Baphomet

"Once again, we return." This article contains spoilers for Issue 18 of The Wicked + The Divine. Read at your own risk.

Baphomet
Biographical information
Original name	Cameron
Born	c.1993-1994
Physical information
Species	God
Gender	Male
Hair	Black
Eye colour	orange
Skin colour	Light
Series information
First appearance	Issue 2
Other information
Based on	Baphomet
Symbol

""Let's none-more-goth this hole into the ground.""

—Baphomet

Baphomet is one of the gods of the Recurrence, symbolised by an icon of a goat skull and crossed swords. He is known to have first appeared in the 2014 Recurrence. He first appears in Issue 2.

History

Baphomet's name prior to becoming a god was Cameron. He knew The Morrigan (then called Marian) before his incarnation, as they met at university. They participated in role-playing games together and soon became lovers. However, things started to go downhill when his parents died. He became increasingly self-destructive, and despite Marian's support, slept with another girl. She was furious, and stormed off, becoming the Morrigan soon after. Cameron went to one of her performances and told her that he wasn't surprised by her success, as she had always been special. This softened her feelings towards him, and Ananke later turned him into a god at the Morrigan's request.

Baphomet first appeared at a gig by The Morrigan in an underground station on 10 January 2014. He summoned fire across the station's ceiling and displayed The Morrigan's head, declaring himself King of the Underground and making the severed head talk. The Morrigan arrived to interrupt him, and the two began to battle, but Laura interrupted them, and they instead performed together.

When the police arrived to break up the gig, Baphomet set one of the policemen on fire, apparently burning him to death. He was reanimated by The Morrigan. Later, The Morrigan claimed that Baphomet could not have killed Judge Holmes as the two of them were making love at the time of the murder. However, Baphomet said that this was a lie.

Baphomet held a 'Valentine's Day Mascara' after Lucifer's death. This involved the animated dead dancing with the living. After Fantheon, Baphomet tricked Laura into going to a karaoke party, saying that she needed company and he and The Morrigan understood what she was going through.

Baphomet learned from Ananke that the Prometheus Gambit would work for a death god such as himself, allowing him to live longer if he killed one of his fellow gods. At first, he was not sure he was able to do it, but when he witnessed Cassandra's incarnation as Urdr, he decided to target her.

When he doubted his ability to kill, he used a miracle to summon a red-tinted version of himself to talk him into committing the murder. He attacked Urdr at Ragnarock 2014, but was prevented from killing her by The Morrigan, and was forced to flee when Ananke threatened punishment. Instead, he decided to target Inanna, who he attacked and killed a few hours later. He then went into hiding from the rest of the Pantheon, allowing Morrigan to get captured in his stead. However, he managed to send her a message in prison. He was framed by Ananke for both Laura and Tara's murders.

While he was in hiding, he came into contact with Persephone, who had mysteriously survived Ananke's attack. At some point in late August, they slept together. Baphomet worked with Persephone to break The Morrigan out of prison and get revenge on Ananke. While she created a diversion, he broke into Valhalla and found The Morrigan and Minerva, who had learned about Ananke's duplicity. Minerva wanted to bring her parents along with them, slowing them down. They were confronted by Baal, who wanted revenge on Baphomet for Inanna's death, and the Valkyries, who had returned from their fight with Persephone. Persephone then broke into Valhalla herself and helped them all escape, taking them to the Underground.

Status as a god

Baphomet's status as a god has been questioned by other characters. Cassandra called him a 'fake god', and said that there has never been a Baphomet in a previous cycle. He was hurt when he was shot by one of the policemen, even though according to Woden, gods can't be hurt. Furthermore, the mythological Baphomet was not actually a god, but an idol.

Appearance and personality

Baphomet is a white man with black hair and orange eyes. He is muscular, and has enlarged, vampire-like canines. He typically wears a leather jacket, jeans, a belt with a skull buckles, large sunglasses, and a chain with a goat skull symbol on it.

Baphomet is sarcastic and showy, and enjoys puns. He is also self-destructive and fixated on his impending death. Baphomet's obsession with death is his "driving force", but he's "very much trying to hide it with this performative masculinity." He is impulsive and often displays bad judgement.

