Half-orc

Half-orc is a term used to describe the half-breed offspring of an orc, or half-orc parent, and a parent of any other species. It most often refers to a half-orc half-human, but can also be used to refer to a half-orc half-ogre, or half-orc half-draenei. Half-breeds are rare in the Warcraft universe.Warcraft Interview with Jesse Cox and Dave Kosak “We don't have that many cross-breeds in the universe."
Half-orc, half-draenei are reviled and scorned by both draenei and orc cultures.' According to Lantresor of the Blade, his kind are a rare breed, with most having been killed decades ago. In the Old Horde, a clan of half-ogre half-orc named, the mok'nathal, were considered half-breeds and thus lesser than true orcs.Beyond the Dark Portal, chapter 27
However, times changed under the New Horde, and the inclusion of the mok'nathal at the first Kosh'harg festival held on Azeroth could potentially put an end to their isolationist policy in Outland.The Kosh'harg According to Garona, being half-blooded used to mark one as an outcast among the orcs, but she then mused that it was now a thing of the past, and that she could possibly join one of the clans.Honor and Glory
==History==
Around 99 years before the First War, the Bladewind orcs began raiding draenei caravans. While many draenei wanted to retaliate, their leader Velen forbade it. Instead, he allowed the Rangari to launch covert missions to rescue prisoners, while future caravans were well guarded, often by squads of Vindicators. The Rangari managed to save a number of prisoners, but not all. These few poor souls were forced into slavery for the rest of their lives, and some of them bore half-breed children for their masters. Many years later, Garona Halforcen was one of the few Bladewind half-breeds who survived past childhood.
11 years before the opening of the Dark Portal, as the Gorian Empire was losing power on Draenor, Imperator Kelgrok of the Bladespire clan decided to make up for the ogres' low numbers, and ordered Bladespire sorcerers to conduct cruel experiments in order to create new creatures that could be used as labor. The greatest result came from selective breeding between ogres and enslaved orcs, and the children of these forced unions were called mok'nathal, possessing the strength of ogres and the intelligence of orcs. The Bladespire kept the half-breeds in chains and bred them together to create even more. To ensure their loyalty, the ogres threatened to kill entire families if even one of the members rebelled. They were later ordered to make war on the orcs of Frostfire Ridge, rampaging the region, and seizing many tracts of resource-rich land. In the meantime, the united Frostwolf clan and Whiteclaw clan army fought the Bladespire and managed to capture a number of mok'nathal, including their elder Leoroxx. After they learned that the mok'nathal were not willing servants but slaves, Garad and Leoroxx came to an agreement to destroy the Bladespire clan. During the Battle of Bladespire, Leoroxx had incited rebellion among his kin, and together, both the orcs and mok'nathal drove the ogres out, while Leoroxx strangled Imperator Kelgrok with the chains of his slavery. The orcs and mok'nathal had won but at the cost of many lives. Afterward, Garad offered Leoroxx and his people land in Frostfire, but Leoroxx declined because he knew the half-breeds would never truly be accepted by the orcs. The mok'nathal later settled in a remote corner of Gorgrond to live in peace.
After she met Gul'dan, Garona was bound to his will, and the warlock later began to secretly train her as his personal spy and assassin. As a half-breed, she lived beneath the notice of most orcs, and those who noticed her saw only a servant of Gul'dan, held on a tight leash.Blood Ledger She later became infamous among the humans, being the half-orc assassin of King Llane Wrynn during the First War, although it was not her will.
