Arthas Menethil is a relatively new addition to the Warcraft Series -- he only appeared in Warcraft III and its expansion. Nevertheless, Arthas's impact on Azeroth is so profound that he remains one of the biggest names in WoW, even though he's never appeared in the game itself ... yet.

Who: Prince Arthas Menethil, Crown Prince of Lordaeron, Knight of the Silver Hand, and Lich King.

What: Human at first, kinda undead later.

History: Arthas was the son of King Terenas Menethil, ruler of Lordaeron. As a youth, he trained in the art of combat and joined the Silver Hand, a group of paladins. He became known for his exploits in battle. He also briefly dallied with a young mage named Jaina Proudmoore, but it didn't work out because long-distance things never end well. They decided to remain friends, which is as big a sign of impending doom as one can get.

Arthas and his trainer, Uther Lightbringer, were sent to the orc internment camps near Lordaeron to quell uprisings. Arthas defeated the orcs with the use of a magical fire weapon, but soon discovered that a plague of undeath was sweeping the northern villages of Lordaeron. The now-evil wizard Kel'Thuzad had transported the plague, originally the brainchild of the Lich King Ner'Zhul, to the towns of Brill and Stratholme through some infected grain. (Sorry for all the links to WoWWiki, but we're sort of joining the story in the middle here and all the names can get confusing.) Arthas and Jaina went on a totally platonic mission to stop the plague, which Arthas accomplished by killing Kel'Thuzad. Arthas then headed north to Stratholme to kill the demon Mal'Ganis.

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