Diablo 2: okay, gets boring alone. fun with others. I'm not that into the hack'n'slash via click-click-click... and IMO the loot was just the same boring crap all the time, nothing remotely interesting...
Warcraft 1-3 & Diablo 1: haven't played, probably won't play
Try Diablo I. It's old school, so it's not as polished or whatnot as Diablo II, but it's got more soul, more atmosphere, and some seriously freakin' awesome music.
But it is still a hack'n'slash, and the loot is still just the randomized stuff like Diablo II. There are some high points though, like the Butcher's Cleaver or Leoric's Crown, but mostly it's just going to be a matter of picking one $foo kite shield of $bar over another.
Golem is awesome though. Far more awesome than the wannabes you see in Diablo II. Partly because he doesn't give a damn about staying close to you. You can just cast it, watch him wander off into some dark corner, and then wait. Eventually you'll hear that lovely sound...
"Wurrh..."
*whack*
"BLAARGH!"
Also, there's a spell that lets you create a burning jogger that runs into people and explodes.
All in all, I have a certain amount of respect for Blizz. I know a couple of people who work with them, and although I've never been any good at the War/Starcraft series (and don't particularly agree with that interpretation of the genre as a whole), I can still admire Blizzard for doing a very good job of what they do. Personally, I've always liked their characters and stories. 'Course that's just me.
As for the matter at hand though... I have to say, when I first saw this thread I thought it was just going to be another "reference" that existed only in the eye of the beholder.
But that dude looks an
awful lot like a dwarf. Even more so than the standard double-linebacker build Blizzard characters tend to get. Still, I'd say it's probably as close to being a DF reference as it is to being an Aliens reference, or not a reference at all.