I keep hearing this... Where does this come from? Was there a Balrog in D2, D1, or any of the books? :confused:
I can't remember.
When you go to hell in D2, some of the Demons that you fight down there carry the name of Balrog, but all they are are winged demons with swords. I can see some resemblance between this guy and the LoTR Balrog in that they are both very firey, but that's where the similarity ends.
Now, for Archanum, as iIrc, Big D's soulstone was shattered by Lazarus (talks about this in the D1 manual), and it was a shard that the wanderer shoved into his brain, so that actually helps my theory.
The Wanderer's body became a vessel for Diablo. His personal energies, essence, life force coursed through that body. For all intents and purposes, that WAS his body. To think otherwise wouldn't really make sense.
The Soul Stone was carved from the World Stone, a monolith of unknown, untapped arcane power. If you follow all of this, then it can be said that, "Yes, Diablo's form was pierced and blemished by the Soul Stone."
His spirit was marred, leaving a hole in his head.
I'm sorry I just don't agree. If you read the D1 manual when it describe's the prince's transformation it states this:
Great, arched horns erupted from albrecht's skull as Diablo altered the form of a child to match that of his demonic body.
Note that it says "altered". He changed the look("form") of that child to look like his body. If what you said is true it would have said that he shed the child's body and came into his own.
Honestly, on this one, I somewhat lean more towards Archanum. I don't see how Diablo's soul would recieve a mark from the soulstone being driven into his hosts head. That said, I won't rule it out either.
My theory is that it's the Dark Wanderer's old body (and yes I realize that the wanderer we once played as is most likely gone forever) ressurected, and Diablo's essence, or at least a portion thereof, is inside that body, or at least tied to it, so that if the body were ressurected, Diablo's soul would return to it. It's a stretch, but here's my reasoning: When the Wanderer took down Diablo, the body reverted back to the form of Albrecht. Now when the stone was removed from Tal'Rasha, Tal'Rasha was still fairly posessed by Baal and did not revert back. In fact, even when he took the stone back, he never stuck it back into him, but rather wore it around his neck. Evidently, at least some of Baal's essence was still in Tal'Rasha even without the soulstone. What if Diablo did the same with the Dark wanderer. He kept it in the stone with Albrecht, as the prince was not the host he wanted. Once he was in the much more suitable host of the Wanderer, he took up a more permanent residence. Now as far as we know, when Big D wend down in D2, the body did not revert. It might have, but it might not have, and we never saw it do that. Now if that body were rezzed, it would probably be enough to call back Big D's soul from the void it was sent too. Just a theory. Nothing more, nothing less.
EDIT: I just watched terrors end, and I two fatal flaws in my theory. 1. The body exploded. 2. you can visibly see Diablo's soul (which looks exactly like Big D, for all you who contend for the the true form of Diablo theory) get sucked back into the stone. I still think that this is Diablo, but my theory's sunk. Oh well.
=\ Yeah, I'm not sure either. It just seems to me that his head[s] are propped atop a massive pillar of flesh, and his back is parallel with the "floor". I can't really describe it, I'd have to draw and show a picture of what I'm thinking I see go on in the background.
Come to think of it, we have no proof that this thing has arms (and we have no proof that it does not). Of course, IIrc, in D2 Diablo would occasionally move on all fours, which might make this more of a lunge.
Now moving on to Bloodlust Fox's comment, why is it everyone assumes that if it isn't Diablo it's Belial? For all we know Belial actually looks more like a centaur, or a raven, or a jellyfish for that matter. Furthermore, saying it looks like a balrog, I always thought Diablo looked like a wingless balrog (this was before LotR came out and I saw it in it's firey glory), so why should that have anything to do with it, come to think of it, he does look a little like a wingless balrog as far as Diablo Balrogs go. It's not to much of a stretch from D2 Diablo to this guy. It's no more of a stretch than it was from D1 to D2.
In the mean time, I hearby challenge anyone on these forums to come up with an alternate explanatioin as to what that mark on this guy's forhead is. I think it's from where the soulstone was. I challenge people to come up with a sound alternative. I will be impressed and influenced by nothing less.
