History VideoGame / DefenseOfTheAncients

* BoisterousBruiser: Sven the Rogueknight, based on his skill descriptions, such as "Sven is here to pump you up!" or "Sven gets pumped up!"
** That's because he's based off Sven-Ole Thorsen. (and even funnier is that some of the time, Sven's name changes to Arnold Schwarzenegger - Thorsen HAS collaborated with him for a long time, starting with ''Film/{{Commando}}''.)

* AerithAndBob: The super creeps that spawn in -sc mode: Ancient Hydra, Siege Golem, and Scary Fish.

* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: Ancient Apparition, Mask of Madness, and several others more.

** Mogul Khan is sometimes given the name Mogul [[MrT Khant touch this]]

** A few item-examples: [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast Aghanim's Scepter, Linken's Sphere]], [[PhantasyStar Sange&Yasha]], [[{{VideoGame/Diablo}} Buriza-do Kyanon]], [[TabletopGame/{{DungeonsAndDragons}} Heart of Tarrasque]], [[Literature/JourneyToTheWest Monkey King Bar]]...

* WholePlotReference: Tinker's backstory in ''Dota 2'' was changed to something like this: He and a few other scientists went to a ''Violet Plateau'' and did a number of experiments, but one [[TeleporterAccident opened up a portal and monsters]] from another realm came out. Only one Tinker survived, using [[OneManArmy only his wits and weaponry]]. [[VideoGame/{{Half-Life}} Sound familiar?]]

[[caption-width-right:350:A fangame so big it gave birth to [[MultiplayerOnlineBattleArena a whole new genre]]]]

** Lanaya is a [[{{Starcraft}} Dark Templar]], and Lesale Deathbringer looks suspiciously like a Hydralisk (Well, kind of. The H-lisk model was included in ''TFT'' as an EasterEgg, but, as [=DotA=] proves, there's no reason they can't be employed in gameplay.)

'''Level 3 (or Level 2 with Scepter):''' Split into three ''freaking'' mighty pandas.\\
'''Level 3 with Scepter:''' Split into three ''omgwtf'' might pandas.

* HumanPopsicle: The temporary result of being a victim of the Crystal Maiden's ''Frostbite'' or Twin-head Dragon's ''Ice Path''.

** [[EdgarAllanPoe Nevermore]] the Shadow Fiend.

** ''[[ForMassiveDamage Critical Strike]]'' --> Phantom Assassin's ''Coup de Grace''

* ForMassiveDamage: The ''Critical Strike'' skill, and the Crystalys and [[{{VideoGame/Diablo}} Buriza-do Kyanon]] items, which give whoever equips them the ''Critical Strike'' skill. And if that's not enough for you, Phantom Assassin's ''Coup de Grace'' has you covered.

The mod [[GenrePopularizer popularized a new genre]]: dota-likes, also called "MOBA", {{Multiplayer Online Battle Arena}}, by ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' players and "ARTS" (Action Real Time Strategy) by ''VideoGame/HeroesOfNewerth'' players. (Someone missed a bet by not calling them [[ShotoClone Dotaclones]]; but then, Riot Games invented the "MOBA" title largely to ''avoid'' having to refer to ''[=DotA=]''.) For a free mod, it has spawned an awful lot of "legitimate" gaming attention: those two games and Gas Powered Game's ''VideoGame/{{Demigod}}'' were the first wave of imitators, with the second wave consisting of ''VideoGames/HeroesOfTheStorm'' by Creator/BlizzardEntertainment and a Source Engine port, ''VideoGame/{{Dota 2}}'', by ''Creator/ValveSoftware''. It is being produced concurrently with ''[=DotA=] Allstars'' - in fact, its developer, [=IceFrog=], was hired by Valve for precisely that purpose - and the two games play basically identically despite being on different engines. It also provides {{Retcon}}ned content for the character page.

** Also Rikimaru, the [[{{Tenchu}} Stealth Assassin]].

** The entire game floats on ascended glitches. Alternating attack clicks and movement clicks at the right time so you can shoot while moving? It's called kiting, it's skill, if you use Dwarven Sniper or Drow Ranger you're ''expected'' to learn it, and its latter successor ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' went as far as making it the bread-and-butter mechanic of all ranged champions and even designed Kalista specifically around this mechanic. Luring a jungle monster away from its spawn point at the correct moment so another copy of it spawns and you can kill both with area effect abilities? That's skill. Using the invulnerability granted by the extremely brief transformation time of attack style toggling skills to dodge stuns and projectiles? It's possible. In fact, the whole concept of minion denying to prevent your enemies from gaining experience and gold started out as a bug. If you play the game as it ''appears'' to be, you're a [[{{Scrub}} noob]].

** The entire game floats on ascended glitches. Alternating attack clicks and movement clicks at the right time so you can shoot while moving? It's called kiting, it's skill, and its latter successor ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' went as far as making it the bread-and-butter mechanic of all ranged champions and even designed Kalista specifically around this mechanic. Luring a jungle monster away from its spawn point at the correct moment so another copy of it spawns and you can kill both with area effect abilities? That's skill. Using the invulnerability granted by the extremely brief transformation time of attack style toggling skills to dodge stuns and projectiles? It's possible. In fact, the whole concept of minion denying to prevent your enemies from gaining experience and gold started out as a bug. If you play the game as it ''appears'' to be, you're a [[{{Scrub}} noob]].

