Leoric

Were you looking for King Leoric, the Diablo I boss?

Were you looking for Aidan, the Dark Wanderer?

King Leoric, the Skeleton King or the Black King are all names for the same person: The king of Khanduras that grew mad from the attempted possession by Diablo, and then cursed to a life of unlife. The Skeleton King is undead, a superunique, and a quest boss.

Diablo III

Leoric's ghost.

Diablo Character [e]
Leoric The King of Khanduras The Black King The Skeleton King
Gender:	Male
Race:	Human
Status:	Dead/Undead
Affilliation:	Kingdom of Khanduras, Zakarum
Friends:	Aiden (firstborn son) Albrecht (son) Lazarus (advisor) Lachdanan (commander)
Foes:	Heroes
Location:	Tristram Cathedral

Leoric returns.

Leoric the Skeleton King returns in Diablo III. His undead bones have been reanimated, and once again he's raised an army of the undead and awaits any hero who might dare bring the warmth of life into his tomb, in the catacombs beneath Tristram. Leoric is one of the first quest bosses a new character encounters, and defeating him brought an end to the Blizzcon demo, the first playable version of Diablo III ever seen by the public. See The Skeleton King page for more details about the quest.

Leoric is found on a throne at the end of a scripted level. The player must fight through several blockades and traps to reach Leoric's room. Along the way, Leoric's ghostly form is encountered, during which he taunts you before blowing back through the floor and vanishing, just as a great number of undead emerge from all sides of a large room.

Once you do reach Leoric's throne, a bridge crumbles behind you leaving no escape; you must defeat Leoric to survive. Leoric's giant bones are found on a throne, and they remain motionless until a player produces The Crown of the Skeleton King, a quest item found in the Defiled Crypt. The crown restores Leoric to life, and he rises up, taunting the player wielding a massive two-handed maul.

Boss Abilities in Diablo III

Leoric deals substantial damage with his massive club, but only swings once every few seconds, giving a player plenty of time to score hits on him between swings. He's slow to move, and slow to act, which remains the same in each difficulty.

Leoric's abilities during combat are as follows:

• Melee Attack - As with all bosses, Leoric has a basic melee attack where he swipes almost blindly at the hero with his massive mace.

• Teleport Smash - Leoric will, as with all of his abilities, broadcast this one outright. He'll cock his head up, grinning, while a ghostly apparition of himself moves through the air towards the player. Afterwards, Leoric will teleport into melee range, swinging his mace for high damage.

• Summon Skeletons - Leoric will float away from the player, put his gauntlet on the ground, and then rise up. After, true to form, he will summon Returned and Shield Bearers in melee range of the player. This attack can be interrupted with stuns and freezing, but there's diminishing returns on both debuffs. The skeletons are the only source of non-potion health regeneration during this fight, as they drop health globes.

• Spinning Strike - Leoric will laugh and then spin in three consecutive circles, doing a moderate amount of damage to the player.

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  Wakey wakey, eggs and bac-y.

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  Spin attack.

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  Summoning skeletons.

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  Teleport attack broadcast, shortly before he dashes forward.

Leoric's Stats Per Difficulty

Difficulty	Max. Health	Min. Damage	Damage Delta	Run Speed
Normal	2,412	50	25	0.198
Nightmare	79,776	923	461	0.209
Hell	620,221	8,194	4,097	0.220
Inferno	2,433,397	36,080	18,040	0.230

Note: Leoric's walk speed is the same as his run speed in each difficulty.

Background

Diablo I Skeleton King.

The Madness of the Black King.

The tragic tale of King Leoric's fall is told in The Return of Terror, a book by the Horadrim, and through the quests and Tomes of lore found in the dungeons in the game.

Leoric was an Eastern Lord, who came down to Khanduras, which was without a king, with knights and priests of the Zakarum and took the role upon himself. Despite some rumblings, he became known and loved by the people in the short time he ruled. He was a just and wise king.

He established his castle in the town of Tristram, near the ancient and decayed Horadric Monastery. Deep within the monastery laid the soulstone containing Diablo's essence, and though trapped within the stone, Diablo was strong enough to send forth his spirit. The Lord of Terror invaded Leoric's dreams, attempting to corrupt and possess the King. Leoric was able to resist Diablo's presence, but he was driven mad by the ordeal.

Diablo had already drawn in Archbishop Lazarus, Leoric's most trusted adviser, and with Lazarus whispering into his ear, the mad king turned on his own people, executing those who disobeyed him, ordering his army into a suicidal war against the friendly neighbouring kingdom of Westmarch, and finally purging most of the townspeople from Tristram when his son, Prince Albrecht, vanished. The horrible truth was that it was Lazarus himself who kidnapped the boy.

Leoric's most loyal knight, Sir Lachdanan, finally led a revolt against the deranged tyrant, and after a pitched battle the King was cornered. His knights demanded explanations, but Leoric spit defiance to the end. Ultimately, Lachdanan was forced to commit regicide, plunging his sword through the King's heart. Bitter to the end, the dying Leoric called down a curse on his former servants, the power of which ultimately consumed them all.

Despite his madness, Leoric was given a royal burial, entombed beneath the Monastery in a special crypt. Diablo's growing power refused to let the king rest though, and the Lord of Terror was able to call Leoric back from the dead, granting his skeleton an unholy life and new powers. Leoric was unable to venture forth from his tomb, but he slay many adventurers who dared enter his lair, until he was finally dispatched by the hero who ultimately defeated Diablo, took the essence of the soulstone into his forehead, and became the Dark Wanderer.

Leoric lay broken and still for two decades after those events, but rumor in New Tristram is that the Black King stirs, as evil men seek some sacred objects in the catacombs below the Monastery, and hope to call Leoric's spirit back to his bones, to join them in serving their unknown dark lords.

Lore

The Zakarum High Priests in Kurast proclaimed Leoric King of Khanduras many years ago. He ruled well until Diablo's influence drove him mad and the loyal knight Lachdanan was forced to slay him. Afterward, Diablo himself raised Leoric from the dead as the Skeleton King until the monarch's son, Aidan, vanquished him.

Deckard Cain

Further Reading

This is just part of the material available on this topic. The Diablo2Wiki Leoric article is available in the Diablo 2 wiki, which has a specific Diablo I and Diablo II focus. A lot of information unique to the first two Diablo games is available there. You can find it here:

• Diablo2.DiabloWiki.net/Leoric.

Media

See screenshots and concept art of the Skeleton King in the Image Gallery.

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  The Skeleton King artwork.

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  Skeleton King.

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  Leoric's Ghost.

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  Diablo I incarnation.