Hakkar the Soulflayer
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Hakkar the Soulflayer is the blood god of the Gurubashi Trolls in World of Warcraft, a vicious and brutal creature that demands daily blood sacrifices. Long ago when the Trolls first encountered Hakkar, when they realised the mistake they had made trying to summon him to the real world, the war that engulfed the nation of Gurubashi destroyed the Troll's homeland and set the tribes against each other. Seeking to rekindle the power of their dead nation, the Atal'Ai Tribe attempted resummoning the Soulflayer back into Azeroth. When the Emerald Dragon Ysera discovered this plot was taking place in a temple erected in the Swamp of Sorrows she immediately caused an earthquake which sunk it beneath the land. This however did not stop the Atal'Ai so the mighty Eranikus and an army of Green Dragons stormed the Temple and kept the Trolls at bay, preventing Hakkar being reborn.
Unfortunately, a group of adventurers (Unwittingly working for a member of the Atal'Ai) entered the Temple, slew its guardians, the Atal'Ai and captured the essence of Hakkar's Avatar. They also discovered the etheral projection of Erankius, his body returned to the Emerald Dream but a portion of his power left behind. As they defeated him, a small shard of his Essence dropped to the floor and they discovered that, somehow, Hakkar had corrupted Eranikus, and much of the Emerald Dream. He had created the Nightmare.
As the sealed essence of Hakkar was brought back, the adventurers discovered they had only hastened the blood god's return to the world. His essence was carried to Zul'Gurub, the former capital of the Gurubashi where he was brought back into the world. Now he presides over the ruined city, still demanding blood and waiting for the time he can strike out and destroy all Azeroth.
There are two different beings named Hakkar in Warcraft. One is Hakkar the Soulflayer, blood god of trolls. The other is Hakkar the Houndmaster who appeared in War of the Ancients Book 1: Well of Eternity.
Hakkar is well known for causing the Corrupted Blood plague.
[edit] Dispute Over the Nightmare
According to Nightmare at WoWWiki, a World of Warcraft wiki, Hakkar is not, in fact, the creator of the Nightmare.
"It is later revealed in the Sunken Temple in the Swamp of Sorrows that Hakkar the Soulflayer is the one responsible for the corruption of Eranikus and was presumably also the creator of the Nightmare. However, Eranikus' later redemption as part of the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj event indicates that the Nightmare goes deeper and is in fact a creation of the Old Gods. (The Old Gods are presumed to be Hakkar's masters, as he is a Faceless One, although this is not explicitly confirmed in-game.)"