Blizzard has shared a brief breakdown for their latest trailer for Diablo IV, giving casual fans just a taste of the lore.
While the trailer features very old and important characters in the Diablo lore, people who mostly know Diablo from the games may not know who they are or what is going on in it. We will shed a little more light on what is going on in it, but first, to discuss what Blizzard themselves discuss in their breakdown.
So they do name the characters in the trailer, Inarius and Lilith. Lilith is obviously a demon herself, with her half human features. Inarius might remind casual fans of Tyrael, the angel you meet in Act IV of Diablo II. Inarius is himself also an angel, but whereas Tyrael seemed content to direct heroes to their adventure in Diablo II, Inarius has his own role to play in the plot of Diablo IV. The developers do mention that they are the founders of Sanctuary, and do not see eye to eye at this point.
The developers also explain a little bit about Sanctuary itself. Inarius and Lilith grow tired of the conflict between angels and demons, and seeking a third way out of war, decide to build Sanctuary, where angels and demons can go to live peacefully. Sanctuary, is the Mortal Realm. It’s Earth, where the humans live in the Diablo mythology.
The developers take a minute to discuss the depiction of Inarius in the trailer, particularly his angel wings. In the Diablo mythology, angel wings are not wings, but tendrils which seem to emanate in light. Inarius appears to float rather than properly fly with his wings, and he can also use them to kill as is seen in the trailer.
Lastly, they bring up the pulse that Inarius releases in the end of the trailer. The pulse is a sound, but it comes with a bright light that blinds the Fallen. This is because the angels themselves are made of light. The pulse Inarius sends out actually resonates with the Crystal Arch, a real physical location in High Heaven. If you played Diablo III, you may remember it as the setting of the final battle against Diablo.
We won’t go through every detail of the backstory here, but the big story element that Blizzard’s developers didn’t reveal here is that Inarius and Lilith are former lovers. In fact, the Nephilim are the products of their union.
Through the centuries, the truce between angels and demons gets broken, and Inarius himself faced having to kill Lilith. He decides to spare and banish her instead, but Lilith manages to get away at least twice. The events of Diablo IV seem to have prepared Inarius to cross the line he refused to do earlier. As you can see, the developers meant it when they said they are looking forward to telling a complex story with multilayered characters.
Diablo IV launches on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on June 6, 2023. You can watch the full trailer below.