Line #61 Main/Baphomet


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3	Baphomet is one of the more infamous of the DemonLordsAndArchdevils; a [[GruesomeGoat goat-headed]], triple-horned, black-winged figure [[OtherworldlyAndSexuallyAmbiguous with both male and female features]]. When he appears in fiction, he is usually pure evil, and frequently a direct stand-in for {{Satan}}. He generally has cults following him who really go in for [[GeometricMagic magic circles]] and [[MagicalStarSymbols pentagrams]]. It's not too uncommon to fight him as the final boss in a video game.
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5	His origins go back to the First Crusade, where the Muslim defenders frequently called out to UsefulNotes/TheProphetMuhammad. The crusaders, not understanding (and not really caring), reported this under various mishearings as some sort of idol or demon, and often filled in sinister details of their own invention [[{{Demonization}} to make the Muslims look as evil as possible]]. The "Baphomet" spelling that became standard is first mentioned in a letter by the crusader Anselm of Ribemont.
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7	He rose to further attention in the early 1300s, when King Phillip of France decided that the easiest way to settle his debts to UsefulNotes/TheKnightsTemplar would be to disband them and seize their wealth. To facilitate this, he cooked up lurid stories of the Templars worshipping Baphomet and engaging in various sinister rituals, then tortured their leaders into confessing. The Masons have also often been accused of worshipping him during bouts of anti-Masonic hysteria.
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9	The standard image of him shown in the picture was created by Eliphas Levi in 1856, who reimagined him as the "Sabbatic Goat," [[TrueNeutral a dualistic figure of binary opposites]] ''[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Baphomet#Eliphas_L.C3.A9vi_and_Baphomet not]]'' related at all to Satan except in looks. Creator/AleisterCrowley subsequently adopted Baphomet into his cosmology, and various occult and neo-pagan groups today often have some place for him in their belief systems, often giving him a SatanIsGood interpretation.
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11	See also {{Asmodeus}}, BigRedDevil and {{Beelzebub}}. Baphomet is often featured in HollywoodSatanism.
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13	!!Baphomet appears in:
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15	[[foldercontrol]]
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17	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
18	* In ''Anime/RagnarokTheAnimation'', Baphomet is a huge, goat-headed monster. In a break from tradition, he's not really evil, and actually helps the protagonists.
19	* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'':
20	** The Great Goat is a Pseudo-Apostle resembling a wingless Baphomet. He's the leader of a heretical cult near Albion. When the Great Goat gets converted into a Pseudo-Apostle by the Egg of a Perfect World's stinger, he turns into a half man, half goat monstrosity with a pair of long horns, goat hooves, and a serpentine phallus that he uses to make an attempt to consummate with Casca. Fortunately, Guts shows up just in time and he slays the Great Goat for good.
21	** A more traditional depiction of Baphomet is seen in the Black Swordsman arc. While the Count was a devout man who would frequently go on witch hunts, his wife took to pagan worship, which often translated in her hosting orgies in the castle. The Count found out about this when he returned home and stumbled upon one of these orgies, with his wife straddling a massive idol of the goat-headed demon itself.
22	* ''Anime/{{Symphogear}} AXZ'': According to a [[AllThereInTheManual keyword]], the depiction of Baphomet in Eliphas Levi's ''Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie'' is claimed to have been inspired by [[spoiler:a glimpse he caught of the true form of the immortal alchemist [[BigBad Adam Weishaupt]], who it turns out is [[SatanicArchetype the setting's closest equivalent to Lucifer]]]].
23	* The Ishvalan alchemy tattoos on Scar's right arm in ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', magic sigils that allow him to instantly dissolve any matter he touches as long as he knows its chemical composition and which was originally designed to be used in tandem with another tattoo on the opposite arm to recombine said matter in new ways, recalls the "Solve" and "Coagula" ("Dissolve" and "Coagulate") written on Baphomet's arms in most depictions. Especially relevant given Baphomet's origins as a mistranslation of Mohammed, with Ishval being a [[{{Qurac}} Middle-Eastern]] FantasyCounterpartCulture.
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26	[[folder:Card Games]]
27	* "Art/MysticalMedleysAVintageCartoonTarot": {{Satan}} as featured on "The Devil" was [[ArtImitatesArt designed after]] the ''Sabbatic Goat'' drawing by Eliphas Levi, the image most associated with Baphomet.
28	* ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' has the monster card Baphomet (or, in America, "Berfomet"), which can be fused with Phantom Beast Gazelle (Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts) to form Phantom Beast Chimera (Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast). In the [[Anime/YuGiOh anime]], [[TheHero Yugi]] is fond of using this tactic.
