Bwonsamdi

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Bwonsamdi
Title	Great Spirit, Loa of Death, Loa of Graves
Gender	Male
Race	Loa (Humanoid)
Reaction	Alliance Horde
Location	Various
Status	Alive

Bwonsamdi (pronounced "BWAN-sam-dee") is a powerful loa that controls the spirits of the dead, primarily trolls. His face is described as looking like a rush'kah mask. Bwonsamdi's temple is the Necropolis in Nazmir on Zandalar. The spirits of all trolls on Zandalar go to him upon death. Bwonsamdi grows more powerful the more souls are in his care.

After someone undergoes the rite of binding, a ritual "as old as the world itself", the soul of anything they kill goes to Bwonsamdi.

To honor the loa of death, Zandalari will don masks in their rituals and pray to him. Bwonsamdi in turn will either answer in kind, or curse them with pain, depending on his mood.

History

Bwonsamdi's origins are unknown and while he appears as a troll Bwonsamdi himself that stated that he came before trolls.

Zalazane's Fall

This section concerns content related to Wrath of the Lich King.

Bwonsamdi in Wrath of the Lich King.

Before they were driven away from the Echo Isles by Zalazane and his hexed trolls, the Darkspear tribe once worshiped the great spirit. During the liberation of the Echo Isles, Vol'jin tried to recruit Bwonsamdi to his side for the battle against Zalazane. After Vol'jin and his fellow Horde warriors proved themselves worthy, Bwonsamdi agreed to help them against Zalazane. When Zalazane shielded himself with a protective barrier, an amused Bwonsamdi pointed out that the Darkspear dead belonged in his domain and that Zalazane was going to be one of them. Bwonsamdi then raised Restless Zombies to shatter the barrier and killed Zalazane. With the battle over, Bwonsamdi took his leave.

Vol'jin: Shadows of the Horde

This section concerns content related to the Warcraft novels, novellas, or short stories.

After Garrosh Hellscream's assassins crippled Vol'jin, the troll found that his shadow hunter powers were being withheld by the loa. In his dreams, Bwonsamdi contacted Vol'jin and told him that his injuries, self doubt, and conflicting loyalty toward the Horde has made the loa forsake him. Bwonsamdi showed him various visions, including a future of Vol'jin using the Horde to destroy the Alliance, and turning the Horde into an empire that would rival even the ancient troll civilizations. The Death Loa wished Vol'jin would use his influence to create as much strife and war as possible, for that would mean more souls would be sent to the other side on his behalf. Vol'jin refused to go down the path of the Zandalari conquerors, believing it was not the Darkspear 'way'. Vol'jin eventually proved his conviction and reaffirmed his identity, regaining both Bwonsamdi's respect and his powers.

Bwonsamdi received the souls Vol'jin sent from the battles between the Shado-Pan and the Thunder King's forces with great satisfaction. At the end of the war, Vol'jin's companion Tyrathan Khort was near death. Vol'jin pleaded with Bwonsamdi to spare Tyrathan. The loa complied, knowing he would have his soul now or later, it did not matter.

Battle for Azeroth

This section concerns content related to Battle for Azeroth.

When King Rastakhan was betrayed by Zul and near death, Bwonsamdi claimed his soul and at first refused to give it back because the loa of kings Rezan had been keeping Rastakhan from him for a long, long time and he would be denied no further. Rezan threatened Bwonsamdi into complying, but Bwonsamdi was sure that he would see him again soon enough. When Rezan was slain by Zul, his power could no longer keep Bwonsamdi at bay and Rastakhan began to age quickly.

In Nazmir, the Zandalari forces led by Princess Talanji sought the aid of the local loa to battle the blood trolls. Bwonsamdi's worshiper Hanzabu brought a Horde adventurer to the Necropolis to meet with him. After tasking the adventurer with cleansing his temple of the spirits who had abandoned Bwonsamdi for G'huun, Bwonsamdi agreed to pledge his powers to the fight against the blood trolls in exchange for one million souls. The ritual to finalize their contract was interrupted by Grand Ma'da Ateena, leader of the blood trolls, but she was successfully fought off. For being attacked in their own temple, Bwonsamdi declared that the blood trolls would be mighty sorry.

When it was discovered that the turtle loa Torga had been slain by the blood trolls, the Talanji and the tortollans called on Bwonsamdi to communicate with Torga's spirit. Bwonsamdi would only comply with a deal, the soul of another loa in exchange for communing with Torga, but Talanji denied him that much to Bwonsamdi's amusement. Instead, the souls of the blood trolls that had eaten Torga's flesh were used in exchange for communing with Torga.

Bwonsamdi participated in the final charge against the blood trolls led by Talanji. He prevented the adventurer from dying to a swarm of blood trolls because they still had a debt to pay him.

Locations

Notable appearances
Location	Level range	Health range
Quest:Zalazane's Fall	82 - 83	8,000,000
Nazmir	??	??

Quotes

Main article: Zalazane's Fall#Scripted event

At Graveyard

Ah, ya come ta spend some time with Bwonsamdi?

Haha! Now that^[sic] dat be an amusing death!

Well look at you! Da mighty hero... ha!

No, no, no, ya no good to me dead. I be able to return ya to life... for a price.

I tink ya followed da wrong light, mon. (to paladins)

Tsk, tsk. I not be expecting ya here so soon.

Notes & trivia

• Despite being the caretaker of deceased trolls, he is willing to put other races into his care. When Vol'jin tried to negotiate to him to spare Tyrathan Khort, he told him it is not Vol'jin's authority to decide who he will take and who does not. It is likely that he took some deceased pandaren and mogu to his care during the Shado-Pan Monastery battle.
• Many of the Sandfury tribe's fallen members were offered no protection after death from Bwonsamdi, as their tortured spirits obeyed Zum'rah, a cruel witch doctor who used his dark magic to force the city's dead into unending service.
• Bwonsamdi sees undead as abominations and cannot stand their "unbearable taint" in his temple. Despite this, he himself raised undead, in the form of Restless Zombies and Tiki Warriors, to test Vol'jin and fight Zalazane.
• If a player dies on Zandalar, Bwonsamdi serves as the Spirit Healer.
• Bwonsamdi was voiced by Dave Fennoy in Wrath of the Lich King.
• Bwonsamdi's model resembles Ryuk from Death Note, who is also a god of death.
• Mueh'zala is another loa of death, one worshiped by the sand trolls.
• Bwonsamdi seems to be inspired by the real Haitian Loa Baron Samedi. The RPG and Quest:The Blessing of Samedi mentions another troll Loa inspired by Baron Samedi known as Samedi.
• Bwonsamdi referring to his domain as the "Other Side" may be a reference to Dr. Facilier, the vooodoo-using villain of the Disney movie The Princess and the Frog, who was partnered with spirits known only as the "Friends on the Other Side". Like Bwonsamdi, Facilier's appearance was inspired by Baron Samedi.
• Bwonsamdi regards Vol'jin as one of his favorites.

Gallery

• 

  Bwonsamdi at BlizzCon 2017

Speculation

This article or section includes speculation, observations or opinions possibly supported by lore or by Blizzard officials. It should not be taken as representing official lore.

Because of the similarities between the troll loa Samedi and Bwonsamdi, as well as both being based on the same real world loa, it is possible that the two are one and the same, just being addressed by different variations of his name.

Patch changes

• Patch 8.0.1 (2018-07-17): Re-added with model updated.
  
• Patch 4.0.1 (2010-10-12): Removed.
  
• Patch 3.3.5 (2010-06-22): Added.

  Event activated September 7/8, 2010.
  

External links

• Wowhead
• WoWDB