Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftain

"Storm, earth and fire, Hear my call!"

Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftain are a band composed of employees of Blizzard Entertainment who do Heavy Mithril songs related to the company's games, usually Warcraft and World of Warcraft.

They were called Tenth Level Tauren Chieftain in the days of Warcraft 3, changed to Level 60 Elite when WoW came out, then went up to 70 with the release of the Burning Crusade expansion and 80 with Wrath of the Lich King, to keep up with the maximum level. At BlizzCon 2009, in the wake of another announced level cap increase, they broke their pattern and instead changed their name to this symbol, referring to themselves as "The Artists Formerly Known as Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftan" (or Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftain for short), parodying Prince.

They "appear" in World of Warcraft itself as The Tauren Chieftains, doing hourly performances of "Power of the Horde" in Shattrath City, as well as standing in Silvermoon City on a balcony and waving back to anyone who waves at them.

• Members:
  • Vocalist: Samwise "Samuro" Didier, also Blizzard's art director.
  • Rhythm Guitarist: Chris "Sig Nicious" Sigaty, also the lead producer of StarCraft II.
  • Lead Guitarist: Dave "Bergrisst" Berggren, also a concept artist and game designer.
  • Bassist: Mike "Mai'Kyl" Morhaime, also Blizzard's president and co-founder.
  • Drummer: Alan "Chief Thunder-Skins" Dabiri, also a senior programmer (though credited with the ambiguous term "dunsel").

• Songs:
  • Power of the Horde (2003): Played during the credits of Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne, and is accessible in the game's single-player mode with the cheat "tenthleveltaurenchieftain". The band's World of Warcraft incarnation also plays this song during its appearances.
  • I Am Murloc (2007)
  • Rogues Do It from Behind (2007)
  • Terran Up the Night (2007): Their first non-Warcraft song, composed to celebrate the announcement of StarCraft II earlier that year. This song was later included in Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty (which focused on the terrans, appropriately enough), and could be heard in the game's jukebox, during the credits and during gameplay when the player entered the cheat "overengineeredcodpiece". Credited as Level 800 Elite Tauren Chieftain.
  • Raise Some Hell (2008): Composed to celebrate the announcement of Diablo 3.
  • Nightfall (2008)

Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftain provides examples of the following tropes:

• Badass Boast: "Power of the Horde".
• Creator Cameo / The Cast Showoff: Because the band was formed by Blizzard employees, this was expected. They have appeared several times in World of Warcraft, and there's an ad of the band in Starcraft II.
• Double Entendre: "Rogues Do It from Behind".
• Heavy Mithril: What do you expect?
• "I Am" Song: "I Am Murloc".
• Rank Inflation: Level 10 -> Level 60 -> Level 70 -> Level 80.
  • They make an appearance in Star Craft 2 as Level 800 Elite Tauren Chieftain.