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31	[[folder:Comic Books]]
32	* In ''Comicbook/TheWickedAndTheDivine'', Baphomet is one of the twelve reincarnated gods. He doesn't look anything like the demon's classic image, but does have a goat-skull sigil as a nod. It eventually turns out he's actually [[spoiler:the Mesopotamian deity Nergal, but took the Baphomet name because he was afraid of getting [[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 Nurgle]] jokes]].
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35	[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]
36	* ''Film/ReturnToHouseOnHauntedHill'': A cursed statue of Baphomet causes the supernatural events and turns out to have been causing them in the previous film.
37	* In ''Film/{{Nightbreed}}'', Baphomet is the deity of the monster city of Midian.
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40	[[folder:Literature]]
41	* In ''Literature/TroubledBlood'' from the ''Literature/CormoranStrikeNovels'', Strike and his partner Robin Ellacott are hired to investigate a cold case, the disappearance of a woman named Margot Bamborough. They gain access to the case notes of the original police detective assigned to the case, Bill Talbot. It turns out that Talbot was having a mental breakdown during the investigation, among his delusions being that the killer was in fact Baphomet or channeling Baphomet. In the end, right before he is taken away to get help, he conducts a ritual in which he believes he is actually summoning Baphomet.
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44	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
45	* ''Series/{{Lucifer}}'': In "[[Recap/Lucifer2016S01E12TeamLucifer Team Lucifer]]" the team goes to a Satanic temple bedecked in Baphomet sigils to investigate the murder of one of its' members. Lucifer repeatedly asks what's up with the goat stuff, and at one point Amenadiel mentions associating the Devil with goats as a joke.
46	* ''Series/ChillingAdventuresOfSabrina'': Whenever {{Satan}} manifests in a way other than DemonicPossession, it's in this form. Also, the Academy of the Unseen Arts has a Baphomet statue in its foyer.
47	* ''Series/Evil2019'': He appears at the end of the episode "Justice X 2". Hilariously, he's acting as [[BigBad Leland Townsend's]] therapist, helping him deal with his anger after Kristen [[ShutUpHannibal put him in his place]] earlier in the episode. He returns in this capacity in the Season 2 episode "U is for UFO", where it's further established that he's a MiddleManagementMook serving as a go-between for Leland and "[[GreaterScopeVillain the manager]]" (implied to be {{Satan}}) [[spoiler: until [[KlingonPromotion Leland kills him for a direct link]]]].
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50	[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
51	* Wrestling/{{CHIKARA}}'s Wrestling/UltraMantisBlack featured Baphomet on the flag of his PowerStable[=/=]{{Cult}} The Order of the Neo-Solar Temple.
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54	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
55	* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' has featured Baphomet "the Prince of Beasts" as a powerful {{Demon Lord\|sAndArchdevils}} since 1982, in which capacity he's primarily associated with [[OurMinotaursAreDifferent minotaurs]] rather than goats and depicted as a bull-man instead. He likes to play TheCorrupter to entire societies, particularly Minotaur settlements. While he's very smart and enjoys toying with his prey, his ultimate goal is the descent of life into predatory savagery.
56	* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': Baphomet looks more like the traditional winged, goat-headed man, but still has a lot in common with his ''D&D'' counterpart, including the association with minotaurs. He supposedly resembled a minotaur himself in the past, but eventually shifted to his current goat-headed appearance for reasons he doesn't talk about. In the ''Wrath of the Righteous'' adventure path, he's one of the main antagonists and [[spoiler: the characters eventually have the opportunity to fight and kill him, though actually doing so is [[OptionalBoss entirely optional.]]]]
57	* UsefulNotes/TarotCards: The Devil card in the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rider-Waite_Tarot Rider-Waite tarot deck]] (and many of the many decks inspired by it) uses Baphomet as its image.
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60	[[folder:Toys]]
61	* The plush toy company Squishable makes a fluffy version of Baphomet with a PlayfulCatSmile on his face and CuteLittleFangs. [[https://www.squishable.com/squishables/opensquish_baphomet_302252.html Isn't he adorable?]]
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64	[[folder:Video Games]]
65	* Baphomet himself is none other than the BigBad of ''VideoGame/{{Hellforces}}'', whose primary minion, the DarkMessiah Alex Hacksley, leads a cult in his name to enslave humans.
66	* In ''VideoGame/SilentHill1'', Incubus, the final boss in the good endings, is patterned after Baphomet.
67	* ''VideoGame/XMultiply'' uses Baphomet as its final boss. Which is a ''little'' odd, since this is a science-fiction game where you've been shrunk and injected into a woman's bloodstream to eradicate a disease.
68	* In ''VideoGame/EternalDaughter'', Baphomet is the true mastermind behind the Dungaga's conquest, and is the final boss.
