Spellbreaker

Spellbreakers (or spell breakers) are a type of blood elven warriors trained to destroy spellcastersSpell Breaker unit and World Editor tooltip: "Elven warrior trained to destroy spellcasters." by disrupting and contorting magical energies to their advantage.Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne game manual, New Human Units, Spell Breaker Their headquarters are on the Isle of Quel'Danas.Ask CDev Answers - Round 2
They appear as a human unit in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. They are relatively rare in World of Warcraft, only making a few appearances from onward.
==History==
===Third War===
Spellbreakers fought among the forces of Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider after the Third War. Fresh from the Scourge invasion of Quel'Thalas, the spellbreakers turned a new eye towards the dying lands of Lordaeron, wondering if it could remain their home.
===World of Warcraft===
Already few in number to begin with, the spellbreakers' ranks were thinned drastically when their headquarters on the Isle of Quel'Danas was overwhelmed by the traitorous Kael'thas and his Burning Legion forces. Only a lone squad remained in existence, as they refrained from training any new recruits following Kael'thas' betrayal. Eventually, Regent Lord Lor'themar Theron ordered a revitalization of spellbreaker training, leading to a resurgence of spellbreakers among the blood elves' ranks.Sean Copeland on Twitter, RE: Spellbreakers (dead link)
Spellbreakers were fielded during the Horde's campaign in Pandaria. They fought with the Dominance Offensive in the Krasarang Wilds, where they proved an invaluable defense force,Battlelog of Warlord Bloodhilt and with the Sunreaver Onslaught on the Isle of Thunder.Silvermoon Spellbreaker
During Volunteer Guard Day, the normal guardians of Silvermoon City are replaced with Silvermoon Spellbreaker Elites.
The nightborne and Felborne of Suramar have spellbreakers, similar in appearance and abilities to the blood elven ones.Imperial SpellbreakerFelborne SpellbreakerFelborne Spellbreaker (Tomb of Sargeras) It is not known what, if any, relation there is between the nightborne and blood elf variants.
==Known==
* Silvermoon Spellbreaker
* Silvermoon Spellbreaker Elite
* Sunwell Spellbreaker
;Non-blood elf
* Imperial Spellbreaker
* Felborne Spellbreaker
* Felborne Spellbreaker (Tomb of Sargeras)
* Azure Spellbreaker — No relation to other spellbreakers aside from the name.
==In the RPG==
===Spellbreaker blades===
The deadly, two-bladed swords of the spellbreakers strike fear in the hearts of wizards and sorcerers. The blood elves' elite warriors employ these frighteningly effective weapons to execute outlawed spellcasters, necromancers and other evil practitioners of magic. This blood-elven two-bladed sword is the bane of any evil spellcaster. The blades can cast globe of invulnerability when spun, and can make casters forget spells.Magic & Mayhem, pg. 128
===Spellbreaker feat===
The powers of the spellbreaker are terrifying to those with knowledge of magic, for their blows shatter the mana from a spellcaster's body.More Magic and Mayhem, pg. 27 Their abilities focus on destroying spells.
===Further inclusion===
The Monster Guide makes reference to spellbreakers as a class blood elves become, along with already existing classes in the Warcraft RPG.Monster Guide, pg. 65 This may have been hinting toward an inclusion of the class in a future RPG supplement, but it was never implemented.
==In Hearthstone==
The is a common minion in the Classic set. Its flavor text reads: "Spellbreakers can rip enchantments from magic-wielders. The process is painless and can be performed on an outpatient basis."
In the expansion, spellbreakers serve as one of the two primary themes of the warrior class (the other being phoenixes and fire spells). They are led by , a character unique to Hearthstone. All spellbreaker minions in the expansion—Asvedon himself, , and —have effects that disrupt or copy enemy spells in various ways.
==Notes and trivia==
*In 2015, Micky Neilson wrote that he believed that the spellbreakers would have been created only after Kael'thas renamed the high elves to blood elves.Micky Neilson on Twitter: did Kael create the force of spell breakers after renaming the Helves? Really excited that we may see them in your story. "I believe it would have been after."
*The original blood elf guard model—used by NPCs such as Silvermoon City Guardians, Sunstrider Guardians, and Royal Guards—bears a strong resemblance to spellbreakers, particularly their chest armor, large shield, and double-bladed weapon, although they lack the spellbreakers' prominent winged helmet and shoulderpads. Even though the guards are not spellbreakers, it is likely that Blizzard based their model on spellbreakers as the latter were at the time the most iconic type of front-line blood elf warriors. When actual spellbreakers were later added to the game in the form of Silvermoon and Sunwell Spellbreakers, they were given the same model as the guards. The Heritage of the Sin'dorei armor set appears to be even more closely based on the original spellbreaker design from Warcraft III, this time including the winged helmets and shoulderpads.
**The Silvermoon guards in the Death Knight manga, the paladin action figure Quin'thalan Sunfire, and a blood elf depicted on the Monster Guide RPG book all also have armor resembling that of spellbreakers.
*Lor'themar Theron, when fought by players in Silvermoon City, uses both melee weapons and anti-magic techniques. However, he is not a spellbreaker.Micky Neilson on Twitter: Is Lor'themar a spellbreaker? "No."
*The mage ability Spellsteal is based on one of the primary spellbreaker abilities from Warcraft III.
*The quest reward Spellbreaker's Buckler and the world drop Spell-Breaker Shield are named after the class.
*In Heroes of the Storm, the Diablo character has a crossover skin named "Spellbreaker Johanna", which depicts her a spellbreaker who has left Quel'Thalas to instead purify Lordaeron.
==Speculation==
*The Sunblade Mage Guards in the Magisters' Terrace are most likely spellbreakers.
*The existence of nightborne spellbreakers indicates that the tradition may date back to the time of the Kaldorei Empire. Alternatively, the nightborne and blood elf spellbreakers may simply have developed independently of one another.
==Gallery==
File:BelfWhiteEyes.jpg|Warcraft III concept art of a spell breaker's face.
File:Human Campaignx WC3 wallpaper.jpg|A spell breaker on the Curse of the Blood Elves campaign menu.
File:Spell Breaker reforged.png|A spell breaker in Warcraft III: Reforged.
File:Johanna HotS Spellbreaker.jpg|Johanna, a character from Diablo, using a spellbreaker-themed skin in Heroes of the Storm.
File:Monster Guide cover art.jpg|A blood elf (left) wearing spellbreaker-like armor on the cover of the Monster Guide.
File:Spellbreaker's Buckler TCG.jpg|A :Spellbreaker's Buckler in the TCG.
;Hearthstone
File:Justice Blindburn TCG Drums.jpg| in Hearthstone, originally TCG art of paladin Justice Blindburn.
File:Spellbreaker HS concept.jpg|Style guide concept art of a spellbreaker in .
File:Asvedon concept.jpg|Style guide concept art of .
File:Silverfury Stalwart HS.jpg|.
File:Disruptive Spellbreaker HS.jpg|.
File:Embers of Strength HS.jpg|Two spellbreakers fighting alongside a phoenix.
File:Last Stand HS.jpg|A spellbreaker battling the Scourge.
;Fan art
File:Fanart - Void elf spellbreaker by Sergiy Abramov.jpg|Void elf spellbreaker by Sergiy Abramov.
==References==
 
Category:NPC occupations
Category:More Magic and Mayhem
Category:Magic & Mayhem