#dantalian

[animenekos]

Dantalian no Shoka; The Mystic Archives of Dantalian - Episode 8

[kawaiipaimon]

Ficha de Dantalian y Ronove (Prisioneros)

Los shipeo.

[eirikrjs]

So there this analogue horror series called "valle verde" (one of the few good ones imo) in that series moloch appears (they don't actually said his name but it's obviously supposed to be him) in what interested me aside that the design has some silent hill vibes, it's the fact he has four arms, kinda like megaten's which im pretty sure it originates from megami tensei 2 and doesnt have mythological basis. If that the case, i think it's another design that cribs from kaneko like that one from this website https://izfact.net/devil/moloch.html

i don't know of four armes moloch is that popular in Japan but hey

This is interesting!

I very much doubt MT2 Moloch is the origin of this weird, specific choice to give him 4 arms. If I had to guess, he was probably depicted that way in some random image that made its way into one of the Japanese book series of dubious veracity like the Jaguar/Dragon books or Truth in Fantasy, albeit misnamed. I have all the relevant Jaguar/Dragon books now, so I'll check.

Okay, so Moloch is in all the demon-themed volumes, all using this same illustration:

Not what I suspected/expected. However, I did find a great example of what I was talking about re: misnamed images in these books:

(from 悪魔全書) Here we have an obviously Indian deity (I don't know which one, perhaps Vishvarupa) given the name of ダンタリアン/Dantalian, the Goetic demon. And it's kind of easy to understand why they chose to do this, since Dantalian is one of the Goetia demons that does not have a corresponding Dictionnaire Infernal illustration and this deity has many heads, which Dantalian is also supposed to have. But still, an out of context image is an out of context image. This is why I figure Moloch's name was slapped onto an image of some four-armed figure, a feature more common in South and Eastern Asian religion and myth than West Asian. This idea then spreads into Megaten and then, presumably, to this Argentinian web series. It's always at least a little fascinating to trace the trajectory of (probable) misinformation minutiae such as this.

[aestheticallypleasinganimeboys]

Dantalian - What In "Hell" Is Bad?

[jotun-philosopher]

Half meta, half ramble

Not entirely sure where this post is going, tbh... Let's find out, eh?

Sooo... I was browsing the Final Fantasy wiki (as one does) and the article for Tantarian (an optional/missable boss in FF9) caught my attention. Y'see, Tantarian is a demon found in a library, hiding in a possessed book -- and is based on the Great Duke of Hell, Dantalion (or Dantalian, the spelling can be inconsistent). How the ever-loving wossname, I hear you cry, does this relate to Good Omens????

Let's take a closer look! (this got longer than I anticipated, hence the cut)

From the Wikipedia article 'List of demons in the Ars Goetia':

"The Seventy-first Spirit is Dantalion. He is a Duke Great and Mighty, appearing in the Form of a Man with many Countenances, all Men's and Women's Faces; and he hath a Book in his right hand. His Office is to teach all Arts and Sciences unto any; and to declare the Secret Counsel of any one; for he knoweth the Thoughts of all Men and Women, and can change them at his Will. He can cause Love, and show the Similitude of any person, and show the same by a Vision, let them be in what part of the World they Will."

Bolded details:

"Duke Great and Mighty" -- evocative of the whole "Thin Dark Duke" thing <3

" [...] he hath a Book in his right hand." -- pretty obvious GO connection there!

(best 'Azzy+book(s)' gif I could find quickly...although on a second look, this might well be from the body swap bit in S1 XD Mr Sheen, you ludicrously talented chaos gremlin, you <3 )

(Ok, this one's definitely Crowley XD)

Mah point is dolphins they both match up to the book thing!

"His Office is to teach all Arts and Sciences [...]" -- leaning slightly more towards a Crowley parallel here, with the apple thing partly symbolising intellectual curiosity (essential part of arts and sciences!), but Aziraphale giving away the flaming sword would've helped humanity figure things out in that area as well (even if indirectly)

(I want to boop the snek!!!)

