Exclusive Interview With Richard Knaak

[Daemaro]

For those who don't know, Richard Knaak is the man who wrote a lot of the books and background story for Diablo. His Diablo books include The Sin War trilogy, Legacy of Blood, The Moon of the Spider, and The Kingdom of Shadow. A lot of what he has wrote has become canon to Diablo lore and some will even be featured in Diablo 3.

Red will be my color, Mr. Knaaks response will be in the plain text to it's easier to differentiate.

On behalf of Diablofans, Hello Mr. Knaak.

Hello to everyone! Thank you for having me.

--- Q&A ---

Q: As a writer are there any other parts of the Diablo lore that interest you? Such as the Dark Exile or the Binding of the Three?

A: The Binding of the Three, naturally. More on the Rathmians, of course. And, to be honest, I'm very interested in what material we've already seen coming for Diablo 3. King Leoric is a character I'd like to delve into. I think that there's a lot to work with there.

Q: The Diablo universe has grown and evolved significantly since the first Diablo game has come out. What has it been like for you to be an integral part of that process?


A: Fantastic! To be able to flesh out events, to flesh out the world and add to the mythos --- all as Blizzard approves and directs, naturally --- had been great fun! It's especially great now that the first images of Diablo 3 include a certain lost city...

Q: What were your inspirations for writing the Diablo novels? For example, the character of Uldyssian seems to be inspired by Odysseus (also known as Ulysses), who similarly went on a long journey and is said to be full of wrath.

A: Blizzard laid out a very fascinating and complex struggle between darkness and light and introduced some classes that blended well with the setup of the world. I chose to build stories around particular elements, which Blizzard very much liked. For Legacy of Blood, I liked the idea of enchanted armor that wasn't beneficial to the wearer and had a history of terror attached to it. For Kingdom of Shadow, Ureh's mysterious past enabled me to create something of an 'anti-Brigadoon', which worked to good effect. Moon of the Spider was a terrific chance to bring back Zayl and delve into the necromancers more, something Blizzard was very much interested in.


As for the Sin War, Blizzard needed that history adjusted to fit their notions of what D3 would be and between the company and myself, we worked out this one man's odyssey from human to what humanity has the potential to be. Homer's The Odyssey definitely inspired us and we're happy with the results.

Q: Is the character Karybdus from The Moon of the Spider loosely based off of the necromancer in Diablo II or are they in fact the same character?

A: Loosely.

Q: In Birthright, Uldyssian has an encounter with a Thorned Hulk and it kneels before him. Is there any significance to this?

A: The thorned hulk sensed what was developing in Uldyssian. It was a sign of what was to come for someone who was once a simple farmer and was now on the path to something amazing.

Q: Are there any non-Diablo writing projects you are currently working on that we may look forward to?

A: Most immediate are the WarCraft Legends anthologies. Volume 4 is coming along in mid-June and will conclude my four-part saga concerning Trag, the tauren from the Sunwell saga. September not only sees Volume 5 --- with a special story I can't yet speak about --- but the release of Legends of the Dragonrealm, a trade omnibus that features the first three novels of my own Dragonrealm series! With a 2-page map --- the first for the world --- and the novels FIREDRAKE, ICE DRAGON, & WOLFHELM, it is an astounding 680 pages.

December sees BEASTMASTER: MYTH an epic that brings the iconic character from the movie back to his roots while expanding his world in an entirely new direction. This will be out in trade paperback. At the same time, the third volume of my Ogre Titans trilogy for Dragonlance --- THE GARGOYLE KING --- will be released in mass market.


I'm also at work on SHADOW WING, the first volume of the next WarCraft manga trilogy.


Q: Thank you for taking time to answer a few questions for us. Is there anything else you'd like to say to the Diablofans community?

A: I'd like to thank the community for their support and hope that they continue to enjoy not only my contributions, but the upcoming game!

So there you have it. My short interview with Richard Knaak, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed conducting it.

[Siaynoq]

I too liked the idea of an enchanted armor that didn't actually bring about any benefits. Legacy of Blood was a pretty interesting story. It sounds like he's mostly doing Warcraft stuff for now though.

Nice work, Daemaro.

[Walleye]

Interesting... I had not realized Knaak played such a large role in the Diablo world. I applaud, something interesting... . The A: for the Thorned Hulk question was a touch of perfection.

Excellent (tap's fingers together).

[dunhac82]

Nice interview...always good to hear from Mr Knaak..sounds like he is pretty busy too; which is good. I wonder what the new D3 lore is that has him so excited...gah!

[Dauroth]

Wow, great interview! How did you came in contact with him?

[Daemaro]

Originally Posted by Dauroth

Wow, great interview! How did you came in contact with him?

I have my sources.

I think one of the most interesting questions was one he wasn't able to answer. Blizzard let him answer a lot though.

I can't wait to explore Ureh, and see a lot of stuff from The Sin Wars, I just finished the last book last night.

[Dauroth]

You mean the one about a 'certain lost city'?

[Chemedeiros]

Daemaro you're the best!!!!

about the enterview:

"As for the Sin War, Blizzard needed that history adjusted to fit their notions of what D3 would be (...) "

COOOOOL

edit: oh and yeah... im dying to play in Ureh!!!!!!

and about the sin war books... unfortunatly the books are not on sale in Portugal... and the EU blizzard online store only have the first one...

[Daemaro]

Originally Posted by Dauroth

You mean the one about a 'certain lost city'?

Nope that's referring to Ureh I'm pretty sure. The other question I didn't include since he couldn't answer it.

[Chemedeiros]

i agree with Daemaro. The "lost city" is Ureh!

btw i just found a place in Lisboa that have the 3 sin war books for sale. Of course i ordered them iupi!!!