- Looking for something else? See Undead (Disambiguation)! Looking for the playable undead race? See Forsaken.
Overview
The term undead refers to all creatures or entities that function normally despite having terminated life functions. Most commonly known as zombies or ghosts, undead beings are most typically mindless, bloodthirsty fiends hostile toward any living thing that comes across their path.
The undead have appeared all throughout Azeroth, most commonly in nature as Revenants or wraiths. They were used as a combat tool during the First War when the Necrolytes of the Horde learned to animate corpses as skeleton warriors in their fight against the Alliance. Later, the studies of the Necrolytes developed into Necromancy, the form of magic used very heavily in the Third War when the Cult of the Damned spread the Plague of Undeath across Lordaeron.
In modern times, 'undead' refers primarily to either the Scourge or the Forsaken, since nearly half of the human race have since become undead. However, Forsaken player characters are for most intents and purposes considered to be 'Humanoids' in World of Warcraft and do not share all the characteristics of other undead. This is not the case in the Warcraft RPG, Forsaken share all the characteristics of standard Undead.
Characteristics of Undead include the following:
- Cannot be skinned, except for certain undead animals that would otherwise be classified as Beasts (i.e.: bears, boars, wolves, etc.).
- Generally are unaffected by mind affecting spells, like [Fear] (They've seen it all before), [Hibernate], sleep or mind control, however, priests can use [Shackle Undead] to temporarily imprison monsters. This does not apply to Player Characters of the undead race, which are technically classified as humanoid, presumably for purposes of game-balance.
- Can be tracked by Paladins and Hunters.
- See also: Undead category