Blizzard has today released concept art and a 3D rendering of the female version of their Monk class. Naturally, the difference between female and male monks is purely aesthetic.

First revealed at Blizzcon last year, the developer described the Monk to Gameplanet as having several design influences: “It's a pretty disparate group of influences, but for example on the gameplay side a pen-and-paper monk from D&D (Dungeons & Dragons), it's kinda like that for the early inspiration. And obviously kung fu movies, Jackie Chan all that sort of stuff, Once Upon a Time in China, many, many things from there.

“He's got a bit of that Eastern European monastic thing, as far as cultural development goes. There's the fighting game mechanic, his combo system. So the way we try to do it is we take something that's archetypal - in this case, a fast but weaker melee character - but we try to put twists on it, with the culture, with the moves, with every aspect of this we can, we try to give it something fresh and interesting.

Check out Gameplanet’s coverage of Diablo III, including interviews and hands on time from Blizzcon, here.

Also be sure to drop by Diablo III’s official website and have a look for yourself.