Varian Wrynn, also nicknamed Lo'Gosh the "Ghost Wolf", is the son of the late King Llane Wrynn and the current King of Stormwind.  Following his disappearance en route to Theramore for a diplomatic conference with the Horde, Varian's ten-year-old son Anduin Wrynn was named king in his place.LoC 46 However, events have led to his eventual return to his homeland and his rightful throne.

He has become a major player in the Warcraft universe; a dynamic human character who has replaced the human heroes that are either old, dead, or super-villains. He has even been described as the "anti-Thrall".  Leading the recent campaigns against the Scourge of Northrend and the Forsaken of Lordaeron, he has solidified his status as the undisputed military leader of the Alliance.

Varian will be a major player in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm.

The king of Stormwind, recently returned to claim his rightful place, has little love for the Horde. His reasons are many: when Varian was a young boy, he saw his father murdered by the half-orc Garona; the orcs' warchief, Orgrim Doomhammer, slew the valorous Anduin Lothar, who had delivered Varian safely to Lordaeron after the fall of Stormwind; Varian was later enslaved by the orcish gladiator trainer Rehgar Earthfury; and at the Wrath Gate, many brave Alliance soldiers died at the hands of the Forsaken's Royal Apothecary Society.

Varian, who had always been wary of the orcs, discovered that the Royal Apothecary Society had been developing the new plague for years. The events that transpired during the battle for the Undercity convinced the human king that the Horde has been left unchecked for too long: the time has come to make things right...

The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm

Varian Wrynn is considering violent action in response to mounting tensions between the Alliance and the Horde, a hard-line approach that threatens to alienate those closest to him, including his son, Anduin.