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The Archfiends
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- Ancient Evil: As the ‘Army of the Fallen’ legion depicts a Vietnam war soldier, it can be concluded that Solium Infernum takes place roughly in the modern era. As most of the Archfiends were banished to Hell during The Fall, that makes even the “youngest” among them more than six thousand years old.
- Ambition Is Evil: Each Archfiend wants to rule over Hell in Lucifer’s absence, which spurs them to commit even greater acts of evil than ever before.
- Card-Carrying Villain: Essential to even becoming an Archfiend in the first place is embracing your own evil.
- Embodiment of Vice: Each Archfiend represents a deadly sin, including the since-forgotten eighth sin of despair.
- Evil Overlord: Each of them are more than powerful and wicked enough to be the Big Bad in any other game. Instead, they’re all competing to become the Evil Overlord of Evil Overlords.
- Faux Affably Evil: With the exception of Beelzebub and Lilith, every single Archfiend takes turns pretending to be polite to each other while actively plotting to separate each other’s heads from their shoulders. Only Astaroth seems genuine in his politeness.
- Glowing Eyes: Besides Mammon who has Empty Eyes and Murmur who has a One-Way Visor, each Archfiend’s eyes serve as their own light source, though some are brighter than others. Given that they’re all already dead and in hell, this doubles as Glowing Eyelights of Undeath, and triples as Glowing Eyes of Doom given the chaos they inflict upon each other.
- Good Wings, Evil Wings: Everyone except Mammon has various wings, and even he has fake ones as part of his attire. For all their differences, each set looks uniquely evil in its own right except for Andromalius, who is cheating by using their angel form. Despite this, they never actually move or do much of anything.
- Gratuitous Latin: None of the Archfiends speak any language other than what the long-dead Roman Empire used.
- Keystone Army: The death of an Archfiend will instantly disband their entire faction down to every individual legion.
- Lack of Empathy: Often used to demonstrate just how evil they all are, that same lack of empathy can also explain why two Archfiends who are constantly pursuing vendettas against each other can just as easily make a truce out of the blue. In Hell, there’s just no time for emotions.
- Obviously Evil: Each Archfiend has an appropriately menacing appearance. Even Andromalius, who otherwise appears angelic, has piercingly evil red eyes.
- Power Glows: Every Archfiend is bathed in a color-coded light that isn’t generated by their stronghold. Given that they’re capable of altering their appearance, this means that all of them have individually chosen to glow just because it looks cool.
- Rage Against the Heavens: Every Archfiend directly defied The Tyrant, thus explaining how they ended up in Hell in the first place.
- Too Broken to Break: A side-effect of being trapped in Hell for thousands of years, all of them are willing to spend thousands more if it means becoming the new Dark Majesty.
- The Unfettered: The literal only line that still remains to be crossed by the Archfiends is getting excommunicated by the Conclave, and even that only holds true for as long as it’s more beneficial to stay in good graces than it is to go it alone.
- Villain Cred: Despite all the backstabbing, every Archfiend gets at least one interaction of one of the others legitimately appreciating their unique abilities. Astaroth commands respect on the field of battle, while Andromalius is genuinely complimentary (in their own snarky way) of Mammon’s accounting skills, who in turn praises Andromalius’ ability to consistently secure victory in the arena. Lilith’s augury, Belial’s trickery, and Erzsebet’s bloodlust are all acknowledged at some point or another, and everyone is off-put by just how unnerving Murmur and Beelzebub actually are.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Everyone except Erzsebet, Belial, and Murmur have foregone upper body clothing. At least Lilith has her feathers…
Astaroth
- Affably Evil: Though he still actively plots to kill off or at least crush every other Archfiend, he is genuinely impressed by their military achievements. Furthermore, his wrath is limited to those who either directly oppose him or make him angry; he’s perfectly charming and even humble around those who do not pose a threat to him.
- BFS: Wields a sword almost as big as his entire body. Erzsebet goes out of her way to make a rather suggestive compliment towards it.
