Ogre

Ogre
Factions/Affiliations	Independent, New Horde, Twilight's Hammer Cult, Gorian Empire, Iron Horde, Old Horde, Shadow Council
Character classes	Warrior, Hunter, Mage, Shaman, Shaman, Warlock, Priest, Magic breaker, Barbarian, Primalist, Death Knight, Rogue
Racial capital	Highmaul Gruul's Lair Dire Maul
Racial leader(s)	Imperator Mar'gok † Rexxar Gruul The Dragonkiller † Cho'gall†

"Never assume an Ogre is stupid. That's how they get you."
-Verus Baelheit

Ogres are a race of Humanoids native to the world of Draenor. Ogres are well characterized by their great size, strength, and low intelligence. Ogres have played a major part in many of Azeroth's conflicts, and are said to be descended from the very stones of Draenor.

Biology

While most ogres are born with two eyes, a handful in every generation regress and are born with a single eye. All but a few clans recognize these ogres are exceptional and destined for great things.

Many other races are coming to realize that ogres are not the stupid, lumbering two-headed beasts they once seemed to be. In fact, many of the ogre lords have rallied the remnants of their people that were scattered when the Horde fell. Though their plans are unknown, there is no doubt that these powerful, deceptively cunning warriors will gather their forces once more.

At first glance, they may look lazy and fat, but they're actually incredibly strong. Their skin tones range in color from shades of peach to red, to deep blues and ashen black. They frequently have at least one horn on their head, and can have either one or two eyes.

Ogres have many as the same hairstyles as orcs and can grow hair on the chin and upper lip.

While ogres excel in strength, they are also rather slow-witted; this doesn't mean that they should be underestimated however, since they can possess a surprisingly brutal cunning. Still, most ogres are best suited to melee clobbering.

Ogre Mages

Ogre magi or ogre-mages (singular: ogre-mage or ogre magus) are two-headed ogre spellcasters who are typically larger and more intelligent than their one-headed brethren. While generally considered to have been extremely rare prior to the First War, many two-headed ogres are known to have been born naturally on Draenor, as the Gorian Empire was ruled by a succession of powerful sorcerers. However, many more ogre magi were created during the Second War due to the mystical interventions of Gul'dan, who used the magical energies of the high elven runestone at Caer Darrow to infuse normally dim-witted ogres with extreme cunning and magical prowess. Ogre magi often enjoy an elevated position among the ogre clans.

Two-headed ogre magi are noted as being larger and stronger than their single skulled brethren, and having slightly different proportions; shorter arms, less bowed legs, and carrying themselves with greater alertness.

One especially notable feature of some ogre magi is that their twin heads act, think and speak independently of one another. The most notorious example of this is, whose left head is shown to be more well-spoken and intelligent while his right head is louder and more fanatical. Another notable example is Warbringer O'mrogg, whose two heads have always struggled to agree on even the simplest matters. Two years ago, O'mrogg began a twelve-step plan to develop a synergy between his warring personalities. His heads have yet to decide on which step to start with.

Blackheart the Inciter, was one of the few ogre magi within the Shadow Council.

However, this is not always the case: both Imperator Mar'gok's and Dentarg's two heads spoke in unison (although the latter still referred to himself as "we" rather than "I"). In fact, Mar'gok is puzzled when one of his heads begin to get dizzy after having stared out across Highmaul for hours, as he notes that his two brains have always worked together in much the same way two legs should. Directly thereafter, the imperator ponders how it would be to experience the world like one of his one-headed, one-brained, two-eyed subjects, and muses that it would be impossible to rule that way, as he would have to focus his entire gaze and all his thoughts one a single point at a time, and everything would seem blurry.

As shown by Torkus and his children — Torkus Jr., Tork and Torki — the offspring of a two-headed ogre will also have two heads.

History

Origins and early history

The Earliest origins of the Ogre race lie with their Ancestors, the Earth Colossals. The Earth Colossals were a race of pure Stone, Elemental beings that existed only to rage and war in a time of Draenor's prehistory known only as the "Age of Colossals." Over a vast period of time, the decendants of the Colossals began to diverge into more fleshy bodies, beginning with their immediate descendants, the Magnaron. Followed by the Gronn and Ogron, the line of creatures lost much of their mountainous size and rocky composition, and instead became smaller, but intelligent Humanoids that are Ogres as we know them today.

