Pazuzu (The Exorcist)

"Your mother sucks c*cks in hell, Karras, you faithless slime!"

- Pazuzu "You know what she did? Your c*nting daughter?"

- Pazuzu

Pazuzu is the main antagonist of The Exorcist franchise. He is a powerful demon who was based loosely on a mythological figure native to Babylonian culture where it was considered the king of wind demons and son of the Babylonian god Hanbi. Pazuzu was the main antagonist of the novel, the movie adaptation, and its sequel The Heretic, the secondary antagonist of Legion and again the main antagonist of the two prequels, The Beginning and Dominion. He also appeared in the 2016 FOX series The Exorcist.

In the original book and film, Pazuzu was the demon that possessed Regan. This was its most famous outing, but it had also appeared in all five Exorcist films.

In the 1973 film, it was voiced by the late Mercedes McCambridge.

The Beginning
In this prequel to The Exorcist, Pazuzu lorded over a pagan temple, systematically murdering anyone that came to the temple. The sole survivor that would remain is often a priest. Towards the end of the film, the only survivors of Pazuzu's massacre was Father Merrin and a young boy.

First book & Film adaptation
In the novel and film adaption Pazuzu managed to possess Regan after she played with a Ouija board (appearing to her in form of the now infamous demon called "Captain Howdy") turned her into a hideous vessel for it to mercilessly taunt and abuse those around itself while also displaying major supernatural powers that increased as the story progressed, presumably grew in strength as the demon took more and more control over Regan's hapless form - which twisted her into a demonic parody of her former self which included behaviors like vigorous masturbation with a crucifix, demanding people to have sex with her, and yelling sexual insults at people.

Regan's mother became desperate and sought 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). That proved trickier than expected as even the priests were reluctant to perform an exorcism due to the belief that such things were confined to the Dark Ages.

However, Father Karras and Father Merrin eventually arrived to perform the exorcism regardless. The battle with Pazuzu was a terrifying rollercoaster for the two priests, who struggled to contain the vast powers of the creature. Sadly, the battle proved too much for Father Merrin, who died of a heart attack during the exorcism. Father Karras became enraged when Pazuzu mockingly laughs at his futile attempts to revive Father Merrin while demanding him to fuck it and was possessed by the demon after forcing it out of Regan through physical force upon which the priest leapt out of the window to his death. Presumably without a human host, Pazuzu was dispersed when Merrin died, but it returned in the future sequels of the novel and film.

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

The Exorcist III
While not physically appearing, Pazuzu plays a crucial role in this film. Wanting revenge on Karras for the events of the first film, Pazuzu discovers the soul of an executed serial killer known as the Gemini Killer, and he transfers it into Karras' broken body thus contributing to the Gemini Killer's further spree.

The Exorcist (TV series)
Pazuzu returns in the television series being revealed to have taken on the persona of the Salesman. In the series, he takes possession of Regan's daughter Casey Rance, giving her horrific nightmares. He also murders Katherine's girlfriend by placing her in a car accident among other misdeeds. When he repossesses Regan, Regan receives some willpower to physically beat Pazuzu to a bloody pulp before leaving him to presumably die. It is also revealed that he had raped Regan when she was 12.

Quotes
"I am Pazuzu!"

- Pazuzu possessing Kokumo.

Trivia

 * It was listed as the 2nd greatest villain of all time by Wizard Magazine.
 * Pazuzu is based off of a real serial killer, Paul Bateson.
 * Hugh Kane from Scary Movie 2 is a parody of Pazuzu from the film The Exorcist.
 * In Codename: Kids Next Door episode Operation: H.O.T.S.T.U.F.F., Numbuh 3 (although not a villain) served as the main antagonist of the episode and most likely parodied Pazuzu and its actions when it possessed Regan MacNeil, only with fire-like powers similar to that of Father's and Grandfather's. It was also noted that the latter was as strong as it was and even more powerful than the said K.N.D. villains.
 * Pazuzu 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.
 * In the comic book Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror 2 in the story "The Exorsister!" Madonna's Spirit is a parody of Pazuzu from the film The Exorcist which is the comic story based on.
 * Pazuzu has been used in other Internet phenomena such as being in the Scary Maze Game as a jumpscare.
 * In Celebrity Deathmatch, Captain Doody serves as a minor antagonist when he parodied Pazuzu, Doody possesses Nick Jr. by using him as a host while parodying Pazuzu who possessed Regan McNeil. The Undertaker manages to exorcise Captain Doody from Nick Jr's body by using his signature taunt the Tombstone Piledriver and Captain Doody does possesses an helpless popcorn guy named Phil.
 * Pazuzu made an appearance in a 2017 episode of The Simpsons, "Treehouse of Horror XXVIII, possessing Maggie and Bart Simpson in a spoof of The Exorcist.
 * Other than brief glimpses of a humanoid face, Pazuzu's appearance as portrayed by its statues and mythology point to it being an indescribable being of darkness and pure evil.