History VideoGame / Diablo

* AltumVidetur: The bestiary in the manual gives the Latin names of all the enemies.

* GuysSmashGirlsShoot: The first game has a similar arrangement, with a female Rogue who functions best as an archer, and a male warrior and wizard.
* HealingSpring: Blood fountains and purifying springs, which provide an endless supply of health or mana at a rate of '''ONE POINT PER CLICK'''. Keep in mind a high level character will have hundreds of points in either stat. It also has murky pools, which are single use and randomly change your attributes by moving a single point from one attribute to another, which is unlikely to either be beneficial or even help you all that much when it is, considering you will have tens of points into all of them by the time you start finding these.

* HotBar: There's a hotbar where you can assign your usable items (perhaps most importantly, healing potions) and spells.

* InfinityMinusOneSword: There are a lot more powerful swords available than Griswold's Edge, but those are all random drops, whereas Griswold's Edge is guaranteed if you get the right quest, and it does do decent damage and knock back enemies. In addition, its additional damage is fire damage, which is the only energy type that's of any use in the final level.
* InformedEquipment: There were very few models of armor, though there were ''some'' different ones for different kinds, specifically light leathery armor, medium chain-y armor, and heavy plate armor. Likewise, there is only one model for each general weapon type.

* InventoryManagementPuzzle: Trying to juggle between armor, weapons, potions, scrolls, and ''money'' could make for a very challenging time. Sure, money stacked, but the richer you were, the less room you had left in your inventory. Even worse, due to a glitch it became impossible to buy the best armor in the game because carrying enough gold to pay for it meant there wasn't enough room for the item itself!

* LevelDrain: Yellow zombies (the "Black Death" variant), which ''permanently'' reduced your max HP every time they landed a successful hit.

* LimitedUseMagicalDevice: All spells are available in one-use scroll form as well as in SpellBook form, which teaches the spell to the reader permanently. The scrolls have lower requirements, making them more usable for the non-mage classes.

* MagicStaff: The series loves these. The first game had elaborate staves with some of them even having [[BladeOnAStick blades on either end]]. Almost all of them had some powerful spells, and high melee damage.

* MoneySpider: ''Everything'' you slay drops gold, from [[BigCreepyCrawlies giant bugs]] to [[BigfootSasquatchAndYeti yetis]] to [[DemonicInvaders demons]]. Usually they drop an item or two that can be sold off as well.

* MultiMeleeMaster: Useful due to BreakableWeapons. Also, some enemies are weak against clubs, others against swords, and axes are useful against anything, but you can't block.

** Under the hood, an object's name in Diablo is calculated as a function of its various attributes (for example, the suffix "of the Tiger" refers to a specific attack modifier), so in the model world of the game, Namedar is a real physical law, and names following the pattern will be automatically deduced for, say, novel items created using a game editor.

* NoBodyLeftBehind: {{Averted|Trope}}; not only do corpses stay behind, the bodies of acid/poison spitters can continue to damage you if you stand on them.

* OurGargoylesRock: Gargoyles were statues until you got too close, and turned back to stone if they took enough damage, making them a lot easier to hit (and surprisingly not much harder to kill).

* PoisonMushroom: Cursed armor, adding a bit of a gamble when you identified magical items. Cursed armor reduced attributes and didn't sell for much money.

** Fighting your way through the ''Chamber of Bone'' to obtain the Guardian spell may seem like an incredible reward when really, it's one of if not, ''the'' worst fire spells in the game.

* RandomTransportation: The Phasing spell teleports you randomly to an area within view. There's also a shrine that does the same thing, with the appropriate flavor text: "Wherever you go, there you are."

* DoNotRunWithAGun: ''Diablo'' is a case with both player and monsters suffering from this. But some special move are a combination of move and attack.

* DoorToBefore: There's a portal to each of the 3 main areas, the Catacombs, the Caves, and Hell.

* DropInDropOutMultiplayer: ''Diablo'' is almost MMORPG-like, with players able to join and leave at will, form into parties, and the game even applying DynamicDifficulty to compensate for the extra players.

