Belphegor

**Belphegor**, or **Belphegor Desidia**, is a recurring supporting character in the *Divine Comedy*.

He is a languorous yet immensely intelligent fallen angel, the patriarch of the Desidia family, and the youngest of the Seven Emperors of Hell. He rules over the Sloth Circle but incompetently at that alongside his wife Eisheth and is responsible for its advances in technology and machinery. Despite his status as emperor, Belphegor is completely disinterested in the tiresome bureaucracy of monarchy but is one of the more supportive members in Charlie's family.

## History

### Background

Back then, Belphegor was known as Belfagel and was among the Principalities. He was the youngest of the first generation of angels but older than the second generation. Belphegor was known for his slothful nature even as an angel though not as prominent as his current self. He detested his duties as a Principality and was said to have merely played an instrument similar to the Triangle during the Genesis Jam. Moreover, Belphegor enjoyed crafting strange and intricate objects from all manner of materials he could find which, according to him, was his outside hobby.

Belphegor was also part of Lucifer's posse in Heaven and was close with the likes of Sam Hill, Asmodeus, and Mammon. Though preferring to laze around, Belphegor had quite the sardonic wit to him which drew the likes of Lucifer and others to him that shared the same mentality. He was also a mentor of sorts to Jophiel as he would teach her the basics of mechanical components that would be used for Heaven's cities in the future.

### War in Heaven

Unlike the majority of his siblings, Belphegor did not participate during the war in Heaven for contrary to what many initially believed of him being so lazy that he could defend his own family, Belphegor was in fact terrified and so much so that he hid himself inside zircon crystals, refusing to take sides against the family or disturb the status quo. Either way, Belphegor was found and apprehended by Uriel and brought before God. Despite his neutrality, God would cast Belphegor out of Heaven alongside his siblings for his "uncertainty in His order" and what He called his "ambivalence."

The fall and God's anger deeply traumatized Belphegor and only got worse when he fell unto the innumerable discoporated bodies of his fallen siblings either alive or dead. Belphegor would desperately call out to anyone that could answer him back in sheer panic and just as he would get to the bring of mental collapse he heard a voice call out to him. He would immediately recognize it to be Eisheth's, one of Lilith's sisters, who was currently helping any wounded fallen angel and joined Belphegor, comforting him in his distress. Both she and Belphegor would later come across an unconscious Asmodeus, then help carry the wounded Cherubim back to where Lucifer was rallying all the fallen angels in a makeshift camp where they were tending to the wounded.

### Ruler of Hell

Much later, Belphegor would join six of his siblings in creating Hell through their own version of the Jam with Belphegor taking claim over a Circle that would be known as the Sloth Circle. As the centuries pass, Belphegor would come to marry Eisheth and bare a son with her, but he'd also develop chronic depression from what he has experienced and witnessed during and after the war in Heaven. Moreover, despite being an emperor, Belphegor's depression prevents him from attending to his duties as one but quite frankly he was never interested in ruling over a mass of slothful sinners and instead finds solace with his work and family. In addition, he leaves his royal duties to his chief assistant Hecate.

Even so, Lucifer would encourage Belphegor to share his inventions with humanity so that they could all join him on the "gloomy couch" so that he would not feel alone all the time. But this only gave rise to the sin of sloth which would be attributed to Belphegor. Under Belphegor's reign, Sloth became a ring for luxury and convenience, as well as the most technologically advanced of the Nine Circles. He invented millions of electronics which were created to cater to the every whim of the denizens of Sloth as a way to make his subjects depend on them for everything. This also led to the creation of *Idle Industries* which became the largest tech conglomerate in Hell.

Belphegor's depression and pessimistic nature eventually resulted in an intervention from his family and friends. Lucifer would send Belphegor out on a reconnaissance mission to Earth to find out if there really was such a thing as married happiness. Unbeknownst to him at the time, Hecate and Asmodeus would collaborate in trying to conceive a scenario where Belphegor would receive the happiness he deserves. Asmodeus would influence the Moabites to engage in sex, orgies, and all forms of debauchery from having them worship Belphegor as Baal Peor; Belphegor states that it was Asmodeus' version of a 'Belphy Appreciation Party'. All the while, Hecate would lead Eisheth over to the food table of the party where she would run into Belphegor once again, setting the stage for their future marriage.

## Trivia

* He is based on the demon of the same name who helps people make discoveries. He seduces people by suggesting to them ingenious inventions that will make them rich, stagnating that which could not be accredited to it. Belphegor is the chief demon of the deadly sin known as Sloth in Christian tradition.
* His theme songs would be "Lonely Dance" by Set It Off and "Help" by Papa Roach.
* Belphegor's favorite drink would be craft beer.
* He and his wife have their own Helltube channel that mainly hosts gaming content.
* His favorite music is lofi hip-hop.
* Belphegor is a self-proclaimed "pizzaholic" as he is almost always seen eating pizza. Though he is also shown eating other types of junk food such as burgers, fries, and chicken nuggets.
* Belphegor is known for almost never physically attending an important meeting between the emperors, instead simply manifesting through a hologram or video call.
* Among the emperors, Belphegor is the only one who can't be bothered to dress for the occasion as he is always seen wearing a simple grey hoodie, track pants, and converse shoes or crocs.