Religion

Most races possess some sort of cultural faith that reflects their values, fears and hopes. Races sometimes personify their faiths in the form of a god, but members of the race understand that their “god” is really just a symbol of their philosophical beliefs, not an actual being. Most racial faiths include the concept of an afterlife, along with cultural mores and taboos to indicate the correct path to the afterlife. Spiritual leaders who guide their race along the proper philosophical path tend to be shaman or druids. Few races revere an actual deity to whom they can dedicate their lives as priests.Template:CiteIn the quest The Formation of Felbane, the quest giver, Loramus Thalipedes, mentions the concept of a singular god as a blessing; "May your determination and faith, carry you through this ordeal. Should you fail, know that your God smiles down upon you, mortal."

The following are the currently known religions in the Warcraft Universe:

• The [Holy Light]
  • Members: humans, Ironforge dwarves, Wildhammer dwarves, high elves, naaru, draenei, half-elves, blood elves (somewhat)
  • Organizations: The Church of the Holy Light, The Silver Hand, The Argent Dawn, The Scarlet Crusade, The Brotherhood of the Light, The Sha'tar, The Aldor, The Scryers, the Hand of Argus, the Blood Knights (somewhat)

• Shamanism
  • Members: orcs, trolls, tauren, draenei, furbolgs, Wildhammer dwarves, tuskarr, quilboar and ogres
  • Organizations: The Earthen Ring, The Mag'har, The Kurenai

• Druidism
  • Members: night elves, tauren, half-elves, Wildhammer dwarves, furbolgs (debated), High Elves (somewhat)
  • Organizations: The Cenarion Circle, The Cenarion Expedition

• Elune
  • Members: night elves, wildkins
  • Organizations: The Sisters of Elune, The Priestesses of the Moon, The Sentinels

• Mystery of the Makers
  • Members: Ironforge dwarves
  • Organizations: The Explorers' League, The Sisters of steel

• Shadow and Necromancy
  • Members: undead beings, living followers
  • Organizations: The Cult of the Damned, The Scourge, The Cult of the Forgotten Shadow

• Fel and Demonology
  • Members: warlocks, demons, satyr, fel orcs, Fel-corrupted races
  • Organizations: The Burning Legion, The Illidari, The Shadow Council

• Followers of The Old Gods
  • Members: naga, elementals (prior to the ordering), qiraji, nerubians
  • Organizations: The Twilight's Hammer

• Voodoo and Loa-worship
  • Members: trolls

• [Geomancy]
  • Members: pandaren, troggs, quilboar, kobolds

• Arcanum
  • Members: humans, high elves, naga, gnomes, blood elves, draenei, undead, trolls,
  • Organizations: The Kirin Tor, The Echo of Life

• Dragons
  • Members: humans, orcs, draenei, night elves, dragonspawn
  • Organizations: The Wyrmcult, the Sect of the Dragons

Miscellaneous faiths

• Scourge/Cult of the Damned

Heeding the call of the god-like Lich King, Kel'Thuzad traveled to Northrend and offered his soul to Ner’zhul.Template:Cite Kel'Thuzad’s first mission was to found a new religion that would worship the Lich King as a god.Template:Cite Sometimes liches act as though Ner'zhul were a god and they were his chosen priest or prophet.Template:Cite The lich king wants to retake control of the Forsaken, becoming king — or god — of all undead.Template:Cite

• Furbolgs

Some accounts have them worshipping primitive godlike figures, but primarily they revere nature and the spirits of the world.Template:Cite

• Night elves in other cultural beliefs

In the early histories of dwarves and humans, the Kaldorei are shadowy figures of dark perfection wielding incredible god-like powers.Template:Cite Tauren sometimes view night elves with awe and fear. Tauren have long seen the Kaldorei as a mythic race of demigods, possessed of great magic and steeped in natural powers.Template:Cite

Ogre culture

• Among ogres, bone crushers are seen as the living avatars of Nath. In a society that prize strength above anything else, a bone crusher is as close to a god as an ogre can get.Template:Cite
• Nath is the ogre war god revered by both ogres and half-ogres. The term mok'nathal means the "sons of nath".

Forsaken culture

• Accension. The ultimate goal of practitioners of the Forgotten Shadow is to ascend. Ascension occurs once a person achieves complete control over herself and the power to transcend death. A Forsaken who ascends becomes invulnerable, invincible and eternal. In essence, she becomes a god.

Outland faiths

• Anzu

Anzu the Raven God is said to be rising again soon in the Prophecy of the Raven God.

• Terokk/Rukhmar

Terokk was the greatest hero of the arakkoa, closely associated with their god Rukhmar. He left his people when worship of Rukhmar began to wain, leading to speculation that he was Rukhmar in mortal form. It is unknown if they are the same being, or are separate beings that were combined in stories as the legends of Terokk were retold throughout the years.

• Murmur

Murmur is a being from a dimension of the cosmos unfathomable to mortal minds. Its very entrance into existence shattered all reality around it. Murmur is a god that, when summoned by a mortal possessed of arcane and dark knowledge, eventually destroyed the world of the summoner. The Shadow Council is now trying to bring forth this entity into Outland.

• Deep Mother
• The One in the Deeps

See also

• Shamanism and Nature Worship
• Religions category for a list of other categories or articles on religions.