I'm conflicted about the identity of this demon. On the one hand, it may obviously be Diablo because this is the demon featured on the splash page, as confirmed by a Developer. Moreover, he has a characteristic hole in his forehead. Now true, for any normal being this would scar over, but perhaps the soul stone left an indelible mark on his very spirit, manifesting as a gaping would where it once sat. And yet again, one must look at the art of StarCraft II compared to its predecessor; Hydralisks bear only a superficial resemblance between installments.
On the other, the Developers present for the panel did not seem to be involved over greatly with lore, art, characters or story, but rather the mechanics of the game itself. They also emphasized as much, and that they, too, weren't told everything, perhaps to keep things a secret. Also, from watching the cinematic several times, the movement of the Demon's body would suggest a serpentine -- not bipedal or quadrapedal -- form. This last note would suggest another beast, perhaps the "Hydra". (Of course, Asmodan/Belial/whomever may have resurrected a portion of Diablo's spirit in the form of a Cerberus-like guard monster/enforcer, devoid of consciousness, independence and motive but possessing its original strength, making "Diablo" nothing more than an engine of destruction and killing machine.)
When I first saw this, I thought DIABLO! Then I wondered if it were some bastardization borne of an unholy alliance between Diablo's soul and other demons. I'm 66% sure it's Big D, though.
I'm not exactly sure whether I see the serpentine motion here or not. Interesting theory with the rest, and presented insuch a way that I will respect it, if not agree with it. I'm still 99% saying it is Big D.
Now if this is Diablo, that scar on the forhead means one thing: it's still the body of the Dark Wanderer, as a new body wouldn't have that scar. Perhaps someone brought back the wanderer, he being tainted from his time carrying Diablo or perhaps still carrying part of his essence (if not all), or at least just an echo of him. The reason I think this is possible is looking at Tal Rasha. Even without the soulstone, he was still Baal enough to take on Tyrael, help open a portal to hell, and kill Marius for the soulstone. I'm not sure what would have happened though if Marius had been able to destroy the stone.
Erm, have you ever seen how the skin recovers from a bullet wound? It closes, and leaves the scarring of the flesh that was opened when the bullet entered the body. It closes and leaves a scar. On Diablo II, he had just returned, and the wound may had not been healed. Now it could be healed and closed (it had 20 years to heal), and it left that scarring that he has. No one thought of that?
Oh no, i saw it, but didn't feel the need to bring it up. Glad you did. Now if you wait just a minute, people are going to try to tell you it's not the scar. I think it is, but someone is probably going to say it's something completely different. Betchya they will.
And as for the development panel's answer. They did say they "believed" that was Diablo looking through the ice. To me it was very clear they were assuming this instead of stating a fact. It could also just be a cover up because they don't want to reveal storyline.
I believe they can change Diablo's appearance but if you look its only been very subtley. Even the way Diablo is described in the Sin War books (way before he ever came to Sanctuary) his characteristic trait is those curled horns which are not present in this demon. (he has horns but they are flowing straight back)
I dunno, I got the impression they had gotten this information in advance. Plus, as a developer, I'm sure he know what kind of demons are being put in the game and what their names are. Granted, he could lie to cover it up, but from what I've seen, Blizzard reps usually give no comment as opposed to lying when trying to do cover ups. I think it's too much of a stretch to dismiss the developer's comment like that.
As for the change in the look, it's not to hard to see where this has been going. In D1, the horns curved up to the point where they were sticking strait up on either side of the face. In D2 they spread out a lot but still retained some curve. It wouldn't take too much more spreading to make them where they are on this guy. The only other differences I can see are some skin texture changes, which are quite tasteful, and more appropriate to this day and age in the graphics, and of course the mouths (at the very least they are mouths, and I'm not going to go into whether they qualify as more than that). Oh, and their are two chin horns instead of 3. Subtle enough changes for me.
Good but, the demon doesn'T have 3 faces... he has 3 mouths. No 3 heads, 3 mouths.
I will say nothing on whether they are faces, mouths, heads, mouths, or any other segment of anatomy. Wasn't really my point, so I won't argue with you.
Q: Question about the splash images and pre-WWI teasers on blizzard.com.
