History Literature / ArsGoetia

* HijackedByJesus: A few of the demons owe their demonhood to the medieval Christian conceit that gods other than the Hebrew one were merely demons masquerading as divine beings and trying to steal glory and honor that only God should have received. Bifrons (literally "two faces") is another name for Janus, the Roman god of gates. Berith comes from Baal-Berith, patron of a city at odds with early Jerusalem. Phenex is obviously a phoenix, which is usually considered a good creature in mythology. Astaroth's name is based on Astarte. Amon is iffy -- while he seems to be named for the Egyptian deity, that his name is occasionally spelled Ammon may connect him to the Ammonites, one of the Hebrews' perennial enemies. You can also find a few claims on the Internet that Oriax is the same as Osiris, and Purson the same as Horus, from Myth/EgyptianMythology.

* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: A lot of the stranger-looking Goetics will eventually adopt human shape.

NOTE: Given how often they pop up outside of the lists, especially in sources that predate the lists, it probably isn't a good idea to list anything involving Belial, Asmodeus (also known as Asmoday), Bael, Astaroth, or Berith (as in Baal-Berith), unless there's a definite link in the example to the Ars Goetia, or at least to the other demons from the lists.

** Volac will bring whatever serpents you desire to you. Although the text doesn't say anything about whether you can actually control them....

* ShockAndAwe: Furfur can create storms, thunder, and lightning.

* SpeaksFluentAnimal: Barbatos and Camio can make you do this.

Note: Due to the nature of having several different translations over the centuries, expect to see [[SpellMyNameWithAnS alternative spellings]] a ''lot''.

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Because of the way copying was done for the earliest manuscripts describing the demons, spellings can vary quite a bit from list to list. Ose, for example, can also be called Oso or Voso. Leraje can also be Leraie or Loray. Gremory can be Gomory. Glasya-Labolas gets the prize for dissimilar names, though; he's also called Caacrinolaas and Caassimolar. There's also Flauros/Flavros/Haures/Harves/Hauras, whos alternate names may be due more to bad handwriting than anything else (the letters "Fl" do look somewhat similar to the capital H.)

* HypnotizeTheCaptive: A ''lot'' of the Goetic crew have the ability to incite love between men and women. One has to wonder if anybody trusted the conjurors to not try to use this trick to get themselves a desired bedmate with no strings attached... Sitri is ''especially'' explicit about this. Not only can he pull this stunt, he can make them disrobe and degrade themselves. Instant WildTeenParty, of ''[[APartyAlsoKnownAsAnOrgy that]]'' sort... or porn... or blackmail material. Beleth's entry, meanwhile, is very explicit about the not-so-romantic side of this; "This Great King Beleth causeth all the love that may be, [[AnythingThatMoves both of Men and of Women, until the Master Exorcist hath had his desire fulfilled.]]"

* AerithAndBob: Andrealphus, Oriax, Decarabia, Valefor, and...
** Amy? At least until you realize that it [[NoPronunciationGuide should be pronounced]] with a ''short'' "a" sound.
** Andras is a lot less exotic if you are Hungarian: András is the local equivalent of Andrew. Or if you are Greek, where it means "man".

* NoPronunciationGuide: Keep in mind that, since the original sources partook variously of Latin and German texts, instances of "V" represent the "W" sound (hence some of the alternate spellings for Volac and Uvall). Not something obvious to modern-day viewers who don't have a European linguistics background.

** Andras is a lot less exotic if you are Hungarian: András is the local equivalent of Andrew.

* HijackedByJesus: A few of the demons owe their demonhood to the medieval Christian conceit that gods other than the Hebrew one were merely demons masquerading as divine beings and trying to steal glory and honor that only God should have received. Bifrons (literally "two faces") is another name for Janus, the Roman god of gates. Berith comes from Baal-Berith, patron of a city at odds with early Jerusalem. Phenex is obviously a phoenix, which is usually considered a good creature in mythology. Amon is iffy -- while he seems to be named for the Egyptian deity, that his name is occasionally spelled Ammon may connect him to the Ammonites, one of the Hebrews' perennial enemies. You can also find a few claims on the Internet that Oriax is the same as Osiris, and Purson the same as Horus, from Myth/EgyptianMythology.

