DotaStrategy.com - View topic - DotA's references to other places!

a.wiens

First Blood Posts: 14 Joined: 29 Jul 2007 465 gold

DotA's references to other places!

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 6:01 am

Abaddon, Lord of Avernus - Avernus is Latin for "void" or "abyss". Abaddon (Hebrew for "destruction") is the name of the fallen angel of the abyss from the Book of Revelation, which is the last book of the Bible. Is also a powerful character in the miniature wargame Warhammer 40,000.

Akasha - One of the five elements of Hinduism. Also the name of the Queen of the Damned from a book by Anne Rice. Literally speaking in Hindi, it means "sky."

Anub'arak - The undead Nerubian in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne.

Atropos, Bane Elemental - One of the three fates in Greek mythology, who literally "cut the thread of life" according to legend. Also, all of his abilities are named after spells of the elemental type "bane" from Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis and Atropos was the ultimate sword attack from the game.

Azwraith, the Phantom Lancer - Uses a character model/icon based on a Final Fantasy character, Kimahri.

Barathrum, the Spiritbreaker - The name Barathrum is the word for "underworld" in Latin.

Black Arachnia, the Broodmother - The name, "Black Arachnia" is a character in the TV series Beast Wars. In the show, Black Arachnia is a female spider/robot for the Predacons faction.

Bradwarden - Centaur character from R.A. Salvatore's book The Demon Awakens.

Butcher - Named after The Butcher in the game Diablo. When he uses his ultimate spell, he uses a phrase from The Butcher as well.

Furion - The leader of the Night Elves, with his command of nature, in Warcraft III.

Ignis Fatuus - Keeper of the Light's ultimate skill, which is a phenomenal occurrence in marshlands creating a pale light, similar to Will 'o the Wisp.

Kel'Thuzad - The Lich King's disciple in the original Warcraft III.

King Leoric, the Skeleton King - his name comes from a character in Diablo whose son was possessed by the demon.

Krobelus - A character (missionary role) in the game Summoner 2.

Leshrac (the Malicious) - Another character from Magic: The Gathering.

Leviathan - Strength hero that looks like a sea giant. His name comes from a Biblical sea creature. His name can also be from a unique armor in Diablo II, "The Leviathan" Kraken Shell. One of his skills is called Kraken Shell.

Lina Inverse - Powerful spellcaster, whose name and spells originate from Slayers, a famous manga and anime.

Lucifer - A Doom Guard, referring to the fallen archangel (the Devil) in Christian tradition. (Also from Heros Might and Magic Series).

Magnus - A reference to German physicist Heinrich Magnus who described a physical phenomenon called the Magnus effect, that is apt because of Magnus' (the Magnataur's) ultimate Reverse Polarity acting like the Magnus effect.

Medusa (the Gorgon) - A monster in Greek mythology whose gaze turned people to stone. This is represented in-game using the skills Purge and Gaze (certain versions only) which greatly slows enemies, however does not turn them into stone.

Mercurial, Avatar of Vengeance - Having the characteristics of eloquence, shrewdness, swiftness, and thievishness attributed to the god Mercury. Also this is the name of the artist of the loading screen for version 6.28 and beyond.

Mogul Kahn - The name Mogul refers to a dynasty of Farsi-Mongolians that once controlled the area that is now Afghanistan, Balochistan, and the Indian subcontinent (e.g. Babur, Akbar), while Kahn is a misspelling of "Khan", which means commander, leader or ruler in Persian.

Morphling - A shapeshifter from Wizards of the Coast's Magic: The Gathering, which is also adept at switching stats.

Mortred - Her name possibly derives from the name Mordred. In the legend of King Arthur, Mordred is a traitor that severely wounds King Arthur. This has a hint of similarity to Mortred's story text in the DotA game, which appears as a tooltip during hero selection. Name could also allude to the word mortify, meaning to destroy the strength, vitality, or functioning of. Mortred also helped to test the map when Euls still made it.

Slithice (Naga Siren) - Derived from Greek Mythology, where sirens (half woman half sea creatures) were enticing men on ships to their island. In the game, her ultimate spell (Song of the Siren) causes all enemies in the surrounding area to sleep for a short period of time.

Nevermore - A shadow fiend, possibly based on Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven".

Nortrom - His name could have been derived from Nordom, a character in Planescape Torment. This could also possibly be derived from the company Norton, as they are a company developing anti-virus software and Nortrom is an anti-magic hero.

Rhasta - The name is derived from a specific religious group, "Rhastafari," in Jamaica which is where Rhasta's and all the trolls accent places them.

Rikimaru, the Stealth Assassin - A stealth ninja in the game Tenchu: The Stealth Assassins.

Shandelzare Silkwood - Her Magic Missile spell derives from the name of a spell in Dungeons and Dragons.

Squee (one of the Goblin Techies) - Character from Magic: The Gathering; a goblin from the Weatherlight saga.

Sven (the Rogueknight) - Comes from the Swedish Body Builder infamous for using the line "I want to pump *clap* you up!". Alluded to the captions under his ability Toughness Aura ("Sven is here to pump you up!") and ultimate ability God's Strength ("Sven gets pumped up! Adds bonus damage for 25 seconds.")

Syllabear - Syllabear is named after Syl-la-ble from Clan TDA who worked with Guinsoo in the development of DotA Allstars. Before leaving, he created this hero as to leave his mark in DotA.

Ulfsaar - A Furbolg warrior whose name may spring from the Norse Ulfsark, a warrior in times of need (alluding to his character description) that wore animal skins as a tactic to scare enemies; and similar to Ulfsarks were Berserkers, meaning "Bear strength" (Furbolgs are bear-like creatures in Warcraft III). Berserk is alluded to Ulfsaar's abilty to Overpower foes.

Venomancer - Uses a model of a character in Starcraft, the Zerg Hydralisk. This model is included in the Warcraft III data files as an easter egg.

Vol'Jin - A former houngan or famous troll witch doctor of the Darkspear Tribe from Warcraft III and World of Warcraft.

Yurnero (the Juggernaut) - An Orc Blademaster whos' ultimate ability, Omnislash, is the derivative of Cloud Strife's omnislash from Final Fantasy. Comes from the Hindi Jagann*th, literally, lord of the world, title of Vishnu, and also defined as a massive inexorable force that crushes all in it's path.

Zeus - Leader of the gods in Greek mythology. Zeus was the god of lightning, and in DotA Allstars the Zeus hero specializes in lightning-based spells.

To me it sounds like Icefrog is pretty cultured, maybe he speaks latin. We definately know he played/plays Magic the Gathering and Diablo. He also seems to know a lot about mythology, the bible, and other religions.

Give me your input on what you think about some of these and Icefrog!

Info from http://www.wowwiki.com/Defense_of_the_Ancients:_Allstars
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a.wiens

First Blood Posts: 14 Joined: 29 Jul 2007 465 gold

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 6:07 am

I also like how Mortred, Sy-la-ble, and Mercurial all had heroes made after them after they did work for DotA. Just like Eul and Guinsoo did with items. I kind of wonder when Icefrog stops what he will leave behind...
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Ghost

Beyond Godlike Posts: 3145 Joined: 01 Jan 2007 66275 gold

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 7:16 am

there were a few versions with a secret boss called "icefrog" accessible by stepping on all the runes located around the edge of the map

disclaimer: i never actually saw this but apparently it did exist
apparently he did 3 times as much damage as Roshan and had about 3 times the life..
he was also apparently invisible..

possibly a little retarded
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