The very real origins of Asmodeus | D&D Lore 

This is great, I love the "scholars arguing in the tavern" type of vibe from this video. And how fitting that the story of Asmodeus is one that is twisted and full of lies and misremembrances of history.

I believe Joker's quote works here: "If I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choices!"

I'm fond of the confusing lore of Asmodeus. It makes complete sense that HE would want scholars to argue about his origins forever and never truly know what's correct.

One of my favourite little tidbits is that Asmodeus is supposedly covered in wounds that he pretends don’t bother him. Were they from Ahriman falling deep into Baator? Were they from the way the Ruby Rod contorted his body when it transformed him into one of the first Devils? Or was it from falling from the Upper Planes when the gods ejected him to fulfil his end of the bargain, content to have a solution to their punishment problem but eager to purge the evil they’d created from their Divine realms? You decide!

_"Anyway...as I was saying...I KNOW THE ORIGINS OF ASMODEUS!"_ Lmao, Jorphdan had me chuckling to that line! Happy Holidays, Jorphdan! 🧞‍♀️🎅🧚‍♂️🧙‍♂️🧝🏻‍♀️🧜🏿‍♂️☃️❄🌬

I like the story where asmodeus betrayed his god "he who was" who was the god creator of humans. It explains why many other devils used to be angels too (zariel/mephisto/bhaal) that followed him in his corrupted rebelion and it explain why the humans don't have a named deity such as the dwarves/elves/orcs/etc.

Another scholar bursts into the tavern... "Shut up old man!!! The greatest lies have elements of truth. It is both a tale of an old serpent and a great but scorned, angelic general who stumbled upon the broken body of his maker's lost brother, whom he saw was of like mind. Honestly it matters not whom is in charge, wether the serpent was a catalyst for what has transpired sending the angel on this path, a true partnership of some kind between the two, or the one pulling strings in the background. The capture of the fallen Azuth was either intended as a play to mend and restore the serpent's shattered divinity, that failed and was claimed by the general, or the general attempting to coup divine rulership of the hells without the need of a damaged snake. The truth is, the Asmodeus we know today, is the fallen angel. Unless... (Runs home to ponder his orb in panic)"

No matter how many Jorphdans are arguing, the PH is silent.

The second one is what i like. As it has: 1. Far more nuance and also... 2. It has in it self vague bits which support other stories of Asmedeus/Baator. 3. It has the BEST character description for asmodeus and also for the other gods.

I use the Ahriman tale, with some slight edits. In mine, they both start out with 6 wings. Ahriman uses his arms to tear 5 off, allowing him to fall. Those 5 turn into Tiamat. Jazirian sees this, and responds in kind by removing 2 of theirs--allowing him to still fly to the tops of Mount Celestia, and create Bahamut

Ok, let’s use the common threads to draw a clearer picture. So Asmodeus, if that’s his real name probably isn’t, was once a creature of divine power, weather that’s a angel or snake. His fall happens before creation, the thing that causes him to fall is a lust for power. When he falls he has his army with him. His army is created from his own power. And that in the broadest strokes is the true story of Asmodeus.

What better way to keep people confused than for the Lord of Lies to mix in bits of truth?

It's all true. The greatest lie a Liar can make you believe is that the Truth is a Lie.

This fits the theme of Asmodeus perfectly

Best. Cover of Asmodeus. EVER.

While I love Jorphdan's videos in general, I think my favorite ones are ones like this or his "How to become a Lich" video where he leans into the lore and pulls you in with a narrative flare/playing a character. I hope he does more of that, but if not I still love his videos. One of my fav DnD youtubers.

World:Tis the season to be jolly! Jorphdan: "Let's talk demons and devils!"

I lol'd at the sudden "HEY GUYS CAN I SHOW YOU MY HERO FORGE MINIS?!"

The only trouble with this theory is that the opposite of lawful evil is chaotic good, not lawful good, Asmodeus would feel more threatened by chaotic good entities than lawful good entities just as the opposite of chaotic evil is lawful good not chaotic good. I don't know, maybe I got that wrong.

