The Alliance has been present in some form in all Warcraft games. In all three real-time strategy campaigns, the Alliance are the protagonists of their campaign.[clarification needed]

Humans were introduced in Warcraft: Orcs & Humans. Throughout the first two Warcraft games, the human race was depicted as the archetypical medieval European kingdom. In Warcraft and Warcraft II they were also depicted as the protagonists of the human campaigns and the antagonists of the orc campaigns; the Humans fought for the side of Heaven against the Hellish Orcs, though this theme was abandoned in the third game.

Warcraft II introduced the human nation of Lordaeron, the nation which is depicted in Warcraft III as the main protagonists of the human campaign. The nation is exposed to a plague of undeath which turns those infected into undead monsters who serve the will of the Lich King. The prince of Lordaeron, Arthas Menethil, also eventually succumbs to the will of the Lich King and is instrumental in bringing about the downfall of his kingdom and, eventually, the invasion of the Burning Legion. He is one of the main characters of the third game and its expansion.

The humans descended from an ancient nomadic tribe known as the Arathi, who conquered and united the other warring human tribes and founded the nation of Arathor and the great city of Strom, later renamed Stromgarde. The Arathi formed an alliance with the High Elves of the far north after they aided them in a war against the Amani Empire of Trolls. In World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King it is implied that the Arathi themselves are the descendants of mutated Vrykul.

The Dwarves are a short, strong race. The playable clan of dwarves, the Ironforge Dwarves, reside in the Eastern Kingdoms, in the kingdom of Khaz Modan. Their skin colour can be from a dark gray to a human tan. Originally a race of miners, due to a recent discovery that uncovered fragments of their ancient origin, they have changed their focus to archaeology.

Dwarves were introduced as a supporting Alliance race in Warcraft II, and are a playable race in World of Warcraft.

The dwarves make an appearance in the World of Warcraft patch Secrets of Ulduar, in which their origin is further expanded on. The third Bronzebeard brother, Brann Bronzebeard, leads the expedition there to learn the dwarves history. He tells the story of what relevance Ulduar has to the origin of many of Azeroth's native races.

Two other Dwarven clans exist on Azeroth.[dubious – discuss] The Wildhammer Dwarves of Aerie Peak, though not playable in World of Warcraft, are friendly to Alliance characters, and they maintain the Alliance-aligned Wildhammer Stronghold in Outland and Aerie Peak in the Hinterlands. They are largely similar in appearance to their Ironforge cousins, though their focus is on gryphon riding, rather than the grounded pursuits of the Ironforge dwarves. The Dark Iron dwarves are a malevolent clan, hostile to both the Alliance and the Horde. These dark grey-skinned Dwarves reside primarily in Blackrock Mountain and serve Ragnaros, an Elemental Lord of fire.

Draenei are the last of the original Eredar, who fled their homeworld of Argus to escape the corruption of the Dark Titan Sargeras. The exiled Eredar took the name Draenei, meaning exiled ones, and traveled through the Twisting Nether aboard the Naaru Dimensional Ship, Oshu'Gun, and landed on a remote world, naming the planet Draenor or "Exile's Refuge". The Burning Legion pursued the Draenei to Draenor, having turned the Orcs against the Draenei, resulting in the destruction of much of the Draenei race. After a great cataclysm which saw the destruction of Draenor, the Draenei used a satellite ship of Tempest Keep, the Exodar, to abandon the world, eventually arriving on Azeroth and crashing to the west of the coastal region of Darkshore. They joined the Alliance, greatly respecting the Alliance's devout reverence for the Holy Light.

Draenei have skin ranging from purple to pale blue, and both genders are relatively tall compared to humans, have cloven, goat-like hooves, tails that resemble those of a lizard, and dark hair. Males often have tentacle-like appendages extending from their chin, and occasionally large, complex structures on their forehead, while females have two horns on their temples extending backwards and thinner versions of the male's appendages hanging from behind the back of the jaw.