A: I believe that was the face of Diablo, actually looking through. As for the hidden images, I don't really know. There were a lot of hidden images in there, more so than they showed me in advance. I've been in France for the past week, so I haven't really been following it, and I think they put in some more stuff at the last minute.
Ok, so for a week we spazzed out about what turned out to be Diablo looking thru the ice, and then the ice is all gone, and we see the face of this demon. It's the same face as the middle of those 3 faces on our friend, right down to the shiny scar on his head. This leaves me 99% sure that the demon is in fact Diablo. I just don't see them having Diablo looking at you as the ice parts and then doing switching in another demon there. They've simply redone his look. Blizzard's done it to him and other characters before. They've changed his horns between D1 and D2, and honestly, the mouths roaring the same time he does helps inspire terror.
From the trailer, I think the demon that appeared was Balial. Balial is a prince of hell who controls 80 legions of demons. Controls the Northern Reaches of Hell and has brother princes. Other princes are Olias, Asmonday and Vassago.
I think Blizzard are going to use these demons to be the bosses.
If you guys don't think these will be the demons of Diablo 3, then post the ones you think is.
By the way... who wants to ride on the Nubtrain??
Ok, first of all, it's Belial, not Balial. Second of all, your info is on the Hebrew version of Belial, which is different from the Diablo version of Belial. The Diablo version of Belial is in the midst of a war over hell with his brother, Azmodan, which might be considered close to Asmonday, but as of this time, there is no Olias or Vassago. The two Belials might be loosely related, but don't use that wikipedia article as a source. This is a fictional universe which has very distinct differences from ours. Read actual Diablo lore and make your decisions on that.
Well, comparing the central head to the face seen on Blizzards current splash page, yeah, it's Diablo. As for the other two mouths, he's just looking more powerful and cooler. I seem to remember something in the Black Road about demons and angels taking the form they choose, mostly to inspire fear. Is it unreasonable to think that The Lord of Terror is capable of changing his form to make himself more terrifying. Besides, it wouldn't be the first time Blizzard has changed the art on this sort of creature for a new game.
Somehow I doubt the other two mouths belong to the other primes. They aren't uber enough, and they're just mouths. They'd need to be more. They're probably just really nice shoulder pads that, being attached to a Demon Lord, are posessed.
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Yup it does.
Sorry, should have responded to this earlier. I don't exactly buy it, but it's probably as good as anyone can get before more information is released.
When you go to hell in D2, some of the Demons that you fight down there carry the name of Balrog, but all they are are winged demons with swords. I can see some resemblance between this guy and the LoTR Balrog in that they are both very firey, but that's where the similarity ends.
Now, for Archanum, as iIrc, Big D's soulstone was shattered by Lazarus (talks about this in the D1 manual), and it was a shard that the wanderer shoved into his brain, so that actually helps my theory.
Honestly, on this one, I somewhat lean more towards Archanum. I don't see how Diablo's soul would recieve a mark from the soulstone being driven into his hosts head. That said, I won't rule it out either.
My theory is that it's the Dark Wanderer's old body (and yes I realize that the wanderer we once played as is most likely gone forever) ressurected, and Diablo's essence, or at least a portion thereof, is inside that body, or at least tied to it, so that if the body were ressurected, Diablo's soul would return to it. It's a stretch, but here's my reasoning: When the Wanderer took down Diablo, the body reverted back to the form of Albrecht. Now when the stone was removed from Tal'Rasha, Tal'Rasha was still fairly posessed by Baal and did not revert back. In fact, even when he took the stone back, he never stuck it back into him, but rather wore it around his neck. Evidently, at least some of Baal's essence was still in Tal'Rasha even without the soulstone. What if Diablo did the same with the Dark wanderer. He kept it in the stone with Albrecht, as the prince was not the host he wanted. Once he was in the much more suitable host of the Wanderer, he took up a more permanent residence. Now as far as we know, when Big D wend down in D2, the body did not revert. It might have, but it might not have, and we never saw it do that. Now if that body were rezzed, it would probably be enough to call back Big D's soul from the void it was sent too. Just a theory. Nothing more, nothing less.
EDIT: I just watched terrors end, and I two fatal flaws in my theory. 1. The body exploded. 2. you can visibly see Diablo's soul (which looks exactly like Big D, for all you who contend for the the true form of Diablo theory) get sucked back into the stone. I still think that this is Diablo, but my theory's sunk. Oh well.