[[folder:Common Ars Goetia tropes]]

* AscendedDemon: Some of the demons have aspirations of redemption, specifically Marchosias, Amy, Focalor, and Phenex. Unfortunately, it seems they are "deceived in that hope"....
** They told Solomon that they hoped to return to the Seventh Throne (Heaven or God or both) in 1,000 or 1,200 years or so. It's been 3,000 years since Solomon was alive. So they hoped for returning to the Seventh Throne 2,000 or 1,800 years ago. A bit of FridgeBrilliance there for our Christian viewers.
* TheBeastmaster: Volac will bring whatever serpents you desire to you. Although the text doesn't say anything about whether you can actually control them....

* DarkIsNotEvil: A few of the demons seem to be [[HarmlessVillain harmless]], or even [[NobleDemon good-hearted]]. For example, Orobas is said to be an honest demon who [[CannotTellALie never tells a lie]]. He also protects his conjuror from evil spirits; more specifically, he makes sure they can't tempt him. Sallos is said to have a generally peaceful nature, and specializes in setting up lovers. Andromalius specializes in preventing and punishing theft. Of course, you still have singularly nasty demons in there (Andras not only specializes in fomenting strife and discord, he's one of the few specifically stated to, if there's even a small flaw in his summoning confinement, ''[[EvilIsNotAToy kill the conjuror and all his associates]]''...)
** It's also worth noting that although we're... well... talking ''DEMONS'' here, the conjuror is actually instructed to call upon God and appeal to his authority (which is still binding on the demons, whether they like it or not) in order to get the particular demon to obey the call and evocation. In other words, the idea is that you're using unholy implements (demons) for (allegedly) acceptable-to-God means (although how anyone would call what some of these characters, like Sitri, Andras, and Beleth, do "holy" is kind of difficult).
* DealWithTheDevil: Well, if the above point about using God to get these guys to obey one is anything to go by, one doesn't have the usual soul-price to put up with here, at least as long as the power isn't abused to malevolent and perdition-worthy ends (although as also mentioned, a few, like Leraje and Andras, will ''only'' perform malign deeds). One needs to be careful in any case, though; Andras will be trying to kill the conjuror and every one of his associates, Valefor will try to get his conjuror to commit and be caught for a capital crime, and Malphas has a bad habit of reneging on promises secured by a sacrifice on the part of the conjuror.

* HijackedByJesus: A few of the demons owe their demonhood to the medieval Christian conceit that gods other than the Hebrew one were merely demons masquerading as divine beings and trying to steal glory and honor that only God should have received. Bifrons (literally "two faces") is another name for Janus, the Roman god of gates. Berith comes from Baal-Berith, patron of a city at odds with early Jersualem. Phenex is obviously a phoenix, which is usually considered a good creature in mythology. Amon is iffy--while he seems to be named for the Egyptian deity, that his name is occasionally spelled Ammon may connect him to the Ammonites, one of the Hebrews' perennial enemies. You can also find a few claims on the Internet that Oriax is the same as Osiris, and Purson the same as Horus, from Myth/EgyptianMythology.

* MultipleHeadCase: Some of the demons (e.g. Bune, Aim, Asmoday, in some lists Bael) have three heads, one human and two animal, presumably an implication of their perversion of angelhood by containing an equally chimeric trinity.
** Or maybe just an implication that they were of Cherub rank when they were Angels, since Cherubs also have multiple heads/faces - 3 animal heads, and one human head.
** And then there's [[{{Hellhound}} Naberius]], aka [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Cerberus]].

* {{Plaguemaster}}: Leraje: Guarantees that any of your archers' arrows that don't kill the targets outright will turn the wounds putrescent. Vepar and Sabnock: Arrange for enemies' wounds to become maggot-ridden. Marbas: General bringer of disease. This is [[FridgeHorror pretty scary in conjunction with]] his ForcedTransformation ability; what happens if the conjuror instructs him to transfigure the ''pathogen?''
** On the other hand, this could be quite a con. Step 1: Have Marbas cause disease. Step 2: Sell snake oil for curing the disease. Step 3: Have Marbas turn the disease into a different one with a delayed incubation (thus "removing" the first one). Step 4: Return to Step 2.

