WoW: Dragonflight brings a super villain – that some already know

With World of Warcraft Dragonflight, a super villain returns to the World of Warcraft. Scary because he might want to awaken the greatest monster of all time.

Actually, Hearthstone mainly uses the world of World of Warcraft. But in recent years, Blizzard’s card game has continued to develop independently, established its own world and sometimes even returned something to WoW.

With Dragonflight, WoW seems to bring one of the greatest super villains into the world that the card game Hearthstone has ever seen. So that you know what the terrible Rafaam is all about and what his plan in Dragonflight could be, we take a closer look at the rhyming villain.

What was discovered? First of all the occasion. The wowhead colleagues discovered a character by the name of “Rafaam” while datamining the Dragonflight Alpha. This is an astral wearing a turban on his head. So far, the model looks a little strange, but it’s clear who it’s supposed to be.

Rafaam is not a newly invented character, but one that has already been established in another game – namely Hearthstone.

First you have to say that Hearthstone actually exists separately from World of Warcraft. It is a world whose story cannot be transferred 1:1 to that of WoW. Hearthstone is often a bit more lively, wacky or just silly and sometimes even turns characters into the complete opposite.

However, WoW has always taken over exciting aspects of Hearthstone and thus established them as an integral part of the lore. That could also be the case for Rafaam.

Who was Rafaam in Hearthstone? Rafaam was the antagonist of several expansions in Hearthstone and dominated the history of the card game for almost 2 years. He is an Astral who scours the worlds of the cosmos for powerful relics and artifacts.

He has various villains from WoW – such as Dr. Boom, King Toggwaggle or Madame Lazul – brought together and formed a League of Evil. In his greatest stroke of genius, he conquered the city of Dalaran, took complete control of it, and flew with it to Uldum to unleash the various plagues hidden deep within the titanic chambers.

These plagues were stopped by the Explorers’ League heroes – all but one. The “Plague of Undeath” took Rafaam with it and traveled to Northrend in the Dragonblight. There he raised the primordial dragon Galakrond – one of the most powerful beings Azeroth had ever known.

Galakrond is practically the forefather of all dragons and was so huge that it could even swallow the largest of the other dragons whole. While he was alive, he threatened to devour all life, so the other great dragons – who later became the Aspects – allied and killed Galakrond. Its skeleton is so huge that it still exists even after many millennia.

Why is Rafaam so popular? The answer to that is quite simple: it is written well and amusingly, has clear, comprehensible motives and great entertainment value. He’s just reminiscent of the classic “cartoon villains” of yesteryear, who were always evil, but at the same time you hoped that because they were just so damn cool they’d actually be able to carry out their sinister plan.

How does this relate to Dragonflight? Basically, Rafaam’s biggest coup so far has covered quite a bit of story that is now becoming relevant in World of Warcraft. After all, the story in the Galakrond is also the origin story of the Aspects and is heavily intertwined with the proto-dragons and primalists now finding relevance in Dragonflight. Because there, too, it is very much about the origin of the aspects and the former threat that Galakrond represented.

In addition, there have been hints in the game files for years that Blizzard is making a change to the Dragonblight – in fact, Galakrond’s skeleton is disappearing. While this change has been in the game data for several expansions, it could now be given fresh fodder and finally put into proper context along with the appearance of Rafaam.

So it would be quite possible that Rafaam also wants to pursue his sinister plan in World of Warcraft and revives Galakrond or at least tries. Even if he doesn’t succeed, it might still be an exciting story for the “Adventure Time” feature, where even murlocs become the dominant species on Azeroth.

World of Warcraft taking some characters from Hearthstone is nothing new. In the past, for example, the Murloc “Sir Finley Mrrglton” was brought to WoW as a quest giver after it was so popular in Hearthstone. For example, he can be found in Stormheim (Legion) and examines various relics there in a quest line.

Whether Rafaam will get even a small “sideline” appearance or be built into a serious threat remains to be seen. After all, he could also just become a “silly” villain who brings a little more comedy to the World of Warcraft.

What would you wish for Rafaam? Should it be a fixed part of the story or at most a small “joke figure” on the side?