Warcraft / World of Warcraft - Goblins

Goblins in the Warcraft universe are green-skinned, cunning, and mercantile creatures driven by profit and invention. Originally enslaved by the trolldom of the jungle trolls, goblins won their freedom in a rebellion and established a capitalist society centered on the Trade Prince cartels. Warcraft goblins are defined by their entrepreneurial greed, reckless engineering, and use of 'goblin-tech'—unstable but effective machinery, explosives, and vehicles that tend to backfire spectacularly. In World of Warcraft, goblins became a playable race in the Cataclysm expansion (2010), with their starting zone on Kezan and the Lost Isles. Goblins choose between the four Trade Cartels: Bilgewater (the playable Horde faction aligned with the Bilgewater Cartel led by Trade Prince Gallywix, later replaced by Gazlowe), Steamwheedle (neutral entrepreneurs), Venture Company (aggressive industrialists), and Blackwater (racketeers). Notable goblin characters include Gallywix (the greedy former leader of the Bilgewater Cartel), Gazlowe (the more benevolent leader who takes over, known from Warcraft III's goblin merchant), and the goblin engineers responsible for inventions like the Goblin Shredder, the Zeppelin, and various bombs. Goblins in Warcraft are distinct from other fantasy goblins in that they are not primarily warriors but industrialists, inventors, and merchants—a take that emphasizes the 'gremlin/mischievous inventor' aspect of goblin folklore.