"[...] knoweth the Thoughts of all Men and Women, and can change them at his Will [...]" -- mind-reading! Seems to be sliiiiiightly more of a demon thing from what we've seen (e.g. "Nina: It's like you've seen into my secret soul. Crowley: Yeah, it's a knack.", Shax picking at insecurities in the bookshop battle), but both the Ineffables have directly influenced human minds on screen (e.g. Sitis, the Shopkeepers' Ball)

"[...] can cause Love [...]" -- well, they certainly tried! Operation: Shop Lesbians :D

"[...] show the Similitude of any person [...]" -- mostly seen with the body swap bit so far (where A+C are concerned), but given that for angels and demons, size and shape are merely options, and Beelzebub canonically changed their face, it's not outwith the bounds of possibility that the Ineffable Husbands could disguise themselves as people other than each other (if that makes sense)(and assuming they'd *want* to, of course)

Plus, if you go with the 'Dantalion' spelling, the last four letters form the word 'lion', which is a motif the show ties pretty strongly to Aziraphale via the signet ring on his right hand. Fierce protector angel! <3

Plus plus, from what I've been able to gather, Dantalion is supposed to be one of the more benevolently-inclined Goetic demons -- both the Ineffables are pretty dang benevolent!

The point I'm stumbling towards (stone-cold sober, but with about 3,000,000 on the ND Scoville scale) is that Dantalian/Dantalion has some pretty interesting parallels to both the Ineffable Husbands and so, within the GO verse, could be either another alias of Crowley's or a name Aziraphale might take if he Fell (AU fic writers, start your engines!) :D

As a small bonus, I saw the name 'Shax' mentioned in the list of Marquises of Hell!

The characteristics given for the Goetic Shax don't really match up to TV!Shax that I can tell, apart from the stork symbolism and the "hoarse but subtle voice" (and maaaybe 'is thought to be faithful and obedient, but is a great liar'), but given all the other Goetic parallels, it wouldn't surprise me to see elements of the Goetic description popping up in Shax's S3 arc -- likely in unexpected ways!

Hope you enjoyed reading that ^^ Have fun fic-writing!

[writing-and-rebloging]

WHB Lesser key: Abaddon

Did you wonder how much inspo they drew from the descriptions of the different demons of the Ars Goetia to create their characters and what that could point towards in terms of personality and powers? I did. You can find each character with it's respective descriptions here, divided by their respective factions.

The main link is this helpful little list of the 72 with summarized descriptions, so it's not an exhaustive list, just an organized one.

Gehenna | Tartaros | Hades | Avisos | Abaddon | Paradise Lost | Niflheim

Phenix

Phenex (also Pheynix, Phoenix, Phoeniex) is a Great Marquis of Hell and has twenty legions of demons under his command. He teaches all wonderful sciences, is an excellent poet, and is very obedient to the conjuror. Phenex hopes to return to Heaven after 1,200 years, but he is deceived in this hope. He is depicted as a phoenix, which sings sweet notes with the voice of a child, but the conjurer must warn his companions (for he has not to be alone) not to hear them and ask him to put in human shape, which the demon supposedly does after a certain amount of time.

Dantalian

Dantalion (or Dantalian) is a powerful Great Duke of Hell, with thirty-six legions of demons under his command; he is the 71st of 72 spirits of Solomon. He teaches all arts and sciences, and also declares the secret counsel of anyone, given that he knows the thoughts of all people and can change them at his will. He can also cause love and show the similitude of any person, show the same by means of a vision, and let them be in any part of the world they will. He is depicted as a man with many appearances, which means the faces of all men and women. There are also many depictions in which he is said to hold a book in one of his hands

Ronove

Ronové (also Ronove, Roneve, Ronwe) is a Marquis and Great Earl of Hell, commanding twenty legions of demons. He teaches Rhetoric, languages, and gives good and loyal servants and the favour of friends and foes. He is described as a monster holding a staff, without detailing his appearance.

He is also described as taker of old souls; often coming to earth to harvest souls of decrepit humans and animals near death

[drondskaath]

Dantalian | Death Magick Blood | 2021

Colombian Black Metal

https://officialdantalian.bandcamp.com/album/death-magick-blood

[charmedrumblings]

They are getting the hang of it pretty quickly, but I think it’s basically “see want have”, so there’s not much to it.

Although I’m interested to know exactly what Dantalian would’ve taught them. Slow torture techniques? Going for the pain instead of the kill? Embezzling money? Teach me your ways, High Priestess.