The Prime Evils

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The Prime Evils is the designation given to the three lead villains of the PC game, Diablo II. The three originally ruled Hell jointly as a triumvirate, until the Lesser Evils conspired against them and overthrew them onto the mortal plane.

In the original Diablo, the Prime Evil Diablo was captured by the Horadrim and imprisoned inside a soulstone. Diablo was then buried deep beneath caverns under the town of Tristram. The story line of Diablo begins after this.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

After his defeat, Diablo appeared banished, but his presence was eventually made manifest inside the mind of the hero who defeated him. Slowly, the hero who slew Diablo was corrupted and driven by Diablo to seek his brothers: Mephisto and Baal. The game Diablo II continues the story of the first game, with the player cast as a pursuing adventurer, trying to prevent Diablo from reuniting with his brothers. In the course of Diablo II Mephisto is defeated and his soulstone is destroyed. Eventually, Diablo himself is defeated and his soulstone is destroyed as well. However, the story-line omits the fate of Baal, the third brother. The story of Diablo II is completed in the expansion pack, Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, which explains the whereabouts of Baal.

Diablo II: Lord of Destruction's story-line introduces a new mythical object into the Diablo Universe, the Worldstone, which is an ancient crystal that prevents the Heavens and the Hells from completely enveloping the mortal realm. Baal is seeking it inside Mount Arreat. However, true to the games preceding it, Baal is defeated. The Worldstone is destroyed by the archangel Tyrael due to Baal's corruption of it.

1 Diablo
2 Mephisto
3 Baal
4 The Lesser Evils
5 External links

[edit] Diablo

Diablo is the Lord of Terror, responsible for the seeding of humanity with violent images of bloodlust and terror, his primary weapon being the victim's fear. He was originally defeated under the labyrinths beneath Tristram but corrupted the hero who slew him. He then sought his brothers but was defeated in Hell by the pursuing adventurer. Several tomes that may be found beneath the cathedral of Tristram speak of Diablo being the leader and the strongest of "The Three".

Diablo's appearance is that of a massive, red-skinned humanoid with sharp fangs and claws and curving horns, as well as long, bony blades sticking out of him. In Diablo II, he additionally has a lizard-like tail and uses all four limbs to run, though not to walk.

[edit] Mephisto

Mephisto is the Lord of Hatred who is described as the oldest of the three brothers.

Mephisto was originally captured by the Horadrim in the deserts near the city of Lut Gholein, the same place where Baal was captured. He was moved to Kurast and imprisoned inside a soulstone and was kept locked inside the Guardian Tower beneath the city of Travincal. His corruption of the regional priesthood led to his release but he was eventually defeated by the pursuing adventurer. He is the most intensely evil brother, whose greatest weapon is his victim's irrational hatred. Among his underlings, the undead compose the vast majority.

[edit] History

Image:Meph-attack.jpg

Within the game's story, the originators of a religion known as Zakarum locked Mephisto in a tower deep within the holy city of Kurast. Over the years, Mephisto slowly extended his influence over every priest in the council save for Khalim, the Que-Hegan (head of the council). Khalim stood against the Lord, but the council members, under Mephisto's command, literally tore him to shreds. The new head of the council, Sankekur, eventually became the embodiment of Mephisto.

Eventually, the council members themselves became Mephisto's most trusted and most powerful lieutenants, and the humans of Kurast either fell to his dark influence or fled to the last bastion of light in the jungles, the Kurast Docks.

With Khalim gone, Mephisto and the high council members managed to extend their influence past the capital of Travincal, into the three levels of Kurast, Lower, the Bazaar, and Upper Kurast. Council members Geleb Flamefinger, Toorc Icefist and Ismail Vilehand stayed near the entrance to Mephisto's Durance near the compelling orb in Travincal, while members Bremm Sparkfist, Wyand Voidfinger and Maffer Dragonhand stayed on the third level near Mephisto and the portal to hell. A seventh Council Member, Bartuc the Bloody, accompanied Baal to Mount Arreat where he protected the Throne of Destruction.

[edit] Game context

Mephisto is the boss of Act III. After finding the Durance of Hate on level three, players are forced to fight at least two of the remaining high council before fighting Mephisto himself. Killing the three outer councilmen, Geleb, Toorc, and Ismail, is required to gain entrance to the first level of the Durance.

In all difficulty levels, Mephisto's attacks carry large elemental damage. His melee produces a poison-like cloud that lingers for a while, while his other spells (charged bolt, lightning, frost nova and ice orb) deal massive elemental damage.