* ElementalPowers: The basis of the powers used by the Mage Clans. The "traditional" Clans use [[PlayingWithFire Fire]], [[AnIcePerson Ice]] and [[ShockAndAwe Lightning]].

* EliteMook: Quite literally. Elite mooks basically have a different colored name, more hit points, some new powers, and drop higher loot. Otherwise, they're the same as their type. They also tend to be surrounded by a cadre of their type, which are normal except for a single buff.

* FemaleAngelMaleDemon: ''Diablo'' has a picture of an female angel and a male demon for the health and mana orbs respectively. This doesn't apply to the characters on the other hands, as both Angels and Demons are shown have both male and female, with mostly male characters being portrayed for both. The backstory, on the other hand, inverts it with StarCrossedLovers Inarius and Lilith, with the former being a male angel and the latter being a female demon.

* FriendInTheBlackMarket: This arises as a gameplay mechanic in an awful lot of video games (especially {{RPG}}s) where the shopkeepers expect the heroes to cough up the dough even when the world is about to end. After all, AdamSmithHatesYourGuts. It fits this trope more than Honest John as at least they sell you legitimate items. Except that little snotrag Wirt.

* AbilityRequiredToProceed: In ''Hellfire'' (an expansion pack to the original game), you cannot reach the insect hive until the farmer character knows you well enough to talk to you about his problems (and then to give you the explosives you need to create an entrance to the hive).

* ArmorAndMagicDontMix: In a roundabout way. A character's ability to wear a piece of armor (aside from level and any specific class restrictions on an item) more often than not depends on how many stat points are in STR. The result is that the 'pure' mage class (the sorcerer) can't wear the heaviest armor because the player has likely put most of their stat points into INT. In other words, they can't wear the armor because they're squishy, and they're squishy because they train their minds more than their bodies. Additionally, the first game gives sorcerers the lowest STR cap of any class, further restricting what armors they can equip.

* AwesomeButImpractical: ''Diablo'' has a LOT of spells that are cool but useless. Town Portal can be learned as a spell, but you're very likely to find a scroll anyway. Couple that with the fact you have to learn it multiple times to reduce the mana cost to reasonable levels (especially for the Warrior) and, well... Likewise, Healing is a lot less useful than just slugging back a potion, and the unique ability each class has will see use only on the far side of never. Telekinesis has no redeeming qualities whatsoever (you can just walk up to the items, and being able to push a foe back a square is more than inadequate for the amount of mana it costs).

* BossInMookClothing: Interestingly, Diablo himself, the final boss of the game, is treated as a regular mook known simply as "The Dark Lord".
* BowAndSwordInAccord: Your warrior ought to hang on to a bow in case he gets a chance to shoot anything through a portcullis. (Most enemies can't open doors.) For the Rogue, this is much more important, as if she's caught at close range she needs a sword and shield to defend herself.
* BreakablePowerUp: Upon death, all of a character's equipment is removed and stored in a corpse that can be recovered.

* ChainLightning: The spell called "Chain Lightning" isn't actually chain lightning. Instead, it shoots piercing lightning bolts at all enemies within range for massive damage against tightly packed enemies.

* CherryTapping: The ''Telekinesis'' spell is the ultimate way to cherry tap your enemies.

* ChoiceOfTwoWeapons: It's a fairly good idea to have this set up. Warriors occasionally find themselves needing to shoot at something (or, in the case of enemies trapped on the opposite sides of portcullises, want to pick enemies off at a distance.) A rogue often finds herself needing to resort to hand-to-hand if fast enemies are encroaching, so having a sword and shield and the strength to use both available helps. Straying out of BowAndSwordInAccord and into MagicKnight, magic is helpful to the rogue as well, though the warrior's maximum magic is so low that its barely worth his while. The sorcerer is pretty damn awful with both bow and sword, but its worth giving him a bit of strength and a light sword and shield in case he runs out of mana (True, you might be screwed if this is the case, but it's better than nothing).

