Defense of the Ancients/Characters/The Radiant

This is part of the character sheet for the game Defense of the Ancients. Check back often, as new heroes are added regularly. This page contains all Radiant heroes.

Kunkka, the Admiral
''"As Admiral of the mighty Claddish Navy, Kunkka was charged with protecting the isles of his homeland when the Demons of the Cataract made a concerted grab at the lands of men. After years of small sorties, and increasingly bold and devastating attacks, the Demon Fleet flung all its carnivorous ships at the Trembling Isle. Desperate, the Suicide-Mages of Cladd committed their ultimate rite, summoning a host of ancestral spirits to protect the fleet. Against the Demons, this was just barely enough to turn the tide. As Kunkka watched the Demons take his ships down one by one, he had the satisfaction of wearing away their fleet with his ancestral magic. But at the battle's peak, something in the clash of demons, men and atavistic spirits must have stirred a fourth power that had been slumbering in the depths. The waves rose up in towering spouts around the few remaining ships, and Maelraun the Tentacular appeared amid the fray. His tendrils wove among the ships, drawing demon and human craft together, churning the water and wind into a raging chaos. What happened in the crucible of that storm, none may truly say. The Cataract roars off into the void, deserted by its former denizens. Kunkka is now Admiral of but one ship, a ghostly rig which endlessly replays the final seconds of its destruction. Whether he died in that crash is anyone's guess. Not even Tidehunter, who summoned Maelraun, knows for sure."''


 * Arch Enemy: He and Leviathan hate each other's guts.
 * Badass Beard/Seadog Beard: A truly magnificent one at that.
 * Booze-Based Buff: His ultimate, Ghost Ship, douses his allies in Rum, giving them bonus movement speed and a delayed reaction to damage.
 * The Captain: Admiral, to be exact.
 * Ghost Pirate: It's been hinted at in his Backstory that he might have been killed in the crash but no one truly knows.
 * Ghost Ship: His last skill summons the ghost of his ship to ram his enemies.
 * Going Down with the Ship: Referenced in one of his losing responses.
 * Magic Knight: As all Strength casters.
 * Making a Splash: He is able to summon geysers from underneath his enemies, and his sword is able to splash enemies with water.
 * Named Weapons/Oddly-Shaped Sword: Tidebringer
 * Talk Like a Pirate
 * Treasure Map: The inspiration for his third skill, X Marks the Spot.



Razzil Darkbrew, the Alchemist
''"The sacred science of Chymistry was a Darkbrew family tradition, but no Darkbrew had ever shown the kind of creativity, ambition, and recklessness of young Razzil. However, when adulthood came calling he pushed aside the family trade to try his hand at manufacturing gold though Alchemy. In an act of audacity befitting his reputation, Razzil announced he would transmute an entire mountain into gold. Following two decades of research and spending and preparation, he failed spectacularly, quickly finding himself imprisoned for the widespread destruction his experiment wrought. Yet Razzil was never one to take a setback lightly, and sought escape to continue his research. When his new cellmate turned out to be a fierce ogre, he found just the opportunity he needed. After convincing the ogre not to eat him, Razzil set about carefully concocting a tincture for it to drink, made from the moulds and mosses growing in the prison stone work. In a week’s time, it seemed ready. When the ogre drank the potion, it flew into an unstoppable berserker rage, destroying the cell bars and exploding through walls and guards alike. They soon found themselves lost somewhere in the forest surrounding the city with a trail of wreckage in their wake and no signs of pursuit. In the tonic’s afterglow, the ogre seemed serene, happy, and even eager. Resolving to work together, the pair set off to collect the materials needed to attempt Razzil’s Alchemic transmutation once more.''


 * Acid Pool: Acid Spray can create one in an area.
 * Alchemy Is Magic: Razzil's alchemy is apparently able to turn living organisms into gold.
 * Badass Beard: Razzil himself.
 * Brains and Brawn: They refer to themselves as this.
 * Deadly Gas: His Acid Spray ability creates a large cloud that shreds the armor and health of enemies.
 * Fat and Skinny: The ogre and Razzil, respectively.
 * Good Old Fisticuffs: The ogre's primary means of attack.
 * Horned Humanoid: The ogre.
 * Mounted Combat: Razzil rides on the back of an ogre. Whilst Razzil does the pointing, the ogre does the punching.
 * Our Ogres Are Hungrier: The ogre mount seems to be quite different than the ogre mooks found in game.
 * Phantasy Spelling: Chymistry
 * Purple Is Powerful: Chemical Rage
 * Race Against the Clock: A minor example with Unstable Concoction. If it's not thrown within 7 seconds, it will stun and damage the Alchemist.
 * Red Eyes, Take Warning: The portrait for his ultimate, Chemical Rage
 * Stun Gun: The Unstable Concoction.
 * Super Mode: Chemical Rage
 * Superpower Meltdown: The Unstable Concoction. Razzil throws a potion at an enemy that stuns them depending on how long he shakes it up. However, if he holds on to it too long, it will explode and stun himself.
 * There Was a Door: The ogre simply crashes through the walls of the prison that he and Razzil was stuck in.
 * Unstoppable Rage: When under the effects of Chemical Rage, the ogre runs faster, regenerates health faster, receives bonus health, and attacks faster.



Karroch, The Beast Master
''"Karroch was born a child of the stocks. His mother died in childbirth; his father, a farrier for the Mad King of Slom, was trampled to death when he was five. Afterward Karroch was indentured to the king’s menagerie, where he grew up among all the beasts of the royal court: lions, apes, fell-deer, and things less known, things barely believed in. When the lad was seven, an explorer brought in a beast like none before seen. Dragged before the King in chains, the beast spoke, though its mouth moved not. Its words: a plea for freedom. The King only laughed and ordered the beast perform for his amusement; and when it refused, struck it with the Mad Scepter and ordered it dragged to the stocks. Over the coming months, the boy Karroch sneaked food and medicinal draughts to the wounded creature, but only managed to slow its deterioration. Wordlessly, the beast spoke to the boy, and over time their bond strengthened until the boy found he could hold up his end of a conversation--could in fact speak now to all the creatures of the King's menagerie. On the night the beast died, a rage came over the boy. He incited the animals of the court to rebel and threw open their cages to set them amok on the palace grounds. The Mad King was mauled in the mayhem. In the chaos, one regal stag bowed to the boy who had freed him; and with Beastmaster astride him, leapt the high walls of the estate, and escaped. Now a man, Karroch the Beastmaster has not lost his ability to converse with wild creatures. He has grown into a warrior at one with nature’s savagery."''

"Beastmaster (casting wild axes): Boomeraxe."
 * An Axe to Grind: He can even throw and retrieve them like a boomerang.

"Rexxar: I've got the scent. Karroch: Mmm, caught your scent."
 * Badass Beard
 * Black Eyes: With white pupils.
 * Call a Smeerp a Rabbit: His boar and hawk don't look like what they're insisted to be.
 * Familiars: The hawk and the boar.
 * Make Me Wanna Shout: Primal Roar
 * Raised By Beasts Of The Royal Court
 * Speaks Fluent Animal
 * They Have the Scent: Referenced in some of his lines in both the original DotA and Dota 2.


 * Tribal Face Paint
 * Walking the Earth: As a wandering vagrant.



Mangix, the Brewmaster
''"Deep in the Wailing Mountains, in a valley beneath the Ruined City, the ancient Order of the Oyo has for centuries practiced its rights of holy reverie, communing with the spirit realm in grand festivals of drink. Born to a mother’s flesh by a Celestial father, the youth known as Mangix was the first to grow up with the talents of both lineages. He trained with the greatest aesthetes of the Order, eventually earning, through diligent drunkenness, the right to challenge for the title of Brewmaster—that appellation most honored among the contemplative malt-brewing sect. As much drinking competition as mortal combat, Mangix for nine days drank and fought the elder master. For nine nights they stumbled and whirled, chugged and struck, until at last the elder warrior collapsed into a drunken stupor, and a new Brewmaster was named. Now the new, young Brewmaster calls upon the strength of his Oyo forebears to speed his staff. When using magic, it is to his spirit ancestors that he turns. Like all Brewmasters before him, he was sent out from his people with a single mission. He wanders the land, striving toward enlightenment through drink, searching for the answer to the ancient spiritual schism—hoping to think the single thought that will unite the spirit and physical planes again."''