Mephisto also has one of the highest chances to drop good items in Hell difficulty and many players take advantage of this by killing him over and over in different games to obtain those sought-after items (this is called a "Mephisto run", or "Meph run").

There is a glitch in Mephisto's artificial intelligence that allows him to be attacked with small chances of counterattack. His range of vision is very small and he will attempt to approach players out of his range. Players utilize this glitch to approach Mephisto then immediately teleport to the other side of the Blood River, where they can use ranged attacks with impunity.

Defeating Mephisto gives players access to Act IV.

[edit] Offspring

In the new Diablo novel, The Sin War, it is revealed that Mephisto had two children: a son, Lucion, and a daughter, Lilith.

[edit] Baal

Baal is the last brother to appear in the Diablo games. He is known as the Lord of Destruction to set him apart from his two brothers, Diablo, the Lord of Terror, and Mephisto, the Lord of Hatred. Baal is the title character and final boss of Diablo II: Lord of Destruction and the only brother to initially escape the pursuing adventurer. He raised an army of demons and minions and attacked the barbarian homelands of the north, assaulting the capital city, Sescheron, and finally besieging the last city, Harrogath. He was stopped by the pursuing adventurer and eventually defeated.

His objective in the Lord of Destruction plot is to reach the Worldstone Chamber at the summit of Mount Arreat. The player confronts Baal at the "Throne of Destruction" at the end of Act V and follows him into the Worldstone Chamber to ultimately defeat him. However, after Baal's defeat, it is discovered that his corruption has already tainted the Worldstone and the only option is for the archangel Tyrael to destroy the Worldstone to prevent the forces of hell flooding the mortal realm. The other consequences of destroying the Worldstone are, as of yet, unknown.

[edit] The Lesser Evils

According to the manual for Diablo, there were seven Great Evils - the three Prime Evils (Mephisto, Diablo and Baal) and the four Lesser Evils. While the Prime Evils controlled Hell as a sovereign triumvirate, the Lesser Evils were powerful in their own right.

Azmodan, Lord of Sin, and Belial, Lord of Lies: Azmodan joined with his brother Belial during the Sin War to overthrow the Prime Evils, who they believed were unwilling to continue the war with Heaven. Rallying Hell's legions behind them, Azmodan and Belial overthrew Diablo, Mephisto and Baal and banished them to the mortal realm, believing that if the angels were focused on battling the Prime Evils in the mortal realm, the Gates of Heaven would be wide open. Once the Prime Evils were gone, Azmodan and Belial argued over who had the greater authority, and thus their alliance fragmented and a civil war broke out in Hell. The war ended upon Diablo's return to Hell. Azmodan's and Belieal's fates are unknown.
Andariel, Maiden of Anguish: Once allied with Azmodan and Belial when they overthrew the Prime Evils, Andariel allied herself with Diablo upon his resurrection in the mortal realm. Upon entering the world of Sanctuary, Andariel took over the Monastery of the Sightless Eye, the stronghold of the Rogues, and forced High Priestess Akara and her surviving warriors to flee to a ramshackle camp. Andariel's motives were clear when the Dark Wanderer (Diablo) was discovered - Andariel was attempting to block the pass into Aranoch in order to prevent adventurers from stopping the Wanderer/Diablo from reaching the Tomb of Tal Rasha. At the behest of the Sisterhood, an adventurer battled through demons and undead into the Monastery, and defeated Andariel - thus opening the pass to the desert port of Lut Gholein.
Duriel, Lord of Pain: Once allied with Azmodan and Belial when they overthrew the Prime Evils, Duriel aided Diablo in finding the Tomb of Tal Rasha in the deserts of Aranoch, where Baal was imprisoned. Once Diablo freed Tal Rasha/Baal, Duriel remained in the tomb to confront the adventurer searching for it. Duriel was defeated by the adventurer.

Both Andariel (the first final boss) and Duriel (the second) were defeated by the main character at the end of Act 1 and 2, respectively. There is a possibility those two lesser Evils joined the Three and followed them to the mortal realm (at least Andariel's corruption of the Sisters' monastery could imply that). Since the release of the 1.11 patch, only Azmodan and Belial have yet to appear in-game; Lilith appears in a quest called the Pandemonium event requiring the hero to collect three keys and transmuting them in the Horadric Cube to form a portal to her realm.