Welcome Bear

This is a silly article.
The content of this article is not part of official Warcraft lore, but has nevertheless become part of the World of Warcraft culture or community.

It just wants to hug.

Welcome Bear refers jokingly to the higher level bears that roam the Western Plaguelands. The joke is that new undead players, not knowing that Western Plaguelands is a much higher level zone than the adjacent Tirisfal Glades where they begin, wander in from the relatively safe Tirisfal Glades and are horribly murdered by — usually — a Diseased Black Bear. Hence, the Welcome Bear. One variant is the "Welcome Spider", another recurring Plaguelands mob.

The Welcome Bear is also experienced by people who try to travel on foot from Tirisfal Glades to Ghostlands or Silvermoon City without realizing they could just take the Orb of Translocation from Undercity.

A variation on the Welcome Bear for Alliance players can be an Obsidian Elemental while exploring and accidentally wandering into the Burning Steppes from the Redridge Mountains, or even straying across the river into Duskwood from Elwynn Forest.