According to the ogres themselves, when the Great Forgers (Speculated to be Titans) squeezed the light from the ball of fire that would become Draenor, and also shaped the ogres from the same smoking clay, granting them dominion over stone and earth.

During the early periods of ogrish history, they were all subjects to the gronn, until Gog Gronnslayer showed that it was possible to kill them, thus proving they were not gods. This eventually led to the foundation of the Gorian Empire. Many ogres still serve the gronn in the Blade's Edge Mountains of modern-day Outland.

On Draenor and the First War

Ogres came from two major groups. Those who served in the Breaker faction were ruled over brutally by their cruel masters, the Magnaron and the gronn. However those who served the Gorian Empire, were ruled by powerful master of arcane magic. Ogre territory extended into an unnamed southern continent that was apparently their homeland.

The ogres were blood enemies of the orcs for generations and ogre raiding parties in northern Nagrand were not an uncommon sight. Many orcs had died at the hands of ogres, including Durotan's father Garad, and Garrosh's mother Golka. Despite this a group of ogres and orcs at some point interbred and created the Mok'nathal.

During the war against the draenei, Blackhand, under Gul'dan's instruction, allied the Horde with a group of Breaker ogres adding their strength to the orcs in exchange for food, weapons and shelter from their gronn masters. The ogres went on to be powerful weapons in the orc's war taking part in many battles, including the assault on Shattrath.

The ogres were for the most part not used in the Horde's war against Stormwind but some ogres did pass through the Dark Portal, including a band led by Turok and the daughter of Blackhand, Griselda who took refuge in the Deadmines.

Ogres in the Second War

A group of ogres were subjected to experiments by the warlock Gul'dan using the stolen runestones of Quel'thalas in an effort to produce new spellcasters for the horde to replace the fallen necrolytes and warlocks. Gul'dan's work bore fruit and lead to the creation of the ogre-magi. This new generation of ogres were two headed, an extreme rarity among ogres before this, more intelligent and more magically gifted than normal ogres, they were used to devastating effect on the alliance.

Third War and Beyond

Following the defeat of the Horde the ogres left the orcs to their fate and spread out across Azeroth, though most remained in locations they fought over during the first and second wars. Some, however, managed to travel to all the way to Kalimdor. The ogres played no part in the defeat of the Burning Legion during the Third War, however, during Admiral Proudmoore's invasion of the new orcish kingdom of Durotar one tribe of ogres, the Stonemaul clan, did rejoin the Horde under their leader, Rexxar, who overthrew the previous chieftain Kor'gall. Despite this most ogre tribes have remained independent and are now hostile to alliance and horde alike.

Other ogre tribes continue to exist on the ruins of Draenor. Most of these are still enslaved to the gronn and are in conflict with each other and other races over the diminishing resources of the shattered world. One tribe - the Ogri'la have freed themselves from their demi-god oppressors and are trying to forge a new, more peaceful existence for their race.

Culture

Ogre culture can span from primitive and isolated villages and dens to sprawling Empires and organized societies. Ogres retain some aspects of their Rocky heritage in their considerable size, strength, and preferred magic schools, all of which play key roles in Ogre society. Ogres that are able to understand and make use of their ancestral powers descended from the Colossals are often gifted with Magic. These Ogre Mages inevitably ascend to high ranking positions in Ogre society, having used means as simple as brains in tandem with their exceptional brawn. A single Ogre of considerable intelligence is often able to direct his entire Clan or village towards the goals he deems necessary, using intelligence and brutal cunning to get his way.

A chieftain position in an Ogre clan is a very contested and temporary position. Only the smartest rule for long, those smart enough to find a way around the potentially stronger Ogres that he surrounds himself with. A large enough Clan or Village of Ogres will soon grow and make war upon it's neighbors, be they unrelated races or fellow Ogres, it matters little for them. Conquered Ogre tribes are broken down and forcibly merged into the victorious tribe. Conquered denizens of other races are often kept as slaves by the Ogres, handling the lesser jobs of maintenance of their keepings so that the Ogres might resume their next fight.