Rakanishu

"Raaaakanishu!"

- A Fallen War Matron

Rakanishu was a particularly brutal Fallen One, feared and perhaps even respected among his own kind. Driving his minions into a frenzy, Fallen could often be heard screaming his name as they rushed headlong to their deaths. Whether it be through fear or loyalty, Fallen in his presence refused to break or run.

In 1264, Rakanishu was in Khanduras, when he was slain by a group of heroes. 21 years later, a group of Fallen attempted to resurrect Rakanishu at a shrine. In this, they were successful (or at least in as much as summoning his avatar, but Rakanishu was again slain, this time by the Nephalem.

Diablo II
In Diablo II, Rakanishu appears in. He is a Super Unique Carver found in the Stony Field next to the Cairn Stones that activate the portal to Tristram during the Search for Cain quest. When attacking Rakanishu, melee heroes should be cautious of his Lightning Enchanted status, which causes Charged Bolt to emanate from him when struck. Rapid attacks on Rakanishu will result in an equally rapid release of charged bolts, which are especially deadly on higher difficulty levels. Usually, Rakanishu is the first monster encountered to possess the Lightning Enchanted trait in Diablo II, but enemies with this status appear often enough to make lightning resistance necessary.

In Normal difficulty, the Lightning damage done is 3-6. This increased to 21-33 in Nightmare and 53-81 in Hell. In addition, his Attack 1 has Cold Damage in Nightmare and Hell. In Nightmare there is a 10% chance of adding 4-6 cold damage with a chill of six seconds and in Hell there is a 20% chance of adding 12-16 Cold damage with an eight second chill.

He will appear with eight Minions in Normal, nine Minions in Nightmare and ten Minions in Hell.

Bonuses:


 * Extra Fast
 * Lightning Enchanted

Diablo Immortal
In Diablo Immortal, Rakanishu is invoked by the Fallen War Matron in the Temple of Namari dungeon.

Diablo III
Rakanishu makes an appearance in Diablo III's second act: the Shrine of Rakanishu appears in the Dahlgur Oasis. The Nephalem must interrupt a ritual involving five standing stones (likely a reference to the Cairn Stones), and then battle the Avatar of Rakanishu. On normal difficulty, the Avatar will drop Rakanishu's Blade, which must be used against Bashiok to gain the Bashanishu achievement.

Hearthstone
In the Kobolds & Catacombs expansion, there is a dungeon boss kobold, carrying a Lamp on his head instead of the usual candle. When activated, it occasionally shows the text "Rakanishu!"

In The Dalaran Heist expansion, the fire elemental Rakanishu is now a playable character unlocked with the first week of the adventure representing the mage class. He yells "Rakanishu!" when attacking with a weapon.

Trivia

 * Monsters of the Fallen type are often heard muttering the name of Rakanishu, while their shaman types call out the names Colenzo and Bishibosh. They appear to be important figures in their culture.
 * A good example of the above for Rakanishu is seen in Diablo III; the title shown under the Avatar's Life display is 'Fallen Demigod'.


 * Ranishu from the Warcraft franchise are likely named after Rakanishu. To add even more clarity, they are lightning-themed creatures.


 * In the game Borderlands there is a giant Rakk (a creature not unlike a pteradactyl) called Rakkinishu. It will always drop the shield Cracked Sash, named after the common belt.

Development
Originally in v1.00-1.06b (Diablo II) Rakanishu had a green color.