My personal head cannon is that the twin serpents, the original outoboros, Mok’Sylk, was corrupted by ol’ Zuzu. I also think that Asmo the angel was a construction or simulacrum to fool the gods and act as Ahriman’s puppet to shape the pact primevil, kill the unnamed god, and direct the blood war to continue untill a critical mass of souls have been collected. The greatest lie the devil ever told was that he exsists at all

Absolutely awesome job doing the multiple perspectives on this one! Really digging it 🔥🔥❤❤

Two stories have Asmodeus betraying a god. Two stories have Asmodeus as a general of angels. Two stories have Asmodeus being wounded in a fall. Ahriman was the brother of the World Serpent Jazirian and leader of their armies. He fought against the Primordials and the ancient Obyrith, but was corrupted by the Shard of Ultimate Evil. He turned on his twin and lord Jazirian and shattered them, creating the other serpent gods, birthing the Coutls from their spilled blood, and leaving their creation, Humanity, without a god. But Ahriman too was wounded and he fell to the Plane of Baator and tore through it, creating the Nine Hells and landing at their core. His body broken, Ahriman took on the guise of Asmodeus, and in this form came to the gods to make the Pact Primeval. The gods themselves were fooled and believed Asmodeus to be merely a powerful angel, and when they saw his Evil they were horrified. They put him on trial, but ignorant of his true crimes they failed to convict him. Still, disgusted by his presence they banished him to the ruined Plane of Baator, unaware that his true body already lay there.

This was a fabulous presentation! Very concise and to the point, you covered everything which is astounding and it’s all right, and you entertained while doing so. Bravo! Bravo. Cheers, and here’s to many more

This really is your best video on your whole channel

A Cleric under the great god of diviners Savras need only ask. Savras knows the whole past and the whole future and can never lie. He knows the truth of what and who's Asmodeus was. I feel Azuth trapping Savras in the staff was a plot by Asmodeus to keep the truth at bay as long as he can.

I would love some lore on Mammon. No videos about him that I could find. Yet in tome of foes there is a Teifling variant for him

the pact primeval theory has a small glitch in my mind, he stood trial for angering the gods before there was a concept of punishment. I feel like if it were a situation where the laws of the universe are absolute, the concept of a trial would be foreign to them, because it would be impossible to go against the universal law. If it were possible to go against universal law then a trial would be pointless because up to that point they had not conceived of punishment. Lord of Lies indeed. My theory is this: Ahriman and Asmodeus are one in the same, except they aren't. Those names belong to two of the three raccoons that found a ring of levitation, and a big ol cloak, and terrorized Sigil as the Lady of Pain. The third raccoon? Tom Bombadil. none of the gods wanted Baator because it was kinda cold, but not everywhere, and it was all just so hard to get comfy. there's hot bits here and there but a lot of cold. So the rest of the multiverse started dumping their trash there. Worn out shoes, banana peels, unaligned evil souls, they all got tossed into baator. This naturally attracted the most powerful raccoons. Ahriman and Asmodeus are brothers, twins, not uncommon in litter species, but it's still neat. Their mother told them they were named because of a dream she had about a Klondike bar, whatever that was. They set out to get to Nessus, the bottom layer, where the drippiest, wettest garbage could be found. They butt heads and gnashed teeth with some powerful foes along the way, but their brotherhood carried them where their creepy little hand-paws might have failed. then they found it. Deep within the serpentine tunnels, deep below the discarded spring mix we all bough like three days ago, I swear, even deeper still than the paper towels that fell on the floor, but even though it is probably fine, you threw it out anyway like a wasteful Wendy: They found it. Small, smooth, cool to the touch and wrapped in a shiny metal that folded like grass, a little dark square. Their namesake, maybe, who knows? but this small dark square roused a jealous hunger in Ahriman. He lunged toward his brother holding the bar, bearing teeth and grabbing at it with the ferocity of a raccoon gone rabid. Asmodeus wanted to share in their findings, but didn't want it if it meant a fight. They had gone through Hell, maybe several, this was not how it should end. So he let his greedy brother take it all, content in gorging himself on a tupperware container full of turkey from Thanksgiving. after he came back to his senses, Ahriman grew despondent. He had deprived his brother of something he couldn't even remember the taste of, he had devoured it so fast. He apologized, and cried until he collapsed from grief....and heart palpitations from eating chocolate. Asmodeus rushed to his brother's aid, keeping him alive with found medical supplies, feeding him the unaligned souls to e found and providing comfort with discarded Game Informer magazines. Once he felt like he had stabilized, Ahriman sent his brother away. He felt naught but shame for his actions, and guilt, for depriving his brother of yet more trash. He said unto Asmodeus "Brother go, Be free, and do as we do best. This realm is my home now, may it forever welcome you, and may you wrest sovereignty of all above from creation itself." And with that, Asmodeus forever became a mischievous little guy enough for two.

