In the past, the Horde referred to the orcs and their battle thralls from both Draenor and Azeroth, such as trolls and ogres. Following its utter defeat at the end of the Second War, the Horde's dark power was broken, allowing Thrall to awaken the dormant spirituality of his people and free them from the Burning Legion's control.

During the events of the Third War, Thrall has made lasting bonds with the tauren chief Cairne Bloodhoof and the troll shadowhunter Vol'jin of the Darkspear clan. The ties between the three races is very close, as both share many similar cultural views. With the help of the tauren, both the orcs and the tribe of trolls have established a place for themselves in Kalimdor. Since then, certain ogre tribes, as well as the Forsaken and blood elves have chosen to affiliate themselves with the Horde.

The present Horde is mostly about surviving in a land that has come to hate them. The orcs are hated because, much like the Forsaken, they were formerly mindless, controlled beings. Though redeemed, they are not forgiven by many members of the Alliance who believe them to be their old selves still. The trolls, tauren and their other allies are the ones who understood them, and so they are hated for that. An interesting fact is that every prominent Horde leader has been allied with certain members of the Alliance in times of war.

Although its name would imply otherwise, the Horde may actually be viewed as a more centralized body than the Alliance, as Orgrimmar is the obvious center, Thrall is the undisputed leader, and he stands as Warchief over the entire Horde, holding dominion over the Darkspear Trolls and tauren tribes alike (though he treats his fellow racial leaders as equals

Like the old Alliance of Lordaeron, Thrall accepts ambassadors and advisors from all the different tribes and members of the Horde and makes sure their voice is heard in the running of the fledgling empire. Although unavoidably possessing the characteristic militarism of the orcs, Thrall has also proven himself to be a compassionate, idealistic, and enlightened individual, and commands a great deal of respect within the Horde.

Major Horde member races include:

• The Orcs of Durator
• The Trolls of the Darkspear Tribe
• The Tauren of Mulgore
• The Undead Forsaken of Lordaeron
• The Goblins of the Bilgewater Cartel
• The Huojin Pandaren of the Wandering Isle

Although the Horde in the MMORPG is a single faction, it is actually divided in two or more distinct parts (partially including the Dark Horde in the Burning Steppes but not the Fel Horde in Outland). It is both a geographical division and an ideological one.

• Two small orc factions use the same rationale to pursue completely opposite goals. Both factions display utter loyalty to the Horde. The Horde is their family, their home, and they take great pride in serving it. These orcs believe the Horde comes first in everything. One faction has come to terms with the Horde’s association with the Alliance. By joining arms with the Alliance, the Horde was able to assist in preventing the destruction of the world. These orcs consider their success a sign that Thrall and the Horde are on the right path to strength and glory. The other faction feels that Thrall betrayed the Horde by allying with humans. They consider the Horde corrupted, tainted and weak. These orcs fight for their lost glory using any tools at their disposal, including arcane magic. They dream of one day becoming powerful enough to destroy the mock Horde that exists today and replace it with the old and glorious empire the Horde once was. Faithful of the Horde can be of any class, but those who support the current Horde never become warlocks, and those who denounce the current Horde never become shamans.[19] This situation causes a rift within the ranks of the proud orcs, and it grows increasingly difficult to tell friend from foe.

The Horde of Kalimdor follow mostly Thrall's leadership. They include most of the Orcs, the Tauren, the Darkspear trolls and some ogres. They are united by a shamanistic culture, honor, and their respect for Thrall, who they consider their hero and affirmed leader. This Horde is the result of the actions in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos.

The orcs are undergoing a cultural revolution as they feel the unnatural, arcane bloodlust leave their bodies, giving them calmer and more focused states of mind. They, for the most part, follow Thrall as he forges ahead to reform the Horde both inside, with his shamanism, and outside, with the founding of Durotar. Still, not all orcs are pleased with these movements, namely the evil orcs who still reside on Azeroth. These orcs, who include a good number of the surviving warlocks, actively raid Alliance and Independent caravans and towns, and renounce all that Thrall proclaims the Horde is. Like the two faces of the Alliance, the different Horde factions meet rarely; but there are some orc warlocks on Kalimdor who would very much like to retake control of the Horde forces, and they are gaining strength in the wilderness to do so.

While geographically separated, the Frostwolf Clan in the Alterac Mountains share their shamanistic culture; and the uncorrupted Mag'har in Outland would also fall in this group.

The Horde of the Eastern Kingdoms includes the Forsaken, the blood elves, and sometimes the evil orcs of the Dark Horde.

While Thrall freed most of the orcs held in Lordaeron and brought them to Kalimdor, other orc clans remained in the Eastern Kingdoms, mostly in the southern part of the former kingdom of Azeroth. Orc warlocks and other clans that refuse Thrall’s leadership are strongest in Azeroth around the Burning Steppes and the Blasted Lands. Many of them prefer to stay near the Dark Portal through which they first entered Azeroth, and some warlocks still try to tap into the magic holding the portal in place. Most of them are part of the Dark Horde, who follow Rend Blackhand as their warchief and are opposed to Thrall. The Forsaken of Lordaeron will, of course, happily aid the Horde in the area. They don’t care whether the orcs are evil or not; it’s actually easier for them if their allies are evil.

While geographically separated, the Frostwolf Clan in the Alterac Mountains share their shamanistic culture; and the uncorrupted Mag'har in Outland would also fall in this group.

The Forsaken are nominally allied with the Horde but serve only themselves. They are much darker than their allies from Kalimdor, do not necessairly consider Thrall as their leader and certain members of their race do not care about honor, morality or even other races. Not all Forsaken are evil, but the many are, and other races definitely view them as such. A non-evil Forsaken must work hard to prove his neutral (or perhaps, good) intentions. Few good Forsaken exist, but many evil ones do, and their leadership is definitely up to nefarious ends.

Blood elves despise most other races, but they are coming to accept that the Forsaken are different, or at least share the same goals. Most blood elves are not insane or evil - they just choose to fight fire with fire. They were suffering for lack of the Sunwell; they all needed -- and still need -- to feed on arcane energies, even though most of them aren't spellcasters. The most powerful blood elf spellcasters are insane, as the magic they wield is corrupting. The western Horde recognizes the blood elves as dangerous, volatile and ultimately destructive.

Even if many Forsaken and some blood elves are evil, this "second Horde" cannot currently be considered as a danger to the world, as Thrall's Horde has kept them mostly in check. The Forsaken's Royal Apothecary Society surely have questionable plans, but so far they keep fighting the Scourge and left the rest of the world alone for the most part (except for a few deals with the Grimtotem tribe, and spreading diseases and enslavement of druids in Ashenvale forest, among other things).