Pazuzu (The Exorcist)

"Your mother sucks cocks in hell Karras, you faithless slime!"

- Pazuzu

Pazuzu is a powerful demon who acted as the main villain in The Exorcist books and movies - based loosely on a mythological figure native to Babylonian culture where he was considered the king of wind-demons and son of the Babylonian god Hanbi.

In the original book and movie, Pazuzu is the demon that possesses Regan - this is its most famous outting but it has also appeared in all five Exorcist films and is listed as the 2nd greatest villain of all time by Wizard Magazine.

Role In The Novel
Pazuzu first appeared in The Exorcist novel, published in 1971 - the plot of which is pretty much identical to the film.

Role In Legion
Pazuzu was also intrumental in the sequel to the Exorcist titled Legion - in which it took revenge for being exorcised from Regan's body in the first novel - using the Gemini Killer's soul to possess Father Damien Karras's dead body and causing chaos before being defeated once more. This story was also adapted into a film.

Role In The Original Film
In 1973, The Exorcist was released as a film and Pazuzu would be the main villain just as it was in the novel - managing to possess Regan after she played with a Ouija board (appearing to her in form of the now infamous demon called "Captain Howdy") and turning her into a hideous vessel for it to mercilessly taunt and abuse those around itself while also displaying major supernatural powers that increase as the film progresses, presumably growing in strength as the demon took more and more control over Regan's hapless form - twisting her into a demonic parody of her former self. Regan's mother becomes desperate and seeks two priests to exorcise the demon from her daughter after several failed attempts to solve the problem by more scientific methods (with Regan violently attacking doctors and therapists) - this proves trickier than expected as even the priests are reluctant to perform an exorcism due to the belief such things were confined to the Dark Ages. However Father Karras and Father Merrin eventually arrive to perform the exorcism regardless, the battle with Pazuzu is a terrifying rollercoaster for the two priests, who struggle to contain the vast powers of the creature - sadly the battle proves too much for Father Merrin, who dies of a heart attack during the exorcism. Father Karras becomes enrages when Pazuzu mockingly laughs at his futile attempts to revive Father Merrin and is possessed by the demon after forcing it out of Regan through physical force - upon which the priest leaps out of the window to his death, presumably without a human host Pazuzu was dispersed when Merrin died, but it would return in the future sequels of the film.

In Other Movies
Pazuzu has also appeared in Scary Movie 2 and Repossessed - both of these appearances had Pazuzu's personality changed into that of a comedic villain compared to its hideously perverted true nature in the films and novels.

Trivia

 * Pazuzu is named and based after the Babylonian god of the underworld and king of demons.
 * In Futurama, The Professor's pet gargoyle is named Pazuzu, possibly a reference to him.
 * In Codename: Kids Next Door episode Operation: H.O.T.S.T.U.F.F., Numbuh 3 (although not a villain) serves as the main antagonist of the episode and most likely parodies him and his actions when he possesed Regan McNeil, only with fire-like powers similar to that of Father's and Grandfather's. It is also noted that the latter is as strong as he is and even more powerful than the said K.N.D. villains.
 * Pazuzu has been used in other internet phenomena such as being in the Scary maze game as a jumpscare
 * Pazuzu's goal, and how he deformed his host's appearance and eventually reveal his true form in climax are similar with titular Demon of Diablo franchise. Unlike Diablo, however, Pazuzu loves to instill psychological torture instead instill fear to his enemies, and couldn't summon hellfire nor demonic army.