For much of Azeroth's prehistory, the Old Gods ruled Azeroth along with their Elemental Lieutenants. Deep within Azeroth's core lies a world-soul, a nascent, sleeping Titan that, when awakened, could be extremely powerful. Its echoing dreams reached out to the Titan Aggramar, who then traveled with the rest of the Pantheon to Azeroth. They fought the Old Gods in a global war of ordering. With the help of their constructs (the antecedents of dwarves, gnomes, vrykul, and giants), the titans allowed life to flourish on Azeroth. Satisfied, the Makers built hidden cities for their construct creations and created the Great Aspects to guard the planet before leaving on their cosmic journey.

Pandaria was also created at some point, but quickly fell out of the history of most sentient races, due to its magical shrouding mists. It developed a parallel history, largely out of the view of most historians.

The trolls are presumed to be Azeroth's first sentient race, not including the titan constructs who would later suffer the Curse of Flesh. From Zandalar, they spread across Kalimdor and formed great empires, most notably the Gurubashi and Amani. Later, the Azj'Aqir empire rose in the west, forcing the trolls to better defend their major holdings. With pressure from their trollish enemies, the empire of the aqir collapsed and split into the qiraji and the nerubian kingdoms.

Around this time, the elves appeared in Kalimdor. Using the potent magics of the Well of Eternity (a legacy of the titans), the elves broke troll influence in many regions and established a magocratic empire. At the height of kaldorei power, however, the Burning Legion invaded Azeroth, inciting the War of the Ancients. The night elves were forced to destroy the Well, which caused a Great Sundering that split the ancient supercontinent of Kalimdor apart — creating several continents, Northrend, the Eastern Kingdoms (continents of Azeroth, Khaz Modan, and Lordaeron), and "Kalimdor".

Just before the Great Sundering, the last pandaren Emperor was made aware of the impending disaster and found a way to protect Pandaria from the destruction. He made a pact with unknown forces to shroud his land within an impenetrable mist for ten thousand years.[4] Following the war there was a schism among the elves. The night elves started druidism with Malfurion Stormrage as the first Night Elf Druid; the high elves refused to give up arcane magic. These high elves were banished from Kalimdor and settled in the north of Lordaeron, establishing the mighty kingdom of Quel'Thalas. The Amani Empire was still a strong force here, and the two cultures soon clashed in what became known as the Troll Wars. With support from the young race of humanity, the high elves broke and scattered what remained of the Amani empire. Thousands of years later, the Burning Legion attempted to destroy Azeroth once more, this time indirectly. Sargeras forced the once peaceful orcs and ogres of Draenor into Azeroth.[5] The extended conflict with these alien invaders became known as the First and Second Wars, during which time the Horde established strongholds in Blackrock, Alterac Valley, Zul'Dare, and the Swamp of Sorrows. The mighty Horde was defeated by an alliance of high elves, dwarves, and humans. Feeling the effects of their demonic bloodrage dissipate as they languished in internment camps, the orcs were able to remember their peaceful, shamanic roots. Sensing this change, Thrall of the Frostwolf clan set about establishing a new Horde.

Angered by the Horde's failure, the Burning Legion prepared for yet another invasion, the culmination of their efforts, on both continents. In the east, the Legion's Lich King pawn set loose a plague of undeath on the human kingdom of Lordaeron that the Legion so despised. This undead Scourge quickly crippled the northern powers, demoralizing the people of the Eastern Kingdoms in preparation for a Legion offensive. Lured to north by the Lich King, Prince Arthas of Lordaeron became his death knight pawn and the instrument of his liberation from the Legion's grasp. The Scourge under Arthas scattered the Knights of the Silver Hand, obliterated Lordaeron and broke the power of the Sunwell in Quel'Thalas. In the West, the demons and their satyr allies made a more direct assault on their old kaldorei enemies. In desperation, the elves turned to Illidan, a demon hunter from the War of the Ancients who had violated druidic law and had been imprisoned for ten thousand years.

During the course of the conflict, Illidan was persuaded by the insidious Arthas to attack the demon known as Tichondrius and drink from the Skull of Gul'dan (a small part in the Lich King's greater scheme to emancipate himself from his Legion jailers). Through the machinations of Medivh, Last Guardian of Tirisfal, leaders of the New Horde and the Alliance were drawn to Kalimdor. There they joined with the night elves to thwart the Legion advance into Hyjal, where the World Tree was vulnerable to demonic attack. While in Kalimdor, Thrall's people forged powerful alliances with the native tauren and the Darkspear exiles. Concerned with the separatist Scourge, Kil'jaeden solicited the half-demonic Illidan into destroying the source of the Lich King's power. With the aid of his naga allies, who he had recalled from the Maelstrom, he succeeded in breaking at least some of the Lich King's power. Hounded by his night elf jailers and the seething blood elves, Illidan was unable to complete his task. Suffering under the effects of magical withdrawal, the blood elves were persuaded to enter into the ranks of the Illidari. With their help, Illidan toppled the regime of Magtheridon to become the new ruler of Outland.

