Trag'Oul

[ZSiegfried]

An article I wrote on Trag'Oul...



Trag’Oul is the only dragon that has as such been introduced in the Diablo Universe and completely consists out of stars that represent the lives of all humanity. Every star like scale depicts the lives of every human as it flows down the body of the magnificent beast intertwining with the lives of others. If you are permitted to gaze upon Trag’Oul you will be able discern not only the past and present of individuals but also the possibilities of their future. But these futures are determined by choices that have not been made yet and should not be made without the assistance of life and the passing of time. Quote from Sin War where Mendeln first laid eyes on Trag’Oul, in Book II, Scales of the Serpent : ”We are all there, Mendeln realized. All of humanity, from the first on…each scale is a measure of some part of us…”

It is a common misconception that Trag’Oul was created with Sanctuary. For one of the many meanings of the name Trag’Oul is The One Who is Forever. Trag’Oul came into existence just after the beginning of creation, but not in the same form he is now. The form he currently occupies is the one he obtained when Sanctuary was created. Another quote from Scales of the Serpent : “He has existed since just after the beginning of creation, although not quite as we sense him now.” “No…that came later… whenever the dragon spoke, the scales flowed and shifted, constantly displaying other lives, other times. That came with the finding of the Shards…With the moulding of Sanctuary by the renegade angels and demons…”

Tran’oul is the manifestation of the Balance and had been charged with the duty to keep it in place. Along with Ratma and all his followers they keep this delicate balance so as to ensure the longevity of all things. Siding with neither force but always on the ready to realign everything if the scales have tilted in the favour of any side.

Any thoughts, feelings, likes or dislikes? I have a paragraph or two to add but just want some input... :scratchchin:

[Lynchgrinch]

i've just finished reading the sin war trilogy, it was awesome...and the best part imo, was the focus on Trag'Oul, rathma and necromancy in general. even though it's confirmed we won't be playing as necros it would be very interesting to see more about trag and his craft. im assuming that Rathma eventualy just dies some time between the end of the trilogy and the darkening of tristram? if not it would be cool to see if Rathma and some of the original nephalem return, judging by the degenerated state Bul-cathos was in when uldyssian met him at Mt Arreat, im guessing not tho.

[ZSiegfried]

it would be cool to see if Rathma and some of the original nephalem return,

Don't quote me on this but I think you are in for some awesome surprises... :) Glad you read the novels! What did you think of Diablo scaring himself? I thought it was a little weird that a prime could be taken out so easily...

[Lynchgrinch]

yeh it was weird, i thought for the most part he was a bit of a weakling (or uldyssian is just a major tank), cairing too much about what others thought i.e. hiding in the shadows if i was him i would scare the crap out everyone. I thought the best part about diablo was the description the way i picture him in the books is totally different from the way the games portray him, meph too.
And awesome supprises, i recon D3 will be full of 'em :)

[Leord]

I think it's awesome to get an insight in the characters of the Diablo Universe =) Keep em coming! =)

[TheDarkSide]

Why does the book have it spelled TragOul when the D2 items section say this ---> . "Trang-Oul's" is the proper name for this set despite what the manual might say or other spellings you might have seen.

Just curious ?

I found this on the description on the Arreat Summit for the Necro set Trang Ouls Avatar ...


:dontknow:

[Leord]

It's probably hard to answer "why"... Perhaps the author of the book thought "Trag'Oul" sounded/looked cooler.. It could be that this mythical creature is known with several similar (and dissimilar) names in Sanctuary. It could also be that Trang Oul is a famous Necromancer who just have a similar name to Trag'Oul =)

Interesting question in either way!

[korialstraz]

Nice article. Made me want to read the trilogy over again (which is on my to do list anyway). I always loved how they depicted Trag'Oul as this mythical being protecting Sanctuary.

[Nightswipe]

Trang-oul
Trag-oul
Drag-oul
Dracul...
Dracula.

[George]

Why does the book have it spelled TragOul when the D2 items section say this ---> . "Trang-Oul's" is the proper name for this set despite what the manual might say or other spellings you might have seen.

Just curious ?

I found this on the description on the Arreat Summit for the Necro set Trang Ouls Avatar ...


:dontknow:

Actually i remember reading somewhere that "trag-Oul" will be the correct form they use, and that trang was just a mistake and that they want to follow the lore from the book now

Also Trag-Oul isnt the only one of his kind, if you recall in the sin wars the third book, trag tried to interfere with the struggle but was stopped by some of his "biengs" and told not to because it would be devastating for the balance

[Gamekk]

That'd be pretty stupid if they decide to call it Trag'Oul after all.

