Damballa

Granting power to whoever summons him via the Damballa chant or the Heart of Damballa amulet.

### Crimes

Grand theft anima
Destruction
Pollution
Demanding human sacrifices
Accessory to various offenses

### Type of Villain

Demonic Death God

*“Ade due Damballa - give me the power, I beg of you!”*

**Damballa**, named after the Haitian Loa death god of voodoo folklore, is one of the three overarching antagonists (alongside Dr. Mixter and the Hackensack Slasher) of the *Child's Play*. It is an unseen but influential force in the *Child's Play* series of horror films and a source of power for Charles Lee Ray/Chucky himself as well as that of the namesake amulet known as the Heart of Damballa which was used twice by Chucky and his ex-wife Tiffany in *Bride of Chucky* and *Seed of Chucky*.

Damballa is a Loa from Voodoo tradition and a spirit associated with death. However, in respects to fictional villainy, Damballa is famous as one of the central forces of the popular *Child's Play* universe - being the entity Chucky calls upon via the arcane voodoo chant to obtain immortality, as well as the spirit which Chucky tries to call upon whenever he engages in a specific soul-transferring spell.

## Description

Although used for evil by Chucky, the Loa Damballa is not entirely malevolent as for Chucky's former master, the firm believer in Voodoo John Bishop (also once known as "Doctor Death"), viewed Chucky's actions as an abomination which makes Chucky indeed an outrage against nature, suggesting Chucky's particular branch of Damballa worship was heretical. (befitting his status as a serial killer) Regardless of this heresy, it appears Damballa will grant Chucky his desires, as the deity has been seen to manifest briefly in many of the films as a giant storm cloud, though so far Chucky has only succeeded once in the prayer to Damballa, which was how he became the "Killer Doll" that the world would never forget.

Common manifestations of Damballa are tempestuous storm clouds and violent lightning, sufficient to destroy an entire local toy store in the American city of Chicago (as occurred during the night Charles Lee Ray died).

There are specific rules to Damballa's power. However and in every movie, Chucky has been foiled due to one or more of Damballa's rules (the most common being that his soul transfer will not work if he stays too long in a doll body).

## The Chant

### Translation

The chant may appear to be French at a glance, but it is improper French. It appears to be closer to Haitian Creole which is loosely based off of French but has been subject to and modified by other languages. Further evidence that points to its Haitian origins is the use of "Damballa", a reference to Haitian Voodoo religion. Damballa is a snake-god and lives in the trees near springs and hence is also known as the Draper of Wood. However, all of these claims are based on speculation. Nobody knows the true translation or the meaning of Chucky’s chant including the last phrase of the incantation. It could just be gibberish.

#### French

Ade due Damballa. Donnez-moi le pouvoir, je vous en prie! Leveau mercier du bois chaloitte. Secoise entienne mais pois de morte. Morteisma lieu de vocuier de mieu vochette. Endenlieu pour du boisette Damballa! Endenlieu pour du boisette Damballa! Endenlieu pour du boisette Damballa!!! (x3)

#### English

To the almighty Damballa. Give me the power, I beg of you! To the mercy of my soul. To the point of my death. Hear me out of from my condemned voice!!!!

### Versions

This is different from the original Chucky chant which comes in different versions:

#### Version 1

Ade due Damballa. Give me the power, I beg of you! Secoise entienne mais pois de morte. Morteisma lieu de vocuier de mieu vochette. Endenlieu pour de boisette Damballa! Secoise entienne mais pois de morte. Endenlieu pour de boisette Damballa!!! (x4)

#### Version 2

Ade due Damballa. Valinchella santeria. Oya shungo yenya macumba. Give me the power, I beg of you! Leveau mercier du bois chaloitte. Secoise entienne mais pois de morte. Morteisma lieu de vocuier de mieu vochette. Endenlieu pour de boisette Damballa!!! (x3)

#### Version 3

Ade due Damballa. Give me the power, I beg of you! Leveau mercier du bois chaloitte. Secoise entienne mais pois de morte. Morteisma lieu de vocuier de mieu vochette. Endenlieu pour de boisette Damballa!!! (x3)

#### Version 4

Ade due Damballa. Leveau mercier du bois chaloitte. Secoise entienne mais pois de morte. Morteisma lieu de vocuier de mieu vochette. Endenlieu pour du boisette Damballa. Endenlieu pour du boisette Damballa. Leveau mercier du bois chaloitte. Secoise entienne mais pois de morte. Morteisma lieu de vocuier de mieu vochette. Give me the power, I beg of you! Leveau mercier du bois chaloitte. Secoise entienne mais pois de morte. Morteisma lieu de vocuier de mieu vochette. Endenlieu pour du boisette Damballa!!! (x9)

## Trivia

* In Child's Play, during the second version of the soul-transfer spell, 3 of the phrases make references to the Afro-Caribbean religion of Santería, Oya, the goddess found in Yoruba religion, Haitian Voodoo and other religious beliefs, and the Afro-Brazilian religion of Macumba.
* During the event of Cult of Chucky, Chucky manages to learn how to split his spirit into multiple dolls and bodies with the spell's alternative first phrase "**Ade beaucoup Damballa**". As the result, he is literally semi-immortal like Lord Voldemort via Horcruxes, but it can be 'safely' assumed that he might risk damaging his soul beyond repair like Voldemort and might have a chance to suffer the fate worse than death. By the end of Cult of Chucky, it is revealed that Chucky has lost two fragments of his soul caused by an unnamed person (presumably the last victim of Nica's possessed niece Alice in her final moments) and Andy.
	+ The new phrase of the "multiple" version of the chant is often misread as "**Ade vocouse Damballa**".
* The words "mais", "de" "morte", "mieu", "lieu", "pour" and "bois" are French for "but", "of", "dead woman", "better now", "place", "for" and "wood" ("Morte" is also Portuguese for "death").
	+ The chant shown in Cult of Chucky contains the French word "beaucoup", meaning "a lot".

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