* RankInflation: Several of the demons are given multiple ranks. Not across several grimoires, but in the ''same'' grimoire. To wit: President & Count/Earl Botis (17), President & Count/Earl Marax (21), Prince/Prelate & Count/Earl Ipos (22), President & Count/Earl Glasya-Labolas (25), Marquis and Count/Earl Ronove (27), President & Prince/Prelate Gaap (33), King & Count/Earl Vine (45), Duke & Count/Earl Murmur (54), and King & President Zagan (61). And while he's "just" a marquis in the ''Lesser Key'', the ''Pseudomonarchia Daemonum'' describes Decarabia as instead being both King & Earl. Basically, ranks are: King (Gold), Marquis (Silver), President (Mercury), Duke (Copper), Count/Earl (Iron[[labelnote:*]]Eldest texts[[http://www.esotericarchives.com/solomon/goetia.htm#andromalius]] assign a mix of Silver and Copper for counts/earls, probabily to avoid ColdIron effects.[[/labelnote]]), Prince/Prelate (Tin), and Knight (Lead). Or could be listed as: King (Sunday), Marquis (Monday), Count/Earl (Tuesday), President (Wednesday), Prince/Prelate (Thursday), Duke (Friday), and Knight (Saturday). RealLife rankings of nobility would go King, Duke, Prince/Prelate, Marquis, Count/Earl, and Knight.
** "President", in this case, would refer to one who presides over a college or convocation. Also, at the time, "prince" just meant someone who ruled over something, like the princes of Italian petty city-states. In addition, marquises had a pretty unique duty from dukes; the term comes from "march", used for a province bordering another country, which didn't always describe duchies, and never described counties. In other words, marquises were specially tasked to be the first line of defense against invaders. In this context, Goetic marquises might "protect" deceived/corrupted souls from "invading" divine redemption.

* SealedEvilInACan: Part of the binding procedure that Solomon used was trapping the demons inside an elaborate vessel of brass, which he could pull them out of at will to perform this or that deed. Once he'd gotten all the work he needed out of them, he cast the full vessel into a great lake in the Babylonian Empire, expecting them to stay stuck until the end of time. Too bad the Babylonians who later found it mistook it for an ordinary treasure cache and ''opened'' it, getting nothing for their troubles except Belial impersonating one of their gods....

* ShockAndAwe: Furfur.

* TreacherousAdvisor: While Valefor ''does'' make for a good {{Familiar}}, you should probably not listen to his temptations to become a robber- he's basically trying to get you to commit [[PsychicAssistedSuicide Demon Assisted]] [[SuicideByCop Suicide By State]].
[[/folder]]
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See [[ReferencedBy/ArsGoetia this subpage]] for a list of references to Goetian demons in other works. And if you're looking for the {{fanfiction}} of the [[SimilarlyNamedWorks same name]], you can find it [[Fanfic/ArsGoetia here]].

* BalefulPolymorph: Pray that a conjuror doesn't decide he's mad enough with you to send Ose after you. Not only do you get shapeshifted, you start thinking that ''you've always been the thing or being Ose just turned you into''. Andrealphus, Oriax, and Marbas can do this, too, but they won't throw in the FakeMemories as well (and Andrealphus is limited to turning people into birds).

* DrivenToMadness: Some grimoires suggest that Ose doesn't ''actually'' [[BalefulPolymorph transfigure his victims]], but merely warps their minds to the point that they genuinely think they're something else entirely. The others claim both.

* FakeMemories: Besides Ose's gimmick, as described in BalefulPolymorph above, Dantalion can reveal a person's thoughts to a conjuror, then ''change those memories''. It does ''not'' help that he's one of the bevy of Goetics skilled in [[LovePotion impelling love]]....

* {{Plaguemaster}}: Leraje: Guarantees that any of your archers' arrows that don't kill the targets outright will turn the wounds putrescent. Vepar and Sabnock: Arrange for enemies' wounds to become maggot-ridden. Marbas: General bringer of disease. This is [[FridgeHorror pretty scary in conjunction with]] his BalefulPolymorph ability; what happens if the conjuror instructs him to transfigure the ''pathogen?''

# Bael/Baell

# Beleth/Bileth/Bilet

# Bifrons/Bifrous/Bifrovs

On a side note, the earlier ''Pseudomonarchia Daemonum'' by Johann Weyer [[note]]a section of the larger text ''De praestigiis daemonum'' in which Weyer argued that witchcraft did not exist and that "witches" were actually just mentally ill[[/note]] in 1583 lists only 69 demons. Vassago, Seere, Dantalion, and Andromalius are not listed, and another demon, Pruflas, is listed. Pruflas doesn't seem to appear anywhere else; given his description, he may have been conflated with the extremely similar Andras. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liber_Officiorum_Spirituum Liber Officiorum Spirituum]] which Weyer gave as his source for ''Pseudomonarchia Daemonum'' has over 80[[note]]varying depending upon the manuscriptm and sometimes including explicitly non-demonic beings like faeries as well[[/note]], and in turn the even earlier [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livre_des_Esperitz Livre des Esperitz]] had only 47 while notably only describing the demons and their place in the hierarchy of hell, with no actual magic instructions.

