Necromancers are mortal practitioners of death magic, commonly referred to as necromancy. Channeling their knowledge of the arcane into manipulation of the forces of life and death, these men and women were instrumental in the forming of the Scourge in Lordaeron.

Necromancers are spellcasters whose magics manipulate the power of death. In calling upon this power, necromancers risk being consumed by it — until eventually they join the ranks of the undead.^[1] Necromancers twist arcane magic to manipulate the power of death. Commanding the undead, generally in the service of the Scourge, they gradually take on the characteristics of the dead — hollow eyes, shambling gaits, pallid and sunken skin, foul odors and so forth.^[2]

Most, if not all, modern necromancers were trained by Kel'Thuzad and his agents in the Scholomance beneath Caer Darrow, otherwise known as the School of Necromancy. Amazingly, the School was never discovered by agents of the Crown of Lordaeron, and remained untouched and functional until well beyond the end of the Third War. The school contains notable figures such as the Lich, Ras Frostwhisper, as well as the headmaster of the facility, Darkmaster Gandling.

The necromancers continue to abound in the Plaguelands. Overseeing both the spread of the Blight and the construction of new Scourge installations, necromancers are most commonly encountered within and around the ruined city of Stratholme. An elite branch of necromancers, under the command of the dark master Maleki the Pallid, refer to themselves as the Thuzadin, in honor of their lord and first of their kind, Kel'Thuzad.

The origins of necromancy date back to the First War when Gul'dan's necrolytes developed the ability to raise corpses to serve as skeleton warriors in the Horde. But necromancers have been around since the beginning of the Nathrezim race, who were the first ever known beings to raise Undead from Night Elven corpses (as seen in the War of the Ancients novel).

A few necromancers are uncorrupted.^[3]

The most experienced necromancers become epic necromancers.^[4]

See also: The Schools of Arcane Magic - Necromancy

Forsaken necromancer

The Dark Lady, Sylvanas Windrunner, realized how valuable necromancy was to their cause. Though Forsaken heal naturally, many go to the priests of the Forgotten Shadow for "repairs". Necromancers can also free enslaved, mindless undead and research powerful spells that might one day return the Forsaken to life. Sylvanas knew she needed necromancers to heal, strengthen and replace her people, and she set about wooing necromancers away from the Scourge, mainly by force.^[5]

Notable necromancers

World of Warcraft
Name	Role	Condition	Magical Field
[??] Kel'Thuzad	Master of Naxxramas and Lich King majordomo; Final boss of Naxxramas	Killable	Frost Shadow Unholy
[21+]  Dar'Khan Drathir	Master of the Scourge in Quel'Thalas	Undead-Killable	Shadow
[??]  Gothik the Harvester	Second boss in The Military Quarter of Naxxramas	Killable	Shadow Arcane
[??]  Heigan the Unclean	Second boss in The Plague Quarter of Naxxramas	Killable	Shadow Nature
[??]  Noth the Plaguebringer	First boss in The Plague Quarter of Naxxramas	Killable	Shadow Arcane
[78/82]  Salramm the Fleshcrafter	Second boss in The Culling of Stratholme instance in the Caverns of Time	Killable	Shadow Unholy
[72/82]  Dalronn the Controller	Second/third boss in the Utgarde Keep instance	Killable	Shadow Unholy
[61]  Maleki the Pallid	Boss in the Undead Side of Stratholme; Death required to kill Baron Rivendare	Killable	Frost Shadow
[61]  Darkmaster Gandling	Headmaster of Scholomance	Killable	Shadow Arcane
[60]  Doctor Theolen Krastinov	Boss in Scholomance	Killable	Physical Shadow
[60]  Kormok	Boss in Scholomance; Holder of a piece of Lord Valthalak's Amulet	Killable	Shadow Unholy
[60]  Instructor Malicia	Scourge instructor and boss in Scholomance	Killable	Holy Shadow Arcane
[32]  Morbent Fel	Leads the undead in Raven Hill Cemetery, Duskwood	Killable	Shadow Unholy
[69]  Naberius	Raised the entire village of Kirin'Var Village, Netherstorm	Killable	Ice
[10]  Zalazane	Occupies the Echo Isles	Defeatable	Shadow Nature Unholy
[20+]  Thule Ravenclaw	Master of Fenris Keep	Killable	Fire Unholy Demonic
[35]  Abercrombie	Quest giver in Raven Hill Cemetery, Duskwood	Alive	Unholy
[44+]  Helcular	Apprentice to Kel'Thuzad, killed while transforming into a lich in a cave near Southshore	Undead	Unholy

Lore-only
Name	Role	Condition	Magical Field
Abrakkar the Wretched	Role unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Al'satt	Role unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Diodor the Damned	Early member of the Cult of the Damned	Dead	Unknown
Gul'zakar	Role unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Mael Shelub	Independent, last seen in Silverpine Forest	Alive	Unholy
Nazaruul	Stationed at Plaguelands	Dead	Unknown
Pai Stormbringer	Leader of the Cult of the Damned	Alive	Shadow & Death
Ru'sad	In charge of the undead forces found in Zul'Aman	Unknown	Unknown
Toren Snapjoint	Role unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Ul'haik Hadanot	Leader of the Cult of the Damned	Alive	Shadow & Death
Vasilii	Role unknown	Unknown	Unknown

Necromancers in WoW can also be found guarding Ziggurats in place of crypt fiends. Without nearby corpses to manipulate, however, they lack suitable combat skills.

In World of Warcraft

As a class

Planned as one of the original classes along with Death Knight, this did not make release.^{[citation needed]}

Later, the necromancer class was one of three front runners to becoming the first heroic class released with Wrath of the Lich King, however, the ideas surrounding them were incorporated into the death knight. (The two other front runners were rune masters and monks.)^[6]

Necromancers in World of Warcraft

• Auchenai Necromancer - Auchenai Crypts, Terokkar Forest
• Death's Head Necromancer - Razorfen Downs, The Barrens
• Deatholme Necromancer - Deatholme, Ghostlands
•  Necromancer <Cult of the Damned> - Stratholme, Eastern Plaguelands
• Outcast Necromancer - Desolace
• Thuzadin Necromancer - Stratholme, Eastern Plaguelands
• Scholomance Necromancer - Scholomance, Western Plaguelands
• Shadowy Necromancer - Hyjal Summit, Caverns of Time, Tanaris

Warcraft III

Main article: Necromancer (Warcraft III)

From Necromancer at Battle.net:

Though they retained their Humanity after making a pact with death, Necromancers became the most terrifying agents of the Scourge. These dark, insidious men were once thought to be aspiring geniuses by the Magocracy of Dalaran. However, their insatiable lust to delve into the secrets of the dark arts drove them to forsake their very souls. Ner'zhul, the Lich King, granted these malevolent sorcerers true power over the dead in exchange for their loyalty and obedience. The shadowy Necromancers have the power to command various types of Undead and even spread the foul undead plague as well.

• See Warcraft III Necromancer Quotes

Note

The necromancer was a prestige class in the Warcraft RPG and early part of the World of Warcraft RPG and was changed to a core class in the later part of the World of Warcraft RPG.^[7]

References