* ClassAndLevelSystem: You select one of several different character classes, but how you develop the character is up to you. Leveling up gives you five stat points you can add to your strength, dexterity, life or magic however you see fit.

* ContinuingIsPainful: Dying results in you dropping all your items until you can get them back, provided someone else doesn't gank them in the meantime if you're playing multiplayer. Getting to your stuff can be a headache in itself, especially if you died to something really tough or a swarm of them.

** Even ''further'' enhanced by the more "realistic", dark art style of the game, which would not look out of place in a game like ''[[{{VideoGame/Darklands}} Darklands]]'', had the latter been made a few years later - in contrast to the varied and colorful locations of D2, much less the even more colorful, slightly cartoonish signature art of WoW-era Blizzard found in D3.
** All of this combined, plus the near-total lack of the trademark (again, WoW-era Blizzard) humor of the company, makes it the grimmest installment in a series that is [[{{DarkFantasy}} sufficiently dark as such.]]

See also ''VideoGame/BaldursGateDarkAlliance'' and ''its'' spiritual successor ''VideoGame/ChampionsOfNorrath''. A [[Characters/{{Diablo}} character sheet]] and a [[Synopsis/{{Diablo}} synopsis page]] are in the works.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading: There's a particularly {{egregious}} example occurring when the player opens the door to the Butcher's room. This was presumably because the game had to access his infamous utterance [[CatchPhrase "Ahh, fresh meat!"]] on the CD.

** One of [[UndergroundMonkey sub-type]] of Lightning Demon is called Storm Rider, a nod to ''Music/RideTheLightning'' from Music/{{Metallica}}.

* ShoutOut: There was a staff called the "Rod of Onan," which could never ever be a reference to the Biblical story of [[ADateWithRosiePalms Onan]]. It summoned golems from the earth.

%%* VillainousCheekbones: Diablo, [[http://www.diablo-movie.com/diablo-movie.jpg full stop]].

* VillainousCheekbones: Diablo, [[http://www.diablo-movie.com/diablo-movie.jpg full stop]].

* GreaterScopeVillain: Tathamet, the original Prime Evil, is the progenitor of the Burning Hells and the UltimateEvil of the ''Diablo'' universe. His death led to the creation of hell and the Great Evils.

* ContinuitySnarl / {{Retcon}}: There are several inconsistencies across the series, although most players pay so little attention to the story that they won't realise it.
** The writings of Abd al-Hazir say that the Tristram Cathedral was built around 912 over the vault where Diablo was imprisoned, but Diablo hadn't even been exiled to Sanctuary at that time.
** The ''Diablo 1'' manual says that after their exile the Three Brothers ravaged the lands of the Far East for countless centuries, but in the game it is stated that they did so for decades. In the current timeline 50 years pass between their exile and capture.
** Before he came to Khanduras Leoric was originally a northern lord, this has been changed to an eastern lord.
** In the ''Sin War'' [[ExpandedUniverse trilogy of novels]] the robes of the order of Dialon are azure, they should be crimson. While the robes of the order of Mephis should be azure instead of black. (To match the color of their Soulstone)
** There are many errors in ''Scales of the Serpent'', where the statue of Dialon has a hammer instead of tablets and where the one of Bala has tablets instead of a hammer.
** In ''Scales of the Serpent'', the high priest of Dialon is named Arihan and is said to have had his title for a long time, but in ''Birthright'' all the high priests are named (Malic, Herodius and Balthazar) and Arihan isn't part of them.
* CoOpMultiplayer
* CouncilOfAngels: The setting of Sanctuary in which the series takes place primarily concerns a war between demons from the Burning Hells and angels from the High Heavens. The demons are led by the three Prime Evils and the four Lesser Evils, and in the final book of "The Sin War" trilogy, a council of five angels referred to as the Angiris Council decide the fate of the world after the main conflict is over. The angels, by the way, are doing a [[CrapsackWorld really lousy job]], but then they're kind of jerks anyway, the main exception being Tyrael, the archangel who cast the deciding vote for humanity to continue to exist.

