Samwise Didier, the senior art director for Blizzard Entertainment, drew a paladin for a friend's card game, which was left unused and instead ended up being used for World of Warcraft to create Uther. Didier carried over the paladin's mask to another character he drew, which was the inspiration for Ilidan, who he made concept art for back in 2000. The character Ilidan originally carved his eyes out to allow Demonics to sense demons which allowed him to use demonic energy against them back when he was a protagonist at one point during development.