Arthas

Arthas Menethil, the Lich King, is a melee Tank Hero from the Warcraft universe. Once the crown prince of Lordaeron, and protégé of Uther the Lightbringer, Arthas was corrupted by the cursed blade Frostmourne in a bid to save his people. Now he rules over the damned as the Lich King and all shall know his wrath.

Arthas is a Tank who is proficient against melee Physical Attackers, Slowing them.

History
, the crown prince of, was the son of , and and brother of. He joined the led by Uther the Lightbringer, and was trained as a. Arthas was a promising knight, though he eventually spiraled down a path of vengeance.

Arthas's downfall began at, one of the first cities to be struck by the. Upon discovering that the grain stores in the city had been infected, Arthas ordered Uther and a mage named Jaina Proudmoore to help him purge the city in order to prevent the plague from spreading further. Uther and Jaina refused to follow his demands, however, and Arthas went on to purge the city without them. In Stratholme, Arthas encountered and fought a by the name of. Before Mal'Ganis fled, he told Arthas to meet him in the arctic land of.

Arthas gathered an army and set sail for Northrend. Upon his arrival, he encountered an old friend by the name of Muradin Bronzebeard. After Muradin told Arthas of an ancient and powerful called, which had the potential to slay Mal'Ganis, the two friends set out to look for the weapon. Upon finding Frostmourne, however, Muradin realized it was cursed and said they should leave it be. Arthas, willing to pay any price to save his people, did not heed Muradin's warning. He claimed the blade and seemingly killed his old friend in the process.

With Frostmourne in hand, Arthas set out to find Mal'Ganis. He fought through hordes of before reaching the dreadlord. Mal'Ganis revealed to Arthas that the whispers he was hearing from Frostmourne were actually the voice of the, and asked him what the Lich King's next instructions were. Arthas replied that the voice was telling him to enact his vengeance. Striking the astonished dreadlord down, Arthas abandoned his men and began wandering through the frozen wastes, where he lost what remained of his sanity. When Arthas returned to Lordaeron, he killed his father in cold blood and conquered the kingdom in the name of the.

Some time later, following the destruction he had wrought on the continent, the Lich King ordered Arthas to return to Northrend. Illidan Stormrage, who had been instructed by the to destroy the Lich King, raced Arthas to the immobile Lich King's seat of power in. Ultimately, the two fought and Arthas emerged victorious. Arthas shattered the and placed the  of the Lich King upon his head, allowing the two to become one single being.

Gameplay
Arthas is an aggressive Tank who who can be played both as a Bruiser and as a Tank. Arthas excels at slowing and rooting several opponents at the same time, which allows him to either chase down retreating enemies or to peel for threatened allies. The ability to reduce the Attack Speed of nearby opponents, makes him an excellent choice against Melee Assassins who are dependent on Basic Attacks.

Strengths

 * Powerful crowd control abilities
 * Strong self-sustain
 * Resilient against Basic Attacks
 * High damage output compared to other Tanks
 * Decent laner

Arthas' Weaknesses

 * No gap-closers
 * Mana dependent
 * Struggles against mages who deal a large amount of burst damage

Abilities

 * See Data Page for a table of scaled values at key levels.

Trivia

 * Arthas first appeared in the novel Warcraft: Of Blood and Honor (January 2001). His first in-game appearance was in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (July 2002).
 * In Warcraft III, Arthas is voiced by Justin Gross. In subsequent appearances, he is voiced by Patrick Seitz (paladin/death knight Arthas) and Michael McConnohie (Lich King Arthas).
 * Arthas was one of the 18 heroes revealed at BlizzCon 2013.
 * Arthas's model was designed first and his role in the game was decided upon later.
 * Blizzard considered giving Crown Prince Arthas a hammer, but that would have required additional animation work, in addition to conflicting with Uther and creating confusion. They also considered making paladin Arthas a skin for Uther, rather than Arthas, but that would have opened another can of worms. Ultimately, they decided to depict paladin Arthas immediately after he picked up Frostmourne. That meant his animations could stay the same, and since he still had his sword he was still recognizable as Arthas.
 * NECA revealed the Heroes of the Storm Arthas action figure at SDCC 2015.
 * Arthas's "hail to the king" quote references a line spoken by Ash Williams in Army of Darkness (February 1993).
 * Arthas's "looking for a few dead men" quote references a 1985 United States Marine Corps commercial.
 * Arthas's "my condition has left me cold" quote references a line spoken by Mr. Freeze in Batman & Robin (June 1997).
 * Arthas's "no man can defeat me" quote references a line spoken by the Witch-king of Angmar in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (December 2003).
 * Some of Arthas's quotes reference the running joke about Darkness.