#like how baal represents the sun and aym the moon

[zombzgutzz]

this is an oc i have been thinking about for a hot minute now if anyone asks me i will literally dump all of their lore in the reblogs or something

[pessimisticshapewithablog]

COTL CHARACTER ANALYSIS: Baal

When it comes down to Baal's namesake there are just too many demons, and gods, that were Baal or would become Baal. It would easier to go by how Massive Monster designed his appearance then explore the irl inspiration for his character.

DESIGN

Overall Appearance

I have a working theory that Baal and Aym are TOWW's sons born from Forneus and sacrificed / given to him as his disciples. Baal shares a strong resemblance to TOWW, having the same fur and eye color. He doesn't visibly have a tail but he could, as his mother has one. Baal has reddish hands and feet that at first I thought was blood or pigment from his staff but, earlier designs for him shows that the red also covers his tail, which has two black rings. This lead me to believe that the reddish material is actually a part of his fur pattern.

Headdress

Starting from his head, Baal wears this black veil that partially obscures his face, and possibly his vision given the way he rips it off when about to battle the lamb. So i can assume it's not magically agumented. Veils are worn for many different reasons throughout many culture but in this context it may an object of respect and a way to display his social status, which is below his patron god but above other followers and non believers. Narinder wears one aswell. It could also be a reference to customs that involve covering the faces of the deceased.

Robes

Baal wears white robe w/red accents, adorned with a single camellia and upward pointed crosses. The hem has black tassles, similar to TOWW. It is fastened with a black heart brooch. This is very interesting, as the only other mob that wears white robes w/ red accents, besides TOWW, are the cultist healers.

ACCESSORIES

Camellia's in game are used for healing sick followers. His mother's room during crusades is decorated with flowers and camellia bushes. Camellia's must have meant, or represented something, about Baal for him to wear one on his robe.

The black heart brooch is interesting too. It could represent a diseased heart but it looks more like the empty heart icon when the lamb is missing one. In game I noticed that Forneus's area sometimes spawns alot of hearts when items are destroyed. She also talks about the heart, in an emotional sense, alot too. In game, hearts mean life, missing and incomplete hearts mean injury, no hearts mean death. Hearts can represent life and death. Like the Camellia, hearts could represent something about Baal, or something he cares for, if he wears it as an accessory.

Staff

Baal's staff/spear is shaped suspiciously like a stylized Sun but it actual resembles the symbol of chaos, eight arrows in a radial pattern from Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion stories and its dichotomy of Law and Chaos. This contrast poetically with his brother's moon Scythe/Sickle. This make me believe Baal may represent chaos and disorder within the duo.

Abilities and skills

Weapon proficiency - Baal uses his staff as a melee weapon and a spell focus or catalyst.

Ally summon - Baal has the ability to summon ghostly cultist wielding red blade weapons to fight along side him. Who are these dark cultist?

Chain conjure spell - Like TOWW, Baal can summon spike tipped chains to attack the lamb.

Teleportation/super speed? - Baal is able to teleport or move quickly to a location of his choosing without much casting time. Although he does not use it often.

Occupation

On the Wiki, Baal is stated to be TOWW's disciple. A disciple being a student follower a teacher or mentor. From what I could find, disciples and discipleship is used predominantly to refer to important followers within religious orders. Those who play role in the development and spread of that religion. The fact that Baal and Aym are seemingly allowed to serve TOWW after he is freed unlike the Lamb, who is promptly sacrificed and killed, leads me to believe that they are important to TOWW in mores way than just being followers.

TOWW makes it very clear about his stance on followers. I believe they act as scholars of TOWW's gospel. Individuals that are privy to his grand plan, who know and accept their place within it. Baal and Aym have been servants of TOWW since they were children. He has invested decades, if not centuries, into their knowledge and discipleship. The twins may have been instrumental in the development and understanding of TOWWs doctrines. TOWW may be a god but he is only one person, even he might need an outside perspective on his inner ideals.

Real World Inspiration

Here are some passages that I found that I think can tell us more about Baal than the game does, I highlighted phrases and descriptions that I found useful in characterizing him:

"According to the Grand Grimoire, Baal (or Bael) is the head of the infernal powers. He is also the first demon listed in Wierus' Pseudomonarchia daemonum. According to Wierus, Bael is the first king of Hell with estates in the east. He has three heads: a toad, a man, and a cat. He also speaks in a raucous, but well-formed voice, and commands 66 legions. Bael teaches the art of invisibility, and may be the equivalent of Baal or Baalzebub, one of the Seven princes of Hell."

"In the Livre des Esperitz, Bael (as Beal) is described as a king ruled by Oriens (himself a demon overseeing the cardinal direction east, or the Orient), still possessing the power of invisibility, as well as the power to garner the favor of others, but ruling over only six (rather than sixty-six) legions of demons."

"Baal, god worshipped in many ancient Middle Eastern communities, especially among the Canaanites, who apparently considered him a fertility deity and one of the most important gods in the pantheon."

"In the mythology of Canaan, Baal, the god of life and fertility, locked in mortal combat with Mot, the god of death and sterility. If Baal triumphed, a seven-year cycle of fertility would ensue; but, if he were vanquished by Mot, seven years of drought and famine would ensue."

"The Liber Officium Spirituum features Baal, Baall, Boal, or Boall, again a hoarsely-voiced king (or sometimes a soldier), with not only powers of invisibility but also sciences and love."

Who Is Baal in COTL

After scouring the internet for information about Baal irl, I feel as though I have gathered enough information to make a characterization of him in COTL.

A God of...

I believe that Baal is/was/would have been a healer god and patron of science who represent day, life, the sun, health, vitality, fertility and chaos/change within the world of COTL. I also like to believe that the Baal and his brother represent split aspects of TOWW, his life and death. I have a headcanon that TOWW's new world order and pantheon was going to be one of concrete, tangible certainties. Day, Night, the changing of the season, rain and the winds. Permanent, immnutable concepts percieved by the mortal condition.

Healing, health, Knowledge...

Ba'al's robes share the same coloration as the healer cultist and incorporating camellias, a medicinal flower, a black heart brooch, which could represent life or health showing his connection with healing. I conflate Baal having fertility and vitality aspects due to similar Sun gods in mythology having these traits, aswell as Baal having slightly higher health than his brother. The science aspect ties into him being a healer, needing actual knowledge and facts to treat illness and injury, not faith and belief alone.

Day, life, the Sun, the East...

Ba'al stands to TOWW's left, the player's right. If a compass were to placed from the lambs perspective, Baal would be standing in the cardinal direction east. The direction of the rising sun. On his sound track he is refered to as the first son, the first born of the twins. The sun rises before the moon. His staff, while very much resembles the sigil of chaos, it could also represent a sun to Aym's moon. His day aspect coming from his association with the Sun. A sunrise representing new beginnings. The start of life.

Chaos, Change, Chance...

I give Baal a Chaos and change aspect due to his staff and what I think he respesents, life. The arrows of the chaos symbol are suppose represent branching possibilities, infinite and many. No one more likely to occur than the other. Similar to life and with fate and its many chances. I am aware that Leshy was suppose represent Chaos but considering he is dead, it's safe to assume that position is open. Also TOWW, from my understanding, was attempting to instate a new world order, a new religious order, it's possible that the reason the bishops turned on him was because he was trying to supplant them all.

Conclusion

I hope that Massive Monster gives us more content about Baal and his brother. I have a soft spot for mysterious anthropomorphic cat men and over-anaylzing and I NEED more content to obsess over. I hope others who loves this character gets something out of this post. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to start working on Aym's analysis....