Arthas Menethil

Arthas Menethil
Warcraft character
Arthas Menethil in Heroes of the Storm
First appearance	A Trial of Will, Chapter 5 of Warcraft: Of Blood and Honor
First game	Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos
Created by	Blizzard Entertainment
Voiced by	Justin Gross Patrick Seitz Michael McConnohie

Arthas Menethil is a fictional character who appears in the Warcraft series of video games by Blizzard Entertainment. In the games, he was once an apprentice paladin with promising potential and the crown prince of Lordaeron, but he later became one of the most powerful and evil beings in the history of Azeroth, as well as one of the most prominent and well-known antagonists in Warcraft lore. The character has received mostly positive critical reception. In Warcraft III, Arthas is voiced by Justin Gross. In subsequent appearances, he is voiced by Patrick Seitz (paladin/death knight Arthas) and Michael McConnohie (Lich King Arthas).

According to Warcraft game designers Scott Mercer and Greg Street, "early on in the development of Warcraft III, we knew the game would be about heroes leading their armies into battle. We initially created Arthas as one of those leaders, so we knew from the beginning he would be central to the storyline", and that he "is the bridge connecting the human and the undead campaigns."

Regarding the development of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, Mercer stated that "when development began on Wrath of the Lich King, we knew we wanted the players to have a more personal connection with the Lich King ... so we started designing quests and instances in which we could show the Lich King to the players." Developers also designed the game so that "players can see the wrecks of the Alliance ships that Arthas set ablaze ... they can also find the altar upon which Arthas first discovered Frostmourne ... We deliberately built these aspects into Wrath of the Lich King to help remind players who Arthas is and where he came from, which we hope makes his character that much more vivid in players' minds."

Arthas Menethil was the prince of Lordaeron and the only son of Terenas Menethil. Arthas was an idealistic, yet somewhat rash, young man who dreamed of one day succeeding his father as king of Lordaeron. Arthas became an apprentice paladin at nineteen and served as a favorite pupil of Uther the Lightbringer. Though Arthas loved the kindly Uther like an uncle, he longed to take command of his own destiny and become a hero like the brave veterans who fought the orcs during the Second War. Despite the heartache he felt when his brief affair with the sorceress Jaina Proudmoore came to an end, Arthas remained remarkably committed to his roles as both the prince of Lordaeron and as a holy paladin. He had a deep reverence for the Light and wanted nothing more than to safeguard his beloved people from harm.