World of Warcraft is bringing the cuteness to you in Midnight, with the Haranir Druid’s pangolin form

Yes, you read the title correctly — the new Haranir allied race coming in World of Warcraft: Midnight have pangolins for their Guardian Druid form, according to the World of Midnight developer panel at gamescom 2025.

Wait, you don’t know what a pangolin is? Well friend, let’s talk about the adorable endangered species Blizzard has chosen for their inspiration.

Pangolins are incredibly unique, as the only scaled mammals on earth. Their scales are comprised of keratin, like human nails, that armor their bodies as a defense from both their predators and their prey. However, they are not 100% covered by scales; instead, they roll into a ball like an armadillo when threatened, protecting their unscaled heads and bellies. Good thing too, when their scales can weigh up to 20% of their body weight.

Fun fact: Pangolins have strong ecological importance; they help regulate insect populations (their standard diet) in their territories, consuming something up to 70 million insects a year.

Now, when we talk about pangolins, we’re actually referring to a group of eight different species under the order Pholidota. These species have an even geographic split across the globe: four in the African continent, and four in the Asian continent. As such, their range of habitats is pretty diverse, ranging from tropical forests and woodland areas to savannas. But across the board, they are all scaled, solitary, and mostly nocturnal, with a conical snout to direct their long, sticky tongue, and powerful front claws for digging.

Fun fact: While we probably all picture pangolins racing around on their legs, bipedal, only one of the eight species uses that method of walking — the Temminck’s Pangolin. Yes, they look like little dinosaurs. Yes, it is one of the cutest things you will see.

Warning: There is imagery highlighting the topic of poaching in this video from roughly 1:57 to 2:28.

Now for the sad parts — three of the pangolin species in the world (all under the Manis genus) are classified as Critically Endangered according to the IUCN’s Red List, and the remaining five are in the Endangered to Vulnerable range. Unshockingly, humans are the biggest threats to them, with pangolins poached by the thousands annually — for both their scales and meat — to the point where the IUCN spun up a specialist group in 2012 to help focus conservation efforts. Overall, they’re estimated to be one of the most trafficked animals in the world.

And that, friends, is your brief introduction to the pangolin. If you’d like to find out more about this declining species, we invite you to check out out the following resources:

• Pangolin Species — World Wildlife Fund
• Pangolins — African Wildlife Foundation
• Pangolins — US Fish and Wildlife Service