The heaven vs hell concept in the Diablo series has always confounded me, until I grasped that the writers likely used this dichotomy as a comprehensible way to depict war. The fact that only one angel relinquishes his grace to safeguard humanity, choosing to be mortal over retaining his celestial status, speaks volumes. Most of them harbour a disdain for Sanctuary it seems to be almost a 50/50 split with the most powerful angels wanting to destroy it as humans and nephalem are half angelic and half demonic. What puzzles me is the worship of angels in Diablo. This could, in fact, reflect our own reliance on violence as a storytelling device, hence the portrayal of Lilith being violent to effectively convey her narrative. Lilith embodies liberation from this vicious cycle, though ironically, she too is dependent on violence to achieve her ends. But obviously this is a less compelling narrative for a game that is about killing demons and understandable (plus its just fun!) Meanwhile, “demons” are conveniently scapegoated for our deeds. Violence is neither an intelligent nor a benevolent act, and intrinsically human. The idea that humans must endure punishment, or inflict it upon others, even to the point of murder is purely human. One puzzling aspect of religion that the game explores is this notion of inherent sin simply because of our mortality. The sight of executions carried out in the name of their church is chilling reminder of the angels “mercy” by punishing “sin”. One needs only to venture far into Act 1 to observe the brutality and prejudice of humans under the guise of their religion. She essentially constructed Sanctuary to elude the perpetual conflict and “set everyone free” from the endless conflict. Her manipulation of violence (as she has not committed a direct violent act yet herself) doesn’t necessarily translate to her wanting to annihilate the world like the Prime Evils or as the Angels have considered.
Contrary to the typical demonic red eyes or angelic absence thereof eyes themselves, Lilith’s mismatched gaze – one blue eye and one of a different hue – serves to underscore her nuanced humanity and ambiguous representation. In a recent developer interview, it was articulated that Lilith isn’t inherently “evil,” especially in comparison to the other demons or even the angels.
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