their respective leaders , unable to do any meaningful harm to the Lich King , ordered them to flee . Seemingly trapped , they made a final stand before their respective gunships , " The Skybreaker " and " Orgrim ' s Hammer " , arrived to carry them to safety . One King Falls , Another Rises . Champions of the Argent Tournament , led by Tirion Fordring , stormed Icecrown Citadel and defeated the Lich King ' s mightiest servants . Atop the spire , the Lich King encased Tirion in a block of ice , forcing him to watch helplessly as his champions battled the Lich King and his minions . Eventually , the Lich King effortlessly killed all the adventurers with a single devastating attack . The Lich King revealed that he had been waiting for Tirion ' s assault all along , knowing that he would bring with him Azeroth ' s greatest heroes , who could then be killed and resurrected as powerful masters of the Scourge . Every obstacle he had laid before them was merely part of his test . Now certain Tirion ' s champions were " " the greatest fighting force this world has ever known " " , the Lich King began to raise the fallen heroes . Before he could finish , Fordring , calling for a final blessing from the Light , managed to break free and shatter Frostmourne with his own sword , Ashbringer , much to the Lich King ' s shock . The spirits who had been trapped within Frostmourne , including King Terenas Menethil II , attacked their former jailer by suspending him in the air while simultaneously resurrecting Fordring ' s champions , who were then able to defeat the Lich King . Terenas ' s spirit held Arthas in his arms as he took his last breath , then informed Tirion that the Scourge must always have a master to control them , before vanishing in the wind . Tirion picked up the Lich King ' s crown and prepared to take on the burden of becoming the new Lich King , when he was stopped by the voice of Bolvar Fordragon . The undead paladin sat upon the Frozen Throne , having been horribly burned by dragonfire and tortured by Arthas . Bolvar said that he no longer had any place in the world of the living , while Tirion still had duties to perform . As his final act of service , Bolvar would take the powers of the Lich King himself , in order to keep the damed in check . Tirion reluctantly placed the crown of the Lich King on Bolvar ' s head . As the ice of the Frozen Throne began to envelop him , Bolvar - now the new Lich King - told Tirion to tell the world that the Lich King is dead , and as his voice changed to one similar of the Lich King , added that Bolvar Fordragon died with him and to leave and never return . The King and the Legion The Lich King slumbered until the invasion of Azeroth by the Legion . As the Legion was a threat to Azeroth , it was a threat to the Lich King . He contacts Highlord Darion Mograine and proposes that , in exchange for continuing to contain his Scourge to Northrend , the Death Knights and their chosen Deathlord will act as his hand in the fight against the Legion ; the new Deathlord the utter extension of his will . With the entirety of the remaining Death Knights combined into one Order , the new Lich King began to bestow upon them , as well as other classes of heroes like Fire Mages , information on powerful weapons to help combat the emerging threat , including shards of the shattered Frostmourne , a sword that corrupted hundereds of souls , and an axe devised by the legion itself that consumed its very maker . The next order of business being the reformation of the Four Horsemen , all lost in the defeat of the floating citadel of Naxxramas . Commander Thoras Trollbane of Stormgarde Keep , High Inquisitor Whitemane of the Scarlet Crusade , Nazgrim the orc General , and eventually Highlord Mograine himself join the Four Horsemen as the Lieutenants of the new Deathlord . Before Mograine took up the final set of reins , the Lich King attempts to get Tirion Fordring , who fell at the failed Broken Shore invasion , to be raised into undeath via a feint attack on and quiet entrance of the Deathlord into Lights Hope Chapel itself , but the powers of the Light were overwhelming . Like the Lights Hope Chapel invasion that started the Death Knight campaign , their assault was quickly turned on them , and were handily thrown out of the chapel by the Blood Knight Lady Lliadrin . Speaking to the Lich Amal ' thazad , the Lich King convinces him to scrawl a series of runes on top of the Acherus , in order for the Deathlord to more fully commune with their unholy creator . Once completed , the Deathlord is informed of a memory from the previous Lich King Arthas , which showed