* AdventureFriendlyWorld: In the world of ''Diablo'' most of the magical equipment you come by (barring some made using ancient relics) was forged by the demons for use in their wars. The events of the first game created a bustling trade from adventurers dredging the items up from the demons of the cathedral, while most traders in ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'' admit to getting their goods by stealing, looting corpses, or digging them out of the ground.

* AngelsDevilsAndSquid: The series mainly focuses on the Angels and Devils, but some Squid are present in the novels, such as the dreamers, who are stated to come from a dimension beyond both Heaven and Hell, as well as whatever Trag'Oul is (although, he's more of a benevolent squid).

* TheArmiesOfHeaven: In the series ''all'' angels are warriors, and they spend all of their time either fighting demons or planning to fight demons. As well, they all seem to be identical except for the five special snowflakes on the [[CouncilOfAngels Angiris Council]] and their lieutenants. At least, this is how it was, until the creation of Sanctuary threw a wrench in the Eternal Conflict, leaving the angels to mostly mope about the Heavens in trepidation.

* BigBad: Diablo, the Lord of Terror, is the BigBad of the series that bears his name, though in ''Diablo II'', he shares this status with his two brothers, Mephisto and Baal, as the "Prime Evils."

* BlackAndGrayMorality: See LightIsNotGood. With a few exceptions, the forces of Heaven have little to no regard for humanity. At best, they see them as pawns in their war against Hell and at worst they want to completely wipe out Sanctuary because it is part demonic.

* BuildingOfAdventure: The series tends to have these. The original had all its action take place in the Tristram Cathedral and its various basements.

!!This game provides examples of:

An isometric 2D HackAndSlash game series from Creator/BlizzardEntertainment. Notorious for having [[PlayTheGameSkipTheStory an elaborate backstory and plot that nobody ever follows]] concerning a war between HeavenAndHell. As a sort of simple graphical {{roguelike}}, [[RandomDrop the pursuit of the]] [[RareRandomDrop perfect randomly-generated equipment]] and [[LevelGrinding character build]] to satisfy one's inner {{Munchkin}} gives the game tremendous [[ReplayValue replayability]].

** Fighting your way through the ''Chamber of Bone'' to obtain the Guardian spell may seem like an incredible reward when really, it's one of if not, ''the'' worst fire spell in the game.

* LethalJokeItem
** The spell Flash. Not only is it a spell of ridiculously close range, it's also bugged -- it does about 10% of its damage in three of the eight directions. It's also a spell of "magic" type, which is the most common immunity. However, the damage to CORRECT directions is unbelievable. Combine it with Teleport and you get TELEFLASH, one of the deadliest techniques against enemies not immune to magic. In the hands of a skilled player, of course.
** Holy Bolt becomes pretty much a Joke Spell after you've entered the Cave levels and no longer fight any undead. Eventually, though, you'll face Diablo himself...

* VillainousBreakdown: In the backstory, King Leoric is [[DemonicPossession possessed]] by [[BigBad Diablo]] and effectively starts having a Villainous Breakdown while he's still a good guy. He doesn't remain good for long when that happens. He starts getting increasingly paranoid and less sane, until finally when Diablo leaves him, unable to take over completely, he's a raving madman who has to be killed by his own most loyal knights.

* WakeUpCallBoss: TheButcher, who is an extremely tough opponent for the part of the game he appears in, being [[LightningBruiser very fast and capable of dealing huge amounts of damage in close combat.]] He quickly becomes ThatOneBoss to lower level characters because the only way to beat him safely depends on the randomly-generated terrain spawning in such a fashion to let you plink him to death at range. Thankfully, he only has a 50% chance of appearing, and drops a nifty unique axe when he finally goes down.

* GreaterScopeVillain: Tathamet, the original Prime Evil, is the progenitor of Burning Hells and the UltimateEvil of the ''Diablo'' universe. His ddeath was led to creation of hell and the Great Evils.