The recently released Diablo 4, the latest installment of the action RPG series published by Blizzard Entertainment, captured the dark, bleak feel of the first two Diablo games; full of demonic monsters, fast-paced factions, and haunted heroes. Gamers who haven't played any Diablo games before Diablo 4, however, might be confused by its in-depth lore, the relationship with its primary antagonist, Lilith; and who groups like the Nephalem are.
Among the many video game franchises Blizzard has published – Warcraft, StarCraft, Overwatch, and so on – Diablo is perhaps the most sinister in tone, full of imagery related to corruption, death, apocalypse, and demon lords in all their ram-horned, bat-winged glory. Each installment of Diablo typically features a fantasy protagonist trying to stop a demonic invasion into the world of humanity, carving their way through dungeons of undead horror, mutated monstrosities, twisted cultists, and infernal devils. As of Diablo 4, however, the many narrowly thwarted apocalypses have taken their toll on a world once meant to be a sanctuary.
Why Diablo 4's World Of Humans Is Called Sanctuary
Through gameplay interaction with NPCs and Blizzard’s infamously crisp cinematics, though, players can learn how the world of humanity in Diablo 4 was originally created by a rogue angel named Inarius and a rogue Demon named Lilith, made to be a refuge from the eternal war and bestowed with the name Sanctuary as a result. When Inarius and Lilith were both banished from the world they created (only to make their dramatic returns in the opening act of Diablo 4), it was inherited by mortal beings who were neither angels nor devils.
Who The Nephalem Are In Diablo 4
Nephalem, an old term used to refer to the offspring of human and angel parents, is used in theDiablogamesto denote beings who are born from or directly descended from unions of Inarius and Lilith, or the angels/demons who helped them create Sanctuary. These half-angel, half-demon beings were the ancestors of modern humanity, albeit larger, long-lived, and capable of suring their progenitors in power.Despite Diablo 3’s plot revolving around the return of the Nephalem and a gradual ascendance of humanity beyond their mortal state, Nephalem are largely absent from Diablo 4. The most noteworthy Nephalem character is the patron saint of Diablo 4 Necromancer Builds known as Rathma.
Who The Prime Evils Are In Diablo 4
Mephisto, Baal, and Diablo
In the cosmology of the Diablo games, the Prime Evil are demon lords of peerless power and malevolence. There are 3 total Prime Evils – Mephisto, the Lord of Hatred, Baal, Lord of Destruction, and Diablo, the Lord of Terror and namesake of the dark fantasy action RPG franchise. In their prime, these Demon Lords led the forces of hell against the forces of heaven and sought to corrupt and turn humanity to their side when they learned about the existence of Sanctuary. In time, though, the Prime Evils were betrayed by the lesser demon lords who followed them, their bodies destroyed and their spirits trapped within artifacts called Soulstones.
What The Soulstones Do
Once cast into the human world of Sanctuary, the Soulstone prisons of Mephisto, Baal, and Diablo became artifacts of doom. Proximity to the Soulstones let these Prime Evils whisper into the minds of humans, corrupting or driving them mad and vulnerable to possession. Indeed, the plot of the first three Diablo games (particularly Diablo 2 and Diablo 2: Resurrected) revolves around the Prime Evils seeking to escape from their Soulstones and possess human hosts to regain their strength. Though none of the Prime Evils are fought in Diablo 4, the cunning Mephisto does show up to (for self-centered reasons) aid the player character in defeating his own daughter, Lilith.
Who The Horadrim Were
Origins Of The Horadrim
In a world full of corrupt religious institutions, savage cults, and crumbling kingdoms, the reclusive order known as the Horadrim is the most reliable and stalwart force for good in Sanctuary, though individual of the Horadrim have suffered greatly for this. In the backstory of the Diablo games, the original Horadrim was an alliance of mages and wizards, assembled by the benevolent Archangel Tyrael and charged with the task of defending Sanctuary from the schemes of the Prime Evils. It was these early Horadrim who fought the spirits of the Prime Evils, trapped them in Soulstones, and hid said Soulstones away from the world.
The Fate Of The Horadrim
By the time of the first Diablo game, the Horadrim had all but dissolved; only the eccentric NPC Deckard Cain continued to fight the good fight by offering advice and exposition to the various protagonists of Diablo 1, 2, and 3. The archangel Tyreal, cast down by his peers in Diablo 3, founded a new Horadrim order to protect Sanctuary, but by Diablo 4, this order had fragmented and lost much of its influence. Individual Horadrim such as Lorath and Donan are some of the strongest allies the Wanderer protagonist of Diablo 4 can count on; these heroic allies also happen to be traumatized by past pasts, heart-broken by the losses they suffered, and fighting lonely inner battles against doubt and despair.
Source: YouTube - Diablo
