Like all origin stories, the one of Warcraft is a bit muddled the further back we go. However, bearing a likeness with our very own universe's beginnings, it is unsure what created the Warcraft universe. Some believe it was formed by a single, powerful being and others believe it was formed after a great explosion that sent infinite planets into the abyss known as the Great Dark. Sounds familiar? Damn right skippy it does.
What is known for sure, is that from this chaos emerged the Titans, a race of incredibly powerful beings intent on balancing out the universe. These motherfuckers were like a kid playing Minecraft in sandbox mode with the universe and they went from planet to planet shaping them as they saw fit. They raised oceans and mountains, created the winds and the clouds and even went as far as empowering the primitive life on the planets in order to maintain the planet and ensure that their ideology was fulfilled. The Titans were ruled by a group called The Pantheon, which is Warcraft's equivalent of the United Nations, but for the whole universe.
As it is with all things in life, where there is a Ying, there must be a Yang and the Titans weren't the only beings of power in the universe with motives. The Twisting Nether, an ethereal dimension of magic that connected the worlds held its own powerful beings and they weren't as nice as the Titans. For lack of a better description, The Twisting Nether is Hell, if Hell is a different dimension. A place outside, but connected to the Warcraft universe that was as equally infinite, but much more sinister than the realm of the Titans. This place was inhabited by many beings with the opposite virtues of the Pantheon and only sought to bring out chaos and destruction to the universe, as it was in the Twisting Nether. Sounds like a swell place.
Eventually, the forces of the Twisting Nether began to encroach into the Titan's realm and brought chaos to the developing universe. To combat them, the Pantheon elected one of their most powerful beings, Sargeras to be the first line of defense against the demonic forces of the Nether realm, and he kicked their asses...for a while. Sargeras fought the forces of evil for many millennia before encountering an evil race of sorcerers which used their warlock magic to enslave civilizations and ultimately transform them into demons. These fuckers were the definition of pure evil and thrived on agony, destruction and the disorder of the universe through suffering.
Sargeras, being a God by all definitions made quick work of them before banishing them to the Twisting Nether. However, during the process, something changed in Sargeras. Bearing witness to the unmeasurable evil and maliciousness of the warlocks, he could not grasp how anybody could have such an insatiable lust for suffering and he slipped into a depression which became a turning point in the evolution of the Warcraft balance of good vs. evil.
Not only was Sargeras in a slump of depression and internal self-conflict about the purpose of the universe, but he was also forced to suck it up and go deal with yet another evil race of beings intent of destroying the balance that the Titans sought to bring. This race was called the Nathrezim (or Dreadlords), demons of great intellect and power that brought havoc into the universe by not destroying civilizations themselves, but by corrupting them and forcing them to destroy each other. The Dreadlords are the goddamn Illuminati of the Warcraft universe, playing puppeteer behind the scenes and carrying out their evil agenda vicariously.
Again, Sargeras steps up to the plate and knocks the Dreadlords down a notch, but he has seen too much at this point. His virtues and ideology now corrupted by the inherent evil in the universe has manifested into an ever-gnawing doubt, eating Sargeras from within and loosening his grasp on faith. Sargeras began to believe that due to chaos and evil being so rife in the universe, it was the only constant to uphold, and instead of fighting it, chaos should be embraced and adopted as the virtue of the developing universe.
His fellow Titans tried to convince him otherwise, but Sargeras, already wallowing in a pessimistic pit of depression and disillusion would not hear it. He denounced himself from the Titans and sought to find his own meaning in the universe. The Pantheon reluctantly let Sargeras go and appointed Aggramar, Sargeras' lieutenant and right-hand man as his successor. Should the Pantheon have known what would become of Sargeras, they would have never let him go.
Sargeras traveled the universe to try and carve out his own notch in history. However, an unrelenting-rage was consuming him and the fires of despair and disbelief burned out what little bastion of morality he had left. Maddened by rage and lack of reason, Sargeras began to believe that not only were the Titans wrong in their efforts to balance the universe, but they were also responsible for the failure of creation. Not only did his mentality change, but also his very existence. The fires of rage and hatred burnt so much within him that they manifested themselves on to him. His eyes, hair and beard erupted in flame and his once metallic skin now burst apart by flaming embers of burning hatred. At this point, Sargeras is basically Lucifer.
In order to change the worlds, you need an army and Sargeras realized this. He went forth to the Twisting Nether and broke the Dreadlords and other demonic races free from their captivity, to which they submitted and pledged their eternal loyalty to him. Sargeras now had an army and he needed generals to lead it. As luck would have it, he found an incredibly powerful and magical race called the Eredar from the planet Argus which he deemed suitable for the job.
The Eredar were a race of highly intelligent beings with an affinity for magic. They had a vast civilization of many magical cities and were lead by three leaders called Archimonde, Kil'jaeden and Velen. Sargeras promised them great power and immortality in exchange for their services and fealty. Archimonde and Kil'jaeden agreed with Sargeras' proposal, much to the dismay of Velen, which refused to join due to a vision of demonic evil he had about Sargeras and the army he was forming.
Velen, with the help of the Naaru, a race of beings comprised of energy, left his people and took along with him the remaining group of Eredar that would not side with Sargeras, to form his own faction called The Draenai (The Exiled Ones).
Sargeras, now with two incredibly powerful generals, an army of demons and sentient sympathizers to his cause had everything he needed to set the stage for the beginning of Warcraft universe as we know today. The Burning Legion was born and it would be the catalyst that shapes Azeroth into what it is today.
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