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Legion is a supporting antagonist in Christian theology. He was considered a gestalt-demon made up of many different evil spirits.
History[]
The demon had taken possession of a man (in the Gospel of Matthew it was two men) from the ancient Roman town of Gadarenes (Gadara) in Jordan during the travelings of Jesus Christ, and the Son of God spoke with the spirit, and asked it its name (to which it replied the now famous quote of “My name is Legion, for we are many”).
Jesus of Nazareth continued to directly speak with the dark spirit, and demanded it to leave the man. The evil spirit was afraid of Jesus' power, and did as commanded, taking possession of a herd of pigs instead, which promptly ran into the sea and drowned.
While it is believed Legion physically died, it is likely the demon(s) remain in Hell, since spirits never truly die... Either way, it is mostly accepted that Legion was physically banished (if not outright killed), and no further mention of the demon is seen in official texts.
Symbolism[]
The tale is often cited as one of the most famous of all theological demons, and like most demons, Legion is symbolic of real-world suffering. In this case, it's a striking example of what would be considered severe mental illness in the modern world, most like DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder).
It is also cited as one of Jesus' great triumphs over evil, and showcased His strength as a healer and exorcist of the highest order (since he both removed the evil gestalt-entity, and cured the man of madness in one swoop).
Like many other monsters and demons Legion is symbolic of early Christianity itself, which was at the time a small religion and vastly outnumbered by the "pagan" world - hence Legion's infamous speech "we are many", thus the battle was likely a symbolism of how Jesus managed to defeat a vastly superior number of collective enemies (a "legion") : Legion's ultimate fate can also somewhat be seen as symbolizing the ultimate fate of all evils after Judgement Day, when God is prophecized to throw all unrepented sinners and malicious spirits in a Lake of Fire, where they will perish (much as Legion was said to have drowned).
Trivia[]
- In ancient times, a Legion was considered to be a Roman army unit of at least 5000 men. This would suggest that Legion consisted of at least five thousand or more demonic entities.
- in Demonology high-ranking agents of Hell have several Legions of lesser demons under their command, some have in excess of several dozen Legions each - this implies Hell has near-infinite legions at its disposal (this would make sense as according to Biblical lore a third of the angelic hosts rebelled when Satan tried to assault God, angels are often compared to celestial objects such as stars and as of now there are estimated to be trillions of stars in the universe).
- In the 2021 film Journey to Hell, Legion appears as the leader of the demons and serves as the main antagonist of the film.
