Dal'rend Blackhand

Dal'rend Blackhand,Jaina Proudmoore: Tides of War (or Dal'Rend) commonly known as Rend, was the bloodthirsty son of the former Warchief of the Horde, Blackhand the Destroyer, as well as the former Warchief of the Dark Horde. He believed that he was the rightful Warchief of the Horde due to lineage, and sought to overthrow Thrall. To this end, he allied the forces of the Dark Horde with Nefarian. The two used their combined resources to create the chromatic dragonflight, which they hoped to unleash upon the world. His mount was a massive chromatic drake named Gyth. Commanding legions of orcs, forest trolls, and ogres, along with backing from the black dragonflight, Rend was considered to be a great threat to Thrall's leadership of the Horde. He was eventually slain.
==Biography==
===Rise of the Horde===
6 years before the First War, the warlock Gul'dan sought to convince Chieftain Blackhand to take up the mantle of Warchief of the Horde. To help convince the chieftain, Gul'dan taught some of the Blackrock clan's shaman in the ways of fel magic and how to rapidly grow adolescent orcs to adulthood by imbuing them with fel power. Blackhand was astounded by the results and ordered the shaman to transform his young sons Dal'rend and Maim into "proper soldiers". After coming of age Dal'rend served as a member of the Horde, participating in the savage war against the draenei.
After the siege of Telmor, Durotan of the Frostwolf clan was offered the city as a reward for leading the raid on it. When Durotan turned it down, Blackhand and his family were more than happy to take Telmor as their own, even going so far as wearing the clothes and sleeping in the beds of the draenei they had killed.Rise of the Horde, pg. 253 This ended when the whole of the Orcish Horde was moved to Hellfire Citadel to better carry out the orders of Blackhand.Rise of the Horde, pg. 268 After this, Dal'rend alongside Maim accompanied Blackhand into Blade's Edge, where an alliance of ogres and orcs was made. Eventually, both sons drank the blood of Mannoroth.Rise of the Horde
===First War===
Dal'rend and Maim ultimately became leaders of the Black Tooth Grin clan, an offshoot of the Blackrock, and accompanied their father through the Dark Portal. After Warchief Blackhand was killed by Orgrim Doomhammer, Dal'rend and Maim continued ruling over the Black Tooth Grin.Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness manual, Clans of the Horde, The Black Tooth Grin Clan
===Tides of Darkness===
During the Second War, Dal'rend served as lieutenant to the new Warchief Orgrim Doomhammer. He and his brother Maim often questioned Doomhammer's orders, as Orgrim killed Blackhand the Destroyer and took his place as Warchief, but they never disobeyed any of his orders. However, Orgrim allowed the insubordination both because he knew any explanations he gave would filter back to the rest of the Horde and because the two brothers were leaders of the powerful Black Tooth Grin clan.Tides of Darkness, chapter 11 Later Dal'rend and his brother were amongst the army who attacked Quel'Thalas.
During the siege of the Capital City of Lordaeron, Dal'rend was ordered by Doomhammer to have his clan break off and chase after the traitorous Gul'dan, who had taken to the sea in search of the Eye of Sargeras.Tides of Darkness, pg. 288 He and his army battled against Cho'gall's Twilight's Hammer, but once they learned that Gul'dan had perished within the Tomb of Sargeras they retrieved his skull from one of the warlock's followers before sailing back east and returning to Doomhammer.
When dragon riders dispatched by Nekros Skullcrusher found the Black Tooth Grin's vessels and delivered word of the Horde's retreat to Blackrock Spire, Dal'rend and Maim ordered the Black Tooth Grin to alter course and sail to Stormwind. That region was still under Horde control, and from there they could reach Blackrock Spire by land. However, near the island of Crestfall, the Horde fleet was attacked by Admiral Proudmoore's Alliance navy, which was accompanied by Wildhammer gryphon riders. Dal'rend and Maim's ship and a few other vessels survived intact, but most of the Horde fleet was sunk by Proudmoore's superior forces and the dragon riders scattered in all directions.
Dal'rend and Maim later personally fought Turalyon at the Dark Portal, only to flee when it became evident that the paladin had the upper hand.Tides of Darkness, pg. 367
While most of the rest of the Horde was defeated by the Alliance at the end of the Second War, Dal'rend and Maim evaded capture and took control of Blackrock Mountain along with other Horde survivors, with Dal'rend declaring himself Warchief of the weakened Blackrock clan. Dal'rend and Maim despised Orgrim for having killed their father and blamed him for the Horde's defeat, and the brothers now planned to reforge the Horde as they saw fit. They gradually reached out to other large groups of survivors, trying to rally them under their new banner. While the Bleeding Hollow clan ignored them, the Dragonmaw clan pledged their support and offered to give some of their enslaved red dragons to Dal'rend and Maim's forces if they were ever needed.