- Blood Knight: In both gameplay style as well as personality, Astaroth wants nothing more than to wage war.
- Chest Insignia: Unlike most other archfiends who wear their sigil as part of their attire, Astaroth has implanted his directly into his chest.
- Combat Compliment: Astaroth openly praises Mammon when they come to blows, expressing his desire to bury each other in blood and gold.
- Crown-Shaped Head: Due in large part to his Horns of Villainy.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: The beginning of Mammon’s chronicle mentions how each Archfiend’s respective personal unit recently engaged in battle, with predictable results in favor of Astaroth.
- Dragons Are Demonic: As the Dragon Knight, Astaroth is definitely the most traditionally 'demonic' of all the Archfiends in regards to appearance.
- Genius Bruiser: He's a murderous monsterous thug, but he's also a geniunely good general and a canny politician, just not very subtle.
- Hell Invades Heaven: His ultimate goal and the reason why he wants to rule over Hell, as to unite and marshal the damned into a proper army capable of securing victory over The Tyrant.
- Inferiority Superiority Complex: Despite his constant claims that he will behead The Tyrant and set the Heavens aflame, Astaroth has serious doubts about his ability to actually live up to his own hype given that he already tried and failed once. He admits as much to Mammon, though he's unsure himself as to why.
- My Blood Runs Hot: Astaroth’s insides are clearly visible through the cracks in his stone-like skin, revealing flowing lava beneath.
- One-Man Army: Despite facing ‘war at a scale beyond imagining,’ Astaroth manages to crush the entire enemy army with a single swipe of his sword, before apologizing to his interviewer for interrupting their time together just to win a fight.
- Noble Demon: Ironically, despite arguably having the most traditionally demonic appearance, Astaroth is easily the most principled amidst his fellow Archfiends; conducting himself with honor and dignity.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Supernatural Powers!: Despite the fact that the Conclave heavily regulates warfare in Hell, Astaroth is free to just flat out slaughter a chosen Archfiend for a single turn with his special ability. In a similar manner, no other Archfiend’s stronghold is allowed to provide support to adjacent legions in combat, and yet, despite repeatedly being warned against breaking the rules, the soldiers which man Astaroth’s walls refuse to be contained.
- Tranquil Fury: Despite embodying wrath, Astaroth is more often than not polite, reasonable, and intelligent, with his anger being limited to low simmer so long as you don’t mention The Tyrant.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Much like his blood, Astaroth’s eyes physically glow red with molten fury.
- Red Is Violent: Practically a given as the representative of wrath.
- Worthy Opponent: Astaroth is pleasantly surprised by Mammon’s attempt to challenge his claim ‘by force of arms,’ and practically fantasizes about the level of carnage that would come from fighting Beelzebub.
Mammon
- Adipose Rex: So fat that his stomach physically jiggles around whenever he moves. How he managed to find enough food to achieve this in a landscape as barren as Hell itself remains a mystery.
- The Almighty Dollar: Already somewhat worshiped as an Archfiend, Mammon becomes this to a T should he become the new Dark Majesty.
- Arbitrarily Large Bank Account: Despite the fact that he has been stated to repeatedly lose entire fortunes worth of money in the past, Mammon has always earned them back. If Hell actually accepted gold as currency, Mammon would be unstoppable.
- Bling of War: The Gilded of Mammon do indeed wear gilded armor and bear gilded weapons.
- Corporate Warfare: His personal legion, the Gilded of Mammon, are directly stated to be a subsidiary of Salacious B. Greggory Holdings Limited, which in turn is wholly owned by Mammon Corp.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Mammon’s entire personality and sole gimmick is that he treats everything from the abuse of slave labor to the warring of hellish armies as a business transaction. Doubles as Morally Bankrupt Banker, given that he also runs the only financial institution in Hell.
- Evil, Inc.: Mammon is the chairman of Mammon Corp. as well as ‘the Mountebank.’ Doubles as a MegaCorp given he rules his lands as part of his company, especially if he is crowned as the new Dark Majesty.
