Belial (Archdevil)
Not to be confused with the Grand Master of the Deathwing
Belial is the archdevil (co)ruler of the fourth layer of Hell; Phlegethos in D&D and Phlegethon in Pathfinder.
D&D[edit]
The twin Lords of Phlegethos, Belial and Fierna are a father and daughter pair who run the Fourth layer jointly. After a failed coup that Belial was a part of, he offered to share power with his daughter Fierna to appease Asmodeus. He accepted and so Fierna became the co-ruler of Phlegethos. Both of them look almost completely human, aside from their horns and clawed fingers. Both are rather attractive with sadistic personalities: they revel in killing and bloodshed. But they are no fools and will retreat when in trouble. Belial is very much a traditional devil: he's cautious, scheming and making plans to overthrow his fellow devils. He personally trains his daughter in how to be a good devil, including personally taking a hand in teaching her about "love and pain", which is exactly what it sounds like. Bleh. He lets Fierna handle all the deal-making and soul-harvesting duties, and as such has no cults.
In Fifth Edition, the nature of the relationship between Belial and Fierna has been updated. How exactly they are related to each other is now more ambiguous, they could be father and daughter, mother and son, siblings, or something else entirely. In addition, rather than a puppet ruler and a secret ruler, the two are now effectively co-rulers of Phlegethos; Belial handles the day-to-day logistics of running the layer, while Fierna handles diplomacy and the forging of contracts with mortals. As much as each would love to be rid of the other, just like the two halves of the brain, one logical and the other creative, they need each other in order to stay in power.
Gallery[edit]
| The Archdukes of Hell | |
|---|---|
| Avernus | Bel or Zariel |
| Dis | Dispater |
| Minauros | Mammon |
| Phlegethos | Belial/Fierna |
| Stygia | Levistus |
| Malbolge | Glasya |
| Maladomini | Baalzebul |
| Cania | Mephistopheles |
| Nessus | Asmodeus |
Pathfinder[edit]
| Belial | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Aliases | Pale Kiss, Thorned Caress, Father of Whores, Duke of Many Forms, Belhor, Jouvart, Mechembuchus | |
| Alignment | Lawful Evil | |
| Divine Rank | Demigod | |
| Pantheon | Archdevils of Hell | |
| Portfolio | Adultery, Deception, Desire | |
| Domains | 1e:Charm, Destruction, Evil, Law, Catastrophe, Devil, Lust, Rage 2e: Change, Passion, Trickery, Zeal |
|
| Home Plane | Idolisque, Phlegethon, Hell | |
| Favoured Weapon | Ranseur | |
The Pale Kiss is a creation of Asmodeus himself. Only the Prince of Darkness himself knows exactly what Belial is or where he came from, and Belial does not seem to care. He can take just about any form he wants almost subconsciously, taking whatever form is most desirable for whoever looks at him. This is one of the purposes for which Belial was created: Asmodeus also granted him boundless imagination and creativity in order to create objects of incredible beauty and cruelty. Belial has created everything from art to weapons, magics and even races of servitors, but once he's done with something Belial gets bored and moves on. On top of his creativity Belial is also a creature of boundless lust, and there are innumerable half-fiends out there of every kind who can trace their lineage back to the Pale Kiss.
