Behemoth

**Behemoth** is a recurring supporting character in the *Divine Comedy*.

He was originally one of the first beasts created by God as a representative of the Earth's terrain as well as being one of the family pets. After the fall of Adam and Eve, Behemoth went rogue and all the land animals followed suite, eventually culminating in him having a fierce quarrel with Leviathan. In the end, God banished the two from the Earth with Behemoth becoming the royal butler and cupbearer of Hell's main family.

## History

### Background

Behemoth was one of the first beasts created by God to act as the representative to one of Earth's three layers which in this case is the terrain and its inhabitants. He was created second after Leviathan who rules the oceans then followed by Ziz who represents the skies. The three would act as guardians of the planet in case any unwanted parasites tried to take hold of it. He was also a pet in a way to the Empyrean family.

As a lord of Earth's terrain he also held dominion over all land animals. He was noted to have a good relationship with Adam and Eve in the process as well. However, when Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden, Behemoth went rogue to where all the animals turned against each other giving rise to predation or predator hunting prey. Adam and Eve along with their descendants were not spared from this either.

Behemoth was not the only one as Leviathan too went against his original mission but unlike Behemoth he desired to take the entirety of Earth for himself which of course did not sit well with Behemoth. Behemoth and Leviathan clashed in fierce quarrels that threatened to break apart the Earth and drown it completely. This forced God to banish Behemoth and Leviathan from the world but the damage they inflicted was done.

### Hell's Royal Butler

Behemoth, now a shadow of his former self, was found by Satan who offered him a position among Hell's nobility to which he accepted. Behemoth would become Hell's royal butler and cupbearer but only to the main royal family line; Lucifer quips that this position was given so as to tame his more beastial side and teach him proper etiquitte. Behemoth was also unaware of Leviathan's current position as an emperor and when he found out, another battle nearly broke out but was stopped by Satan as the two are now bound by Hell's laws and must follow them through the letter. Bitter, Behemoth agreed to the terms but would forever hold his grudge against Leviathan.

As the centuries pass, Behemoth proved himself to be a loyal and respected butler to Hell's main royal family. He was an invaluable source of aid in certain aspects of the heirs/heiresses of Hell's life, from keeping their homes in perfect order, to helping the emperors maintain their public image, and being something of a fatherly figure to some of the princes/princesses when their parents are too occupied in dealing with Hell's bureaucracy. Outside his duties, Behemoth also developed a dreaded reputation to Hell's denizens as he is mostly responsible for enforcing the will of the emperors and their children to where demonic assassins, no matter how bold, would not move against the royal family in fear of confronting Behemoth.

## Trivia

* He is based on the creature of the same name from Abrahamic theology as well as the demon found in the *Dictionnaire Infernal*.
	+ The *Dictionnaire Infernal* version of Behemoth is a demon that resembles a round-bellied humanoid elephant. He works as the infernal watchman for Satan and oversees the banquets in Hell while having a good singing voice.
* According to Frederick Von Eldritch, should Behemoth and Leviathan ever fight again they could cause all of Hell to collapse unto itself.
* Melinoë claims that Behemoth sleeps while standing up.
* Despite being flawless in working around the palace, Behemoth panics when dealing with mice.
* Behemoth's strength and personality is a composite of two characters; Max from the 1997 film *Cats Don't Dance* and Alfred Pennyworth from the Batman comic books.