Dragon Aspects

:"Unto each of you is given a gift; unto all of you is given the duty."Charge of the Aspects
The Dragon Aspects (also called Great Aspects,Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects, chapter 2 Aspects of AzerothThrall in the Dragon Soul or simply Aspects) are the leaders of the five dragonflights, empowered by the titans to protect Azeroth. Since the defeat of Deathwing, they have lost their titan-given power, which they sacrificed in order to empower the Dragon Soul. They, however, remain extremely powerful, ancient, and wise beings.
==The Dragon Aspects==
===Current===
Name 	Empowered by	Title 	Description 	Status
Alexstrasza	Eonar 	The Life-BinderThe Dragon-Queen 	First Aspect of the red dragonflight. A red leviathan chosen to safeguard all living creatures in the world. She is the sister of Ysera, Aspect of the green dragonflight. 	
Nozdormu 	Aman'Thul 	The Timeless One 	First Aspect of the bronze dragonflight. A massive bronze dragon chosen to guard time itself and police the ever-spinning pathways of fate and destiny. He is in contention with a group known as the infinite dragonflight; led by a potential future version of himself known as Murozond.	
Kalecgos 	Embrace 	The Spell-WeaverThe Steward of Magic	Second Aspect of the blue dragonflight. He was a former investigator for Malygos and guardian of , he succeeded Malygos as the new Blue Aspect after his death.Alignment (quest) 	
Merithra 	Azeroth 	The Dreamer 	Second Aspect of the green dragonflight. Daughter of Ysera, and de-facto leader of the flight following Ysera's death. She truly accepted her position as the Dreamer following the Primalists attack on the Emerald Dream.The Dreamer (quest) 	
Ebyssian 	Azeroth 	The Earth-Warder 	Second Aspect of the black dragonflight. Uncorrupted black dragon rescued as an egg from Neltharion's Lair by Huln Highmountain. He was appointed Aspect of the Black Dragonflight by both Wrathion and Sabellian following the events of Aberrus and Sarkareth's death. 	
Vyranoth 	Azeroth 	The Storms 	Newly created Aspect of the Proto-dragons and other dragons. She joined the Aspects after realizing that the Primal Incarnates' goals are not as noble as she once believed. 	
===Previous===
Name 	Empowered by	Title 	Description 	Status
Malygos 	Norgannon 	The Spell-Weaver 	First Aspect of the blue dragonflight. This blue dragon was chosen as the guardian of magic and hidden arcanum. After declaring war against all mortal spellcasters, he was killed by agents of Alexstrasza. 	
Neltharion Deathwing	Khaz'goroth 	The Earth-Warder The Destroyer 	First Aspect of the black dragonflight. This mighty black wyrm was given dominion over the earth and the deep places of the world. He was driven mad by the whispers of the Old Gods and managed to drive the blue dragonflight to near extinction, naming himself as Deathwing. He was slain by forces of the Alliance, Horde and adventurers, with the help of Thrall and the other Aspects.	
Ysera 	Eonar 	The Awakened The Dreamer (former)	First Aspect of the green dragonflight. She was chosen to watch over the growing wilds of the world from her verdant realm, the Emerald Dream. Ysera fell to the Nightmare and was put to rest by Tyrande Whisperwind. Her spirit was reborn in Ardenweald. She is the sister of Alexstrasza, Aspect of the red dragonflight. 	
==Background==
===Creation of the original Aspects===
Before they were dragons, the Aspects were proto-dragons. They stood united against a bloodthirsty monster who threatened their race, the Father of Dragons known as Galakrond.Dawn of the Aspects description
After the ordering of Azeroth, Keeper Tyr, the greatest titan-forged warrior, stood against Galakrond and with the help of five powerful and intelligent proto-dragons - Alexstrasza, Malygos, Neltharion, Nozdormu, and Ysera - that held dominion over their brethren, they defeated the massive proto-dragon known as Galakrond.
