Gameplay wise he did nothing at all except resurrect your stupid Merc every time they died or cast portals for you to go through.
Cinematic wise he got beaten up and disarmed by Baal/Tal'rasha and eventually in act 5 he destroyed the worldstone by throwing El'druin into it (and in that case I'm sure El'druin did most of the work - just as it does in Diablo 3)
So technically, the only badass things about Tyrael in Diablo 2 are his sword, El'druin, and the way he looks.
The angels in the Diablo series do look amazing, but that goes for all angels, not just Tyrael.
Its a matter of personal opinion really, as all other things. Some like him, others dont.
You can overanalyse what he did and did not do in D2, but for me it is mostly the looks, voice and personality that make him a memorable character.
Okay, since i actually have a Tyrael tattoo, i gues that i am the best person to answer this question. Do i regret getting a Tyrael tattoo? Not at all, although i was a bit disappointed that he lost 99% of his awesomeness and is now mortal with a different voice, i did not like that at all. However we all have the memories of how bad ass he was back in D2.
Besides, who says that it HAS to be associated with Tyrael later on in life? I usually just refer to it as an arch angel or just an angel when someone who doesnt even know who Tyrael is asks. Its even better looking than a traditional arch angel tattoo if you ask me, especially the wings and "wing armor".
Here is a picture of the unfinished tattoo, its finished now but i havent got an updated picture here atm:
Its a matter of personal opinion really, as all other things. Some like him, others dont.
You can overanalyse what he did and did not do in D2, but for me it is mostly the looks, voice and personality that make him a memorable character.
Besides, who says that it HAS to be associated with Tyrael later on in life? I usually just refer to it as an arch angel or just an angel when someone who doesnt even know who Tyrael is asks. Its even better looking than a traditional arch angel tattoo if you ask me, especially the wings and "wing armor".
Here is a picture of the unfinished tattoo, its finished now but i havent got an updated picture here atm:
And also the original thread i created:
http://www.diablofans.com/topic/35578-my-diablo-tribute-tattoo-now-with-pics/page__p__762384#entry762384