This was bloody fantastic mate! Seriously this is one of your best works I absolutely love it!

The head-canon I have for the campaigns I run is that Asmodeus was the Angel who led the Angels that were put in charge of fighting the Demons. The endless fighting started wearing them down, and Asmodeus eventually either sought him out/or was contacted by Aruman who agreed to give the Angels the power they needed to keep fighting, and would especially empower Asmodeus, essentially turning the lead Angel into his personal avatar. This turned those Angels into the first Devils, giving them the power they needed to fight back and concur nine layers of the Abyss, transforming them into their personal realm. However, this process also forever transformed the Devils into creatures that, while still Lawful, were pure evil. While in this story, Asmodeus is still as cunning and powerful as ever, he is ultimately just the servant to an even greater power.

I prefer the Ahriman origin because that ties into the Lord of Lies thing. Also makes sense how the other origins spring up. I would keep the Ahriman origin as the secret true origin and the others as what most people think

Jorphdan is the prince of lies, the "PH" isn't silent.

This was amazing format! More of this greatness!!

Really fantastic video! Loved it. Great work.

(Long post) I say that Asmodeus was a member of the original celestial hebdomad, specifically Lamauel, ruler of Jovar, and in life the elder brother of Zaphkiel. He was renowned for his judgment, and his symbol of office was an alabaster staff. He was the liaison to Baator and its then-ruler, Zargon, during the War of Law and Chaos. He grew resentful and jealous of his younger brother, and sought to overthrow him. He and his forces (which included Triel, then-ruler of Mertion, now Baalzebul) were banished with a single Word of Power from Zaphkiel. He and his followers were disfigured as they fell, and his once pure white staff was now stained a deep red. After usurping Zargon, he declared, "It is better to reign in the pit than to serve on the mountain." While it is said that he continually bleeds, in truth he continually weeps, and is the most miserable being in all the multiverse. This is his most carefully guarded secret.

My thoughts on the matter is Asmodeus is an aspect of Ahriman that was kept deliberately seperate from the divine spark. To find its own way to power so Ahriman would have a Trump card. An aspect that was not beholden to divine power. And thus could fight anything that could nullify divine power and not be forced by the divine hierarchy.

Just perfect! Happy Holidays!

That was fun thank you, and Merry Christmas.

This was a really cool new style of video of telling lore for you I love it.

Great new format!

I like how this video shows there may not be a clear answer to important lore questions. If you ask me, there is a problem with a lot of these stories: they all sound like they were told by Asmodeos. I would imagine there is a way, in universe, to corroborate some of these stories (like ask a god who witnessed events), but in theory this raises the question: if there is a cosmic balance, we would have needed lawful evil at the moment of creation, not as a result of fighting demons. We also have the problem of the Blood War being the creation of the gods. One justification for the blood war is that if either the devils or the demons win, we all will lose. If the devils win, they will then enslave the world. But the devils were made by the gods to fight in the blood war. So that argument seems circular. All these stories sound like they have a grain of truth. It's up to us to decide what really happened.

This video has just given me the inspiration I need to hand an intractable narrative problem in my campaign. Excellent as always.

THANK YOU for your proper pronunciation of Asmodeus.

This was such a fun video and a great way to deal with conflicting lore. It's exactly as I imagine it to be in-universe

Great Video! You should think about doing Videos more often in a similar style with uncle jorphdan telling us stories in a corner of the tavern

I like to thing that ALL 3 are some way true and describe 3 different entity, who instead of fighting over the nine hells, they decided that all 3 of them will have the same identidy: Asmodeus

I love how the story is filled with contradictions: such as Asmodus

Awe man, you missed a golden opportunity to put Chris Tucker's face from Fifth Element on Asmodeus's Ruby Rod.

A constant source of inspiration, as always!!

