Illidan Stormrage, commonly known as the Betrayer, is the first of the demon hunters, the former self-proclaimed Lord of Outland, the former ruler of the Black Temple, and the original leader of the Illidari. He is the twin brother of Malfurion Stormrage and was, like his sibling, in love with Tyrande Whisperwind. Originally a powerful night elf sorcerer, Illidan officially betrayed his people by defecting to the demonic Burning Legion during the War of the Ancients, though his reasons for doing so were noble as he secretly aimed to repel the Legion's invasion. He eventually returned to the side of his fellow night elves, but his creation of a second Well of Eternity at the end of the war caused his people to name him "Betrayer" and imprison him in the Barrow Deeps below Mount Hyjal. There he remained for over 10,000 years, watched over by the warden Maiev Shadowsong and her Watchers.
When the Legion invaded Azeroth once more during the Third War, Tyrande freed Illidan from his prison in order to have him battle the demons once more. He subsequently consumed the fel energies of the Skull of Gul'dan and transformed into a demon in order to defeat the dreadlord Tichondrius, an act for which he was banished by Malfurion. After the Legion's defeat at the end of the war, Illidan decided to feign allegiance to the demon lord Kil'jaeden by agreeing to destroy Kil'jaeden's traitorous creation, the Lich King, as a way to learn more about his true foe: the Burning Legion. Although he amassed an army of servants in the form of the naga led by Lady Vashj, Illidan's efforts were stopped by the night elves and he was forced to flee to the shattered realm of Outland. There he and his naga gathered new allies in the form of the blood elves led by Kael'thas Sunstrider and the Broken draenei led by Akama, and with their aid he overthrew Outland's tyrannical ruler Magtheridon to claim the broken realm for his own. Illidan later traveled with his allies to the Lich King's stronghold of Icecrown for one last attempt to complete Kil'jaeden's mission, but he was eventually thwarted and nearly killed by the Lich King's champion, the death knight Arthas Menethil.
Returning to Outland, Illidan dropped all pretense of serving Kil'jaeden and mustered his army—the Illidari—to begin his true war against the Burning Legion. He trained an army of elven demon hunters in his own image and began preparing to destroy the Legion world of Argus, but his extreme methods and single-minded focus on his goal led to the alienation of his allies Kael'thas and Akama. Through the manipulations of Kil'jaeden, the Alliance and Horde invaded Outland and began dismantling Illidan's forces in the belief that he was no better than the demons he claimed to fight. Despite succeeding in destroying the demon stronghold of Nathreza, the Betrayer was ultimately cornered and struck down within his own sanctum by Akama, a group of Azerothian adventurers, and his vengeful former jailer, Maiev. Maiev subsequently brought Illidan's corpse to the Vault of the Wardens so that his spirit could suffer the rest of his eternal sentence. There it remained for years until the Legion invaded once more.
A struggle for Illidan's soul ensued between the Legion and the forces of Azeroth, including the remaining Illidari, culminating in Illidan's resurrection atop the Nighthold. The Betrayer subsequently joined forces with Azeroth's defenders as they battled the Legion across the Broken Shore and within the Tomb of Sargeras. During a battle with Kil'jaeden in the Twisting Nether, Illidan used an artifact known as the Sargerite Keystone to open a rift that brought the worlds of Azeroth and Argus together. Illidan accompanied Azeroth's champions as they traveled to Argus to battle the Legion alongside the Army of the Light, whose leader—the prime naaru Xe'ra—believed that Illidan was the Chosen One, a hero of the Light prophesied to end the age of demons. Illidan rejected the idea of having his destiny forged for him and killed Xe'ra when the naaru tried to forcibly infuse him with the Light.[16] The Army of the Light and their allies eventually assaulted Sargeras' seat of power, Antorus, and freed the captive spirits of the titan Pantheon, who imprisoned Sargeras at the Seat of the Pantheon for his transgressions. While the rest of Azeroth's heroes returned home to their world, Illidan chose to remain behind, becoming Sargeras' jailor.
