Orgrim Doomhammer

Orgrim Doomhammer, also known as the Backstabber by loyalists of Gul'dan and Blackhand, was the Warchief of the Orcish Horde during the end of the First War and the entirety of the Second War. The orcish capital of Orgrimmar, and the flying battleship Orgrim's Hammer patrolling the skies of Icecrown, are named in his honor.

Rise of the Horde

Main article: Rise of the Horde

Orgrim of the Blackrocks and Durotan of the Frostwolves originally met whilst secreting away as children from the sleeping tent during the Kosh'harg festival in Nagrand. The two troublesome youths escaped past their sleep time to spy on the clans' councils, only to be severely disappointed. Deciding instead to spend the rest of the night challenging each other, they soon formed a bond that, while technically not forbidden, was considered against tradition by the Blackrock and Frostwolf clans they belonged to. During a race through Terokkar Forest, they accidentally stumbled upon a raging ogre, and in a last burst of speed, ran for their lives. Seemingly out of nowhere, a brigade of draenei appeared and rescued the lads, who spent the rest of the day with Restalaan, and conferencing with Velen. The two friends never separated, even after Orgrim, upon the death of his father, became wielder of the Doomhammer and second-in-command to Blackhand, and Durotan became chieftain himself when his father was killed by the gronn.

Though Orgrim was internally opposed to the war against the draenei, he followed Blackhand's orders, and even gave in to the blood lust Gul'dan had cultivated. But, like Durotan, he began to wonder if the orcs had been deceived. He was one of the few orcs that didn't drink the blood of Mannoroth, claiming to be unworthy to drink from the same vessel as the Warchief and chieftains. Though Blackhand was gullible enough to believe this excuse, Gul'dan was not, and would remain wary of Orgrim from that point on.

Orgrim Doomhammer initially rose to power as a member of the Thunderlord Clan. Blackrock Clan had strong connections to the Thunderlord Clan, though, and for this reason Orgrim was able to rise to power in both.HPG 172

The manual for Beyond the Dark Portal also mentions that Orgrim rose to power through the Thunderlord Clan, it is confirmed in the Horde Player's Guide that the two clans had a strong connection. Rise of the Horde does not mention this connection.

The First and Second Wars

Doomhammer was one of Blackhand's most trusted lieutenants, commanding a number of battles against the forces of the Kingdom of Azeroth. But when Gul'dan fell into a coma, trying to pry the secrets from the head of the dying Medivh, Orgrim took this chance to seize power by killing the Warchief, and as many necrolytes and warlocks as he could manage. Doomhammer also captured Garona and tortured her into revealing the location of the Shadow Council, seeking to destroy it because he believed it to be a corrupting influence over the Horde.

Unlike Blackhand, Doomhammer would not be a puppet to Gul'dan and his Shadow Council. When Gul'dan awoke, he found that the new Warchief had destroyed the Shadow Council - branding the Warlock caste as traitors and executing many of them - and intended to slay him as well. Begging at Doomhammer's feet, Gul'dan reminded him that with the Shadow Council gone he was the last true sorcerer within the Horde. The warlock promised that he would create an army of all-powerful necromancers, loyal to the Warchief: the Death Knights. Doomhammer readily agreed, despite (correctly) suspecting Gul'dan of treachery.

A bitter enemy of the Alliance, Doomhammer was in the front ranks as he led the Horde into Khaz Modan and the Second War. Although he commanded the Horde with an iron fist, Doomhammer also demonstrated his prowess as a diplomat as he made new allies for the Horde among the goblins and trolls of Azeroth.S&L 37

Doomhammer was correct in his assessment of the perfidious Gul'dan; when the Horde was launching a massive attack on Lordaeron, Gul'dan's Stormreaver Clan, along with Cho'gall's Twilight's Hammer, and all others loyal to the warlock, abandoned the Horde and set sail to the south. Chasing him to the Tomb of Sargeras, Orgrim sent part of the Blackrock Clan and the Black Tooth Grin clan to engaged both the Stormreaver and Twilight's Hammer forces. Gul'dan and his warlocks entered the Tomb of Sargeras but were slain by the demons within.

