Barbelo

“Open your eyes and see
She’s only a chimera to thee,
The celestial thought is only in your mind:
This feminine person is an atrocious kind.

This doomed empress is waiting for you
To perish anytime soon.”
_{[ Empress – Nemesea ]}

Her Majesty Queen Barbelo is the spouse of Emperor Lucifer and the First Lady of Hell. Being the Demon of Wrath, as the Queen of Darkness she’s part of the Seven Satans, the First-Level  of Demons. She has also full control over one of the four Elements, Fire. She was the first female being ever created by Yahweh and the fourth Angel overall, after Emperor Lucifer, Great Angel Michael and Prince Abaddon. Thanks to her mighty powers and bellicose nature, she quickly rose to prominence as the Second-in-Command of Powers, gaining the spotlight in the Heavenly Army and much respect from her soldiers. Yet, she decided to follow Emperor Lucifer in the Great Heavenly War because of Yahweh’s failed attempt to deprive her of her powers in his quest to reduce the political influence of female Angels in Heaven. Her being the first and supreme female principle is what led Emperor Lucifer to make her his official bride after her fall, even though they openly cheat on each other – for instance, rumour has it that Duke Xaphan from the Fourth Level is the Queen’s Favourite.
Queen Barbelo shares a relationship which lies somewhere between deep friendship and rivalry with Princess Lilith and Duchess Astarte, all of them representing one primordial side of femininity: while Duchess Astarte represents the (twisted) holiness of a woman with powers over fertility, and Princess Lilith epitomises the most wayward, pure and instinctual side of femininity, Queen Barbelo embodies the very essence of the creative and destructive principle of womanhood, both in a positive and a negative manner. For instance, it was her idea to use a woman, Eve, to lure the then newborn mankind to Sin through the Tree of Knowledge Plot, ending Yahweh’s absolute power over the Earth, opening a way for Evil to spread in the world but also granting free will to mankind in the process. This episode started her deep and long-lasting friendship with Marquis Leviathan, with whom she often works closely, like in the First Murder Plot, when the two combined the influence of their Sins with a little psychic help from Marquise Anamelech to induce Cain to kill Abel. Her retinue includes other fiery or bellicose demons, such as Count Furcifel, the Demon of Thunderstorms, and the military Marquis Nergal.
Her destructive side manifests best through her Sin, which makes her temper rather unstable: she can become quite a sadist at times, and greatly enjoys the sight, scent and taste of blood. That’s why she can fully master Fire, a destroying force which leaves behind ashes and ruins, but can also renew and purify things.
Because of her frequent fits of Wrath, she prefers to leave many of the practical and political aspects of her queenship in the capable hands of Archduke Beelzebub, and go wreak havoc on the Earth instead. As Babylon the Great, however, she will lead the Seven Satans and their troops during the Armageddon in order to bring corruption among mankind through their Seven Deadly Sins.



I'd like to wish you all a happy 2011, and what better way to begin the new year than a new work of the Infernal Lords series? So here's Barbelo, as a wish that your new year is as much inspired as my own seems to be from the beginning. If you want to know how I came up with this character, go to my blog and read Barbelo: Development and Symbolism, I really recommend that you do.

Photo, concept, manipulation, frame design: GothicNarcissus Photography
Model, grooming: Federica
Styling: Federica and GothicNarcissus Photography
Assistant: DamaInNero
Additional resources: Myruso (wallpaper), Sxc.hu (throne, wings)