Heroes of Azeroth
Rexxar: Champion of the Horde
Rexxar is a Mok'nathal beastmaster, born of the union between orcs and ogres, and one of the last of his clan. He is a towering, massively muscled warrior who fights with two huge axes and is almost never seen without his brown bear, Misha. He left the Horde of Draenor in disgust, wandered the wilds of Kalimdor alone, and was then pulled back into history during the founding of Durotar. There he killed Admiral Daelin Proudmoore and saved Orgrimmar, and Thrall named him Champion of the Horde. He fought again in Outland, against the Burning Legion and in the Fourth War, and he finally reconciled with his father, Leoroxx, on Azeroth.
Video: Rexxar's full story
Our first, shorter episode on him: Rexxar – From Outcast to Champion of the Horde.
A Mok'nathal of Draenor
The Mok'nathal descend from the orc-ogre half-breeds that the Bladespire ogres bred as slaves on Draenor. Rexxar's father, Leoroxx, led their revolt. He strangled Imperator Kelgrok in the heart of Bladespire Hold, then took his people to a remote corner of Gorgrond to live in peace, far from both orcs and ogres. The Mok'nathal were isolationist and almost pacifist, and they only took up arms to defend their meagre lands.
That life gave Rexxar no reason to stay. He believed the Horde could help his people find food and water, so he joined it, and his decision angered his father. After the fall of Shattrath, Warchief Blackhand considered wiping out the Mok'nathal, and Rexxar convinced him to spare them. He came through the Dark Portal during the First War with his loyal companion Haratha, a large black wolf, and fought in many battles, up to the last one in the Black Morass.
Haratha and the break with the Horde
After the Second War, Rexxar served on the Azerothian side of the Portal with Grom Hellscream and the Warsong clan during Ner'zhul's expedition. The senseless killing sickened him, as did the endless betrayals, first by Gul'dan and then by Ner'zhul. The last straw came when an orc warlock tried to drain Rexxar's life and Haratha leapt in front of the spell. Rexxar killed the warlock, but he had lost his companion. When the survivors debated their future, he proposed living peacefully on some hidden land. Grom answered that orcs were born to conquer. Rexxar left the Horde and swore that from then on he would trust only beasts.
The lone wanderer and Misha
Rexxar's wanderings took him to Feralas, where he found a small bear cub lying beside her dead mother at the Ruins of Ravenwind. Both of them were alone, so he took her with him and named her Misha. Together they crossed to Kalimdor and roamed the Barrens, far from the wars of the "civilized" races. The Exploring Azeroth: Kalimdor book adds that a white wolf, Huelo, once found Rexxar wounded in Winterspring and saved his life. Huelo was probably the first friend he made on Kalimdor.
The founding of Durotar (Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne)
A message for Thrall
In the Barrens, Rexxar came across an orc warrior named Mogrin fighting quilboar. Rexxar tried to save him, but the wound was fatal. With his last breath, Mogrin asked him to carry a message to Thrall in Orgrimmar. Thrall welcomed the beastmaster and told him this land was as much his as Thrall's own. Rexxar insisted on earning his keep:
- he gathered shimmerweed for Drek'Thar at Thunder Ridge;
- he killed the harpy queen Bloodfeather for Nazgrel;
- he collapsed the kobold mining columns for Gazlowe.
Along the way he met the troll Rokhan and the brewmaster Chen Stormstout, who both became his companions.
At Thunder Ridge, Drek'Thar and Rexxar found the thunder lizards driven mad by a human lumber mill. Rexxar wanted to raze the mill, but the far seer forbade it in the name of Thrall's non-aggression pact with Jaina. Rexxar put that treaty aside only when he found Gar'thok's outpost burned by human soldiers.
Proudmoore's war
Rexxar then helped the Darkspear trolls at the Echo Isles. Vol'jin briefly turned him into a spirit wyvern so that he could fight the battleships, and he defeated the Sea King. Next he went in Thrall's place to a "peace summit" that turned out to be an ambush, and he carried Thrall's letter to Jaina Proudmoore on Theramore. Jaina knew nothing of the attacks. Then her father, Admiral Daelin Proudmoore, arrived with his fleet and ordered Rexxar's capture on sight.
To win allies, Rexxar went to Mulgore. There, Tagar revealed that Cairne Bloodhoof had sunk into despair after centaurs kidnapped his son. With the spirit walker Bovan Windtotem, Rexxar rescued Baine, and Cairne went to war. In Dustwallow Marsh the Stonemaul ogres at first rejected Rexxar for his mixed blood. He survived their gauntlet and then defeated their brutal warlord Kor'gall in single combat, relying heavily on his beasts. That made him chieftain of the clan.
At Tidefury Cove, Thrall named Rexxar Champion of the Horde and gave him command of the assault. The Horde razed Proudmoore's stronghold and then pursued the admiral to Theramore Island. While the Horde's soldiers held the Kul Tiran lines, Rexxar and his few companions cut their way through to Daelin and killed him. Jaina collapsed over her father's body. Rexxar told her that above all else her father had been a proud warrior and should be remembered as one.
Thrall invited him to Durotar, but Rexxar answered that his place was in the wild, and that he would always be part of the Horde and come whenever he was needed. He named the ogre Mok'Morokk leader of the Stonemaul, a choice he would later regret, and disappeared into the wilderness.
