Ancient


 * The mighty tree has a massive face shaped in its trunk, with wise, deep-set eyes. It moves with gigantic root-like feet, and two great branches end in huge bark-skinned hands.

Ancients are demigod-like trees. They are some of the most important creatures in night elf society. They resemble sapient trees, but their wisdom and insight are almost unparalleled. Many of them are thousands of years old. They assist their night elf allies with guidance, education (particularly in the druidic arts), and protection — they are large and powerful, and are protectors of the forest. They are large enough to carry night elves, and some are so enormous that a few night elves make their homes in them. The wisps act in unison with the night elves and serve to strengthen the demigod-like trees known as the Ancients.

Details
Most ancients resemble deciduous trees that live in temperate climates, such as oaks and maples. A few evergreen ancients also exist. No reliable reports of tropical ancients have yet surfaced, but the night elves claim that they can exist — and if a colony of night elves moves to the tropics and brings along the appropriate druidic magic, tropical ancients may indeed grace Azeroth's surface. Ancients speak Darnassian, though a few also speak Common. Their voices sound like ancient trees creaking in the wind.

Ancients are traditionally friends of night elves and good-hearted, but the recent Third War makes them suspicious of non-night elves. They give outsiders a chance to prove their good intentions; but if roused to anger ancients are implacable foes.

Some ancients patrol their territories, but most spend their time standing still, virtually indistinguishable from normal trees. An ancient may watch intruders, perhaps moving in secret to dog their path. If the outsiders do nothing to harm the forest or nature's balance, the ancient leaves them alone. If the outsiders appear to share the same ideals as the ancient (destroying corrupted creatures or protecting trees from other intruders, for example), the ancient reveals itself and lends assistance. If outsiders abuse the land, the ancient rumbles to a fury and attacks with swings of its arms.

Giant, sentient trees that sometimes serve as advisors and protectors of the night elves as NPCs, but also wander the lands as hostile monsters. They lack apparent independent construction of settlements, but are otherwise highly intelligent. They can also root into the ground to become more of a tree. The WoW ancients do not seem to utilize this ability.

Male figures with hooded faces fought in the War of the Ancients. The little flesh that could be seen was made of oak bark.

Able to live for thousands of years, the lifespan of an ancient makes those of night elves look very short. As such, they see time differently from the mortal races, and often times years are seen as akin to seconds. For example, though Gnarl had known of Anessa's death during the Third War, when he met up again with her father, Broll Bearmantle just before the time of the Cataclysm, he gave his condolences as if the incident had only just happened.

Additional info

 * Classifying ancients:
 * Some ancients are classified by World of Warcraft as being of the elemental creature type (as are most plant creatures in-game), others are giants, and still others are uncategorized. It is not clear why, as no distinct difference between the kinds of ancients can be brought to light. Several treants also have the term "ancient" in their name, but these are much smaller and weaker than regular ancients.
 * In the RPG, which has a different classification system altogether, ancients are not elementals but instead are large ambulatory plants.
 * Ancients are also native to Outland. There once was a grove of ancients in the Blades Edge Mountains, its name forgotten. They lived there in ancient times before the destruction of Outland. Mosswood the Ancient is one of the last of these ancients.



Types or subraces of ancients

 * Tree of Life -
 * Tree of Ages -
 * Tree of Eternity -
 * Ancient of Arcane - Mob,  NPC
 * Ancient of Lore -, NPC and quest giver ,  Quest giver
 * Ancient of War -, Guard mob and quest giver ,  NPC
 * Ancient of Wind -
 * Ancient of Wonders -
 * Ancient protector -, /
 * Corrupted ancient - / Mob
 * Treants

Named

 * - Quest giver
 * - Appears in Alterac Mountains