 * Big Fun
 * Booze-Based Buff: Played straight with the Brewmaster's Drunken Brawler ability which gives him a chance to evade attacks and deal critical damage. Inverted with his Drunken Haze ability which causes a negative buff on enemies.
 * Continuity Nod: Although the Storm Spirit is now a human, Brewmaster still labels him as his cousin. This may very well be because of Brewmaster's celestial heritage.
 * Drunken Master
 * Elemental Powers
 * Epic Flail: An odd combination of what can be called nunchaku, but with a staff on one end is his Weapon of Choice. However, it's a real weapon.
 * Glowing Eyes: His ultimate, Primal Spirit.
 * Literal Split Personality/Self-Duplication: His ultimate, Primal Spirit, splits him into three elemental warriors.
 * Magic Knight: The result of his father being a celestial.
 * Panda-ing To The Audience: His race is very Panda-like. The relation becomes more apparent when you look at his previous skin. He even used to be a Pandaren in the original DotA.
 * Shockwave Stomp: Thunder Clap
 * Stout Strength



Rattletrap, the Clockwerk
"Rattletrap belongs to the same race as Sniper and Tinker, and in much the same manner he has offset his diminutive stature by beefing himself up with a suit of powered Clockwerk armor that makes the knights of other lands look like tin cans by comparison. Rattletrap is alive with devices that not only protect him from harm, but allow him to rappel from point to point while firing rockets and strewing the terrain with traps. What time is it? It's Clockwerk time!"


 * Clock Punk
 * Clockwerk Armor: His suit of armor is incredibly complex, with many whirring gizmos and ticking parts. Clockwork Creature was played straight in the first DotA.
 * Cool Helmet
 * Grappling Hook Pistol: Rattletrap's ultimate is the Hookshot, allowing him to pull himself to enemies or allies once upgraded.
 * Incredibly Lame Pun: "Do it with flare!" Upon using Rocket Flare.
 * Lead the Target: Proper use of his Rocket Flare will allow a player to snipe people from across the map with it, once they get a feel for how much damage it does, and how fast it travels.
 * Magic Missile: Hookshot fires a grappling, piston-like attachment at a unit or location. It will latch on the first, non-neutral enemy target it encounters, pulling you to it. Any enemies whom you collide with while being reeled toward the target will take damage and will be stunned. Its Aghanim's upgrade will also allow you to latch into allies.
 * Overclocking Attack: Battery Assault -- Rattletrap overloads the devices he doesn't need, exploding them into enemies' faces.
 * Powered Armor
 * You Will Not Evade Me: Rattletrap can use his Hookshot to catch up to an enemy, and then use Power Cogs to trap them with him.



Davion, the Dragon Knight
''"After years on the trail of a legendary Eldwurm, the skilled dragon-slayer found himself facing a disappointing foe: the dreaded Slyrak had grown ancient and frail, its wings tattered, its few remaining scales stricken with scale-rot, its fangs ground to nubs, and its fire-gouts no more threatening than a pack of wet matchsticks. Seeing no honor to be gained in dragon-murder, the young knight prepared to turn away and leave his old foe to die in peace. But a voice crept into his thoughts, and Slyrak gave a whispered plea that the knight might honor him with death in combat. The knight agreed, and found himself rewarded beyond expectation for his act of mercy: As he sank his blade in Slyrak's breast, the dragon sank a claw into his throat. As their blood mingled, Slyrak sent his power out along the Blood Route, offering all its strength and centuries of wisdom to the knight. The dragon's death sealed their bond, and Dragon Knight was born. The ancient power slumbers in the knight, waking when he calls it; or perhaps it is the Dragon that calls the Knight..."''


 * Breath Weapon: In knight form, he can breathe cones of fire to burn his enemies. In dragon form, this replaces his normal attack.
 * By the Lights of Their Eyes: His eyes appear to glow from under his helmet.
 * Cool Helmet
 * Cool Sword
 * Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me
 * Our Dragons Are Different
 * The Power of Blood: Used by Slyrak to give his power to Davion.
 * Shield-Bash: Dragon Tail
 * Super Mode: Elder Dragon Form
 * Voluntary Shapeshifting: Into an elder dragon.



Raigor Stonehoof, the Earthshaker
"Like a golem or gargoyle, Earthshaker was one with the earth but now walks freely upon it. Unlike those other entities, he created himself through an act of will, and serves no other master. In restless slumbers, encased in a deep seam of stone, he became aware of the life drifting freely above him. He grew curious. During a season of tremors, the peaks of Nishai shook themselves loose of avalanches, shifting the course of rivers and turning shallow valleys into bottomless chasms. When the land finally ceased quaking, Earthshaker stepped from the settling dust, tossing aside massive boulders as if throwing off a light blanket. He had shaped himself in the image of a mortal beast, and named himself Raigor Stonehoof. He bleeds now, and breathes, and therefore he can die. But his spirit is still that of the earth; he carries its power in the magical totem that never leaves him. And on the day he returns to dust, the earth will greet him as a prodigal son."


 * Carry a Big Stick/Telephone Polearm: His totem.
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Well, Raigor is made out of dirt.
 * Earthquakes Cause Fissures
 * Geo Effects: His Fissure can not only stun but also temporarily create an impassible crevasse. Knowing how to use it to trap enemies is vital to mastering Earthshaker.
 * Herd-Hitting Attack: Echo Slam with a full wave of creeps + 5 heroes and dish out the pain.
 * Magic Knight: Leans very heavily towards the 'caster' end of Strength casters.
 * Noun Verber
 * Shockwave Stomp: And a potentially very painful one too.



Purist Thunderwrath, the Omniknight
''"Purist Thunderwrath was a hard-fighting, road-worn, deeply committed knight, sworn to the order in which he had grown up as squire to elder knights of great reputation. He had spent his entire life in the service of the Omniscience, the All Seeing One. Theirs was a holy struggle, and so embedded was he in his duty that he never questioned it so long as he had the strength to fight and the impetuous valor that comes with youth. But over the long years of the crusade, as his elders passed away and were buried in sorry graves at the side of muddy tracks, as his bond-brothers fell in battle to uncouth creatures that refused to bow to the Omniscience, as his own squires were chewed away by ambush and plague and bad water, he began to question the meaning of his vows--the meaning of the whole crusade. After deep meditation, he parted ways with his army and commenced a long trek back to the cave-riddled cliffs of Emauracus, and there he set a challenge to the priests of the Omniscience. No knight had ever questioned them before, and they tried to throw him into the pit of sacrifice, but Purist would not be moved. For as he faced them down, he began to glow with a holy light, and they saw that the Omniscience had chosen to reveal Itself to him. The Elder Hierophant led him on a journey of weeks down into the deepest chamber, the holy of holies, where waited not some abstract concept of wisdom and insight, not some carved relic requiring an injection of imagination to believe in, but the old one itself. It had not merely dwelt in those rocks for billions of aeons; no, It had created them. The Omniscience had formed the immense mineral shell of the planet around itself, as a defense against the numerous terrors of space. Thus the All Seeing One claimed to have created the world, and given the other truths revealed to Puritan on that day, the knight had no reason to refute the story. Perhaps the Omniscience is a liar, deep in its prison of stone, and not the world's creator at all, but Omniknight never again questioned his faith. His campaign had meaning at last. And there can be no question that the glorious powers that imbue him, and give his companions such strength in battle, are real beyond any doubt."''

"Omniknight: "Chen, faith is a tool, not a bludgeon. You would have done well to learn this.""
 * Awesome McCoolname
 * Badass Beard
 * Barrier Warrior
 * Combat Medic
 * Crystal Dragon Jesus: The Omniscience
 * Averted in original DotA's Omniknight, in which it is outright stated that he's serving God with a capital G.
 * Drop the Hammer
 * Holier Than Thou: Has some kill quotes aimed specifically at Chen that berate him for how he uses his holy powers.


 * Light Is Good
 * Magic Knight
 * The Paladin
 * Shout-Out: He has more than a passing resemblance to Chuck Norris.
 * Status Buff: His skills are for this. Three of which are buffs for allies while one is a debuff aura against enemies.



