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“ | I have gazed upon the Faceless Ones, servitors of His Undulating Vastness. Their chief is blind - castrated by our words and will. He sings songs of anarchy but they will not come again. These terrible spirits do not deserve our love; render unto them no sacrifice until the stars have aligned. | „ |
~ Grand Karcist Ion's scripture from SCP-2095. |
“ | Life was suddenly complicated, so he asked his six advisors, his archons. They informed him that the spheres were important to her, and that she was angry at what he would have wrought. He didn't fully understand, and had less of a clue of what happened to her. Finally, he decided that like her machines, she was merely broken. And machines, unlike the things of flesh, can be built again. He would wait here, until she was no longer angry with him, and decided let to him go. | „ |
~ From "A Life that Was Simple". |
Yaldabaoth is a major antagonist in the SCP Foundation series. The practitioners of Sarkicism believe that they are the principal power in the universe and the incidental evil creator of all life who was defeated by the Grand Karcist Ion. Yaldabaoth is also often paired with Mekhane, the Broken God who also opposes them and are seen as archenemies.
They are one of the many depictions of the Demiurge from Gnosticism.
Biography[]
Possible Origins[]
The Maker and The Beast[]
Yaldabaoth alongside Mekhane were originally two of the most powerful gods who inhabited the the Great Abyss preceding creation where Yaldabaoth accompanied by their Archons would consume lesser deities while Mekhane would create logic and the laws of the universe. Mekhane saw Yaldabaoth in disgust, thinking of thimy as a mindless beast who only knew to consume, while Yaldabaoth was confused at Mekhane's actions and just let them be. As Mekhane struggled to keep their creations from falling apart they saw how Yaldabaoth after consuming the gods would breathe out the ashes of the gods, and so they decided to claim those ashes and use them to create their machines. This worked as Mekhane's creations didn't fall apart and soon they were able to create life. However, Yaldabaoth uncaring of the life created by Mekhane began ramming into their creations, causing Mekhane to retaliate. Mekhane engaged with Yaldabaoth in a biblical battle over the fate of humanity, and the battle ended with Mekhane sealing Yaldabaoth away, but breaking into pieces in the process.
Historia Europa I[]
After the force known as "IS" created the Paragons out of its Dream and had them create the world and its inhabitants, Aella the Gardener, the Paragon of Life, and Osyn the Quiet, the Paragon of Soul, created Yaldabaoth alongside Mekhane and Titania to serve as protectors of Gaia. Both Mekhane and Yaldabaoth fearing that Titania's Children would be unable to properly protect Gaia decided to create together their champion Adam El Asem the first and most powerful of men who would rule over the city of Audapaupadopolis where the gods became known figures. It is unknown what happened to Yaldabaoth following Mekhane's shattering at the hands of Adam.
Qlippoth and Sefiros[]
Yaldabaoth, originally known as Qlippoth, inhabited the endless Void where it rested for millennia without any form of sentience, simply existing. Eventually, Qlippoth was approached by another entity known as Sefiros who prior of the encounter was unhappy that it was all alone, until meeting Qlippoth at which point it became happy. However, upon encountering Sefiros, Qlippoth became finally aware of its existence and felt confused and frightened. Sefiros used Qlippoth to create reality and life such as the Giants, the Shedim, the Angels and Man, and everyone was happy except for Qlippoth who slowly began reemerging and destroy what Sefiros had built. Qlippoth spawned a massive army which included the Worm who destroyed most of Sefiros' forces. Eventually the entirety of Creation was destroyed, but thankfully it was recreated thanks to the sacrifice of Sefiros' twenty-five warriors, while leaving Qlippoth to try and plan to destroy creation once again.
Grand Karcist Ion[]
In the ancient times of the Daevite Empire, after the slave known as Ion escaped from their enslavement and began wandering through unknown land. Yaldabaoth and the Archons saw potential in him for their plans and offered Ion to give him great power if he surrendered himself to them. Ion agreed was put through a dream-like and painful apotheosis, being granted power over flesh and disease. Ion would use his newfound powers to create the religion of Sarkicism and attempt to take over the world and transform humanity into gods.