- Gold Makes Everything Shiny: The strangely liquid substance that comprises Mammon’s innards and crown barely even looks metallic but shimmers in the light of his torch all the same.
- High-Class Glass: A solid gold monocle with brilliant ruby embedded inside it conceals Mammon’s left eye.
- Intimidating Revenue Service: Mammon will dive into disturbing levels of detail as to what exactly his “Aggressive Auditing” entails.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Subverted. Mammon is indeed a Jerk with a Heart of Jerk, but his appearance suggests that his heart has been ripped out and literally replaced with molten gold. Doubles as Cultural Cross-Reference for east-Asian societies which use gold to repair and fill in broken items, both to restore functionality as well as to highlight the damage as part of the item’s history: Mammon, on the inside, is just so evil that he’s completely broken, to the point where everything needs to be repaired.
- Loves Only Gold: Though his greed in general is boundless, Mammon was initially driven to sin through his fascination with the gold pavement of Heaven.
- Treasure Room: His sanctum has riches piled up to the ceiling in the background.
- Try to Fit That on a Business Card: Lord Money-Changer, Chancellor of Hell’s Exchequer, Clerk of the Mountebank, the Grand Usurer, Prince of Hell, and so on.
- Villainous Gold Tooth: A side-effect of his Gold Tooth of Wealth.
- Wicked Pretentious: No one is fooled by the golden laurel crown on his head nor his constant corporate jargon, but that doesn’t stop him from trying.
Lilith
- Green-Eyed Monster: Lilith's particular deadly sin is envy, as she bitterly plots against those who she believes are working together to deny her what is rightfully hers. Lampshaded by the fact that her in-game color representation is green.
- Harping on About Harpies: In line with her curse, Lilith appears as a strange cross between a human woman, a raven, and an owl.
- Living Lie Detector: While everyone knows that Belial is a liar, only Lilith can determine just how deep his plans run.
- Yellow Eyes of Sneakiness: Fittingly for her owl-like form, Lilith’s eyes make it clear that she’s just as treacherous as any other Archfiend. Doubles as Supernatural Gold Eyes given her ritual powers.
Murmur
- Black Knight: Murmur is clad in a set of black armor so all-encompassing that the only part of their body that is visible is their mouth.
- Horrifying the Horror: According to Astaroth, Murmur manages to disturb even the Conclave, which makes it very telling how they themselves are disturbed by Beelzebub.
- Impoverished Patrician: Murmur goes out of their way to describe themselves as ‘poor in wealth but rich in death.’
- Magic Knight: Despite the fact that they never actually use it in game, it’s clear that Murmur’s sword isn’t just for show. Combined with his ritual powers of destruction and fondness for raising the dead and you have a very powerful Lich indeed.
- Necromancer: Murmur's unique ability allows them raise a legion of the dead from the void anywhere in their territory. Especially notable given that said legions have already been killed once to go to Hell, then killed again to be banished to the abyss.
- Omnicidal Maniac: Murmur desires to become the new Dark Majesty to use the combined forces of Hell to permanently extinguish all life.
- Otherworldly and Sexually Ambiguous: Murmur is explicitly referred to with gender neutral terms by others, and refers to themselves in the plural. Whether this is a case of the Royal "We" or an I Am Legion Mind Hive (or both at once) is up for debate.
- This Cannot Be!: Upon theorizing that Lucifer's absence could possibly be because he was redeemed and returned to The Tyrant's side, Murmur quickly dismisses the possibility with repeated denial and desperate panic.
- Tombstone Teeth: It doesn’t help that they’re constantly grinding and gnashing them too.
- Unconventional Formatting: A message from Murmur is clearly recognizable by its Gratuitous Iambic Pentameter, constant line breaks, and complete lack of both capitalization and punctuation. Assuming they speak the same way that they write, this could potentially double as Strange-Syntax Speaker.
- Utopia Justifies the Means: A universe entirely populated by the undead counts as utopia in their book, hence why the Infernal Throne must be acquired at any cost.