Probably around 95% of the player base don't follow the lore too much and have only seen his name written in DII as Trang'Oul.

This means that every player will notice the spelling mistake there was in DII. (Which doesn't sound very professional).

And yea I assume it was a spelling mistake. It's understandable since Trag'Oul is just a bunch of random letters anyway.

[Grug]

Trag'Oul sounds cooler than Trang'Oul

[ThulRasha]

Trang-oul
Trag-oul
Drag-oul
Dracul...
Dracula.

Dracula
Kraculak
Captulik
Captiakik
Captain Kirk.

[ZSiegfried]

Did I miss something?

[ThulRasha]

Completing the trang-oul set makes your character look like a Vampire Lord.
Hence the speculation that his name was derived from Dracula.

I think it's a bit far fethced, sure you can pronounce Dracul almost as Trag-oul, but I think it doesn't rhyme at all with what the Dragon Gods purpose was.

[ZSiegfried]

The fact that it looks like a Vampire Lord is more due to the fact that the character is a Necro, not that the name is Trang'Oul, but thats just my opinion.

And i don't think that the Dragons are gods, but interesting theory... I think they represent the power of unified humanity, but hey, thats stretching it...

[Lynchgrinch]

hey trag' is cool and i recon it would spoil the diablo feel if there were more "dragons".

i love diablo as one of the only fantasy hack and slash games/universes without dragons here there and everywhere.

[Coleridge]

Actually i remember reading somewhere that "trag-Oul" will be the correct form they use, and that trang was just a mistake and that they want to follow the lore from the book now

Also Trag-Oul isnt the only one of his kind, if you recall in the sin wars the third book, trag tried to interfere with the struggle but was stopped by some of his "biengs" and told not to because it would be devastating for the balance

I never read the last book in the Sin War trilogy, only the first two and i cant remember reading anything about Trag'Oul, was he 'introduced' in the third book?

However i guess you could be right since the name of the complete set is Trang-Oul's Avatar, why would they put Avatar in there? If the set is an reference to Trag'Oul it would make sense since Trag'Oul tried to interfere with the struggle in Sanctuary. But then again, i didnt read the third book in the Sin War trilogy so what do i know.

Avatar or Avatara, often translated into English as incarnation, literally means descent (avatarati) and usually implies a deliberate descent from higher spiritual realms to lower realms of existence for special purposes. Descents that are of importance are mainly those of the Supreme Being which are plenary and marked with superhuman qualities

[Lehetetlen]

Trang'Oul is in fact the name of the dragon - I believe a read the descpriton well - in Diablo 2 at least, the proof is the description of the necromancer spell called Teeth (http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/skills/necromancer-poison.shtml#teeth), let me quote it:


One of the first gifts of Rathma, this skill allows the Necromancer to summon forth the Den'Trang, or Teeth of the Dragon Trang'Oul. The Necromancers believe that Trang'Oul is the beast on whose back the world lies. In the balance of all things, it is thought that Trang'Oul is the fulcrum point. He is the closest thing the cult of Rathma has to a deity and this spell is the manner in which he protects his chosen.

[Thrandir]

Hm, I think they may have changed that.

In my DiabloII manual that came with the game, there is an identical description for the Teeth ability - except that it refers to them as "Den'Trag" and the dragon as "Trag'Oul".

Which one is correct? Perhaps we should ask Blizzard. xD

[korialstraz]

I think Trag'Oul is correct. IIRC that is what he is called in the Sin Wars, and Blizzard wanted to work more on the story and also closely with the trilogy based on the Diablo universe.

[Leord]

Hm, I think they may have changed that.

In my DiabloII manual that came with the game, there is an identical description for the Teeth ability - except that it refers to them as "Den'Trag" and the dragon as "Trag'Oul".

Which one is correct? Perhaps we should ask Blizzard. xD

Just gonna say that you should check out the Diablo II: Lord of Destruction Manual. It's one of the manuals that was printed, and contains ALL interesting stuff (no game tutorials, sorry). Should be there.

Or, if you have another version, that's cool, we might take your help to add info to the wiki then ;)

[Lehetetlen]

I guess we will see their "final" decision about the name of our dragon in one of the lore books scattered around in D3.

The contradiction between The Arreat Summit and their manual + Sin War books, annoys me a bit.