Weakened by losses caused by Gul'dan's treachery, Doomhammer was forced to fall back from the human capital of Lordaeron to his fortress at Blackrock Spire. There he fought the final battle of the Second War against the Alliance of Lordaeron, leading a charge from Blackrock Spire to clash with Anduin Lothar and his paladin guard. Human and orc battled one another in a titanic conflict that left both warriors drained, but the Warchief was able to vanquish the Regent of Azeroth. Some believe that Doomhammer did not win fairly and that Lothar was killed after being ambushed by Horde warriors.[2]HPG 171 APG 134An irony, that the warrior who killed the Knight Champion of Azeroth would fall at the hands of another knight. Nevertheless, Lothar's death did not have the effect that Doomhammer intended. Rather than being demoralized, the Alliance - led by Lothar's lieutenant, Turalyon - rallied, wiped into a frenzy that even shocked the Warchief himself and all but destroyed Doomhammer's forces, chasing them back to the dark portal.

Meeting with Thrall

Doomhammer was one of Blackhand's most trusted lieutenants, commanding a number of battles against the forces of the Kingdom of Azeroth. But when Gul'dan fell into a coma, trying to pry the secrets from the head of the dying Medivh, Orgrim took this chance to seize power by killing the Warchief, and as many necrolytes and warlocks as he could manage. Doomhammer also captured Garona and tortured her into revealing the location of the Shadow Council, seeking to destroy it because he believed it to be a corrupting influence over the Horde.

Unlike Blackhand, Doomhammer would not be a puppet to Gul'dan and his Shadow Council. When Gul'dan awoke, he found that the new Warchief had destroyed the Shadow Council - branding the Warlock caste as traitors and executing many of them - and intended to slay him as well. Begging at Doomhammer's feet, Gul'dan reminded him that with the Shadow Council gone he was the last true sorcerer within the Horde. The warlock promised that he would create an army of all-powerful necromancers, loyal to the Warchief: the Death Knights. Doomhammer readily agreed, despite (correctly) suspecting Gul'dan of treachery.

A bitter enemy of the Alliance, Doomhammer was in the front ranks as he led the Horde into Khaz Modan and the Second War. Although he commanded the Horde with an iron fist, Doomhammer also demonstrated his prowess as a diplomat as he made new allies for the Horde among the goblins and trolls of Azeroth.S&L 37

Doomhammer was correct in his assessment of the perfidious Gul'dan; when the Horde was launching a massive attack on Lordaeron, Gul'dan's Stormreaver Clan, along with Cho'gall's Twilight's Hammer, and all others loyal to the warlock, abandoned the Horde and set sail to the south. Chasing him to the Tomb of Sargeras, Orgrim sent part of the Blackrock Clan and the Black Tooth Grin clan to engaged both the Stormreaver and Twilight's Hammer forces. Gul'dan and his warlocks entered the Tomb of Sargeras but were slain by the demons within.

Weakened by losses caused by Gul'dan's treachery, Doomhammer was forced to fall back from the human capital of Lordaeron to his fortress at Blackrock Spire. There he fought the final battle of the Second War against the Alliance of Lordaeron, leading a charge from Blackrock Spire to clash with Anduin Lothar and his paladin guard. Human and orc battled one another in a titanic conflict that left both warriors drained, but the Warchief was able to vanquish the Regent of Azeroth. Some believe that Doomhammer did not win fairly and that Lothar was killed after being ambushed by Horde warriors.[2]HPG 171 APG 134An irony, that the warrior who killed the Knight Champion of Azeroth would fall at the hands of another knight. Nevertheless, Lothar's death did not have the effect that Doomhammer intended. Rather than being demoralized, the Alliance - led by Lothar's lieutenant, Turalyon - rallied, wiped into a frenzy that even shocked the Warchief himself and all but destroyed Doomhammer's forces, chasing them back to the dark portal.

Meeting with Thrall

Losing to the young shaman, and being shown mercy, he revealed himself as the Warchief of the Horde. At first Thrall was aghast at how he had treated such an important person as Orgrim Doomhammer, and began to apologize profusely. Orgrim stopped him and told him it was not necessary, explaining his reasons for staying anonymous. He went on to explain that he had a plan to break free the imprisoned orcs, and Thrall and Drek'thar agreed to help. Along with Hellscream and the Warsong Clan, they were able to easily storm four internment camps freeing the orcs held inside. At the fifth, however, the Alliance was prepared and held a force of mounted knights. They ambushed the orcs and in the mist of their bloodlust the orcs fell victim to the knights' charge. In the mist of the chaos created by Thrall to cover their retreat, Orgrim was mortally wounded by a strike to the back — impaled by a charging knight's lance with enough force to pierce the back plate of his armor and his body, denting the breastplate from the inside. With his last breath, Orgrim gave the title of Warchief, along with his great warhammer and black armor, to Thrall. The former internment camp where he fell is now the Horde base of Hammerfall, located in the Arathi Highlands.