A Champion who wants to ruin the world : Sargeras

Sargeras is the creator and leader of the Burning Legion. Sargeras was once a vanir titan, a Champion of the Pantheon chosen to defend the worlds they had created.
Sargeras has changed over the millennia. While he once served his race as guardian and protector, he is now the titans' worst enemy. Sargeras works to undo what the titans have strived for ages to achieve. He is now the master of all that is evil and demonic. Lesser beings quake and flee in his presence.

Contents
History

Sargeras before his fall, as depicted in the Warcraft Saga comic.




During his never ending war against the evil in the universe, Sargeras became increasingly depressed by the chaos he saw wrought by all kinds of evil. While his confusion and misery deepened, Sargeras was forced to contend with another group intent on disrupting the titans' order: the Nathrezim. This dark race of vampiric demons (also known as dreadlords) conquered a number of populated worlds by possessing their inhabitants and turning them to the shadow. The nefarious, scheming dreadlords turned whole nations against one another by manipulating them into blind hatred and mistrust. Sargeras defeated the nathrezim easily, but their corruption affected him deeply.

Shaken by the evil of demons in general and the nathrezim in particular, Sargeras began to despair of his task and gradually slipped into a brooding depression. As doubt and despair overwhelmed Sargeras's senses, he lost all faith not only in his mission, but also in the titans' vision of an ordered universe. Eventually, he came to believe that the concept of order itself was folly, and that chaos and depravity were the only absolutes within the dark, lonely universe. His fellow titans tried to make Sargeras realize his erroneous way of thinking and calm his raging emotions, but he disregarded their more optimistic beliefs as self-serving delusions. Storming from their ranks forever, Sargeras set out to find his own place in the universe. Although the Pantheon was sorrowful at his departure, the titans could never have predicted just how far their lost brother would go.


Fall of Sargeras and the dawn of the Burning Legion
By the time Sargeras' madness had consumed the last vestiges of his valiant spirit, he believed that the titans themselves were responsible for creation's failure. Deciding at last to undo their works throughout the universe, he resolved to form an unstoppable army that would set the physical universe aflame.
Convinced that the titans' ordering of the universe was unnatural and ultimately responsible for the corrupted nature of the demons, Sargeras decided to undo the work of the titans throughout the universe. The only way that he could correct their mistakes was to destroy all of the worlds that the titans had shaped and brought order to so long ago.

Sargeras roamed the Twisting Nether, freeing the many demon races that he had previously hunted down and imprisoned. He became known as the "great, dark god of the Nameless Void".  He bound the newly released demons to his will and used them to construct an army of massive proportions - one that eventually became known as the Burning Legion.  These cunning creatures bowed before the dark titan's vast rage and offered to serve him in whatever malicious ways they could. However, among the various beings who served him, none of them had the natural cunning and power to act as commanders and tacticians for his new army, so Sargeras looked about for a race who would serve as his favored agents in exchange for horrific power.

Aegwynn battles

On the planet Argus, Sargeras found the agents he sought - the eredar, a race of highly intelligent beings with a natural affinity for magic in all its myriad forms. Sargeras appeared to the eredar's three greatest leaders, namely Kil'jaeden, Archimonde, and Velen, and made his offer: untold power and prestige in exchange for their allegiance. Though Velen had doubts, Kil'jaeden and Archimonde readily agreed. Velen and his followers fled, becoming the draenei. The remainder of the eredar embraced the darkness and became the stuff of nightmares: the man'ari eredar.

Sargeras tasked Kil'jaeden the Deceiver to seek out the darkest races in the universe and recruit them into Sargeras' ranks. Meanwhile, Archimonde the Defiler would lead Sargeras' vast armies into battle against any who might resist the titan's will. Now that his armies were amassed and ready to follow his every command, he launched his raging forces into the vastness of the Great Dark. To this date, it is still unclear how many worlds his Burning Legion has consumed and burned on their unholy Burning Crusade across the universe.

The First Invasion of Azeroth
Sargeras and the Legion eventually became aware of the young world of Azeroth due to the Night Elves' reckless use of arcane magic, and Sargeras began to hunger for the limitless energies of the Well of Eternity. [4] The elven Queen Azshara and her people , the Highborne, were wielding magic as their plaything. Sensing the great potential of the Well of Eternity, and knowing that it could satiate his hunger for magic, Sargeras called the Burning Legion to the ethereal outskirts of Azeroth, and the Enemy of All Life called to Azshara. The highborne queen was impressed and overwhelmed by Sargeras' great power. He used a subtle form of mental manipulation while speaking to her and her councilor, Xavius. They saw Sargeras as a god and worshiped him. Azshara agreed to allow him entrance to her world if only for a taste of a portion of his knowledge and energy. (Furthermore she thought he would marry her.) Thus, the first invasion of Azeroth began.

Archimonde and the great pit lord Mannoroth stormed through Kalimdor, ripping the world to shreds and sucking every ounce of energy from it that they could. Sargeras waited in the Twisting Nether for Azshara to strengthen the portal enough to allow him entrance. That time was growing very near, very soon.

