The Death Knights

Scientific achievement

Gul'dan creates the first death knights.

Inspired by the combat prowess of the Knights of Stormwind, Gul'dan and his warlocks began thinking up a way to counter them. He then had a truly wicked idea; they already had captured several Stormwind knights, and they had powerful warlocks. Warlocks could't hold their own against the knights long enough to destroy them, but what if one were to combat the two? In a ritual sacrificing both a human knight and an orc warlock, Gul'dan created an undead creature that had all the combat skill of the knight, and all the dark knowledge and power of the warlock. These Death Knights became shock troops for the Horde, able to take on a single company of human soldiers all on their own.    Some of these Death Knights survived the Second Great War, and were adopted by the Lich King to serve him, and train the second generation of Death Knights; whose own creation was just as insidious.