Shin Megami Tensei V daily demon vol. 150 – Pazuzu

Atlus has issued another demon trailer for Shin Megami Tensei V that provides a close look at Pazuzu. This creature first appeared in Megami Tensei on the Famicom.

Here’s some background information on Pazuzu, courtesy of the Megami Tensei Wiki:

Pazuzu is an apotropaic being from Mesopotamian mythology, first attested in the late Bronze Age and described as a king of demons, as well as a personification of the west wind. His origin is uncertain, but various connections with personifications of winds serving gods as messengers, Humbaba and pessu (a creature derived from Egyptian god Bes) have been proposed by researchers.

Pazuzu was commonly invoked in exorcisms and in apotropaic magic (similar to other monsters, such as the aquatic Lahmu), and as such was also depicted on amulets.

Magical texts from ancient Mesopotamia state that he was believed to introduce himself to people invoking him with the following formula:

I am Pazuzu, son of Ḫanpu, king of the evil wind-demons, I ascended a mighty mountain that quaked, and the winds that I ran into there were headed West. One by one, I broke their wings.

While he could be invoked against various demons (such as lilu, ardat-lili or lilitu), his most frequent enemy was Lamashtu, who was believed to cause harm to mothers and children, especially newborns. While Pazuzu was regarded as benevolent towards humans despite his demonic nature, Lamashtu was his opposite. She was imagined as a disgraced goddess cast down from heaven because of her cruel tendencies and cursed with a demonic form by Enlil. In incantations Lamashtu also served as enemy of various deities such as Ishtar, Nanaya or Ninkarrak, not only of Pazuzu.

Get a look at the new Shin Megami Tensei V demon trailer showing Pazuzu below.

Shin Megami Tensei V is set to appear on Switch as of November 12. We have plenty of additional coverage including all demon trailers thus far here.