Aidan

Revision as of 19:37, 4 November 2012

This article is about Aidan as a person. For information on the Dark Wanderer NPC from Diablo II, see Dark Wanderer (Diablo II).

Aidan is the hero of Diablo I, the Dark Wanderer and the son of king Leoric. He was the host of Diablo for the entirety of Diablo II and is one of the most pivotal characters in the lore. He was finally killed at the end of Diablo II, though it is uncertain how much of his humanity remained at that point.

History

Aidan lived with his father as he grew up. The earliest information we have about him is that he served in his father's army and was under the command of Lachdanan when he led the assault against Westmarch prior to the events of Diablo I. Upon returning to Tristram and seeing his father raised from the dead, his younger brother missing and Lazarus gone, he journeyed into the depths of the labyrinth under the Cathedral.

As he journeyed deeper and deeper into it he not only found and killed his own father as the Skeleton King, he also killed Lazarus and his own brother who was at the time possessed by Diablo.

The further down he'd gotten however, the larger Diablo's influence over him had grown. The Lord of Terror recognized what a fine host Aidan would make, and so slowly crept into his mind. Once Diablo was slain, Aidan had become convinced that in order to contain Diablo he had to shove the soulstone into himself, and so Aidan became the Dark Wanderer.

The Dark Wanderer

The Dark Wanderer in Diablo II.

As Aidan emerged victorious from the Cathedral, the townspeople of Tristram rejoiced. No one suspected his dark secret though save for Adria, whom he is hinted to have conceived Leah with during his brief stay in Tristram before he left for the east. Shortly after he left, demons poured forth from the cathedral and laid waste to the town, killing all remaining inhabitants save for Deckard Cain who was imprisoned and left to die.

On his journey east he came upon the Rogue Monastery and instructed his demon minions to lay waste to it before summoning Andariel to guard the mountain pass and any would-be pursuers. He then tracked down Marius, a survivor of the attack on the monastery. Why he did this, why he chose Marius and why Marius ended up following him is unknown, but the two began traveling towards Lut Gholein and the tomb of Tal Rasha where Baal was buried.

When the two find the tomb, Tyrael is waiting for them and engages Aidan in a fight to prevent him from freeing Baal. At this point Marius plays a pivotal role as he is the one to set Baal free (albeit unintentionally). Without his aid, it is likely that Tyrael would have won and prevented the return of the Three. Instead Tyrael is imprisoned and Duriel summoned to guard him.

As the journey progressed Aidan began to show more and more demonic features as Diablo solidifies his control, and it's questionable how much free will, if any at all, Aidan retains at this point. The last parts of him die when Diablo assumes his demonic form under Travincal in Kurast.

Trivia

There are, however, many plot holes that Aidan being King Leorics son bring. First off in the manuals and Diablo 1 game dialogue it states multiple times that Albrecht is King Leorics Son, although the Diablo 1 game manual has been considered flavour lore it would still be odd unless barely anybody knows who Aidan is, this leads to speculation that he was a bastard child. Also the game dialogue is quite an odd way to talk to him if he was the kings son, but this could have also been retconned. In an early Diablo 1 trailer it states that demons killed your family, this is contradictiory to Aidans families background however. Also it is not clear why/how he could have had intercourse with Adria after he was becoming the wanderer, another plot hole. Also, if Aidan was the son of Leoric, Cain would have called him by his name, especially if he was his tutor, a possible slip-up however is how Marius doesn't call him by his name either.