The Black Empire refers to an ancient and primordial civilization that dominated the planet later named Azeroth in the earliest epochs of its history. This civilization was not human or titan-born but was instead the product of Old Gods—cosmic entities of malevolent will and profound corruption. These entities shaped the early evolution, ecology, and battle for control of the nascent world prior to the arrival of the cosmic order-bringing titans. The rise and nature of the Black Empire are central to understanding the formative struggles that shaped Azeroth’s distant past, its cosmological condition, and the subsequent interventions that gave structure and order to the world.
The Old Gods were powerful parasitic beings created by entities often referred to in lore as the Void Lords. Their intrinsic purpose was to find and corrupt world-souls, the potential core of emerging titan-class worlds, and transform these sleeping essences into warped versions that would serve the Void Lord will. Should an Old God succeed in fully subverting a world-soul, that soul would become a being of unfathomable destructive power, capable of consuming matter and energy and potentially catalysing the dominion of the Void across reality.
Four primary Old Gods—Y’Shaarj, C’Thun, Yogg-Saron, and N’Zoth—arrived upon primordial Azeroth by plunging into it from the cosmic void. Their physical forms embedded themselves deeply into the world’s crust, stretching growths, tendrils, and corrupted masses outward toward the surface and downward toward the unseen core. Because Azeroth harboured a developing world-soul, these beings targeted the world with the aim of corrupting it at its root, creating a nexus of void-taint that warped the landscape and life around them.
Once the Old Gods established physical dominion on Azeroth, their influence reshaped the world’s environment and indigenous forces. From the corrupted flesh and void energies of the Old Gods arose servitor races such as the aqir, an insectoid people, and the n’raqi, often described as faceless lieutenants that spread the Old Gods’ dominion. These beings worked to expand the Dark Empire across vast territories, establishing vast temple-cities and reinforcing the empire’s control.
The Black Empire did not simply conquer land; it fundamentally altered Azeroth’s primordial condition. Native beings known as the Elemental Lords—manifestations of fire, wind, earth, and water—once held primacy and contested each other’s influence across the raw world. With the arrival of the Old Gods, these powerful spirits recognised the existential threat posed by the encroaching Black Empire and united their forces in unprecedented cooperation. Nonetheless, despite their combined might, they were ultimately defeated and bound by the corruptive will of the Old Gods, further cementing the Black Empire’s supremacy.
The Black Empire is depicted in lore as a society governed by the twisted logic of void corruption. Its cities and constructs defied conventional architecture, often grown from living matter infested with void influence rather than built from stone and timber. The culture of the empire was organised around living sacrifices, void-tainted rituals, and the propagation of corruption into every facet of the landscape and its creatures. This pervasive influence not only reshaped ecosystems but also set in motion long-term effects that would persist even after the empire’s collapse.
Internally, the Old Gods themselves did not operate with unified purpose; rather, they engaged in constant internecine conflict. Forces loyal to one Old God frequently battled those of another, a tumultuous state that weakened the Black Empire’s coherence and diverted resources. These conflicts were not merely strategic but existential, as each Old God sought dominance over both the world and its rivals, a condition that arguably influenced the broader destiny of Azeroth’s corrupted age.
Beyond mere conquest, the Black Empire was integral to the Old Gods’ overarching intent to subvert Azeroth’s world-soul. By establishing a vast dominion rooted in void corruption, the Old Gods aimed to fracture the developmental potential of the nascent titan, preventing it from ever achieving ordered life or resisting the tendrils of the Void. In some interpretations of the lore, the Old Gods’ strategy involved waiting for centuries to deepen their influence, knowing that direct confrontation with a world-soul too early might fail or be repelled.
The Black Empire thus represents not merely a temporal dominion but the physical manifestation of the Old Gods’ existential aim: to entrench void corruption so thoroughly that the awakening world-soul of Azeroth could never attain full sentience. The extent of this threat is central to the cosmic balance between forces of order (embodied later by the titans) and forces of chaos (embodied by the Old Gods and their void lineage).
Although the Black Empire eventually fell before the cosmic order embodied by the Titan Pantheon and their created armies, its legacy endured. Corruptive residues, psychic influences, and the very embedded remnants of the Old Gods continued to shape Azeroth’s unfolding history. Their presence left lasting marks upon the planet’s geological features, magical currents, and cultures, establishing patterns of conflict and corruption that would reappear across eras.
The fall of the Black Empire set the stage for the next major period in the world’s history—the War Between the Titans and the Old Gods—in which the Titans’ interventions would not only dismantle the empire’s dominion but also transform Azeroth’s structure, setting conditions for all subsequent ages of life, conflict, and civilisation.