Pazuzu (Art by Nico Delort)
| “ | Speak instead the chants of protection against the coming of endless swarms of devouring fiends, against the dreaded black clouds of churning hatred, against the malevolence which descends from the sky! | „ |
| ~ Evil to Cast Out Evil by Nile |
| “ | He who is lord of the demons of the wind, of the evil spirits which infest the air, who layeth hold even unto death, covering thee with legions, of winged terrors! | „ |
| ~ Evil to Cast Out Evil by Nile |
Pazuzu is a king of demons, ruling over the demons of the wind, brother of Humbaba and son of the god Hanbi. He also represented the southwestern wind, the bearer of storms and drought.
Appearance[]
He is depicted as a combination of diverse animal and human parts. He has the body of a man, the head of a lion or dog, talons of an eagle, two pairs of wings, a scorpion's tail, and a serpentine limb. Although he can appear in the form of a massive storm giant.
History[]
Background[]
Pazuzu is a powerful entity, stronger than even Lamashtu, a demon goddess who existed back during the times of the Garden of Eden. At some point the two became romantically involved with one another, until they had a rather violent altercation ending in them separating and hating each other ever since. Both he and Lamashtu were worshiped as gods by Mesopotamians: for example, the Assyrians considered Pazuzu the deity of famine, locusts and storms. Later on, he became a "demon king", aligned with the likes of Satan himself.
First Exorcism[]
Perhaps the most well-known case regarding Pazuzu was in 1971 which describes his possession of a twelve-year-old girl, Regan MacNeil. Though at first it never explicitly stated to be the demon, two references were made about his statue, which was uncovered in the prologue by Father Lankester Merrin in northern Iraq.
Contrary to belief, Pazuzu was actually not the only entity that was possessing the girl for Pazuzu was sharing the body with another demon who was none other than Lamashtu herself. From what Tomas Ortega uncovered in the Vatican's archives, Pazuzu's possession of Regan only came after Lamashtu inhabited the girl's body, further discovering that Pazuzu was invoked via the statue that was in the house and was actually being used as a means to repel Lamashtu; essentially, Pazuzu was quarreling with Lamashtu to expel her from Regan.
After Regan's mother worries about her daughter being possessed, Merrin and Karras arrive at her house and perform an exorcism on Regan and successfully force the two demons out of Regan's body. In their struggle to free Regan from the thrall of Lamashtu, both priests perish (Merrin dies of a heart attack and Karras sacrifices himself to save Regan).
Possession of Constantine[]
John Constantine summons Pazuzu to combat Lamashtu, and later willingly allows Pazuzu to possess him to save himself from another powerful creature known as an Imbunche. However, Pazuzu has no wish to leave his new host, and emerges whenever Constantine is in danger, causing the deaths of at least eight dangerous gang members in Mexico City. Luckily, Constantine's ally Anne-Marie Flynn was able to banish Pazuzu using light magic aligned with God to command Pazuzu to be banished to Hell and ask God to forgive John Constantine and protect him from the demon king.
Abilities[]
Aside from being a demon king, Pazuzu is also regarded as a god and thus is seen as an extremely powerful entity, superior to the likes of even Lamashtu. Pazuzu is the demon of the southwest wind known for bringing famine during dry seasons, and locusts during rainy seasons.
Pazuzu was invoked in apotropaic amulets, which combat the powers of his rival, the malicious goddess Lamashtu, who was believed to cause harm to mother and child during childbirth. Although Pazuzu is, himself, considered to be an evil spirit, he drives and frightens away other evil spirits, therefore protecting humans against plagues and misfortunes.