An Insight to a Death Knight

Most of the time when you hear a blood curdling scream followed by a froosh type sound, your guaranteed to have just heard a Death Knight casting his or her mount, and are likely to see them gallop through with no care to fence, gate or gnome they knock over in the process.

But what really makes a Death Knight? Is it that icy glare? The deep soulless voice? Or does it go deeper than this?

When starting a Death Knight there comes a mission that you have to kill a survivor in the jail; Now up to this point you have been slaughtering everything from cows to peasants that run directly at you (for some reason), without a care in the world, then this gets dropped in your lap and you think ‘cool more death!’. But as you reach the person you intended to kill, they recognise you, uttering the lines:-

Ellen Stanbridge says: Come to finish the job, have you?
Ellen Stanbridge
says: I'd like to stand for.....
Ellen Stanbridge says: {Name}
Ellen
Stanbridge says: {Name}, I'd recognize that face anywhere.... What..... What
have they done to you, ?
Ellen Stanbridge says: You don't remember me, do
you? Blasted Scourge.... They've tried to drain you of everything that made you
a righteous force of reckoning. Every last ounce of good... Everything that made
you a human!
Ellen Stanbridge says: Think, {Name}. Think back. Try and
remember the hills and valleys of Elwynn, where you were born. Remember the
splendor of life, {brother/sister}. You were a champion of the Alliance once!
This isn't you.
Ellen Stanbridge says: Listen to me, {Name}. You must fight
against the Lich King's control. He is a monster that wants to see this world -
our world - in ruin. Don't let him use you to accomplish his goals. You were
once a hero and you can be again. Fight, damn you! Fight his control!

Knight Commander Plaguefist yells: What's going in there? What's taking so long,
{Name}?

Ellen Stanbridge says: There... There's no more time for me. I'm
done for. Finish me off, {Name}. Do it or they'll kill us both. {Name} ...
Remember Elwynn. This world is worth saving...

Although this is different for each race, the effect would be the same. Now I got wondering about my Death Knight after that little speech; who was my Death Knight before he became what he now is? Did he have a family, were they alive, did he have any friends, how old actually was I, had I died during the second war fighting Arthas or did I die fighting beside him before he lost his mind?

With all these thoughts I set out to see if it was possible to understand the Death Knight more, as an actual character, even a person, so I had a long think about what just feels right with my Death Knight, that natural sense of what you should be doing.

With that I cast my Dread Steed, found Elwynn on the map and set off to find my place in the world………