Sven, the Rogue Knight
"Sven is the bastard son of a Vigil Knight, born of a Pallid Meranth, raised in the Shadeshore Ruins. With his father executed for violating the Vigil Codex, and his mother shunned by her wild race, Sven believes that honor is to be found in no social order--but only in himself. After tending his mother through a lingering death, he offered himself as a novice to the Vigil Knights, never revealing his identity. For thirteen years he studied in his father's school, mastering the rigid code that declared his existence an abomination. Then, on the day that should have been his In-Swearing, he seized the Outcast Blade, shattered the Sacred Helm, and burned the Codex in the Vigil's Holy Flame. He strode from Vigil Keep, forever solitary, following his private code to the last strict rune. Still a knight, yes...but a Rogue Knight."


 * BFS: The Outcast Blade, a sword as long as most people are tall!
 * Glowing Eyes of Doom: When under the effects of God's Strength.
 * Half-Meranth Hybrid: Both of Pallid Meranth (Father's side) and an unknown race (Mother's side).
 * Lightning Bruiser
 * Magic Knight: Relies heavily on his limited mana pool.
 * Shout-Out: His name is a reference to a wrestler, whose signature skill was to get 'Pumped Up.'
 * Stun Guns: His Storm Bolt skill, which manifests as a fist made of lightning.
 * Super Mode: God's Strength
 * Turns Red: When pumped up with God's Strength.



Huskar, the Sacred Warrior
"Emerging from the throes of the sacred Nothl Realm, Huskar opened his eyes to see the prodigal shadow priest Dazzle working a deep incantation over him. Against the ancient rites of the Dezun Order, Huskar’s spirit had been saved from eternity, but like all who encounter the Nothl he found himself irrevocably changed. No longer at the mercy of a mortal body, his very lifeblood became a source of incredible power; every drop spilled was returned tenfold with a fierce, burning energy. However this newfound gift infuriated Huskar, for in his rescue from the Nothl, Dazzle had denied him a place among the gods. He had been denied his own holy sacrifice. In time the elders of the order sought to expand their influence and Huskar, they agreed, would be a formidable tool in their campaign. Yet becoming a mere weapon for the order that denied him his birthright only upset him further. As the first embers of war appeared on the horizon, he fled his ancestral home to find new allies, all the while seeking a cause worthy of unleashing the power his total sacrifice could bring."


 * The Berserker
 * Blade on a Stick
 * Cast from Hit Points: Huskar spends hitpoints to use Burning Spears, and his ultimate, Life Break, costs a ton of his health.
 * Critical Status Buff: His skill Berserker's Blood gives bonus attack speed AND damage for every 7% of his health missing. This stacks up to 14 times.
 * Death Seeker: His ultimate goal is to find a fight worth dying in.
 * Glowing Eyes of Doom
 * Healing Factor: Huskar can use Inner Vitality, drawing upon the target's spirit energy to heal them.
 * Playing with Fire: Huskar can light his spears on fire using his hitpoints.



Tiny, the Stone Giant
"Coming to life as a chunk of stone, Tiny's origins are a mystery on which he continually speculates. He is a Stone Giant now, but what did he used to be? A splinter broken from a Golem's heel? A shard swept from a gargoyle-sculptor's workshop? A fragment of the Oracular Visage of Garthos? A deep curiosity drives him, and he travels the world tirelessly seeking his origins, his parentage, his people. As he roams, he gathers weight and size; the forces that weather lesser rocks, instead cause Tiny to grow and ever grow."

"Tiny: "ROCKED YOU!""
 * Badass Beard: Made of moss.
 * Dishing Out Dirt: As a stone giant, this is to be expected.
 * Fastball Special: Toss can be used this way.
 * Glowing Eyes
 * Golem: Sort of.
 * Gosh Dang It to Heck


 * Grievous Harm with a Body: Toss works this way.
 * Hulk Speak
 * Ironic Nickname: Although his name is true at first, Tiny quickly becomes one of the largest characters in the game.



Rooftrellen, the Treant Protector
''"Far to the west, in the mountains beyond the Vale of Augury, lie the remains of an ancient power, a fount of eldritch energy nestled deep in the high woods. It is said that the things that grow here, grow strangely. To the forces of nature this is a sacred place, made to stay hidden and unknown. Many are the traps and dangers of this land--all-consuming grasses and crossbred fauna and poisonous flowers--but none are so fierce as the mighty Treant Protectors. These ageless, titanic beings, charged with keeping the peace in this dangerous land, ensure that none within encroach without reason, and none without poach their secrets. For time untold they tended to their holy ground, uninterrupted, only dimly aware of the changing world beyond. Yet inevitably the wider world grew aware of this untamed land, and with each passing winter the outsiders grew bolder. Soon they arrived with tools to cut and with flames to burn, and often the Treants would ponder: who are these fragile, industrious creatures? What now had become of the wild, green world? There came and went an age of questions and of doubts, a thousand summers of long traditions set to scrutiny, while more and more the outsiders died and fed their earth. When all that bloomed had finally finished their say, curiosity had overcome caution. It was decided: a lone Protector would be sent into the wider world, and instructed to wander until the glaciers arose once more, to observe the changing land and its creatures, and to discover what unknown dangers could threaten their sacred ground."''


 * Glowing Eyes
 * Green Thumb: Being a treant, this is to be expected.
 * Life Drain: Leech Seed
 * Nature Hero
 * Plant Person
 * Shout-Out: To Pokémon with his spell, Leech Seed.
 * The Lost Woods: His land of origin.
 * Tree Cover: Nature's Guise
 * When Trees Attack

Anti-Mage
''"The monks of Turstarkuri watched the rugged valleys below their mountain monastery as wave after wave of invaders swept through the lower kingdoms. Ascetic and pragmatic, in their remote monastic eyrie they remained aloof from mundane strife, wrapped in meditation that knew no gods or elements of magic. Then came the Legion of the Dead God, crusaders with a sinister mandate to replace all local worship with their Unliving Lord's poisonous nihilosophy. From a landscape that had known nothing but blood and battle for a thousand years, they tore the souls and bones of countless fallen legions and pitched them against Turstarkuri. The monastery stood scarcely a fortnight against the assault, and the few monks who bothered to surface from their meditations believed the invaders were but demonic visions sent to distract them from meditation. They died where they sat on their silken cushions. Only one youth survived--a pilgrim who had come as an acolyte, seeking wisdom, but had yet to be admitted to the monastery. He watched in horror as the monks to whom he had served tea and nettles were first slaughtered, then raised to join the ranks of the Dead God's priesthood. With nothing but a few of Turstarkuri's prized dogmatic scrolls, he crept away to the comparative safety of other lands, swearing to obliterate not only the Dead God's magic users--but to put an end to magic altogether."''


 * Anti-Magic: Spell Shield
 * Dual-Wielding
 * Flowery Elizabethan English
 * Fragile Speedster
 * Glass Cannon: Can be remedied with the right items.
 * Glowing Eyes/Purple Eyes
 * Mage Killer: Exactly What It Says on the Tin
 * Magic by Any Other Name: It's never explained how he's capable of doing what he does. He's something of a hypocrite as far as this goes.
 * Magic Is Evil: He believes this.
 * Mana Burn: He does this on normal attacks.
 * Purple Is Powerful
 * Teleport Spam
 * Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: Apparently his father thought naming his son Magina would be hilarious.
 * Can be a case of Freud Was Right for some people.



Gondar, the Bounty Hunter
''"When the hunted tell tales of Gondar the Bounty Hunter, none are sure of which are true. In whispered tones they say he was abandoned as a kit, learning his skill in tracking as a matter of simple survival. Others hear he was an orphan of war, taken in by the great Soruq the Hunter to learn the master’s skill with a blade as they plumbed the dark forests for big game. Still others believe he was a lowly street urchin raised among a guild of cutpurses and thieves, trained in the arts of stealth and misdirection. Around campfires in the wild countryside his quarry speaks the rumors of Gondar’s work, growing ever more fearful: they say it was he who tracked down the tyrant King Goff years after the mad regent went into hiding, delivering his head and scepter as proof. That it was he who infiltrated the rebel camps at Highseat, finally bringing the legendary thief White Cape to be judged for his crimes. And that it was he who ended the career of Soruq the Hunter, condemned as a criminal for killing the Prince’s prized hellkite. The tales of Gondar’s incredible skill stretch on, with each daring feat more unbelievable than the last, each target more elusive. For the right price, the hunted know, anyone can be found. For the right price, even the mightiest may find fear in the shadows."''


