- For the Lords of Shadow 2 Titan, see Leviathan.
The Lesser Demon is an enemy in the Castlevania series. It is a flying demon that patrols its territory and wields powerful magic. Some can summon demonic allies, including other Lesser Demons.
Origins
Baphomet from Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie.
(Éliphas Lévi, 1856)
The original depiction of the Lesser Demon, introduced in Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse under the name of Leviathan (or simply Demon in Japan), and which was later used for the boss Pazuzu in Harmony of Dissonance, bears a remarkable resemblance with Baphomet, a deity that the Knights Templar were accused of worshiping, and that subsequently was incorporated into occult and mystical traditions.
In 1856, Éliphas Lévi published Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie ("Dogma and Rituals of High Magic"), in which he included an image he had drawn himself which he described as Baphomet and "The Sabbatic Goat", showing a winged humanoid goat with female breasts and a torch between its horns.
Lévi believed that the alleged Devil worship of the medieval Witches' Sabbath was a perpetuation of ancient pagan rites. A goat with a candle between its horns appears in medieval witchcraft records, and other pieces of lore are cited in Dogme et Rituel.
The original goat pentagram first appeared in the book La Clef de la Magie Noire by French occultist Stanislas de Guaita, in 1897.
Lévi's depiction of Baphomet is similar to that of "The Devil" in the early Tarot, and became the source of the later tarot image of the Devil in the Rider-Waite design.
The Baphomet of Lévi was to become an important figure within the cosmology of Thelema, the mystical system established by Aleister Crowley in the early 20th century.
The concept of a downward-pointing pentagram on its forehead was enlarged upon by Lévi in his discussion of the Goat of Mendes, with the actual image of a goat's head in a downward-pointing pentagram. It was this image that was later adopted as the official symbol called the "Sigil of Baphomet" of the Church of Satan, and continues to be used among Satanists.
Baphomet, as Lévi's illustration suggests, has occasionally been portrayed as a synonym of Satan or a demon, a member of the hierarchy of Hell.
Description
Lesser Demons are low level classic demons, more powerful than a Tiny Devil and less than a Devil. The first Lesser Demon that appeared in a Castlevania game was called Leviathan in the North American localization of Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse.
Appearances
Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse
- See also: Pazuzu
The last of the trio of monsters resurrected by the Death Fire King (the other being the two Mummies and the Cyclops). Leviathan is a menacing-looking demon featuring staple satanic features such as a goat's head and hind legs, and bat-like wings.
The creature ominously emerges from his casket and from the first sight it will be obvious he's not someone to be taken lightly, bearing a tall and muscular figure. Leviathan mainly attacks by performing high hovering leaps in an attempt to stomp on the player. On the third leap, it will make a short pause and spew three large fireballs in a spreading manner. He's quite resilient, but as expected, he becomes more vulnerable while on the ground; a few tosses of Holy Water vials and continuous whipping will soon put him out of commission.
In the original Japanese version, this enemy –known simply as Demon (デーモン Dēmon?)– bears some physical changes while retaining an overall similar design, portraying an outright more diabolical look, being even more muscular, with larger horns, different set of wings, and having a tail. The change in the western releases could be due to avoid making the creature look too devilish.
A reimagined version of this particular design of the Lesser Demon, called Pazuzu, appeared later as a boss in Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance.
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Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
The Lesser Demon from Symphony of the Night utilizes multiple magic attacks, as well as a physical attack. It's also able to fly and can summon allies at will, becoming temporarily invincible during this process. The first such demon encountered is as the boss of the Long Library, which can summon Slingers, Ectoplasms and Mudmen. In fact, this boss fight is the only method available to the player to fight a Mudman and make it register in the Master Librarian's Enemy List.
Lesser Demons encountered later on will only summon other Lesser Demons.
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Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
- Main article: Pazuzu
A reimagined version of this demon, named Pazuzu, appears as a boss of the Castle Top Floor (Castle A) in Harmony of Dissonance.
Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
The appearance of the enemy changes greatly in comparison to his previous appearance: he has a head of a billy goat and his wings are more like those of an eagle than those of a bat. Actually, its 3D model is a recycled version of the Thunder Demon from the same game.
Unlike his Symphony of the Night counterpart, it can not summon other monsters. Instead, it only attack is to attack the player directly down to the ground.
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Castlevania: Curse of Darkness
Their attacks consist in swooping and swatting the player, as well as spiraling toward the them (the Spirit of Fuji can be stolen from them whenever they perform this attack). For some reason, they also drop Lollipops.
Its appearance is large and muscular, with long bat-like wings and horns. Its fur is red with a fluffy white mane.
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Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
The Lesser Demon retakes its appearance from Symphony of the Night and its ability to summon other demons. In addition, it can also attack the player with its claws, which can poison them.
It can drop the Skull Ring, the most powerful ring of the game (although it curses the player in return).
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Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night
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Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2
- Main article: Leviathan (Lords of Shadow)
An Old God called Leviathan also appears in Lords of Shadow 2. He serves as a Titan battle before the final confrontation of the game.
Item Data
| Item Data: Lesser Demon | ||||||||
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| Image | Name - Game Type - Users Description |
Attributes / Consume | Statistics / Sell | Found | Notes | |||
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| Two-handed obsidian sword | Attrib: Cut |
ATT +42 |
Drop: Lesser Demon |
Effect: Slow swing Special: ←→ + [Attack] for Dash Thrust (ATT +68 for 5 MP) (can be used in midair) | ||||
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Swift upper diagonal attack Quick diagonal attack
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Attrib: Cut |
ATT +6 |
Drop: Lesser Demon |
Effect: Swift Slash that can be done while walking | ||||
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| Increases the player's maximum HP (life) capacity. | Maximum HP +5 (Alucard); maximum HP +10 (Richter and Maria) |
Find: Found throughout the castle, often in containers Drop: Most bosses |
Effect: Restores all life and increases Max HP | |||||
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| Medicine that recovers hearts. | Hearts +50 Sell: $250 |
Find: Dark Palace of Waterfalls B1F, Ghostly Theatre 1F Drop: Flea Man, Gargoyle, Death Reaper, Mad Diver, Lesser Demon |
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| The wonderful scent calms the mind and increases intelligence. | INT +10 Sell: $5,000 |
Find: Ghostly Theatre 1F Drop: Lesser Demon |
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| A very light metal used by some alchemists, but mostly unknown. Makes very light armor. | Sell: $30 |
Find: Abandoned Castle B1 Common Drop: Orc Lv.7/14, Armor Knight Lv.7/15, Lesser Demon Lv.13/23 |
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| A large circle of candy on a stick for licking. Can you withhold the desire to just crunch it? | HP +1 Sell: $1 |
Rare Drop: Lesser Demon Lv.13/23 |
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| A godly material from a distance mountain in the East. Prized for its use in many different weapons. | Sell: $75 |
Find: Mortvia Aqueduct F1, Aiolon Ruins, Infinite Corridor 3F Rare Drop: Dark Warlock Lv.17/42, Necromancer Lv.31/35, Wizard Lv.6/8 Steal: Lesser Demon Lv.13/23 |
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| A ring that curses the wearer. | STR +6, CON +6, INT +6, MND +6, LCK -13 Sell: $5,000 |
Drop: Lesser Demon |
Effect: Inflicts Curse status upon the wearer. Blessed Ring will not negate this effect. | |||||
Gallery
Trivia
- "Leviathan", the name given to the Lesser Demon in the Western localization of Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, was probably chosen without proper knowledge of its origins, as Leviathan actually is a giant sea monster from Hebrew lore.
See also
| This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Baphomet. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with the Castlevania Wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License. |