Belial

Biography

As with all of the Great Evils, Belial was spawned from one of the seven heads of the great dragon Tathamet. He lorded over the Realm of Lies in Hell,^[3] and was mentored by Mephisto.^[4]

Belial led his forces during the Eternal Conflict, but never led an army directly, instead operating from the shadows.^[4]

The Dark Exile

The Lesser Evils came to be discontent with the Prime Evils' focus on humanity after the events of the Sin War, furious that the Great Conflict had been apparently abandoned.^[3] In the midst of this period, Belial and Azmodan saw a chance to overthrow the Prime Evils and take control of Hell for themselves.^[5] Belial manipulated Azmodan into making war against the Prime Evils.^[6]

The two Evils made pacts with their brethren, assuring them that humanity would not stand in their way in the course of the Great Conflict.^[5] Andariel and Duriel had their doubts at first, afraid that they would fall in the coming conflict. Belial however, kept them in the fold.^[7] The civil war that followed was bloody, but it concluded with the Prime Evils being banished to the mortal realm.^[5]

One account^[3] states that as the fires of battle died down, Belial and Azmodan began to argue over which of them held higher authority. The pact they had made dissolved and the two took up arms against each other, polarizing the factions of Hell along with them.^[5] Others say, however, that there was no falling out, and that the two began conspiring to subjugate all life to their will.^[3] In truth, Belial and Azmodan did wage war, claiming entire realms as their own.^[8] By the Darkening of Tristram, Azmodan had held the advantage in the Hells' civil war for a while.^[9]

Around this point in time, word reached Xazax of Diablo's awakening and the possible return of the Prime Evils to Hell. If they did so, Xazax knew Belial, his master, would fall, and consequently, he himself as well. He convinced Belial to authorize a plan to aid the mortals Augustus Malevolyn and Galeona in retrieving the armor of Bartuc. Belial agreed, even sacrificing his own minions in Malevolyn's attack on Lut Gholein, as a new Bartuc in his service could give him an edge against Azmodan, and would be a useful servant in the event of the Prime Evils' return to Hell. Unfortunately for Belial, Xazax failed in his task.^[9] Fortunately for the Lord of Lies, however, only Diablo made it into Hell, and the Lord of Terror was cast down by a group of mortal heroes before he could take back control of Hell.^[3]

The Order

After the destruction of the Worldstone, Sanctuary was left open to demonic invasion. Deckard Cain came to believe that Belial and Azmodan were preparing for such an invasion. In truth, by 1272, Belial was already working his machinations on Sanctuary. He vested his time and effort into Garreth Rau. An orphan with a spark of nephalem legacy in his blood, Rau was twisted by the Lord of Lies, becoming a powerful dark mage in servitude to Hell. Belial manipulated Rau into believing that he was the descendant of Tal Rasha (a lie, as Tal Rasha had no children), and that during the Dark Exile, Jered Cain had used demonic magic to trick Tal Rasha and forced the soulstone upon him, in an effort to spare his own life. Garreth Rau's personality and memories were overwritten with the persona of the Dark One, an insidious and jealous mage. The Dark One founded the second order of Horadrim, though twisted by Belial's deceit. Belial planned to use Rau and his followers to build an army on Sanctuary, and after conquering the mortal realm, use it to launch an invasion against Heaven itself.

Belial ordered Rau to find Leah; a ward of Deckard Cain. He reminded Rau of the 'treachery' of Jered Cain, and claimed that his descendant, Deckard, carried demonic blood in his veins. He ordered Rau to lure Leah to the Black Tower, and take revenge on Cain.

Cain made it to Gea Kul, and talking through Egil, Belial mocked him. He tormented Cain with memories of his wife and son, claiming that their souls were being tortured in Hell. That all of Cain's life was a lie. Cain was bombarded by Belial's lies, experiencing great mental anguish, but the Monk Mikulov killed Belial's host, breaking the demon's connection.

Leah was abducted by Rau's servants and brought into the Dark Tower. Such was her latent magical ability, Rau and Belial planned to use her 'lifespark' to not only awaken an undead army from Al Cut, but summon Belial into the mortal realm.

Belial's plan was foiled by Cain and his allies. Despite possessing overwhelming power, the Dark One succumbed to Cain's resourcefulness. In the final confrontation, Belial began to manifest himself from Rau's body, but when he saw Leah, he was caught offguard, recognising Diablo within her, commenting "I know that face..." Charges that Cain had set earlier went off and causing the Black Tower to collapse. Beholding Rau, Cain could see that he was fighting for control. With a single, strangled cry, Rau threw himself out of the window, into the sea.