 * Catfolk
 * Double Weapon: One of his weapons.
 * Dual-Wielding
 * Fuuma Shuriken
 * Highly-Visible Ninja: Averted during Shadow Walk.
 * Knife Nut: With his other weapon.
 * Red Eyes, Take Warning
 * Reverse Grip
 * Scarily Competent Tracker: Sort of, especially with his ultimate.



Traxex, the Drow Ranger
''"Drow Ranger's given name is Traxex--a name well suited to the short, trollish, rather repulsive Drow people. But Traxex herself is not a Drow. Her parents were travelers in a caravan set upon by bandits, whose noisy slaughter of innocents roused the ire of the quiet Drow people. After the battle settled, the Drow discovered a small girl-child hiding in the ruined wagons, and agreed she could not be abandoned. Even as child, Traxex showed herself naturally adept at the arts they prized: Stealth, silence, subtlety. In spirit, if not in physique, she might have been a Drow changeling, returned to her proper home. But as she grew, she towered above her family and came to think of herself as ugly. After all, her features were smooth and symmetrical, entirely devoid of warts and coarse whiskers. Estranged from her adopted tribe, she withdrew to live alone in the woods. Lost travelers who find their way from the forest sometimes speak of an impossibly beautiful Ranger who peered at them from deep among the trees, then vanished like a dream before they could approach. Lithe and stealthy, icy hot, she moves like mist in silence. That whispering you hear is her frozen arrows finding an enemy's heart."''


 * Action Girl
 * All of the Other Reindeer
 * The Archer
 * An Ice Person: Just with her arrows.
 * Dark Is Not Evil
 * In the Hood
 * Interspecies Adoption
 * Power Nullifier: With her Silence skill.



Aurel, the Gyrocopter
''"After serving through a lifetime of wars, upheaval, riots, and revolutions, the brass figured Aurel had seen enough. But in addition to a few trinkets and his considerable pension, the erstwhile engineer left with something far more interesting: a long-forgotten, incomplete schematic for a Gyrocopter, the world’s first manned, non-magical flying device. Retiring to the tropical obscurity of the Ash Archipelago with little else but time and money, he set to work building the device. As the years wore on and the remains of failed prototypes began to pile up, he began to wonder if mechanical flight was even possible. A decade and a day after his retirement, on a sunny afternoon with a southerly breeze, Aurel sat in his latest attempt bristling with indignation and expectant failure. With a grunt of effort he pulled the ignition cord and covered his head, waiting for the inevitable explosion. However to his great surprise he began to lift and, following a few panicked adjustments, stabilize. Within an hour, he was ducking and weaving with the breeze, level with the gulls, and Aurel found himself filled with the breathless wonder of flight. As dusk settled in he set a course back to his workshop, but no sooner had he turned his craft when a cannonball tore through his tailfin. Disentangling himself from the wreckage, he swam toward the nearest piece of land in sight, and cursed to see the ship responsible for the cannonball collecting the debris. Days later, when Aurel returned to his workshop, he set to work on yet another gyrocopter, this one capable of carrying a much heavier, more dangerous payload."''



Yurnero, The Juggernaut
"No one has ever seen the face hidden beneath the mask of Yurnero the Juggernaut. It is only speculation that he even has one. For defying a corrupt lord, Yurnero was exiled from the ancient Isle of Masks--a punishment that saved his life. The isle soon after vanished beneath the waves in a night of vengeful magic. He alone remains to carry on the Isle's long Juggernaut tradition, one of ritual and swordplay. The last practitioner of the art, Yurnero's confidence and courage are the result of endless practice; his inventive bladework proves that he has never stopped challenging himself. Still, his motives are as unreadable as his expression. For a hero who has lost everything twice over, he fights as if victory is a foregone conclusion."

"Juggernaut: Nice mask, they said. What mask?"
 * Cool Mask
 * Everything's Better with Spinning: Blade Fury
 * Spin Attack
 * Spin to Deflect Stuff: It at least deflects magic.
 * The Faceless: Nobody has ever seen him without his mask. People aren't even sure he has a face under the mask.

"Juggernaut: I'm the Juggernaut, bitch!"
 * Glowing Eyes
 * Katanas Are Just Better
 * Last of His Kind: After his homeland sank into the sea.
 * Master Swordsman: To a ludicrous extent.
 * Shout-Out

"Juggernaut: I'm the Juggernaut, Lich!"
 * Incredibly Lame Pun


 * To Final Fantasy VII with his "limit break", Omnislash.
 * Walking Shirtless Scene



Sylla, the Lone Druid
''"Long before the first words of the first histories there rose the druidic Bear Clan. Wise and just they were, and focused in their ways to seek an understanding of the natural order. The arch forces of nature saw this, and so sought the most learned among them. Wise old Sylla, clan justiciar and seer, stepped forward for his kin, and to him was given the Seed with these words: 'When all of the world has dimmed, when civilization has left these lands, when the world is slain and wracked by the endless deserts at the end of ages, plant the Seed.' As he grasped his trust, Sylla felt his years recede and his vitality returned. Vast knowledge burst into his mind. He found himself able to project his very will into reality and, with some concentration, alter his own physical form as well. Yet subtle whispers and cruel ears brought word of the Seed and its power to other peoples, and a terrible war crashed upon the Bear Clan. As his ancestral home burned, Sylla took his burden and fled to the wild places. Ages passed, and time and myth forgot the Bear Clan, forgot Sylla and the Seed, forgot wondrous civilizations that rose and fell in Bear Clan’s wake. Through the eons, Sylla has waited, waited for word from his deities, waited for peace to come to the ever warring realms, waited in exile and in secret for the end of all things and for the conclusion of his sacred commitment, preparing himself always to face and destroy whatever would dare threaten his purpose."''


 * Badass Beard
 * Bond Creature: The Spirit Bear.
 * Everything's Worse with Bears
 * Familiar: His spirit bear.
 * Green Thumb: His spirit bear's ability, Entangling Claws.
 * King in the Mountain: His Backstory.
 * Nature Hero
 * Really 700 Years Old
 * Synchronization: The spirit bear cannot attack when it reaches a certain distance away from the Lone Druid and when the spirit bear is killed, Sylla will also take damage. They also have other skills that affects both of them including a skill appropriately called as Synergy.
 * Voluntary Shapeshifting: Into a bear.



Morphling
''"For dark eons the comet circled. Held in thrall to a distant sun, bound by gravity’s inexorable pull, the massive ball of ice careened through the blackness between worlds, made strange by its dark journey. On the eve of the ancient war of the Vloy, it punched down through the sky and lit a glowing trail across the night—a sign both armies took for an omen. The frozen ball melted in a flash of boiling heat, as below two forces enjoined in battle across the border of a narrow river. Thus freed from its icy stasis, the Morphling was born into conflict, an elemental power at one with the tides of the ocean, capricious and unconstrained. He entered the fight, instinctively taking the form of the first general who dared set foot across the water—and then struck him dead. As the motley warriors clashed, he shifted from form to form throughout the battle, instantly absorbing the ways of these the strange creatures—now a footsoldier, now an archer, now the cavalryman and his mount--until, by the time the last soldier fell, Morphling had played every part. The battle's end was his beginning."''


 * Blob Monster
 * Came From the Sky
 * Elemental Shapeshifter: He can morph into the copies he creates.
 * Making a Splash: He's MADE of water.
 * Shout-Out : To Magic: The Gathering Morphling. Especially his third skill.
 * Twinmaker: He is able to create copies of other heroes (enemy or allied).



