There’s been a lot of speculation on this particular topic, as Diablo 4’s final big bad has remained a mystery. The first three Diablo games are pretty uniform in this aspect, having… well Diablo as the final boss. However, with the fourth installment, it may not be as easy as that. We recently learned that there will be a unique endgame challenge for fully geared-out characters in the form of a pinnacle boss. And while we do not know who that boss will be, they are not the focus of this particular article, as the community is much more focused on the final boss of Diablo 4’s story itself.
Also, there may be some spoilers from the beta, with some (accurate) speculation on one of the characters that might be returning, so keep that in mind before moving forward.
The Usual Suspects
While Lilith is very much the focus of all the game’s marketing, and we have seen a glimpse of her boss fight in the recent gameplay trailer, she isn’t guaranteed to be the final boss. The reddit community has even come up with a poll on just who might be our final challenge during the story campaign! And while the results are a little predictable and boring, the options are quite interesting.
The two most logical (and somewhat boring) options are at the top of the rankings. Lilith is actually in the lead by a solid margin, with Diablo coming in second, and the rest not really that close. We know for a fact that there’s a Lilith boss fight, and everything else on the list is pure speculation. One of the dark horse favorites would be the potential spoiler part, so do look away now!
The Underdogs
Mephisto would be my personal guess. If you didn’t know why he’s on the list at all, there’s a (basically confirmed) theory that the Bloodied Wolf we meet in Chapter 1 (and in the beta) is the Lord of Hatred himself. He is also Lilith’s father (or is he?), so it certainly makes sense that he’s involved.
The other particularly interesting candidate is the Nephalem from Diablo 3. The ending of Reaper of Souls heavily implied that our character, the one that defeated Malthael, might turn into a villain in the future. While this option is not proving popular in the poll, and would be very much out of nowhere in the story as we see it so far, it’s definitely a very interesting prospect. Perhaps we might see that as the pinnacle boss at the end of the endgame?
The Poll Itself
Enough of the introductions, let’s get to the numbers! The poll is currently sitting at around 2,000 votes.
Lilith: 637 votes, 32.6%
Diablo: 532 votes, 27.3%
Inarius: 320 votes, 16.4%
Someone Else: 185 votes, 9.5%
Mephisto: 178 votes, 9.1%
D3 Nephalem: 100 votes, 5.1%
Are Blizzard going 4 for 4 when it comes to the titular character being the final campaign boss? Does Lilith’s spotlight and story importance guarantee her the final boss role? Is the least likely, Nephalem theory set up in Diablo 3, even an option? We’ll find out soon enough!
And here’s the reddit thread itself, if you want to add your vote in:
Who do you think will be the final boss?
by u/exart in diablo4