SCP-2688[]
Following their imprisonment, one of Yaldabaoth's pieces sank underground through time somewhere in the Bubiyan Island, Kuwait. People would build a farming village on the ground containing the organic piece and would live there from 4100 BCE to 1200 BCE before abandoning it due to the invasion of an unknown group and in 300 BCE it was resettled by a group of Hellenes and Babylonians lead by Karcist Tulva. Because of the influence emitted by the piece the people's descendants would be born with heavy bodily mutations and deformations and they would also start worshiping Yaldabaoth. In modern times, ORIA forcefully took over the village before being claimed by the SCP Foundation that designated it SCP-2688.
SCP-3503[]
In 2002, when Private Morton Baker of the US Army was fighting in Afghanistan, he got knocked out by a nearby bomb. Yaldabaoth took the opportunity to enter Baker's mind through a dream. In the dream, Yaldabaoth confronted the clueless Baker and began devouring, beating and leaving him all at the same time, which in fact was their way of showing Baker that modernity and technology was an abomination against the chaotic nature which resulted in Baker developing PTSD. In 2011, Baker realized what the god was trying to say and decided to spread the message by sharing his PTSD to other people through direct attacks. This worked as his victims developed the same PTSD and began thinking exactly like Baker. This prompted the Foundation to sent Mobile Task Force Rho-93 to capture the infected individuals and keep the infection, now designated SCP-3503, from spreading.
Possible Endings[]
Enasni Si Gnihtyreve[]
As the Foundation failed to contain SCP-610, allowing the infection to spread and take over the entire world, Yaldabaoth was able manifest themself on Earth and through the infection became connected to all of humanity. Through the connected flesh they began injecting into the humans' minds their various and contradicting teachings, while impregnating various females with monstrous children which were then fed to Yaldabaoth as sacrifices.
SCP-5001[]
Yaldabaoth's brass cage was discovered by GRU Division "P" and the SCP Foundation, the latter designating it SCP-5001. The Foundation gained full control of it after the collapse of GRU P, classifying Yaldabaoth as SCP-5001-A.
On December 30th, 2019, Yaldabaoth breached containment after a explosion accidentally caused by a spy of the Church of the Broken God damaged the cage. Yaldabaoth took control of several Foundation personnel at Site-59 reverting them to an ape-like appearance and had them kill and cannibalize other staff members. They also released "pressure waves" which adversely affected all those caught in them, who began to attack each other.
The Foundation was eventually able to defeat Yaldabaoth by firing a superweapon named HECOR at them, blasting the Devourer back into the cage, which later re-assembled itself and sealed Yaldabaoth away once more.
The Battle of Baikal[]
Sometime after the Church of the Broken God used SCP-2217 to stop SCP-610 from escaping and spread throughout the world, the disease attempted to breach containment again and began overwhelming the united forces of the Foundation, GOC and Horizon Initiative, the Church of the Broken God arrived with their flying temple to aid the Triumvirate in fighting the disease. While the battle was going on, Robert Bumaro went to the underground tunnels beneath the site that held those infected from SCP-610 and came face to face with Yaldabaoth, who appeared as a giant eyeball. Bumaro proceeded to kill the demiurge by smashing the eye with his hammer which resulted in everyone infected from SCP-610 to revert back to their normal human form, while the disease was completely eradicated from their bodies.
The Thing at the Bottom of My Dreams[]
In an alternate universe, Yaldabaoth was able to free themself and reach Earth where they began causing destruction and chaos on the universe. While on Earth, Yaldabaoth also came across Anantashesha, the Scarlet King and the Constellation Starfish and began battling them, causing further destruction to the entire reality.
Appearance[]
Yaldabaoth is often depicted as a serpent-like entity with the head of a lion which corresponds to their Gnostic portrayals, but in Singapore instead of a body of a serpent Yaldabaoth is depicted as a merlion, a lion with the body of a fish while the Vātula depicted them as Sharabha, a lion and bird hybrid and avatar of Shiva. The Xia Dynasty referred to Yaldabaoth as a dragon and the lower classes of the dynasty would mold themselves after Yaldabaoth's appearance. The Darkwater Lodge depicted Yaldabaoth as an amorphous entity which possessed multiple eyes and mouths.
Private Morton Baker, the first individual to be infected with SCP-3503 described Yaldabaoth as resembling a 9ft tall Satyr with the combined appearance of individuals infected by SCP-610.
A piece of Yaldabaoth's flesh which fell into the possession of a flesh seller from the Meat Market and then Percival Darke, was coloured deep red and possessed even darker crimson veins running in jagged patterns, with bits of bone, teeth and bristles jutting out at random spots. It also possessed a yellow eye with a vertical pupil.
