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Belphegor

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This article is about the demon. For the Austrian death/black metal band, see Belphegor (band). For other uses, see Belphegor (disambiguation).
Belphegor
Sloth
Belphegor illustration from the Dictionnaire Infernal.
Belphegor by Jean Jacques Flipart

In Jewish demonology, Belphegor (Hebrew: בעל־פעור) is the Arch-devil. In qabalah, Belphegor is a demon who helps people make discoveries. He seduces people by suggesting to them ingenious inventions that will make them rich, stagnating that which could not be accredited to itself.[1][non-primary source needed]

Auxiliary Bishop and witch-hunter Peter Binsfeld believed that Belphegor tempts by means of laziness.[2] Also, according to Peter Binsfeld's Classification of Demons, Belphegor is the chief demon of the deadly sin known as Sloth in Christian tradition.[3]

Literature

The novella Belfagor arcidiavolo by Italian diplomat Niccolò Machiavelli was first published in 1549, and regales how the demon comes to earth to find a mate.

Belphegor figures in Paradise Lost by John Milton, 1667.

According to the 1818 Dictionnaire Infernal by Collin de Plancy, Belphegor was Hell's ambassador to France. The same claim was repeated by Victor Hugo in Toilers of the Sea (1866).

In the grimoire Key of Solomon (translated into English by S.L. Mathers in 1889), Belphegor is listed near the end of the book as an Assyrian idol, now destroyed.

The novella by Machiavelli became the basis for the opera Belfagor by Ottorino Respighi, which premiered at La Scala in Milan in 1923.

  • The PZL M-15 Belphegor, a 1970s Polish utility aeroplane, was named after the demon, due to its strange looks, the noise of its jet engine, and its unsuitability for crop dusting, for which it had been specifically designed.
  • Belphegor appears as a supporting character during the “Ghostpocalypse” story-arc during the final season of the TV show Supernatural played by Alexander Calvert, the same actor for the character, Jack Kline; during his time on the show, he possesses the corpse of Jack, who was smited by Chuck, donning white sunglasses to hide Jack’s burnt out eye sockets.
  • Belphegor is a recurring demon/persona in the Megami Tensei and Persona video game series.
  • Belphegor is the youngest and seventh sibling among the seven demon brothers in the otome game Obey Me!. He is always napping and constantly sleepy and the twin brother of Beelzebub.
  • Belphegor is a blackened death metal band.
  • Belphegor is the Storm Guard of the Varia in the anime and manga series Katekyo Hitman Reborn. He is also known as 'Prince the Ripper'.
  • Belphegor is the name one of the heretical gods, more specifically that of yellow luxin and sloth, in the Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks.
  • The long-running German dime novel and audio drama series John Sinclair featured Belphégor as a recurring villain. Author Jason Dark depicted Belphégor as an archdemon mainly active in Paris and a close ally of the Grim Reaper.
  • Belphegor is a random demon/monster encounter in the Square Enix games Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy XVI.
  • Belphegor is a young female demon in the series As Miss Beelzebub Likes. One of the main characters, and the love interest of Azazel.
  • Belphegor is referenced in the television show Elementary season three episode three.
  • Belphegor is referenced in the short story Bulldozer by Laird Barron.
  • A Digimon named Belphemon, from the Digimon franchise is a member of the Seven Great Demon Lords and appears in the fifth season Digimon Data Squad.
  • Void Stranger contains a number of characters with abbreviated demon names, including Gor, whose full name is Belphegor.
  • Belphegor is mentioned by Bee in Helluva Boss.
  • In One Piece, Magellan, the warden of the prison Impel Down, is heavily based on Belphegor; visually, with distinctive devil horns, and thematically, as the character sits on the toilet for ten hours a day to relieve himself of diarrhea instead of doing his prison duties.
  • Belphegor is a title of a song by a visual kei band The Gallo.

See also

References

  1. ^ Numbers 25
  2. ^ Wendy Doniger (1999). Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions. Merriam-Webster. p. 287. ISBN 0-87779-044-2. Belphegor Demon.
  3. ^ Rosemary Guiley (2009). Encyclopedia of Demons and Demonology. Facts on File. pp. 28–29.
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