Andromalius
- Adaptational Gender Identity: Though specifically male in the Ars Goetia, Andromalius is notably gender-neutral in Solium Infernum.
- Ambiguous Situation: The only unbiased source of information in the entire game does state in the above quote that Andromalius is Lucifer's 'favorite,' but whether or not he’s actually in love with them as Andromalius claims is up for debate.
- Attention Whore: Implied to be the reason why they specialize in praetor duels: Their victories earn them more attention when they're won in arenas full of cheering fans than anywhere else.
- Beauty Is Bad: To the point where it’s nearly an Aesop, Andromalius is utterly despicable despite their good looks.
- Blasé Boast: Openly declares themselves to be ‘without superlative’ as if it were a standard means of ending a letter.
- Blasphemous Boast: As the quote above mentions, Andromalius genuinely believes themselves to be equal in splendor to The Tyrant.
- Bling of War: Their personal legion, the Chosen of Andromalius, are decked out in silver and gold ‘at great cost’ in a vain effort to relive their Glory Days as angels.
- Cincinnatus: Unlike every other Archfiend, Andromalius is far too loyal to Lucifer to take his place forever and intends to give him his throne back when he returns. Of course, the likelihood of that ever happening is debatable…
- Condescending Compassion: More or less does this once per Archfiend. They snidely promise to take care of Erzsebet’s place of birth in the form of the Garden of Infernal Delights, ‘graciously’ offer Mammon the chance to manage their accounts when they’ve defeated him, and more or less promises to make Lilith into their demon pet.
- Divinely Appearing Demons: Despite being surrounded by ghouls, eldritch horrors, and other disgustingly ugly demonic creatures, Andromalius appears as a beautiful angel. Justified on the basis that they actively chose to maintain their angelic appearance when they fall instead of adopting a more demonic one. This makes them a very literal example of Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon.
- Entitled Bastard: Outright declares that Mammon will offer them an interest free loan in the event of Lucifer’s return.
- Gold and White Are Divine: Invoked by Andromalius as part of his Divinely Appearing Demons motif. His citadel and soldiers are white, with splashes of gold, and he himself dresses in white and has golden hair.
- Hot as Hell: It’s saying something that Andromalius is more attractive than the actual representation of Lust in this game.
- It's All About Me: Or at least, it’s all about Lucifer and I.
- Narcissist: We’re running out of ways to describe just how egotistical they are. Despite all that, they never steep down to Smug Snake levels, given that they’re just as dangerous as any other Archfiend.
- Otherworldly and Sexually Ambiguous: Fitting given that their name literally starts with 'Andro,' they exclusively go by gender-neutral pronouns and are quite beautiful by both male and female standards. They even go so far as to take the gender-neutral titles of 'Baronex,' 'Marquix,' 'Duchex,' and 'Princex.'
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Despite maintaining their otherwise beautiful appearance as an angel, Andrmoalius' red eyes are the one physical trait of theirs which betrays their true nature.
- Red Right Hand: Alongside their red eyes, the demonic scrawl of text sprawled across their skin is more or less the only sign that they’re not a true angel.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Regardless of the strength of said connection with Lucifer, Andromalius believes it’s more than enough to secure their claim as the new Dark Majesty.
- Ship Tease: Andromalius is evidently infatuated with Lucifer and claims that it’s mutual. Whether this is a case of Mad Love or a genuine Unholy Matrimony is impossible to confirm.
- Simple, yet Opulent: Their sanctum, barring some gold highlights, is almost entirely pure-white marble.
Belial
- All According to Plan: More than any other character, Belial is predisposed to becoming either the Kingmaker or the Power Behind the Throne, thus snatching victory from the jaws of defeat at the last moment.
- Blatant Lies: Literally nothing that comes out of his mouth can be trusted, but that doesn't stop people from falling for them anyways.
- Evil Versus Oblivion: His primary motive for opposing Beelzebub is that ruling Hell actually requires undigested subjects to rule over, meaning that he can’t even attach himself to her and become her power behind the throne. Not that this is reflected in-game, mind you.
