I need an expert in Middle Eastern demonology
July 25, 2014 9:31 AM Subscribe
Can somebody help me identify the mythological or literary sources for the enemies in this Arabian Nights-themed video game?
When I was a kid I played the heck out of Defenders of Oasis. One of the things I really liked about it was how it drew from so many interesting sources for its enemy characters: Persian poems, Babylonian mythology, Lovecraft, Tolkien, Borges, etc. But there's a few that I can't seem to identify.
If you would, please, peruse this bestiary and help me figure out the inspiration for the following enemies:
Akmanaf
Dolge
Marzu-A/Z
Salwa
Taarmaty
Zariche
As every single other enemy in the game has some sort of antecedent, I'm operating under the assumption that these aren't original creations, and I am really curious to find out where they came from, especially those last three.
When I was a kid I played the heck out of Defenders of Oasis. One of the things I really liked about it was how it drew from so many interesting sources for its enemy characters: Persian poems, Babylonian mythology, Lovecraft, Tolkien, Borges, etc. But there's a few that I can't seem to identify.
If you would, please, peruse this bestiary and help me figure out the inspiration for the following enemies:
Akmanaf
Dolge
Marzu-A/Z
Salwa
Taarmaty
Zariche
As every single other enemy in the game has some sort of antecedent, I'm operating under the assumption that these aren't original creations, and I am really curious to find out where they came from, especially those last three.
I'm guessing that Taarmaty is a corruption of Tiamat, a Babylonian chaos goddess who gave birth to serpents and dragons, among other beasties. In the 1970's the creators of Dungeons and Dragons conflated her with later mythological creatures and turned her into a three-headed dragon, which is what the smaller sprite looks like to me. So the creature appears to be some mash-up of the Babylonian goddess, the Hindu and Buddhist snake gods known as nagas, and the D&D many-headed dragon version.
posted by firechicago at 10:12 AM on July 25, 2014
posted by firechicago at 10:12 AM on July 25, 2014
Also the Marzu is a palette-swapped Pazuzu which is definitely the mythical Pazuzu.
posted by griphus at 10:36 AM on July 25, 2014
posted by griphus at 10:36 AM on July 25, 2014
Dolge looks like Demogorgon with the baboon heads replaced.
posted by zamboni at 10:59 AM on July 25, 2014
posted by zamboni at 10:59 AM on July 25, 2014
Zariche could be a corruption of "The Lich", though I'm not sure why it rated a "the" when nothing else did.
posted by wanderingmind at 3:24 PM on July 25, 2014
posted by wanderingmind at 3:24 PM on July 25, 2014
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posted by griphus at 9:55 AM on July 25, 2014