ā | They brand me evil, a tyrant, and yet I offer you something they will not: a choice. Reject the fanatical crusaders and the deranged servants of the self-proclaimed judge, dismiss all of their false dogma and the torturous mission to which they have bound you, and only then will you know freedom. | ā |
~ Baphomet |
Baphomet or Macvineth, also known known as "Baphomet of Mendes" is a demonic entity, a king of demons, usually equated with Satan and an idol adopted by the Knights Templar from Islamic belief. He is also the self-proclaimed "god" of his own cult the Halo of the Sun which has the town of Silent Hills in an iron grip.
Description[]
His name is believed to be a corruption of Muhammad, the founder of Islam. He is usually depicted with the head and legs of a goat, with a torch between his horns and a pentagram on his forehead, with black bird wings, and the body of a human woman or hermaphrodite.
He has the power to control all human women, and is said to give witches their power, thus, famously known as a demon worshiped by witches. In some branches of demonology, Baphomet is seen as a high-ranking ruler of Hell and one of Satan's many henchmen. This may go some way into explaining why the two demons often seem to share the same qualities.
In the Medieval era, Baphomet was often classified as a member of the "Unholy Trinity" that composed of him, Apollyon, and the false idol Termagant.
History[]
Background[]
Baphomet is a goat-headed demon king, the brother of Kupala, and is among the oldest of the Inferno's denizens. Baphomet desired to be worshipped and revered just as Mundus was during the Dark Reign especially since such worship would fuel the demon emperor to the height of his power. Baphomet, in his vanity, cast his gaze upon the mortal land and found within humanity's nasant soul a fiery people who shared his tempestuous disposition. Despite the end of the Dark Reign in thanks to Sparda having defeated the Seven Kings of Hell, greed, aggression, contempt burned hot in the hearts of humankind which made Baphomet view them as people eager to please a god. He desired devoted praise worthy of his power and in the guise of a being of light would bestow his gift of magnanimous rulership upon mortals, willing or unwilling.
Naturally, of course, there was resistance against such worship towards Baphomet whom began to see the horrors that lay behind his veil of worship and false promises. He would come to be viewed as a dark infernal god that corrupted pure souls and tortured those who rebelled against his rule. While the power of his acolytes was immense, it was such a view that festered in the minds and hearts of humans which resulted in a wide scale rebellion against Baphomet and his religious zeal with those still devoted to Baphomet fighting against their former brothers and sisters with his devout followers being imbued with demonic power that would have surely turned the tides in Baphomet's favor were it not for the intervention of the Legendary Dark Knight himself, Sparda.
According to a recovered tome, Sparda was accompanied by three magi with these magi leading a righteous crusade against the despondency of Baphomet's age of darkness and debauchery. The Three Magi would aid in the blessed armament of the rebels, the destabilization of Baphomet's network, and the exorcism of his twisted darkness, all this while Sparda took the fight directly to Baphomet himself. To ensure the deposed demon king remained imprisoned in his own realm, Sparda aided the magi in performing rites that erected five seals to contain the demon. The Three Magi, inspired by Sparda's chivalry and knighthood, would come to found the Knights Templar but following in the light of the Lord.
Inquisition of the Templars[]
Unfortunately, as resilient as humanity is to external forces, they were equally susceptible to spiritual and internal manipulation. Baphomet, despite being sealed, was intimate with humanity's base desires that thrive in the depths of every soul. All that was needed was deception and exploited to twine such desires around his own ends. The demon king imparts a malignant plague the festers within the hearts and minds of mankind. He did this in order to have the people turn against the Knights Templar, heroes of the Crusades, and the same ones that rose to fight against the corruption of Baphomet. It would not be long until they were accused of worshiping Baphomet by a church Inquisition and branded as heretics. Moreso, it said that some of the Templars even turned against one another.
To keep them silent, the head of the Templars and another senior leader were sentenced to be burned alive. However, it was later revealed that this was orchestrated by King Philip IV of France, who coveted the Templars' wealth and moreover was purportedly under the influence of Baphomet himself who used the king to twist the image of the Templars and their faith; in short to root out evil it in turn becomes them. One by one, the five seals stationed across the kingdom weaken and loosen until Baphomet tears the fabric of reality and from the maw of Hell his legion pours forth, comprised of damned demonic souls that were subservient to him before the rebellion. The realm is bathed in blood and fire, with Baphomet's devout cult striking from within all while demons and possessed ruin the lands below.
Defeat[]
But even in this bleakest of times, hope still shines through. Baphomet's worship came to an end when the Brotherhood of St. Longinus waged war against the demon's cult, joining forces with the surviving members of the defunct Knights Templar (with said members branding themselves as the Shadow Crusaders), while destroying and burning any effigy and unholy church that was created in reverence to Baphomet. Battles are fought, blood is spilled, thousands perish until one cult member and founding member, Jennifer Carroll, was able to grab a bas relief of Baphomet and flee persecution at the hands of the Brotherhood of St. Longinus.
Due to Baphomet's lingering essence within the bas relief, he kept Jennifer alive to fulfill his needs. Unfortunately for Jennifer, she would meet her end during the Salem Witch Trials through burning by puritanical Christians in 1692.
The bas relief was again taken by sympathizers for witches during the Trials and settled within Maine. Baphomet's cult only grew within Maine, eventually settling in a town that would come to be known as Silent Hills. Baphomet had his cult grow inside the town, infiltrating the public institutions of the town while gradually gaining more influence and power. Unfortunately, his rule and power would be challenged once again by the arrival of Tomas Ortega, a struggling priest who is joined by his love interest Lisa Pearson and later his mentor Father Garcia.