Invincible

Invincible was the steed of Arthas Menethil, both in life and death. He was the skeletal horse that Arthas rode throughout Warcraft III, though his name was first introduced in Wrath of the Lich King, and his backstory in the novel Arthas: Rise of the Lich King.

Invincible was born to the mare Brightmane on the Balnir Farmstead in Tirisfal Glades, in the winter of the year Stormwind fell. At Jorum Balnir's invitation, Prince Arthas—then nine years old—assisted in the foal's birth. The moment he met the foal's eyes, Arthas felt a bond between them and knew that the horse would become his mount and inseparable friend. Although he wasn't a warhorse, as those were a separate breed, he would bear Arthas in ceremony and daily life. The Balnir family, who bred horses used by the royal family, gave the horse to Arthas two years later. Arthas considered naming the horse "Snowfall" or "Starlight" because of his white coat, but in the informal tradition of Lordaeronian knights and nobles naming their steeds after a quality (Uther's was "Steadfast", King Terenas' "Courageous"), he named the colt "Invincible".

One of the prince's favorite activities whenever he needed an escape from his royal duties was to go riding on Invincible through the Tirisfal countryside, and in particular to guide the horse in a leap over an embankment near the Balnir Farmstead. Mount and rider were always completely in tune, with Invincible obeying Arthas' every command, and the prince often felt that the stallion flew rather than galloped.

One winter afternoon when Invincible was ten years old, a few months before Arthas was inducted into the Knights of the Silver Hand, the two went riding despite a growing snowstorm. When Arthas tried to guide the stallion over their favorite jump, Invincible lost his footing on some icy rocks and, instead of landing smoothly, fell and shattered his forelegs. Too far from help and unable to heal the stricken horse, Arthas was forced to kill him by stabbing him through the heart with his sword in order to relieve his pain. The stallion was buried on the grounds of the Balnir Farmstead at Arthas' request. The guilt and trauma of Invincible's death left a deep impact on Arthas, who long viewed the incident as his only failure in life. He never revealed the truth of what had happened to anyone else and instead let them believe that it had been an accident. In response to the horse's death, Arthas made a private vow to always protect others no matter what sacrifices were required and to never again let himself be caught unawares and unable to help, which influenced several of the decisions he made later in life.

Seven years later, the night after he landed in Northrend to pursue Mal'Ganis, Arthas had a dream of Invincible's fatal injury and of having to kill him again. This time, however, the prince found himself holding a very different sword. When he pulled it out of Invincible's body, the horse didn't die but was instead miraculously healed and made stronger than before. Arthas felt that the dream was a joyous omen.

After murdering his father, Arthas—now a death knight—ran directly from Capital City to Invincible's grave at the Balnir Farmstead. With the power of Frostmourne, Arthas resurrected the horse as his undead steed. He decided that Invincible's death seven years earlier had not been a mistake on his part, but rather an essential part of his destiny. He believed that the now undead horse was proof that he had never been wrong about anything in his life—if the stallion had been alive, he would've feared the death knight, but now the two could be reunited. Although he hadn't been bred to be a warhorse, Invincible's resurrection made him immune to hunger, pain, and exhaustion, making him the perfect steed for Arthas. Now fully living up to his name, he could move with unnatural swiftness as well as become a spectre and disappear, to be resummoned by Arthas at any time.

During the Scourge invasion of Quel'Thalas, Anasterian Sunstrider confronted Arthas in single combat, severing Invincible's forelegs with his runeblade, Felo'melorn, to dismount him. Witnessing Invincible's injuries brought on a surge of memories and sent Arthas into a rage, during which he shattered Felo'melorn and struck down Anasterian. This time, however, Arthas was able to necromantically repair the injuries. At the start of the Plaguelands civil war, as Arthas' powers weakened and the Dreadlord Insurgents turned much of the Scourge against him, the death knight was relieved to find that he could still effortlessly summon Invincible. He felt certain that the stallion still loved him and was the one creature that would never turn against him—"the one thing he had done completely right".

Invincible continued to serve as his master's mount even after Arthas became the new Lich King. The horse was known to stalk through Icecrown Citadel and fly on the winds around the spires. Sindragosa has also been referred to as the Lich King's mount.

Following Arthas' defeat, Invincible's saddle was lost beneath Icecrown. Years later, the Knights of the Ebon Blade retrieved the saddle and used it to create steeds for the Four Horsemen.

In World of Warcraft, Invincible's empty grave can be found at the Balnir Farmstead in Tirisfal Glades. A plaque on the headstone reads:

The grave was added to the game in patch 3.0.2 and was the first place to mention the name "Invincible", before the novel Arthas: Rise of the Lich King was released and expanded on the horse's backstory. The plaque is absent in the post-Battle for Lordaeron phase of the zone, apparently a developer oversight.

When defeated on heroic difficulty in 25-player mode, the Lich King has a small chance to drop Invincible as a flying mount.

At birth, Invincible's coat, mane, and tail were gray, but by the age of two they had turned white as snow. This was a rare color even among the Balnir-bred horses, who mostly had light gray coats. His eyes in life were brown.

The depictions of Invincible as an undead are noticeably inconsistent, with different sources portraying the horse's appearance in wildly different ways. His original look in Warcraft III: Classic is that of a partially skeletal horse with horns, identical to the mounts ridden by other Death Knight units in that game. 's patch 3.3 introduced a new, unique design with the Invincible's Reins mount: a flying undead steed with bat wings and larger portions of his skin and flesh still intact. Most subsequent depictions in World of Warcraft and other sources fluctuate between these two versions of his design.

• Like Invincible, Anduin Wrynn's horse Reverence also comes from the Balnir Farmstead.
• A common joke concerning Invincible is to refer to the horse as if it were named 'invisible' due to the similarity of the words. The phrase is often "Why is it called Invincible if I can see it?".
• Invincible's death in Rise of the Lich King is based on the death of the American racehorse, who shattered her forelegs during a 1975 race and was subsequently euthanized.

• Invincible appears as an ally card in the Assault on Icecrown Citadel Treasure set for the Trading Card Game.
• In Warcraft III: Reforged, the multiplayer skin Fallen King Arthas depicts Arthas as a living king of Lordaeron riding a white horse. This is presumably Invincible, the way he would've appeared if still alive.
• One of HS Battlegrounds/The Lich King (the Lich King)'s alternate skins in the HS Battlegrounds mode in Hearthstone is HS Battlegrounds/Invincible Lich King (Invincible Lich King), which depicts him riding the horse.
• Invincible appears as HS Invincible (a legendary minion) in the HS March of the Lich King expansion for Hearthstone. His flavor text reads: "No it's not, I can see it right there."
• The horse is mentioned in one of ' click quotes in Heroes of the Storm: "I once had a horse named Invincible. Turns out, he... wasn't."
• As part of the event—a crossover between Warcraft and StarCraft—in Heroes of the Storm, a -horse hybrid known as the Invincilisk was added as a mount, matching the zerg-themed skin for Arthas. The name is a portmanteau of Invincible's name and the suffix "-lisk", seen in the names of several zerg types in StarCraft. The Invincilisk's flavor text makes reference to the aforementioned invisible joke.
• Invincible is purchasable as a mount, the Invincible Aspect, in Diablo IV. He comes with optional armor (the Bard of Undying Loyalty) and saddle trophies (the "Domination Helm" and "Echo of Frostmourne").