Malfurion Stormrage was the first mortal druid on Azeroth, and the night elf who initiated the mainstream use of druidism among the kaldorei people ten millennia ago under tutelage of the demigod Cenarius. He is the twin brother of Illidan Stormrage, as well as the loving and beloved husband of the high priestess of Elune, Tyrande Whisperwind. Together, the two have represented the highest leadership of the night elves ever since the fall of Queen Azshara and her Highborne caste.
Through Malfurion's guidance, the night elves successfully halted the Burning Legion's first invasion of Azeroth during the legendary War of the Ancients. In its aftermath, he became the greatest of the world's archdruids. Malfurion and his druids slept to protect the Emerald Dream for 10,000 years to rebuild the world while his lover Tyrande was promoted to General of the Sentinels and would protect Kalimdor. Malfurion and Tyrande then led the night elves in the Third War, defeating the Burning Legion as they had done in ages past at the Battle of Mount Hyjal. He subsequently fell into a comatose state while in the Emerald Dream.
After recovering in the wake of the Cataclysm, Malfurion and Tyrande were wed and now lead their people as one. Malfurion is often referred to as Shan'do, which means "honored teacher" in Darnassian. Connected deeply to the ebbs and flows of life on Azeroth and bearing ages of responsibility and wisdom, he is one of the mightiest and most venerated mortals of the Warcraft universe.
Malfurion serves as one of the main protagonists in the Warcraft franchise.
Biography
War of the Ancients
Malfurion and his twin brother, Illidan, were born at Lorlathil in Val'sharah and grew up in Suramar as friends with Tyrande Whisperwind. As a young adult his home was located near a waterfall just outside of Suramar, chosen by him because of the tranquility and untouched nature of the falls.
Malfurion was the most dedicated of Cenarius' disciples, learning the art of druidism in the forest of Val'sharah. Under the tutelage of wise Cenarius, he had become the first mortal druid on Azeroth.In the ancient world before the Great Sundering, Malfurion was a respected scholar loyal to his admired Queen Azshara. He was among the first to notice the distance Azshara and her followers were keeping from their people, and he began to suspect that the powers granted by the Well of Eternity were not as pure as all had believed. Though he could not possibly fathom what was soon to come, Malfurion knew that the Kaldorei would be forever changed.
Azshara and her Highborne were interested in the Well and ordered them to find as much as possible about the well. As time passed, the Highborne learned how to draw power from the Well and manipulate its energies. Finally, Azshara's reckless use of magic drew the attention of Sargeras, Enemy of All Life and Lord of the Burning Legion. By opening a portal in Azshara's palace, Azshara's Highborne sorcerers, led by High Lord Counselor Xavius, let hordes of demons into Kalimdor, including the Legion's commanders — Archimonde, Mannoroth, and Hakkar the Houndmaster — enabling them to run rampant among the lands and striking down all who opposed them. The night elves desperately fought them back, but too many were falling to lend them aid. The Burning Legion was winning. The highborne also managed to cast a bigger portal over the Well of Eternity to start the summoning of Sargeras.
But from the ranks of the desperate Kaldorei rose Malfurion Stormrage. Convincing his twin brother, Illidan, to forsake the use of magic, Malfurion and his love, Tyrande Whisperwind, high priestess of Elune, quickly went to seek out the demigod Cenarius in the hopes that he might have reprieve for their beleaguered people.
Even with the help of Cenarius and Alexstrasza the Dragon Queen, Malfurion knew that his people could not stand up to the constant barrage of demonic invaders. Believing the Well of Eternity to be their gateway, Malfurion decided that it must be destroyed. Knowing that its destruction would render them mortal and without any magic, the night elves reluctantly agreed to storm Azshara's stronghold and bring an end to the invasion.
However, Illidan, spurred by his addiction to magic and his frustrated love for Tyrande, refused to give up his power, and left their resistance to warn the Highborne. Knowing that Illidan would quickly reach them, Malfurion attacked immediately to retain some surprise.
Azshara and her highborne were prepared for them, and her chaotic magics ripped Malfurion's forces to shreds. But it was the sight of Tyrande falling to the hands of Azshara's former Highborne, now transformed into satyrs that gave Malfurion the strength for one final strike.
Azshara's battle with Malfurion threw the portal out of its magical alignment, and the vortex grew unstable. Malfurion cast a spell to create a gigantic gale that would rip all the demons from the ground and send them on a one-way trip into the Well and to the Twisting Nether. The Well of Eternity then started to collapse on itself, pulling land, Azshara's palace and the ruined city of Zin-Azshari into itself. Although Sargeras knew that the portal was closing, he tried to do the unthinkable - step into the portal to recreate it and enter Azeroth. The portal finally collapsed and trapped Sargeras in it. The Well of Eternity exploded in a catastrophic eruption that left the world sundered forever.