Azwraith, the Phantom Lancer
''"The remote village of Pole had no knowledge of the wars raging in the heart of the kingdom. For them, the quiet of spear fishing, and a family meal were all that a full life required. Yet war came for them nonetheless. Joining the able-bodied conscripts as they filed passed their homes, the humble lancer Azwraith vowed to bring peace to his kingdom, and in so doing, his people. Placed with his kin in the vanguard of the final assault against the Dread Magus Vorn, the cost to his fellows was absolute. As the charging force battled toward the fortress, Azwraith alone among his kind remained standing, and he alone was able to infiltrate the keep. Focused and infuriated by the slaughter of his brothers, Azwraith bested each of the wizard's deadly traps and conjured guardians. Soon the simple fisherman arrived at Vorn's tower sanctum. The pair dueled through the night, pike to staff, as chaos raged below, and with a deafening cry Azwraith pierced his enemy. But the wizard did not simply expire; he exploded into uncountable shards of light, penetrating his killer with power. As the dust settled and the smoke of combat began to clear, Azwraith found himself standing among a throng of his kin. Each seemed to be dressed as he was, each seemed armed as he was, and he could sense that each thought as he did. Aware that his allies were approaching, he willed these phantoms to hide themselves, and one by one they began to vanish into nothingness. As the soldiers came upon the sanctum, they found the warrior that had bested the wizard. When they approached their champion, the lancer vanished. The pikeman who had stood before them was no more than another phantom. The real Azwraith had fled the field, ashamed of his anger, heartbroken at his loss, and all the more determined to ensure peace for his people through the wars to come."''

"Phantom Lancer: Am I the real we?"
 * Blade on a Stick
 * Catfolk
 * Decoy Getaway: Doppelwalk is a combination of Invisibility and Self-Duplication, allowing a fake Phantom Lancer to take the original's place as it hides.
 * I Am Legion: His Backstory suggests that his phantoms are capable of semi-independent thought, but all think like and obey the will of the original. In his voice lines he almost always refers to himself as "we".


 * Self-Duplication: His skills are based around making copies of himself. With Phantom Edge, even his clones can spawn other clones passively.
 * Took a Level in Badass: He used to be a simple fisherman.
 * Voice of the Legion: He seems to speak with the voice of all his Phantoms, even when none appear to be there.
 * Zerg Rush: The clones can be used with this tactic.



Mirana, the Princess of the Moon
"Born to a royal family, a blood princess next in line for the Solar Throne, Mirana willingly surrendered any claim to mundane land or titles when she dedicated herself completely to the service of Selemene, Goddess of the Moon. Known ever since as Princess of the Moon, Mirana prowls the sacred Nightsilver Woods searching for any who would dare poach the sacred luminous lotus from the silvery pools of the Goddess's preserve. Riding on her enormous feline familiar, she is poised, proud and fearless, attuned to the phases of the moon and the wheeling of the greater constellations. Her bow, tipped with sharp shards of lunar ore, draws on the moon's power to charge its arrows of light."


 * Abdicate the Throne: She left the Solar Throne to become a Princess of the Moon.
 * The Archer
 * Everything's Better with Princesses
 * Lunacy: She draws most of her powers from the moon.
 * Magic Missile: Mirana's Sacred Arrow skill works like this more than the Vengeful Spirit's skill that is named as such. It will stun the first enemy unit it strikes for a duration based on the distance where Mirana fired her arrow and the target hit.
 * Panthera Awesome: She rides a white tiger.
 * Princesses Rule
 * Rebellious Princess: Subverted in that she only left her former throne to take a new one.
 * Tiger Archer



Kardel Sharpeye, the Sniper
''"Kardel Sharpeye was born deep in the mountainous valleys of Knollen where, since time immemorial, the folk have survived by hunting the strange, cliff-dwelling steepstalkers above their village--killing them from a distance and collecting their carcasses where they fell. Sharpeye was among the best of these strange folk for whom projectile weapons are but another appendage, and to shoot is as natural as to touch. On his day of summoning, when he was to gain full standing in his village, Sharpeye took the ancient test: a single shot from the valley floor to strike a beast down from the cliffs. To miss was to be dishonored. With his entire village standing vigil, Sharpeye took his shot. A steepstalker fell; the crowd cheered. But when the carcass was collected, the village grew silent, for the elders found that the bullet had pierced its glittering central eye then fallen to be clenched in the steepstalker's mandibles. This ominous sign was the literal opening of a dark prophesy, foretelling both greatness and exile for the gunman who made such a shot. Sharpeye the Sniper was thus, by his own skill, condemned to make his way apart from his people--and unwelcome back among them until he has fulfilled the remainder of the prophecy by attaining legendary stature on a field of battle."''


 * Badass Beard: Seems to be standard among his race.
 * Crosshair Aware: Sniper's Assassinate will put a crosshair visible to allies above his target while he's charging the ability.
 * Friendly Sniper: Is quite the talkative and upbeat fellow.
 * Glass Rifle: Although he can potentially dish out tons of damage, he's very fragile.
 * Guns Are Worthless: Subverted. He is the only gunslinger, but his problems aren't due to his use of a gun; rather, it's that he can't do anything with that gun but Boom! Headshot!, which limits his viability in competitive play.
 * The Sniper basically has no natural escapes or lasting disables... but can be given items to turn him into an unstoppable killing machine.
 * Improbable Aiming Skills: The reason he was exiled. His Assassinate skill can hit from a insane distance away, even people that he can't see naturally, as long as he has sighted them using wards or teammates. The bullet will even CURVE to hit the target.
 * Lethal Joke Character: Since he's small and starts with low health, slow movement speed, low damage, no escapes, no disables, low attack speed, this Hero seems quite pathetic... until he levels up, gets good items and starts killing everything in sight.
 * Making a Spectacle of Yourself
 * Sniper Rifle: Quite obviously.
 * Spread Shot: His Shrapnel is a Recursive Ammo.
 * Shout-Out : Many of his quote came straight from Sniper of Team Fortress 2, a FPS game by same creator of DotA 2, Valve Corporation.



Rikimaru, the Stealth Assassin
"Riki was born middle child to the great dynasty of Tahlin. With an older brother groomed for the throne, and a younger brother coddled and kept, Riki, the small middle son, seemed born for the art of invisibility. It was an art he cultivated, and one which ultimately saved his life on the night that his people were betrayed and his family slaughtered. Of all the royal line, he alone escaped—small and agile, unassuming, using smoke as cover. He cut his way out of the royal grounds, using the advantage of surprise, quietly slitting the throats of one enemy warrior after another. Now free of his royal responsibilities, Riki uses his talents in service to a new trade: Stealth Assassin. He silences his enemies, sharpening his skills, hoping to one day take revenge on those who killed his family and robbed him of his birthright."


 * Back Stab: One of his trademark skills.
 * Fauns and Satyrs: Although not outright stated, he has many features of traditional satyrs.
 * Fog of Doom: His Smoke Screen skill.
 * Horned Humanoid
 * Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Smoke Screen causes enemies in an area to have a chance to miss.
 * Invisibility Cloak: Once he gets level 6.
 * Middle Child Syndrome: Actually ended up saving his life.
 * Power Nullifier: Smoke Screen can also silence opponents.
 * Shout-Out: To Tenchu
 * Smoke Out: Smoke Screen
 * Stealth Hi Bye
 * Teleport Spam: Blink Strike.



Ulfsaar, the Ursa Warrior
"Ulfsaar the Warrior is the fiercest member of an ursine tribe, protective of his land and his people. During the long winters, while the mothers sleep and nurse their cubs, the males patrol the lands above--tireless, vigilant defenders of their ancient ways. Hearing dim but growing rumors of a spreading evil, Ulfsaar headed out beyond the boundaries of his wild wooded homeland, intending to track down and destroy the threat at its source, before it could endanger his people. He is a proud creature with a bright strong spirit, utterly trustworthy, a staunch ally and defender."


 * Cycle of Hurting: His damage rapidly increases with each subsequent hit on the enemy, so trying to heal his stunlocked victim won't help much.
 * Everything's Worse with Bears: For his enemies at least.
 * Glowing Eyes of Doom/Red Eyes, Take Warning
 * Lightning Bruiser
 * Natural Weapon: His claws.
 * Papa Wolf: Unlike Real Life father bears, he seems to be quite protective of the cubs.
 * Shockwave Stomp
 * Spam Attack: His bread-and-butter skill gives him a sequence of 3-6 very fast melee attacks.



