This is a silly article This article is silly. Coming from a source other than the computer games, trading card game, novels, RPG, or manga, its content is not part of official Warcraft lore, but nevertheless has become part of the culture belonging to the World of Warcraft community.

Welcome Bear refers jokingly to the level 50-ish bears that roam the Western Plaguelands. The joke is that new Undead players, not knowing that WPL is a much higher level zone than the adjacent Tirisfal Glades where they begin, wander in from the relatively safe (and non-PvP) Tirisfal Glades and are horribly murdered by — usually — a decaying bear. Hence, the Welcome Bear. One variant is the Welcome Spider, another recurring Plaguelands mob.

The welcome bear is also experienced by the many people who try to get from Tirisfal Glades to Ghostlands or Silvermoon City without realizing they could just take the portal there from Undercity.

A Variation on the Welcome Bear for Alliance players can be an Obsidian Elemental while exploring and accidently wandering into the Burning Steppes from the Redridge Mountains or even wandering into Duskwood from Elwynn Forest.