Fallen

Fallen Shaman

Fallen Ones return in Diablo III, in a familiar form. Though they remain small, cowardly, impish little demons, they have been upgraded in appearance and tactics. Their strength is also bolstered by more powerful chieftan units, and the Shaman and Overseer types can whip the common Fallen into a murderous assault force.

Known Fallen Types

Fallen were officially confirmed in May 2009, when Blizzard debuted their bestiary page. It contained information on the various types of Fallen found in Diablo III, along with screenshots and some concept art. The following pages offer details on the individual types of fallen.

• Fallen Imps
• Fallen Lunatics
• Fallen Hounds
• Fallen Shamen
• Fallen Overseers

Two other types of Fallen are hinted at on the official Bestiary page, but no details are given.

I suspect the existence of at least two other types of fallen, but I will need to conduct further research before I reveal my theories as to the ultimate familial structure of these fiends.

Also, during the Monster and Art Panel at Blizzcon 2009, one of the Blizzard developers said this about the Fallen:

Are there going to be some more Fallen? I'm inclined to say probably. We can't really confirm anything yet.

Fallen Queen?

During the Monster and Art panel at BlizzCon 2009, a slide was shown with the silhouettes of various Fallen. The Imp, Hound, Shaman, Overseer, and Lunatic are easily recognizable, but what's the huge blob in the center?

No one from Blizzard has ever spoken of a "Fallen Queen" but the question of where all these male warriors come from has often been asked by fans, without any adequate answer being provided. A huge, egg-laying queen of some sort seems a viable answer, and that center silhouette certainly doesn't look like an ambulatory combat unit.

Fallen silhouettes. Unidentified blob in the center?

7th Fallen

Abd al-Hazir very clearly mentions there are at least two more Fallen breeds on top of the five announced ones, and the big blob (Queen?). The picture above shows 6 shapes, but seeing how the "Queen" (which is not announced yet) is shown, it's possible the big blob on top of the Fallen Shaman's staff might be the silhouette of the 7th monster. More info hopefulyl at BizzCon 2010 in October.

Fallen Varieties

An army of assorted Fallen.

The only Fallen seen so far in screenshots are the red-skinned "Fallen" type. There were four types of Fallen found in Diablo I and Diablo II: Fallen, Carvers, Devilkin, and Dark Ones. A fifth type, the Warped One, was added as a Guest Monster in the D2X, v1.10 patch. It's not known if all, or any, of these subtypes will return in Diablo III. It does seem likely that we'll see subtypes, since the other monsters so far revealed in D3 are slotted into the same organizational system that was used in earlier games in the series.

Diablo 3 Fallen Development

The Diablo 3 developers knew that the Fallen type monster would be returning very early in their development cycle, though they did not reveal the Fallen until early 2009, nearly a year after the game's announcement.

Fallen concept art.

Fallen are used as a sort of comic relief, and are meant to be funny and entertaining, as well as potentially dangerous.

The development and design of the monsters is covered in the first 3:30 of this video of the Monster and Art Design panel from BlizzCon 2009.

Pre-Confirmation Hints

Bashiok's avatar.

Prior to the official announcement of the return of the Fallen, their return was hinted at by the forum icon of Diablo III Community Manager Bashiok, which featured an early animated render of the Fallen Shaman. There were also some hints to be found in the the 17th entry of the Writings of Abd al-Hazir.

Lore Entries

Over the Diablo games, three different lore entries have been made for the fallen:

• Diablo I Fallen Lore
• Diablo II Fallen Lore
• Diablo III Fallen Lore

Background

The fallen are true demonic warriors with a formerly proud past. The historian and loremaster Abd al-Hazir has done extensive research about them. The reason so much research must be made is because during the Mage Clan Wars, many horrible things were done by the Vizjerei clan, and they tried to whitewash many of these in their literature. One example is the Khazra, who were not at all demonic.

Abd al-Hazir has spent enough time with ancient lore tomes to be more or less certain the story about the Fallen Ones described in Demonicus de Zoltun Kulle at least is true, with one difference: They served as Azmodan's hands, performing acts that he would not, could not involve himself in. They were once exalted demons of the Burning Hells, and are now called Fallen Ones, or classified as "Nanus Improbus". However, they were never lieutenants of Baal, like the Vizjerei Chief Librarian Vischar Orous claimed.

