Those facts about nerubian origins and history set the context for the role they play in The War Within expansion.
The nerubians are an insectoid race descended from the aqir. These creatures evolved from organic matter that seeped out of the Old Gods, ancient and powerful entities that shaped life across Azeroth. The aqir eventually split into distinct races based on which Old God they developed near. The nerubians settled in the northern regions and were shaped by the influence of Yogg-Saron.
Other aqir races include the qiraji, who evolved near C'Thun, and the mantid, who emerged near the essence of Y'Shaarj. Each race developed unique traits and characteristics rooted in its Old God's nature.
During the rise of the Lich King (then known as Ner'zhul) in Northrend, the nerubians proved a formidable adversary. They were immune to domination magic, making them nearly impossible to control. In the War of the Spider, the Lich King's forces fought through the nerubians' vast underground kingdom of Azol'Nerub, eventually winning by invading and collapsing it from above.
Although immune to the undead plague, the nerubians' corpses could still be raised as undead servants. Many encountered in Wrath of the Lich King, including Anub'arak (the last king of the nerubians), served in this capacity in Naxxramas and the Trial of the Crusader.
Survivors existed. The Azjol-anak Battleguards, led by Kilix the Unraveler, remained living nerubians in Dragonblight. Others, the Voru'kar, relocated to Skittering Hollow entirely. These populations offered a window into nerubian life outside the Lich King's shadow.
In The War Within, the surviving nerubian kingdom of Azj-Kahet (described by Blizzard as "the last kingdom of the nerubians") allied with Xal'atath, the Harbinger. The kingdom was ruled by Queen Ansurek, who accepted Xal'atath's "gifts" in exchange for the nerubians' loyalty. Those gifts accelerated nerubian evolution in ways previously seen only when aqir races developed near Old Gods, suggesting Xal'atath held power comparable to those ancient entities.
The nerubians of Azj-Kahet were engaged in conflict with the Arathi of Hallowfall, another zone in The War Within. This war motivated Queen Ansurek's decision to accept Xal'atath's bargain. Their capital, the City of Threads, reflected the kingdom's class stratification: the most favoured nerubians occupied the upper tiers while the poorest inhabited the lowest.
Under Xal'atath's guidance, the nerubians harvested the Black Blood of the Old Gods from deep within Azeroth's crust. Its purpose remained unclear, but its properties paralleled Saronite, an ore formed from Yogg-Saron's blood that corrupts everything it touches and carries the Old God's whispers. If the Black Blood shared those properties, whatever the nerubians were building posed enormous danger.
Players could oppose Xal'atath's forces by working with the nerubian resistance and taking on the Nerub-ar Palace tier raids. Those looking to revisit that Season 1 content can find Nerub-ar Palace carries on WowCarry.
The War Within's nerubian storyline drew on decades of Warcraft lore, from the aqir's Old God origins and the War of the Spider to Anub'arak's fate in Northrend, and built a new chapter with a living kingdom, a morally ambiguous queen, and a Harbinger whose power remained only partially explained by the expansion's conclusion. Whether Azj-Kahet eventually produced a playable nerubian allied race or remained a faction encounter, the nerubians' depth as a species made them one of the expansion's most memorable additions to the game world.
Yes. Nerubians possess an inherent immunity to domination magic, which is why the Lich King could not simply enslave them during the War of the Spider. He had to physically destroy the kingdom of Azol'Nerub and raise the nerubians' corpses after death, the one loophole around their immunity.
Anub'arak was the last king of the nerubians. After the War of the Spider destroyed Azol'Nerub, the Lich King raised him as an undead servant. He appears in Warcraft 3, serves as an instance boss in Naxxramas (both original and Wrath of the Lich King versions), and returns as the final Trial of the Crusader encounter in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion.
Azj-Kahet is the "last kingdom of the nerubians" as described by Blizzard. Ruled by Queen Ansurek, it serves as one of The War Within's main zones. The capital, the City of Threads, is a class-stratified underground city where the most favoured nerubians live in the upper tiers and the poorest occupy the lowest.
Ansurek accepted Xal'atath's gifts partly to gain an advantage in the nerubians' war against the Arathi of Hallowfall, and partly because the power Xal'atath offered was difficult to refuse. The gifts accelerated nerubian evolution and made the kingdom's soldiers significantly more formidable. The full scope of what Xal'atath received in exchange unfolds through The War Within's main campaign.
The Azjol-anak Battleguards are a group of still-living nerubians who survived the War of the Spider. Led by Kilix the Unraveler, they can be found in Dragonblight in Northrend. Their survival demonstrates that not all nerubians were killed or raised by the Lich King during the war.
The Black Blood of the Old Gods flows deep within Azeroth's crust. The nerubians harvest it under Xal'atath's direction. It shares properties with Saronite, the ore formed from Yogg-Saron's blood that corrupts everything it touches. Hints from the Old God timeline accessed through Time Rifts suggest the Black Blood may be intended to revive an ancient entity.
No nerubian allied race was added during The War Within expansion. While the nerubian resistance offered NPC allies opposing Xal'atath and Queen Ansurek, the playable allied race option did not materialise during the expansion's run.
Last reviewed 2026-06-20 against The War Within — Maintained by WowCarry's WoW team.