I think Graz'zt still works for him, making sure demons keep fighting each other

Absolutely loved the theatricality of this video!

Great video man.

I wanna know more about what Chris Perkins said about him having once been mortal and having a world in the prime material plane he came from

You and MrRhexx doing this same video basically cements my love for you both.

Incredible, love this!

Liked the format for this one took me a bit to figure out it was arguing scholars.

How do we know that asmodeus has not watch this video already and edited it or is posing as jorphdan telling lies about his origin to our faces to keep up from knowing the truth.

Great video. Thanks for recasting light on this old debate...almost as old as D&D itself.

Would Ahriman and Jarizian be on the level or even above entities like Ao? They seem to predate it

A truely amazing video complete with shaming "that guy" who maybe talks about minis too much

Love the lore drops!

Longest of all stories short, the canon for our campaigns which involved Asmodeus was summed up in a speech I gave playing Asmodeus in one of our spooky candlelit sessions we would sometimes do. "Call out to me in what name you will - I hear you, because I am you... I am the very desire of the multiverse to know the darkest parts of itself. When the gods imagine what they oppose, I am that, when the whirling chaos fears to be tamed, I am that. I am here because you need me, they all need to know, that true justice comes in the silent scream, of which I am master...and mine is the final judgement."

How do you know what you believe about (who we know as) Asmodeus, (not even his real name) isn't just more lies, promulgated selectively by the 'Prince of Lies'? Or even by the "Unknown Deity" that Asmodeus once served?! Dun dunt dun!!! Fun video!!! (Just completed my 1.5 year, homebrewed, 9 Hells campaign!)

Perhaps they are all true, Asmodeus transcends the multi-verse, but still one entity.. like, 3 different Spidermen, but all still Peter Parker

Why is it that whenever I hear or see Asmodeus's name I think of that 80's song "Rock me Amadeus."

Oooh his name is like how Gandalf pronounces Saruman in Ralph Bakshi’s classic! Aruman!!!

I keep expecting the Clue movie’s “How it could have happened:” to show up

Wonderful!

I can tell you that he attacked the first unicorn in an attempt to steal his horn. he succeeded in getting the horn but the horn was cursed with all the bitter resentment of the first unicorn and so it's vast healing properties leaked out and formed into the flesh of Zargon the Returner. no Ruby Staff for Asmodeus that day, merely a Rod

Brilliant!

i like the ahriman one. because with that, everything Asmodeus made is a lie. everything

Jorphdan, have you skipped An Ordinary Rock across The Still Glass Lake? Only for it to return from the Mists; skipping right back to you?

Whatever the case may be, it seems as though the story of Asmodeus is also the story of the Universes Creation... spooky... My personal favorite is the story of Ahrimon, but there are aspects of all the stories I like. I like the idea of an Angel being put on trial by all the Gods and somehow winning through pure wit, and I also like the idea of Asmodeus taking some of Tharizduns evil crystal to use as his own source of power.

Nicely done. Exactly how I show him in my world. All previous editions had their origen story. Everyone one of them is believed by some scholars.

Isn’t Baalzebul, Lord of the Seventh (and through his Viceroy Mammon, Lord of the Sixth) the Lord of Lies ?

Most entertaining and somewhat helpful

Not gonna lie. At 6:30 when you slam shut mordys tome I jumped cause I took my attention away for just a second 😂

So the litmus test on Asmodeus isn't silent? Lol... love your videos...

"Asmodeus the father of lies, The Devil himself".

What a funny coincidence that Asmodeus’ many origin stories was my hyperfixation only about a week ago 😂 It’s probably my cultural Christian upbringing but my favourite is the powerful angel becoming lawful evil to the point he tricks the gods into letting him establish the Nine Hells. I do appreciate that he has so many stories to choose from (or rather, hope to glean slivers of the truth from). I look forward to finding ways to feed them all to my players and confuse them. I’m toying with a warlock patron version of Asmodeus at the moment that combines his Ahriman and Divine origins. I’d love to give a player a real mystery for their patron 😂

I always play Asmodeus as a best friend with all the hook ups. He dose not care to make someone evil, he revels in the way that morals corrupt themselves before him. AKA the murder hobo head lock.

As any good liar will tell you, there will always be some truth in the best lies.