- He Knows About Timed Hits: Belial is the tutorial guide for the player, as he is in-universe 'helping' Astaroth to advance his own aims.
- Let's You and Him Fight: Not only his special ability, but something he actively tries to achieve more than once in the chronicles mode, constantly urging whoever you’re playing as to kill everyone else.
- Manipulative Bastard: His entire M.O, to the point where he’s already trying to manipulate you by the tutorial.
- The Sociopath: Even more so than the other Archfiends, Belial is absolutely heartless.
- Yellow Eyes of Sneakiness: It doesn’t help that he rarely ever even looks at you with them either. Much like Lilith, it also doubles as Supernatural Gold Eyes.
Erzsebet
- Bald of Evil: Lacks a single hair upon her head and likely her entire body, barring eyebrows, which gives off an appropriately menacing appearance.
- Blood Countess: Just as her namesake is essentially the trope-codifier, Erzsebet is fabulously powerful and entirely obsessed with spilling blood.
- Bloodlust: Both literally and metaphorically, she enjoys watching fresh blood drip even more than the average demon.
- Blood-Splattered Warrior: Her unique legion, the Enslaved of Erzsebet, ritualistically bathe in blood and are often covered in it during their marches.
- Demonic Vampires: Though never outright stated to be one, Erzsebet is nonetheless a demon that looks and acts exactly like a typical vampire.
- Femme Fatale: Not only sensual, but judging how she wields her dagger, highly dangerous as well, even disregarding her status as an Archfiend.
- Hemo Erotic: Erzsebet’s only two personality traits are that she is lustful and that she likes blood. Having a thing for bloodplay is just the logical synthesis of those ideas.
- Hot as Hell: Assuming you can stand her general vampire-ness.
- Lady in Red: Accented by gold and purple, no less.
- Vampires Are Sex Gods: Every aspect of her lustful nature only serves to amplify her vampiric traits, as stated in the Encyclopaedia Infernum: people who are aroused gush more blood than those who are not.
- Vampire Monarch: Her unique legion is comprised of vampiric demons that are notably described to be enslaved to her will.
- The Vamp: Fittingly as this game’s representative of lust, she is a demonic vampire who often employs powers of seduction to achieve her aims.
Beelzebub
- Adaptational Gender Identity: Portrayed as female despite typical depictions describing her as male.
- Belly Mouth: Has a gaping maw of chattering teeth directly on her chest.
- Eldritch Abomination: Even moreso than ordinary demons given that she's a fallen celestial rather than a fallen angel or human.
- Fan Disservice: Beelzebub’s breasts are freely exposed. Her old, wrinkly, malformed, saggy breasts hanging directly above her yonic insectoid mouth.
- Horrifying the Horror: Every other Archfiend is terrified of Beelzebub and it shows.
- Insect Queen: As a Baronness (and later princess as well as potentially the new Dark Majesty) of Hell, Beelzebub enjoys many privileges as an Archfiend despite her hideously insectoid appearance.
- Magic Staff: Wields a staff capable of firing massively destructive green lasers, despite never actually utilizing it in gameplay.
- She Is the King: Despite taking feminine titles such as duchess and princess, Beelzebub’s primary title remains the masculine ‘Lord’ of the flies.
- More Teeth than the Osmond Family: Having three sets will do that to you.
- Villainous Glutton: More than anything else, Beelzebub's only desire is to eat everything.
Background Characters
The Infernal Conclave
The administration of Hell that Lucifer established after the Fall in order to prevent infighting among the archfiends. With Satan's absence, they are more powerful but also more vulnerable than ever before.
- Decadent Court: As deadly and as decadent as possible, the Infernal Conclave is corrupt to the bone. Which, of course, is on purpose.
- The Dividual: Despite constantly being described as bickering, fickle, and disunited, the Conclave will always get its act together just in time to ruin your plans.
- Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: The Conclave is greatly and very easily amused by devilish acts, often rewarding prestige based on whatever brand of evil they happen to be indulging in most on that particular day.
