Why is Un'Goro Crater So Dangerous And Mysterious?.

USE CODE DORON Un'goro crater is really a strange zone - it really is kind out of place on Kalimdor when compared to the surrounding areas. You have massive dinosaurs walking around, crystal pylons, titan facilities and overall it is definitely not a zone you want to get lost in but at the same time you also want to figure it out.

Why? No one knows exactly how this jungle got its name. It is obviously a play on words in regards to an actual region in Africa but in-game there are two sources that explain it. In the tortollan tongue Un'goro is known as the land of the lost and the found in the Qiraji Language it means God's Lands.

Why this is we'll cover in a bit but let's look at what the actual zone is like. Un'goro as given by its name, is a massive crater, completely surrounded by a wall of mountains and right in the middle, there is a volcano. You might expect that no one in their right mind would be living right around a volcano but you couldn't be farther from the truth.

In fact, the zone is an amazingly lush jungle and it is teeming with life. You have everything from dinosaurs, to gorillas, stegodons to the silithid, golems and the elementals. At first you might think well what is strange about that, it's just a regular wow zone you have what beasts in a jungle but other things are going around when you pay closer attention.

See long ago when the titans had shaped Azeroth and created the titan keepers to watch over the world, Freya did a few things. Aside from creating the Emerald Dream as the blueprint of Azeroth, she also created 3 zones, Un'goro Crater, Sholazar Basin and the Vale of Eternal Blossoms.

These functioned as the titan's testing grounds and were intended as areas for experimentation on life. Normally titan creations wouldn't interfere with life but these 3 areas were there for them to take a more direct hands-on approach. Un'goro crater is best explained as a Titan's Petri dish.

Around the time of Wrath of the Lich King, we discovered the Shaper's Terrace and as the cloaking mechanism was damaged by the shattering later on we've also discovered yet another titan area. Judging by the location of these - quite on the edge of the crater it is more than obvious that these were built her in order to observe this zoo, to experiment and to examine life from a distance.

Eventually Freya departed and only recently we would discover Nablya a titanic watcher left in charge of performing tests in her absence and watching over the lifeforms. Now we don't know about the exact experiments but we do have some information. Most importantly from these 3 zones the Wild Gods emerged.

This was most likely done by enhancing the native life forms and as the Well of eternity's power coalesced around Un'goro it was one of their birthplaces. You might know the Wild Gods as the Guardians, the August Celestials or the Loa. A side from them this experimentation might also explain why you see such a wide variety of beasts in this zone, kind of out of place when compared to the surrounding areas.

Sure you have the regular elementals, gorillas and the like but when I previously mentioned dinosaurs I meant dinosaurs, plural as in many various versions. There are anything from raptors to flying skyscreamers to the massive Devilsaur. We know so little about the actual native life on Azeroth but it is highly likely that some of these are descendants of the enhanced test subjects or the test subjects themselves making them more unpredictable and dangerous.

Aside from danger, Un'goro is also a land of mystery. You might have noticed various crystals all over the crater and no one really knows how they got there and what is their exact purpose. In fact the entirety of Un'goro Crater is teeming with natural resources, I'd say if explored it would really be a goldmine but only recently have organized and intelligent humanoids started exploring more as really you'd have to be very brave or more importantly have an army that controls an entire continent behind your back to start a mining operation here.

Additionally, it was said that during the War of the Shifting Sands when the qiraji overran Silithus they had reached Un'goro, however something had prevented them from ever taking over this area and from permanently settling here. Based on what we know about the titan facilities it is most likely that some sort of cloaked defences were set in place as they could have expected an attack from the Old Gods.

Surprisingly the Cult of the Damned somehow managed to reach this zone, most likely through the portals as the titans had connected Sholazar Basin and Un'goro crater to observe their creations in an easier manner. Seeing how all 3 test labs are in very different areas the far north, middle and far south my guess is that they had intended to test life through varying ecosystems and to connect them, however, unfortunately, that system had been abused.

Currently, it has been more than a few years since we've been to Un'goro or much had happened. Most recently there was a Legion invasion but that was about it. However, it is entirely possible that if something happens, some change to Azeroth after the Shadowlands we could see a new storyline for the mysterious Un'goro Crater.