Shendel, the Vengeful Spirit
''"Even the most contented Skywrath is an ill-tempered creature, naturally inclined to seek revenge for the slightest insult. But Vengeful Spirit is the essence of vengeance. Once a proud and savage Skywrath scion, first in succession for the Ghastly Eyrie, a sister's treachery robbed her of her birthright. Snared in a hired assassin's net, she tore free only at the cost of her wings, limping way in the ultimate humiliation: On foot. With her wings shattered, she knew her people would never accept her as ruler; and in the high roost of the Skywrath flock, inaccessible except by winged flight, her sister was untouchable. Unwilling to live as a flightless cripple, and desiring revenge far more than earthly power, the fallen princess drove a bargain with the goddess Avilliva Scree'auk: She surrendered her broken body for an imperishable form of spirit energy, driven by vengeance, capable of doing great damage in the material plane. She may spend eternity flightless, but she will have her revenge. "''


 * Action Girl
 * Broken Bird: Figuratively and literally. On the literal side, she's a Skywrath, a race of winged humanoids. On the figurative side, she was a proud woman until her sister hired an assassin to kill her, and Shendel's wings were lost. This is one of the most traumatic things than can happen to a Skywrath, causing her to devote herself to revenge.
 * Glowing Eyes/Red Eyes, Take Warning
 * Heroic Sacrifice: Nether Swap can bring an enemy surrounded by his team to yours. Of course, this sends you right into the middle of the enemy team.
 * Loud of War: Her Wave of Terror skill.
 * Obvious Rule Patch: DotA has an item called "Kelen's Dagger" (Blink Dagger in DotA 2) that allows teleportation of one's own hero. So, it's even possible to teleport yourself into terrain that you cannot escape from, except by using Blink Dagger again once the cooldown ends. The Blink Dagger cannot be held by Pudge or Vengeful Spirit. If it could be, they would be able to blink to an enclosed area and then bring an enemy to them, leaving their foe potentially trapped. However, they can still do this with Force Staff.
 * Power Glows: Her "hair" and eyes.
 * Stun Guns: Her Magic Missile skill.
 * Revenge: The dreadful emotion within her.
 * Winged Humanoid: The Skywraths are a race of them. Shendel, however, lost her wings.

Rylai, the Crystal Maiden
"Born in a temperate realm, raised with her fiery older sister Lina, Rylai the Crystal Maiden soon found that her innate elemental affinity to ice created trouble for all those around her. Wellsprings and mountain rivers froze in moments if she stopped to rest nearby; ripening crops were bitten by frost, and fruiting orchards turned to mazes of ice and came crashing down, spoiled. When their exasperated parents packed Lina off to the equator, Rylai found herself banished to the cold northern realm of Icewrack, where she was taken in by an Ice Wizard who had carved himself a hermitage at the crown of the Blueheart Glacier. After long study, the wizard pronounced her ready for solitary practice and left her to take his place, descending into the glacier to hibernate for a thousand years. Her mastery of the Frozen Arts has only deepened since that time, and now her skills are unmatched."


 * Action Girl
 * An Ice Person: To the point that she shatters into ice crystals when killed.
 * Bare Your Midriff.
 * Hair of Gold
 * Hostile Weather: Her ultimate skill Freezing Field.
 * Human Popsicle: To her unfortunate victim in her Frostbite skill.
 * Magic Staff
 * Oblivious Adoption: One of Lina's lines upon being killed by her in DOTA 2 claims this. May or may not be true, though their eye and hair colors differ.
 * Sibling Rivalry: She doesn't get along well with Lina due to obvious incompatibilities.
 * Squishy Wizard
 * Winter Royal Lady: She isn't exactly royal but she's close in design.



Aiushtha, the Enchantress
"Aiushtha appears to be an innocent, carefree creature of the woods, and while this is certainly true, it is hardly the sum of her story. She well understands the suffering of the natural world. She has wandered far, and fared through forests bright and drear, in every clime and every season, gathering friends, sharing news, bringing laughter and healing wherever she goes. For in worlds wracked by war, forests are leveled for the building of ships and siege engines; and even in places of peace, the woods are stripped for the building of homes, and as fuel for countless hearths. Aiushtha hears the pleas of the small creatures, the furtive folk who need green shade and a leafy canopy to thrive. She lends her ears to those who have no other listeners. She carries their stories from the wood to the world, believing that her own good cheer is a kind of Enchantment, that can itself fulfill the promise of a verdant future."

"Enchantress (Killing a creep): Hey, I'm a predator!"
 * Apologetic Attacker: Some of her responses for killing heroes make her this.
 * ...when she's not being a Deadpan Snarker.
 * Bambification: She's part deer and by far the most altruistic character in the game.
 * The Beast Master: "Enchant."
 * Beware the Silly Ones
 * Blade on a Stick
 * Carnivore Confusion: She's a doe-centaur, but...

"Enchantress: You know what I love? Everything!"
 * Combat Medic: "Nature's Attendants."
 * Fan Nickname: She has been referred to as Bambi and it was even her fun name in DotA.
 * Friend to All Living Things: Seems to give off this vibe.

"Enchantress: Sproink!"
 * Horned Humanoid
 * Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Includes her "Incorruptible" ability.
 * Nature Hero
 * Our Centaurs Are Different: Her lower half is that of a doe.
 * Saying Sound Effects Out Loud



Puck, the Faerie Dragon
"While Puck seems at first glance a mischievous, childish character, this quality masks an alien personality. The juvenile form of a Faerie Dragon, a creature that lives for eons, Puck spends countless millennia in its childish form. So while it is technically true that Puck is juvenile, it will continue to be so when the cities of the present age have sloughed away into dust. Its motives are therefore inscrutable, and what appears to be play may in fact hide a darker purpose. Its endless fondness for mischief is the true indicator of Puck's true nature."

" Puck: Greetings!"
 * Ambiguous Gender: Its voice could be argued either way, young male or young female. Never outright stated as to which is true.
 * Early descriptions labelled Puck as a female, but it has been changed to neutral.
 * Badass Adorable
 * Deliberately Cute Child: Until it starts frying you with magical orbs.
 * Flash Step

" Puck (Dying): Let the world end now, it matters not to me.  Puck (Using the Invisibility rune): Regrettably, I remove myself from sight."
 * It's All About Me/Drama Queen

" Puck: What is this, a game of some sort?"
 * Meta Guy: Not yet a Fourth Wall Observer, but Puck has an idea of what's happening around.

" Puck (Using the Illusion rune): One Puck, two Puck, three Puck more! Puck (Killing a hero): Will you not rise in my presence?"
 * Gender Flip: In DotA, Puck has been referred to with masculine pronouns in his Backstory and descriptions while in Dota 2, some skill descriptions (before being changed) identified Puck as being female.
 * The Imp: Puck seems harmless at first sight, but actually flips between acting like a kid and a very grim Deadpan Snarker.


 * Our Fairies Are Different: Seems closer to an insect, though.
 * Our Dragons Are Different: Likewise.
 * Phantasy Spelling
 * Pocket Dimension: One of Puck's signature abilities is to hide there for a couple seconds.
 * Time Abyss
 * Really 700 Years Old: Just as its backstory says, although Puck sounds very young, it is actually thousands of years old.
 * Wise Beyond Their Years



Chen, the Holy Knight
''"Born in the godless Hazhadal Barrens, Chen came of age among the outlaw tribes who eked out an existence in the shimmering heat of the desert. Using an ancient form of animal enthrallment, Chen’s people husbanded the hardy desert locuthi, a stunted species of burrowing dragon that melted desert sands into tubes of glass where twice-a-year rains collected. Always on the edge of starvation and thirst, fighting amongst their neighbors and each other, Chen’s clan made the mistake, one fateful day, of ambushing the wrong caravan. In the vicious battle that followed, Chen’s clan was outmatched. The armored Knights of the Fold made short work of the enthralled locuthi, who attacked and died in waves. With their dragons dead, the tribesmen followed. Chen struggled, and slashed, and clawed, and perished--or would have. Defeated, on his knees, he faced his execution with humility, offering his neck to the blade. Moved by Chen’s obvious courage, the executioner halted his sword. Instead of the blade, Chen was given a choice: death or conversion. Chen took to the faith with a ferocity. He joined the Fold and earned his armor one bloody conversion at a time. Now, with the fanaticism of a convert, and with his powers of animal enthrallment at their peak, he seeks out unbelievers and introduces them to their final reward."''


