Diablo 4 will add a new backstory to Diablo’s world, re-examining the strength of the Nephalem and spotlighting the angels and demons that spawned them.

Diablo 4 draws around the plot from the entire series to date. With the original Diablo being released over two-and-a-half decades ago, there's a wealth of detailed storylines to trap up on for newcomers to the series. This includes three mainline games, four expansions, a mobile MMOG, and 15 novels that weave much more detail into the game series’ world.

But the storyline of Diablo 4 appears like it primarily draws on events that predate the very first Diablo; a never-ending war referred to as The Great Conflict. While this fight hasn’t directly factored into the mainline games, it's an incredibly important part of Diablo’s history that establishes the hidden power of humans. The Nephalem protagonist from Diablo 3 conquered angels and demons alike, proving how powerful humans truly are. This might of humanity against Heaven and Hell has blossomed in blood, building across every Diablo game to date.

The Original Diablo - Humanity Butchered By Demons

The first Diablo begins in Tristram, an urban area ruled by King Leoric that unknowingly harbors The Lord of Terror himself deep beneath its cathedral. Long ago, an old order of human mages referred to as Horadrim trapped Diablo in the special gem referred to as a soul stone and buried him underground. Slowly, he shook free from his shackles and corrupted the minds of the townsfolk above. Tempted by Diablo's call, Archbishop Lazarus shatters the soul stone and releases Diablo. From here, Diablo turns King Leoric mad and has his younger son, Albrecht. Lazarus leads the villagers to slaughter, and despair spreads.

Aidan, King Leoric’s eldest son, returns from war to revive peace with Tristram. With the wisdom of Deckard Cain, the final Horadrim, along with a witch named Adria, Aidan learns of Diablo’s evil influence and ventures underneath the cathedral to confront him. Along the way, Aidan kills his father King Leoric - now the Skeleton King - and Archbishop Lazarus. In Hell, Aidan finds that Diablo’s soul stone continues to be embedded in Albrecht’s forehead to manage him. Despite this, Aidan fights Diablo and returns him to the soul stone. So that this terror may never escape again, Aidan plunges the soul stone into his forehead and resolves to help keep Diablo suppressed.

Diablo 2 - The Three Prime Evils Corrupt Humanity

Unsurprisingly, Aidan’s intent to suppress Diablo fails: he goes mad and travels the planet wreaking havoc like a figure known as the Dark Wanderer. A new unnamed hero emerges (depending on the Diablo 2 class chosen) and resolves to place an end to the Dark Wanderer. It soon becomes clear the Dark Wanderer is possessed by Diablo, and that he aims to release his brothers Baal and Mephisto. These three are referred to as Prime Evils, demons who led an old religion referred to as Triune. The Dark Wanderer forces a mage referred to as Marius to undo the seals on his brothers, unleashing the Triune around the world.

Thankfully, the hero is guided by the angel Tyrael who originally formed the Horadrim. With Tyrael’s help, the hero tracks Diablo, Baal, and Mephisto for their hell portal. The hero is forced to battle Mephisto, trapping him again, before venturing deep into hell and confronting Diablo. Even Diablo falls before the hero’s might, captured once again in the soul stone. So that they may be forever defeated, the hero takes their soul stones toward Hell Forge and shatters them. Baal eludes capture, however, plotting to 1 day get back his soul stone and destroy it, so he can never be sealed away again.

Diablo: Lord Of Destruction - The Worldstone Destroyed

Baal tricks Marius into giving him the soul stone by disguising himself as Tyrael. He kills Marius and gets down to work on his new plan: corrupting the Worldstone. The Worldstone is an old artifact that allows the existence of Sanctuary, the realm between Heaven and Hell. If Baal corrupts the Worldstone, all humans will come under his command. This is crucial, as humans are, in fact, a strong race of half-angel half-demon offspring referred to as Nephalem. Baal is ultimately defeated through the hero, although not before corrupting the Worldstone. To prevent humanity’s downfall, Tyrael shatters the Worldstone - the effects of which won’t be viewed for many years.