Hallucinations experienced by Foundation personnel after being exposed to SCP-3826 depicted Yaldabaoth as a gargantuan organism lacking skin, its lower body ending in numerous tails and its head was shaped extremely similar to that of a squid.
In SCP-7354, one of Yaldabaoth's avatars was described as a boiling sea of teeth, frothing with acid and as a vast and detestable stomach.
In SCP-610-L6 from SCP-7427, Yaldabaoth appeared as an underground mouth with seven gnarled and gargantuan teeth.
Powers and Abilities[]
Yaldabaoth was shown to be one of the more powerful of the immortal Old Gods. Being the creator of most materials they could easily manipulate those substances, but was shown to be more powerful with the manipulation of organic materials. They were one of the central figures in the creation, having seeded the universe with life in manner akin to the theory of panspermia, and was deemed equal in power to the Hanged King and Mekhane, and more powerful than the Scarlet King and his army, although in another account they were deemed equal to the King and the Black Moon. Yaldabaoth also possessed complete control over their loyal Archons which were in actuality extensions of their own power, but it is unknown if they were defeated by Grand Karcist Ion who supposedly wore Yaldabaoth's flesh to siphon their power, or Yaldabaoth turned Ion into another of their Archons.
Dale Fang of a modern cult of the Xia Dynasty believed that the reality-benders gained their powers from the imbalance between the components from both Mekhane and Yaldabaoth within their bodies and souls. It appears that Yaldabaoth can also affect the noosphere, the human collective consciousness, as the Archons could spread SCP-7812 through verbal communication which transformed humans into mindless savage beasts.
Personality[]
Yaldabaoth is often described as a blind creature driven by pure instinct while their Archons were the manifestations of chaos. They are usually seen as a wild and malevolent beast who doesn't view or understand the world around them the same way as the other gods or humans do. Despite this, they decided to help their fellow god Mekhane in creating humanity, but later became furious when the humans discarded their animalistic thoughts and way of life and became more intelligent and civilized as a result of Mekhane granting them knowledge. Yaldabaoth would fight Mekhane over the fate of humanity, but was left imprisoned by them, causing them to lash out and decide to manipulate their creations, such as Ion, into helping them escape their prison and return humanity to their roots or destroy them altogether. However, in another tale, Yaldabaoth is shown not caring about humanity at all, being unable to acknowledge their existence, while also forming some form of friendship with Mekhane who despite viewing Yaldabaoth as an idiotic animal still hanged out with them. Mekhane ended up imprisoning Yaldabaoth when they unknowingly began accidentally destroying humanity, and because of this they failed to realize the real reason why Mekhane did this, but decided to instead fight back they would just wait until the Broken God forgave them for whatever they did and willingly freed them in the future.
Followers[]
Archons[]
Yaldabaoth is almost always accompanied by six loyal beings known as Archons which are an extension of Yaldabaoth's powers and manifestations of the primordial chaos. It is often believed that the Archons helped Yaldabaoth in building the universe, using the material they spewed to shape the world and the life in it. The Xia Dynasty named each of them Hundun, Qiongqi, Taowu, Taotie, Gonggong, Zhurong. In the Darkwater Lodge's pantheon they are referred as Daya, Biyu, Uku, Hudu, Biyar, Shida, and Bakwai.
There are other Archons such as SCP-4140, and Cicathea worshipped by SCP-4067-1, which may most likely be alternate titles for the aforementioned ones. It is believed by those who think that Grand Karcist Ion was consumed by Yaldabaoth, the primordial god proceeded to transform Ion into their seventh Archon.
Sarkicism[]
The religion of Sarkicism can be considered as a dystheistic religion, as despite the Sarkites believing that Yaldabaoth is the sole creator of the universe and siphoning their powers from them they regard the god as a mindless destructive beast who seeks to harm humanity and opposes the Grand Karcist who would "wear the old god's flesh as armor and craft a kingdom out of its body". However, various Neo-Sarkites, such as Adytum's Wake, straight up worship the evil god as they are among those who believe that Yaldabaoth consumed Ion, and apparently they believe that Yaldabaoth would grant their followers apotheosis.
