Arthas: Rise of the Lich King

Correctly called Arthas: Rise of the Lich King, this novel chronicles the events of Blizzard Entertainment's Warcraft III: the Reign of Chaos and its expansion pack Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. It also includes the early childhood of Prince Arthas Menethil and events that tie it directly to World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King. As such, it takes place in the Warcraft Expanded Universe. It is a novel by Christie Golden and resolves several plot issues nagging from the World of Warcraft game.

This novel contains the following tropes:
"Sylvanas Windrunner: Give my regards to hell, you son of a bitch."
 * Action Girl: Sylvanas, right up until she becomes a Dark Action Girl.
 * Adaptation Expansion: In general terms, it does a magnificent job fleshing out many of the lore figures who take part in Wrath of the Lich King.
 * Anti-Hero: Type III-> Type V -> Villain Protagonist.
 * Arranged Marriage: Arthas' sister is almost married to Lord Prestor and is horrified for it. Arthas is horrified at the prospect for himself. Subverted in the fact that
 * Better as Friends: Arthas gives this speech to Jaina. She takes it with a lot more grace than Arthas deserves.
 * Berserk Button: Arthas and being betrayed.
 * Or hurting his horse
 * The Cameo: There are too many minor characters to list, considering the nature of the storyline. However, not many expected Tiron Fordring to make an appearance. And surprisingly without a speaking role.
 * Chekhov's Skill:
 * Complete Monster: Arthas finally achieves this
 * Purging Stratholme is a close runner-up.
 * Cool Sword: Frostmourne and Felo'melorn.
 * Dark Messiah: Which Arthas eventually becomes, at least for the Scourge.
 * Dramatic Irony: Kael'thas believes that since the Orcs made deals with demons and became addicted to demonic blood that they deserve no sympathy because anyone stupid enough to do that is an idiot..
 * The Evil Prince: What Arthas transforms into.
 * Evil Sounds Deep: Dreadlords could make a living out of this trope.
 * Face Heel Turn: And how!
 * Foreshadowing:
 * Infant Immortality: Discussed by Jaina who theorized The Plague might not affect children the same way.
 * Jerkass: One of the more amusing parts of the book is that Arthas has everyone convinced he's not one. Including himself.
 * The Heartless: Arthas after he takes up Frostmourne.
 * Kick the Dog:
 * Knight in Shining Armor: Most believe Arthas is this.
 * Knight Templar: Arthas slowly develops an obsession against Mal'Gannis that justifies everything.
 * Light Is Not Good: Arthas is a paladin of light, despite being of fundamentally weak moral character.
 * Meaningful Name: Subverted. Uther Lightbringer remains a nice guy right up until his death. Arthas, named undoubtedly for Arthur
 * Uther was the name of Arthur's father.
 * Morality Chain: Jaina is unwittingly Arthas' morality chain. When she turns against him, he jumps off the slippery slope.
 * Moral Event Horizon: At what point you think Arthas crosses this is up to you but he definitely crosses it.
 * Motive Decay: Arthas wanted revenge and to protect his people, right before turning them all into undead. Justified as, by the time he does, he's literally lost his soul.
 * My Death Is Just the Beginning: Kel'thuzad. Practically word for word.
 * Mythology Gag: The book lingers for a while to tell the reader that  escape from Durnholde Keep spawned quite a bit of Wild Mass Guessing over how he actually managed to accomplish this, with some rumors going as far as "A Dragon Did It". Of course, people who've read Lord of the Clans would know that
 * The "dragon did it" rumors add to the gag. In-game, Thrall is indeed released by several heroes under the employ of a dragon.
 * The Obi-Wan: Uther Lightbringer and Muradin Bronzebeard.
 * Ojou: Jaina Proudmoore herself in this.
 * Omnicidal Maniac: It's clear that the Lich King intends to turn the entire world into truly loyal undead slaves.
 * Precision F-Strike: One particular case carries through from Warcraft 3.
 * Ojou: Jaina Proudmoore herself in this.
 * Omnicidal Maniac: It's clear that the Lich King intends to turn the entire world into truly loyal undead slaves.
 * Precision F-Strike: One particular case carries through from Warcraft 3.


 * Prince Charming: Arthas is believed to be this by Jaina (and everyone else). Kael'thas thinks he is, but fails utterly in convincing Jaina of it.
 * Prince Charmless: This is what Arthas actually turns out to be.
 * Kael'thas held a torch out for Jaina, but she thought it was creepy rather than flattering due to their titanic age difference.
 * Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Arthas' reaction to the events of Stratoholme that drive him insane.
 * Slowly Slipping Into Evil: Justified by the fact that Arthas is clearly traumatized and borderline insane even before he picks up Frostmourne.
 * Start of Darkness
 * Tear Jerker: Invincible's death, for those of us who have had a beloved pet die.
 * The Virus: The cursed grain that Kel'thuzad made.
 * "Well Done, Son" Guy: Again, subverted. Everyone assumes that Arthas is actually the loyal and doting son of his father. In fact, Arthas has greatly mixed feelings about his father, right up until.
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist: Subverted. After Stratholme, it's clear that Arthas doesn't care anymore about protecting his people.
 * White-Haired Pretty Boy: Arthas is the embodiment of a noble and beautiful blond haired hero, at the start. He then becomes a white haired Death Knight.
 * White Prince: How Arthas begins.
 * Zombie Apocalypse: The main threat posed to the heroes and the Kingdom of Lordaeron as a whole. Arthas spends the first half of the novel trying to fight against it, then eventually brings it about.