Livyatan

The Primordial Beast of the Sea (Art by Gustave Dore)

### Offspring

Tarasque, Kraken, Cirein-cròin, Hafgufa, Moby Dick, the monsters of Carta marina

**Livyatan** is the Primordial Beast of the Sea from Judeo-Christian lore and is, alongside Caelum and Behemoth, one of the Guardians of Earth.

## Overview

Livyatan is the primordial sea monster that was created by God and is one of the power interpretations of the Chaoskampf. She is an ancient beast of the seas, originating from Jewish folklore and different versions of Christian Mythology. She is also the first entity to be known as a leviathan, a title also taken by many other large and powerful sea monsters, such as the Kraken, Cirein-cròin, Hafgufa and Moby Dick.

Due to all being created by God at the same time, these three beasts treated each other as siblings. Livyatan's siblings are the Caelum of the Skies and the Behemoth of the Land. Even as the weakest, she is powerful enough to give some trouble to God, something even Lucifer can't do.

Livyatan also rules the underwater kingdom of Atlantis along with the Greco-Roman Deities of the Sea, Poseidon. This is because Poseidon flirted with Livyatan which caused her to lose her temper and try to kill Poseidon until Zeus give her Atlantis to co-rule as a peace offering.

## Appearance

Livyatan usually appears as a serpent or any type of sea creature she desires. In truth, she is more a mix of many kinds of marine life into a singular all-powerful sea beast. Mortals are unable to fully comprehend its visage, so all they see is just its shade or a giant sea serpent. Livyatan's features are both snake-like, kraken-resembling and with fish-like structure.

## Personality

Being a Primordial being Livyatan is describe as very unstoppable ominous serpent sea monster, very aggressive and far more monstrous than any other creatures of the sea, and more frightening than her sea monster kin.

She is nearly an unstoppable monster that ready to devour everything in her sight, because of this she has an intense odds and rivalry towards her creator God, and always giving Him troubles whenever necessary. Yet she still respects His authority despite being regarded as the Great Sea-Serpent of the Sea, like her Norse counterpart, Jörmungandr.

During the time that she met the Greek Deity of the Sea, Poseidon, she showed to be rather annoyed by his persistence of courting her, and even going as far as to threaten to destroy the Atlantis if Poseidon angered her enough. Zeus have no choice but gives her co-rule over Atlantis along with Poseidon.

Despite her allegiance with the Greek Pantheon, her true loyalty lies only to her Creator; God. As she always respect , revered, and also fear Him despite their odds to each other, she along with her siblings: Behemoth and Caelum have a loyalty and respect to God despite being monsters, and God knowing that they will serve their purpose in time, and always keeping them at bay so that the Earth will not be threaten.

In recent times, she still retains her original personality, yet with some differences. She appears to be quiet serious, passive, and emotionless, radiating a cold, calm, and cautious composure. But she will show mercy and compassion to those who have earn it, particularly those who respect to her status and doesn't anger her patience. She wish to be left alone and valuing her privacy, not caring much to outside world, and she wants to live under the seas as peaceful and quiet as possible.

## Powers and Abilities

Livyatan is an incredibly powerful entity, making even the strongest of men cower in fear. According to the Book of Job, no creature in the depths of the oceans is its equal and looks down upon those who are proud and arrogant. The only two beings that rival Livyatan's power are the Behemoth and Caelum, of which were created alongside Livyatan at the dawn of creation. Much like her fellow primordial beasts, Livyatan holds total dominion over the ocean's inhabitants as it was witnessed being surrounded and flanked by a multitude of fish and other marine creatures. Livyatan is so powerful and dangerous that even Lucifer is fearful to anger it.

Livyatan's hide is indestructible, being as durable as the Behemoth and Caelum. It is said that no weapon of any earthly or even supernatural caliber can penetrate it. Livyatan's skin is like a double-coat of mail, with overlapping scales as large as shields on its back, and as sharp and hard as broken pottery on its underparts. Swords, harpoons, and even bullets will simply bounce off such protection. It was able to completely shrug off attacks from Illuminati's own country-class fast attack sub pods. Only a sufficiently powerful high-powered missile, such as the DF-45, was enough to actually deter it from its original course and draw its attention to its attackers.

Livyatan is capable of projecting "burning lights" that can destroy almost any man-made structure. Its fins are known to radiate a brilliant light with its eyes like the glimmering light of the dawn. Livyatan is shown to perform this through the use of innumerable bioelectric feelers around its mouth which collect the photokinetic energy of the sun from the water's surface and through its own body to produce extremely powerful blasts of energy that can destroy cruise ships in a single blast. Livyatan can even create smaller versions of these attacks by having various patches of only several conjoined feelers. Even then the force of these miniature blasts were enough to have greatest of magicians working together to shield an entire area from the attacks which barely prevented them from inflicting damage. Even just charging the attack makes Livyatan's area of space fatally deadly as the water becomes extremely superheated.

