Baal (demon)
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- This is a page on demonology; for the god Baal or information on the name see Baal (disambiguation).
Image:Bael.jpg Baal is a Christian demon. His name also refers to various gods and goddesses who are not demons. This is a potential source of confusion. In this article the name Baal is used only to refer to the demon Baal, unless stated otherwise.
Other spellings: Bael, Baël (French), Baell.
Until archaeological digs at Ras Shamra and Ebla uncovered texts explaining the Syrian pantheon, the demon Ba‘al Zebûb was frequently confused with various Semitic spirits and deities entitled ba‘al, and in some Christian writings it might refer to a high-ranking devil or to Satan himself.
In the ancient world of the Persian Empire, from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea, worship of inanimate idols of wood and metal was being rejected in favor of the one living God. In the Levant the idols were called "baals", each of which represented a local spirit-deity or "demon." Worship of all such spirits was rejected as wrong and many were in fact considered malevolent and dangerous.
Originally, the Semitic god Hadad was worshipped by Arameans who brought his worship to other parts of the Mediterranean. He is also called "The Lord" and ruled over the high gods assembled on holy mount of Heaven.
Early demonologists, unaware of Hadad or that "Baal" in the Bible referred to any number of local spirits, came to regard the term as referring to but one personage. The idea of Baal as one specific demon was created when Christianity regarded ancient gods as demons (mere spirits, whether good or evil) and demonology divided the demonic population of Hell in several hierarchies.
In this unholy hierarchy, Baal (usually spelt "Bael" in this context; there is a possibility that the two figures aren't connected) was ranked as the first and principal king in Hell, ruling over the East. According to some authors Baal is a Duke, with sixty-six legions of demons under his command.
During the English Puritan period Baal was either compared to Satan or considered his main assistant. According to Francis Barrett he has the power to make those who invoke him invisible, and to some other demonologists his power is stronger in October. According to some sources, he can make people wise, and speaks hoarsely.
While his Semitic predecessor was depicted as a human or a bull, the demon Baal was in grimoire tradition said to appear in the forms of a man, cat, toad, or combinations thereof. An illustration in Collin de Plancy's 1818 book Dictionnaire Infernal rather curiously placed the heads of the three creatures onto a set of spider legs.
Baal in popular culture
Baal has made a number of appearances in fantasy-themed video games. He is an end-of-game boss in Diablo II: Lord of Destruction; a hidden boss in Shadow Hearts 2, La Pucelle: Tactics and Disgaea: Hour of Darkness; a demon in Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne; a general and main enemy for much of the time in Grandia; a boss in the second installment of the Blair Witch video games; a race of familiar spirits resembling spiders with three human-like faces in the GameBoy Color version of Azure Dreams; and a race of monsters in Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, in which his name is spelt "Bael" and his appearance is based loosely around the Dictionnaire Infernal's depiction of the demon Buer, who also appears in the game.
A German-based industrial metal music band, Baal, was named after him.
The science fiction television series Stargate SG-1 features a character named Baal. This Baal is a member of the evil Goa'uld, a parasitic alien race who share names with various gods and demons.
Entities based on Baal also appear in various role-playing games. In In Nomine, Baal is the Demon Prince of War. In Vampire: The Masquerade, Baal was an ancient demon-worshipping vampire; he is the progenitor of the Baali bloodline. In the Forgotten Realms setting for Dungeons & Dragons, Bhaal is the god of murder. Bhaal was an evil mortal who ascended to godhood along with his allies Bane and Myrkul before eventually being slain in the Time of Troubles. Bhaal resurfaces in the Baldur's Gate series of computer role-playing games.
Baal is also the name of a robot in Hardware, a stark film which depicts the hard life humanity faces while surviving in a post-apocalyptic Earth. "Baal" is the name given to the "MARK 13", a combat droid designed to function as an efficient means of population control. Pieces of the droid are recovered from the "Zone" by a "Zone Tripper", a desolate place inhospitable to life due to the lingering toxic radiation from some previous cataclysmic war. It is apparent that the "Zone", in addition to possibly encompassing one of the war's battlefields, was also utilized as a test range for weapons and associated government projects. The droid pieces eventually find their way to the main character, Jill, through her on/off again boyfriend, Moses. Jill, who is an artist that works in sculpture, incorporates the droid components into a piece she is working on. The droid is capable of self repair and soon begins assimilation of what household materials and power sources it can find. Soon after regaining operational status the droid commences wrecking death and destruction among the denizens of Jill's apartment complex. It is curious that the droid designation also aludes to a passage in the Bible that refers to the end times, the times of tribulation when, ominously, "no flesh shall be spared".