Koltira is a relatively minor character from the Warcraft series, introduced at the start of the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. Although he doesn't play a significant role in the grand scheme of things, he's an essential part of the death knight storyline and is often credited with being the first of his kind to join the Horde, one of two primary factions in the Warcraft universe.

Koltira Deathweaver
Title	Knight of the Ebon Blade
Gender	Male
Race	High elf (blood elf)
Class	Death Knight
Primary Element	Disapprovium
Associated with	Faltora (brother; deceased), Bloodmist (deathcharger), Byfrost (runeblade), Thassarian (bro)
Hates forever	Arthas
Level	85 (Elite)

Contents 1 history; the early years; 2 history; captured & tortured, part I; 3 history; koltira deathweaver and the language of death; 4 history; captured & tortured, part II; 5 personality; 6 powers;

history; the early years;Edit

Not much is known of Koltira's life as a breathing, red-blooded high elf, but the death knight manga offers a few insights. He's introduced as a guardian of An'owyn, a hidden patch of Quel'thalas that kept safe one of the keys to the Elfgate. His armor--intricately filigreed plate--and weapon--a broadsword--indicate that he was probably a warrior, as was his little brother, Faltora. Koltira playfully cajoles his brother over his attraction to their female friend, a high elf mage named Merriel. Their discussion is light-hearted and at ease; their worries are initially only focused on the matter of a banquet being thrown by one of the nobles. Koltira puts his brother in a headlock and teases him for his shyness in asking Merriel to the banquet, but the situation quickly sours--literally. Koltira catches the scent of undeath on the wind and, shortly thereafter, An'owyn is besieged by now-evil Prince Arthas's forces.

Koltira's brother dies in the conflict, slaughtered by an abomination's merciless hook. But Koltira observes that his brother could have fallen much earlier--Faltora ran recklessly into battle and was almost immediately beheaded by Thassarian, one of Arthas's most powerful death knights. However, Thassarian hesitated, and it was this hesitation that caused Koltira to stalk Thassarian throughout the forests, eventually confronting him about the matter. Thassarian denied any shred of compassion despite Koltira's words, and they parted with the declaration that they would fight to the death at their next meeting.

As you may be able to guess, Koltira lost that fight. Disarmed and brought to his knees, Koltira spat at Thassarian, taunting him in a last-ditch effort to revive the humanity that Koltira had seen at An'owyn. "Do it," he said. "Be a mindless pawn and forever damn your soul."

The entreaty failed. Thassarian impaled him with his runeblade while Arthas watched on eagerly, and the next time you see him, Koltira is clad in a death knight's armor and marching to war. He remains enslaved to the Lich King's will for many years, doing god only knows what horrible things to countless innocent people. During that time, Koltira and Thassarian become about as close as two mind-controlled, soul-chained, icy-hearted killing machines can be.

history; captured & tortured, part I;Edit

Their friendship is showcased in the starting quests for player death knights in Wrath of the Lich King: Koltira gets captured and dragged off in chains by the Scarlet Crusade, a group of crazy, pseudo-Catholic zealots who are systematically destroyed by the player character's efforts throughout the storyline. Keep in mind that the player character, Koltira and Thassarian are all at first hideously evil, but since the Scarlet Crusade is comprised almost entirely of assholes, one does not feel too many pangs about turning their skulls into delicious potions and razing their farmlands into diseased oblivion.

The PC finds Koltira lying half-naked on a torture rack in the Crusade's barracks. He chastises you for coming

after him, saying that his present circumstances were punishment for his failure. He calls Thassarian a fool and states that now two of their order might be lost. But once he gets over the fact that you're so goddamn nice, he shows his own kindness in return--he puts his armor and runeblade back on, then drops an Anti-Magic field on the ground to protect you while you stave off the waves of Crusaders that come to prevent your exit. Once that's done, he runs out ahead of you and mounts up in order to draw their fire so that you can safely escape.

After much more mayhem and chaos done, everything draws to a conclusion in a final battle at Light's Hope Chapel, home of the paladins who are actually good and righteous instead of torture-fixated and crazy. The fight is set up Thermopylae style, with an insane amount of Scourge (evil!) forces versus Light (good!) forces. The beatdown is interrupted, however, when the holy power that sleeps beneath the Church erupts, completely turning the tide of the battle and disorienting the death knights on the field. It's revealed that the Lich King planned for this to happen and that everything up to that point had been an elaborate plot to draw out Tirion Fordring, a paladin favored strongly by the Holy Light. Plans went awry when Darion Mograine--Koltira's boss--decided he'd had enough of this shit. He experiences an emotional epiphany when the ghosts of the past take the field and he sees himself and his father in life; the manga also depicts Thassarian crying as he sees his own family ghosts. There's nothing about what Koltira went through, but it's probably safe to surmise that it was something similar, probably to do with his brother.

