Chernobog

**Chernobog** is a major overarching antagonist in the *Divine Comedy*.

He is the overarching antagonist of volume four and the main antagonist of volume five.

A primordial and malevolent entity, Chernobog is reputed as the god of darkness and evil that was born from all the sins and wickedness humanity committed throughout the ages, becoming stronger as time went on. He is the avatar of Evil whose sole desire is to plunge all of life into everlasting darkness and death.

Chernobog is arguably one of the primary enemies of the protagonists within the *Divine Comedy* series. The many hardships, turmoils, and enemies they face and try to overcome are all instruments that lead to his eventual awakening. But even then, Chernobog himself is also a pawn of a much grander evil; Nyarlathotep.

## Appearance

Chernobog appears as a gigantic pitch-black skinned humanoid being with red burning eyes, two long horns, clawed hands and cloven feet, which gives him a well-suited demonic appearance.

## Overview

Chernobog was made manifest from the growing powers of evil that encompassed the world. He first emerged from Bald Mountain where witches and other sinful humans would engage in all sorts of debaucherous and unspeakable acts that eventually resulted in the full manifestation of Chernobog himself. He is essentially a physical manifestation of the primordial evil, acting as the avatar that directly interacts with the world and its inhabitants. Chernobog is for all intents and purposes the **real** Satan, the true depiction of how people view the Devil.

During the age of the Flood, Chernobog's powers were at its peak. Wherever he went, calamity and disaster would follow such as famine, disease, blight, and murder. Wherever he turned, bad luck and misfortune accompanied him. And due to his intimate connections literally rooted in Evil, he threatened the stability of creation itself which spelled doom for both Heaven and Hell. This resulted in the two realms, perhaps for the first time in history, to collude with each other in order to successfully defeat and seal Chernobog away. The details of his defeat involve Satan ensnaring Chernobog in his Red Dragon form before Michael plunged his spear into his chest, dragging and imprisoning him far below the deepest depths of the underworld, specifically the Lake of Fire.

Despite his imprisonment, Chernobog's influence still lingered somewhat as his shadowy minions and monstrous aberrations continue to torment the world in his name. His power only surged when the Evils were unknowingly released from Pandora's Box but was still not enough to release him from his prison. As a result, his minions would spread darkness and deceit throughout the minds of the weak-willed, slowly but surely corrupting all that is good in the world and rid the souls any chance of finding hope to resurrect him.

## Personality

Being the representation of pure evil, Chernobog does not possess a dominant personality like other villains. He doesn't have a tragic backstory or a motive for his actions, he is evil just for the "fun" of it. He is a god that exudes pure malevolence, described as a bitter, spiteful creature filled with hate who is also an extremely powerful and destructive menace towards all life, and relishes the destruction, death, and pain of all things.

## Trivia

* In Slavic mythology, Chernobog is a black god of darkness who contrasts with Belobog, the white god of light and the two are locked in eternal conflict. This could explain Chernobog's fear of light. Chernobog and Belobog are similar to Satan and God, or Ra and Apep.
* It is theorized that Chernobog was originally a god of light named Belobog who after being exposed to the evils of man was too corrupted by said evil thus transforming him into Chernobog. If that were the case, Belobog's fall from grace into becoming Chernobog is very reminiscent of Lucifer's own fall and becoming Satan.
* Chernobog is the culprit behind the bad reputation of witches to where the witches turned to demonic forces under the Black God's influence instead of following the more benign practices originally instilled by Cernunnos and Hecate.
* Chernobog's dwelling place being Bald Mountain where his followers descend on Walpurgis Night is a reference to the iconic scene featured in the "Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria" segment of Disney's 1940 animated feature film *Fantasia*.