 * The Beast Master: "Holy Persuation."
 * Combat Medic
 * Cool Helmet
 * Glowing Eyes
 * Holy Hand Grenade: "Penitence" and "Test of Faith" can damage enemies.
 * Knight Templar: Chen believers that his mission is to convert or kill all unbelievers.
 * Light'Em Up: Primarily fights with the power of light.
 * Light Is Not Good: While he uses his holy powers to heal his allies, he more often uses it to harm his enemies.
 * Magic Knight: He's a knight, but is an Intelligence based hero who primarily casts spells.
 * Magic Staff



Zeus, the Lord of Olympus
"Lord of Heaven, father of gods, Zeus treats all the Heroes as if they are his rambunctious, rebellious children. After being caught unnumbered times in the midst of trysts with countless mortal women, his divine wife finally gave him an ultimatum: 'If you love mortals so much, go and become one. If you can prove yourself faithful, then return to me as my immortal husband. Otherwise, go and die among your creatures.' Zeus found her logic (and her magic) irrefutable, and agreed to her plan. He has been on his best behavior ever since, being somewhat fonder of immortality than he is of mortals. But to prove himself worthy of his eternal spouse, he must continue to pursue victory on the field of battle."


 * Badass Mustache
 * Bolt of Divine Retribution: Appropriate for being divine and lightning-themed. This is more clearly represented by Thundergod's Wrath.
 * Brought Down to Badass: He may no longer be in his full godly glory but heaven help you if you face his wrath.
 * The Casanova: Well, he's Zeus after all.
 * Chain Lightning: His Arc Lightning skill.
 * Glowing Eyes
 * Grandpa God
 * Shock and Awe: Taken to ludicrous levels.
 * Yellow Lightning, Blue Lightning: Blue, like most lightnings in the game.



Tequoia, the Nature's Prophet
''"When Verodicia, Goddess of the Woods, had finished filling in the green places, having planted the coiled-up spirit in the seed, having lured the twining waters from deep within the rock, having sworn the sun its full attention to the growing things, she realized that her own time had reached its end, and like one of the leaves whose fate she had imprinted in the seed, she would fall without seeing the fruiting of her dream. It pained her to leave the world bereft, for the sprouts had not yet broken through the soil--and they would be tender and vulnerable to every sort of harm. She found in her seed pouch one last seed that she had missed in the sowing. She spoke a single word into the seed and swallowed it as she fell. Her vast body decomposed throughout the long winter, becoming the humus that would feed the seedlings in the spring. And on the morning of the vernal equinox, before the rest of the forest had begun to wake, that last seed ripened and burst in an instant. From it stepped Tequoia, Nature's Prophet, in full leaf, strong and wise, possessing Verodicia's power to foresee where he would be needed most in defense of the green places--and any who might be fortunate enough to call him an ally."''


 * Horned Humanoid
 * Green Thumb: He can summon creatures from the trees, or generate trees out of nowhere.
 * Magic Staff
 * Nature Hero
 * Plant Person: Seems to be the case.
 * When Trees Attack: Nature's Call invokes this.



Aggron Stonebreaker, the Ogre Magi
''"The ordinary ogre is the creature for whom the phrase 'As dumb as a bag of rock hammers' was coined. In his natural state, an ogre is supremely incapable of doing or deciding anything. Clothed in dirt, he sometimes finds himself accidentally draped in animal skins after eating lanekill. Not an especially social creature, he is most often found affectionately consorting with the boulders or tree-stumps he has mistaken for kin (a factor that may explain the ogre's low rate of reproduction). However, once every generation or so, the ogre race is blessed with the birth of a two-headed Ogre Magi, who is immediately given the traditional name of Aggron Stonebreak, the name of the first and perhaps only wise ogre in their line's history. With two heads, Ogre Magi finds it possible to function at a level most other creatures manage with one. And while the Ogre Magi will win no debates (even with itself), it is graced with a divine quality known as Dumb Luck--a propensity for serendipitous strokes of fortune which have allowed the ogre race to flourish in spite of enemies, harsh weather, and an inability to feed itself. It's as if the Goddess of Luck, filled with pity for the sadly inept species, has taken Ogre Magi under her wing. And who could blame her? Poor things."''

"Ogre Magi: "We won!" "No, we're on the other side." "Oh.""
 * Born Lucky: Its entire species seems to be this as a means of compensating for being Too Dumb to Live.
 * Carry a Big Stick: Its weapon appears to be a club imbued with fire magic.
 * Dumb Muscle: It may be smart for its species, but that's not saying much.
 * The Fool: It even sometimes forgets which team its on.

"Ogre Magi: (Upon being picked) "They picked me!" "No one ever picks me!" Ogre Magi: (Upon leveling up) "How many levels is that?" "One?""
 * Larynx Dissonance: One head has a surprisingly high-pitched voice.
 * Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Despite being dumb as a brick, Ogre Magi seems to be aware of the game mechanics.

"Ogre Magi: "After you." "No, me first!" Ogre Magi: "I'll do legs this time." "Okay.""
 * Luke Nounverber
 * Magic Knight: It's one of the few melee intelligence heroes in the game.
 * Make My Monster Grow: Its Third skill, Bloodlust, does this to it, but not by much.
 * Multiple Head Case: The heads seldom along well. Interestingly each head is capable of voluntarily controlling any part of the body, so it needs to designate which head controls the legs and which head controls the arms.


 * Playing with Fire: Almost all of their skills deal with fire and fire magic.
 * Our Ogres Are Hungrier: It is one of the very few ogres who are born with two heads. It does identify Alchemist's ogre mount as being one of his species.
 * Savage Piercings: The left head has a nosering and and earring.
 * Throw Down the Bomblet: Its second skill, Ignite, causes it to thrown a vial of volatile chemicals on its opponent, lighting him or her on fire.



Lina, the Slayer
"The sibling rivalries between Lina the Slayer, and her younger sister Rylai, the Crystal Maiden, were the stuff of legend in the temperate region where they spent their quarrelsome childhoods together. Lina always had the advantage, however, for while Crystal was guileless and naive, Lina's fiery ardor was tempered by cleverness and conniving. The exasperated parents of these incompatible offspring went through half a dozen homesteads, losing one to fire, the next to ice, before they realized life would be simpler if the children were separated. As the oldest, Lina was sent far south to live with a patient aunt in the blazing Desert of Misrule, a climate that proved more than comfortable for the fiery Slayer. Her arrival made quite an impression on the somnolent locals, and more than one would-be suitor scorched his fingers or went away with singed eyebrows, his advances spurned. Lina is proud and confident, and nothing can dampen her flame."


 * Action Girl
 * Fiery Redhead: Quite literally. At one point in Dota 2's development, her entire head was on fire.
 * Gender Flip: Perhaps unknown to most newer players, she was formerly known as Link Inverse.
 * Playing with Fire: But Shock and Awe with her last skill.
 * Power Floats
 * Sibling Rivalry: She doesn't get along well with Rylai due to obvious incompatibilities.
 * Shout-Out: At the early releases of the game, Lina's given full name is Lina Inverse. The background information was also written to be as close to the Slayers version of Lina as possible. The spell names are still derived from spells of the show.
 * Wreathed in Flames



Rhasta, the Shadow Shaman
''"Born in the Bleeding Hills, Rhasta was just a starving youngling when picked up by a travelling con-man. For two pins of copper, the old con-man would tell your fortune. For three, he’d castrate your pig, for five, he’d circumcise your sons. For a good meal, he’d don his shaman garb, read from his ancient books, and lay a curse upon your enemies. His strange new youngling, part hill trowle, part…something else, worked as assistant and lent an air of the exotic to the con-man’s trade. Always one step ahead of cheated customers, one town ahead of a pursuing patronage, the two trekked across the blighted lands until one day the con-man realized that the little youngling could actually do what he only pretended at. His ward had a gift—a gift that customers valued. And so the youngling Rhasta was thrust before the crowds, and the trade-name Shadow Shaman was born. The two continued from town to town, conjuring for money as Shadow Shaman’s reputation grew. Eventually, the pair’s duplicitous past caught up with them, and they were ambushed by a mob of swindled ex-clients. The con-man was slain, and for the first time, Rhasta used his powers for darkness, massacring the attackers. He buried his beloved master, and now uses his powers to destroy any who would seek to do him harm."''


