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Ananke-spoiler "Once again, we return."

This article contains spoilers for Issue 20 of The Wicked + The Divine. Read at your own risk.

"Let's none-more-goth this hole into the ground."
—Baphomet[src]

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 2010s Recurrence.[2] He first appears in Issue 2.

History

Becoming a god

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.

To his disappointment, he transformed into the god Nergal. However, he led everyone else to believe he was actually Baphomet. He made his first public appearance 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.

After Lucifer's death

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 a few hours later. However, he did not go through with it, realising they had both been manipulated by Ananke. They followed her to Laura's house and witnessed her transformation into Persephone, saving her from being killed by Ananke. However, Ananke killed Inanna instead, and Baphomet escaped with Persephone into the Underground.

Opposing Ananke

Ananke framed Baphomet for Inanna's death, and led the public to believe that Laura was also dead. She also later framed him for Tara's murder. He therefore went into hiding from the rest of the Pantheon, resulting in the Morrigan getting captured in his stead. Meanwhile, he attempted to cheer up Persephone, who had become very depressed after Inanna's death. They slept together and developed a plan to free the Morrigan and take down Ananke. He managed to send the Morrigan a message in prison, explaining Ananke's treachery. They executed their plan in September.

While Persephone created a diversion, Baphomet 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. Baphomet brought Dionysus along and recruited him to their side. They were then attacked by Baal, Sakhmet and Amaterasu, who took Minerva away. Once the fight was over, they discovered via footage on Minerva's owl that Ananke planned to kill Minerva.

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. It was later revealed that Baphomet has been lying about his identity and is, in fact, the god Nergal, to his embarrassment.

Appearance

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. He puts a lot of effort into maintaining his pale skin and impressive abs.

Personality

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."[3] He frequently attempts to disguise his insecurities with his flamboyant personality. He is impulsive and often displays bad judgement. He is also secretly a huge geek.

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.

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.

Nergal is a Mesopatamian god of pestilence, war and destruction. He is also a god of the underworld and is often associated with demons. In the myth of Nergal and Ereškigal, Nergal is seduced by Ereškigal, goddess of the underworld and sister of Inanna, and forced to stay in the underworld, ruling by her side. Nergal is usually depicted as a lion in traditional iconography.[4]

Quotes

By Baphomet

"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[src]
"Lighten up. I just gave them excellent head. Who doesn't like excellent head?"
—Baphomet[src]
"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[src]
"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[src]
"I was lying. Oh, I am sorry. You did realise I'm a man, yeah?"
—Baphomet to Laura[src]
"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[src]
"You or me. No choice at all."
—Baphomet about Inanna[src]
"You were always special. That was amazing, but it wasn't a surprise. You were always best at the game."
—Baphomet to Morrigan[src]
"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 attacking Baal[src]
"Nergal?! Are you taking the piss?!"
—Baphomet[src]

About Baphomet

"You are of the Pantheon. You will be loved. You will be hated. You will be brilliant. Within two years, you will be dead. You are the sun buried alive, rebel king of your abyssal prison. You are the inferno that lurks below. You are the vengeance that cannot die. You are the lion that lies in wait."
—Ananke[src]

Dialogue

Laur: "Baphomet! You're wanted."
Baphomet: "I am. Wanted by anyone with taste. Step into my pun-geon."
―Laura and Baphomet[src]
Laura: "Why are you such a prick?"
Baphomet: "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[src]
Morrigan: "I doomed you because I cared. This is all you ever wanted."
Baphomet: "It's all I ever wanted... but I want more."
―Morrigan and Baphomet[src]
Baphomet: "I slept with her."
Morrigan: "Why?"
Baphomet: "The pit, Marian. I fell in."
―Baphomet and Morrigan[src]

Trivia

  • Baphomet's style is based on Nick Cave and Andrew Eldritch, among others.[5]
  • 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 painted a vampire count and Morrigan painted a Nurgle chaos creature.[6]
  • Nurgle is a character in Warhammer, which is probably where Baphomet gets the negative associations from.[6]
  • Baphomet is a reader of Phonogram and Shutter, and had copies of both in his old bedroom.[7] He quotes Phonogram in Issue 7.[8]

References

  1. Kieron Gillen has described Baphomet as being in his 1st-2nd year at university pre-godhood. He first met Morrigan at university in 2012 so he couldn't have been born any later than 1994.
  2. Issue 9
  3. The Wicked + The Divine: Dress to Impress
  4. Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses
  5. Writer Notes: The Wicked + The Divine #2
  6. 6.0 6.1 Writers Notes: The Wicked + The Divine #20
  7. Writer Notes: The Wicked + the Divine #16
  8. Tumblr
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