Which NPC would you like to see to be next to Deckard Cain?
Abd al-Hazir the renowned gentleman, Diadra the Scholar, Lorath Narh, … is there a character from D3 (or even D1-D2) who could take the job?
Not that I find the thing essential but it could be interesting to develop on a candidate.
On an in-context level, Abd al-Hazir largely suffers from the d3 characterization that is incredibly simplistic, which was only to change with the expansion. By his portrayal in the game he is the worst choice personality wise, particularly for a meta effort to make a ‘darker’ atmosphere by someone who is comically unprofessional in his expressed profession. Diadra, while an interesting figure, ultimately lacks the development to make her particularly relevant to the role Cain has filled unless she undergoes a revamp and actual characterization to make her more than a random historically intrigued individual. Lorath Narh by his connection to the new Horadrim, close relationship with Tyrael, attitude, personality, so on and so forth is the best person to attempt to fill the shoes of Cain both personality wise and intellectually (and as another slight to Abd, he is woefully incompetent even imagining things that Lorath has directly lived through). As an additional option, an old Tyrael is possible.
Though some stretches can be made, there’s not really anyone else who can compare that’s been remotely fleshed out past Diadra’s extent, which isn’t enough to settle on someone who can take the job. Note that much of Cain’s niche is familiarity with the meta of Diablo as a series, something the options listed aside from Lorath lack.
Diablo 1 outright has no characters that can be drawn upon. Everyone from that game, almost literally every last canon individual, is dead or certainly not on our side.
Diablo 2 could perhaps be more interesting, but even then, the amount of options are incredibly slim, and anyone who you might draw upon would be a long shot with insufficient characterization to fit them in without at least expanding the design of the given character.
If anything, looking at the Diablo books might yield more fruit, though really the only human individual who would fit Cain’s shoes even somewhat and match up in timeline would be Zayl. Note that given the time gaps between the various games, characters from 2 would be beyond old at this point unless they straight up aren’t human.
I’d propose the theory that we will not have a new Deckard Cain, and that somehow there’s going to be a straight up different approach that may or may not include a Cain-like sage. Though if there is and if we are to theorized by existing characters (I’m skeptical to lean on this though, given how wishy washy Blizzard is on this front), Lorath would be the most predictable choice.
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