It's size was immense to the point where the very sea boils when it swims on the surface. The Book of Job even goes so far as to say that nothing on Earth is its equal and looks down upon those who are proud and arrogant. When Livyatan is hungry, reports Rabbi Dimi in the name of Rabbi Johana, he sends forth from his mouth a heat so great as to make all the waters of the deep boil, and if he would put his head into Paradise no living creature could endure the odor of him. His abode is the Mediterranean Sea; and the waters of the Jordan fall into his mouth. It ruthlessly and fearlessly rules over all creatures of the sea.

Even with all of that, Livyatan is still the weakest of the three Primordial Beasts of Earth, though only barely.

* **Aquatic Life Manipulation**: As Ruler of the Seas and Fishes, Livyatan can control all sea life that dwell in the oceans, even those such as prehistoric sea life.
* **Photogenesis**: Livyatan can generate intense light from his body that can blind individuals, such as Archangels or above them, for a short period of time.

* **Pyrokinetic Breath**: Livyatan can generate a special type of fire within her body and then spray it out from her mouth. This fire is even more powerful and dangerous than the infamous Hellfire of the Infernal Realm.

* **Thalassokinesis**: As ruler of the seas, Livyatan can manipulate the Earth's oceans without effort and even all forms of seas across the universe.

## History

### Origins

Livyatan was one of the many pieces of Therion given sentience by God to rule over a part of His creation. Livyatan was perhaps the first beast to come into being, followed by the Behemoth and the Caelum, as the embodiment of the chaotic waters that cannot be tamed by man and only by God. At the time, however, Livyatan did not dwell within the Earth but resided below it until she was tamed by God after the creation of the Heavens and Earth. It is said that Livyatan was not too fond of being under God's power and would express its frustration by thrashing violently in the abyssal waters, threatening to flood the Earth and devour the moon but would be stopped by God each time.

It is even suggested that Livyatan was envious of God's dominion over the Heavens (like the demon prince Leviathan) with the beast wanting to have a domain of equal value and vastness. And so, God gave it the Earth's oceans knowing that the Earth was, in His eyes, His greatest prize to be given to His greatest creation that being humanity. Afterwards, Livyatan became content and more so in regards to living alongside her cohorts who dwell within their own respective realms; Behemoth having the lands and the Caelum having the sky.

### Prophesied Death

It is prophesied that during the Apocalypse, Livyatan and its brethren shall be slain and its flesh will be served to all those deemed as righteous. This essentially means that when the time comes, God will slay these monsters to save His creations but only His followers will be allowed to feast. According to the Talmud, Livyatan's skin will be flayed and cover the tent where the feast takes place and if one does not consume its flesh they will be given clothing made from its skin. The remaining skin will be spread across the walls of New Jerusalem where its brightness is said to illuminate the world.

The remaining flesh of Livyatan will eventually come into contact with the remaining flesh of the other Primordial Beasts. These will then come into contact with the corpses of Trihexa and Divus when they are thrown into the Lake of Fire. This will bring upon the revival of the Primal Beast, Therion, but that's a story for another day.

## Myths and Legends

In the Book of Job, Livyatan is described as a creature in the form of a sea serpent that has the ability to shoot fire. Example being, "Out of his mouth comes burning lights. Sparks of fire shoot out." In Job, it is a sea monster and a symbol of God’s power of creation. Livyatan is generally described by many Hebrew followers as a gigantic serpent, lurking deep in the Red Sea. Others believe he is a huge sea worm or perhaps a variation of the legendary Kraken, who hunts down foreign invaders (i.e. non-Jews who try to invade the lands of Israel by crossing the Red Sea).

Islamic culture also made references to Livyatan in its texts that it is said to be a female creature while the Behemoth is a male creature. In the Old Testament, Livyatan appears in Psalms 74:14 as a multi-headed sea serpent that is killed by God and given as food to the Hebrews in the wilderness.

The mention of the Tannins in the Genesis creation narrative (translated as "great whales" in the King James Version) and Livyatan in the Psalm do not describe them as harmful but as ocean creatures who are part of God's creation. The element of competition between God and the sea monster and the use of Livyatan to describe the powerful enemies of Israel may reflect the influence of the Mesopotamian and Canaanite legends or the contest in Egyptian mythology between Apep and the sun god Ra. Alternatively, the removal of such competition may have reflected an attempt to naturalize Livyatan in a process that demoted it from deity to demon to monster.

