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Lilin

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The 'lilin' or 'lilim' (singular 'lili') are dangerous creatures of Jewish folklore. According to some stories, they are the daughters of Lilith, Adam's first wife, by the Angel of Death Samael,[citation needed] often identified with Satan. They are demons, with their function being similar to that of a succubus. While men feared them for this reason, mothers feared the attack of the lilin because they were also said to kidnap children, as Lilith herself did.

Upon deserting Adam and turning against God, Lilith was warned that one hundred of her demonic children would die daily if she did not return to God. She refused, and so it is said that one hundred lilin die daily.

The masculine of lili is lilu, a demon attested in Akkadian mythology. See Lilith for an etymological discussion.

Literature

  • In Neil Gaiman's novel Stardust, the Lilim are a triad of ancient witch-queens who live in a little house deep in the forests of Faerie.
  • Lilim and sarim are among the demons that rise from the sea with Morningstar's Archeron in John C. Wright's novel Mists of Everness.
  • In Richard Calder's novel 'Dead Girls', the Lilim are a race of vampiric pubescent girl dolls.
  • In L.A. Banks Vampire Huntress Novels, Lilith is the Queen of The Underworld, depicted as being made barren by god, and Lucifer's wife and lover, as well as the seducer of men to bring them to the side or darkness.

Comic books

  • In the comic book series Lucifer, the Lilim are an army of demons descended from Lilith, fathered by numerous male entities, including angels, who are eventually led by Lucifer's former consort, Mazikeen.
  • In the 1990s version of Ghost Rider, an entire story arc chronicled Daniel Ketch and Johnny Blaze traveling America in search of the Lilin, whom the recently arisen Lilith was searching for to build her army. They were, however, defeated with the assistance of a group called The Midnight Sons, assembled by Dr. Strange. They did return with the aid of Centurious until the reappearance of the Demon soul-eater Zarathos. The Lilin and Lilith, were exiled to another dimension while Zarathos was killed. Lilith returned promising a stoned Zarathos a new offspring to return. What remains of this has yet to be seen.
  • In the ongoing science fiction comic book series Finder (issue 37 in the storyline The Rescuers), the character Jaeger relates a version of the Lilith myth from the Ascian culture. He adds that among the Ascians, the lilim are real—females born with the ability to reproduce asexually and potentially to overrun the world with their kind.
  • A short two volume manga romantic comedy from Kawashita Mizuki, Lilim Kiss, is about an aloof boy named Saiki Takaya who is both respected and feared as the tough guy at school. One day he finds a pendant which contains a cute but mysterious black-winged girl.

Roleplaying games

  • In the role-playing-game In Nomine, Lilim, 'The Tempters', are a species of demon who value independence and freedom (at least their own) over anything else. All of them were made directly from Lilith, the Demon Princess of Freedom and as such were born in Hell. Rules are in place to allow for "Bright Lilim," a "redeemed" Lilim, though this type of character is exceedingly rare.

Video games

  • Lilim, along with Lilith, are featured in the numerous Megami Tensei games.
  • In the MMOG Lineage 2, Lilim is the name of the soldiers consisting the army of Lilith, daughter of Shillen, who struggles against Anakim and her Nephilim in order to revive Shillen, by breaking the seals of the seven signs.
  • In the RPG, Ar Tonelico: Melody of Elemia, one of the costumes the player can acquire for Aurica is called "LILIM". When equipped, she is shown dressed as a sexy demon girl.
  • In the RPG Disgaea, a type of demon you can fight and create in the Dark Assembly is a sexy demon known as "Lilim".

Animation and film

  • In the popular anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion, the seventeenth Angel, Tabris (Kaworu Nagisa), refers to human beings as "Lilim" or the descendants of Lilith. Adam and Lilith, in the storyline, are giant primordial beings who gave life to the world: Adam created the Angels, Lilith created humans. Their reunion, however, would cause the end of the world.

Music