Zul'jin

Zul'jin (also spelled Zuljin ) is the Warlord of the Amani forest trolls and chieftain of the Amani tribe since before the Second War. Zul'jin is a fierce enemy of the high elves, with whom he shared many years of conflict. Zul'jin and the Amani tribe were allied with the Horde for the duration of the Second War, but Zul'jin himself was captured near its end by Halduron Brightwing, in whose custody he lost an eye and an arm, which he never regenerated. Upon gaining his freedom, he went into hiding to rebuild his army and plan an attack on Quel'Thalas once more, only to find the high elves almost wiped out by the undead Scourge and then how they gave their allegiance to the Alliance one more time.

Second War
During the First War, the orcish Warchief Blackhand sent Orgrim Doomhammer to approach the troll leader, Zul'jin, and asked him to join the Old Horde. Zul'jin initially refused, believing the trolls capable of handling the elves themselves and not seeing any benefit to joining wars against others. Months later, he was captured by humans, held in a prison camp near Durnholde Keep and freed by Orgrim himself. Impressed, he agreed to join the Horde and assisted it throughout the Second War.

Zul'jin's goal was not hindered by this alliance, and he believed that the Horde would have no use for the lands the Amani would take over. On the other hand, Zul'jin himself had no desire to extend his conquest beyond Quel'Thalas, and thus was confident in his new allies and the honorable Doomhammer.

Ultimately, Zul'jin was most eager to utterly conquer his mortal enemies, the high elves of Quel'Thalas with the Horde's help, and claiming King Anasterian Sunstrider's head (and forcing it to watch Quel'Thalas burn) was his primary goal during this time. He assisted the Horde in reaching Quel'Thalas, and went on ahead to claim his vengeance upon the elves for the fateful Troll Wars so many years ago.

Zul'jin fought throughout the Second War, and he and Doomhammer developed a mutual respect, however, Zul'jin grew furious when Doomhammer not only failed to destroy Quel'Thalas, but also abandoned his siege against the elves in favor of assaulting Lordaeron. Zul'jin and his armies stayed behind, continuing to fight on, yet the high elven king seized the chance to upset the balance of power between them for good, and sent out spellcasters and priests to help the rangers and warriors crush the Amani. Zul'jin was cornered near Darrowmere Lake, unable to reach the water due to the walls of rampant dragon fire scorching the area. He put up a fierce fight, but his entourage was cut down and Zul'jin was taken into the custody of the elf Halduron Brightwing. Chaining Zul'jin, Halduron's men brutally tortured Zul'jin, even gouging his eye out. Yet this decision to keep the chieftain alive for punishment and revenge rather than execute him on the spot - many more of the rangers had lost friends and family to Zul'jin's constant campaigns - would prove short-sighted: in a daring rescue attempt, Amani raiders caused enough havoc for Zul'jin to escape, the chieftain cutting off his own arm with a discarded spear to do so.

Upon gaining his freedom, he went into hiding for a decade. His disappearence after the Second War sparked many rumors, and most believed he died under a hail of Alleria Windrunner's arrows.

Third War
For many years Zul'jin remained hidden from elven eyes, watching and waiting for the right time to strike out against his enemies once more. He saw a proper chance for action when the Scourge ravaged Silvermoon - by this time, almost 90% of the high elves were killed by the undead and the precious lands of Quel'Thalas were defenseless. But this plans failed: even with the loas' might on their side, trolls couldn't stand against armies of undead, and soon Zul'Aman was forced to defend against the Scourge.

World of Warcarft
Zul'jin has now re-emerged from the shadows, the High Elves have once again given their allegiance to the Alliance, consequently he has been forced to ally himself with the Horde once more, despite his reluctance to do so after the defeat in the Second War and the marks it left on him, his hatred for the Elves is greater than his hatred for the Horde, without the Horde, Zul'jin knows that he will not be able to resist a siege by the Elves alongside the forces of the Alliance.

Located on Amani'alor following the fall of Zul'Aman to the Undead Plague, Zul'jin and his Trolls wait patiently for the right moment to reclaim their ancient lands from him.

Perhaps a new war will be formed when both ancient enemies clash again in a conflict as old as the Sunwell itself.

Gossip
...

On-click

 * Greeting
 * Hello, mon.
 * Ol' Zul'jin welcomes ya.
 * De Amani will endure.
 * Are ya here to help?


 * Annoyed
 * Ya, mon?
 * De elves take more than me eye.
 * De Amani will rise again soon!
 * Dese were our lands... troll lands.
 * Zul'Aman shall not fall!
 * Keep that up and Zul'jin gonna cook ya!


 * Farewell
 * May the Loa be with ya.
 * Take care now, mon.
 * Bye now.
 * We be meetin' again soon.

Notes and trivia

 * Before his introduction in Turtle-WoW in patch 1.16, Zul'jin was mentioned several times in the game:
 * Mystic Yayo'jin of the Revantusk tribe said: "If Zul'jin were here, he would have destroyed the whole lot of them with a flick of his wrist - alas, Zul'jin has not yet returned and we are left to our own devices."
 * Huntsman Markhor of the Revantusk said: "Zul'jin shall return one day. Mark my words. Until then, we all hold our positions and do what we can to keep the forest troll population intact."
 * The Captured Hakkari Zealot on Yojamba Isle said: ''"The young races? The infants? Humans? Orcs? Dwarves? You expect to defeat the Hakkari? To destroy a GOD? It shall NEVER happen. We are legion. We are united. Where are your heroes? Vol'jin sits in sanctuary at the side of the young Warchief, unaware. Zul'jin missing, probably dead."


 * Troll players in World of Warcraft who use the /charge emote will sometimes proclaim "For Zul'jin!" Similarly, Troll Headhunter (Warcraft III) and Troll Batrider (Warcraft III) in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos yell "Vengeance for Zul'jin" and "Flames for Zul'jin", respectively, despite hailing from the Darkspear tribe.

A name or a title?
Troll names are surprisingly complex because their language is largely syllabic, and various syllables can be added to the beginning or end of a troll's name to denote status and ability. Some trolls drop their given names altogether and are known purely by their titles. In this case, Warcraft RPG - The Roleplaying Game states, a great tribal witch doctor might be called Zul'jin, where the suffix jin refers to a tribal cheif or elder and the prefix Zul describes a voodoo master. The book doesn't mention Zul'jin as a character, however, so it is unknown if it is his real name or simply a title.

Regeneration?
The reason why Zul'jin's arm and eye never regenerated is a mystery. The Troll Compendium – published before the release of World of Warcraft – mentions that trolls are capable of regenerating lost limbs and implies it to be entirely natural, which makes it possible for Zul'jin to fully recover his lost parts of body.


 * Zul'jin could be cursed by the elves after they captured him so that the troll warlord couldn't regenerate while being tortured.
 * He could save his wounds by his own will as a reminder of what the elves did to him, a way to show his people what the elves did to their warlord to fuel their hate even more.
 * There is also a possibility that Zul'jin was unable to regrow the limb due to his age: he was already old during the Second War. But there is no information about any connections between regeneration ability and aging.