However, at the last moment, the night elves, aided by Cenarius' woodfolk and Alexstrasza's dragons, mustered their forces and rebelled against the highborne in a climactic battle that destroyed the Well of Eternity and crushed much of the continent to rubble. The defenders of Azeroth paid a great cost to throw the demons back into the Twisting Nether, but in the end, Sargeras' mission had failed for the very first time. Because the portal rift into the Twisting Nether vanished in such a great display of magical power, the forces holding the worlds together ruptured, causing the Well of Eternity to implode. A massive part of Kalimdor sank beneath the ocean, and where the Well of Eternity had been before there was only a gigantic oceanic vortex, later named the Maelstrom.

In the novel War of the Ancients, Krasus, Rhonin, and Brox are thrown back in time and are able to help the demi-god Cenarius and the dragon Aspects fight the Burning Legion. Once again, in this new timeline, Sargeras' first invasion of Azeroth failed. During the end of the war, Broxigar lept through the portal and using the wooden axe crafted by Malfurion Stormrage killed many demons before catching the attention of Sargeras himself. In a last desperate attempt to buy time for his allies, Broxigar personally attacked the huge titan, wounding him in his leg - an extraordinary feat for anyone as he was said to be invincible before standing back and awaiting descruction. Sargeras crushed Broxigar, however, unlike the orc, Sargeras bore no smile as the portal he was going to use to enter Azeroth through was rapidly closing. Sargeras stepped into the midst of it, and while he was in the middle of the portal, it imploded and he ceased to be.

Richard A. Knaak said in an earlier interview:

Sargeras ceased to be in the sense of his physical being in the mortal world of Azeroth. He was cast into limbo, so to speak, as Blizzard wanted. Otherwise, he pretty much would have immediately returned to try to destroy Azeroth again. 'Ceased to be' was used specifically for that reason.
Aegwynn & Medivh

Song of Aegwynn by breathing 2004 of Deviant Art

Aegwynn battles an avatar of Sargeras.
Some nine thousand years after the War of the Ancients, Aegwynn kept a constant vigil over Azeroth, destroying demons wherever she found them. Sargeras saw that Aegwynn was a serious threat, but he also saw how she could be manipulated. The Dark Titan sent demonic agents on a great dragonhunt. The demons killed several dragons, but Aegwynn inevitably appeared to aid the great beasts. Together, they destroyed the band of demons before they could do irreparable damage.
As Aegwynn surveyed the scene, she found the rift from which the Legion's agents had come through in the Storm Peaks. Using this portal, Sargeras entered Azeroth in the form of an avatar. It is said that this avatar was infused with a portion of Sargeras' soul which he controlled. The Guardian of Tirisfal did not hesitate in attacking, but Sargeras held back, letting the mage destroy his physical body. However, as it died, Sargeras' spirit reached inside Aegwynn's body and hid, lying dormant for many years. Unaware of the tainted presence inside her body, Aegwynn buried Sargeras's physical body in a tomb and cast it deep into the ocean.

Years later, the Order of Tirisfal informed Aegwynn that her time as a Guardian was up and asked her to proceed to Dalaran to choose her successor. Aegwynn disobeyed the Order's command, deciding that only one of her own lineage would suffice. She sought out the great mage and advisor to King Landen Wrynn, Nielas Aran. Aegwynn seduced the mage, eventually mothering a son by him. Eventually Sargeras's spirit awoke and possessed the mind of Aegwynn's unborn son, Medivh.  Medivh, son of Aegwynn, was born.

When Medivh reached fourteen, his powers as a Guardian manifested themselves throwing him into a coma that lasted for twenty years. During this time, Sargeras tapped into the Guardian's enormous power, and when Medivh at last awoke, the dark titan had nearly taken complete control. In his new body, Sargeras contacted the orcish warlock Gul'dan, leader of a host of orcs on the world of Draenor - a world which had been discovered by his lieutenant, Kil'jaeden, a few generations beforehand. Medivh went to the Black Morass in the remote, southern parts of Azeroth and opened the Dark Portal allowing the orcs permanent access to the planet. Gul'dan's Orcish Horde swarmed through the rift, waging war upon the native humans of the Kingdom of Azeroth.

Medivh's nature was thoroughly changed after his coma, and his closest friends and relatives noticed something was wrong. Medivh's mother Aegwynn, now banished from the realm for her misdeeds against the Order of Tirisfal, had figured out what Sargeras had done to her, and got into contact with King Llane and his general, Lord Lothar. Lothar felt he had no choice but to destroy the corrupted Medivh in order to prevent the evil Guardian from doing any more damage to Azeroth. Medivh's apprentice, Khadgar, helped Lothar and an orcish emissary, Garona, infiltrate Medivh's dark tower, Karazhan. Despite his enormous power, Medivh was caught off his guard, and was in the end killed by his former friends and comrades in his underground sanctum. The small remaining part of Medivh's human conscience had taken Khadgar into apprenticeship for this very reason, to stop Sargeras.