===Beyond the Dark Portal===
About two years later, the Dark Portal reopened and emissaries from Ner'zhul, led by Teron Gorefiend, were immediately sent to Dal'rend and Maim asking them to rejoin the Horde of Draenor, and to ask to borrow the red dragons held captive by the allied Dragonmaw clan. Dal'rend only laughed and refused. Not only did he call Ner'zhul a coward for staying safe in Draenor while he fought the Alliance with Orgrim Doomhammer, but that Ner'zhul would fail in time. Unable to enter an agreement, Teron left the warchief to his bidding, with Dal'rend gleefully awaiting Ner'zhul's fall so that he could gather up the remnants of the Draenic orcs into his own army.Beyond the Dark Portal, chapter 8, pg. 111-116
Not long after, Nefarian, sent by Deathwing, came to Blackrock Spire. The black dragonflight had sided with the Horde of Draenor, and Nefarian quickly took command of the Blackhand brothers and the forces under their control.Beyond the Dark Portal, chapter 8, pg. 121-122
===World of Warcraft===
In Year 25 after the defeat Ragnaros in the Molten Core, Moira Thaurissan turned her attention to the Dark Horde that occupied the Upper Blackrock Spire. She knew that the black dragonflight had entered an alliance with the orcs and conducted experiments to create draconic monstrosities. Her spies made sure that word of that reached Durotar, where the Horde was infuriated. Horde champions sent by Thrall traveled to Blackrock Spire and defeated both Warchief Dal'rend Blackhand and his master, Nefarian in Blackwing Lair, taking the head of the dragon with them to Orgrimmar.For The Horde! (quest) The rest of his followers scattered.
The following part was made incorrect and non-canon by the release of that confirmed the canon death of Dal'rend.
Following the invasion of Outland, it was mentioned that the Blackrock orcs under Dal'rend Blackhand were wreaking havoc beyond Grim Batol.Killing Ground
After the Cataclysm, Dal'rend was targeted by Acride who sent adventurers to kill him.The False Warchief
==History as told by Eitrigg==
:At the end of the Second War, Rend and his brother, Maim, fled to find sanctuary within the mountainous stronghold of Blackrock Spire. It was there that Rend declared himself Warchief of the weakened Blackrock clan.
:Rend and his brother Maim ruled the Spire, in constant conflict with the Dark Iron dwarves. They managed to displace the dwarves in the upper portion of the city, but only after the dragons came and only after the death of Maim.Eitrigg's Wisdom
==Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans==
In the canceled Warcraft Adventures, Rend and his brother Maim were the two who killed Thrall's father Durotan. They were traitors to their race, as they collaborated with the internment camps system for gold and favors. They paid a fortune for the gnomes to create the black ale which would keep the orcs pacified, and were about to make a blood pact in agreement to aid Lieutenant Blackmoore with the forces of their Black Tooth Grin clan. Thrall interrupted the meeting by setting the room ablaze, and Rend and Maim were trapped between the fires, confronted by the orc whose family they had murdered. Rend, reduced to begging, tried to claim he was forced to by his father, but Thrall failed to fall for Rend's lie, and used their blood mixed together to kill them with the Eternal Damnation spell, causing their flesh to melt and their souls being sent to hell for all eternity.
Rend was described as the brains of the two by Thrall, a description that still seems to apply in modern lore.
RendWCAdventures.jpg|Model in a magazine article on the game.
Warcraft Adventures - Rend & Maim.jpg|Assassinating Durotan.
Warcraft Adventures - Rend and Maim death.jpg|Eternal Damnation in action.
==In the RPG==
Dark Iron dwarves from Blackrock Depths swarmed up and tried to destroy the Dark Horde. The Dark Horde fought back, and Maim was killed in savage battle. His sacrifice, plus Rend's alliance with the Black Dragonflight, allowed them to drive back the Dark Irons and maintain their hold on Blackrock Spire.Dark Factions, pg. 136
==Notes and trivia==
thumb|Rend and Gyth.
*In his service was Malkorok who dealt with adventurers that entered Blackrock Mountain to challenge Rend, as well as orcs that opposed Rend.Jaina Proudmoore: Tides of War, chapter 4
*In The Frozen Throne on Chapter 6 of the human campaign, two blademasters named Maim and Rend reside in the orc camp directly south of where the Master of Pain is located. However, they were retconed into different characters.
*His personal weapon was the Blackhand Doomsaw, which could be looted on his body. He also dropped Dal'Rend's Arms, a set of swords named after his complete name when he was then simply known as "Rend".
*"Rend" is a word meaning to tear asunder or separate by force.
*In the Tides of Darkness novel, Doomhammer ordered Rend to gather his army and free the forest troll warlord Zul'jin from Hillsbrad, however, this was later retconed in Chronicle Volume 2.
*In Hearthstone, he's the third and final boss of Blackrock Spire, the third wing of the Blackrock Mountain adventure. Defeating him rewards him as a legendary card. His flavor text reads: "Rend believes he is the True Warchief of the Horde and he keeps editing the wikipedia page for "Warchief of the Horde" to include his picture."
==Gallery==
File:Statue Rend Pose.png|Rend Blackhand in Warcraft Arclight Rumble.
==See also==
*Blackhand's Command
==References==
Category:Orc characters
Category:Warrior characters
Category:Dragon riders
Category:Blackrock clan
Category:Warcraft Adventures characters
Category:Rise of the Horde characters
Category:Tides of Darkness characters
Category:Beyond the Dark Portal characters
Category:World of Warcraft: The Comic characters
Category:Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects characters
Category:Jaina Proudmoore: Tides of War characters
Category:Deceased characters
Category:Hearthstone legendary cards
es:Dal'rend Puño Negro
fr:Rend Main-noire