Balor
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In Irish mythology, Balor (Balar, Bolar) of the Evil Eye was a king of the Fomorians, a race of giants. His father was Buarainech and his wife was Cethlenn. According to legend, he lived on Tory Island.
Balor was notable for his one eye, which could kill anyone it looked upon. He gained this power as a child when watching his father's druids preparing poisonous spells, the fumes of which rose into his eye. His eye was normally kept closed, only to be opened on the battlefield by four men using a handle fitted to his eyelid, or, in some versions, a system of ropes and pulleys.
According to prophecy, Balor was to be killed by his grandson. To avoid his fate, he locked his daughter, Ethlinn, in a tower made of crystal to keep her from becoming pregnant. However, Cian, one of the Tuatha Dé Danann, with the help of the druidess Birog, managed to enter the tower. She gave birth to triplets by him, but Balor threw them into the ocean. Birog saved one, Lugh, and gave him to Manannan mac Lir, who became his foster father. He was called Lugh Lamhfada and became a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann.
Lugh led the Tuatha in the second Battle of Magh Tuiredh against the Fomorians. Ogma disarmed Balor during this battle, but Balor killed Nuada with his eye. Lugh shot a sling-stone which drove Balor's eye out the back of his head, where it continued to wreak its deadly power on the Fomorian army. In other versions Lugh blinded Balor with a spear made by Goibniu, or decapitated him and used his eye against the Fomorians.
Balor in Other Media
In the fantasy role playing game of Dungeons & Dragons, Balor is the name of one of the most powerful types of demon, considered the equivalent of Tolkien's 'balrog'.
Balor is also the name Connacht the Wolf adopts when he becomes the new Leveler in the Myth computer game series. During the seventeenth year of the Grear War, he interrogated Alric, who was previously captured by The Deceiver. In that event Alric learned by chance that the Fallen Lords were bound to Balor. Towards the end of the war, Alric and the Legion went to Rhi'anon, Balor's fortress, and planted the Myrkridian standard they had found inside the Tain, an act that was meant to enrage The Leveler. During the Last Battle, the Avatara immobilized Balor with the aid of the Eblis Stone, thus allowing the barbarians of the Legion to behead the warlord. In the end, Balor's head was thrown into the Great Devoid, ending his life and his sway over the surviving Fallen.
Balor appears in the videogame Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow as the second-to-last mandatory boss. He again appears as the second boss in the sequel to this game, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow. In both games, his name is spelled "Balore", but he is recognizable by the energy beam fired from one of his eyes.
Balor is also the name of Zasalamel's second unlockable weapon in Soul Calibur III.
Balor is also a powerful immortal from the planet Progron in the science-fiction series Space:1999, who wears a black suit with large, flared sleeves and trousers.
In the manga called Arms, Balor appears as the final form of Keith Violet, a woman that work for the Egregori organization. In the story, which is full of references to Alice in Wonderland, Violet is the incarnation of March Hare.
Balor appears also in the MMORPG Dark Age of Camelot as the end boss in the dungeon of Tur Suil.
Balors of different titles also exist in Neverwinter Nights. They are however pictured as simply, the nastiest demon in the game (With exceptions from Mephistopheles). They are also summonable in the level 9 spells. The spell is known as 'Gate'. Unless one casts protection from alignment:evil on one self before the summoning, the Balor isn't bound to the caster, and starts killing everything.
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