BlizzCon video introduces new Diablo III class, the Monk

Update: Official Monk page at Blizzard's Diablo III website is now live.

Like many rabid fans had hoped, Blizzard has revealed a new class today for the their highly anticipated ARPG Diablo III.  Let us introduce to you, the Monk!

"The monk is a skilled warrior of unparalleled dexterity. Armed with speed, holy fervor, and a quest for physical and spiritual perfection, the monk becomes a deadly apparition in the heat of battle, moving faster than the eye can follow to strike down enemies with a barrage of lightning-fast blows," read an updated Blizzard FAQ.

While Blizzard had hinted that old classes would be back, hardly any Diablo fans would have guessed that would it be the Monk. The Monk originally made an appearance in the Hellfire expansion pack for the original Diablo game, back in 1997. Furthermore, the expansion pack wasn't even made by Blizzard -- they outsourced it -- further adding to the surprise that the Monk is back.

A number of screenshots have turned up on the web in the last hour -- we've got them all right here.  Enjoy the vids and these images.  They're certainly a tough looking class!  Here's a piece of lore about the Monks and their fighting prowess:

"I heard countless fantastic stories about the monks, tales that were surely the beneficiary of significant embellishment. The monk's skin, the accounts said, was as hard as iron, impenetrable by the blade of any sword or by the point of any arrow, and their fists could break stones as easily as you or I would snap a twig."