It is implied that the religion of Sarkicism as a whole, unknowingly serves Yaldabaoth as since they siphon their carnomantic powers from them the Sarkites inadvertently helped the god spread their influence worldwide, and they probably don't completely comprehend the real nature of Yaldabaoth, apart from Ion who hid to his followers some truths about the god.
The Xia Dynasty also somewhat worshiped Yaldabaoth as Nuwa the Mother Dragon who birthed humanity, but understood their malevolence and wished to assist Mekhane in keeping the monster imprisoned. However, it is said that Yaldabaoth manifested themself as the Red Emperor Shennong who was a master farmer and was in possible relationship with the Yellow Emperor, the manifestation of Mekhane.
In SCP-6666, it was mentioned that the ancient Daevites highly revered the primordial god. More specifically, they were worshipped by the Daevites as the Font, the mindless source that accidentally created life and the material world with the help of their Agents of Life, and were separated from their worshipers by a metaphysical void known as the Nevermeant as seen with the Hanged King and Ion.
Quotes[]
“ | There was another God, one who lurked below in the swampy waters, and was locked into battle with the God and World. The natives had bade her to dive into the waters, and in the deep, she saw them, trapped under heavy waters- the God of Flesh, whose massive limbs and tendrils and all other appendages she could not even find words to explain had crawled up through the water and the pillars and rock spires and had jammed themselves deep into the heart of the God and World. | „ |
~ From "The God And World". |
“ | "I have heard chanting and seen his servants, Reborn from mere men to serpents and beasts. Sacrifices were made in exchange for power, But the great dragon never needs to feed. "It fed on the bodies of gods not the flesh of men, And it fell into slumber for ages and ages. But its glory reduces not and his crown ever flaming, Only a fool would claim mastery to such a thing. "Pity the Great Sorcerer King of Adytum, Who regards himself a god but an insect merely. Pity his Klavigar and proud Karcists, Who seek to rule the land but will all perish. "Pity the followers of the great brass machine, Their master scattered still in pieces. Pity the mortals who know not about the dragons, Descendants of the same blood but will die in ashes." |
„ |
~ From the "I Have Seen the Dragon in the Great Brass Cage" section in the "CotBG Archive ██/██/20██-███: Of Dragons and Serpents". |
“ | Eyô âng'ayô a ne viô (Eyô, which is God, multiplied itself like mushrooms.) | „ |
~ From "An Anthropological Approach to Sarkicism - Case Study 03: The Darkwater Lodge". |
“ | Waters inside, waters outside. There is an ocean within your blood, everything you have ever been is a part of you. You are life, your heritage is life. Fight for it. | „ |
~ Yaldabaoth to a newly ascended Ion in "Ever, Only, All". |
“ | Yaldabaoth is frequently likened in metaphor to marine superpredators; one member I spoke with described the distinction between these entities and Sarkicism in practice as being analogous to the distinction between "the shark, and the parts of the shark the remoras know". | „ |
~ Dr. Alexander Pasternak in "An Anthropological Approach to Sarkicism - Case Study 04: House Kurinuka". |
“ | Torn from Qlippoth was a multitude of its flesh, the matter that had once sustained Creation. What was once all there was had been unevenly severed, even as scalding viscera poured from Qlippoth's weeping wounds. And Qlippoth howled, for its scalding viscera had torn something from Sefiros. Something without name, without weight. Qlippoth could think. Qlippoth could feel. Qlippoth could hate. |
„ |
~ Yaldabaoth during his battle against Sefiros in the Wanderer's Library's "Qlippoth and Sefiros". |
“ | REVERT TO MY DOMAIN. | „ |
~ Yaldabaoth to the Foundation personnel as they were about to escape from SCP-5001. |
“ | My flesh does not burn, for i have forged it with my soul. My flesh does not rot, for i have claimed my body as my own. My flesh does not fear, for i have let it consume my mind. I invoke your name Karnonos, for the deluge have come to destroy you with the very clay you molded them with. You cursed us to burn, to feel pain and to despair. You cursed us to rot, to live short lives of toil. You cursed us to fear, to cower from your tyranny. Yet we have carved your curse into a weapon of holy flame, and you shall be consumed by the conflagration. |
„ |
~ A Sarkic druid in "It looks down on them, bellowing, content and apathetic as everything burns around them.". |