countless undead scurrying across a sea of ice in search of something of great power , but try as he may , the current Lich King Bolvar Fordragon cannot seem to locate . He promises the full power of whatever awaits from the memory to the Deathlord , but also that if he failed , the Acherus , the reformed Four Horsemen , and all of the forces of the Order would be taken command by the Lich King himself to enact his " other plans . " The Deathlord , accepting this offer , follows the vision through a white - out blizzard to a hidden iceberg far to the north of Icecrown . The Lich King watched as his Deathlord travelled through the frozen wasteland , so cold that all the gear the Deathlord carried was frozen solid , only to be confronted by feral scourge , outside of even the Lich King ' s influence . They had been feeding off this great power , a power now known to be a fallen red dragon . Finally , when cleared of the remaining undead , their essences were used to corrupt and raise the remains of the dragon into undeath itself , its strong red dragon abilities in life , made it able to mimic the powers and appearance of whatever Death Knight calls upon it . Personality . While comprised of Arthas and Ner ' zhul , the Lich King was ruthless , cynical and unimaginably cruel . He made no attempt to hide this , even from his own minions , openly regarding them as worthless cannon fodder to be sacrificed in his name . The Lich King also possessed an unending hatred of the living , especially of those who oppose him , and does not hesitate to inflict sadistic punishments upon them . It is unknown what personality the Lich King currently possesses , considering the benevolent intentions of Bolvar Fordragon when he upheld the responsibilities . It can be inferred after Legion ' s death knight class hall quests that Bolvar is at least somewhat influenced by Ner ' zhul ' s presence within the Helm of Domination . How much influence , however , has yet to be known . Enemies . Tirion Fordring . Tirion Fordring was one of the Lich Kings most hated enemies and as the leader of the Argent Crusade , whose sole purpose is to fight the Scourge , Tirion defies everything that the Lich King stands for and thus the Lich King sees Tirion as his arch - nemesis . Tirion has disrupted many of the Lich King ' s plans and the two have confronted each other multiple times . Tirion views the Lich King as the most evil being Azeroth has had to face and vows to strike him down , while the Lich King intends to make Tirion , and those close to him , suffer more than anything and watch everything he cherishes fall . Sylvanas Windrunner . Sylvanas Windrunner , the Banshee Queen of the Forsaken , was another of the Lich King ’ s most hated enemies . After defeating her as a mortal High Elf , and raising her into a mindless slave to his will , Sylvanas was able to break free from his dominion and subsequently founded the Forsaken . With the death of the Lich King on their main agenda , the Forsaken oversaw the production of a master plague capable of bringing the Scourge to it ’ s knees . Sylvanas herself was not present to see the vengeance of the Forsaken wrought on by the plague , the Lich King whispering Sylvanas ' s name moments before the deployment . She would later infiltrate Icecrown Citadel with several of her Dark Ranger s , and come face to face with the individual - and the blade - that took her life . After a titanic struggle followed by a narrow escape , Sylvanas was forced to face her inability to defeat Arthas , and contemplated whether even an army of her allies could either . Adventurers . The Lich King had a rather interesting relationship with the adventurer s who fought in the Northrend war . Rather than see the adventurers as a complete nuisance , he realized that the adventurers had much potential and intended to draw out that potential . As such , he constantly threw many of his strongest minions against the adventurers , seeking to test their abilities and their resolve . While he knew that the adventurers had much power , he still saw them as a formidable threat to his plans , as the adventurers constantly made advances all through - out Northrend and foiled several of his operations and plans . Also , during their betrayal of Drakuru , the Lich King was amused rather than angered by their defeat of his servant . Finally , during the adventurers raid on his fortress Icecrown Citadel , The Lich King revealed his true intentions : to kill the adventurers and raise them as his undead minions , thus possessing the strongest fighting force in the world . This backfires on him however , since it is