Because of this and their courage, Tyr suggested to the other Keepers to empower them and make them defenders of Azeroth as they proved they were able to stand for the planet. Odyn disagreed, and forbid the other Keepers to proceed with that idea, but they decided to go against him. They reached out to the Pantheon and each of the titans blessed the proto-dragons with a portion of their vast power, channeled through the Keepers. The dragonflights were thus charged with the task of watching over Azeroth, lest any force should threaten its perfect tranquility. They became majestic beings called dragons and were known as the Aspects. However, mortals are told that the Aspects were created from Galakrond. This is a rumor spread by the Aspects themselves in order to prevent proto-dragons and dragons from doing the same thing as Galakrond and becoming immeasurably powerful and mad.Dawn of the Aspects
===Selection===
The titans empowered the five dragons, each with specific powers, to lead the dragonflights and watch over Azeroth and its evolution.Tribunal of Ages
Aman'Thul, the Highfather of the Pantheon, charged the bronze dragon Nozdormu with guarding over time itself and police the ever-spinning pathways of fate and destiny. Eonar, the Titan patron of all life, blessed both the red dragon Alexstrasza and her younger sister, the green dragon Ysera, so they would safeguard all living creatures and watch over the growing wilds of the world, respectively. Norgannon, the Titan lore keeper and master magician, made the blue dragon Malygos the guardian of magic and hidden arcanum. Khaz'goroth, the Titan shaper and forger of the world, gave the black dragon Neltharion dominion over the earth and the deep places of the world.
Aman'Thul's vision of the Old Gods one day causing the Hour of Twilight, capable of potentially wiping out all life on Azeroth, was one of the reasons the Pantheon empowered Nozdormu and the other Aspects with their powers, to ultimately avert this single catastrophe, although Aman'Thul for all his vast powers was not omniscient and was unaware Neltharion would eventually be corrupted into Deathwing.Ask CDev
According to legends, when the Aspects were first created, the moons had been in a rare conjunction known as the Embrace. A repeat of this same alignment was crucial to the proper working of the magic necessary to turn a normal dragon into an Aspect.Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects, chapter 8 It is impossible to select a new Aspect or even try to call a new one, as long as the current one lives.Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects, chapter 20
===Powers and duties===
Aspects are more than just dragons with different skills and extra powers. When the titans blessed all of them, they gave them insights and other ways of understanding things. Until the creation of Chromatus barring other Aspects, no single dragon was able to defeat one.Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects, chapter 17 Although they are parts of a whole and were never meant to be separate, they are also complete unto themselves as well. When the titans departed, they said to the Aspects: "Unto each of you was given a gift; unto all of you is given the duty." Their one true duty was to preserve the world of Azeroth and prevent the Hour of Twilight at all costs.
However, the titans' gift was also a burden. Neltharion felt every rock in Azeroth pressed down on him. His body splintered and cracked. It was beyond physical agony; his spirit was unraveling, suffocated by the unfathomable load. He saw it as a life of eternal torment. However with it came an incredible strength, as the weight of Azeroth was his to command.Charge of the Aspects, pg. 3
According to Lorekeeper Lydros, the ancient and legendary blade :Quel'Serrar was "crafted for an unknown entity by the combined might of the five Aspects" long before even the War of the Ancients.
===The Dragon Soul===
During the War of the Ancients, Alexstrasza, Ysera, Malygos, and Nozdormu fought the demons of the Burning Legion. It was also in that war that the black dragon Neltharion deceived his fellow Aspects, using the Dragon Soul to steal a portion of their power. At the end of the War of the Ancients, the blue, green, bronze, and red Aspects had found and enchanted the weapon so that neither Deathwing nor any other dragon could wield it again. Millennia after that, it had fallen into the hands of the Dragonmaw orcs, who had then used it to enslave the Life-Binder and her brood. Many red dragons had been forced to act as mounts of war during that harrowing time. So Deathwing held the upper hand in every battle with the other, weakened Aspects, until the human mage Rhonin was able to use the scale Deathwing had given him to destroy the Dragon Soul. Cutting the scale across the surface, Rhonin unleashed the power trapped within and returned to the Aspects their essence given at the creation of the Dragon Soul.
===The Hour of Twilight===
Neltharion's duty to protect Azeroth's earthly expanses meant that he was susceptible to the influences of Old Gods who were imprisoned beneath the planet's surface.
The trials and tribulations that had afflicted the Dragonflights throughout history, from Deathwing's betrayal to the Emerald Nightmare, from the Infinite dragonflight to the Madness of Malygos, were to culminate as the Hour of Twilight, the Old Gods' grand scheme to eliminate the Aspects and usher the end of life on Azeroth.
Shortly after the Cataclysm, the orc shaman Thrall agreed to undergo a journey at the request of the Green Aspect, Ysera; a journey that eventually led him to Dragonblight and Wyrmrest Temple; there, Thrall was able to tap into Azeroth’s essence and use it to help bind Kalecgos, Ysera, Nozdormu, and Alexstrasza together, allowing them to combine their power and stave off an attack by the Twilight’s Hammer and the chromatic dragon Chromatus. Although successful in defending Wyrmrest Temple, the Aspects still needed to stop Deathwing. However, the fallen Aspect was so twisted by the dark energies of the Old Gods that not even the combined might of every living being on Azeroth could stop him. No physical assault, however immense, could destroy him; the only hope of stopping him was by unraveling his very essence, a power that only the Dragon Soul possessed.