### Judaism

Later Jewish sources describe Livyatan as a dragon who lives over the sources of the Deep and who, along with the male land-monster Behemoth, will be served up to the righteous at the end of time. The *Book of Enoch* describes Livyatan as a female monster dwelling in the watery abyss (as Tiamat), while Behemoth is a male monster living in the desert of Dunaydin, which is east of Eden.

When the Jewish midrash (explanations of the Tanakh) were being composed, it was held that God originally produced a male and a female leviathan, but lest in multiplying the species should destroy the world, he slew the female, reserving her flesh for the banquet that will be given to the righteous on the advent of the Messiah. Rashi's commentary on Genesis 1:21 repeats the tradition:

The final "yud", which denotes the plural, is missing, hence the implication that Livyatan did not remain two, but that its number was reduced to one. According to Abraham Isaac Kook, Livyatan – a singular creature with no mate, "its tail is placed in its mouth" (Zohar) "twisting around and encompassing the entire world" (Rashi on Baba Batra 74b) – projects a vivid metaphor for the universe's underlying unity. This unity will only be revealed in the future, when the righteous will feast on Livyatan.

In the Zohar, Livyatan is a metaphor for enlightenment. The Zohar remarks that the legend of the righteous eating the skin of Livyatan at the end of the days is not literal, and merely a metaphor for enlightenment. The Zohar also specifies in detail that Livyatan has a mate. The Zohar also associates the metaphor of Livyatan with the "tzaddik" or rightious in Zohar 2:11b and 3:58a. The Zohar associates it with the "briach" the pole in the middle of the boards of the tabernacle in Zohar 2:20a. Both, are associated with the Sefira of Yesod.

### Gnosticism

The Church Father Origen accused a Gnostic sect of venerating the biblical serpent of the Garden of Eden. Therefore, he calls them Ophites, naming after the serpent they are supposed to worship. In this belief system, Livyatan appears as an Ouroboros, separating the divine realm from humanity by enveloping or permeating the material world. We do not know whether or not the Ophites actually identified the serpent of the Garden of Eden with Livyatan.

However, since Livyatan is basically connoted negatively in this Gnostic cosmology, if they identified him with the serpent of the Book of Genesis, he was probably indeed considered evil and just its advice was good. Further, according to this Gnostic sect, after death, a soul must pass through the seven spheres of the Archons. If the soul does not succeed, it will be swallowed by a dragon-shaped archon, who holds the world captive and returns the soul into an animal body – a depiction resembling Livyatan mentioned before.

In Mandaeism, Livyatan is regarded as being co-essential with a demon called Ur. In Manichaeism, an ancient religion influenced by Gnostic ideas, Livyatan is killed by the sons of the fallen angel Shemyaza. This act is not portrayed as heroic, but as foolish, symbolizing the greatest triumphs as transient, since both are killed by archangels in turn after boasting about their victory. This reflects Manichaean criticism on royal power and advocates asceticism.

### Modern Usage

The word "leviathan" has become synonymous with any large sea monster or creature. In Modern Hebrew, the name means simply "whale." Some 19th century scholars have pragmatically interpreted it as referring to large aquatic creatures, such as the crocodile. As a term for sea monster, it has also been used of great whales in particular, e.g. in Herman Melville's Moby-Dick

### Equivalents

Its source is in prebiblical Mesopotamian mythology, especially that of the sea monster in the Ugaritic myth of Baal. Livyatan of the Book of Job is a reflection of the older Canaanite Lotan, a primeval monster defeated by the god Baal Hadad. Parallels to the role of Mesopotamian Tiamat defeated by Marduk have long been drawn in comparative mythology, as have been wider comparisons to dragon and world serpent narratives such as Indra slaying Vrtra or Thor slaying Jörmungandr. Leviathan also figures in the Hebrew Bible as a metaphor for a powerful enemy, notably Babylon (Isaiah 27:1). Some 19th century scholars have pragmatically interpreted it as referring to large aquatic creatures, such as the crocodile. The word later came to be used as a term for "great whale", as well as for sea monsters in general.

## Trivia

* Livyatan has the most amount of children from the three primordial beasts.
	+ She is also the only one to have a child that is well known, that being the Tarasque.
* It is rumored that Livyatan was the one to destroy the RMS Titanic as a retort due to them saying that even God couldn't sink that boat.
* The Demon Lord Leviathan took his name from the primordial beast as a show of power and might.
	+ He also chose it as both represents the element of water.
* In the Midrash there's a legend that states that the giant fish which swallowed Jonah narrowly avoids being eaten by Leviathan.

* Livyatan has been identified as a crocodile, a plesiosaur, a whale or some unknown fish.