Watcher

**Watchers** were major antagonists in the *Divine Comedy*.

The Watchers, also known as Grigori, were a choir of angels tasked with watching over humanity. Their job was to look over and guide the humans but never to interfere in their development and advancement. Unfortunately, they broke their oath which resulted in their eternal damnation and the Flood.

## Description

As they were angels, the Watchers are humanoid beings that have a variety of forms but one specific to the type of Watcher. Most of the Watchers currently look decrepit and mere shadows of their former angelic selves. From what could be seen by the Watchers that were chained in Sheol they bore humanoid characteristics but with some eldritch features. Their wings are shredded and torn.

## History

### Background

The Watchers were tasked to observe and watch over humanity all while being led by Samyaza and Azazel. Azazel stated that after God's sons convinced Him to be a little more active outside His study as they and humanity need a helping hand, He'd try to make Himself feel better by setting humanity on the right track. He'd do this by greenlighting the *Watcher Project*, sending these angels on His behalf. However, they soon betrayed their oath when the Watchers took pity on humanity for their slow and pitiful development to advance themselves in order to survive. Thus, they opted to interfere by teaching humanity forbidden arts which would soon come into play for many ages to come.

The chief Watchers shared with and taught humanity all manner of enchantments and charms such weaponry, cosmetics, mirrors, sorcery, and other techniques that would otherwise be discovered gradually over time by humans, not foisted upon them all at once. But they took it a step further when they actually began to lust after human women and decided to mate with them. It first began when Samyaza fell in love with a human woman by the name of Ishtar followed by his comrades in suite. Ishtar bore Samyaza twin sons, and the first Nephilim in existence.

### Great Flood

The Earth would soon be populated by the Nephilim who ruled over humans as kings and gods all while their divine parents guided them. But the Watchers failed to realize that because of their mixed genes, they would be both mentally and physically unstable as they'd grow too fast and be reduced to mindless cannibalistic berserkers. Samyaza also discovered that Ishtar had betrayed him, selling him out to the angels so she could have a permanent place in Heaven. The archangels were then sent to deal with the situation which involved Michael arresting and killing Samyaza, Raphael imprisoning Azazel, and Gabriel making the Nephilim kill each other.

The damage was so bad that God was forced to do a "hard reset" on Earth by flooding the entire planet or "dousing it with water" as Gabriel stated. With the remaining Watchers punished, the surviving Nephilim killed by the Flood, and the *Watcher Project* ending in a disaster, God only grew more depressed and locked Himself in his study, never to be seen or heard from again. The Watchers were thrown into a place called Sheol, chained to the walls and lodged into the terrain. Some of the Watchers were used as means of architectural support where they would heave the city of Pandemonium on their backs and shoulders for eternity. After the Flood, a new law was put forth: angels are strictly prohibited from falling in love with a mortal. Moreover, the prophet Enoch became the first human to ascend into an angel with the angel in question being none other than Metatron.

## Trivia

* The Watchers are based on the biblical angels of the same name found in the apocryphal *Books of Enoch*. In the *Book of Enoch*, the watchers (Aramaic עִירִין, iyrin) are angels dispatched to Earth to watch over the humans. They soon begin to lust for human women and, at the prodding of their leader Samyaza, defect to illicitly instruct humanity and procreate among them. The offspring of these unions are the Nephilim, savage giants who pillage the earth and endanger humanity.
* They are also referred to as the "Grigori". The Slavic word "Grigori" used in the book is a transcription of the Greek word egrḗgoroi, meaning "wakeful". The Hebrew equivalent means "waking", "awake".
* According to Temeluchus, there used to be over two-hundred Watchers but a majority of them were killed by Heaven before the coming of the Flood.
* Some of the Watchers used to guard the Garden of Eden such as Gadreel and Shamsiel.