Question about Death Knight lore that bothers me.

[mmowin]

So i've been doing research online about what exactly Death Knights are and it's so frickin confusing. We aren't exactly dead like zombies and we aren't alive sooooo then what exactly is a death knight? I know it's a hero that died in battle and was risen by the Lich King to serve him blah blah blah. So then are we just walking undead?

[rrp.nikolai]

The difference between Death Knights and undead is that Death Knights still have their original soul. Rip it out, put it back in. Undead are just mindless cannon fodder with no will or soul of their own under direct control of the Lich King.

[Deleted]

The difference between Death Knights and undead is that Death Knights still have their original soul. Rip it out, put it back in. Undead are just mindless cannon fodder with no will or soul of their own under direct control of the Lich King.

Incorrect, as that applies to Forsaken as well and numerous others.
Death Knights are similar to Forsaken, but with the addition of the Hunger, and a deeper connection to the Shadowlands: they need to kill on a regular basis or they feel excruciating pain, and they are tormented by the shades of those they killed while part of the Scourge.

[Rafoel]

Just to remind you:

1) Arthas's heart got pierced by Illidan during their duel, and he felt uncomfortable due to it.
2) He cut out the heart, but it didn't kill him.
3) Destroying the heart though deals serious damage to him (70% of hp) and renders him unable to move for a minute.

Nobody recognized that Arthas is undead (and they knew what undead are at that time) when he returned from Lordareon. That suggest that death knights do not rot, and stay in just-after-death state forever.

There is no example of permanently-wounded death knight in game, suggesting that... they can heal? Also, while resurrecting Trollbane he appears as full human, yet he died long time ago and should be nearly all bones by now, like his son. It seems the death knight transformation returns the body to the "normal" state. Same, Deathbringer Saurfang bears no marks of fire yet the whole area where he died was literally purged by it. No way he would emerge untouched.

Doesn't explain the forsaken death knight though.

[rrp.nikolai]

Incorrect, as that applies to Forsaken as well and numerous others.

Although Forsaken are technically under the umbrella of the undead, I wasn't really referring to them. Forsaken are in a weird place. When they were originally raised the majority of them functioned in the same way that the vast majority of undead do as written in the novels and earlier games, but once they were broken from the Lich Kings control they started to regain memories and free will. It's possible all undead would do this if freed from a Death Knights control. It's never really been clarified.
Also in Cataclysm we got hints that the Forsaken were under control of Sylvanas in a very similar way to how they were originally controlled by the Lich King. Especially the newer ones that are raised by the Valkyr. It's never really specified if these Forsaken retain their own souls in a similar fashion to Death Knights, but given the Valkyr and their ties to the Shadowlands I've always assumed the Valkyr raised Forsaken essentially are Death Knights in everything but name. These Forsaken are likely tied to Sylvanas in more ways than just loyalty.
It's also worth mentioning that Sylvanas is also a form of Death Knight, but formed by her own will. She re-entered her original body giving her both her original body and soul.
Also to confuse it even further, Guldan originally made Death Knights using Orc warlock souls forced into Human Warrior bodies....
Maybe the player class "Death Knight" is just defined by their link to the Shadowlands which is likely brought about by them being raised by Frostmourne and the power of the Valkyr... Blizzard really needs to straighten all this out at some point.

[Kendros]

There are 2 generations of Nerzul Deaths knights, the first one were palladins that joined the lich king for being despised and chased by the ppl they protected, thus being living beens, and the second generation which is the one we play, any champion of either horde or allliance risen to fight for the lich king.

[Nayami]

What about those Dark Riders we encountered during the Unholy artifact acquisition quest? Are they related to DKs or the shadow lands? Those guys really confused me when I first saw them.

[Sunraven]

It's like this. Undead = Trump (no soul), and then everyone else = has a soul.

Infracted

[Triggered Fridgekin]

What about those Dark Riders we encountered during the Unholy artifact acquisition quest? Are they related to DKs or the shadow lands? Those guys really confused me when I first saw them.

I've wondered this myself. The story is that merchants sold Medivh some bogus relics so as punishment he "cursed" them and they became the Dark Riders of Deadwind Pass. Now, I don't know the extent of Medivh's power other than a lot but I don't know if he would have the ability to raise Death Knights in the same way as Arthas.

That being said, we've faced the Dark Rider of Acherus before when we had to get our Deathcharger so I am more inclined to believe that Medivh somehow exposed them to the Shadowlands but since the Lich King ruled over it thanks to the Val'kyr then maybe they are all related.

I guess it's more a matter of how they came to be rather than where they came from? Am I even making sense?

[Kendros]

What about those Dark Riders we encountered during the Unholy artifact acquisition quest? Are they related to DKs or the shadow lands? Those guys really confused me when I first saw them.

Medivh cursed them so they would search artifacts for him for the eternity

[rrp.nikolai]

What about those Dark Riders we encountered during the Unholy artifact acquisition quest? Are they related to DKs or the shadow lands? Those guys really confused me when I first saw them.

As others have already mentioned, the Dark Riders aren't Death Knights; they just dress with the same fashion sense which can be a little confusing. Most of their background is covered in the Warcraft graphic novel by the same name.

https://www.amazon.com/World-Warcraf.../dp/1401230288