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Is Diablo a girl? Or more specifically, does Diablo inhabit the body of a woman in Diablo III? Yes, in fact. As revealed in the game's story, [[Leah]] is the human form that Diablo possesses and transforms into his usual red and spiky engine of destruction.
The concept seems absurdbuild up to this revelation was an interesting one, but quite as fans got clues and hints about the fact that Diablo might be "a girl" this time around. That was a bit major point of debate and discussion during much of evidence has added up over the years of game's development. The difference in appearance is fairly subtle, with the same red color and spikes and similar spells to the point that most informed fans now consider this a likely plot twist those he exhibited in Diablo IIIII. But there is also a bit of a womanly shape and swing to "his" hips, and breasts are sort of visible, especially during the cinematic seen before Act 4.
The concept of Diablo as a girl first surfaced in August 2009, when previews of the Diablo III cinematics showed an unfinished version of Diablo with a surprisingly-slender, female shape.[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/cinematic-diablo-revealed/]
The concept was not rejected out of hand. After all, we don't know what Diablo's true form is, since "he" has only been seen in the mutated form of a (male) human hostin previous games in the series.
Diablo possessed and transformed the body of a young boy in Diablo I, and while the [[Dark Wanderer]] was officially a man in Diablo II, "he" could as easily been female, had the {{iw|Rogue Rogue}} been named the official slayer and soulstone possessor. Would that have greatly changed the appearance of Diablo in Diablo II, where he was more quadrupedal and lizard-like than his "man in suit" appearance in Diablo I?
As many fans were quick to point out, those are some child-bearing hips. That concept established, the conversation soon turned to speculation about which female human might prove to be Diablo's host.
==Leablo?==
Leah was indeed the object of his possession. The following details the reasoning fans engaged in prior to the game's release:
If Diablo does possess a human female this time, [[Leah]] is the most popular choice for his female victim. Speculative evidence for this, quoted from a news post on Diablo.IncGamers.com.[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/blizzcon-2011-poster-artwork-and-sheablo-speculation]
=Diablo's Developers on Sheablo=Conclusion The plot twist was formulated by some of the story writers, and brought to the full team in something of a surprise presentation early in the game's development. As reported in interviews on the Behind the Scenes DVD, it was a shocking revelation that allegedly caused two of the developers to walk out of the room, and spurred much debate and art evolution to make Diablo look spiky and red and dangerous, but also with a feminine aspect. [[Bashiok]] commented on the issue in July 2012, post-release.[http://blues.incgamers.com/Posts/10/1/40/819/173065/dev-team-reaction-to-diablo-being-female] <blue When I first found out years and years ago, I have to agree I was pretty shocked. The concepts were still very much in flux, and the artists took a lot of time to really explore who Diablo is. Being the Lord of Terror, the most terrifying thing to everything, everyone, for all time, maybe it doesn't make a lot of sense that he's always just a big red demon, but could take on any number of forms of "terror". That kind of malleable image then seemed to make a lot of sense to me that it might include traits from its host, that there is no 'pure' form for the prime evils, and much like evil itself, is constantly shifting in appearance. But that's just my take on it.</blue> Some details on the design decision and the internal controversy over it are presented on the Behind the Scenes DVd. Skip to 19:02 to see a minute of coverage of that <youtube>LhNrsC1MCl4</youtube> =The Official Story= As explained in the final game story, Leah was the daughter of [[Adria]] and Prince Aiden, but she was conceived after the events in Diablo I, when Prince Aiden (who was [[Met-conned]] as the Warrior hero) defeated Diablo and then (metaphorically) drove the [[soulstone]] into his forehead, in an (ultimately unsuccessful) effort to contain the Demon. As Adria's journal relates in the game, she slept with Aiden on his last night in [[Tristram]], when he was already becoming the Dark Wanderer. Leah was therefore conceived as a mixture of human and demonic, with all the power and potential of Diablo's might within her. That explains the powerful latent magical abilities she struggles to contain and control throughout Diablo III's story. It is not clear how Leah would have fared in controlling her magics and remaining free from the demons if Adria had not betrayed and destroyed her with the Black Soulstone; perhaps Leah would have been inexorably drawn to the demons even without her mother's treachery?
As secretive related by Adria prior to Act Four, she was secretly serving Diablo all along, and preparing the Black Soulstone as Blizzard has been about an object of power, to contain all the larger story essences of the gameLords of Hell, including Diablo's The plan was to pour these powers into Leah, it seems very unlikely that wetransforming her body into Diablo'll know anything for sure about this until s new form as the Prime Evil, with the final game is releasedpowers of all the other demons as well as his own.
The plot worked as planned, but ultimately the demon was not powerful enough to withstand the human hero, and was destroyed in the end, though Adria escaped and the Black Soulstone remained intact and was lost when Diablo's form burned away after his defeat. The fate of Leah is not known either, and may be resolved in [[D3X]] or [[D3Y]].
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