- This article is about the weapon. For the warchief, see Orgrim Doomhammer. For his father, see Telkar Doomhammer.
- "It is called the Doomhammer because when its owner takes it into battle, it spells doom for the enemy."[1]
- —Orgrim Doomhammer
Doomhammer, as seen in the BattleCry Mosaic.
Crafted long ago in a pool of elemental lava[2] on the orc homeworld of Draenor, the Doomhammer is a namesake relic passed down from father to son.[3] It was given to Thrall as a testament of faith and honor during the salvation of the orcs.[4] Although the hilt of the hammer has been replaced, the actual hammerhead itself has endured as a testament of the crafter's skill.
Background
Despite its name, Doomhammer is a weapon of good, bringing doom to enemies and upholding the family's honor. The weapon can be traced to Telkar Doomhammer, father of Orgrim.[3] It was forged in a pool of elemental lava.[2]
Young Orgrim came to admire the hammer, knowning one day it would be his own.[3] In a meeting between Orgrim, Durotan, and prophet Velen, Orgrim told of a prophecy about the Doomhammer saying that "The last of the Doomhammer line will use it to bring first salvation and then doom to the orc people. Then it will pass into the hands of one who is not of the Blackrock clan, all will change again, and it will once again be used in the cause of justice."[3]
As is the nature of such prophecies, the orcs did indeed fall, all due to the manipulations of Gul'dan and Kil'jaeden. Orgrim, last of the Doomhammer line, passed the weapon on to his protégé Thrall, the one who redeemed the orcish race and completed the prophecy.
Through blood the weapon shall pass, as surely as night begets day, Until the elements cry unheard, and pride turns to unbridled rage. The last of the line shall deliver salvation and doom upon his kind. Honor will be undone and all will be lost, before it is found again. A stranger will raise the hammer high, and with it justice shall reign.
All of the Doomhammer bloodline's successors bore this ominous prophecy on their great shoulders, divined long ago by the Blackrock clan's elder shaman. Yet for generations, these tidings of doom went unfulfilled. The legendary Doomhammer weapon became a standard of pride and honor, its immense black stone as indomitable as the orcs' fierce spirit.
When the heirloom passed to Orgrim Doomhammer and the mighty orcish Horde rose to power, the weapon met no equal in battle. Innumerable foes suffered its wrath, the warhammer even shattering Sir Anduin Lothar's fabled rune-etched blade of Stormwind before crushing the human's skull.
Only too late did Orgrim realize that he was the harbinger of doom prophesied by his clan's ancestral shaman. Although he had slain the power-hungry Horde warchief Blackhand and many of the depraved warlocks who had destroyed the orcs' culture, Orgrim's people were ultimately defeated, and most of them were rounded up in human internment camps to live out their days in shame and lethargy.
The prophecy, however, had not yet run its course. So it was that Orgrim, mortally wounded while fighting to free his people from imprisonment, bestowed the Doomhammer on one who was not of his clan or bloodline: Thrall. Wielding the hammer as a symbol of hope, the young orc liberated his race and rekindled the pride and heritage that the orcs had abandoned as the bloodthirsty Horde.
The image of a wolf was later added onto the Doomhammer to denote Thrall's hereditary ties to the Frostwolf clan, but little else has changed about the weapon. Through war and peace, the hammer has remained at Thrall's side, an embodiment of his race's strength as it was in ancient times, and a symbol of doom to the enemies who would dare threaten the orcs' freedom and honor.
Appearance
As a young orc, Orgrim described the Doomhammer to Velen as an enormous hammer with a black, blunt, and powerful stone; the shaft made of carefully crafted wood. Over the years, the shaft had had to be replaced, but the stone itself had never been chipped.[1]
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Doomhammer concept art from Warcraft III.
The appearance of Doomhammer has changed over time. When it was first depicted in the Warcraft II manual, it bore a jagged blade at the end and two spikes on each side. By the time it was passed onto Thrall in Lord of the Clans, these blades and spikes had been removed.
After the weapon was passed to Thrall, the wolf's-head symbol of the Frostwolf clan was added to the hammer's formerly plain head. This symbol can be seen in the cinematic where Thrall and Grom Hellscream battle Mannoroth (it most visible just before Thrall throws it at Mannoroth, when it glows brightly).
In the RPG
This greathammer is composed of solid granite on an oak handle. The granite is wrapped twice around with gold-studded leather.[5]
World of Warcraft
The Doomhammer has a unique black metal appearance that resembles a Stormhammer. Within the game files there is an unused Doomhammer model, which resembles the hammer shown in the Warcraft III cinematic.
Wrath of the Lich King
During the PTR for patch 3.3.3, Thrall used the Doomhammer model instead of the previous look-alike hammer. When the patch went live however, the hammer was replaced not with the cinematic model, but with yet another plain hammer. This new hammer has a longer handle but lacks any Frostwolf decoration.
Cataclsym
In Patch 4.2 "The Firelands" during the Elemental Bonds Quest chain Thrall is shown wielding the Doomhammer with the same model from the patch 3.3.3 PTR.
In previews for patch 4.3, Thrall is shown wielding not the original unique model previously shown, but an updated, seemingly smaller, silver version of the unique Doomhammer model.
Mists of Pandaria
After the Darkspear Rebellion defeated Garrosh Hellscream, Thrall intended to end the warchief's life with the Doomhammer, but he was stopped by Varian Wrynn.
Warlords of Draenor
In this timeline there are currently two Doomhammers, one wielded by Thrall, and one wielded by the alternate Orgrim Doomhammer.
Trivia
- The Doomhammer is an Epic Shaman card in Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
Gallery
Doomhammer presents the head of Blackhand.
A later depiction of Doomhammer.
- Thrall hrone.jpg
Thrall on the cover of Lord of the Clans.
Thrall holding the Doomhammer to the sky.
The Doomhammer in the TCG.
The Doomhammer LARP replica by Epic Weapons.
World of Warcraft
The Doomhammer model in World of Warcraft. It matches its Warcraft III cinematic appearance and includes the wolf symbol.
Thrall with the original Doomhammer model.
Thrall wearing the Doomhammer in World of Warcraft as seen in the patch 3.3.3 public test realm.
The Doomhammer as it appeared in-game prior to the Cataclysm.
Thrall wielding the Doomhammer as an essence of earth.
Cinematic
References
- ^ a b Rise of the Horde, 84 (ebook)
- ^ a b Blackhand
- ^ a b c d World of Warcraft Official Magazine, 128
- ^ World of Warcraft Official Magazine, 126
- ^ Shadows & Light, 165