Beelzebub

Willem Dafoe as Beelzebub

**Beelzebub**, also known as ***Grand Duc*** or the **Great Duke** (or **Grand Duke**), is a high-ranking demon and a figure who appears in all the three Abrahamic religions. Beelzebub, or Grand Duc, is played by Willem Dafoe, and serves as the main antagonist of the third season, *The Kingdom Exodus*. Commonly, Beelzebub speaks in Latin.

## History

In *The Kingdom Exodus*, Grand Duc Beelzebub travels from Hell to Earth to take over the Kingdom Hospital and prepare the portal for the coming of Satan to Earth.

Beelzebub brands everyone whom he converts to the dark side with a magical coin that sears the skin.

## Abilities

Beelzebub or Grand Duc is able to shapeshift to the form of a great horned owl with reddish-orange brown eyes, the ability of which is a reference to the fact that in the French language, the great horned owl is called *Grand-duc d'Amérique*, "the Grand Duke of America". In a large part of Europe, French is seen as a upper-class language, which means a lot of Europeans, regardless of whether they are French, will know certain French words, sentences or even be somewhat accomplished in the language. This is why the word "Grand Duc" in Danish crosswords, as mentioned by Karen Svensson, have "owl" as the answer, although she says she doesn't know why that is the answer.

Beelzebub has the ability to speak with any voice he desires, even using any language, as evidenced when he spoke Danish with the accent of a native Dane while pretending to be a custodial engineer cleaning out Bob's sink drain, before murdering him.

## Mythological background

In Hebrew scripture, Beelzsbub, from בַּעַל-זְבוּב‎ *Baʿal-zəḇūḇ*, is a name that appears in the Second Book of Kinggs 1:2-3, 6, 16, and refers to a Philistine and Canaanite deity. The title Baal is also given, meaning "Lord" in Ugaritic, and was used in conjunction with a descriptive name of a specific god, but opinions differ on what the name means. In one understanding, the Hebrew name is translated as "lord of the flies", which has become a popular title or nickname for Beelzebub in later Christian tradition. In the scripture, a statue of Beelzebub or Baal is destroyed by God's power for representing a "false god", or a demon, pretending to be a deity.

Beelzebub is commonly described as placed high in Hell's hierarchy. According to the stories of the 16th-century occultist Johann Weyer, Beelzebub led a successful revolt against the Devil, is the chief lieutenant of Lucifer, the Emperor of Hell, and presides over the Order of the Fly.

However in theological sources, predominantly Christian, Beelzebub is another name for Satan. He is known in demonology as one of the seven deadly demons or seven princes of Hell, Beelzebub representing gluttony and envy. The Dictionnaire Infernal describes Beelzebub as a being capable of flying, known as the "Lord of the Flyers", or the "Lord of the Flies".

In traditional demonological discourse, Great Duke (also Grand Duke or simply Duke from the European nobility title, derived from the French "grand duc", and ultimately from Latin *grandis* + *dux*) is a rank, denoting a position of prominence amongst the hierarchy of demons. The title of Great Duke reflects the inclination of Christian demonologists to categorize the denizens of Hell into hierarchical systems akin to those of the Monarchies of Europe, and mirroring the angelic hierarchy. Beelzebub is often given the title of Great Duke.