After the fall of Shattrath City and the draenei, Warchief Blackhand considered annihilating the mok'nathal but stayed his hand. Rexxar, son of Leoroxx, had joined the Old Horde and convinced Blackhand to spare his people.World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 2, pg. 97 Among the Old Horde forces that invaded Azeroth, Lantresor of the Blade is a blademaster of half-draenei and half-orc descent who served under Warchief Blackhand and Warchief Orgrim Doomhammer, before returning home after the Second War.Diplomatic Measures (Horde)
==Characteristics==
The half-orcs possess the traits of both races which they inherit from their parents. However, this is not necessarily always the case, as Lantresor looks exactly like an orc, to the point that even the adventurer could not tell the difference between him and another orc.Lantresor of the Blade#Quotes
Half-orc half-draenei may have less-pronounced draenic physical features, such as horns, tails, or hooves.Micky Neilson on Twitter: I'd say yes but less pronounced. Garona Halforcen, and her son Med'an, notably show little draenei features like shiny eyes or chin spines on the latter, instead looking almost entirely orcish. When Khadgar met Garona for the first time, he immediately recognized her as an orc, but when he compared her to the others, he mentioned that she have a smoother skin, which have a lighter shade of green than the jade flesh of the orcs, her fangs are a bit smaller, her eyes are a bit larger and more expressive, but he could not determine if this was due to her being female or because she was a half-breed. According to Garona herself, the orcs saw her as an inferior being, considering her deformed because of her "wrong face", her feet almost like hooves,Secrets that she was too slender, too pale, too weak, too ugly, and because she doesn't have enough muscle for a female orc.The Last Guardian, chapter 11
Half-orc half-ogres are taller than orcs due to the ogre blood in their veins, they notably average 8' tall for males and 7' for females.World of Warcraft: Traveler, pg. 93 They also have a much-developed musculature, such as Rexxar, whose half-breed's powerful legs allow him to keep up the pace as he followed his bear Misha on the run, keeping her within his sight.Cycle of Hatred, chapter 8
==Types of half-orcs==
* Half-draenei (In regards to half-draenei of orc descent)
* Half-ogre (In regards to half-ogre of orc descent)
==Known half-orcs==
* Garona Halforcen - Half-orc of draenei descent, though alleged to be half-human.
* Lantresor of the Blade - Half-orc of draenei descent.
*Mok'nathal, a clan of half-ogre, half-orc in Outland.
** Leoroxx - Half-orc of ogre descent, father of Rexxar.
** Rexxar - Half-orc of ogre descent.
* Med'an - His mother, Garona is half-orc and half-draenei, while his father Medivh is fully human, making him half-human, quarter-orc, quarter-draenei.
;Warcraft III
;Film universe
* - daughter of and an orc female.
;RPG half-orcs
* Drann - Half-orc of human descent.
* Chauch-eta - Skeletal mage, half-orc of human descent.
* Tagar Bearclaw - Half-orc of ogre descent.
==In the RPG==
===Background===
Since the beginning of the First War, orcs have interbred with a number of species: mostly humans, but half-ogres and half-draenei are not unheard of.Horde Player's Guide, pg. 139
Orcs and humans can interbreed, and in this union create half-orcs. Humans and orcs have been enemies for decades and half-orcs represent something both races prefer not to think about. The half-orcs' genesis is usually the result of rape, and their appearance — too bestial to be human and too clean to be orc — reminds the parent races of the rift between them and the horrible deeds each has performed on the other. Thus, most humans and orcs ignore half-orcs. Other races are little better, as the human-orc conflict is only one facet of the Alliance-Horde tensions upon which no one likes to dwell. Conversely, some see half-orcs as symbols of unity. Not all half-orcs are born to abused or victimized parents; some are the children of clandestine love.Horde Player's Guide, pg. 8http://justice.loyola.edu/~mcoffey/ce/war2/Odempis4.wav WAV file of Orc saying "You're good looking for a human." Perhaps half-orcs represent what could be accomplished if the races put aside their differences and lived in peace. After all, if humans and orcs, with their history of hatred and bloodshed and wildly different origins, can produce viable offspring, perhaps the races are not as different as they think.
Half-orcs face mixed reactions. Even more so than half-elves, half-orcs are the targets of rage and derision brought about by stress. Azeroth is a violent place and tensions thrum like taut wires. The Third War lives in recent memory, and most humans and orcs lost loved ones at the hands of the other side. Half-orcs find little welcome, though the situation is better in the larger, more enlightened settlements.
Unlike half-elves, who prefer to wander or blend in to avoid prejudice, half-orcs are vocal, daring, and foolishly brave. A product of their parent races' pride, courage, and ferocity, half-orcs refuse to accept bias lightly. They demand attention. Half-orcs commit to audacious dares and acts of suicidal bravery to prove their worth to their parent races. Occasionally they succeed.Horde Player's Guide, pg. 8-9
===Appearance===
Half-orcs are a bit taller and heavier than humans, standing around 6-1/2 feet in height and weighing 200 to 250 pounds. Males are noticeably taller and heavier than females. Half-orc skin ranges from light green to grayish brown; half-orc hair is coarse like an orc's and ranges from brown to black in color. The orc lineage is unmistakable, but half-orc features are not as pronounced as those of the orc parent. A half-orc's ears are not quite as large, the nose not as piggish, and the tusks just far less. Both humans and orcs view half-orcs as physically ugly, a view which infects some half-orcs with self-loathing. Half-orcs live longer than their orc parents, with life spans equivalent to a human's.
It appears orc traits are generally dominant when it comes to interracial breeds as evidenced by Mok'nathal, Half-draenei, and Orc/Human hybrids.
