The headlining central villain in Warlords of Draenor is Grommash Hellscream. His motivations are actually someone understandable, though they are based on lies Garrosh told him. This doesn't excuse his methods, though, using brutality and intimidation that leads his Iron Horde to acts of despicable depravity and cruelty.
But while for now Hellscream might be the biggest threat to us, the worst possible person for us to find in Draenor is the one we [SPOILERS] set free almost immediately.
Gul'dan has pretty much no mitigating circumstances that allow us to understand why he went evil. Most villains in Warcraft's lore have some past of being a good person. They are often fallen, either possessed or driven to madness. Gul'dan doesn't seem to be that kind of villain. He is possessed of limitless ambition, and he has absolutely no qualms about harming others to achieve greater power. We don't know much about his past, but there's nothing specific to suggest he was anything other than a promising student of Shamanism working under the tutelage of Ner'zhul.
Gul'dan aided the Horde in the slaughter of the Draenei in order to please his benefactor, Kil'jaeden. Unlike Ner'zhul, to whom Kil'jaeden had appeared as his dead wife, Rulkan, Kil'jaeden appeared before Gul'dan in his full demonic majesty, and Gul'dan did not blink. So brazen was Gul'dan that when Medivh was under attack from his former friends after they discovered his role in the creation of the Dark Portal, Gul'dan took the opportunity to delve into the Last Guardian's mind to try to steal the secrets of the Dark Titan possessing him. This turned out to backfire big time on Gul'dan, as when Medivh lost his head, Gul'dan was thrown into a coma.
But the point is, Gul'dan, despite being a - physiologically, at least - normal Orc, was just a total monster. He was also a decidedly un-Orc-like monster. While he had convinced people like Grom Hellscream and Kargath Bladefist to drink demon blood and become crazed, 'roided-out berserkers, Gul'dan was never much of a physical threat. Despite his ambitions, he never had any desire for the trappings of power. Gul'dan never wanted to be Warchief, to earn the respect of his people. He had none of the typical Orcish pride that they often confuse with honor. When he woke from his coma and Orgrim Doomhammer had killed Blackhand to become the new Warchief, Gul'dan groveled at his feet and more or less invented Death Knights on the spot, binding the soul of his late disciple Teron'gor to the body of a dead Stromwind Knight. He knew exactly how to get Doomhammer to spare him, becoming the asset that the Warchief needed.
And as soon as he no longer needed the Horde, Gul'dan abandoned it, traveling to the Tomb of Sargeras to see if he could find some of that Titanic power.
The point is - Gul'dan's a phenomenally dangerous person. He has no pride to be wounded, because he doesn't care about appearances unless they mean more power. If you watch Game of Thrones (and if you play WoW, and are an adult, I assume that you do,) Gul'dan is a lot like Littlefinger. Or perhaps even Varys, as Littlefinger does have some emotional weaknesses, whereas Varys, a man who has no family to defend and no scores to settle (at least with anyone in Westeros) is totally free of coercive pressure beyond threats to his own life.
Gul'dan in our timeline made only one real error, which is that he underestimated the kind of demons who would be drawn to the Tomb of Sargeras, and this cost him his life. The Gul'dan of Warlords could not really have predicted what would happen on top of Oshu'gun, as Garrosh was an unpredictable factor. He is momentarily surprised by the death of Mannoroth, and it nearly costs him everything, until we show up. But as soon as a new factor is in the mix, Gul'dan is ready to exploit it. On the loose, he proves a real menace.
Gul'dan is going to play a big role in the Warlords legendary ring chain, as Khadgar wants to help equip you to hunt him down. It's a strong possibility that he'll be in that final raid, but I don't know whether we're going to be able to actually defeat him.
Gul'dan brought the Horde to Azeroth and played a big part in the destruction of Outland. Even later, just his dead skull became a source of incredible power, poisoning the woods of Kalimdor and transforming Illidan into a half-demon.
And now we've got another one.
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