Mag'har Orcs: Not Yet Confirmed, but, You Know, Come On.

A recent Alpha build for Battle for Azeroth has added a Mag'har War Wolf to go along with a set of Orcish armor that had previously been datamined.

Given the fact that all allied races have come with a mount and an armor set, this would be pretty solid evidence already, but let's also not forget that "brown orcs" have been one of the most commonly tossed-around ideas for a "sub-race" since Burning Crusade introduced the idea.

With Dark Iron Dwarves coming in the expansion proper (we assume,) and Void Elves kinda-sorta fulfilling the idea of High Elves (they're Alliance elves from Quel'thalas. That's what we're going to get,) that leaves Mag'har as the only totally obvious "sub-race" (which I guess we should just start calling Allied Race) that hasn't been added.

With a fourth Horde allied race highly likely, we're left to speculate on what the Alliance might get.

So far, not counting Mag'har (which are, I'll remind you, unconfirmed,) each faction has gotten two variations on their own existing races and one variation on a race the other faction has. (I'm also assuming that Mag'har would be a Horde race, though there are some hints in alpha content that we might be seeing some Orcs turning away from the Horde.)

If we assume that Void Elves and Nightborne are the exception, and that the factions will tend to get Allied Race variants of their own races, and if we also assume that, at least for now, no one race is going to get more than one Allied Race variant, let's speculate a bit on potential allied races that might arise in the future (like one to balance the Mag'har.)

On the Alliance side, there are yet to be variants on Humans, Gnomes, or Worgen.

On the Horde side, there are no variant Undead, Goblins, or Orcs (except, you know, Mag'har are almost certain to be a thing.)

And then there are Pandaren. But given that Pandaren can be on either side, one could almost imagine them as already being two races with identical aesthetics and mechanics.

So:

Humans: The main possibility I imagine with a variant Human is the Tirasian type. We've seen fatter (or at least bulkier) and thinner human models show up, presumably to serve as NPC models, but some variation in physique would be welcome. That being said, it might be odd that Kul Tiras has such a different body type than Stormwind, especially when it's not consistent. It would make more sense to make these character creation options. Personally, I'd love to see a human civilization on Azeroth that isn't based in Western European culture, but I don't see any evidence of that happening in BFA.

Gnomes: Two alternate gnomes present themselves: Mechagnomes and Leper Gnomes. The former seem unlikely due to the fact that they're mechanical, rather than humanoid. They also seem to be really emotionless (unlike Earthen, who actually seem to have a culture.) The latter would, I think, actually work decently as a Horde race - we've seen at least one Leper Gnome in Undercity, and they might have common cause with the Forsaken as a bunch of "unclean" people with a chip on their shoulder.

Worgen: Unlike other fantasy settings, lycanthropy in Warcraft is really strongly based on wolves, so I don't really imagine seeing Weretigers or Werebears anytime soon. Perhaps one could have Night Elf Worgen, in contrast with the existing Human Worgen, and one could imagine giving them a somewhat different look based on their primary heritage.

Orcs: Mag'har. There.

Goblins: Not a ton of options here. Hobgoblins are totally different in physiology, and so I doubt they'd be close enough to count as an allied race. The only other variant I can think of are Gilgoblins, but we have approximately zero lore on them other than that they seem to be vicious and insane.

Undead: There are actually some possibilities here, though it's not totally clear where they'd fall in terms of both allegiance or aesthetics. With Nathanos Blightcaller, we now have a kind of super-powered undead that has his old human body back, though still clearly both undead and with creepy red eyes (not unlike Sylvanas, who similarly has a pretty well-preserved body.) Giving the Horde this type - basically using the Human model (meaning it maybe should have gone in an earlier paragraph) would work. Alternatively, we know that there are some in Undercity who are not into Sylvanas' vision of the Forsaken continuing on as this new type of populace. Some on the "Desolate Council," as hinted in the sample chapters of the new novel, are not so interesting in Val'kyr-based immortality. Does this mean their sympathies lie with the Alliance? Well, that's a big jump. But I've always thought a "New Lordaeron" faction of Undead - those who recall being human and might even want to elevate Calia Menethil to her father's throne - would be really interesting. If the Alliance allows Death Knights and Void Elves into their fold, surely a group of people loyal to the Alliance and eager to restore Lordaeron to its hands would be a welcome addition.

Pandaren: Furbolgs? I've always held it as my headcanon that Pandaren were an offshoot of the Furbolgs (apparently science has come back around to considering Pandas, at least the Great Panda, to be a type of bear and not more closely related to the Raccoon.) You'd probably have to change some of the animations to make them look less built for East Asian martial arts, but taking the basic shape of the Pandaren and making a race of bear people doesn't seem like such a crazy idea.