Onyxia

Onyxia was the daughter of Deathwing and the temporary broodmother of the black dragonflight on Azeroth. After carefully calculating her plans for many years, she entered into a pact with her elder brother, Nefarian, to take over for their missing father and gain control of the entire flight. To this end, she had begun manipulating many mortals and dragons alike to her own ends and wielded considerable political power over many groups. After being slain by Varian Wrynn she was reanimated by her brother Nefarian.

Dustwallow Marsh
Long ago, Onyxia drove the Stonemaul ogres from the caves in Dragonmurk, a dismal swamp located within Dustwallow Marsh. She did so in order to procure a place to raise her numerous children, who would then leave to infest the Wyrmbog. She and her children became known for terrorizing any travelers who strayed too close to her home.

After Deathwing's departure, Onyxia and her older brother Nefarian rose to lead their brethren and recoup their failing numbers. Nefarian claimed Blackrock Spire as his aerie, subverted the remaining Blackrock Orcs and ensnared the black dragons not already under his control. Onyxia became one of Nefarian's mightiest supporters. Onyxia aided Nefarian with the orchestrations of their human personas, in order to work toward replenishing the black dragonflight.

As Katrana Prestor
For several years, Onyxia masqueraded as one of the highest nobles in Stormwind, Lady Katrana Prestor, preventing the people there from sending much-needed aid to the areas near the Burning Steppes (where her brother has great power and influence). Her final goal was to become the ruler of Stormwind, through manipulation and evil schemes.

As the Stonemasons who had rebuilt Stormwind demanded to be paid for their service to King Varian Wrynn and the House of Nobles. However, the corrupt House of Nobles, under the influence of Katrana Prestor, refused to adequately pay the guild for its work. King Varian was unable to negotiate a resolution because the nobility held too much political power and outmaneuvered him repeatedly. Though the Stonemasons were compensated for their work, they received a fraction of the pay they had earned, and so Edwin VanCleef and the Stonemasons set to rioting leading to Tiffin Wrynn's death. Onyxia greatly gained influence with Varian after his wife's death but periodically lost control as Varian's attachment to Anduin grew and so she attempted to reassert her control by using a spell that would not kill Varian but would remove and destroy his conscience, will, and responsibility.

Abduction
So after the dust had settled from the Third War, Varian journeyed to Theramore to speak with Lady Jaina Proudmoore regarding Horde/Alliance relations. On route, he was abducted by Onyxias forces and brought to Alcaz Island. Being on Alcaz Island tied to the ground, cloaked figures casting dark magic causing unbearable pain as Varian desperately tries to break himself free. In a blinding flash of light he awakes to find himself laying next to an exact duplicate. Onyxia unmasked herself intending to kill the strong-willed Varian but is stopped by the arrival of Morgala Darksquall and her naga. The cloaked figures and Onyxia turn into dragonkin and battle the naga while the strong-willed Varian breaks himself free and begins to fight. He tried to free the other Varian and implores him to find a weapon but discovered his other is too unnerved to properly wield a weapon. The other Varian is knocked off a cliff, falls into the ocean and is captured by the naga. Varian is left alone to fight and tricks Onyxia into believing she had killed him. Pleased, Onyxia left before more naga appeared.

Shortly after King Varian was kidnapped, Bolvar Fordragon was made Regent-Lord of Stormwind and vowed to find and rescue King Varian at any cost. Lady Prestor also became a royal advisor, and convinced Highlord Bolvar to have King Varian's 10-year-old son, Anduin Wrynn, crowned King of Stormwind, though the actual power remained in Fordragon's hands until either Varian was returned or Anduin reached the age of ascension. Onyxia controlled Highlord Bolvar Fordragon through the use of the Drakefire Amulet. She may also have used the kidnapping to convince Stormwind's nobles (particularly Bolvar) to not send troops to Westfall, Lakeshire, and Darkshire, in an attempt to increase the strength of the Brotherhood and the Blackrock clan in those regions, which are both rumored to be allied to the black dragonflight, and cause chaos throughout the human lands.

Return of the Kings
Some time later a massive ceremony was held in Stormwind to welcome home their king. However, the Varian that returned was arrogant, frivolous, and markedly interested in Katrana Prestor. The people of Stormwind had only been informed that Defias had ransomed the king, a ransom paid with a painful new tax. Upon his return, however, Varian seemed concerned only with spending more of his people's money, leaving affairs of state by the wayside. Anduin Wrynn was distressed by his father's change.

A few days later in Stormwind City, King Magni Bronzebeard was on a visit and was discussing war plans against the orcs and Dark Iron dwarves with King "Varian" and Bolvar Fordragon. However, Varian Wrynn was counseled by Lady Katrana Prestor to not send troops to help the dwarves fight against the dark irons. King Magni left disappointed in Varian's subservience to Lady Prestor's wishes and his dishonorable demeanor. A few days later the other Varian - Lo'Gosh - and his friends arrived in Stormwind and were halted by General Marcus Jonathan under the direct jurisdiction of Katrana Prestor, who ordered their immediate arrest and execution as traitors. Reginald Windsor succeeded in convincing Marcus of his loyalty to Stormwind as they had previously served together under Turalyon. Katrana Prestor hastily gathered soldiers only to have the other Varian tell her that she was disobeying the chain of command and was not in charge of Stormwind. Entering Stormwind Keep, Lo'Gosh declared Katrana's masquerade was over and called her by her true name, Onyxia. Revealing her dragon form and transforming multiple guards into dragonspawn, Lo'Gosh and his allies began battle in the great hall of Stormwind Keep. The arrival of Highlord Bolvar Fordragon along with Anduin greatly aided them in securing the keep but Reginald Windsor was killed moments later by Onyxia. Lo'Gosh engaged his doppelganger, claiming he threatened the stability of his kingdom and nearly cost the Alliance Thandol Span, only to have his doppelganger retort he was starting to repress her spells and regain control of his actions. Anduin, surprised by seeing two Varians, urged them to stop fighting to face the true threat, the brood mother Onyxia. The great dragon snatched Anduin and teleported them to her lair daring Varian to follow suit. Regrouping with his friends Varian was left to grieve the loss of his son and told his friends the final battle would end in Onyxia's Lair.