 * Alliteration
 * All Trowles Are Different: Part hill trowle, part something else.
 * Baleful Polymorph: He can do this to his enemies with his Hex (called Voodoo in DotA) skill.
 * Con Man: He used to work with one.
 * Hybrid Monster: Part hill trowle, part something else.
 * Magic Staff: Two of them.
 * Monochromatic Eyes
 * Mundane Utility: He formerly used his abilities for entertainment and earning money.



Nortrom, the Silencer
''"Part of the seventh and final generation of a carefully designed pedigree, Nortrom was bred by the ancient order of the Aeol Drias to be the greatest magic user the world had ever seen. He was the prophesied one, the culmination of two-hundred years of careful pairings, a war-mage who would bring glory to the order, and destruction to their sworn enemies, The Knights of the Fold. Raised with other young mages in a hidden cantonment within the hills overlooking the Hazhadal barrens, the order's preceptors waited for Nortrom’s abilities to manifest. While the other students honed their talents with fire, or ice, or incantatory spells, Nortrom sat silent and talentless, unable to cast so much as a hex. As the day of final testing approached, he still hadn’t found his magic. In disgust, the preceptors berated him, while the other children laughed. “You are no mage,” the head of the order declared. Still, Nortrom did not slink away. He entered the day of testing and faced down the other young mages who had mocked him. And then his preceptors learned a valuable lesson: a lack of magic can be the greatest magic of all. Nortrom silenced the other talented young mages one by one and submitted them in single combat, until he alone stood as champion of the Aeol Drias, in fulfillment of the prophesy. Afterward, Nortrom set out into the world with a new name, Silencer, on a mission to silence magic wherever he encountered it."''


 * All of the Other Reindeer
 * Cool Helmet
 * Mage Killer
 * Power Nullifier: He specializes in silencing his opponents.
 * Took a Level in Badass



Raijin Thunderkeg, the Storm Spirit
"Storm Spirit is literally a force of nature--the wild power of wind and weather, bottled in human form. And a boisterous, jovial, irrepressible form it is! As jolly as a favorite uncle, he injects every scene with crackling energy. But it was not always thus, and there was tragedy in his creation. Generations ago, in the plains beyond the Wailing Mountains, a good people lay starving in drought and famine. A simple elementalist, Thunderkeg by name, used a forbidden spell to summon the spirit of the storm, asking for rain. Enraged at this mortal’s presumption, the Storm Celestial known as Raijin lay waste to the land, scouring it bare with winds and flood. Thunderkeg was no match for the Celestial--at least until he cast a suicidal spell that forged their fates into one: he captured the Celestial in the cage of his own body. Trapped together, Thunderkeg's boundless good humor fused with Raijin's crazed energy, creating the jovial Raijin Thunderkeg, a Celestial who walks the world in physical form."


 * Alliteration
 * Badass Mustache
 * Big Fun
 * Big No: One of the funniest sound clips that you can hear from him when your team loses.
 * Glowing Eyes
 * Grand Theft Me: An unusual heroic example.
 * Nice Hat
 * Shock and Awe
 * Shout-Out: To another character based on a Shinto deity but wearing a Taoist costume.
 * Ride the Lightning/Teleport Spam: Ball Lightning
 * Yellow Lightning, Blue Lightning: Blue, like most lightnings in the game.



Boush, the Tinker
''"Boush the Tinker's diminutive race is known for its intelligence, its cunning, and its prickly relationship with magic. As a matter of pride, they survive by their wits, and use only those powers of nature that may be unlocked through rational methodologies. Even this forbearance has led to a great deal of trouble, as Boush can attest. Once a key investigator of natural law, Boush the Tinker led a vast intellectual investigation into the workings of nature, founding a subterranean laboratory in the rumored, mist-wreathed wastes of the Violet Plateau. While scorning mages for the dangers they visit upon the world, Boush and his Tinker associates haughtily wrenched open a portal to some realm beyond comprehension and ushered in some nightmares of their own. A black mist rose from the cavernous interior of the Violet Plateau, shrouding it in permanent darkness from which sounds of horror perpetually emanate. Boush escaped with only his wits and the contraptions he carried, the sole Tinker to survive the Violet Plateau Incident."''


 * Actor Allusion: Voiced by Harry S. Robins, who has done numerous voices for Valve's hit First-Person Shooter series, Half-Life. Many of his lines make reference to, if not direct quotations from, the series.
 * Badass Beard
 * Badass Bookworm
 * Cooldown: His Rearm ability actually lets him finish all cooldowns, allowing him to constantly cast his spells, as long as he has the mana to support it.
 * Distinguished Gentleman's Pipe
 * Frickin' Laser Beams: His Laser skill, which does pure damage and as such is not mitigated by armor nor magic resistance.
 * For Science!: His motivation.
 * Gadgeteer Genius
 * Making a Spectacle of Yourself/Specs of Awesome
 * Science Hero
 * Smart People Wear Glasses
 * Super-Persistent Missile: There is no way to stop his Heat-Seeking Missiles unless you become magic immune while they are in route.
 * Whole-Plot Reference: Replace "Violet Plateau" with "Black Mesa", and "Boush" with "Gordon Freeman", and you have the premise of Half-life.
 * Zerg Rush: His March of the Machines ability consists of hundreds of tiny robots ramming themselves into the enemy.



Jakiro, the Twin Head Dragon
"Even among magical beasts, a twin-headed dragon is a freak. Equal parts ice and fire, cunning and rage, the creature known as Jakiro glides over charred and ice-bound battlefields, laying waste to all who would bear arms against it. Pyrexae dragon clutches always contain to fledglings. Famous for their viciousness even from the first moments of life, newly hatched dragons of this species will try to kill their sibling while still in the nest. Only the strongest survive. In this way is the strength of the Pyrexae line ensured. By some accident of nature, the freak Jakiro hatches from a single egg, combining in a single individual the full range of abilities found within the diverse Pyrexae species. Trapped within the armature of its monstrous body, the powers of ice and fire combine, and now no enemy is safe."


 * An Ice Person: Half of the time he's this.
 * Breath Weapon: A dual one for both ice and fire.
 * Glowing Eyes of Doom
 * Human Popsicle: Makes others this with Ice Path.
 * Kill It with Fire: Half of Dual Breath is fire. And then there's Macropyre.
 * Multiple Head Case: Both heads appear to think individually, and they seem to get along well.
 * Our Dragons Are Different: A two headed dragon that breathes ice and fire.
 * Playing with Fire: And he's this the other half.
 * Volcanic Veins
 * Yin-Yang Bomb



Lyralei, the Windrunner
"The western forests guard their secrets well. One of these is Lyralei, master archer of the wood, and favored godchild of the wind. Known now as Windrunner, Lyralei's family was killed in a storm on the night of her birth—-their house blown down by the gale, contents scattered to the winds. Only the newborn survived among the debris field of death and destruction. In the quiet after the storm, the wind itself took notice of the lucky infant crying in the grass. The wind pitied the child and so lifted her into the sky and deposited her on a doorstep in a neighboring village. In the years that followed, the wind returned occasionally to the child’s life, watching from a distance while she honed her skills. Now, after many years of training, Windrunner fires her arrows true to their targets. She moves with blinding speed, as if hastened by a wind ever at her back. With a flurry of arrows, she slaughters her enemies, having become, nearly, a force of nature herself."

"Dying: Bury me beneath a tree."
 * The Archer
 * Blow You Away
 * Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie


 * Conveniently an Orphan
 * Does Not Like Shoes: She's only wearing toeless socks on her foot.
 * Fingerless Gloves
 * Forest Ranger
 * Green Eyed Red Head
 * Nature Hero
 * Noun Verber
 * Redhead in Green
 * Scarf of Asskicking
 * Stun Guns: Shackleshot
 * Touched by Vorlons: She obtained her powers from the wind itself.


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