The weakening of the Frozen Throne allowed some of the Scourge to regain their free will. Under the Banshee Queen Sylvanas Windrunner, these Forsaken managed to force the Legion-controlled undead from the ruins of Lordaeron and establish a stronghold beneath its streets. Arthas, meanwhile, fought a desperate battle in Northrend to save his master from the newly empowered lord of Outland, who under increasing threats from Kil'jaeden had taken up his quest to destroy the Lich King once more. Illidan failed and retreated to Outland, and Arthas was merged with the malicious spirit of the Lich King. Following the Third War, the political landscape of Azeroth changed greatly. The night elves joined the Alliance, and the Forsaken joined the New Horde. The remaining citizens of Lordaeron, broken by the Scourge, formed new regimes: the xenophobic and zealous Scarlet Crusade and the compassionate Argent Dawn. The orcish nation of Durotar was established in Kalimdor, as was human colony of Theramore. With the armies of the Horde and the Alliance decimated by the Third War, or occupied with the new conflict in Outland, the defense of their borders became the responsibility of small bands of heroes and adventurers.

After major threats in Silithus were neutralized by Horde and Alliance forces in the Qiraji War-Effort, the power-blocs once more formed a tentative alliance in response to the opening of the Dark Portal. The Horde formed an alliance of necessity with the blood elves, while the Alliance warily welcomed the draenei exiles into their ranks. The War in Outland was fought on multiple fronts and against numerous factions. The greatest threat was the Burning Legion, who, after their defeat on Hyjal were mobilizing their forces for yet another invasion of Azeroth, this time via Draenor. Illidan's hegemony in Outland proved short-lived. After losing the support of Kael'thas Sunstrider, whose addiction to fel energy led him to side with the Legion, the scattered coalition of nagas, fel orcs, and demons called the Illidari were defeated by Sha'tari and Azerothian forces. After the destruction of the Illidari and his own defeat, Kael'thas returned to Azeroth, where had restored his beloved Sunwell as a means of summoning his new master, Legionlord Kil'jaeden into the material world. To counter this, the opposing factions in Shattrath, the Aldor and Scryers, joined with the Blood Knights of Quel'Thalas. This Shattered Sun Offensive succeeded in disrupting the Legionlord's entry into Azeroth. After defending their major holdings from a Scourge incursion in Kalimdor and Azeroth, the Horde-Alliance blocs, emboldened by their conquest of Outland, launched a final joint offensive on the Scourge forces in Northrend.

Their efforts have been bolstered thanks to yet another internal rebellion against the Scourge by the Knights of the Ebon Blade. The Horde-Alliance entente ended with the crisis at the Wrathgate. The joint forces were routed at the gates to Icecrown when a separatist faction of Forsaken bombarded the living and dead alike with their new strain of blight.

At war once again, Alliance and Horde heroes now compete for glory throughout the northern lands: aiding the Kirin Tor of Dalaran in their fight against the blue dragonflight, protecting the Frostborn dwarves and giants from the corrupted Titanic Keepers of Ulduar, and joining the Argent Crusade in the final push against the Lich King and the Scourge.

Meanwhile, deep within Deepholm, the domain of earth in the Elemental Plane, the corrupted Dragon Aspect Deathwing waited, recovering from the wounds of his last battle against Azeroth and biding his time until he tries again to reforge the world in molten fire. His eruption from Deepholm massively damaged the world. The kingdoms of Azeroth witnessed seismic shifts in power, the kindling of a war of the elements, and the emergence of unlikely heroes who rose up to protect their scarred and broken world from utter devastation.

After the utter ending of Deathwing, the main antagonists of Azeroth like restless siblings the Alliance and the Horde have renewed their conflict for the land and resources of the planet. Mysteriously, the previously impenetrable mists covering the hidden continent of Pandaria have cleared and both factions now attempt to make allies and extend their reach to this newly discovered continent. Unfortunately, amidst their squabbling they have stirred a new menace that is powered by their aggressions. Will the planet's heroes heed the warning of the newly met pandaren and unite against this common enemy?