There is one truth about asmodeus he wasn't the original ruler of the nine hells. Zargon the returner was.

An addemtum: Maybe just perhaps, the evil Asmodeus does, the cruelty, the torturing and molding of souls, their dark temptations and schemes to subvert the very heavens is in and of itself a LIE. Maybe Asmodeus believes himself both right and evil as in he knows what he does is wrong but nessecery. And all this time he is tormented by his age old task and does not go a day in his existance without pain for every soul that is lost to abyss OR dragged down with him into hell.

Plot twist: All of those stories are true, but Asmodeus has a pact with Jorphdan to throw us off his trail. Though this video DOES help interpret Mr.Rhexx's many Asmodeus & Devils videos. I'm 90% certain that he mentioned a different origin each video and it confused the heck outta me. The snake origin is the least known origin for him according to the folks in the land of Reddit. I like to think that all of these stories have some element of truth to them and that the truth is somewhere inbetween alll three.

Interesting. I haven’t heard the third story before.

My favorite version is found in the 3rd party the Book of the Righteous. Where’s Asmodeus was the primordial god of fire and proper king of the universe but was corrupted by the essence of Primordial evil and was over thrown by the gods. It’s really interesting and explains why he’s worshipped

Personally, I think the serpent of law story sounds the most plausible, but realiaticly they are all lies. ... The 2nd story dosn't make sense, because *breaking* divine *laws* sends you ti a *lawful* afterlife. ... The 3rd story contridicta itself on the morals of He Who Was, and presents Asmodios as more chaotic-good/chaotic-netral, when we all know he's lawful evil.

I'm a big fan of Asmodeus always having been a devil, one that corrupted, schemed and grew in power till his forces were powerful enough for him to conquer any realm, only for him to have been mysteriously dealt a near fatal blow by an unknown assailant. The rod grew into a crystal that imprisoned him, trapping him, but also sustaining him. He lies in the 9th circle, immune to any harm but unable to directly interfere again. Some say the gods were the ones to strike the blow, and in a moment of arrogant weakness he was put down. Others say one of his many lords did so in a hope to steal his great army and power for themselves at the peak of his power, foiled by the rod's power. Yet some believe that everything that happened was his own doing, merely a part of a grander plan of his own design that we have yet to see. In any case, he stands as both the weakest of the gods given his lack of obvious agency, and the strongest in his current state of true immortality.

Honestly the Ahriman one is my favorite one since it's a story literally nobody is SUPPOSED to know about beyond Jazirian. It's the most unique one and nobody would aquire that knowledge from anywhere. The fallen angel stories are the easiest to speculate or come up with. But they're also the easiest to confirm or disprove in a D&D like world where people can communicate with Gods. If he was a fallen angel, you could get that information directly from a god as well as his true name, which obviously wouldn't be Asmodeus. The fact that his true story remains a mystery is kinda what rules out the fallen angel theories. I doubt Jazirian would have many human worshipers as even the Monster Manual refers to the Couatl God as a diety that has long since been worshipped, and even if someone were to follow them you'd get a firsthand account from someone lawful good, if they became inclined to tell the story to begin with. The lord of lies forming a new false identity and leaving the truth in a forgotten, near unobtainable past where other gods all took their time to shine and overshadow him feels like the most plausible to me. Alas, The Lord of Lies is the Lord of Lies. Which is what makes it such a fun topic. We'll never know for sure what is, if any of them are, the "truth."

I like the third story that has to do with the ruby rod mostly because I like the story of Tharizdun and his connection with the abyss and with the dawn wars and all that. But Ahriman..... that's straight up the name of the evil counterpart to God in Zoroastrianism. Ahura Mazda vs Ahriman (or Angra Mainyu, both valid names).

My favorite origin of the fiends has always been the one where the demons and devils were created when the Baernoloths purified evil and purged themselves of order and chaos, creating the first devils and demons respectively.

A true villain's background. Obfuscated and mired in debate.

The very real origins of Asmodeus: You mean the Old Testament?

Video brilhante! Mandou bem demais!

Rock me, Asmodeus!!

I really liked the third one.

Asmodeus in adder form even visited the Redwall Universe!

Brilliant

Amazing site and content. Keep em coming. Thanks!

Great video. We'll done.