Come to think of it, we have no proof that this thing has arms (and we have no proof that it does not). Of course, IIrc, in D2 Diablo would occasionally move on all fours, which might make this more of a lunge.
Now moving on to Bloodlust Fox's comment, why is it everyone assumes that if it isn't Diablo it's Belial? For all we know Belial actually looks more like a centaur, or a raven, or a jellyfish for that matter. Furthermore, saying it looks like a balrog, I always thought Diablo looked like a wingless balrog (this was before LotR came out and I saw it in it's firey glory), so why should that have anything to do with it, come to think of it, he does look a little like a wingless balrog as far as Diablo Balrogs go. It's not to much of a stretch from D2 Diablo to this guy. It's no more of a stretch than it was from D1 to D2.
In the mean time, I hearby challenge anyone on these forums to come up with an alternate explanatioin as to what that mark on this guy's forhead is. I think it's from where the soulstone was. I challenge people to come up with a sound alternative. I will be impressed and influenced by nothing less.
I'm not exactly sure whether I see the serpentine motion here or not. Interesting theory with the rest, and presented insuch a way that I will respect it, if not agree with it. I'm still 99% saying it is Big D.
Now if this is Diablo, that scar on the forhead means one thing: it's still the body of the Dark Wanderer, as a new body wouldn't have that scar. Perhaps someone brought back the wanderer, he being tainted from his time carrying Diablo or perhaps still carrying part of his essence (if not all), or at least just an echo of him. The reason I think this is possible is looking at Tal Rasha. Even without the soulstone, he was still Baal enough to take on Tyrael, help open a portal to hell, and kill Marius for the soulstone. I'm not sure what would have happened though if Marius had been able to destroy the stone.
Oh no, i saw it, but didn't feel the need to bring it up. Glad you did. Now if you wait just a minute, people are going to try to tell you it's not the scar. I think it is, but someone is probably going to say it's something completely different. Betchya they will.
I dunno, I got the impression they had gotten this information in advance. Plus, as a developer, I'm sure he know what kind of demons are being put in the game and what their names are. Granted, he could lie to cover it up, but from what I've seen, Blizzard reps usually give no comment as opposed to lying when trying to do cover ups. I think it's too much of a stretch to dismiss the developer's comment like that.
As for the change in the look, it's not to hard to see where this has been going. In D1, the horns curved up to the point where they were sticking strait up on either side of the face. In D2 they spread out a lot but still retained some curve. It wouldn't take too much more spreading to make them where they are on this guy. The only other differences I can see are some skin texture changes, which are quite tasteful, and more appropriate to this day and age in the graphics, and of course the mouths (at the very least they are mouths, and I'm not going to go into whether they qualify as more than that). Oh, and their are two chin horns instead of 3. Subtle enough changes for me.
I will say nothing on whether they are faces, mouths, heads, mouths, or any other segment of anatomy. Wasn't really my point, so I won't argue with you.
Ok, so for a week we spazzed out about what turned out to be Diablo looking thru the ice, and then the ice is all gone, and we see the face of this demon. It's the same face as the middle of those 3 faces on our friend, right down to the shiny scar on his head. This leaves me 99% sure that the demon is in fact Diablo. I just don't see them having Diablo looking at you as the ice parts and then doing switching in another demon there. They've simply redone his look. Blizzard's done it to him and other characters before. They've changed his horns between D1 and D2, and honestly, the mouths roaring the same time he does helps inspire terror.
Ok, first of all, it's Belial, not Balial. Second of all, your info is on the Hebrew version of Belial, which is different from the Diablo version of Belial. The Diablo version of Belial is in the midst of a war over hell with his brother, Azmodan, which might be considered close to Asmonday, but as of this time, there is no Olias or Vassago. The two Belials might be loosely related, but don't use that wikipedia article as a source. This is a fictional universe which has very distinct differences from ours. Read actual Diablo lore and make your decisions on that.
Somehow I doubt the other two mouths belong to the other primes. They aren't uber enough, and they're just mouths. They'd need to be more. They're probably just really nice shoulder pads that, being attached to a Demon Lord, are posessed.