Durotan

Durotan was the chieftain of the Frostwolf clan and the father of Thrall. On Draenor he was one of the few orc leaders who refused the demonic pact that corrupted the Horde, and he died trying to warn his people about Gul'dan's treachery. He never appears in World of Warcraft, but the orc homeland of Durotar bears his name, and his grave lies in Alterac Valley.

Biography

Chieftain on Draenor

Durotan was the son of Garad, chieftain of the Frostwolves, a clan that lived in the cold north of Draenor and kept closely to the old shamanic ways. As a boy he met Orgrim of the Blackrock clan at the Kosh'harg, the great gathering of the clans, and the two became lifelong friends. He took the Frostwolf mate Draka, a fierce warrior in her own right.

When Ner'zhul and his apprentice Gul'dan turned the clans against the draenei, Durotan obeyed with growing unease. During the war, the Frostwolf shamans found that the spirits of the land had stopped answering them, and Durotan took it as a sign that the war was wrong. He kept his distance from Gul'dan's warlocks and refused to drink the demon blood that bound the other chieftains to the Burning Legion.

Exile

The Frostwolves crossed into Azeroth with the Horde at the start of the First War, but Durotan kept speaking against the warlocks. Gul'dan confronted him in secret and banished the whole clan, threatening to kill every Frostwolf if they ever contacted the Horde again. The clan went north to a hidden valley in the Alterac Mountains. There Draka gave birth to a son, Go'el, and the elder shaman Drek'Thar won back the favor of the spirits.

Betrayal

Durotan could not stay silent while the Horde was led toward ruin. He and Draka took their infant son south to meet his old friend Orgrim Doomhammer, then second-in-command of the Horde, and told him everything they knew about Gul'dan, the Shadow Council and the demon pact. Orgrim believed him and sent guards to see the family safely home. The guards were secretly loyal to the Shadow Council. A few days into the journey they attacked. Durotan and Draka killed one of them before they were cut down, and the baby was left in the snow to die.

The human officer Aedelas Blackmoore found the child beside his parents' bodies, took him to Durnholde Keep and named him Thrall. Years later that child would become Warchief and free the orcs.

In World of Warcraft

Durotar

When Thrall led the orcs to Kalimdor and won them a homeland, he named it Durotar after his father. Durotar, the red, dry land east of the Barrens, is the starting zone for orcs and trolls and the home of the Horde capital, Orgrimmar.

The Rock of Durotan

The Frostwolves still live in the valley where Durotan led them into exile. In the battleground Alterac Valley, near Frostwolf Village, stands a monument called the Rock of Durotan. Its plaque, signed by Drek'Thar, marks Durotan's grave: it calls him the first chieftain of the Frostwolf clan, the father of Warchief Thrall, and the bravest of the orcs, betrayed by those who wanted the orcs enslaved. The monument was added in patch 1.5.

The Frostwolf clan's quests in Alterac Valley, such as In Defense of Frostwolf, and their reputation rewards, like the [Horn of the Frostwolf Howler], carry his clan's name.

Later history

• In Warlords of Draenor, players meet an alternate-timeline Durotan who never went to Azeroth and leads the Frostwolves against the Iron Horde in Frostfire Ridge. The pictures of him in this article show that version.
• In Dragonflight, the spirits of Durotan and Draka appear briefly during the first Kosh'harg festival on Azeroth, held at Razor Hill in Durotar, the first time Durotan saw the land named for him.

Trivia

• Durotan is a central character in the novel Rise of the Horde (2006) by Christie Golden and in the 2016 film Warcraft, where he was played by Toby Kebbell.
• Accounts of his murder differ. Lord of the Clans (2000) blamed unnamed spies of Gul'dan, while World of Warcraft: Chronicle says the killers were the guards Orgrim sent with the family.

Sources

• Durotan - Warcraft Wiki
• Rock of Durotan - Warcraft Wiki