There were various points in time when the Dragon Soul could be retrieved, but it had been altered throughout history. In order to be used as a weapon against Deathwing, it had to be taken while in its purest form. Nozdormu agreed to send the adventurers back to the Well of Eternity during the War of the Ancients to retrieve it but found that all timeways were being directed to the same event, the end of time itself. In order to retrieve the Dragon Soul, the Infinite Dragonflight and its leader Murozond had to be slain, so the adventurers were sent to the future where they defeated Murozond. With the timeways reopened, the adventurers were sent to the Well of Eternity during the War of the Ancients. Once secured, the Dragon Soul was brought to present-day Dragonblight. There, Thrall, aided by the adventurers, transported it to Wyrmrest Temple, a place of great power housing the Chamber of the Aspects, the very chamber in which the artifact was first imbued with the power of the Dragonflights.
When Deathwing learned of their intent, he and his minions converged on Dragonblight and the temple to waylay them at any cost. Atop Wyrmrest Temple, the Aspects began to infuse the Dragon Soul with their essences once again, making it even more powerful than before. Kalecgos then began work to alter its properties so that it could affect Deathwing because he had never imbued his own essence into the disk. In order for the Dragon Soul to be used as a weapon against him, it had to be empowered with the essence of the Earth-Warder. Thrall possessed a portion of that very essence, and although it was incredibly small, he was able to impart it to the Dragon Soul. After the death of the twilight dragon Ultraxion, Thrall unleashed the freshly infused Dragon Soul upon its creator. Wounded, Deathwing fled toward the Maelstrom, attempting to return to the relative safety of Deepholm. Thrall, the Aspects, and the adventurers boarded the gunship the Skyfire and gave chase, fighting an army of twilight drake riders, led by Warmaster Blackhorn, along the way.
Upon catching the Black Aspect, the adventurers leapt from the decks of the Skyfire, parachuted onto Deathwing's back, and began prying away the elementium armor that protected the Aspect, eventually exposing enough of his warped body for Thrall to blast Deathwing with the Dragon Soul. Deathwing, critically wounded, fell from the sky and crashed into the Maelstrom. Proclaiming victory, the defenders of Azeroth briefly rejoiced at having finally defeated the Destroyer, but the celebration was short-lived. Deathwing rose from the Maelstrom, his body mutated into a mass of molten lava and tentacles. The final battle for Azeroth began in earnest, until one final blast from the Dragon Soul infused with the complete essence of each Aspect completely obliterated the fallen Aspect. With Deathwing truly defeated, the Aspects had fulfilled their duty of protecting Azeroth from the Hour of Twilight and the ancient powers granted to them by the Titans were expended; ushering in the Age of Mortals.Cataclysm epilogue cinematicUltimate Visual Guide, pg. 59 As such, they sacrificed their roles as Aspects.Dawn of the Aspects, part 1 chapter 1
Fortunately, the Aspects are still true to the gifts given to them by the titans, as life, magic, nature, and time last forever.Charge of the Aspects
Upon remembering the battle against Galakrond and urging of Kalec, Alexstrasza concluded that even though they are no longer Aspects, they are still dragon beings and that they will remain and help the world eventually.Dawn of the Aspects, part 5 chapter 5
===Battle for Azeroth===
The powers of the Aspects coalesced in five scales that could be found in places important to the flights: the Nexus for the blue, Neltharion's Lair for the black, the Emerald Dream for the green, Vermillion Redoubt for the red, and an unknown location for the bronze. The scales were gathered by Alexstrasza, Kalecgos, Ebyssian in place of Deathwing, Merithra in place of Ysera who had died in the third invasion of the Burning Legion, and Chronormu in place of Nozdormu whose absence was not commented on. The essences of the five flights were used to empower the Heart of Azeroth, a relic created to heal the world after she was stabbed by Sargeras.
===Dragonflight===
The Primal Incarnates, ancient proto-dragon enemies of the Dragon Aspects who oppose the titans and embrace the elements, return from their imprisonment. Knowing that the Aspects cannot currently defeat the Incarnates as they have been weakened since Deathwing's defeat, Alexstrasza declares that they must find a way to regain their powers.