Belial was enraged at his loss, but he received pleasing news, that of the imminent birth of a boy (within the next five years) who would become emperor of Caldeum. He planned to use the child as a means to take over Kehjistan.^[10]

Theater Macabre

Belial influenced the playwright Marlowe to write a stage play depicting the accounts of the Dark Exile. Marlowe realized he was being influenced and tried to burn the manuscript. However, it was stolen by his rival, Samuel Drest. Drest finished the play, which served Belial well—his story would live forever in the hearts of men. Drest was regarded as a mad playwright and got hanged. According to Malchus, this would serve Belial just as well, as it would increase interest in the stage play.^[11]

The End of Days

By the End of Days, Belial and Azmodan ruled half of Hell each, though both had set their sights on Sanctuary. By this stage, while not necessarily enemies, they were still "more rivals than allies."^[2] The two demons nonetheless came to share the same goal of subjugating humanity into their fold.^[12]

Taking Caldeum

At some point, Belial either possessed or impersonated Emperor Hakan II of Caldeum. Exactly when this occurred is unclear, though Caldeum's decline began as soon as Hakan took the throne,^[13] and an unnatural drought gripped the region in the years leading up to 1285.^[14] In this year, the Imperial Guard were formed.^[15] Belial's Deceiver demons either replaced the Guardsmen, or formed the bulk of them from the outset.^[16] The Coven also served him, possibly providing slaves.^[17]

Hakan withdraw the support of Caldeum from the wastes and leave those who live there to their own devices. Caravans became vulnerable to attack, and refugees streamed towards Caldeum, beating against the gates. With the Borderlands devoid of protection, this allowed the Coven and Belial's demons to roam the Borderlands unchallenged.^[18] Hakan II, becoming increasingly paranoid, ordered all of his staff to leave the city, lest they be thrown off the walls.^[19] Through his host, Belial now controlled Caldeum.^[20]

Liar's End

In Khanduras, the Coven attempted to retrieve the shards of El'druin, which had fallen from the Heavens alongside Tyrael. However, Maghda failed to retrieve it, thwarted by the actions of The Nephalem.^[21] Belial was displeased with her failure, and 'suggested' that she and the Coven set a trap at the Khasim Outpost. It failed, and Belial once again made his displeasure known. However, his spies had managed to apprehend Leah; a companion of The Nephalem.^[22] In truth, Maghda's failures were somewhat academic, as he had sent her into the desert to lure The Nephalem away from Caldeum.^[23]

The Nephalem was granted an audience with Hakan. As Hakan, Belial stated that he had been informed that The Nephalem was behind the massacre at Alcarnus, and revealed that the Imperial Guard had captured their 'spy,' Leah. He left the Guard to deal with The Nephalem as he left, stating that he detested violence.^[24] He later contacted The Nephalem via a projection, claiming that he (Hakan) was being controlled by the Imperial Guard, but would find Belial and deliver him unto The Nephalem. By this point, Belial was aware of the existence of the Black Soulstone. Belial feared its power, as he knew that the original soulstones had been used to imprison the Prime Evils, and that he could be similarly trapped.^[4]

Through the projection, Belial once again contacted The Nephalem in Caldeum's aqueducts, instructing them how to make their way through them. However, by this point, The Nephalem was skeptical of "Hakan's" ability to find Belial, and Leah later sensed that Belial had been in the aqueducts before them.^[25]

Still using his projection, Belial appeared to the Nephalem for a third and final time when they entered the Archives of Zoltun Kulle. He told them that he had found Belial's identity, and would lead them to him. He told them that Belial had noticed their actions and was growing nervous, but in the meantime, The Nephalem was to focus on the Black Soulstone.^[26]

After the Nephalem retrieved the Black Soulstone, Belial became desperate, raining meteors down upon Caldeum and forcing an evacuation of the city.^[27] When the assault ended, The Nephalem confronted Emperor Hakan II where they revealed that they knew he was Belial. The demon lord commended them for their cleverness, but told them that Azmodan knew of the Black Soulstone's existence, and that even if they defeated him, Azmodan would exterminate humanity. He then proceeded with a threefold attack, first with his minions, then personally fighting and finally transforming into an illusion of a giant, monstrous version of himself. Despite his vicious attack, he was slain and imprisoned within the Black Soulstone, ending his reign of tyranny over Kehjistan.^[28]