Corruption Ends
Leading an assault against Onyxia, both Varians engaged her in battle. Weapons and magic clashed with her numerous dragonkin with both sides determined to win. Onyxia cast a fear spell on Broll and tail swiped Jaina, removing them from the battle after growing agitated by their constant spellcasting. Becoming desperate to end the fight, Onyxia began casting the spell she was going to use on Alcaz Island to kill Lo'Gosh, but Lo'Gosh's double responded by stepping in front of the blast, saying he should die because Lo'Gosh was the embodiment of the true Varian. Not willing to sacrifice his double, Lo'Gosh leapt alongside his other self hoping to save him. The magic spell became disrupted by having the two Varians in the spell, and after a moment of silence Varian emerged, his two halves fused back together. Onyxia desperately tries to incinerate him, but Varian swiftly reached Onyxia's head and impaled her with his newly-fused elven sword, Shalamayne. With Onyxia dead, Varian reunited with his son and friends, telling them their long and noble deeds would be rewarded and Stormwind would be reborn with a new hope for the future.

Blackwing Descent


This wasn't her end, however. Onyxia's body and head were somehow retrieved by Nefarian and taken inside Blackwing Descent. When players engage Nefarian, as Lord Victor Nefarius, he will reveal that he has found a way to raise Onyxia from the dead. A platform then rises from the lava in the middle of the vault with Onyxia's stitched-together form lying on it, and she is restored to a semblance of life via bolts of electricity. The first phase of the Nefarian fight consists of trying to kill Onyxia while also managing Nefarian, who will attack the raid after a brief respite.

Personality and Description
A clever, highly intelligent dragon, Onyxia delights in corrupting the mortal races by meddling in their political affairs. To this end, she takes on various humanoid forms and uses her charm and power to influence delicate matters between the different races. Onyxia has even assumed an alias once used by her father: the title of the royal House Prestor.

Though Onyxia is relatively small for a black dragon of her age, she shares the same powers and abilities as the rest of her terrible flight. Her searing breath weapon can melt both stone and iron. Her physical attacks, whether bites, scrapes or tail lashes, are lightning quick and nearly unstoppable. When cornered, Onyxia is fond of taking flight and blasting her troublesome prey from above.

Her main lair is located in a fiery cave below the Dragonmurk. She is guarded there by her kin, the remaining members of the insidious black dragonflight. There also her brood of new eggs is hidden, awaiting maturation. Should anyone ever threaten Onyxia within her lair — within distance of her precious eggs — her wrath would be terrible beyond comprehension.

Onyxia speaks Common, Darnassian, Draconic, Dwarven, Orcish, Thalassian, and Zandali.

Naming
Onyxia's name is derived from the word "onyx", a precious stone, opaque and completely black. It is often used to describe something that is extremely black and dark. In Ancient Greek, "ὄνυξ" (Onyx) stands for "hoof" or "talon".

In combat
Onyxia initiates combat using her breath weapon and then moves directly into melee, preferably targeting soft targets such as spellcasters. If given a chance to prepare before battle, she uses defensive spells to augment her fighting ability. When she is damaged too much, Onyxia takes to the air. If she is still sustaining a great deal of damage in the air, she sticks to spells, to make sure she can retreat if badly wounded. If heavily injured she either retreats (if in open air) or descends to the ground to reenter melee (if inside her lair). She attempts to land on her enemies and crush them as she comes down to the ground. When she reaches the ground, she immediately uses Deep Breath against the largest group of opponents within range. At this point, she fights to the death if necessary, retreating only if a chance presents itself. If engaged while in human form, she fights using spells unless her attackers clearly know she is a dragon; if her enemies know her identity, she tries to retreat to her lair.

Political Influence
In World of Warcraft, Onyxia's human alias, Lady Katrana Prestor, was the woman who used to stand immediately to the right of the boy king, Anduin Wrynn. She could be revealed as a dragonkin by Hunter dragonkin detection, and did not show up as a humanoid when using "Track Humanoids".

She has significant influence over the following organizations, manipulating them against each other to further her plans and strengthen the black dragonflight:


 * Black Dragonflight
 * Stormwind House of Nobles/Stormwind Army (before being discovered by King Varian)
 * Defias Brotherhood
 * Dark Horde

Other Allies by extension whom she has influence over

 * The Alliance
 * Riverpaw Gnolls
 * Kobolds of Elwynn Forest
 * Bloodsail Buccaneers
 * Strashaz Naga

Trivia

 * Onyxia's head used to hang from the left arch into Stormwind City or be mounted on a large pillar near the front of Orgrimmar if she had recently been killed. This no longer happens as of 3.2.2.
 * Onyxia appears as a sub-boss in the phase one of Nefarian encounter in Blackwing Descent.
 * Onyxia is the most used boss encounter: Players fought her in her original level 60 encounter, in the revamp as a level 80 encounter, as a memory in Trial of the Champion and after beeing reanimated in Blackwing Descent.

Patches and hotfixes

 * Please note that Tier 2 Helm now drop from Nefarian.