Naaru

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File:Naaru1.jpg

A'dal, leader of the Sha'tar naaru of Shattrath City.

The naaru (pronounced ['na:ru]; singular naaru) are a dimension-traveling race of sentient energy beings, with a deep affinity for the Holy Light of Creation that empowers the paladins of Azeroth. The naaru blessed the draenei with this power in an effort to help them in their struggle. They are bent on stopping the Burning Legion.

History

When Sargeras and the Burning Legion came to the world of Argus and began corrupting the eredar race, Velen, an eredar leader, prayed for help. The naaru appeared, offering to take Velen and any other like-minded eredar to safety. Velen and his faction accepted and began to call themselves draenei ("Exiled Ones"). The draenei hastily escaped Argus aboard the dimensional ship Genedar provided for them by the naaru.

During the draenei's journey, the enigmatic naaru race blessed them with Light-given knowledge and power. The naaru explained that there were other forces in the cosmos that would stand against the Burning Legion. One day the naaru would forge them into a single unstoppable army of the Light. Deeply affected by the naaru's words, the draenei vowed to honor the Light and uphold the naaru's altruistic ideals.

Due to the interests of the Legion, and later certain Azerothians in Outland, the naaru moved Tempest Keep to Outland for a more direct observation. The Keep was stormed by the Blood Elves, but the sin'dorei found only the naaru M'uru within the ship.

In Sunwell Plateau, Velen describes M'uru's essence as "bathed by the light of Creation — just as it was at the Dawn^[sic]." This may indicate M'uru (and other naaru) were born at the dawn of creation.

Wrath of the Lich King

This section concerns content related to Wrath of the Lich King.

The Naaru make an appearance in the Boon of A'dal quest, but otherwise do not play any major role in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion.

Biology

The only naaru within the Exodar, O'ros.

Naaru appear to be composed of shards of light that may freely move around a central "heart."

Naaru are believed to be immortal. If their physical form is damaged, it may bleed their energy causing them to enter a "diminished" or "darkened" state in which they are weakened and produce void energies. Their energy may take up to one thousand years to regenerate. It should be noted that some darkened naaru still appear to harbor altruistic intentions, however, their weakened state may be exploited for nefarious purposes, such as creating void minions and raising the undead. It is unknown if this cycle occurs naturally without an external catalyst. Examples of darkened naaru are D'ore, M'uru, K'ure, and K'ara. Twice, darkened naaru have also been shown to transform into void gods; though in both occasions this was only when their light was forcibly drained by an outside party, so it may not be natural.

A naaru's darkened state is apparently different than death. Naaru may leave a "spark" when they die, as in the case of M'uru.

It is unknown whether or not the naaru have separate genders. K'ure, A'dal, and M'uru have all been described using the pronoun "he," and K'ara is referred to as female. However, the pronoun "it" has also been used. It is possible that the naaru are genderless, given that "gender" only exists in races that engage in sexual reproduction, and it is thought that the Naaru were "born" at the dawn of creation.

Technology

See also: Dimensional Ship

The dimensional fortress Tempest Keep, as well as the Draenei dimensional ship/city the Exodar, are examples of naaru technology.

It appears that the naaru have advanced knowledge of magic and access to otherworldly materials and reagents that have not been seen in Azeroth. Tempest Keep looks much sleeker than most buildings seen on Azeroth; however the texture slightly resembles that of "Wizard" architecture. The only factual knowledge we have is that Tempest Keep has "automated" defenses, the ability to fly and the ability to teleport itself and anything in it.

Factions and locations

File:SappedNaaru.jpeg

M'uru, locked in place by a channeled drain spell

Various naaru factions exists in-game, some of which you can earn reputation with.

Current factions:

• Draenei - Naaru of the Exodar.
• Sha'tar - Naaru of Shattrath City.

Prior to Patch 2.4, there was also an abducted naaru named M'uru within Silvermoon who was held captive by the channeling of Blood Elf sorcerers. This naaru was the source behind the Blood Knights (Blood Elf paladins) who drained the powers of the Holy Light from him.

At Kael'thas Sunstrider's signal the elves stormed the dimensional fortress, quickly defeating its automated defenses and claiming its satellite structures. The only real threat the elves discovered was a lone naaru who had stayed behind to maintain the keep's defenses. With some difficulty, Kael'thas subdued the energy being and sent it to Quel'Thalas so that the magic-addicted blood elves could feed upon it. Back in the capital city of Silvermoon, Magister Astalor Bloodsworn was not content with this idea. After long months of study and experimentation, he and his fellow wizards learned how to manipulate and corrupt the naaru's luminous energies. In the end, the wizards devised a process by which the powers of the Light could be transferred to recipients who had not earned such abilities. Instead of feeding upon the naaru's magic, the blood elves would wield the naaru's Light-given powers themselves.

After patch 2.4, Kael'thas sent his Felblood minions to Silvermoon, and M'uru was taken.