the adventurers who manage to defeat him in the end with the help of Tirion Fordring . Speculation . Identity crisis . There had been debate in some areas of the " Warcraft " community as to what exactly happened when Arthas and Ner ' zhul merged . When asked , " What ' s the truth about the new Lich King ? " , Chris Metzen replied : " " Arthas and Ner ' zhul have become a perfect fusion of one being - Arthas ' personality and body with Ner ' zhul ' s wisdom , experience , power and EVIL . " " , Tirion Fordring remarks that " there ' s nothing left to redeem " and " there is no Arthas Menethil anymore - there is only the Lich King . " In a dream state where Arthas sees past , present , and future , presented by Ner ' zhul , Arthas murders the child manifestation of his humanity ( e . g . love , compassion , and so forth ) . Delighted at this decision Ner ' zhul states " We are one , Arthas . Together we are the Lich King . No more Ner ' zhul , no more Arthas - - only this one glorious being . " With that Arthas murders Ner ' zhul and tells him " No " we " . No one tells me what to do . I ' ve got everything I need from you - - now the power is mine and mine alone . Now there is only I . I am the Lich King . And I am ready . " Ner ' zhul is stunned by the betrayal , then disappears . It is uncertain what effect the events in this dream state actually mean for Ner ' zhul ' s essence , but it would seem to indicate that Arthas ' s soul lorded over Ner ' zhul ' s . A recent twitter chat suggests Ner ' zhul ' s story is far from over : Q . Will Ner ' zhul appear at any point in 3 . 3 or the near future ? A . Well , he is a chunk of the Lich King now . But if you mean will he appear as an orc , we ' re not ready to tell his story just yet . We have a lot of stories left to tell , but his is a good one . CM Crygil also stated , " He didn ' t actually erase the persona of Ner ' zhul . In point of fact , these two beings merged to make up what was collectively known as " The Lich King " , on the official World of Warcraft forums . However , this response was made against a claim that Arthas had " erased " Ner ' zhul upon merging with him - the event at the end of the Frozen Throne , not the one just prior to Wrath of the Lich King . It does not necessarily preclude him from somehow suppressing Ner ' zhul ' s personality later on . Godhood . A debate that has arisen among fans is whether the Lich King can be classified as a god . His origins lie with Kil ' jaeden , but his power has continued to increase at an exponential rate beyond Kil ' jaeden ' s intentions . Most of the other gods in the Warcraft universe have their origins with the Pantheon . However , most of them have contributed something to the world of Azeroth . Elune gave birth to the night elves ( according to their own legends ) , while the Dragon Aspects guard specific elements of Azeroth depending on their origins in the dragonflights . The Lich King contributed the undead to this world ; unlike the contributions of other gods this wasn ' t a " positive " change , but it might still elevate the Lich King to the title . Many Blizzard texts ( such as the " Warcraft III " manual ) refer to him as the " godlike Lich King " . The Warcraft Encyclopedia provided by Blizzard classifies a " god " in two ways : Although it is true that the Lich King does not age , it is arguable whether or not he is an object of worship . The members of the Cult of the Damned and the mortals who serve him as acolyte s ( in " Reign of Chaos " and " The Frozen Throne " ) , as well as the unknown number of intelligent undead he controls ( in addition to the countless mindless ones ) obviously worship him and provide a strong backing for this criterion . The vrykul revere him as a death god and it is speculated that the tuskarr have identified him with their death - god , Karkut . King Ymiron refers to offering player ' s hearts as gifts to the death god , as well . Memorable quotes . Wrath of the Lich King trailer . " It ' s begun . " " Young heroes . . . I was once like you . You have come to this place seeking to bring judgement upon the damned . You will venture deep into forgotten lands . You will see wonders beyond imagining . But be warned . The land itself will rise up against you . Long forgotten terrors will smother your courage . Sacrifice everything as the final darkness falls . . . in the end , all that awaits you is death . Only then will you understand - you ' ve been following in my footsteps all along . " " So come then , you heroes ! Come in all your power and glory ! For in the final hour , all must serve the one . . . true . . . king . "