World Of Warcraft: Why The Blood Elves Joined The Horde
The blood elves are one of the many playable races in the fantasy MMORPG game, World of Warcraft, but some may wonder why choosing to play as one also means choosing to fight for the Horde. Compared to the other races of the Horde, blood elves seem like the odd ones out, especially when they stand beside the likes of the orcs, trolls, tauren and undead. In order to understand why the sin'dorei pledged themselves to WoW's Horde instead of the Alliance, one needs to know the history that predates the game's release.
The story of the blood elves (sin'dorei in their own language) is important to note, since only fairly recently have they donned this name in favor of what they used to be known as- the high elves, or Quel'dorei. They are distant descendants from night elves and have always been characterized by their affinity for magic and, especially, their dependence upon it. In the early days of Warcraft history, the high elves enjoyed a prosperous existence in pristine lands, the beauty of which became legend to the other races of the continent.
When the orcs invaded Azeroth in the First War and dealt a decisive and devastating blow to humanity (one of World of Warcraft's major events), the Alliance of Lordaeron was formed as a counter-offensive to the orcish threat. The high elves, already owing a favor to the humans for their help in fighting the trolls that threatened them before, readily joined forces with the early Alliance. This would prove to be their saving grace, as it wasn't long before the orcs attacked their homeland of Quel'thalas. The Second War enacted a heavy toll on all who participated, but ultimately the Alliance was victorious, and the high elves returned home to nurse their wounds.
As is played out fully in the events of the beloved RTS game, Warcraft 3, Arthas Menethil - perhaps the franchise's most infamous and impactful character - had betrayed his own people and pledged himself to the Scourge. His goal was to resurrect the powerful necromancer, Kel'thuzad, but to do this he needed the kind of power that could only be found in the high elf city of Silvermoon. Specifically, he was after the Sunwell, the source of unlimited magical energy that served as the beating heart of high elf culture.
The Fallen Prince took his undead army, its ranks bolstered by the numberless bodies of Lordearon's people, and marched right for his prize. Many tried to stop him, including the well-known Warcraft character Sylvanas Windrunner, but she, like every other defender, was cut down mercilessly and raised into soulless servitude. The high elves reached out for help, but no aid came from their allies. Most of the Alliance was either too far away to assist or simply dead. Arthas enacted nothing short of genocide, wiping out nine-tenths of the elves' population in one cruel sweep. What's more, he defiled the Sunwell beyond recognition, destroying the high elves' source of magic and their hope.
After all of this destruction and the death of his father the king, Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider had no choice but to scrape together what was left of his people and look for help elsewhere. The effects of losing the Sunwell were taking a heavy toll on his people too, mana withdrawals threatening to turn them all mad with hunger for magic. Kael'thas renamed his surviving people blood elves, or sin'dorei, in the wake of this devastation. The survivors of Warcraft's Scourge invasion of Quel'thalas headed into what was left of Lordaeron, but Arthas had reduced most of it to rubble already, and few remained to pick up the pieces.
Very little of Warcraft's Alliance persevered in Lordaeron at that time, since most of its troops and all of its capable leaders were still fighting the Burning Legion a continent away. Thus, the blood elves encountered a man who would prove to be the catalyst that ultimately extinguished any love of the Alliance they had left. Othmar Garithos was a high-ranking officer who found himself leading the entirety of the Alliance troops that remained in Lordaeron, not by merit, but merely by desperation. He was a hard, xenophobic, and unreasonable man, one who viewed all of World of Warcraft's other races as lesser than humans.
Kael'thas beseeched Garithos for aid, but the nepotistically promoted Grand Marshal held nothing but disdain for the traumatized blood elves. He refused to let them fight side-by-side with his men against the Scourge and instead sent Kael'thas' forces on suicidal missions against Warcraft's undead, hoping they wouldn't make it back. With no other option, Kael accepted help from the naga, snake-like people who hailed from the sea. When word reached Garithos that the blood elves had allied with the naga, he was disgusted.
Although it was clear the sin'dorei only joined blades with the naga to prevent their own massacre, Garithos used it as an excuse to condemn them to death on the basis of treachery. The blood elves of WoW's Azeroth were imprisoned and would have all been executed if not for Lady Vashj, the leader of the naga, using her own alliance with Illidan Stormrage and Akama to save them all. The sin'dorei left Garithos to the Scourge and naturally followed Illidan, who promised them a way to sate their dire mana withdrawals using the fel as a new power source. Kael'thas eagerly agreed and led his people into a future where they could finally find the security and power they deserved.
Not every high elf chose to follow Kael'thas. Some sought refuge with the Kirin Tor, the group of mages that are centered in the city of Dalaran. These elves retained their name and remained with the Alliance, but the overwhelming majority of those who survived Arthas' onslaught followed Kael'thas to WoW's shattered world of Outland, the remnant of the orcs' homeworld where Illidan Stormrage ruled. Illidan gave the blood elves a means to sate their mana withdrawals by using the fel, a form of volatile and dangerous magic that was employed by the Burning Legion to destroy life.
The side-effects of using the fel were minimal, only turning the blood elves' eyes green instead of blue, and so they had solved their most dire problem. Illidan's plan was for he and all his followers to use the fel freely, but as a weapon against the Burning Legion. Instead, Kael'thas sought a darker means to attain even more power. He began to grow indignant towards Illidan and consort with Kil'Jaeden, one of the masters of the Burning Legion. In time, madness seeped into Kael's heart and he was destroyed, leaving his people without a leader.
Fortunately for the blood elves, it was around this exact time, during the WoW expansion The Burning Crusade that the Horde and Alliance ventured into Outland to put a stop to the Legion's schemes. Naturally, the sin'dorei were still wary of the Alliance and in no hurry to join their former friends, so the logical choice was to aid the Horde in exchange for a powerful partnership. The then Warchief, Thrall, was glad to accept the blood elves into the Horde's ranks, admiring their expertise and determination. A new leader, Lor'themar Theron, was selected as regent in place of a king, and he led his people back to Azeroth side-by-side with their new unlikely allies.
A long time has passed in World of Warcraft with the blood elves as members of the Horde, and though at times their relationship with the faction has been strained, the sin'dorei have proven themselves to be valuable allies. Lor'themar and his people suffered more than most, and the scars of those events linger in the collective psyche of all blood elves. Their animosity towards World of Warcraft's Alliance faction has waned as time has gone on, but it's unlikely they will ever be willing to join forces with them, at least not permanently. Besides, the blood elves know that they look much better in red.