Moloch

Lore

The demon Moloch is known in ancient history by many names: Moloch, Molech, Molek. Medieval demonology grants Moloch the title Prince of the Land of Tears; in turn, John Milton in Paradise Lost (1667) describes the demon as the greatest warrior of the rebellion, drenched in the tears of mothers. In modern culture the name “Moloch” has become a metaphor for ruthless systems that demand human sacrifice.

Legends depict Moloch as a huge anthropomorphic statue of tarnished bronze. His body takes the form of a massive, hyper-muscular humanoid with an unnaturally swollen, barrel-shaped belly. This belly is not a digestive reservoir in the biological sense; it is a hollow furnace, within which infernal flames rage eternally. The creature’s head is that of a ferocious bull, crowned with a heavy royal diadem inlaid with gemstones. Moloch’s eyes lack pupils; they are two deep sockets from which a blinding, pulsing light of molten core pours forth. Colossal horns, curving upward and forward, glow white-hot and can pierce fortress walls.

From the monster’s nostrils, with every exhalation, billow clouds of dense black ash and sulfurous gas, poisoning the air for dozens of feet around him. Of particular note are his upper limbs—arms disproportionately long relative to his body. With them the demon seizes his victims and places them into his furnace, from which escape is impossible. The atmosphere of the scene is utterly horrific.

Moloch is a fallen angel, and before his fall he belonged to the highest ranks, presumably the archangels, personifying the purifying flame of justice. During Lucifer’s rebellion he became one of the generals, and after defeat was cast down, twisting his flame into a perverted form of justice and sadism, taking on the mask of a bull-like humanoid.