Wretched

Template:Racebox The Wretched were once blood elves who had failed to control their magical addiction. Wretched are thin elves with a large bony forehead, claw like fingers and toes, and strange growths on their backs that glow with an eerie blue light.

The Wretched are currently scattered throughout Eversong Woods and lack any general leadership, but a few notable Wretched have stepped up and organized raids. The Wretched have infiltrated the Ruins of Silvermoon, the Sunsail Anchorage, and even the Falthrien Academy on Sunstrider Isle. This "kind" of blood elf is believed to be relatively new, considering the fact that they can only have existed since after the corruption of the Sunwell.

Gershala Nightwhisper feared this transformation might occur before the events of the Burning Crusade. He even sent adventurers in Blackfathom Deeps to get corrupted brain stems from naga and satyr. The Wretched can be compared to both naga and satyr because their magical dependence caused them to undergo physiological changes. Unlike those two races, this transformation can occur in an instant (as soon as the blood elf succumbs to his or her thirst for magic) as Magistrix Elosai's transformation into the Wretched shows. However, the fact that she only stayed a Wretched for a short period might imply that the mutation is reversible or even curable. On the other hand, this may have been a game play mechanic.

Trivia

All Wretched NPCs in the game have a mana bar, as fitting to their characteristics.
According to Monster Guide (2007), it is said that blood elves are evolving from their high elven cousins due to use of fel magic (the first sign of evolutionary change are "glowing green eyes"). It is said in time they may become as distant to high elves, as satyrs are to night elves.Template:Cite The Wretched may be examples of the further evolution.
They were called 'the winnowed' in early Burning Crusade expansion development.
The data file for Wretched Blood Elves is simply called "Crackelf", a bit of a joke on Blizzard's part; it is not a viable lore term, though entirely accurate.
Interestingly, their basic character skeleton is that of the undead/Forsaken, not the blood elves.
When Magistrix Elosai temporarily turns into a Wretched, she takes the form of a male one, as female models for Wretched don't exist.