* HypnotizeThePrincess: A ''lot'' of the Goetic crew have the ability to incite love between men and women. One has to wonder if anybody trusted the conjurors to not try to use this trick to get themselves a desired bedmate with no strings attached... Sitri is ''especially'' explicit about this. Not only can he pull this stunt, he can make them disrobe and degrade themselves. Instant WildTeenParty, of ''[[APartyAlsoKnownAsAnOrgy that]]'' sort... or porn... or blackmail material. Beleth's entry, meanwhile, is very explicit about the not-so-romantic side of this; "This Great King Beleth causeth all the love that may be, [[AnythingThatMoves both of Men and of Women, until the Master Exorcist hath had his desire fulfilled.]]"

* LoveGoddess: ''Many'' demons can become this, Beleth, Sitri, Zepar, Gremory & Furfur. Just to name a few. See HypnotizeThePrincess above.

* FakeMemories: Besides Ose's gimmick, as described in BalefulPolymorph above, Dantalion can reveal a person's thoughts to a conjuror, then ''change those memories''. It does ''not'' help that he's one of the bevy of Goetics skilled in [[HypnotizeThePrincess impelling love]]....

On a side note, the earlier ''Pseudomonarchia Daemonum'' by Johann Wier in 1583, which basically started all this, lists only 69 demons. Vassago, Seere, Dantalion, and Andromalius are not listed, and another demon, Pruflas, is listed. Pruflas doesn't seem to appear anywhere else; given his description, he may have been conflated with the extremely similar Andras.

* EvilCounterpart: Some occult traditions consider the Goetic demons, at least when they number 72 and not 69, to be this to the angels who bear the Shem ha-Mephorasch (the hidden name of God). There's even the claim that the Goetics' seals are actually some sort of [[SdrawkcabName reverse spelling]] of each associated angel's name.

* OurMonstersAreWeird: Given that many Goetian demons are MixAndMatchCritters, expect to see some weird ones.

* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: A pretty fair number of these guys are associated with snakes (no surprise, given one of the usual alleged guises of {{Satan}}) in some fashion, whether holding snakes, riding snakes, having a snake tail, or in Botis's case, ''being'' a snake. In addition, Agares, Vassago,and Sallos all ride crocodiles, and Volac and Astaroth ride ''dragons''. And finally, except for his heads, Bune ''is'' a dragon.

* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Marchosias (a she-wolf, at least according to the ''Pseudomonarchia Daemonum'' and ''Dictionnaire Infernal''), Vepar (a mermaid) and Gremory (a woman riding a camel) are the only female demons. Though given that they are [[FallenAngel fallen angels]] and a good chunk are [[VoluntaryShapeshifting shapeshifters]], male/female may be a formality rather than an indication of (normally) possessing any genitalia. It doesn't help that, even with Gremory, the most obviously female of the lot, the texts ''always'' use male pronouns.

* DarkIsNotEvil: A few of the demons seem to be [[HarmlessVillain harmless]], or even [[NobleDemon good-hearted]]. For example, Orobas is said to be an honest demon who [[CannotTellALie never tells a lie]]. He also protects his conjuror from evil spirits; more specifically, he makes sure they can't tempt him. Sallos is said to have a generally peaceful nature, and specializes in setting up lovers (although, see HypnotizeThePrincess below...). Andromalius specializes in preventing and punishing theft. Of course, you still have singularly nasty demons in there (Andras not only specializes in fomenting strife and discord, he's one of the few specifically stated to, if there's even a small flaw in his summoning confinement, ''[[EvilIsNotAToy kill the conjuror and all his associates]]''...)

** If you really want to take this trope to the extreme, just turn to Zepar; some sources claim he can turn men into gay pedophiles. No, really. [[SarcasmMode Naturally]], he ''also'' can do the whole "make men and women fall in love" trick.
*** Some sources have him not only impelling love between men and women, but also rendering women barren. Not necessarily the same women. Patron demon of eugenics?
** Gremory, meanwhile, will even procure the love of ''old'' women. And while Furfur can do this, he sticks to restoring love in marriage.

