World of Warcraft offers eight playable races: Dwarves, Gnomes, Humans, Night Elves, Orcs, Tauren, Trolls, and Undead. Each of these races has unique racial traits and certain playable classes available to them. These racial traits and class options help them to accomplish their goals in the world.

The game's races are further divided into two warring factions: the Alliance and the Horde. Characters can only talk, group, and create guilds with players from their own faction. Certain zones and cities in the world are also friendly to one faction while hostile to the other. Additionally, certain quests can only be completed by members of one faction and not the other.