Asmodeus Asmodeus ( æz - mo - DAY - us or æz - MO - dee - us ) , an archdevil before the Spellplague , Supreme of the Nine Hells ( or Baator ) , was the god of sin . An ever ambitious and careful creature , Asmodeus retained his position all through the Reckoning of Hell , unlike many of the other archdevils . Asmodeus was lord of Nessus , the Ninth Layer of Hell , though he was generally recognized as lord of all of his divine dominion of Baator , which lay within the Astral Sea . Asmodeus was the undisputed master of the Nine Hells , commanding fear and respect from all those who occupied his realm . Even the gods who dwelt in the Nine Hells gave Asmodeus his proper due . Though the archdevils might work to usurp him , few had the courage to act openly . Asmodeus ’ s machinations were long in the making , and they might take centuries , if not millennia , to see resolution . He worked on a grand scale , carefully constructing insidious and inexplicable intrigues , maneuvering the forces of wickedness like chess pieces on a board that encompasses all the planes . His core concerns were simple . First , he wanted the power structure currently in place to remain exactly as it stood , with him in charge . He had spies on every layer , planted in every court . No fiend knew for sure which of its minions actually served Asmodeus , so the climate was one of justified paranoia . Asmodeus also expanded evil . He directly opposed celestial s and good - aligned deities . His minions combated the agents of the Celestial Planes , murdering them whenever and wherever they could . Finally , Asmodeus waged war against the demon s throughout the period of the Blood War . He saw the untold legions as a direct threat to his supremacy . Asmodeus was aware of every plot hatched against him . Older than the oldest archdevil , he watched the rise and fall of other archdevils far craftier than any of Asmodeus ’ s contemporaries . He kept to himself , letting his minions stew in fear of what he would do next . Of course , few forgot that Asmodeus emerged unscathed in the Reckoning , proving to all that he was their better . On the Prime Material Plane , Asmodeus had more cultists than all the other archdevils combined . Mortals who worshiped devils actually drew power from Asmodeus . He influenced all levels of society and had followers of nearly every race , even within the strongest bastions for good . His path was the way to great and unattainable power , so his clerics were mighty men and women with influence and personal magnetism that made them natural leaders among their kind . Description . Asmodeus was depicted as the strongest , most cunning , and most handsome of all devils . Usually he appeared as a handsome , dangerous thirteen - foot - tall human with lustrous skin and black hair , his crimson eyes shining with internal power , his forehead crowned by a pair of small , sharp horns . Beneath his finery - red and black robes studded with black diamond s and fiery rubies of unimaginable expense - Asmodeus ' body was covered in bloody wounds sustained when he fell from heaven . These wounds oozed blood daily ; the drops of his blood which touched the ground grew into powerful devils and demons . Asmodeus was never seen without his Ruby Rod of Asmodeus , seemingly made of a single carved ruby that shone with the power of Hell ; it not only served as a badge of office , but contained great powers , allowing Asmodeus to attack with elemental forces , force his enemies to cower in fear , or cover himself with a field which healed and protected him . Abilities . Like the other archdevils of Baator , Asmodeus had the ability to cast many spells at will , and it was nearly impossible to hurt him without the use of very powerful holy magic weapons . Asmodeus ' Ruby Rod allowed him to use several powerful offensive and defensive spells at will . In addition , Asmodeus had the power to alter the form of lesser devils , including the other lords of Baator . He transformed Mammon into a humanoid / serpent hybrid , and cursed Baalzebul with the form of a gigantic slug with tiny , useless arms . History . In Dragon # 28 , the article " The Politics of Hell " by Alexander von Thorn details the history and politics of Hell . This gives a different history to that detailed below . Satan was more powerful than any other Devil , but lacked support , having been exiled from hell by Beelzebub following a revolution . Beelzebub ( meaning " Lord of the Archdevils " ) was later himself overthrown by Asmodeus and was known forever after as Baalzebul ( Lord of the Flies ) . In the " Book of Vile Darkness " , it is stated that while Asmodeus is the oldest devil in the Nine Hells , he may not be the original ruler . However , the origin myth which appears in " " contradicts this . According to the Codex , Asmodeus began as a servant of the lawful gods . Asmodeus is described in some versions of the myth as an " angel " ( though this is self - contradictory given the time period during which this would have occurred ) . He was " the bravest , toughest , fiercest and most beautiful of angels . " He and the other angels were created to fight the demons of the Abyss , so that the gods could concern themselves with creating worlds and sentient beings . After eons of fighting the creatures from the Abyss , Asmodeus and some of his fellows began to change . They grew similar in appearance and methods to the demons which they fought . Afraid of his power and of the changes he had undergone , the gods put Asmodeus on trial and demanded that he be cast out of the Upper Planes . However , he argued effectively ( and correctly ) that he and his fellows had not violated the law . Asmodeus and his followers successfully sued for access to the Upper Planes and the honors to which they were entitled . Once the gods created worlds and sentient beings , the demons attacked these , too . The gods created mountains , oceans , and wastelands to seal up the gates to the Abyss , but their creations defied their orders and explored their worlds , accidentally unsealing the gates . The gods could not understand why their creations did not follow their instructions , until Asmodeus explained to them that their system did not work because it relied solely upon voluntary compliance . Asmodeus explained that the only way to ensure obedience was to threaten mortals with a disincentive ; hence , Asmodeus invented the concept of punishment . Asmodeus convinced the gods to sign a contract called the Pact Primeval . This contract allowed Asmodeus and his fellow devils to take up residence in the abandoned realm of Baator , to punish the souls of wicked mortals , and to extract magical energy from the souls under their care in order to fuel their powers . Otherwise , Asmodeus reasoned , they would have to be granted the powers of godhood in order to do their job , which the current gods would surely find unacceptable . At first , the gods found the arrangement agreeable . However , they eventually realized that fewer and fewer mortal souls were ascending to the Upper Planes , and Asmodeus was deliberately tempting mortals to damnation . When they arrived in Baator , the gods found that Asmodeus had turned it into a nightmarish world of endless suffering , filled with countless new devils . When called to account for his actions , Asmodeus uttered the famous words , " " Read the fine print . " " This story is presented as mythology , and the " Codex " itself admits that it does not tell the whole truth . For example , it is known that Asmodeus did not depart from the Upper Planes under amicable circumstances : He was cast out , and literally fell into the Lower Planes , sustaining serious wounds which have never healed . Part of Asmodeus ' long - term plans includes using the magical energy harvested from souls in order to heal his wounds , and ultimately , the complete destruction of the Upper Planes . The names of the " gods " involved seem to change depending on what world and source the myth is told on , and some aspects and versions of the origin myth contradict others . For example , the version told in the " Fiendish Codex II " states that St . Cuthbert became a distinct deity when he agreed with Asmodeus that " Retribution is the basis of all law , " while the Deities & Demigods sourcebook states that he is a mortal who ascended to godhood . The " Manual of the Planes " suggests a similar but different story . According to the section about the Nine Hells , Asmodeus ' true form is that of a giant serpent , hundreds of miles long . He was cast out of the Upper Planes before the creation of the current gods , and his fall created the 8th and 9th planes of Hell . He is currently still recovering from his wounds in the pits of the 9th level , and his devil form is just an avatar of the real Asmodeus . No one who tells the story of the true form of Asmodeus survives more than 24 hours after the telling . In the " Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide " , Asmodeus is established as an ancient deity who was relegated to the position of archdevil and toiled for untold millenia to regain his divinity . When Dweomerheart collapsed in the wake of Mystra ' s death , her servant Azuth fell into the Hells where Asmodeus , sensing his opportunity , devoured the lesser deity and became a god himself . He then ended the Blood War by forcing the Abyss underneath the Elemental Chaos . Notes . Asmodeus was the patron of might and oppression . He was the overlord of the Nine Hells , Lord of the Ninth , and the mightiest devil of all . Vassals . The following beings were among the most notable subjects of Asmodeus on Nessus . The forces at their disposal are listed , where appropriate : Creative origins . Asmodeus is named for the Judeo - Christian demon , from the deuterocanonical Book of Tobit and for a fallen angel of the same name who appears in " Paradise Lost " .