Darion tosses the cursed sword, Ashbringer, to Tirion. The blade is purified in Tirion's hands and he uses it to drive away the Lich King. In the aftermath, the death knights find that the Lich King's hold on them has broken: their will is restored. They resolve to seek revenge on Arthas for what he's done and reform as the Ebon Blade, an organization devoted to the eradication of the Scourge. Koltira and Thassarian are among the group's first members.

It's at this point, though, that they have to part ways. Though they are free, they are also burdened with blood-stained consciences and many memories of unforgivable deeds. Furthermore, Thassarian is a human and Koltira, while still technically a high elf, seems aware that the majority of his remaining people have become blood elves. Humans are part of the Alliance; blood elves joined the Horde. Koltira expresses confusion over what to do next--what does his life mean now? What life does he have left to live, and where should he go? The two also question their friendship, which developed under the heinous auspices of the Lich King's dominion. Still, they part amicably.

history; koltira deathweaver and the language of death;Edit

Koltira heads off to Northrend and takes up residence at a Horde outpost, though he states in his introduction to the Warlord there that he wishes to settle because he 'sees both sides at peace', which suggests that faction squabbles are not his concern. This notion is reinforced throughout the quests he offers player characters in Dragonblight and Icecrown: the only goal is Arthas's downfall, any other battles are not only secondary but outright detrimental to the true cause.

At first, Koltira is not that nice to the player characters who meet him in his unbound state. He actually refers to you as a 'peon' and sends you off to do various tasks for him in return for translating a book written in Scourge, tasks that all involve re-energizing the blood, frost and unholy runes on his sword. He's kind of super bitchy throughout these quests, far more so than his personality in either the manga or the DK quests suggest. The reason why, to my view, comes at the end of the chain: he asks you to go into the shadow world and defeat some of the tormenting shadows that plague him constantly, demons that he is apparently unable to face himself. The Lich King appears during this task and taunts the player, referring to Koltira as a boy whose soul isn't worth saving.

Once you've cleared away some of the demons, Koltira's whole demeanor changes. He translates the book, calls you a friend, and wishes you good luck--and in all of your future Icecrown dealings with him, he speaks highly of you to other NPCs and shows concern for you when you return to him after having seen the ghost of Arthas's heart.

According to the manga, these torturous shadows are unique to Koltira's experience--Thassarian doesn't suffer from them, though he speculates that Koltira may be sensitive to the demons because of his natural elven affinity for anything magical in nature. The truth is never confirmed either way.

At any rate, the war goes on and eventually the Lich King falls. Champagne and strawberries for everyone, right?

Well, not exactly.

history; captured & tortured, part II;Edit

Killing the Lich King was the fundamental goal of the Ebon Blade. It was the driving force behind Koltira's entire (and, let's be frank, largely miserable) existence. Now he and all the other undead have to figure out how to live in a world that likely no longer considers them relevant.

Koltira, for his part, is sent to aid Sylvanas in the battle for Andorhal, a human city that's been held by the Scourge ever since Arthas invaded his own kingdom back in The Day. Problem is, the Alliance wants to reclaim it, too, and guess who's the general for those forces? Yup--old buddy Thassarian.

They're able to put off their inevitable clash for a time due to the presence of the Scourge. Both of them focus on that first and then they hem and haw about what to do next--Koltira quips that he wanted to give Thassarian a chance to kill him again, but they ultimately decide not to fight yet. Though you the player are ordered to keep your fucking mouth shut (regardless of which side you're on), Sylvanas sees all.

The Horde wins the battle for Andorhal, largely thanks to Sylvanas introducing Val'kyr to the field--ghostly warrior women able to resurrect fallen enemies as allies, just like they did for their former master, the Lich King. Sylvanas is pretty excited about this despite the fact that it makes her exactly like the guy she hates, and Thassarian knows some shit has gone down when he sees them: he tells the player character that Koltira would never use the Val'kyr in battle.

Shit has indeed gone down. Sylvanas isn't pleased with Koltira's kindness-induced waffling, so even though they took the city, she still impales him with abomination hooks and has him sent beneath the Undercity for re-education. The moment of said hooking is the canon point he's taken from. Nothing is yet known of what happens after that.

personality;Edit

KIND OF A DICK

powers;Edit

Unholy:

Frost:

Blood: