How are Monkey King and a character in Chinese literature related? What do Io and the moon of Jupiter have in common? All About Dota 2 References

Medusa

Medusa borrowed its concept and name from the gorgon Medusa, a monster with a female face and snakes instead of hair from Greek mythology. At birth, she was a beautiful girl with long hair. But one day the goddess Athena found out that Medusa indulged in carnal pleasures with Poseidon in her temple, and this offended her very much. Athena made Medusa so ugly that everyone who looked at her turned to stone.

Perseus managed to kill the monster. The hero could not look Medusa in the eyes, but he was also unable to defeat the enemy without looking at him. However, Perseus came up with a trick – he used the mirror-polished shield of Athena, and this allowed him to take good aim and take Medusa’s head from his shoulders with one blow.

In the case of the Dota 2 character, a reference to the Gorgon Medusa can be traced in the Stone Gaze ultimate. During the operation of this ability, you need to have time to turn away from the hero, otherwise you will become petrified – you will be immobilized and you will not be able to attack or use magic.

Monkey king

Monkey King in Dota 2 was inspired by the monkey king Sun Wukong from the Chinese novel Journey to the West. His rich history consists of many events and episodes – at first he died of alcohol poisoning, then, after falling into the afterlife, he misled the judges of hell and deleted his name from the “Book of the Dead”, thereby gaining immortality, ran away from work as a groom at the Jade Emperor, then the Emperor appointed him as the guardian of the peaches that Wukong ate … Well, it’s a long story.

And with Monkey King from Dota 2 he has several facts in common. First, he learned magic thanks to a Taoist who taught Wukong to transform into various creatures (the Mischief ability) and fly on a cloud (the second form of the Arcana item on Monkey King). The second is the staff with gold hoops that the Sea Dragon gave Wukun, very similar to the Monkey King Bar from the game. The third – in the title of the ultimate, the word Wukong is one of the transcription options for the character’s surname – Wukong.

Riki

In DotA Allstars, the hero had two names – Riki and Stealth Assassin. The prototype of the Dota character was Rikimaru from the first stealth third-person action game in history – Tenchu: Stealth Assassins. The game was released in February 1998 on PlayStation – six months before Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid, two years before Hitman: Codename 47, and four years before the first Splinter Cell. Rikimaru, along with the girl Ayame, was one of the main characters – he could be chosen at the beginning of the game.

Riki from Dota 2 bears little resemblance to his prototype from Tenchu, because the ninja from stealth action is armed with a ninjato short sword, while Ayame uses two blades. But on the other hand, the character from Dota 2 also relies on stealth and can hide in the smoke, introducing the opponent into a stupor.

Io

Io is the closest satellite of Jupiter to its parent planet. This is the most geologically active body in the system – there are more than 400 volcanoes on it. Io is literally bursting with two sides: on one side it is affected by the gravity of Jupiter, on the other – the other numerous satellites of the planet. Due to volcanic activity, the surface of Io constantly changes its color – it can be yellow, white, red, black or green.

Despite the fact that the space object was also named after an ancient Greek heroine, the Dota 2 character is based on a satellite. The bottom line is that there is always a connection between Io and Jupiter, as between the hero of “Dota” and his ally. First, the planet’s magnetosphere absorbs matter ejected from Io’s volcanoes, thereby forming a strip between cosmic bodies. Second, due to the interaction of the magnetic fields of Io and Jupiter, a current of 5 million amperes arises between them. This connection is very similar to Tether – it is she who is the basis for the effectiveness of other abilities, which can move an ally to any point on the map, speed up his attack, run speed and regeneration.

Armlet of mordiggian

Mordiggan is the god of death from the Lovecraft universe, about whom the author’s literary associate Clark Ashton Smith wrote. The Mordiggan is a swirling worm-like clot of shadow. The creature feeds on the flesh of the dead, which is collected for it by the priests living in the temple of the god. As soon as they find out about someone’s death, they immediately move into place, take the body and bring it to the altar of Mordiggan.

A reference to Lovecraft for an item in Dota 2 is given not only by the name. The Mordiggan was also adept at draining life force from anyone who approached him. This principle is also used by his bracer in the MOBA from Valve – when activated, the hero receives a powerful influx of strength, but constantly loses health until it drops to one.

Necronomicon

The Necronomicon is another guest from the Lovecraft universe. This book was written by an Arabian necromancer in ancient times. Later it was translated into several languages, including Latin, Greek and English, and several copies were kept in the libraries of Harvard, the University of Buenos Aires and other places on Earth.

The “Necronomicon” stores magical knowledge and describes the rituals that allow you to summon the Ancients – creatures from the world of Cthulhu, who are the most powerful in the universe. Despite the fact that in Dota 2, the creeps summoned with the help of Necronomicon are clearly not as strong as this description, in general the book works in the same way as described by Lovecraft.

Hand of midas

Midas is a king from ancient Greek mythology, with whom several legends are associated. But the subject from Dota 2 refers to the one where the ruler’s subjects found the lost Silenus in the forest – the teacher of the god of winemaking Dionysus. The mentor was so drunk that he fell behind the army that Dionysus was leading to India. When the god found out that his teacher was safe, and Midas made him feel welcome, Dionysus invited the king to fulfill any desire. Midas asked that everything he touched turn to gold.

Unlike Dota 2, where the Hand of Midas can be controlled and used whenever you want, this did not work for the mythical king as he originally intended. Food and water also turned into gold, and Midas could not satisfy his hunger and thirst. In the end, he went to Dionysus and asked to take the gift. God sent Midas to swim in the Pactol River so that everything would return to its place. This river, by the way, exists in reality, and in ancient times gold was mined there.

In Dota 2, far from all the references that were in DotA Allstars have migrated, as Valve had to rename some heroes and items due to copyright infringement. However, even under such conditions, the game was able to preserve the atmosphere of the “Battle of the Ancients”, when not only the characters invented by the authors of “Dota” converge on the battlefield, but also creatures from other worlds and universes.