It means demon or devil in Spanish. Just call it Diablo to make it sound fancy or special? Also Diablo is a type of Lamborghini.
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You know, because Diablo in Diablo universe is basically Diablo
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Basically, yes.
Itâs like the word âArchonâ, itâs not actually an English word or anything. Itâs greek for âRulerâ and was the title of the 9 leaders of Athens.
Blizzard uses the word Archon atleast twice to my at-hands knowledge; the leader of the Kyrians in WoW shadowlands and the protoss unit Archon.
The former kinda makes sense, the latter, not as much.
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Baal
Mephisto(pheles)
And Iâm sure there are others from different origins, like Imperius derived from latin Imperium and so on.
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Main hero of Carbot.
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The series was named that when David Brevik, one of the original co-creators, discovered that meaning.
There is a mountain named Mount Diablo near where he grew up, but he didnât know what the word meant because he âdidnât speak a lick of spanishâ.
Then, when someone told him one day, he was like âoh, thatâs so cool/badass/metalâ, and decided to name something âDiabloâ.
That something ended up being the game that became Diablo 1 (and whose original design had little resemblance to the final product, but thatâs another topic).
Source: Brevik has stated as much in interviews and the like.
I think in particular he mentions the Mt. Diablo story in the GDC Diablo Postmortem (which you can find in Youtube, if youâre curious).
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Diablo is a descendent of the mighty T.Rex.
He belongs to the Species of Tyrannosauridae, which is the family group of T.Rex, Yutyrannus, and daspletosaurus.
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They also use it as a spell name for the Wizard in Diablo 3. As you noted itâs common for fantasy games (or any media) to take inspiration and words from past cultures and mythologies when creating their own.
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Azmodan = Asmodeus, Belial was also some ancient name for (the) devil (or similar), the list is endless.
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Yes, it is that simple. Just like how non-Japanese speaking and non-Japanese people get Japanese characters tattooed on their bodies.
Using foreign languages make it seem more mysterious and otherworldly. People wonât know what it may mean if they donât know the language. I know it, and it sounds way better than Devil.
If the game was called âDevilâ, it would sound too simple and trying to be edgy in a lame kind of way.
Yes, Diablo is the Devil in the Diablo game. Yet, he is not really the Devil. He is essentially a really strong, high ranking demon.
It is also the name of a hot sauce.
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While we are talking about meanings of namesâŚ
âeal, iel, ialâ a suffix meaning pertaining to, like, belonging to, process off, yadda yadda.
- Tyr. God of justice and treaties (both as pertains to war) in Norse folklore. Tyreal = âone who is like a god of justiceâ
- Mal = prefix meaning bad/unfortunate. Malthael = âbringer of misfortuneâ
- Aurum = latin for gold. Auriel = âone with goldâ (doesnât make as much sense butâŚ)
- Ithereal. AFAIK, no prefixes or secret latin translations here. Just a simple re-spelling of the word Ethereal, meaning âheavenlyâ
- Imperius = Imperious. English meaning arrogant, original latin meaning denoted power and leadership.
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juiced up demon from hell who is into powerlifting.
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Isnât Diablo the last endboss in that certain game?
Funfact:
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Those angel names are comparable to other hebrew names from jewish/christian texts.
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-el like in GabriEL (angel from the bibel) is usually endfix for âgodâ though.
All the names like MaltaEL (God of Death?), TyraEL (God of Justice?) or AuriEL (God of Hope?) has the word âELâ in it. Thatâs why I would say the meaning of Maltheal could have sth. similar, if that was an hidden intention from the writers of this game.
And still not literally the devil? Seems odd, except the writers are planning to introduce a new last boss.
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Yes.
Itâs really not that odd, the game is set in a different universe/lore after all. Itâs similar (and heavily inspired by it), but not exactly the same place. âThe devilâ doesnât exist in the Diablo universe, and instead Diablo is their equivalent of him. He fills the same role, but heâs not the exact same being.
In our universe (or at least, the Christian version of it) we have our regular Hell, where sinners go to suffer and the Devil is in charge.
In the Diablo Universe, Hell is more of a fiery badlands where demons dwell, and Diablo is (mostly) in charge.
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Yes sure, but the name âDevilâ just suggest it and also if he is just an higher demon like Mumrah said, then the question is who is the real mastermind?
In Diablo lore? Much have changed since Diablo1 (as they expand the universe, add meat to it, retcon stuff here and there). In Diablo1, it was just the usual Judeo-Christian stuff, the church, the devil/Diablo and the hero/warrior vanquishing it.
Itâs a different universe after that (and forgive me if I miss some details, as Iâm not fully into Diablo universe lore myself). In the beginning of times, there was this god-like being (forgot his name). He removed/cast out all the evil in him, but it formed itself as a great dragon. They fought, both died. The dragonâs corpse became hell, and from its blood, demons were born. Forgot how angels were born (the god-like beingâs corpse became the foundation of heaven though), but the fight continued on between angels and demons, basically to consume, get rid of the other side.
There were some prominent, strong demons though. Namely 3 Prime evils and 4 Lesser evils. 3 Prime evils are Mephisto, Baal, and Diablo (in order of age). 4 Lesser evils are Andariel, Duriel (yes, I find it interesting how they have the -el name, which is common in angels), Belial, and Azmodan.
Some angels, and even demons, were going weary of this endless conflict (the angels and demons never truly die. they are reborn after some time or something). They defected, mated with each other, created a Sanctuary (whatever the order was), and the offsprings are Nephalems, the human, the mortals, who were more powerful than their parents, angels and demons. Lots of thing happened throughout the lore, so humans become weaker, Nephalem power less common, but still existing. Heroes in Diablo2 and 3, you, the player, are the Nephalems.
So is there some Satan like mastermind in Diablo universe? Not really. Just two factions fighting to conquer, eliminate the other side. It is often Mephisto who is the leader, or Diablo planning his own scheme. Diablo meddling in the Sanctuary is part of it, to use the mortals to their advantage.
Thatâs pretty much it, rudimentary explaining of Diablo universe lore.
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Why do you believe there has to be a mastermind?
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No need for apologize. Your explaination was good, thank you.
Because this implies it to be:
Except Mumrah meant that more high-ranking demons like pantheon were the real masterminds. Is that the case?
But this answers my question. That would mean Diablo, Mephisto and Baal are the masterminds, because there is none above them on the evil side. Or we could assume the real one is this:
If this âcreatorâ would somewhat comeback through merging all strong evils and goods with each other. 
I suppose you could see it like that, though Iâm not sure if âmastermindâ is really the right word for it. If you consider âthe mastermindâ the same as âbeing in chargeâ, then yes, the highest-ranking demons (such as Diablo) are the masterminds (though ruler might be a better term).
Pretty much. Itâs always a bit murky though, as the demons do also plot against each other.
From what I understand itâs just Diablo (as sole ruler) again since the events of Diablo 3, due to him having merged with with the other Great Evils.
I wouldnât be surprised if that eventually becomes the plot of one of the Diablo games.
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