* RankInflation: Several of the demons are given multiple ranks. Not across several grimoires, but in the ''same'' grimoire. To wit: President & Count/Earl Botis (17), President & Count/Earl Marax (21), Prince/Prelate & Count/Earl Ipos (22), President & Count/Earl Glasya-Labolas (25), Marquis and Count/Earl Ronove (27), President & Prince/Prelate Gaap (33), King & Count/Earl Vine (45), Duke & Count/Earl Murmur (54), and King & President Zagan (61). And while he's "just" a marquis in the ''Lesser Key'', the ''Pseudomonarchia Daemonum'' describes Decarabia as instead being both King & Earl. Basically, ranks are: King (Gold), Marquis (Silver), President (Mercury), Duke (Copper), Count/Earl (Iron[[labelnote:*]]Eldest texts[[http://www.esotericarchives.com/solomon/goetia.htm#andromalius]] assign a mix of Silver and Copper for counts/earls, probabily to avoid ColdIron effects.[[/labelnote]]), Prince/Prelate (Tin), and Knight (Lead). Or could be listed as: King (Sunday), Marquis (Monday), Count/Earl (Tuesday), President (Wednesday), Prince/Prelate (Thursday), Duke (Friday), and Knight (Saturday). RealLife rankings of nobility would go King, Duke, Prince/Prelate, Marquis, Count/Earl, and Knight (not sure where President goes).

* FeatheredFiend: Quite literally, given that several demons have bird forms. We've got storks (Shax, Halphas), nighthawks (Stolas), crows (Malphas, Raum), cranes (Naberius), peacocks (Andrealphus), and thrushes (Camio). Oh, and ''the'' phoenix (Phenex).

The first section of the anonymously written 17th-century grimoire ''The Lesser Key of Solomon''. It describes a group of 69-72 demons (depending on which edition you're working with) who were variously bound by Ham and Solomon to perform works on God's behalf, and now you, the lucky conjuror, can do the same. The Ars Goetia (or rather, the demons described) is/are frequently used in fiction. The grimoire itself is sometimes known as the ''Lemegeton'' and is a [[{{StockShoutOuts}} Stock Shout-Out]] for a TomeOfEldritchLore. For some reason, the ''later'' portions of the ''Lesser Key'', like the Ars Theurgia Goetia (conjuring neutral spirits of the winds) and Ars Paulina (conjuring lesser angels of the zodiac and the hours of the day), get ''much'' less screen time in general.

* AerithAndBob: Andrealphus, Oriax, Decarabia, Valefor, and... Amy? At least until you realize that it [[NoPronunciationGuide should be pronounced]] with a ''short'' "a" sound.

* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: A pretty fair number of these guys are associated with snakes (no surprise, given one of the usual alleged guises of {{Satan}}) in some fashion, whether holding snakes, riding snakes, having a snake tail, or in Botis's case, ''being'' a snake. In addition, Agares, Vassago, Furcas, and Sallos all ride crocodiles, and Volac and Astaroth ride ''dragons''. And finally, except for his heads, Bune ''is'' a dragon.

# Bael/Baell (Expect to see [[SpellMyNameWithAnS alternative spellings]] a ''lot'')

* OurMonstersAreWeird

* RankInflation: Several of the demons are given multiple ranks. Not across several grimoires, but in the ''same'' grimoire. To wit: President & Count/Earl Botis (17), President & Count/Earl Marax (21), Prince/Prelate & Count/Earl Ipos (22), President & Count/Earl Glasya-Labolas (25), Marquis and Count/Earl Ronove (27), President & Prince/Prelate Gaap (33), King & Count/Earl Vine (45), Duke & Count/Earl Murmur (54), and King & President Zagan (61). And while he's "just" a marquis in the ''Lesser Key'', the ''Pseudomonarchia Daemonum'' describes Decarabia as instead being both King & Earl. Basically, rannks are: King (Gold), Marquis (Silver), President (Mercury), Duke (Copper), Count/Earl (Iron), Prince/Prelate (Tin), and Knight (Lead). Or could be listed as: King (Sunday), Marquis (Monday), Count/Earl (Tuesday), President (Wednesday), Prince/Prelate (Thursday), Duke (Friday), and Knight (Saturday). RealLife rankings of nobility would go King, Duke, Prince/Prelate, Marquis, Count/Earl, and Knight (not sure where President goes).

See [[ReferencedBy/ArsGoetia this subpage]] for a list of references to Goetian demons in other works. And if you're looking for the {{Fanfiction}} of the [[SimilarlyNamedWorks same name]], you can find it [[Fanfic/ArsGoetia here]].