Diablo 3 - Maternal Betrayal And Demonic Resurrection

Twenty years following the Worldstone’s destruction, Deckard Cain predicts the following hellish invasion while raising his adopted daughter Leah. This war involves him whenever a Stranger falls into the sky, crashing through his cathedral. The dead rise using their graves along with a new hero (this time around depending on which Diablo 3 class and talents the player chooses) arrives to place the dead to relax. The hero restores the Stranger’s memory: he's Tyrael, but he voluntarily shed his angelhood to become Nephalem and protect Sanctuary. Sadly, this information comes at a cost: Cain is killed with a follower of Belial, one from the Lesser Evils.

To avenge Cain and set evil to relax once and for all, the hero sets to defeat the final living Demon Lords: Belial and Azmodan. On their journey, they discover the witch Adria in the events from the original Diablo: as it happens she is Leah’s mother, who entrusted Leah to Cain while she ventured to defeat Belial and Azmodan. With her help, the Hero captures Belial and Azmodan within the Black Soulstone, a relic that may contain the essence of seven Demon Lords. If this is destroyed, evil is going to be vanquished forever.

But Adria doesn't have the intention of doing this: she secretly pledged her fealty to Diablo back when he controlled Aidan. Together they'd an offspring: Leah. Leah as Diablo’s daughter is the best host for the Demon Lords. Adria implants Diablo into Leah, and that he is reborn, powerful enough to invade Heaven and defeat the Archangels that protect it from punctures (referred to as Angiris Council). Determined to persevere, the hero helps the Archangels to shut the hell rifts before finally confronting Diablo. The hero unleashes their Nephalem might and plunges Diablo into the void. With this victory and Tyrael’s ascension towards the Angiris council, the angels finally unite with humanity.

Diablo 3: Reaper Of Souls - Rise Of The Nephalem

Tyrael takes the Black Soulstone and seals it away in Sanctuary, but he's interrupted by a defector in the Angiris Council: Malthael. Malthael left Heaven once the Worldstone was destroyed and watched because the Nephalem proved themselves to become stronger than both angels and demons. To eradicate all demonkind, Malthael resolved to get rid of Nephalem too. To this end, Malthael steals the Black Soulstone and tweaks it to capture all demonic essence including that from Nephalem. In effect, he'd destroy humanity. The hero kills Malthael to avoid this, but doing this only proves Malthael’s point: all Nephalem is a ticking time bomb.

Diablo 4 - The Tainted Love Behind The Nephalem’s Origins

This Nephalem plot traces to early in Diablo’s world. Since the beginning of your time, Heaven and Hell happen to be locked in an eternal battle referred to as The Great Conflict. During this time around, an advisor towards the Angiris Council referred to as Inarius understands that this fighting won't ever end, and seeks out angels and demons who wish to create a world away in the war. Eventually, he finds Lilith, the daughter of Mephisto, and together they steal the Worldstone to enable them to create Sanctuary. Their alliance isn't simply tactical, however; they soon fall madly in love and their forbidden union forms the first from the Nephalem.

The Nephalem are powerful due to their angel and demon heritage, and thus both Heaven and Hell must agree on how to manage them. Inarius is indecisive but leans towards killing them. Lilith opposes this, thinking that Nephalem possesses the power to end The Great Conflict. When Lilith discovers her youngsters are being killed, she seeks vengeance by slaughtering her fellow renegades in Sanctuary. Inarius doesn't have a choice but to banish her to the Void, ending their love for good. The Worldstone is later tuned to create the Nephalem to ignore their great power - and thus, humans are made.

This may be the hidden truth that Diablo 4 looks set to unearth. In the trailers, Inarius raises his followers, the Pale Knights from the Cathedral of Light, and charges into battle against his former lover Lilith. One key character remains up to now unidentified, however: the sorcerer who brings Lilith back into the Void using the blood of three men - setting a far more sinister direction for Diablo 4. This sorcerer may manipulate Lilith to bring back the defeated Demon Lords, including Diablo. This would allow for that requisite final fight with Diablo, a staple from the series that's almost sure to recur in Diablo 4.

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