Sargeras desired vengeance against the human kingdoms and expected the orcs to travel through the portal and destroy the humans. Although the orcs did enter the portal, and eventually caused a great amount of damage to the human kingdoms, Sargeras ultimately failed in his plans because of Medivh's early death.  Eventually, Sargeras wanted to shed the body of Medivh and once again enter his avatar, but he didn't have enough time to do so.
Sargeras' fate
As Medivh died, the portion of Sargeras' spirit that had possessed him was released and swiftly dispersed.  This spirit was sent reeling in pain back into the Twisting Nether.  To this day, it is unknown what really happened to Sargeras' real body or avatar. Many believe that Sargeras' spirit yet endures, hungering for revenge against the only world ever to withstand the Burning Legion's might ...
Brann Bronzebeard is fairly confident that the real Sargeras never actually set foot on Azeroth, implying the real Sargeras is still around in the Twisting Nether.  Lending this theory further credibility is in War of the Ancients, the power of the Well of Eternity was needed to create a portal strong enough for Sargeras to attempt to enter Azeroth, the creation of which took a long time to be completed. The portal used to bring the Sargeras that Aegwynn fought was powered by a handful of demons and was created in only a few minutes.

In an interview to Chris Metzen and Micky Neilson they said that "he's out there somewhere", that "you can't put him down" and "he's not going to stay down for long". At last Metzen said: I'd be very disappointed in us if we didn't leverage him fully.

Gul'dan's encounter with Sargeras

Sargeras (or an illusion of Sargeras) as seen in a flashback of Gul'dan in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne.

B & W art of Sargeras.
The orcish warlock, Gul'dan, believed the Tomb of Sargeras to hold amazing power, since he had been told as much by both Medivh and the eredar demon, Kil'jaeden. Gul'dan attempted to claim the tomb for himself, but, when he gained access to the grave, Sargeras' avatar was not there. Instead, Gul'dan found a plethora of demons that had been driven mad by their long imprisonment. The demons proceeded to tear Gul'dan to shreds, but he survived the first ambush. Then Gul'dan saw Sargeras (or at least an illusion of him) laughing at him and understood that he had been a pawn, a fool. Now that he knew he would not get the Eye of Sargeras and would instead die in the tomb, he wrote his story in runes with his own blood. Shortly afterwards, the demons came for him and killed him, eventually using his skull as a focal point of demonic power.
Appearance
Sargeras is a huge being almost beyond comprehension. He is fully clad in a burning suit of molten, black armor. Wildly dancing flames surround his head and form a thick mass of hair and a sweeping beard. A pair of horns exteeries of viciously hooked barbs.  Demonic influences have given Sargeras body flames.
Before his corruption, according to the Warcraft Saga comic, Sargeras's original look resembled that of a middle-aged, tough looking, and muscular warrior with long black hair, dark brown skin and beard that is tied. In The Sundering novel, it is said that Sargeras was once a beautiful and handsome being. From Brox's view, Sargeras' demonic form is wondrously perfect and terribly awful at the same time. Also, Sargeras demonic form is described as distortion of perfection.

Skills and abilities
Sargeras doesn't fight fair. He fights dirty and goes for the throat as quickly as possible. He also doesn't fight alone. Sargeras has a universe of formerly vanquished demons that he now commands to do his bidding. Most of them even do so gladly.
As a former Champion of the Pantheon, Sargeras is nearly impervious to physical damage. He is highly resistant to magical attacks. His natural attacks are more powerful than other titans. Demonic influences have given Sargeras' body flames and made him totally immune to fire damage and fel damage. Sargeras' flesh burns with demonic energy, scorching everything in his path. Sargeras' body flames slowly increase the ambient temperature by up to fifty degrees in every direction for one thousand miles. The effect on natural climates can be devastating.

When he has his normal horde of demons on hand, Sargeras usually begins a fight by casting enlarge person, displacement, haste, mage armor and mage shield on himself, plus slow on as many enemies as he can. He identifies the most powerful threat in a battle and instructs his own most powerful forces to focus on the single threat until it's dead or at least banished from the fight. He then identifies the next most dangerous foe and continues in this way, working down the ladder until he is victorious. Sargeras uses his most powerful spells and abilities first, such as domination on evil outsiders; energy drain on an enemy spellcaster; blasphemy on visitors from other planes; or power word stun, disintegrate, phantasmal killer, and flame strike. He uses quickened telekinesis to toss enemies around and disrupt his enemies' attempts to coordinate their side of the battle.

Sargeras is deadly in melee combat. He has no problem forcing his way with his demon bodyguards through enemy lines to strike at the most dangerous foes. If somehow severely damaged, Sargeras begins casting dimension door to maintain his distance while using heal to restore his life. All other tactics aside, Sargeras' truly favored tactic is to use summoned minions to aid him. If the battle is going to rage for a long time, he uses planar binding spells to bring forth powerful evil outsiders and dominates them. As the battle draws on, he uses summon monster spells instead.

Powers
The exact powers at the dark titan's command are unclear, though certainly formidable given his status as a former titan and lord of the Legion.