Reaper of Souls

Belial's essence remained in the Black Soulstone, briefly merging with Diablo's to become a singular Prime Evil during the Lord of Terror's assault on the High Heavens.^[29] With Diablo's defeat, the essences of the Great Evils were returned to the Black Soulstone, their souls screaming for release.^[30] The artifact was destroyed by Malthael and Diablo set free,^[31] still retaining the essence of Belial and the other Evils.^[32] Eventually however, Belial's spirit was able to break free from Diablo, just as all the other Evils.^[33]

When the Black Soulstone was destroyed, shards of the artifact containing the essences of the Great Evils wound up in Sanctuary. Belial's shard was obtained by Tilnan, who wondered if the shard came from Belial's true form, or if such a thing even existed.^[34]

Reign of Enmity

Belial was active during the Reign of Enmity. He spread his lies to make Sanctuary ever more fractious.^[35]

In-game

Diablo III

The Dregs of Lies fragment can be obtained in Diablo III. Of the Soul Shards, it represents Belial.

Belial appears in Diablo III during the final quest on the 2nd Act. It is divided into three phases. The battle starts immediately after entering the Imperial Palace, after a short cutscene. Fighting arena is moon crest-shaped.

Phase 1: Even if you defeat me...

Belial does not take part in phase 1, opting instead to call in the troops. He'll summon a large, yet, a limited amount of Veiled Sentinels and Veiled Evokers to challenge the player. Both types retain the snakeman ability to vanish and then re-appear. Snakemen spawn timely, not upon the death of their comrades.

Phase 2: I will not be undone!

After the snakemen prove to be fairly ineffectual, Belial himself drops down into the throne room to battle the player. In this phase, he has relatively little health (for a boss), and Snakemen are still spawned during this phase (but not for the first 30 seconds, so it is possible to finish Phase 2 without them even appearing), dropping a good amount of health globes. Belial himself has a few abilities in phase 2:

• Fly Swarms: Belial launches three fast-moving swarms of insects along the ground at medium range, which pierce through enemies and deal average damage.
• Melee Attack: He has a basic melee attack in this phase that hits for low Physical damage.
• Reinforcements: As the battle rages on, Belial will call in more snakemen to aid in defeating the hero(es), but at much slower rate than he did in Phase 1. They drop health globes. Any remaining snakemen will all die when Phase 3 is initiated, so it is advised to focus on Belial himself.

Phase 3: The true vision of the Lord of Hell

When Belial is whittled down to below 25% of his total HP in Phase 2, the final phase begins after a brief delay. In this phase, Belial gains full (and greatly increased) life, becoming immobile, incredibly large (the entire inner edge of the platform counts as part of his body for targeting purposes), and will drop Health Globes every time he suffers 10% damage, not every 25%. He replaces his normal abilities with new ones:

• Fist Slam: A green ring appears on the ground where Belial is about to strike, giving glass cannon heroes a brief moment to run out of the area (be careful as the exact area being hit is slightly larger than its visual). There are some variations of this; he can slam once with either limb or three times in a row, with each subsequent hit having a larger area of effect. After the 3-strike combo, he drops a Health Globe.
• Meteor Strike: If Belial survives in a battle against the Nephalem for 50 seconds, he will gnash both of his limbs into the ground of the throne room for roughly 15 seconds. During this, small green rings will show up chaotically all over the arena. After two seconds, each ring explodes for high Lightning damage. This is by far the most dangerous of his attacks, as two consecutive hits can easily kill an average hero on adequate difficulty. Quick movement and/or high Lightning Resistance coupled with high Vitality is the key to surviving this attack, so one should focus on survival rather than on damage while this attack lasts. Only a fully equipped tank could hope to survive a full onslaught.
• Breath: Belial will breathe lightning from one end of the arena to the other, hitting for average damage. It can be avoided by standing very close to either the left or right end of the platform.

In this phase, the Lord of Lies is immune to nearly all forms of control impairment. As such, only directly damaging him will suffice. This hampers the capabilities of heroes who make use of items such as the Haunt of Vaxo. As such, it is recommended to build characters with this in mind.

A hero with a Xephirian Amulet may have quite the laugh watching as Belial tries to harm them; with that equipped, Belial is little more than a hardy obstacle, perhaps more so than even Ghom, even after the enrage. The only real damage that remains is his Fist Slam, which will only prove to be enough to kill a hero who has, to put it bluntly, pathetic degrees of Toughness and healing compared to the difficulty.