“ | The Union of Mekhane and Yaldaboth is one that has neither Sex nor Gender tainting it. They are true partners, equals in facing the universe. It follows that Humankind, as the obvious Child of their Intersection, receives the benefits of both parents without the constraints of Society. | „ |
~ Excerpt from "HIST.327: Comparative Mythology of Mekhanism and Nälkä". |
“ | And look, from the cloud there appeared an angel whose face flashed with fire and whose likeness was defiled by blood. His name was Nebro, which means 'Rebel'. Others call him Yaldabaoth. And another angel, Saklas, came from the cloud too. So Nebro created six angels – and Saklas did too – to be assistants. They brought out twelve angels in the heavens, with each of them receiving a portion in the heavens. | „ |
~ Excerpt from "Judas Iscariot". |
“ | He falls outside, into the space where nothing is written. He opens his eyes, as his eyelids wilt like dying flowers. He bears witness. Behold! A mouth of seven teeth — each gnarled as a tree, each gargantuan as a planet — encloses itself around the world of the last man. The shape of it is not something he is made for, but he understands hunger — he understands that all he knows will not be enough to sate it. He looks at it, and it looks at him, and he knows that does not make a difference to his fate. |
„ |
~ A Foundation agent confronting Yaldabaoth in SCP-7427. |
“ | Existence cascades from the source of all: the Spark, the Mouth, the Font From out of the Font, came not only the Breath and pure lineage of the Daeva But Four beings of Light spun out of existence Four Servants to the Will of They who created All To guard the world and ensure the ascendancy of the unpolluted Mothers Thus the Blood will rule forever For They who created all, whose dreams shape the universe Will never be dethroned |
„ |
~ The Daevites in SCP-7812. |
Trivia[]
- Although they are inspired by the concept of the Demiurge from Gnosticism, Yaldabaoth also bears resemblance to Azathoth from the Cthulhu Mythos (who may have been inspired by the Demiurge). This backed by being often described as a "blind creature driven by pure instinct". In-universe Yaldabaoth is compared to Cronus from Greek mythology as they both ate their offsprings.
- Despite being often called as the Demiurge, there are other unrelated entities in the SCP Wiki known as demiurges, such the artificially created gods from SCP-3457 and the immortal animals from the "Pitch Haven" canon.
- Similar to Mekhane, Yaldabaoth's gender has often been disputed with articles referring to Yaldabaoth as both male and female. This can be because, just like with most of the other deities, he doesn't have an affixed gender. In "Questions And Answers On Our Shared Faith" the pronouns Xe/Xer or Xie/Xer are used to refer to Yaldabaoth.
- It is speculated that the malevolent infohazardous entity who killed the humanoid race from SCP-3007 and made art with their corpses by twisting and playing with them is a representation or a being connected to Yaldabaoth, while the intelligent and benevolent deity who created the race is a representation of Mekhane.
- According to the Serpent's Hand in "Lord Goran", Yaldabaoth is the aunt of the Scarlet King.
- SCP-3806-A claims that Yaldabaoth and the Scarlet King are known to snatch human souls in the astral plane. She also suggests that Odin is gathering honorable souls to form an army in order to fight either the Scarlet King or Yaldabaoth in the end of times.
- SCP-3895 shares a lot of similarities with Yaldabaoth, both being godlike flesh monstrosities who claim to have created humankind along with the rest of life, having control over flesh monsters and wanting to assimilate humanity back into themselves and return them to their roots. They were even confused in the tale "Thrive", but there hasn't even been a connection between the two beings yet.
- In SCP-457 it is suggested that Yaldabaoth is the entity trapped within SCP-001 (qntm's proposal).
- In Yaldabaoth's entry on the "Personnel and Character Dossier" is suggested that they are the same being as SCP-4884. However, the author of 4884, Gaffsey, had stated in the discussion page that while writing it they didn't intend to tie it with Sarkicism.
- In the Wanderer's Library's "Qlippoth and Sefiros", it is hinted that Yaldabaoth, under the name of Qlippoth, was the one who destroyed the First Hytoth which led to the creation of the Second Hytoth.
- According to SCP-5603, Yaldabaoth created SCP-003 after being challenged by Mekhane to create a functional organic computer.
- In "NIGHTFALL: Qui Lactis" in which the god is a known figure, Yaldabaoth is known as Yaldaboath-who-was-Wan.
Links[]
- Yaldabaoth on SCPOneCanonProject Wiki
- Yaldabaoth on VS Battles Wiki
- Yaldaboath on Omniversal Battlefield!
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