===Culture===
thumb|Drann, a half-orc in Shadows & Light.
====Languages====
Half-orcs normally speak Common or Orcish. Half-orcs learn many languages, like their human parents.Horde Player's Guide, pg. 9
====Names====
Half-orcs take the naming practices of the race in which they were raised. Half-orcs raised in human lands often take orc first names to display their heritage and vice versa.
*Male Names: Galmak, Rogar, Dargal, Heiros
*Female Names: Gauna, Bodi, Imarelle, Seera
*Family Names: Dimmul, Blackaxe, Fierceblade, Greatarm
====Faith====
Since many half-orcs belong to the Horde, they study the shamananistic practices of their orc forebears. They find the spirits more accepting then any race in society or in the physical plane for that matter. Half-orcs also curious about the Holy Light, and those raised among humans may follow this philosophy.
===Perspective===
Half-orcs, because of their mixed-breed nature, have an outsider's perspective on events; it seems unlikely that they will see things from the inside any time soon. Their unfortunate status as human-orc crossbreeds leaves them truly belonging to neither race, and forces them to find their own places in (usually) the Horde or (more rarely) the Alliance.Alliance & Horde Compendium, pg. 71
===Region===
If raised by humans, a half-orc most likely makes Theramore or Stormwind his home. If raised by orcs, he probably comes from the city of Orgrimmar in Durotar.
Lands of Conflict mentions that about 3% of the population of Hillsbrad Foothills is half-orc (human/orc). This means that there are roughly 450 half-orcs in the area.Lands of Conflict, pg. 97
Half-orcs of ogre descent, the mok'nathal live in the Mok'Nathal Village in Outland.
===Other types of half-orcs===
The term half-orc is usually used to describe the union between a human and an orc, however, there are other half-orc hybrids:
*The Mok'Nathal are usually referred to as a type of half-ogres, rather than half-orcs, due to more dominant ogre traits. The famous Rexxar is one well-known half-ogre. Sometimes the longer term "half-orc half-ogre" or "half orc/ogre" is used to describe the race, half-ogre being the short form.
*A hybrid of an orc and a draenei can be called a "half-draenei", a "half-orc half-draenei", or an "orc-draenei half-breed". Brann believes that they show draenei physical traits.Horde Player's Guide, pg. 169 Half-draenei is used as the short form. Garona has been called simply "half-orc" in several sources as well.
It appears that what half a character is called at any given time depends on which heritage is being focused on, as is the case of Rexxar and Garona being called "half-orcs" at times.
==Inspiration==
Traditionally, in classic fantasy settings such as the works of Tolkien and later in D&D, a half-orc by definition means an offspring that includes an orc and a human parent.http://www.glyphweb.com/ARDA/default.asp?url=http://www.glyphweb.com/ARDA/h/halforcs.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-orc
This traditional view was used when Warcraft: Orcs & Humans was released, Garona Halforcen stating in her own words that she was the product of an and human (or near-human) union.The Last Guardian, pg. 232 It was later explained that Garona was a half-orc/half-draenei, Conflicting Loyalties as Gul'dan deceived her into believing that she was half-human.Secrets
==Notes==
*According to Orgrim Doomhammer, when Garona had been tortured into revealing the Shadow Council's location, it was her non-orc blood that made her too weak to withstand much.Tides of Darkness, chapter 2
*For all his savagery and violence, Grommash Hellscream had always given Rexxar the same respect he would show any warrior, even if he was a half-ogre half-orc.
==Gallery==
File:Garona Hall of Shadows.jpg|Garona Halforcen in World of Warcraft.
File:Lantresor of the Blade in Razor Hill.jpg|Lantresor of the Blade, a half-orc, half-draenei.
File:Lantresor of the Blade.jpg|Lantresor of the Blade model in The Burning Crusade.
File:Rexxar and Misha BFA.jpg|Rexxar, a half-ogre half-orc.
File:Med'an comic2.jpg|Med'an, a half-human, quarter-draenei, and quarter-orc.
File:Garona3.jpg|"Garona" by Chris Metzen.
File:Garona.jpg|An early render of Garona from a pre-alpha version of Warcraft III.
File:Garona (Movie)2.jpg| in the Warcraft: The Beginning.
File:Grislysecrets.jpg|Troll artwork from Warcraft III reused in the RPG half-orc article.Alliance & Horde Compendium, pg. 72 Could imply half-troll/half-orc heritage.
==References==
Category:Alliance races
Category:Horde races
 
es:Semi-orco
pl:Half-orc