Illidan was introduced as a supporting character in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, though he played a far more significant role as one of the two main antagonists (alongside Kil'jaeden) in the game's sequel, The Frozen Throne. He made his first appearance in World of Warcraft as a major antagonist with the first expansion, The Burning Crusade, serving as the final boss of the Black Temple raid in patch 2.1. Illidan returned as an anti-hero in World of Warcraft: Legion alongside his Illidari. He became a primary force towards defeating the Legion, siding with the heroes of Azeroth.
Biography
War of the Ancients
When Archimonde's invasion of Azeroth had begun and Azshara's treachery became known, Malfurion convinced Illidan to leave his queen. Illidan followed his brother. But as Cenarius and the dragons entered the battle, Malfurion came to understand that their adversaries were too powerful to fall in combat. To end the invasion, he plotted the destruction of the Well of Eternity. The idea appalled Illidan. The Well was the source of his magic — and likely of the elves' immortality — and its loss was a price far too dear for him to pay. In addition, the night elf found that he increasingly admired the powers of the Burning Legion, seeing a magical purity that underlay their chaotic behavior. Where the night elves struggled to maintain their ground, the Burning Legion's numbers did not seem to permanently diminish.
After the death of Latosius, Illidan became the leader of the Moon Guard. However, Illidan did not use the Moon Guard to their fullest potential. Instead of having them cast spells, he ordered them to transfer their power into him, thus empowering his own spells instead; but in doing so, this opened them to attack from the demons with no means to defend themselves. After one particular battle defending Black Rook Hold, where he drained his own soldiers to the point that they died, Illidan realized that sacrifice was necessary to defeat the Burning Legion, and the others were fools for not seeing it.
Illidan had strong feelings for Tyrande Whisperwind, a novice priestess in the Sisters of Elune. Illidan so desired to impress Tyrande that he often acted without thinking, particularly in magic; he never realized that these displays weren't quite what the priestess was looking for in a mate. But while Illidan struggled to win her heart, none of them realized that the battle was over soon after it had begun; Tyrande had chosen Malfurion almost from the beginning. Xavius knew of this and used his power to darken Illidan's thoughts, convincing him that if Malfurion were to die, Illidan would no longer have a rival for Tyrande's love. Finally, the sight of Tyrande in the arms of his brother shattered his final ties to the defenders.
It was likely somewhere in this point of time that Illidan defeated a doomguard commander named Azzinoth and took up the demon's personal weapons as his own; these would become known as the Warglaives of Azzinoth. When Illidan left, Kur'talos's daughter Illysanna - distraught over her father's death and convinced Illidan's path was right - left to go find him and walk in his footsteps.
llidan, with a new plan spurred into his mind, journeyed to Zin-Azshari. There he feigned allegiance to Azshara and Mannoroth. Illidan's plan was to obtain the Demon Soul, an artifact of great power created by Deathwing also known as Neltharion the Earth-Warder, which had the ability to close the portal which was allowing the demons to enter Kalimdor. However, to put this plan in action, Illidan had to gain more power. Illidan was eventually brought before Sargeras himself, who quickly discovered the night elf's plan to obtain the Demon Soul for the Legion. Sargeras was pleased with this plan and gave Illidan a "gift" in return for his allegiance. Illidan's eyes were burned out by Sargeras himself, despite still being beyond the portal, and orbs of mystic fire set in their place that allowed Illidan to see all forms of magic, and fel tattoos covered his body. When Illidan's eyes were burned out, he also received a vision of the true strength of the Legion and their crusade across infinite universes, and he came to realize that defeating them on Azeroth would mean nothing. He resolved then to find a way to defeat them for good. Azshara was fascinated by the "new" Illidan (who was wary of her advances), but remained cautious, sending Captain Varo'then to accompany Illidan in his search for the Demon Soul.