On Torment Difficulty, Belial has a hard enrage timer of 3 minutes, at which point he will continuously use his Meteor Strike, covering the entire platform at once (impossible to dodge) until combat ends. It is still possible to kill him past this enrage timer (especially with Xephirian Amulet), however, it is very difficult.

Quotes

• "My exemplary servants, Keep the witch alive until she talks. Pain will loose her tongue, but only to a point. Remember what happened to the vizier's assistant? It was a pleasurable time, I admit, but the man had only incoherent babble and bloody strands of pus spilling from his lips by the end."
• "Overwhelm the enemy and seize his/her companions. There's a witch among and.. another - a girl. Bring them to me along with the Black Soulstone. They'll be searching for the head of Zoltun Kulle. Scour the oasis for it. Some old sorcery lingers on the skull, and it must be mine!"
• "Miserable wretches, I have no time for your excuses. Caldeum is on the brink of rebellion, and the enemy is closing in on the archives of Zoltun Kulle. Slaughter him/her and bring me the mad wizard's head and the Black Soulstone, or I shall inflict incomprehensible agony upon the lot of you!"
• "Maghda, This "hero" means to attack you in Alcarnus. If I were you, I'd set a trap at the Khasim Outpost... but I'm not you. For all I know, you wish to fail me again and force me to kill you. That would grieve me, but somehow.. I think I could manage it."
• "Maghda, Such sad, sad tales have reached me of your truly abysmal failure at the Khasim Outpost.. but at least the enemy's spy has been found. Once we eliminate her and her allies, this obnoxious little world will fall to me and... perhaps you - if you survive."
• "Clever. But know this, nephalem: Azmodan knows of the stone and the power it contains. Even if you defeat me, he will exterminate you and every last one of your misbegotten kind."
• "I will not be undone! This world is mine!"
• "I cast off these petty illusions! Behold, the true vision of the Lord of Hell!"

Other

Belial is represented in Diablo Chess. He takes the position of the rook.

Personality and Traits

Belial advocates the notion that perception is reality, and it is his sole purpose to dominate reality. He does not lie simply for the sake of lying, but rather to deceive with the intent of controlling others' perception of what is real. He relishes the moment his victim realizes they've been deceived, that moment of nakedness and betrayal.^[3] If Belial hs a weakness however, it is that he is often trapped within the intricate webs of his own machinations.^[3]

Tyrael described Belial as desiring power above all other things and that his thousand schemes are designed toward his ends.^[2]

Belial was never content with his place in Hell, and always desired more power.^[36]

Abilities

Belial is a master of artifice and intrigue.^[4] It is debatable that if Belial even has a "true form, unlike his demonic breathren.^[37]

Even from beyond Sanctuary, Belial could influence the thoughts of mortals. Able to shift their beliefs and 'truths.' Rau reflected that Belial's power was "so immense, it was like looking into the sun," feeling 'thought tendrils' extending from Hell, and weaving themselves through his mind.^[38] In battle against The Nephalem, Belial rained fire down upon Caldeum^[27] and could apparently influence (the perception of) reality itself.^[28]

Trivia

This section contains facts and trivia relevant to this article.

• The minions of Belial are most active during the month of Solmoneth and Montaht.^[39]
• It is possible that Belial's combat abilities are entirely illusional: i.e. his enlarged form is not his real self, but is rather a vision, using the "your mind makes it real" principle to hurt The Nephalem. Probably, this is why all the destruction he wreaks disappears and is no longer in place once Belial dies.
• In console versions of Diablo III, the camera angle during Belial's fight, Phase 3, changes and follows the character differently, showing Belial from upfront instead of from above (arcade platformer style instead of the classic Diablo series style). This is the only place in the game that is not using isometric view of the battlefield.
• The boss battle against Zurvan in StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm is very similar to Belial in its layout. Both games were released only a year apart from each other.
• In The Sanctuary Tarot Deck and Guidebook Belial represents the King of Wands card.
• A Baa'lial got pet can be obtained in World of Warcraft, as part of the "A Greedy Emissary" world event.

Etymology

• In Jewish mithology, Belial is a fallen angel and spirit of Ars Goetia.
• Parallels can be drawn between Belial and Beelzebub, which is another name for Ba'al in Christian and Jewish mythologies. His corruption physically manifests in the form of botflies, as shown by his own and Maghda's appearance and attacks, and there is an achievement titled "Lord of the Flies", which is a title for Beelzebub (and a possible pun on Belial's "Lord of Lies" title).

References