The Nephalem

For information on the race, see Nephalem.

"Your strength rivals that of our greatest champions. What now do you think you are?"

- Alaric to the Nephalem^(src)

The Nephalem
Gender	Player determinant
Race	Nephalem
Ethnicity	Player determinant
Affiliation	Horadrim (nominal affiliation) Various other/former affiliation(s) (player determinant)
Class	Player determinant
Relatives	Player determinant
Status	Active
Appearances	Diablo III Diablo III: Reaper of Souls Storm of Light (mentioned only) Book of Tyrael (mentioned only)

"The Nephalem" is a title awarded to the nephalem hero(es) active during the End of Days.

Biography

The End of Days

Witnessing a falling star, the Nephalem travelled to Tristram where they confronted and defeated an awakened evil.

Aftermath

After the defeat of Diablo, the Nephalem entered the lands east of Westmarch to search for Adria.

Reaper of Souls

In Westmarch, the Nephalem encountered Lorath Nahr, a Horadrim member sent by Tyrael who told them of the Reapers' attack on the city. The Nephalem then took the fight to the Reapers and managed to save the remaining survivors in time. Afterwards, the Nephalem entered the Blood Marsh to locate Adria. As they passed through, the ruins of the lost city of Corvus reacted to their presence, proving that the Nephalem had embraced their birthright. The Nephalem found Adria and defeated her, avenging Leah.

After a long intense battle, the Nephalem eventually defeated Malthael. However, Tyrael feared that one day the Nephalem would be tempted into corruption, and wondered whether the Nephalem, who had defeated the champions of Heaven and Hell, could resist it: depending on this, the Nephalem could be the Mankind's hope, or their doom.

Kanai's Cube

Several months after Malthael's defeat, Zoltun Kulle managed to return to the Nephalem in his spirit form. He told the shocked hero(es) that not even they could have killed the undying Horadrim, and that he now required their help. The artifact hidden beneath the Ruins of Sescheron could only be retrieved by someone who its guardians would deem worthy, and Kulle, obviously, would never pass their trial. The Nephalem agreed, and together with the deranged mage's spirit, managed to recover the artifact. As a token of his gratitude, Kulle unlocked its power, remaining at the Nephalem's side in their journey afterwards.

In-game

The Nephalem" is representative of the player character(s) of Diablo III ("The) Nephalem" is often used to address the player character, as per game mechanics and bypassing gender, name, class and number of players. According to Storm of Light and Book of Tyrael, storywise, a single nephalem hero is active. This matches the in-game cinematics of Diablo III and Reaper of Souls where "the Nephalem" is mentioned/seen as being a single hero. According to The Story of Diablo however, not only are all the classes of Diablo III nephalem, but all of them take part in the same overall story. The article and related pages are written to reflect this ambiguity.

Various individuals have appeared in Heroes of the Storm and expanded universe material that are named versions of the game's classes. These include:

• Johanna (female Crusader)
• Kharazim (male Monk)
• Li-Ming (female Wizard)
• Nazeebo (male Witch Doctor)
• Sonya (female Barbarian)
• Valla (female Demon Hunter)

Even before a named character has been provided for a Monk, the Monk has been portrayed as male as the de facto class gender choice. De facto class genders for the Barbarian, Crusader, Demon Hunter, Witch Doctor, and Wizard, are male, male, female, male and female respectively.

References

Class Identities

Diablo I — Aidan (Warrior) • Jazreth (Sorcerer) • Moreina (Rogue)
Diablo II — Carthas (Paladin) • Cassia (Amazon) • Isendra (Sorceress) • Xul (Necromancer)
Diablo Immortal — The Shard-seeker
Diablo III — The Nephalem: Johanna* (Crusader) • Kharazim* (Monk) • Li-Ming* (Wizard) • Nazeebo* (Witch Doctor) • Sonya* (Barbarian) • "The Chosen" * (Necromancer) • Valla (Demon Hunter)
Diablo IV — The Wanderer
* denotes possible but unconfirmed canonical identity.