Grommash Hellscream

Before the Dark Portal ever bridged worlds, Grom Hellscream led the Warsong clan with unyielding ferocity, distinguished by his pitch-black tattooed jaw and the deadly sweep of his two-handed axe, Gorehowl. When Gul'dan and the Shadow Council offered the chalice of demonic strength on Draenor, Grom was the first chieftain to drink the blood of the pit lord Mannoroth. That fateful draught doomed the orcish race to demonic subservience and a burning bloodlust. Yet unlike many chieftains who perished or succumbed entirely, Grom possessed an iron will that kept his fierce spirit intact, surviving the horrors of the old Horde while harboring an unspoken ache for what his people had surrendered.

Kept behind on Draenor during the Second War, Grom later crossed through the Dark Portal only to be stranded when the rift was shattered. For nearly fifteen years, Grom and his surviving Warsong warriors evaded the Alliance of Lordaeron, enduring the lethargy and despair that fell upon the orcs after the demon blood faded. Hope rekindled when a young fugitive named Thrall sought him out in the wilderness. Recognizing Thrall's strength and noble heart, Grom mentored him in the proud heritage of their people. Alongside Orgrim Doomhammer, the two rallied their disparate clans, broke open the human internment camps, and ignited the birth of the New Horde.

Upon arriving in Kalimdor during the Third War, Grom's unquenched aggression resurfaced in the ancient forests of Ashenvale. Beset by the night elves and the demigod Cenarius, Grom succumbed once more, drinking from a corrupted fountain infused with Mannoroth's blood to save his clan. Enslaved anew by the demon lord, Grom turned against his own people until Thrall and Jaina Proudmoore captured and cleansed his corrupted spirit with ancient shamanic and arcane rites. Fully restored to his senses and burdened by immense guilt, Grom pursued Mannoroth into Demon Fall Canyon. In a desperate final strike, he drove Gorehowl into the demon lord's chest, severing the demonic curse forever as hellfire claimed his life.