==Notes and trivia==
*The mortals of Azeroth are told that the Aspects were created from Galakrond.
*As of Legion, Alexstrasza is the only Dragon Aspect that has never been fought by players. Kalecgos, Malygos, and Deathwing are all raid bosses (although Kalecgos was not yet an Aspect at the time he was fought); Nozdormu (as Murozond) is a dungeon boss; and Ysera, corrupted by the Emerald Nightmare, is fought in a quest.
*During the events of Dragon Soul, Thrall is called "Earth-Warder" in his Dungeon Journal entry of the Ultraxion encounter."Thrall: Thrall, now the Earth-Warder of Azeroth, blesses all tanks with the immovable strength of the ancient stones of the world." During Thrall's journey to Wyrmrest Temple, a minion of Deathwing says, "You are a fool if you think to take your place as the Aspect of Earth, Shaman!" In Tides of War, Thrall states that he "merely held the space for the Earth-Warder."Jaina Proudmoore: Tides of War, chapter 3
*With Malygos' death, Haleh is the first of the Aspects' consorts to outlive their respective Aspect.
*Most of the Dragon Aspects and their dragonflights appear to be at least vaguely associated with the regions of the Broken Isles, as well as the Pillars of Creation, with Ysera being slain in Val'sharah, where the Dreamweavers were located; Kalecgos helping Senegos, oldest of the blue dragons living in Azsuna; the nightborne of Suramar mentioned rivaling Nozdormu's bronze dragonflight in terms of temporal magic prowess and likewise deriving much of their powers from Aman'Thul; and Deathwing having made his home at Neltharion's Lair at Highmountain being before being banished by the Hammer of Khaz'goroth. While not directly associated with the red dragonflight, Odyn and his Valarjar in Stormheim also seem to defend Life in their own way, being counterparts of Helya and her followers, and even rewarding noble warriors with a chance to fight beyond Death.
*Alexstrasza, Malygos, and Nozdormu used high elves as their mortal forms before high elves even existed. This is true of Neltharion as well, whose form has been depicted as a human before humans existed, commanding the dracthyr as one ten thousand years before they came to be; well before the vrykul became flesh as well.
*Deathwing, whose mortal form is a human, is the only Dragon Aspect who does not use some type of elf as his visage form, with Ysera using a night elf and Kalecgos using a half-elf.
**Fittingly, Neltharion's sons continue this tradition. Sabellian and Wrathion, who vied for pursuit of the position of Aspect, both use human males as their father. His successor, his son Ebyssian, is the first to use the visage of a tauren as an Aspect.
*During an interview lead quest designer Dave Kosak explained that the Dragon Aspects stood in the spotlight because one of their own had gone bad. Now the Dragon Aspects will continue to be important and still be around, but they may not be central characters anymore. For example, Kalecgos has been elected shortly before the Hour of Twilight and, obviously, he is still a dragon and he is still a very powerful mage, even if he is not immortal anymore. And he will still play a role in the world and will advise the Kirin Tor, he is just no longer the Aspect of Magic.Gamona Interview The bronze dragons still can travel between time, but they no longer have control over timelines.http://www.battlenet.com.cn/wow/zh/forum/topic/4871928333 In the Age of Mortals, mortal organizations need to take over what was once the charge of the Aspects. So all the characters are still important and their story will continue, even if they are not in the spotlight for the next expansion.
**All of this was later completely disregarded for the concepts of , which not only re-established that the Aspects still serve their roles in the world, but centers entirely around the idea of restoring their powers. In addition, all of the Aspects are considered central characters of the expansion, and several new Aspects were even appointed to fill the role of those missing.
==Gallery==
File:Dragon Aspects humanoid forms.jpg|Nozdormu, Ysera, Alexstrasza, Malygos, and Deathwing in their visage forms (old models).
File:Legacies Alexstrasza concept.jpg|Legacies concept art of Alexstrasza.
File:Legacies Ysera concept.jpg|Legacies concept art of Ysera.
File:Legacies Nozdormu concept.jpg|Legacies concept art of Nozdormu.
File:Legacies Malygos concept.jpg|Legacies concept art of Malygos. Despite this being used for Malygos, this is actually the updated design of Kalecgos.
File:Legacies Neltharion concept.jpg|Legacies concept art of Neltharion.
==Videos==
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==See also==
*:Legacy of the Aspects
==References==
Category:Dragons
Category:Eternals
Category:Lore
Category:Dragonflights
es:Dragones Aspectos
pl:Dragon Aspect