Shadow Shadow and Light are the most fundamental forces in existence . They are bound together on a cosmic scale , although contradictory by their very nature . One cannot exist without the other . Pure Shadow and Light dwell in a realm outside the borders of reality , but shades of their presence are found in the physical universe . Shadow ( also referred to as " the Void " ) appears as shadow magic . The Light is often said to bring about feelings of positive emotion — hope , courage , comfort — and the like . Shadow abilities are just the opposite , able to impart feelings like despair , doubt , and panic . In a poetic sense , it can be said that the emotions which the Light brings about come from the " heart , " whereas the emotions manipulated by shadow are often based on survival logic , and therefore affect the " mind . " Background . It is stated that before life began , before even the cosmos took shape , there was Light . . . and there was Void . However , the Light , unfettered by the confines of time and space , swelled across all existence in the form of a boundless prismatic sea . Great torrents of living energy flitted through its mirrored depths , their movements conjuring a symphony of joy and hope . The Light ' s ocean was dynamic and ever shifting . Yet as it grew , some of its energies faded and dimmed , leaving behind pockets of seemingly cold nothingness . From the absence of Light in these spaces , a new power coalesced and came to be . A dark and vampiric force driven to devour all energy , to twist creation inward to feed upon itself , this power was the Void . The Void quickly grew and spread its influence , moving against the Light ' s flowing waves . The mounting tension between these two seemingly 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 most unstable energies coalesced into an astral dimension known as the Twisting Nether . Light and Void collided and bled together at this realm ' s edges , throwing it into turmoil . Linked to the Great Dark Beyond , although tangentially , the Twisting Nether existed outside the physical universe ' s borders . Denizens of the Cosmos . Dark Naaru . The dark naaru are creatures of living holy energy and , presumably , shadow energy . It is EXCEEDINGLY rare for a naaru to fall into a void state , and even rarer for a fallen naaru to be brought back into the Light . A naaru ' s fall into the void represents a catastrophic loss for the naaru and for the forces of the Light , and it is the saddest , most heart - wrenching event for the naaru to witness . Conversely , a naaru being reborn into the Light brings renewed hope and sense of purpose to every naaru . If dark have both Light and Void energies , it could be possible that the Light and Void energies a dark naaru can have can become unstable and coalesce into nether or bled together at the borders of nether . Old Gods . The Old Gods are physical manifestations of the Void . They are nightmares incarnate : mountains of blighted flesh and writhing tentacles that grow like cancers within the worlds of the Great Dark . Voidwalkers . Enigmatic and emanating pure demonic fury , a voidwalker is sometimes the last thing someone encounters before crossing over into death . Void Lords . Composed of pure shadow energy , the void lords are monstrous entities . These beings are cruel and merciless beyond mortal comprehension . Driven by an insatiable hunger , the void lords seek to devour all matter and energy in the physical universe . The void lords exist outside reality in their natural state . Only the most powerful of these entities can manifest in the physical universe , and only for limited amounts of time . To maintain their presence in reality , the void lords must consume untold amounts of matter and energy . Old Gods are malignant entities that serve the void lords , and they live only to transform the worlds they infest into places of despair and death . Professions of the Cosmos . Priests . Priests are devoted to the spiritual . Some priests pride themselves on pragmatism . They understand that light casts a shadow , that darkness is defined by light , and that true discipline stems from one ’ s ability to balance these opposing powers in services of a greater cause . While these priests possess many holy virtues to aid their allies , they also dabble in the dark arts to debilitate their enemies — always exercising immense discipline to keep themselves away from the brink of insanity . Many would say the ends justify the means ; scriptures both virtuous and vile should be studied and understood to protect the congregation . The Light in which many priests bathe is brilliant and effervescent , granting them immense divine power . But the brightest light casts the darkest shadow — and from within this blackness , a rival power dwells . Shadow priests fully embrace this opposing polarity , their faith equally resolute as their holy counterparts — but focused on shadowy magics and mental manipulation . Like all priests , they dedicate much of their lives to worship — but they derive their power from the Void , straying dangerously close to the domain of the Old Gods . To truly understand such ancient , corruptive influence is to be driven mad . This is the state in which these dark priests thrive , embracing insanity and feeding off of the minds of their opponents to reach terrifying new limits . Warlocks . Warlocks are magical practitioners who seek to understand darker , fel - based magics , including destructive spells . 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 also exploit powerful shadow magic to manipulate and degrade the minds and bodies of their enemies . Indulging in fel energies that wither away their life force over time , affliction warlocks are the masters of shadow magic . They revel in corrupting minds and agonizing souls , leaving enemies in a state of torment that would see them undone in due time . Even the most battle - hardened warriors can be deceived , landing blow after blow against the warlock , only to succumb to their suffering as their very vitality is siphoned away by the dark spellcaster . To cause intense pain and suffering in others , these warlocks delight in using fel forces . Void Entropy . " " Beneath the shadow of the darkened spire , there is no light , no mercy , only void , and the chaos within . " - Puzzle Box of Yogg - Saron , the Old God of Death " Void entropy can be defined as the void representation of the unavailability of a system ' s thermal energy for conversion into work , often interpreted as the degree of disorder or randomness in the system . Disorder is manifested as highly destructive fel magic , a brutal and extremely addictive energy fueled by drawing life from living beings . Because fel magic is the manifestation of disorder , which can be defined as a lack of order , one can consider fel magic to be a manifestation of a - or the - void , which can be defined as a lack . The void is chaotic since energies , naturally , want to spread out and become messy . Despite that fact , Matt Burns thinks there are exceptions to that rule when it comes to Warcraft powers since they are all magic . It seems that Matt Burns doesn ' t understand that his thoughts cannot change the fact that the void is devoid of order ( disorder ) , which is manifested as highly destructive fel magic . Entropic Horrors . Energies can be so chaotic that they manifest as entropic horrors , pure fel magic given form to lash out at all life — the essence they drop is poisonous and would — or does — poison living beings with a sickness that drains life . Shadowflame . According to Dave Kosak , shadowflame is likely fel magic infused with shadow . However , it seems that shadowflame is actually a combination of shadow ( void ) and fire - a combination that doesn ' t seem possible to create . The void is dark and cold whereas fire is defined as light and heat . It seems that the void cannot be combined with light and heat because it would just suck the light and heat into non - existence . As such , fel magic itself seems to be shadowflame , which again , seems to be a combination of shadow and fire ( light and heat ) . Void Horrors . Void horrors are horrors with an entropic nature that causes them to drift into the Twisting Nether .