The first time the Lesser Evils tried to overthrow the Prime, the ancestors of today's Fallen failed in their attempt and received Diablo's full wrath, twisted into small, ridiculous imps in contrast to their previously powerful forms. Azmodan did not return their former glory as he felt it was their fault he filed.

Despite that their failure helped Azmodan gain the information needed to later overthrow the Prime Evils into the Dark Exile, he still did not change his mind about the Fallen.

When unleashed upon our realm by their master, Azmodan, these impish terrors display a tendency to swarm like flesh-hungry locusts, and they have been known to tear apart a sleeping village in minutes. Small of stature and simian in appearance, these creatures possess surprising strength and unnatural agility. Other than feasting on human flesh, the only act that gives these unspeakable horrors pleasure is breeding; hence the tendency to encounter them in large packs.

However, due to their small size, cowardice appears to be one of the chief features of this species. They quickly retreat when one of their brethren falls in battle.

Fallen ones display no obvious tendency towards greater organization beyond their predisposition to swarm. This is fortunate for humanity, for they are so numerous that if they were to band together in large numbers, they might easily overwhelm a small city.

Fallen battle portrait.

Some 20 years ago, these beasts were originally sighted near civilized lands, wrecking havoc around the country side. This was also the first time the Fallen Shaman were seen with the imps, supporting them with magical spells as well as resurrecting them from the dead. Carvers and Dark Ones, tougher cousins of the Fallen were also seen, indicating the Prime Evils had a strong connection with the mortal plane, for those wise enough to realize that.

In Abd's research he has found proof of many more breeds of Fallen than previously thought existed, including Imps, Shamen, Hounds, Lunatics, Overseers and at least two more types.

Famous Fallen

When the Fallen last were active on the mortal realm, many seemed to hold a specific few of them in extra high regard. Although not very intelligent, they kept repeating the names of the following, presumably Fallen champions, over and over again:

• Bishibosh
• Rakanishu
• Colenzo the Annihilator
• Snotspill

This implies the creatures enjoy some sort of clan culture, as they know enough to name and worship individuals among the blood-thirsty swarm.

Previous Appearances

Fallen have featured in both previous games in the Diablo series.

Diablo I

Fallen debuted in Diablo I. See their page in the Diablo I Wiki for more details. In that game they were simple little enemies, memorable chiefly for their annoying AI and swarming behavior.

Diablo II History

The Diablo II Fallen are very similar to the first game's little demons. They are slightly different in that they wear more clothes, and use a wider variety of tools, but they all have the same basic behaviour, which is milling about, attacking the player and running away if they see a friend get killed. They no longer use "War Cry Mode", but they have Diablo II Fallen Shamans that can resurrect them with a little waving of their staves.

Blizzard also introduced the Fallen personalities, Bishibosh, Rakanishu and Colenzo the Annihilator, implying a sort of somewhat sophisticated culture.

It's unknown if any of these will return in D3, or if the Fallen heroes we do see will pay some sort of homage to their predecessors. The following links point to the appropriate SuperUnique pages in the D2 wiki.

• Bishibosh
• Rakanishu
• Colenzo the Annihilator
• Snotspill (Diablo I)

Diablo 3 Fallen Media

Fallen of all types are featured in screenshots and concept art in the Image Gallery.

• Fallen in Act One Screenshots.
• Fallen in Act Two Screenshots.
• Fallen Monster Art.

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  Fallen Battle Portrait

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  Fallen Imp

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  Fallen Lunatic

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  Fallen Hound

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  Fallen Overseer

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  Fallen Shaman

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  Army of different Fallen

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  Fallen Overseer raging Fallen Imps into a frenzy

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  Fallen concept art.

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  Fallen Imp concept art.

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  Fallen silhouettes. Queen?

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  Mega spawn of Fallen, from early development days.

References

• Demonicus de Zoltun Kulle
• Encyclopedia Sanctuaria
• Abd al-Hazir's 10th entry - Fallen Ones
• Diablo I Manual
• Diablo II Manual