Heroes that play like Axe?

Axe is pretty unusual, to the point that he's sometimes listed in a category of his own when people talk about hero roles. Of course, this is partly also a joke about Axe's manliness and the way he needs nothing else but Axe.

Particularly in pubs, Axe is in a strange place he generally wants to be in a farming position but scales very poorly meaning his biggest strength is in the early game. Despite what anyone tells you, Axe is not a carry. He's also one of the few heroes in the game who can force the enemy to attack him, making him one of the few heroes who can legtimately be played as a full-on tank.

I'd say these are the heroes who have the most in common with Axe. Not all of them will necessarily appeal to you - it depends which particular parts of Axe's playstyle you enjoy:

Legion Commander

She's more of a carry than Axe is, but certainly the hero with most similarity in skillset. Like Axe she's a melee strength hero, and has a skill which forces people to fight her (although hers only affects a single target). She also has a skill which deals good damage to clustered enemies, and one which triggers automatically the more she's attacked. Like Axe, she can be played in the lane or in the jungle (although I recommend laning).

Silencer

If you like the  Battle Hunger build for Axe (spamming it on enemy heroes so they constantly lose HP), then Silencer does pretty much the same except with mana. Like Axe, he's incredibly annoying to lane against and can easily force your opponents out of the lane. However, that's about where the similarity ends.

Centaur Warrunner, Bristleback

Two very tanky melee strength heroes, who have a similar in-your-face-brawling approach to Axe. Centaur's Stampede gives his team bonus move speed, similar to a successful Culling Blade from Axe. Like Axe, both heroes have abilities which return damage to people who attack them.

Centaur Warrunner is a very fun hero for people starting out. Let's have a look at his skills

Hoof Stomp

This is a skill that allows him to stun in an AoE around him, dealing lots of damage and allowing for great initiations in teamfights.

Double Edge

A nuke that deals a massive amount of damage in a small radius in front of him, and costs no mana! The downside to this is that it hurts you, you can't die alone from this spell, but it will leave you at a vulnerable 1 hp.

Return

A passive skill that deals damage to enemies that target him with right clicks, so it makes you very annoying to harass in lane

Stampede

A global ultimate is a low cooldown spell that makes you and all of your teammates run at max movement speed, which is great because you can help your teammates escape from ganks or catch up to enemies!

Centaur Warrunner is a very tanky hero with the highest passive strength gain which means he gets more HP per level than any other hero in the game. You usually build a Blink Dagger on him so that you can blink on enemies and use your stun. A Hood of Defiance is a very good item also, as it reduces the amount of magical damage you take, and it also reduces the amount of damage you deal to yourself with Double Edge.

Centaur Warrunner can be picked in most cases, because he is a very versatile hero that isn't very item dependant. Just think twice when you use Double Edge!