However, Malfurion survived. Constructing crude rafts and sailing to what would become Kalimdor, Malfurion, Tyrande, and Cenarius agreed to lead their people to a new home.
To their horror, however, a lake atop Mount Hyjal had become fouled by the magical energies of the Well of Eternity, which they had hoped was gone forever. Illidan, who had sought to preserve the arcane magic he was addicted to, had taken seven vials of the Well's waters and poured three of them into the lake, creating a new Well of Eternity. Knowing that Illidan's addiction to magic would always be a threat to the safety of the world, Malfurion imprisoned his brother in the caverns below Hyjal; the Barrow Deeps. However, with the Sundering still fresh in their minds, Malfurion and the night elves dared not attempt to destroy the new Well. Malfurion would later note that sometimes he went to visit Illidan in his prison in the hopes of turning him from his fatal path.
Seeking the counsel of the Aspects, Malfurion requested the presence of Alexstrasza, Ysera, and Nozdormu, returned from their hiding places, and they were shocked to hear of the new Well. All of them suspected that the Burning Legion would sniff out its energies once again and find Azeroth a second time.
Malfurion agreed, and they all decided to safeguard this Well. To this end, they created the World Tree, Nordrassil, which they pledged to use to protect the Well of Eternity and the night elves themselves. Alexstrasza, the Life-Binder, grew the tree herself from an enchanted acorn of G'Hanir. Nozdormu, the Timeless, placed an enchantment upon the tree: for as long as it stood, the night elves would never die of old age or sickness. Ysera, the Dreamer, linked Nordrassil to the Emerald Dream. Through the tree, she would slowly rebuild the world. However, to maintain the Emerald Dream, she needed consciousnesses to roam its eternal pathways. To sustain it, all the druids agreed to sleep for centuries at a time, despite the years they would lose, and be linked to the Emerald Dream forever.
Malfurion and Tyrande helped their people rebuild their society amongst the forests of Ashenvale surrounding Hyjal. Cenarius taught them the ways of the wood, and Malfurion grew considerably in power as he learned the art of the druid, and he became a great Archdruid, first among his people.
Though he dearly wished to remain with Tyrande, Malfurion and his druid kindred slept peacefully for many years until they were awakened by an attack by Dath'Remar and the Highborne survivors. He was quickly routed, but the druids refused to destroy them with so many lives already lost, so Malfurion decided that the Highborne were to be exiled. Dath'remar and his followers would later become the high elves. Though it pained his heart beyond belief, Malfurion left Tyrande to rejoin the Emerald Dream, settling into his long sleep in Malfurion's Barrow Den in Moonglade.
Curse of the Worgen
While experimenting with the druids' shape-shifting abilities, Malfurion discovered the lupine Pack Form. However, its feral nature was far too much for him to control, and Malfurion lost himself to rage, even going so far as to attack Cenarius. The demigod healed Malfurion's anger by forcing him to slumber beneath the great tree Daral'nir, within the Emerald Dream. From that point, Malfurion banned all of his students from using the Pack Form, but despite his efforts a sect calling themselves the Druids of the Pack appeared.
Some years after the War of the Ancients, the Satyrs gathered the few demons that remained and engaged in a war across Ashenvale. Ralaar Fangfire fought for their shan'do to lift the ban on the Pack Form, but Malfurion was adamant, even when Arvell died because he promised he would not use the transformation.
Using a scythe crafted from a fang of Goldrinn and a staff blessed by Elune, the druids who followed Ralaar eventually became the first Worgen in an attempt to control the Pack Form and prove Malfurion wrong about its savagery. However, while the Worgen proved effective weapons against the Satyrs, they would often harm allies in their savage fights.
Malfurion called the druids who did not follow Ralaar - now called Alpha Prime - to a meeting in the Moonglade. They set guidelines for all future druids to follow and decided on actions to take against the Worgen, and with Cenarius's blessing formed the Cenarion Circle. The priestess Belysra Starbreeze, a friend of Ralaar and the mate of the deceased Arvell, interrupted the meeting and brought the Scythe of Elune to Malfurion.
Meeting Alpha Prime and his followers in a field of [Peacebloom], Malfurion mournfully used the Scythe of Elune to seal the Worgen away in the Emerald Dream, forcing them beneath Daral'nir.
Creation of the Emerald Nightmare
4,500 years before the First War, Fandral Staghelm took branches from Nordrassil, the World Tree, and planted them over saronite that had begun to appear across the world, including a particularly large source of saronite in the Grizzly Hills. Five of these became the Great Trees, and he named the World Tree he planted in the Grizzly Hills Andrassil, or "Crown of the Snow". Malfurion Stormrage and the rest of the Cenarion Circle became furious upon learning that these branches had been planted without their approval. They did, however, agree that the plan seemed to have worked, and for several decades and all seemed well, until it was discovered that the tree got corrupted by Yogg-Saron.