69	* In ''VideoGame/LaMulana'', Baphomet is the female Guardian of the Twin Labyrinths. She starts out as a robed wizard with a staff, then transitions to a purple alien for the second half of the fight.
70	* In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedUnity'', Arno must infiltrate the Cult of Baphomet to kill their leaders. You first have to steal a couple chalices from the Notre Dame to convince them to let you join.
71	* ''VideoGame/{{Darklands}}'': Baphomet is planning to take over the world, and is the final boss. TakeYourTime, though, the game is more about exploring the WideOpenSandbox than getting to the credits.
72	* In ''VideoGame/PostMortem2002'', the Head of Baphomet idol allegedly worshiped by the Templars is the main MacGuffin, setting off the events of the game with the murder of an American couple, who were transporting the Head through Paris.
73	* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'': Baphomet is a recurring demon, being a member of the Vile race or [[Franchise/{{Persona}} the Devil Arcana]]. Baphomet typically is an early-to-mid-game demon and learns [[PlayingWithFire Fire]], [[CastingAShadow Dark]], and [[StatusInflictionAttack ailment]] skills.
74	* ''VideoGame/BrokenSwordTheShadowOfTheTemplars'' involves the Sword of Baphomet, and the French translation of the game title means "The Knights of Baphomet".
75	* ''VideoGame/DailyLifeWithMonsterGirlOnline'' had Sophia, the CuteMonsterGirl flavor of the legendary demon lord. Baphomets are AKindOfOne, being a [[FaunsAndSatyrs satyr subspecies]] with black feathered wings and CuteLittleFangs, and though Sophia's room is replete with occult symbolism, that can be attributed to her being a total [[HeavyMetal metalhead]]. Despite addressing her homestay as her "slave", she doesn't seem overall malicious.
76	* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'': The endgame monster Ash is quite obviously based off of Baphomet.
77	* ''VideoGame/DoomII'': The Icon of Sin, the final boss, has this appearance. The "VideoGame/FinalDoom'' manual explicitly refers to it as "Baphomet".
78	* ''VideoGame/{{Witchery}}:'' Baphomet is one of the DemonLordsAndArchdevils that the player can summon in ''Bewitchment'', and is depicted similarly to the page image (albeit with GodivaHair covering their nipples). A witch can swear loyalty to Baphomet if they summon them, allowing the witch to trade away [[NumberOfTheBeast 6.66]] experience levels for powerful temporary bonuses and allowing the witch to trade with Baphomet's servants, the Baphometyr.
79	* A very strange depiction of him appears in the point-and-click adventure game ''[[VideoGame/DrownedGod Drowned God: Conspiracy of the Ages]]'' where he appears to be a mechanical head connected to a few tubes, but if you look closely you can see what looks like a skull or some sort of distorted face within the outer metal shell. Like everything else in the game, exactly ''what'' he is goes unexplained, but he calls himself "the Templar's talking head" and he asks you, the player, to choose between good and evil, so it doesn't seem like he's supposed to be a purely malevolent figure.
80	* ''VideoGame/{{Infernax}}'': A number of scenes are accompanied with a brief red flash to show the silhouette of Baphomet. He serves as the [[spoiler:BigBad behind the demonic invasion of Upel, and is fought as the TrueFinalBoss of the Ultimate Good ending]].
81	* ''VideoGame/{{Rastan}}'' have Baphomet himself appearing as a boss, in a crossed-legged stance exactly like classical depictions of Baphomet as he floats all over the place trying to attack you.
82	* ''VideoGame/{{Palworld}}'': One of the Pal species, Incineram, carries Baphomet traits in its design, and is even internally named as "Baphomet".
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85	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
86	* ''VisualNovel/TheArcana'': Due to its tarot influence, the game depicts the Devil as Baphomet, and the character most associated with the devil, Lucio, is strongly associated with goats in general.
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89	[[folder:Western Animation]]
90	* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'': In "[[Recap/AdventureTimeS6E38YouForgotYourFloaties You Forgot Your Floaties]]", M.A.R.G.L.E.S. is patterned after Baphomet.
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93	[[folder:Real Life]]
94	* When the US state of Oklahoma put up a stone monument of the Ten Commandments on the grounds of the state capitol, a clear violation of the US Constitution's separation of church and state, The Satanic Temple announced that they intended to put a statue of Baphomet beside it. That was in part as a tweak at the state government and put it in an impossible position to having to attempt to publicly rationalise why one clearly religious monument to one faith on public grounds is allowed, but why another isn't other than for a religious objection. When the state supreme court ordered the Ten Commandments monument removed, the Satanic Temple cheerfully called off their statue placement since their point was made.
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Context Main / Baphomet