Crypt lord

Crypt lord
Faction/Affiliation	Scourge
Racial capital	Azjol-Nerub
Racial leader(s)	Anub'arak †
Homeworld	Azeroth
Language(s)	Nerubian

For the Warcraft III unit, see Crypt Lord (Warcraft III).

Crypt lords are undead nerubian spiderlords of the subterranean spider kingdom of Azjol-Nerub. Crypt lords are adept at summoning insect minions and crushing enemies. Betraying the nerubian people, the crypt lords have sacrificed the lifeblood of thousands to bolster the undead armies of Ner'zhul, winning an eternal life of servitude in his name.^[1]

Background

These ancient, evil behemoths were once the mighty kings of the subterranean spider kingdom of Azjol-Nerub. Though the nerubians fell before the wrath of the Lich King during the fabled War of the Spider, the insidious crypt lords were swayed over to the Lich King's ranks and granted considerable power and the immortality of undeath. Now the giant, thundering beasts serve as the Lich King's mightiest warriors and the guardians of the Scourge's holdings in Northrend.^[2] Covered in mummification bandages like the lesser crypt fiends,^[3] crypt lords can protect themselves by enclosing their bodies in layers of spiked, chitinous armor and impale enemies by slamming the ground and shooting out lines of spiked tendrils. They can summon carrion beetles from enemy corpses and create swarms of locusts, which chew enemy flesh and convert it into a substance that heals the crypt lord.^[1]^[2] In combat, each of their legs work separately, grabbing and impaling victims while their pincers shear off enemy limbs.^[4]

Notable

Types

Trivia

The undead nerubian queen Nezar'Azret uses a crypt lord model.
Some use the title of Underking.
The tier 10 hunter set, Ahn'Kahar Blood Hunter's Battlegear, is crypt lord-themed. According to concept art, the armor itself is made out of the chitinous husks of fallen crypt lords.^[5]