Many Diablo 4 players actually wanted to side with Lilith

Lilith was a different kind of villain in Diablo 4. Now it turns out that many players wanted to side with her rather than fight her according to a leading dev. Spoiler warning ahead!

Diablo 4’s villain Lilith is very different from Diablo and the other Prime Evils who’ve served as antagonists in the Diablo series. Lilith is actually the creator of the world of Sanctuary, making it so that she, her lover, the Angel Inarius, and their Nephalem (demon/angel hybrids) children could live in peace. Lilith then became a vicious dictator, following years of fighting off the forces of Heaven and Hell, and was eventually cast into a dark oblivion by her own partner, Inarius.

Lilith returns in Diablo 4 and immediately starts the process of taking back Sanctuary, welcoming humanity to her flock – provided they kneel to her. However, Lilith also fully intends to protect the world from Diablo and his demons, the only problem is she seeks to corrupt it with her own brand of Hellish dominance. While Lilith is a more sympathetic villain than previously seen in the Diablo series, the player still must go on a quest to stop her, allying with the intensely dislikable Inarius.

In an interview with Rod Fergusson at Gamescom 2023, the Diablo 4 General Manager explained why Diablo wasn’t the main villain in the game and what fans thought of Lilith:

“Having all three Prime Evils in every game is very kind of a disservice to the strength and power of what the Prime Evils were. And so, I think bringing in the Daughter of Hatred was a great way to provide a more nuanced story.”

Fergusson then went on to tell us that some players have told him they wanted to side with Lilith and that her plan to defend the world from Diablo and the other Prime Evils may have been the best course of action.

“A number of players have come up to us and said no, no, I want to sign up for her [Lilith’s] plan.
I wanna be on the list and I don’t want to do this other thing. We actually were able to tell a story that was great enough that people were like, oh, actually, she makes a lot of sense. I kind of want to follow that, not a mustache-swirling villain, but somebody who actually thinks they’re doing the right thing.”

It would be interesting to see how many players agreed with Lilith’s plan, as the game’s ending makes it clear that with Lilith gone, the Prime Evils may now start to attack Sanctuary once again. Was the Daughter of Hatred really mankind’s only protection from her demonic family? We may have to wait until the Diablo 4 DLC to find out.