When the Demon Soul came into the hands of the Legion, they went about using it as a focus to strengthen their portal above the Well of Eternity for Sargeras. Illidan reunited with the Kaldorei Resistance, which now greatly mistrusted him after seeming to betray them and hand over the key to victory to the demons. But working alongside Malfurion, the brothers worked together to close the portal with the Demon Soul's power. The destruction of the portal caused the Well of Eternity itself to grow unstable, and right before the defenders fled Zin-Azshari Illidan took several vials and filled them with water from the Well of Eternity. The Great Sundering that resulted from the Well's instability split the main supercontinent of Kalimdor into various smaller continents.
After the Great Sundering, Illidan scaled the peaks of Mount Hyjal, where he found a small, tranquil lake. There he poured the contents of three of the vials into the waters. The chaotic energies quickly manifested, tainting the lake and twisting it into a new Well of Eternity. Illidan's joy was short-lived however, when his brother, Malfurion, Tyrande and the rest of the kaldorei leadership discovered him - and all were horrified at what he'd done. Unable to accept that his brother had committed such treachery, Malfurion tried again to explain to Illidan the folly of his ways. The magic, he insisted, was chaotic by nature, and it could only bring about destruction so long as it existed. Illidan refused to listen, so enraptured by the magic's power that his brother seemed to him an unknowing fool. Illidan claimed that magic would be needed should the Burning Legion ever return.
The lack of remorse shook Malfurion to his core and he raged at his brother, understanding now that Illidan was lost forever to the magic's sway. He ordered him imprisoned deep below Hyjal in a jail kept far from sight and mind. Malfurion would later note that sometimes he went to visit Illidan in his prison in the hopes of turning him from his fatal path.
Release from prison
Illidan languished for 10,000 years in a lightless prison. Califax, a keeper of the grove, and a contingent of night elves (including Maiev Shadowsong) kept constant guard over the Betrayer. Release came at the unexpected hands of Tyrande, who slaughtered the night elf guards in the hopes of using Illidan against the Legion, which had returned to Azeroth at the hands of the Scourge. With his love for Tyrande undampened through the millennia of confinement, Illidan agreed to help. He swore to throw back the Legion and to depart from the night elves forever. Upon being released, Illidan stormed Hyjal's war-torn forest.
Malfurion opposed Tyrande's decision, thinking the release of Illidan a catastrophic mistake.Frustrated that his brother remained unchanged and eager to prove to him that the demons had no hold over him, Illidan left Malfurion behind, leading a force of night elves into Felwood to hunt down the Legion. While in Felwood, he encountered Arthas, champion of the Lich King, and they engaged in combat. The fighters were equally matched, and the combatants reached an impasse. Illidan stopped the duel and demanded to know why Arthas had tracked him. Arthas responded openly, telling Illidan about the Skull of Gul'dan, the demonic artifact that had corrupted Felwood. He explained that if the artifact were destroyed, the corruption of the forests would halt. To ensure that Illidan would take the bait, Arthas spared no detail of the Skull's power, adding that his master knew of Illidan's thirst for power. Although Illidan did not trust Arthas, he nevertheless sought the Skull and its power out.
A great Demon Gate defended the Skull as Illidan and his forces had to fight mightily to gain access to the artifact. Driven by necessity and influenced by the belief that with the increased power, he could, at last, redeem himself in the eyes of Tyrande, he shattered the demonic seal and used the Skull's powers for his own. Strength he found, but peril greater than power came to him at once. The battle for control of the Skull came with a heavy price and the artifact's powers changed him. Transformed into a demon, Illidan wrapped himself in shadow and utterly destroyed Tichondrius and his forces. But with victory came devastation. Tyrande and Malfurion sensed the demonic power lurking within Illidan and turned away with disgust and despair. Malfurion chastised his brother, convinced that Illidan had traded his soul for more power. Enraged, Malfurion banished his brother from the forests.
Feeling his sacrifice and effort were unappreciated, Illidan muttered "So be it... brother", and left the night elf lands.