Baal or Bael
Baal is the demon most heavily related to idleness. Situated in Eastern Hell, he has the arms of a spider and three heads – human, cat and toad.
Appearances in popular culture:
- In the film The Rite, Father Lucas (Anthony Hopkins) is revealed to be possessed by the demon Baal. It is alluded that this is the case throughout the film as cats and frogs are often present around Father Lucas’ home.
- In the film Hardware, the MARK-13 robot antagonist has the letters B.A.A.L. (Bioelectronic Artificially intelligent Autoindependent Lifeform) at the beginning of its serial number.
- In The Marvel Universe, Baal appears in the original Wolverine comic book series, issues #11-16, collectively called “The Gehenna Stone Affair.”
- The protagonist in the video games Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2 is identified as a Child of ‘Bhaal,’ a deity also known as the ‘God of Murder’.
Baal-Berith
Patron devil of disobedience, Baal-Berith is master of several domains, being Hell’s minister of foreign affairs, chief secretary and keeper of the infernal archives. Anyone making a pact with the Devil will have it signed off by Baal-Berith. Above the surface, he is known to encourage blasphemy, quarrels and even murder. He is also said to be the entity that took possession of Sister Madeleine at Aix-en-Provence and told her the names of other devils.
Beelzebub
Chief of staff and second only to Lucifer in the rankings, even attempting coups in Hell. Presiding over the Order of the Fly, Beelzebub often takes the form of a fly and is notorious for inspiring heresy and tempting humans with sin, envy and pride. Witch trials often attempted to coerce those under suspicion to confess to worshipping Beelzebub.
Appearances in popular culture:
- In “Bohemian Rhapsody”, a song by the British rock band Queen, the opera section (3:03–4:07), depicting the narrator’s descent into hell, concludes with a full choral treatment of the lyric “Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me!”.
- Beelzebub or “The Lord of the Flies” was a demonic figure depicted as a sow’s head planted on a stick sharpened at two ends, who speaks to the Jesus figure, Simon, in William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies.
Behemoth (devil)
Appearing, variously, as a crocodile, elephant, whale or a hippo, this demon, obviously, lent his name to describing anything huge. Employed as night watchman of Hell, he also serves as the Devil’s cook.
Beleth
Responsible for eighty-five legions of demons, he announces his appearance with great fanfares of trumpets upon a pale horse.
Belial (prince of arrogance and deceit)
Derived from the Hebrew for ‘worthless’, Known to be a great speaker, he is depicted as being particularly vicious and vocal against the work of God. Belial is said to already have been in Hell when Lucifer fell and tempts mortals into acts of rebellion and disloyalty.
Appearances in popular culture:
- The classic 1922 film Nosferatu says that the titular vampire originated from “Belial’s seed,” implying Belial’s hand in the creation of vampires.
- Belial possessed the titular character in the movie The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)
- Belial is the name given to the deformed Siamese twin brother of Duane Bradley in the exploitation film Basket Case (1982) and its sequels, Basket Case 2 (1990) and Basket Case 3: The Progeny (1993)
- In the 2002 film BloodRayne, based on the eponymous video.
- The 2018 Canadian film Beyond Hell, features Belial as the main monster.
Belphegor
One of the seven princes of Hell, who helps people make discoveries. He seduces people by suggesting to them ingenious inventions that will make them rich. According to some 16th-century demonologists, his power is stronger in April. Often appearing as an attractive young woman, he spends his time outside of Hell in Paris.
Buer
Buer is a spirit that appears in the 16th century grimoire Pseudomonarchia Daemonum and its derivatives, where he is described as a president or chairman of Hell, having fifty legions of demons under his command. Louis Le Breton created an illustration of Buer, later engraved by M. Jarrault, depicting the demon as having the head of a lion and five goat legs surrounding his body to walk in every direction. This illustration has been featured on several albums including Morbid Angel’s Blessed are the Sick LP, Coil’s Wrong Eye / Scope single, Cloven Hoof’s 2008 album The Definitive Part One, a 1981 Black Sabbath bootleg LP entitled Buer Album, and the EP Evoco Bestias by the Norwegian avant-garde metal group Fleurety.
Appearances in popular culture:
- Buer appears in the Hellblazer comic book as one of the demons of Hell who oppose lead character John Constantine.
- Buer is portrayed in a Polish fantasy movie Dzieje Mistrza Twardowskiego (The Story of Master Twardowski) about famous Polish necromancer Pan Twardowski, as a president of Trade Collegium of Hell… or Devoncourt.
Carnivean
Invoked during Witches’ rituals, he is the patron devil of lewdness, lasciviousness and obscenity.
Carreau
The demon employed to break the resolve of even the most determined mortal. Said to have possessed the body of Sister Seraphica of Loudon.
Crocell
Speaking in a dark and mysterious way, Crocell leads 48 legions of demons and when summoned by humans can teach mathematics and geometry. Can control the sound and temperature of water at will. She appears with long flowing blonde hair and a blue dress, with large blue wings.
