Goblin (Warcraft)

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Goblins are a fictional race in the World of Warcraft universe by Blizzard Entertainment.

Contents

1 Anatomy
2 Faction
3 Engineering
4 Settlements
5 Race details

Anatomy

[Spoiler warningSpoiler warning]: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Like most of the things in Warcraft, Golbins are "heavily influenced" by their Warhammer counterparts. Goblins stand at approximately the same height as Gnomes, 3 feet, or .90 metres. Goblins have small eyes, green skin and long pointed ears. They are relatively humanoid and wear clothing, as do many other denizens of Azeroth. [[Image:Goblin-sappers-warcraft2-image.jpg|left|150px|thumb|Goblin Sappers from [[Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness]].]]

Faction

During the Second Great War, the Goblins made an alliance with the Horde, providing them with their engineering skills, such as the Goblin Sappers and the Zeppelins. After the defeat of the Horde, the Goblins were scattered and became neutral, favoring neither the Horde nor the Alliance; it is speculated that, in light of the goblin love for profit, they did this in order to increase the trade of their goods and services. Another theory is that they were shunned from the Horde due to their unstable personalities.

In the MMORPG World of Warcraft, they are a neutral race specializing in engineering and transportation. Most goblins act as merchants and operate through the Goblin faction, the "Steamwheedle Cartel" which controls the cities of Ratchet, Booty Bay, Everlook, and Gadgetzan. However, many Goblins (and other various races) are also part of The Venture Co., an organization built on hirelings to carry out deeds for the profit of the company. The Venture Co. is despised by most because of their hostile and disrespectful treatment to other races, and, to the concern of the Tauren, the planet. They also are said to operate out of their home of Undermine which is used to build and ship most of the Goblin's machinery and items.

Traveling Goblin merchants are often accompanied by Ogre bodyguards.

Engineering

Goblins are fascinated with engineering, just like the Gnomes. However, Goblins are more interested in inventing explosives while the Gnomes prefer the development of devices and gadgets. There is a great rivalry between Goblin engineers and Gnomish engineers, and they are always trying to outdo each other. On the Shimmering Flats in Thousand Needles, there are races between the Goblins and Gnomes at the Mirage Raceway. Both sides are always looking for help to improve their racing machines. Due to the explosive nature of the Goblins' ideas, cars can be seen hanging from cliffs and there are parts strewn about the Shimmering Flats.

Settlements

The majority of World of Warcraft's goblins dwell mostly in the four main settlements comprising the Steemweedle Cartel:

Booty Bay - A large city on the southwestern coast of Stranglethorn Vale with a pirate theme.
Gadgetzan - A large town in northern Tanaris, with desert themed builings to match the terrain. Notable for having the largest quest to size ratio of any settlement in the game. It was the first Goblin city to have a neutral Auction House, making it a good place to get items specific to the opposite faction.
Everlook - A town in the center of Winterspring, with igloo/snowcovered buildings to match the terrain.
Ratchet - A deceptively large town on the eastern coast of the barrens. There is a neutral ship that travels to and from Booty Bay.

Goblins also can be found in:

Steemwheedle Port - A tiny settlement on the eastern coast of Tanaris, very close to Gadgetzan.
The Shimmering Flats - A large number of goblins take part in the races on the Shimmering Flats.

The goblin capital:

Undermine - The goblin capital, supposedly situated on the Isle of Kezan in southern Azeroth. It does not currently exist in World of Warcraft, but is referenced in game.

The Undermine has some surface areas, but it is mostly underground. A series of volcanic caverns, tunnels and chambers that span out of Isle of Kezan through the ocean floor, connecting to adjacent smaller islands to the west of Isle of Kezan. Slave pens and the Palaces of the Goblin Princes of Trade are located in Undermine.

Besides Slaves, the tunnels are inhabited by a strange breed of goblins named Hobgoblins. Their lifespan is barely three years, and are overgrown in size. Hobgoblins are purple-skinned. They came to exist through alchemists experiementing during the second war on goblin subjects (similar to the Goblin Alchemist and his Ogre Slave from Warcraft 3).

Race details

Goblins have an advanced alphabet consisting on 4 symbols. It tends to make them deal with really long words with an average of 14 letters per word.
Goblins are profilic golf fans. But their version of golf is special as they use bombs as balls and the targets are moving robots.
Although goblins might appear to be greedy they are actually just hungry: money is their main form of nutrition.
The Goblins of Undermine are ruled by the Goblin Trade Princes. Each Prince owns their own Cartel, two of which are in-game (Steamwheedle Cartel and The Venture Co.).

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