** The entire game floats on ascended glitches. Alternating attack clicks and movement clicks at the right time so you can shoot while moving? It's called kiting, it's a normal feature of ''DOTA, DOTA 2'' and ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' (the latter game actually designed Kalista specifically around this mechanic), and if you're a ranged carry/ADC you're ''expected'' to learn it. Luring a jungle monster away from its spawn point at the correct moment so another copy of it spawns and you can kill both with area effect abilities? That's skill. Using the invulnerability granted by the extremely brief transformation time of attack style toggling skills to dodge stuns and projectiles? It's possible. In fact, the whole concept of minion denying to prevent your enemies from gaining experience and gold started out as a bug. If you play the game as it ''appears'' to be, you're a [[{{Scrub}} noob]].

* BlessedAreTheCheeseMakers: The cheese item restores a massive amount of HP and mana, and is obtained from beating Roshan ''three times.'' Previously you only needed one.

** Dagon --> [[TheSlayers Slayer]]'s ''Laguna Blade'' and Demon Witch's ''Finger of Death''

* ShoutOut: Lots and lots. One example is the Sentinel Hero [[{{Slayers}} Lina, the Slayer]].

** The entire game floats on ascended glitches. Alternating attack clicks and movement clicks at the right time so you can shoot while moving? It's called kiting, it's a normal feature of ''DOTA, DOTA 2'' and ''LeagueOfLegends'' (the latter game actually designed Kalista specifically around this mechanic), and if you're a ranged carry/ADC you're ''expected'' to learn it. Luring a jungle monster away from its spawn point at the correct moment so another copy of it spawns and you can kill both with area effect abilities? That's skill. Using the invulnerability granted by the extremely brief transformation time of attack style toggling skills to dodge stuns and projectiles? It's possible. In fact, the whole concept of minion denying to prevent your enemies from gaining experience and gold started out as a bug. If you play the game as it ''appears'' to be, you're a [[{{Scrub}} noob]].

* SincerestFormOfFlattery: The makers of LeagueOfLegends went so far as to [[http://www.leagueoflegends.com/learn/dota_and_lol list why they think their game is different]] from (read: better than) this one.

* TakeThat: In [=DotA=], there is an item called "Guinsoo's Scythe of Vyse", after Steve "Guinsoo" Feak, who used to manage [=DotA=] All-Stars (he created many heroes, as well as Roshan). Then Guinsoo moved to Riot Games and became ''LeagueOfLegends''[='=]s lead developer, ''LOL'' got a "Guinsoo's Rageblade", and ''DOTA 2'' got the "Scythe of Vyse".

It also has a [[Characters/DefenseOfTheAncients character page]] (in progress) that's [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters bigger than this very article]].

[[caption-width-right:310:A fangame so big it birthed out [[MultiplayerOnlineBattleArena a whole new genre]]]]

''Defense of the Ancients: Allstars'' (abbreviated to ''[=DotA=]'' or just ''[=Dota=]'') is a user map for ''VideoGame/WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne''. Based on the earlier ''Defense of the Ancients'' user map for ''Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos'' which itself was based on the earlier ''Aeon of Strife'' user map for ''{{Starcraft}}'', [=DotA'=]s current popularity has given ''[=WC3=]: TFT'' a longer shelf life than intended (with ''[=DotA: Allstars=]'', as it was previously called, acquiring sponsorship from Creator/BlizzardEntertainment itself as a Spotlight Map in the Battle.net Hall of Fame).

The mod [[GenrePopularizer popularized a new genre]]: dota-likes, also called "MOBA", {{Multiplayer Online Battle Arena}}, by ''LeagueOfLegends'' players and "ARTS" (Action Real Time Strategy) by ''VideoGame/HeroesOfNewerth'' players. (Someone missed a bet by not calling them [[ShotoClone Dotaclones]]; but then, Riot Games invented the "MOBA" title largely to ''avoid'' having to refer to ''[=DotA=]''.) For a free mod, it has spawned an awful lot of "legitimate" gaming attention: those two games and Gas Powered Game's ''VideoGame/{{Demigod}}'' were the first wave of imitators, with the second wave consisting of ''VideoGames/HeroesOfTheStorm'' by BlizzardEntertainment and a Source Engine port, ''{{Dota 2}}'', by ''ValveSoftware''. It is being produced concurrently with ''[=DotA=] Allstars'' - in fact, its developer, [=IceFrog=], was hired by Valve for precisely that purpose - and the two games play basically identically despite being on different engines. It also provides {{Retcon}}ned content for the character page.

The mod [[GenrePopularizer popularized a new genre]]: dota-likes, also called "MOBA", {{Multiplayer Online Battle Arena}}, by ''LeagueOfLegends'' players and "ARTS" (Action Real Time Strategy) by ''HeroesOfNewerth'' players. (Someone missed a bet by not calling them [[ShotoClone Dotaclones]]; but then, Riot Games invented the "MOBA" title largely to ''avoid'' having to refer to ''[=DotA=]''.) For a free mod, it has spawned an awful lot of "legitimate" gaming attention: those two games and Gas Powered Game's ''VideoGame/{{Demigod}}'' were the first wave of imitators, with the second wave consisting of ''VideoGames/HeroesOfTheStorm'' by BlizzardEntertainment and a Source Engine port, ''{{Dota 2}}'', by ''ValveSoftware''. It is being produced concurrently with ''[=DotA=] Allstars'' - in fact, its developer, [=IceFrog=], was hired by Valve for precisely that purpose - and the two games play basically identically despite being on different engines. It also provides {{Retcon}}ned content for the character page.

** HeroesOfNewerth is an even closer imitation; having copied most of the mechanics, items, and more than 30 of [=DotA=]'s heroes. It slowly changed some things to differentiate a bit but it is still very similar overall. [[http://www.playdota.com/forums/3944/heroes-newerth/#post47254 [=DotA=]'s current developer actually allowed S2 to do this]].