Hey thought I’d create this topic so that anyone who has speculations and past knowledge might share them and I’d be totally curious to hear new ideas!
Here’s what I know:
Originally The Barbarians were not great adventurers/travelers. However with the Darkening Of Tristram the Dark Wanderer and the spread of the news, a few Barbs decided to scout out in order to see if this threat is one they need to fully prepare for and ensure their sacred charge and protection over the Worldstone are fulfilled.
One of these Barbs is our D2 barb who eventually reaches The Rogue Encampment and joins the Band of Heroes on the hunt for the Prime Evils in the events of Diablo 2.
Unlike some of the D2 heroes we do not get specific information about what happened to him after and what he has been doing in the 20 year gap between D2 and D3. All we know is that in D3 Blizzard were originally planning to officially acknowledge him as the D2 Barb however later scrapped the idea.
But they didn’t scrap everything. In D3 during our ‘‘visit’’ in the Library of Zoltan Kulle the Barb and Kulle converse and the Barb says he has seen the Worldstone.
Some of you will say it’s possible that the Barb was the D2 ACTV V Hireling and not the main character. Yes - there is a chance, but here’s my train of thought:
How many of you actually hired a barb Hireling in D2 ? Not many. Most of us went for the A2 merc. On top of that it makes more sense that it would be the main character since for someone being able to achieve feats such as be able to defeat the prime Evils in combat it would only make sense that he would carry Nephalem powers and simply improve/duplicate them in Diablo 3.
What do you guys think happened to the the Barb and not just the Barb but the Nephalem as a whole?
It has been 50 years after all. If he was arround 30 in D2 and 50 in D3 he’s either way too old/dead. Some say he might have become corrupted and currently ruling Heaven.
I have this crazy idea that the characters that we will play in D4 will be his descendants. I mean sure - the Nephalem powers can manifest into anyone but then there’s also the fact that genes do carry from generation from generation. So it may as well be very possible.
What are your ideas/crazy speculations ? Please share.
Kind Regards to All!
Considering that he already looked like a grandpa in D3, he probably died of old age.
Looking at what happened to most of the heroes from the previous games, the others are either also dead, corrupted, or - if they are extremely lucky - still kicking demon butts.
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Huge possibility indeed, even if some of them are alive - they would be either old and fragile or would have unnaturally prolonged their life and most likely corrupted because of it… yea…
I’ll give you a small hint … he’s dead. 
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If the nephalem are like their ancestors, I believe they are immortal agewise. Depends on how much was unlocked I guess.
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Pretty sure the unlocking of the Nephalem power also unlocked his immortality
But bad news… the d3 canon barb was the Female one lol
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True … the ORIGINAL Nephalem were Immortal … but that ageless feature did not extend to the later generations. So … Rathma being the first of the Nephalem, as Lilith + Inarius’ Love/Hate Child … he is Immortal … but the D3 Heroes ? I think they are bargain-bin versions, at best.
Hence … they’re dead. 
Clarification: The later Nephalem did not lose Immortality because they were too far from the original bloodline of their supernatural progenitors (i.e. Lilith + Inarius + other Angels + Demons). The Diablo lore mentions that the World Stone was “re-tuned” to lower the powers/abilities of the Nephalem … by none other than Inarius himself. Inarius feared his descendants would someday surpass, and possibly usurp, the very Angels + Demons that had spawned them. This “re-tuning” is what caused the later generations of Nephalem to lose their Immortality.
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This 
He would be about 100 now, sitting at home receiving social security payments.
It’s been 70 years since the Worldstone has been destroyed and so far humanity is the same as it was. Still mortal, still corruptable and in general powerless. Looks like there’s no going back for Humanity as a whole…
I’m not a huge lore buff but I’m pretty sure your characters in D4 aren’t Nephalem.
Nephalem are like Diablo’s version of midichlorians. They only really mattered canonically for a brief period of the worst installment of the franchise.
Kinda makes sense it would be. The male barb then would have been the only mortal to ever not only fight in hell but also heaven. Just cant handle that level of awesomeness.
Well as awesome this would be, he wouldn’t be a mortal anymore in Heaven as his Nephalem powers would have unlocked with the destruction of the worldstone
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Well it is quite possible that we’re not Nephalem. We’ll find out for sure when we play through Diablo 4. However I find it strange that we have all of this power at our disposal. Sure our D4 characters come from backgrounds such as the druid or sorcerer where they have practiced their abilities for probably pretty much their whole lives, but how do you explain the Barb being able to call upon the Ancients as well as develop some quite new abilities such as Hammer Of The Ancients ?
Perhaps they learned a few new tricks and that is just that - could very well be the case.
Tovek and Anu as far as the Nephalem becoming immortal : One thing we can both agree is that for those 20 years the Barb aged. Also in D2 all of the Barb’s abilities were 95% non magical like in their own nature. However 20 years later we see him being able to utilize Earthquakes, do Seismic Slams and Call Upon the Ancients. It would seem his powers have grown and now he relies upon a bit more than his blades.
However if he has become immortal or not - probably not, since from what I noticed even 70 years are not enough for humans in Sanctuary to manifest more Nephalem powers and some of them to become Immortal. Either it will take ages or it might never happen. But maybe we’ll find out otherwise in Diablo 4. 