Legends is the name of a Warcraft manga anthology containing five volumes. It features short stories that are written by Richard A. Knaak, Mike Wellman, Dan Jolley, Troy Lewter, and Brian Yang and illustrated by Kim Jae-Hwan, Carlos Olivares, and Nam Kim. The first volume was released on August 12, 2008 and the second volume on November 11 of the same year. Volume 3 was released on March 17, 2009 and the fourth on June 16 of the same year. The 5th volume was released at September 2009.
This series contains examples of:
- Absurdly Sharp Blade: Nuri's final sword slices through the anvil that forged it.
- A Day in the Limelight: Minor characters, such as questgivers or vendors, often receive central roles in comics.
- Affably Evil: Magatha Grimtotem is nice to Kova Broadhorn, even asking her to call her by her first name, but the errand she sends her on involves retrieving one of her accomplices in her plan to depose Cairne.
- Anthology Comic: Sort of the point.
- Arms Dealer: Nuri, who makes many of the associated rationalizations about his work.
- Being Good Sucks: The point of the story Thomas tells his children is that the most morally sound decisions are seldom the easiest ones.
- Cherry Tapping: Nuri kills Havoc with the same practically worthless sword he gave his son, and who used it to try to fight Havoc.
- Clear My Name: The Darkmoon Faire works to find out who killed Cedric Falbrooke's brother when Kerri is accused of doing it.
- For Want Of A Nail: Jaina, in a nightmare, wonders if, by accompanying Arthas, she could have saved him from becoming the Lich King. In the end, she's forced to participate in the culling of Stratholme, abandon Muradin to save Arthas, and ultimately becomes the Lich Queen.
- Freak Out: Thomas after killing his family.
- Gotta Catch 'Em All: Nuri's quest is to track down and repossess every sword that he has made, whether by refunding the buyer, or by killing them.
- Heel Realization: Renee Lauer. Given that she becomes one of the Forsaken, however, it's hard to call a Heel–Face Turn. Nuri gets a straight example, when he realizes that his actions alienated his son, and his confiscating the sword he made for his son leads to his death at he hands of one of his former clients.
- Heroic Sacrifice: When all else fails in his quest to retrieve the sword from the lake full of man-eating fish, the prince in Thomas' story dives in to retrieve it himself and succeeds in bringing it to the surface, but is bitten to death in the process.
- How We Got Here: Nuri tells Havoc his story after capturing him.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Reversed with Kova (a female tauren) and Miles (a male gnome)
- It's the Journey That Counts: Draka kills several of Nagrand's most dangerous animals for reagents to use in a potion that will make her stronger, but learns that it was more about helping her to realize her true potential.
- Leeroy Jenkins: In Jaina's nightmare, Arthas charges the undead, forcing Jaina to make a Sadistic Choice between him and Muradin.
- Narrator All Along: Renee Lauer, complete with the storyteller referring to herself in the third person.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Congratulations, Kova, you're part of the reason why your High Chieftain's dead in Cataclysm.
- Odd Friendship: Kova and Miles. Despite being Horde and Alliance, and reliant on shamanism and technology, respectively, they become friends over the course of the story.
- Off with His Head!: How the future Headless Horseman dies.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: Cedric Falbrooke is buried alive for trying to frame Kerri for killing his brother, when he had done it himself.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Displeased with his son's decision to set out on his own, Nuri tells him that the measure of a man lies in his weapon. He concludes that his son is no longer fit to wield the sword he was given, instead giving him a sword that is almost worthless, which he says is exactly the one he deserves.
- Rhymes on a Dime: Thomas, once insane, and also the Headless Horseman. Foreshadowed somewhat in the rhyming story he tells his children.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: The goal of the siblings of a blood elf and a Forsaken who were killed by the Scarlet Crusde.
- Sadistic Choice: Jaina, in a nightmare, is forced to choose between saving Arthas and Muradin. She chooses Arthas.
- Sanity Slippage: Sir Thomas Thomson, the paladin who eventually became the Headless Horseman.
- Set Right What Once Went Wrong: Thrall dreams about having a chance to save Taretha, but every time, he fails.
- Start of Darkness: The Headless Horseman's story.
- Title Drop: Durotan saying that Draka is "a warrior made".
- Took a Level in Badass: Draka, in the appropriately titled "A Warrior Made". Lampshaded by her future husband Durotan at the end.
- True Companions: The Darkmoon Faire, as seen when they band together to save Kerri from imprisonment and clear her name.