- For the Evulz: What seems to be their primary motivation for all the chaos they cause for the Archfiends. They’re even willing to elect Beelzebub as the new Dark Majesty, despite the fact that doing so would literally serve themselves up on a platter.
- If You're So Evil, Eat This Kitten!: Having “heavenly sympathies” is the worst possible crime according to the Conclave, and they will often demand great or even minor acts of evil from the Archfiends to prove that they remain devoted to darkness.
- Jerkass: Unlike the Archfiends who at least all have motives for wanting to claim the Infernal Throne, the Conclave exclusively consists of lesser demons who have no desire other than to be as evil as possible.
- Legalized Evil: Not just legalized but mandatory, the Conclave actively punishes virtuous behavior while rewarding acts of sin, so long as such acts do not threaten their own power.
- Loyal to the Position: Despite the fun they have during the game itself, the Conclave will genuinely be loyal to the new Dark Majesty, assuming they were elected into the position instead of usurping it.
Lucifer
The original Dark Majesty and greatest of all angels before his fall. He has ruled over hell for thousands of years...until very recently.
- Bystander Syndrome: Erzsebet’s personal theory to explain his vanishing is that he decided to become The Watcher, observing the Archfiends kill each other from on high while eating popcorn.
- Deliverance from Damnation: One possible explanation for his sudden disappearance, though one that is quickly dismissed by both Murmur and Erzsebet.
- Divinely Appearing Demons: In his sole in-game appearance, Lucifer is clearly in his pre-fall Angel form, barring the demonic runes that cover his flesh.
- Put on a Bus: The entire premise of the game is that he left without a trace. Erzebet and Andromalius are both convinced that he will return, but there is no way to verify that in the game itself.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Beelzebub believes that Lucifer has grown weary of counteracting against The Tyrant and has abandoned the Archfiends to fight him on their own.
- Ship Tease: With Andromalius. Impossible to confirm, given that he’s gone and likely not coming back.
- To Hell with This Infernal Job: Another theory as to why he has suddenly vanished, posited by Mammon.
The Tyrant
God himself. Though never seen in-game, he is often referenced and occasionally directly acts against the Archfiends.
- Benevolent Abomination: From the perspective of demons, The Tyrant's harassing of them is a Cosmic Horror Story, as He is utterly unable to be stopped in His punishments of them and His angels are only slightly less invulnerable. From the perspective of everyone else, it's proof this Dark Fantasy world is Lovecraft Lite at worst, as said harassments generally focus around freeing souls from demonic abuse and punishing the Archfiends for their general cruelty.
- Divine Punishment: Through the 'Wrath of The Tyrant' event, said Tyrant will immediately lower all Archfiend's rank by one for no other reason than because he can. He can also send a divine angel to slaughter Hell's armies with ease.
- God Is Good: Which is the reason for His and his angels Hard-Coded Hostility against demons; He goes out of his way to try and free souls in Hell, and in the Triumph of the Abyss He destroys Hell altogether, banishing the Archfiends to the Abyss where they will suffer away from wherever they can hurt anyone for all eternity.
- Gold and White Are Divine: The Angelic Host that occasionally invades Hell is bathed in yellow and white light, courtesy of The Tyrant.
- Heaven Above: Repeatedly stated to have cast Lucifer and the other Archfiends down from heaven.
- Ironic Nickname: Not intentional on the part of the demons, but The Tyrant of Heaven is a benevolent figure to anyone but demons, who actively betrayed Him for selfish reasons. This is heavily implied to be saying more about the Archfiends then The Tyrant.
- No Name Given: Though it is fairly obvious that he is the Christian interpretation of God, he is never actually referred to as such or even as Jehovah. Instead, he is exclusively referred to by his In-Series Nickname of The Tyrant.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: The Tyrant and angels go out of their way to make demons miserable, but it's really hard to blame them given how they also liberate souls in Hell.
- Sealed Good in a Can: Heavily implied to be sealed in Hell, albeit poorly enough for The Tyrant to direct angels to make demons miserable.