Known naaru

Name	Status	Location
A'dal	Alive	Master of Shattrath City
D'ore	Darkened	Buried in Auchindoun
G'eras	Alive	Sha'tar Vendor in Shattrath City
K'ara	Alive	Once darkened, now purified by Velen.
K'iru	Alive	Arrives at Sun's Reach once all objectives have been completed (Patch 2.4)
K'ure	Darkened	Led the draenei exodus from Argus in Oshu'gun. Alternate version deceased.
K'uri	Alive	Appears with A'dal and M'ori at the end of The Boon of A'dal
M'ori	Alive	Appears with A'dal and K'uri at the end of The Boon of A'dal
M'uru	Darkened Killable	Used as a power source by the Blood Knights until captured by Kael'thas, boss in Sunwell Plateau(transforms into Entropius), remains used by Velen to reignite the Sunwell
O'ros	Alive	Protector of the Exodar
V'eru	Alive	Naaru in Shattrath City
Vision of Purity	Alive	Appears in Azuremyst Isle
Xi'ri	Alive	Leader of the Sha'tari forces against Illidan Stormrage, found outside the Black Temple

Notes

• Characters used to be able to gain the title ' [Champion of the Naaru]' by completing certain requirements.
• With the revelation that Khadgar and the Alliance Expedition have been fighting the Burning Legion alongside the naaru, it is highly probable that the Alliance and the Horde are the precursors of the "Army of the Light" — of which the naaru promised the draenei would be a part.
• The naaru act in a similar manner to the angels of earth mythology and religion. See Myth for more information.

File:NaaruPunch.jpg

Xi'ri knows how to use its fists, even if it doesn't have any.

• "Naru" means "River God" in Babylonian, "nūru" (also rendered nuuru) "light".
• In the novel Beyond the Dark Portal, when General Turalyon and his command were interrogating a captured death knight, a naaru appeared to Turalyon and encouraged him to proceed with his decision to stop the Horde.
• The naaru do not have any "proper" attack animation. When they fight, they just spin around in order to face their opponents. While their preferred attacks, such as those used by A'dal, M'uru, and X'iri are spells, it seems they can physically hit their opponents too.
• Naaru do not have any proper death-animation either. When they die, they will simply freeze in the air, and the crystals spinning around them will halt. After a few seconds the entire being will disappear in thin air.
• Specific music plays around naaru, different for their light or void state.

Speculation

This article or section includes speculation, observations or opinions possibly supported by lore or by Blizzard officials. It should not be taken as representing official lore.

• Speculation on the origins of the naaru suggest that perhaps they were allies of Sargeras when he was still fighting evil. Perhaps Sargeras recruited these beings to aid him in his struggle, but later betrayed them when he was corrupted by evil.
• Speculation exists saying that they are somehow related to the (non-titan) gods of Azeroth, such as Elune. The Warcraft Encyclopedia confirms that while Elune is a true goddess, neither the titans nor the naaru are gods. This does not preclude a connection with Elune, just that she is not one of them.

Dark or Light?

Some players have expressed suspicion of the perceived perfection and altruism of the naaru. Some believe that the naaru have ulterior motives, or there is an undiscovered faction of "dark" naaru. As D'ore himself says,

"Without the void, the Light cannot exist."

This could be taken to mean that if these Naaru are pure light and good, then there must be a polar opposite - that is, naaru or another race who are as much darkness and evil as the ones we have encountered so far are good and pure. It should be noted that although D'ore is currently a darkened naaru, he appears to maintain good intentions.

But there is also the possibility that his quote is simply referencing the dualistic nature of the Void/Light dichotomy, that both these forces are defined by their opposition to each other.

M'uru, now a darkened naaru, is now a boss in Sunwell Plateau. It is not clear if he is now "evil" or simply a darkened naaru whose weakened state has been exploited by Kil'jaeden or Kael'thas. After the raid gets him to 0%, he transforms into a void god named Entropius.

Though Blizzard has addressed the confusion.

  Ask CDev

Q: What is the nature of the Void state of the Na'aru? For a being of the Light, turning into such a dark being seems like a heavy weakness. Sucking in souls and causing destruction simply because of a loss in strength greatly diminishes their saintly image. Though, this might be a reason they don't act in combat very much, as turning on your army due to fatigue wouldn't be good for morale.
A: Because three cases of this "cycle" have been demonstrated in Nagrand, Auchindoun, and Sunwell Plateau (K'ure, D'ore, and M'uru, respectively), players may have received the wrong impression with regard to the magnitude and rarity of these events: it is EXCEEDINGLY rare for a naaru to fall into a void state, and even rarer for a fallen naaru to be brought back into the Light. A naaru's fall into the void represents a catastrophic loss for the naaru and for the forces of the Light, and it is the saddest, most heart-wrenching event for the naaru to witness. Conversely, a naaru being reborn into the Light brings renewed hope and sense of purpose to every naaru; if energy beings could weep tears of joy, this would do it.

In relation to Ashbringer

Main article: Ashbringer#The_crystal

Speculation exists that Ashbringer was crafted from part of a naaru, or is at least somehow related to the naaru.

External links

World of Warcraft Europe