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In Diablo 2, an Easter Egg was included that allowed players to visit the "secret cow level". The cow level is inhabited by bipedal cows wielding poleaxes.

These cows are lead by the Cow King. Is there any lore explaining his presence, or referencing the bipedal cows in general?

I know that this was intended to be a joke, but considering the amount of official Diablo fiction I was wondering if an explanation outside of the game had been given. Interviews with developers who gave some "lore" would be acceptable answers, too.

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    There is also the cheat in Starcraft "There is no cow level". It's all a big joke.
    – Halite
    Commented May 2, 2012 at 19:53

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The Secret Cow level was spawned from the rumours of a Secret Cow level in the original Diablo game.

The Secret Cow Level is an Easter Egg; a funny bonus area in Diablo II that played on years of jokes about a secret level that could (supposedly) be reached in Diablo, by repeatedly clicking the cows found just outside of town.

There was no cow level in the original game, but it was enough to inspire the designers to put one into the second game. How the original rumours started, I couldn't find out.

The only reason a cow king exists, it seems is to be the Unique Boss for the level. Since then the Community manager has spoken of his disdain for the creature:

I disliked the secret cow level from a design standpoint though. It actually angered me that it existed at one point, maybe it kind of still does.

This coupled with the fact that I can find no reference to the cow king in the wikipedia articles on the Novels, it seems unlikely that there is any more information on the Cow King, not even in the RPG Level.

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  • I was aware of the background of the cow level. What I am looking for is backstory for the Cow King, a specific unique cow found only in that secret level, and namesake of the Cow Kings Leathers, one of the rarest items in the game. My hope is that he's been mentioned in some of the fiction.
    – Beofett
    Commented May 1, 2012 at 21:05
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    Good additions with your edit, thanks. It may very well be that the answer is, as you say, no further information exists. I'll leave this sit for a few days to see if anyone else can dig anything up, though.
    – Beofett
    Commented May 2, 2012 at 12:24

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