Sylvanas Windrunner

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: Legion to her current appearance, much more in line with her in-universe lore depictions. 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, 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. As of World of Warcraft's patch 7.0.3, she is also the incumbent Warchief of the Horde, standing as one of the most powerful political leaders in all of Azeroth following the death of Vol'jin. 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. 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. Development Sylvanas' character model in World of Warcraft was originally a light-skinned Night Elf. This was changed as the character was to feature in a major role in World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King.