Pazuzu

Pazuzu is a boss in Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance. He is a reimagined version of the Leviathan boss from Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse. He is a large and winged demon with goat-like features who commands other lesser demons.
==Origins==
In ancient Mesopotamian religion, Pazuzu was the king of the demons of the wind, brother of Humbaba and son of the god Hanbi.
Pazuzu is the demon of the southwest wind, the bearer of storms and drought, known for bringing famine during dry seasons and locusts during rainy seasons.
Although Pazuzu himself is considered to be an evil spirit, he drives and frightens away other evil spirits as well, therefore protecting humans against plagues and misfortunes.
However, since Pazuzu in Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance is based on the Leviathan boss from Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, he bears a more aesthetic resemblance to Baphomet, a deity that the Knights Templar were accused of worshiping, and that subsequently was incorporated into occult and mystical traditions.
Baphomet is depicted as a winged humanoid goat with female breasts and a torch between two long horns.
==Description==
Pazuzu is a reimagined version of Leviathan, a boss from Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse. He is found as a boss in Dracula's former throne room in the Castle Top Floor (Castle A). He introduces himself by hatching from a giant demonic "egg" in the background, where Dracula's throne should be.
Pazuzu attacks mainly by leaping, spewing fireballs in waves, and summoning hordes of Tiny Devils to attack the player.
==Strategy==
A good strategy to fight Pazuzu is staying underneath any of the two raised platforms in the room, making the boss to jump and land on top of them, and allowing the player to attack him while being protected from most of his attacks at the same time.
Several Spell Fusions can be useful in this fight, either those that deal multi-hit damage or even those that only deal a single but powerful hit.
The normal Axe subweapon is especially useful during this encounter. If the player manages to stay below a platform while Pazuzu lands on top of it, they'll be able to throw several axes continuously from that safe spot while dealing up to four powerful hits per axe thrown.
One of Pazuzu's most frequent attacks consists on him spewing waves of fireballs in a spreading manner. These are considerably easy to avoid, although the player will need to reposition themselves accordingly throughout the duration of the attack.
Another of his attacks has the demon standing still with his arms crossed while commanding a horde of Tiny Devils to home toward the player. It's recommended to deal with these minions as soon as possible to prevent them from populating the screen. Spell Fusions that can cover their spawning point, such as Hail Stone (Axe + Ice Book), will allow the player to deal with a whole batch with just a single cast if done right.
==Enemy Data==
==Notes==
*Only the Holy Book can deflect Pazuzu's fireballs.
*The Tiny Devils that Pazuzu summons during the fight don't yield any EXP.
==Gallery==
HoD-Pazuzu Screenshot 01.png
HoD-Pazuzu Screenshot 02.png
HoD-Pazuzu Screenshot 03.png
HoD-Pazuzu Screenshot 04.png|Holy Book deflecting Pazuzu's fireballs.
HoD-Pazuzu Screenshot 05.png
HoD 074.png|Pazuzu enemy list entry from Harmony of Dissonance.
==Trivia==
*Pazuzu's room is what otherwise would be the castle's throne room, where commonly the final boss fight of the game would take place (or at least a plot relevant one), lying near the topmost part of the castle, on its top floor. However, the place where the throne would be has been destroyed and in its place lies a giant core of unearthly origins which slowly begins to crack as the player enters the room and from where Pazuzu hatches from.
*The Evil God antagonist from Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse appears to have been inspired by the original Mesopotamian imagery of Pazuzu.
**It's implied that this demon was the "dark god" that exchanged his powers over Chaos to Dracula in the original prologue of the game, probably why this similarity.https://twitter.com/VGMuseum1/status/1419863414776680486
*Pazuzu is also the main antagonist from the 1973 horror film The Exorcist (revealed in the sequel to actually be this demon and not the Devil, as it was widely believed back then), probably inspiring his inclusion in the Castlevania series.
==See also==
*Lesser Demon
==References==
Category:Demons
Category:Flying Bosses
Category:Mesopotamian Monsters
Category:Harmony of Dissonance Bosses