Cycle of Hatred and Outland
In Christie Golden's Cycle of Hatred, Rexxar and Misha found an old orc, Byrok, attacked by the Burning Blade, and carried him to Orgrimmar. The novel describes the beastmaster's wolf's-head helm, the hollowed-out head of a wolf he had slain. When the Dark Portal reopened, Rexxar went to Outland and settled at Thunderlord Stronghold in the Blade's Edge Mountains. The orc Rokaro took on his duties as Champion of the Horde in Desolace. Bladespire ogres captured his wyvern Leokk, and adventurers helped free the wyvern. Rexxar hoped to find more of his people and perhaps make peace with Leoroxx, who still resented his choice. With Garm Wolfbrother's help, he found the Mok'Nathal and helped them against the Bloodmaul ogres and their gronn master.
Cataclysm, Legion and the Fourth War
- Cataclysm: Rexxar defended the Valley of Honor in Orgrimmar during the Elemental Unrest.
- Legion: he found the Unseen Path a bit dull. While camping in Highmountain he challenged its new Huntmaster to survive a night in the wilds. Impressed, he joined the order to show that hunters could endure even against the Burning Legion.
- Battle for Azeroth: he answered the call when Jaina returned. At Warfang Hold in Stormsong Valley he had to put down Huelo, who had been gravely wounded by Kul Tiran soldiers. He fought on Kul Tiras, including in Tol Dagor. He later answered Varok Saurfang's call against Sylvanas and attended the old warrior's funeral.
- Exploring Azeroth: Kalimdor: he crossed Kalimdor with Ambassador Zekhan and said a last farewell to Huelo.
Dragonflight: Leoroxx and the Kosh'harg
When Thrall invited the Mok'nathal to the first Kosh'harg festival on Azeroth at Razor Hill, Leoroxx saw how much the orcs had changed and decided it was time to reconnect with his son. They reconciled during the feast that celebrated the champions of the new om'gora. Rexxar also became one of the Dream Wardens, and he appears in the Guardians of the Dream trailer. He still takes part in Horde affairs in The War Within and Midnight.
Rexxar family tree
Mermaid source of the family tree
%% Rexxar – canonical family tree (The Tirisfalen)
%% Dashed = implied, not explicitly confirmed
flowchart TD
L["Leoroxx<br/><i>Father · Mok'nathal leader</i>"]
M["Unnamed mother<br/><i>Implied to be an orc</i>"]
U(( ))
R["Rexxar<br/><i>Champion of the Horde</i>"]
L === U
M -.- U
U --> R
Canon note: Leoroxx is Rexxar's father. The Warcraft Wiki lists an "unknown orc wife" of Leoroxx, but the mother's orc ancestry is only implied (Cycle of Hatred, p. 100), so that link is dashed. Heroes of the Storm even jokes that Rexxar is "only ¼ ogre at best", which fits a half-ogre father and an orc mother, but it is not a lore source. No siblings, mate or children are known. Misha, Haratha, Huelo and Leokk are his companions, not family.
Related heroes
FAQ
Is Rexxar an orc or an ogre?
Both. He is a Mok'nathal, a people descended from orc and ogre half-breeds on Draenor. His father Leoroxx is Mok'nathal and his mother is implied to be an orc.
What is the name of Rexxar's bear?
Misha. Rexxar found her as a cub beside her dead mother at the Ruins of Ravenwind in Feralas and raised her.
Who was Haratha?
Rexxar's black wolf on Draenor and during the Second War. Haratha died leaping in front of an orc warlock's spell meant to drain Rexxar's life.
Why did Rexxar leave the Horde?
He was sickened by the Old Horde's senseless killing and by the betrayals of Gul'dan and Ner'zhul. After Haratha's death, Grom Hellscream rejected his idea of a peaceful life, and Rexxar left to trust only beasts.
Who killed Daelin Proudmoore?
Rexxar killed Admiral Daelin Proudmoore on Theramore Island at the end of the founding of Durotar campaign in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne.
Why is Rexxar called Champion of the Horde?
Thrall gave him that title at Tidefury Cove, after Rexxar had rallied the trolls, tauren and Stonemaul ogres against Proudmoore's invasion, and let him lead the Horde's assault.
Who is Rexxar's father?
Leoroxx, the Mok'nathal leader who freed his people from the Bladespire ogres. They were estranged for years and reconciled at the Kosh'harg festival in Dragonflight.
Is Rexxar still alive?
Yes. He survived the Fourth War and appears in Dragonflight and The War Within.
Sources
- Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, Bonus Campaign The Founding of Durotar.
- Christie Golden, Cycle of Hatred, ch. 9 and p. 100.
- Christie Golden, Beyond the Dark Portal (prologue, ch. 14, pp. 411–414).
- World of Warcraft: Chronicle, Vol. 2, p. 97; The Characters of Warcraft: Rexxar.
- World of Warcraft: Exploring Azeroth – Kalimdor, pp. 146 and 154.
- Michael Stackpole, Vol'jin: Shadows of the Horde, ch. 29.
- In-game quests: Survive the Night, Champion: Rexxar (Legion); On the Hunt, Champion: Rexxar (Stormsong Valley), Old Soldier (Battle for Azeroth); Tracked Through Time; The Kosh'harg (Dragonflight); Blade's Edge Mountains Mok'Nathal quests (The Burning Crusade).
- Community wikis cross-checked: Warcraft Wiki – Rexxar, Wowpedia – Rexxar, plus their pages on Misha, Leoroxx, Mok'nathal, Huffer and Leokk.
Illustrations: original artwork by The Tirisfalen. World of Warcraft and Warcraft are trademarks of Blizzard Entertainment. This page is fan content and is not affiliated with Blizzard.