Margrave Gharmal

Margrave Gharmal was the leader of the House of Constructs, one of the five Necrolord houses of Maldraxxus. A massive abomination, Gharmal possessed the power to shape flesh in ways that few other beings could. They had a voracious appetite for power and hoarded anything they believed to be an item of power. In the absence of the Primus, Gharmal and their house allied with Margrave Sin'dane of the House of Rituals in an attempt to conquer the Shadowlands, but the abomination margrave was slain in their stronghold by a joint assault by the Kyrian and Necrolord Covenants.

At some point, Gharmal obtained the Mantle of Eternal Victory, one of the armor pieces of the Primus, and stored it in their private tower. Gharmal was convinced by Kel'Thuzad, baron of the House of Rituals, to send their forces to attack Bastion's Temple of Courage alongside the House of Rituals. The margrave was also provided with canisters of anima by Kel'Thuzad's venthyr allies in Revendreth. During the invasion of Bastion, the Construct Surgeon Stitchflesh devised a way to create extremely powerful abominations from kyrian flesh, an effort which would later be carried on by the rest of Gharmal's house. Not all members of the House of Constructs agreed with their margrave's actions, and many spoke out against the attack on Bastion. Fearing dissent, Gharmal removed many of these rebellious souls from their constructed bodies and imprisoned them in the Etheric Vault, leaving them to fade away from a lack of anima.

The Construct and Ritualist attack on Bastion was eventually repelled by the Maw Walker. When the latter arrived in Maldraxxus, their combat prowess in the Theater of Pain drew the attention of Gharmal and Sin'dane—who recognized the stranger as having been responsible for thwarting their efforts—as well as Margrave Krexus of the House of the Chosen, who accused his fellow margraves of treason and ordered them to recall their forces from Bastion. In response, Gharmal mockingly asked if the Chosen had lost their appetite for glory. A vicious battle subsequently broke out between the three houses while the margraves returned to their respective strongholds, with Gharmal sending their vanguard to besiege the Chosen forces at the Spearhead. After the Maw Walker helped the Chosen push back the assault, Baron Vyraz (who was secretly in league with the Constructs and Ritualists) ordered the Maw Walker and Secutor Mevix to launch a direct assault on the Construct stronghold in the hopes of catching Gharmal unprepared. The attack resulted in most of Mevix's soldiers being killed, and Gharmal themself emerged from their stronghold to tell their forces to hold their ground. Mevix decided on a change of strategy and told the Maw Walker to play dead so the Constructs would collect them for parts, while he created a diversion by rushing at Gharmal and allowing himself to be captured. The secutor's plan was a success, and the hero and Mevix ultimately fought their way out of the stronghold alongside captives from Bastion by taking control of the Soulfused Construct and killing one of Gharmal's two barons, Halis.

Gharmal later observed the fighting in the Theater of Pain alongside Sin'dane and Vyraz. Some time thereafter, the margrave sent reinforcements to Bastion, led by their remaining baroness, Antolyte. This attack was repelled as well, this time by an alliance between Xandria—the Paragon of the ruined temple—and members of the Necrolord Covenant. The kyrian and Necrolords subsequently joined forces and used the necropolis Zerekriss to launch a combined assault on the House of Constructs in the hopes of ending Gharmal's reign. The margrave gathered their forces at their stronghold, including new, immense juggernauts of kyrian flesh. While kyrian and Necrolord Maw Walkers helped their covenants battle the Construct forces, Gharmal boasted about how they would soon get to craft the flesh of the "Chosen exiles and their kyrian pets". The margrave used astral projectors to rally their troops in the Stitchyard and proclaim that Bastion was only the beginning, that "all will be bound to our flesh", and that the kyrian juggernauts would destroy all who opposed the Constructs. Once the Zerekriss was nearly in position, Alexandros Mograine helped the Maw Walkers destroy Gharmal's juggernauts with the power of the Blade of the Primus, forcing the margrave out of their tower and into the open. At the House of Constructs' central ripening pond, Xandria, Alexandros, and the Maw Walkers began battling Gharmal in order to buy enough time for Baroness Draka to focus the Zerekriss' weaponry. During the fight, Gharmal claimed that the Primus had held them back and that they should've raided Bastion ages ago, and mockingly asked Draka if she would beg to join the Constructs the way she had joined the House of the Chosen. The battle ended with Draka using the Zerekriss to fire a single massive bolt of energy at the margrave, killing them.

On Alexandros' suggestion, Xandria asked kyrian Maw Walkers to take Gharmal's heart—which carried their power of shaping flesh—to Elysian Hold and place it inside the Crest of Ascension. Through Mikanikos' handiwork, the heart's energy was channeled to aid in the kyrian's ascension rituals and help protect the Crest against attack. Meanwhile, the Necrolords investigated Gharmal's Tower and discovered both the canisters of venthyr anima and the Mantle of Eternal Victory, the latter of which they brought with them back to the Seat of the Primus.

• During Pursuit of Justice (Kyrian)/Pursuit of Justice (Necrolord)

• Other NPCs refer to Gharmal with inconsistent pronouns; in some cases, they use "they," while in other cases, they use "he". Blizzard artists seemingly considered the character to be male during development, as Mongsub Song used "he" when describing the margrave and Cole Eastburn's concept art for the character is variously labeled "abomination lord" or "abomination king", both masculine titles.
• When referring to themself in first person, Gharmal sometimes uses the singular "I"/"me" and sometimes the plural "we"/"us".
• Gharmal's voice consists of two separate voices, one masculine and one feminine, layered on top of each other. The masculine part is voiced by Lex Lang.
• During development, Gharmal was originally named Margrave Belligeros. The old name was mistakenly used in the quest text for Rebellious Souls up until the release of patch 9.0.5.

Gharmal's dual voice and their use of the pronouns "they" and "us", noted above, suggest that the margrave's personality is made of multiple souls fused together in a single body.