Blizzard has recently announced Diablo 4, and this has fans very excited. The coming of a new Diablo game is an infrequent occasion, as this extremely popular, but somewhat niche, game has only had three installments in the last 23 years. Although fans of the series are likely ready to jump right in, newcomers may have some reservations about starting the game series at its fourth sequel. Since finding and playing Diablo 1 and Diablo 2 is somewhat difficult now, new players may find it helpful to brush up on the story of the Diablo world so far.
For those that don't know, Diablo 4 was announced earlier this November and is currently in development. The Diablo series goes as far back as 1996, when its dark themes and intense dungeon-crawling effectively defined a genre. Since then, Diablo's sequels have expanded upon the lore and world of Diablo, providing a more nuanced plot and delving deeper into characters and locations the fans have come to know and love. Diablo 4 is certain to expand upon this story, so a quick review of the previous game stories will be helpful to new players.
Diablo (1996)
The first Diablo game was originally released in 1996 for PC, but has been remastered and released for other systems since then. The game begins and the player finds themselves in the town of Tristram within the kingdom of Khanduras. An unknown warrior, the player's character, discovers that Tristram is being plagued by demons and undead emanating from the old cathedral. What follows is a 16 floors of a gruesome dungeon delve beginning in the catacombs of the cathedral and ending in Hell itself.
During this trek, the player defeats the Skeleton King, the corrupted spirit of King Leoric who once ruled Khanduras before he was corrupted by Archbishop Lazarus. With the aid of the townsfolk of Tristram, such as the sage Deckard Cain and the witch Adria, the player delves further, defeating many powerful demons like the Butcher. Finally, upon reaching the 16th floor, the player comes face-to-face with Diablo himself in the bowels of Hell, eventually proving victorious. Having defeated Diablo, a cutscene shows the protagonist taking Diablo's Soul Stone and plunging it into his forehead. It is unknown at the time why he decides to do this, but it is assumed he is either corrupted by its presence or is attempting to contain Diablo within himself.
Diablo 2 (2000)
Diablo 2 greatly expands on the lore of the Diablo world. The game's opening cinematic reveals that the protagonist from the first Diablo game, now known as The Dark Wanderer, has finally lost the battle against Diablo. He now seeks to revive the other prime evils of Hell, Diablo's Brothers Mephisto and Baal. Diablo tricks a man named Marius into retrieving Baal's Soul Stone, but the archangel Tyrael, Aspect of Justice, tasks him with bringing the stone to the Hellforge and destroying it. The player, working with Tyrael intermittently, follows in the footsteps of The Dark Wanderer, attempting to stop the return of the prime evils. Along the way, the player defeats several lesser evils, but eventually The Dark Wanderer succeeds in resurrecting Mephisto and regaining his form as Diablo. The player is able to defeat both and destroy their Soul Stones in the Hellforge, ensuring they can never return.
In Diablo 2's expansion, the last remaining prime evil, Baal, tricks Marius into giving him his Soul Stone. This allows him to return to full power, and he begins a siege on the temple that houses the Worldstone. The player character travels to this temple, helping to fend off the demonic hosts, and eventually confronts Baal in the throne room. Though the protagonist proved victorious, Baal is still able to corrupt the Worldstone, leaving Tyrael with no other choice but to destroy it. It is later revealed that this act causes the entirety of Mount Arreat (the mountain in which the temple was located) to be destroyed.
Diablo 3 (2012)
After a long, 12-year wait, Blizzard finally released Diablo 3. Fans discover that there is a 20-year gap between Diablo 2 and Diablo 3, and with the three prime evils defeated, the world was in relative peace. All of this changes, though, when a falling star crashes into the old cathedral in Tristram (the same cathedral from Diablo), and risen dead begin pouring out. Diablo 3 gives a lot of context to the events of Diablo. It is revealed that the archbishop Lazarus kidnapped King Leoric's oldest son and turned him into Diablo. The unknown warrior that the player controls throughout the course of that game is actually Aiden, the king's youngest son. This means that throughout the course of Diablo, the character must kill the corrupted spirit of his father as the Skeleton King and his brother as Diablo.
The player character arrives in Tristram, seeking to learn the mysteries of the fallen star and stop the horde of undead flowing from it. After defeating the spirit of the previously slain Skeleton King, the protagonist discovers that the fallen star is a man. It's eventually revealed that this man is none other than Tyrael, the Aspect of Justice from Diablo 2. The rest of the angels put him on trial for interfering with the humans in Diablo 2, and he cast off his immortality to help the player destroy evil once and for all. With Tyrael and Leah, Deckard Cain's niece, the protagonist discovers a cult which brings to manifestation the lesser evils Belial and Azmodan. The player then discovers that Leah's mother, Adria the witch (from Diablo), is still alive.
Adria informs the group that in order to defeat the forces of Hell, they must craft the Black Soul Stone which is capable of trapping all seven Lords of Hell within it. The hero, Tyrael, and Leah proceeded to do so, trapping The souls of Belial and Azmodan as well as the other five previously defeated evils (Diablo, Andariel, Duriel, Mephisto, and Baal). Believing the war against Hell to be won, Tyrael attempts to destroy the Black Soul Stone, only for Adria to betray the group. She reveals that she has in fact served Diablo all along, and that she birthed Leah along with Adrian, the hero from the first game, who had Diablo's soul within him. She then uses the Black Soul Stone to resurrect Diablo, with Leah as his host. This Diablo contains the souls of all the greater and lesser evils of Hell, making him incredibly powerful. He storms heaven, nearly claiming victory, but the player character with the help of Tyrael and the other Angels is able to defeat him.
Diablo 4
Diablo 3's final cinematic shows the Black Soul Stone, still intact, falling from the heavens. This almost guarantees that Diablo, and possibly the other evils, will return in Diablo 4. It has been revealed that Lilith will be the primary antagonist of Diablo 4, but do her plans involve the Black Soul Stone, and if they do, how so? The story of Diablo 3's expansions tell how an angel, Inariel, and a demon, Lilith, escaped the eternal conflict between Heaven and Hell, and used the Worldstone to create Sanctuary, the mortal realm in which the Diablo games take place.
Their children, the Nephilim, were incredibly powerful. Inariel sought to destroy them, seeing them as a threat, while Lilith wanted to empower them and use them to end the eternal conflict. This disagreement caused Inariel to banish Lilith, and curse the Nephilim so that their power waned with each new generation, thus giving birth to humanity. With Lilith summoned again, and her children warped into humanity, what will her rage bring her to do? Only time will tell.
Diablo 4 is in development for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
