| Sylvanas Windrunner | |
|---|---|
| Warcraft character | |
 Sylvanas from Heroes of the Storm | |
| First appearance | Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (2002) |
| Voiced by | Piera Coppola (WC3) Patty Mattson (WoW and Heroes of the Storm) |
Sylvanas Windrunner is a fictional character who appears in the Warcraft series of video games by Blizzard Entertainment. Originally introduced in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, she received a dramatic redesign in World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, followed by a minor redesign in World of Warcraft: Legion. Once a high elf ranger-general of Silvermoon, Sylvanas was murdered by Arthas Menethil when she led a doomed resistance against his invasion. In one climactic battle, that left the capital city of Silvermoon in ruins, he managed to finally beat the elven general, ripping her soul out and transforming her into a banshee. This newest agent of the Lich King was empowered by hatred of the living and an everlasting desire to rule over her new people. In The Frozen Throne, Sylvanas was able to regain her free will and body, and founded the Forsaken faction of undead while styling herself as the "Banshee Queen" and "Dark Lady". With her new undead forces vowing to take revenge on the Lich King, they set out to wage war against the Scourge. Throughout nearly the entirety of Legion and the first one-third of Battle for Azeroth, she was also the Warchief of the Horde, standing as one of the most powerful political leaders in all of Azeroth following the death of Vol'jin during the opening events of Legion. She effectively abandoned the role in patch 9.1, Chains of Domination, resulting in the title of Warchief being retired and replaced by the Horde Council while leadership of the Forsaken is inherited by Desolate Council.
Sylvanas also appears as a playable character in the crossover multiplayer online battle arena game Heroes of the Storm. The character has been voiced by Patty Mattson since World of Warcraft patch 3.2 but prior to that she was voiced by Piera Coppola.
Sylvanas has become one of the most iconic and noted characters in Warcraft lore, and received generally positive critical reception from players and journalists alike before World of Warcraft: Legion, after which her character development was increasingly criticized.[1][2][3][4] Before that, she was often praised for being a capable military leader and at the same time a sympathetic figure in the game's narrative arcs. Sylvanas has ranked as one of the most popular characters in the game, and is among the most recognizable figures from Blizzard Entertainment's published titles.
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- ^ Messner, Steven (10 August 2018). "WoW's game director responds to Battle for Azeroth's night elf genocide drama and rocky pre-patch". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 6 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
- ^ "WoW Disappointment, Plus Twitch, Start Mass Exodus into Final Fantasy XIV". 13 July 2021. Archived from the original on 6 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.