Relationships

The Morrigan

While Baphomet and The Morrigan know each other better than anyone else, the two have a tumultous relationship. They compete with each other for control of the Underground and Baphomet claims he "want[s] to kill Morrigan half the time." Badb is particularly violent against Baphomet. Nevertheless, they seem to love each other. They are willing to go to great lengths to help each other; Morrigan was captured by the Pantheon in Baphomet's stead, and Baphomet broke her out of Valhalla. However, Baphomet has cheated on Morrigan on several occasions, most recently with Persephone, a fact Morrigan is unaware of.

Laura Wilson

Laura first attracted Baphomet's attention by interrupting his fight with The Morrigan, and he briefly flirted with her. They bonded when he invited her to a karaoke party after Lucifer's death. Baphomet later came into contact with Laura as Persephone in the Underground and they formulated a plan together to rescue Morrigan and take down Ananke. They also slept together during this period. They are currently allies.

Powers

Baphomet is able to summon the spirits of the dead, light fires, and create a prop of Morrigan's head and make it speak. However, he says that while he talks to the dead, they don't talk back.

Trivia

• Baphomet's style is based on Nick Cave and Andrew Eldritch, among others.
• Baphomet and Morrigan were both fans of role playing games and tabletop games, specifically Vampire:The Masquerade. He refers to his unnamed friend in the caves as "Toreador", one of the vampire clans from the series, and he and Morrigan are later seen painting miniatures together.
• Baphomet is a reader of Phonogram and Shutter, and had copies in his old bedroom. He quotes Phonogram in Issue 7.

Mythology

Baphomet is a modern pagan deity. He was originally believed to be worshipped by the Knights Templar, and his name is probably an Old French derivation of Muhammed, the Islamic prophet. King Philip IV of France and the Christian Church suppressed the Templars and deemed their worship of Baphomet heretical. Since then, Baphomet has been associated with the devil, and has become a symbol of various occult religions, including Satanism. However, according to Aleister Crowley, Baphomet is a divine being, a view dismissed by Cassandra.

Quotes

""Fuck yeah Baphomet! Ultimate decapitation headliner! Head-liner! Head-liner! Puns are excellent! Baphomet is excellent! Baphomet is a serious intellectual capable of cultural allusions! T.S. Eliot is an anagram of toilets! This is something Baphomet knows. Baphomet thinks "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here" should be tattooed on every birth canal as warning to exiting children! Baphomet is definitely not fucking with you.""

—Baphomet, speaking through the Morrigan's head

""Lighten up. I just gave them excellent head. Who doesn't like excellent head?""

—Baphomet

""Baphomet! You're wanted."
"I am wanted by anyone with taste. Step into my pun-geon.""

—Laura and Baphomet

""Come! If I stay up here, I'll be risking a tan from all this moonlight. I work on my pallor as much as my abs.""

—Baphomet

""We all float down here. All ice-cube people in an endless sea of jack. See, I can do shitty poetry too. Marian... I mean the Morrigan isn't the only pretentious pseud in this underworld.""

—Baphomet

""I was lying. Oh, I am sorry. You did realise I'm a man, yeah?""

—Baphomet

""Why are you such a prick?"
"Because some people need to be annoyed. Most people, even. It's my own pre-emptive revenge, born of jealousy at everyone else's amazing continuing-to-breathe-in-two-years'-time power. Until then, I put the fun in funeral. I'm very deep and meaningful, me.""

—Laura and Baphomet

""You're in hell. Morrigan and I aren't good company. But we're good bad company. And we've been there. I can't say I care, but I do understand.""

—Baphomet

""I doomed you because I cared. This is all you ever wanted."
"It's all I ever wanted... but I want more.""

—Morrigan and Baphomet

""I slept with her."
"Why?"
"The pit, Marian. I fell in.""

—Baphomet and Morrigan

""You were always special. That was amazing, but it wasn't a surprise. You were always best at the game.""

—Baphomet

""This is for what you did to Morrigan. And this is for what you did to Morrigan. And this is - oh, you get the idea.""

—Baphomet