History VideoGame / Diablo

''Diablo'' is an isometric 2D HackAndSlash game series from Creator/BlizzardEntertainment and is notorious for having [[PlayTheGameSkipTheStory an elaborate backstory and plot that nobody ever follows]] concerning a [[HeavenVersusHell war between Heaven and Hell]]. 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]].

* {{Fanservice}}: Unlike her basic in-game sprite in which she has leather body armor, in the manual the Rogue is wearing a [[BareYourMidriff belly-baring bustier]] whose cut makes it clear that [[VaporWear it's all she's wearing up there]] and a loincloth that only just reveals that she's wearing something under it.

* ArmorMeterPoints: When you are hit while wearing armor, there's a chance that your armor's Durability will decrease. When its Durability reaches zero, the armor is destroyed. If you take it to the blacksmith before it's destroyed, he can repair it.

The original ''Diablo'', after being out of circulation for years, has been released on the Galaxy of Games website.

The original Diablo itself, after being out of circulation for years, has been released on the Galaxy of Games website.

* ActionGirl: The Rogue.
* TheAlcoholic: Farnham the Drunk, a comedic character who actually had a tragic side to him; he had to watch most of his friends get slaughtered during a raid in the dungeons. He lost his mind and fell to drink soon after being one of the only survivors of those who followed the treacherous Lazarus into the Cathedral.

* WeBuyAnything: {{Subverted|Trope}}; only related items can be sold to the relevant shopkeeper.

* YouNoTakeCandle: "We strong! We kill all with big magic!" The poor little demon had obtained a ''tavern sign'' depicting a sun and naturally expected it to be magical.

* ''ComicBook/TheChosen'' (2017). A short story published on Blizzard's website to promote the ''Rise of the Necromancer'' {{DLC}} for ''VideoGame/DiabloIII''.

* ''ComicBook/DiabloTalesOfSanctuary'' - An {{Anthology}} about some of the classes introduced in ''VideoGame/DiabloII''
* ''ComicBook/DiabloSwordOfJustice'' - A five issue series set before ''VideoGame/DiabloIII''

** ''Birthright''
** ''Scales of the Serpent''
** ''The Veiled Prophet''
* ''Literature/DiabloDemonsbane''
* ''Literature/DiabloLegacyOfBlood''
* ''Literature/DiabloTheKingdomOfShadow''
* ''Literature/DiabloMoonOfTheSpider''
* ''Literature/DiabloIIIBookOfCain''
* ''Literature/DiabloIIIBookOfTyrael''
* ''Literature/BookOfAdriaADiabloBestiary''
* ''Literature/DiabloIIIStormOfLight''
* ''Literature/DiabloIIIMorbed''
* ''Literature/DiabloIIITheOrder''
* ''Literature/DiabloIIIHeroesRiseDarknessFalls''

* ''WesternAnimation/DiabloIIIWrath'' - An animated ShortFilm made by Creator/{{Titmouse}}.

[[AC;TabletopGames]]

''Diablo'' is essentially a huge dungeon crawl, consisting of 16 levels of increasing difficulty under the old cathedral of Tristram, the only town in the game, where various [=NPCs=] provide you with quests, healing, and equipment. The player has three characters to choose from - [[FighterMageThief Warrior, Rogue and Sorcerer]]. The goal is to reach the BigBad, Diablo, in the very bottom level of the dungeon and kill him. The non-canonical third-party expansion pack ''Hellfire'' added eight new separate levels and four new quests (a quest to kill another Diablo-esque baddy in the crypt near the church, [[LighterAndSofter a quest from Lester the farmer, a cow quest and a quest to retrieve a teddy bear]]) as well as three more characters (Monk, Bard and Barbarian), though you have to enter a special edit to a text file to get the last two of those quests and the last two of those new characters.

''Note: This page is for the first game. VideoGame/DiabloII, VideoGame/DiabloIII, and VideoGame/DiabloIV have their own pages.''

''Note: This page is for the first game. VideoGame/DiabloII, VideoGame/DiabloIII, and ''VideoGame/DiabloIV'' have their own pages.''

''Note: This page is for the first game. VideoGame/DiabloII and VideoGame/DiabloIII have their own pages.''

''Diablo'' is an isometric 2D HackAndSlash game series from Creator/BlizzardEntertainment and is 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]].

* ForeverWar: The ongoing war between HeavenAndHell, which is even called the Eternal Conflict. The period where angels and demons fought in the mortal realm of Sanctuary was called the Sin War, and it only ended when Uldyssian, a nephalem (one of the offspring of renegade angels and demons who were the ancestors of humanity), sacrificed himself for the sake of humanity.

* HeavenAndHell: The entire conflict of the story is a battle between the High Heavens led by the [[CouncilOfAngels Angiris Council]] and the Burning Hells led by the [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Seven Great Evils]].

* JustForFun/ComeForTheXStayForTheY:
** Come for the DarkFantasy HackAndSlash, [[MemeticMutation stay a while and listen]].
** Come for the action, stay for two weeks without a break.

* EarlyBirdBoss: The Butcher. Early level players ''will'' get, well, butchered the first time they fight the dude, although fortunately you don't actually have to kill him the first moment you see [[BossRoom his lair]] and you can wait until you're [[LevelGrinding some levels higher]]. He can even be [[HopelessBossFight literally impossible]] for some characters when they first meet him, as he regenerates health too fast to kill.

* 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, drops a nifty unique axe when he finally goes down and you can just ignore him if you don't want to fight him yet - his room is a dead-end and its unique shape and ''decor'' make it obvious who resides there.

* ShootTheShaggyDogStory: The second game reveals that not only do all of the goals and accomplishments of the first game become pointless, it also turns out that every player character becomes corrupted and begins tormenting humanity as demonic beings themselves. The protagonist (canonically the Warrior) finally defeats the BigBad, only for it to be revealed that he was being played all along, and is corrupted by its Soulstone, eventually being transformed into the new Diablo himself. Also, the Rogue becomes Blood Raven, the Sorcerer becomes The Summoner, and Tristram is destroyed, along with nearly everyone in it being slaughtered or turned into even ''more'' demonic pawns.

* ShaggyDogStory: The protagonist finally defeated the BigBad, only to become corrupted by its Soulstone and become the new Diablo himself. And this is because the protagonist believes that they are strong enough to fight the spirit of Diablo.