Marchosias

In demonology, Marchosias is a great and mighty Marquis of Hell, commanding thirty legions of demons. In the Ars Goetia, the first book of '' The Lesser Key of Solomon'' (17th century), he is depicted as a wolf with gryphon's wings and a serpent's tail, spewing fire from his mouth, but at the request of the magician he may take the form of a man. He is a strong fighter and gives true answers to all questions, and is very faithful to the magician in following his commands. Before his fall he belonged to the angelic order of Dominations (or Dominions), and when he was bound by Solomon he told him that after 1,200 years he hoped to return to Heaven ("unto the Seventh Throne").

In the '' Pseudomonarchia Daemonum'' (1577) of Johann Weyer the demon is called Marchocias and his description is much the same as that given in the Goetia except that his gender when appearing as a wolf is female ("a cruel she wolf") and spewing forth "I cannot tell what" from his mouth. He likewise hopes to eventually return to the Seventh Throne but is "deceived in that hope."

Collin de Plancy in his ''Dictionnaire Infernal'' (1818) draws on both sources for his description of Marchosias in his catalogue of demons.

The name Marchosias comes from Late Latin ''marchio'', "marquis".

In popular culture

In James Blish's apocalyptic novel ''Black Easter'', black magician Theron Ware demonstrates his powers to sceptical arms-dealer Baines by performing a "sending" of Marchosias to cause the suicide by poison of an eminent physicist. The goetic ceremony of evocation is described with a vividness and a meticulous attention to detail unusual in a work of fiction.

Marchosias appears in the '' Legends of Tomorrow'' season 5 episode "Ship Broken", where he is a hellhound that was previously the dog of famed serial killer Son of Sam. He was taken from Hell by Gary Green and brought aboard the ''Waverider'' timeship, before nearly massacring the whole crew, only to be sent back to hell by John Constantine.

In ''Wolf's Curse'' by Kelley Armstrong, a demon claiming to be Marchosias appears with her hell beasts and she claims to be the creator of werewolves. This is said by a werewolf to be one of many legends as to their creation and that he doesn't know or care if the demon is actually Marochosias.

The ASW-G-35 Gundam Marchosias & The Asw-G-05 Gundam Marbas (ガンダムマルコシアス) (ガンダムナルバス) is a mobile suit from the '' Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans Urdr-Hunt'' mobile game and is one of the 72 Gundam Frames created during the ''Calamity War''.

The Marchosias Team is a team of aces from the Principality of Zeon in the '' Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story: Missing Link'' video game, formed from characters who are unfit for service in the regular forces.

In '' Genshin Impact'', it is revealed that Marchosius (), now Guoba (), was the God of the Stove and Patron God of the Soil. Following a series of calamities, he used up his power to vitalize the land, greatly reducing his physical size and intelligence.

In '' Myriad Colors Phantom World'', Marchosias is a phantom that the main character summons to combat other phantoms.

See also

* List of demons in the Ars Goetia

Sources

Goetic demons
Wolves in folklore, religion and mythology

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