Zariel is an archdevil villainess from Dungeons & Dragons and the videogame Baldur's Gate 3.
She was an angel from Mount Celestia before falling from grace and become the archduchess of Avernus, the first layer of the Nine Hells of Baator. Her obsession with defeating the Demons of the Abyss is what led her to make a deal with Asmodeus and become a leader of the Devil armies.
Appearance[]
Zariel's original form was that of a beautiful Solar angel with flawless skin, gold-feathered wings, and a blindfold covering her eyes.
After her turn to evil she took on a more diabolical appearance: a halo of fire burned atop her head, her once-fine skin was scorched, and her angelic wings, ruined by flame, turned leathery. Her blindfold was abandoned, fully revealing eyes that glowed with white-hot rage, and she had lost one of her hands and replaced it with a flail.
Personality[]
Zariel is a warmonger obsessed with battle, someone who lived to fight and judged others on their combat skills and willingness to use them. She prized zealous fury as much as discipline and training, and led her troops into battle herself with iron resolve, leaving many a structure in ruin as she carved her war path. However, neither her own battle prowess nor that of her forces could disguise the fact that Zariel was reckless and rash, relying on her troops' berserker rage and her own determination to win her fights.
Her behavior had warped to match that of her infernal peers, for she had become a cruel being that inflicted psychological torment on her enemies and subjected those that displeased her to horrible fates. She had also grown distrusting to the point of being taken aback by a heroic act of self-sacrifice, having become the kind of plotter to set numerous schemes in motion at once and deal in contracts to bind people into servitude. While once a purveyor of blind justice, Zariel had allowed her emotions to color her decisions, twisting it into rage-fueled vengeance, and she refused to forgive even decades after being wronged.
History[]
Zariel is a fallen angel, once servant of the god Lathander who rebelled to serve the archdevil Asmodeus.
As an angel, Zariel's original duty was to watch over the Blood War between Devils and Demons, tracking its progress for her superiors on Mount Celestia. Zariel became obsessed with the war between Demons and Devils, and her desire to join the battle grew. She could not accept that the angelic hosts should stand idly by while fiends laid waste to entire planes.
Zariel disobeyed her superiors and led an army of mortal heroes into the Blood War, recruiting from the city-state of Elturel on Faerun. The Ride, as it was known, succeeded in slaying many fiends, but Zariel was soon overwhelmed by sheer number. Zariel lost her sword and left hand in battle, ordering her devoted companions Yael and Lulu to escape with the sword so that it would not fall into fiendish hands.
Asmodeus sent a team of Bone Devils to recover Zariel, which they found alive but unconscious beneath a pile of slain enemies.
Zariel's fighting prowess and passion impressed Asmodeus so much that allowed her to recover and offered her lordship of Avernus. Seizing the opportunity to fully dedicate herself to the Blood War, Zariel accepted and she mutated into an archdevil and took command of the legions of Baator against the forces of the Abyss.
Some Tieflings have Zariel as an ancestor and possess above average strenggt and charisma compared to other variants.
In Baldur's Gate 3[]
Zariel was the master of the Tiefling barbarian Karlach, who was sold as a slave to the archdevil by Enver Gortash. Karlach was one of Zariel's best soldiers before escaping from Hell and returning to Faerun.
Powers & abilities[]
Zariel is an archdevil of great power, with numerous abilities. Her physical and mental attributes are of near-deific ability. She can see through magical darkness. Her mere gaze can set anyone she stares at alight. Her skills of perception are unparallelled. She can communicate telepathically, and teleport at will across short distances. She can move swiftly, and fly at great speed.
She resists magic, regenerates wounds, and resists fire, cold, radiant energy, and immune to attacks made with non-enchanted weapons. She is immune to fear, and cannot be charmed, become exhausted, or poisoned. Necrotic energy does not harm her.
All weapons Zariel wields are wreathed in hellfire, and her horrid touch has the ability to afflict the victim with debilitating poison. She can cast alter self, detect evil and good, fireball, invisibility, and wall of fire at will, and occasionally casts blade barrier, dispel evil and good, and finger of death.
External Links[]
 Villains
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Recruitable Party Members Gods Demons Devils The Iron Throne The Shinning Crusade Bhaalists & Bhaalspawns Dark Alliance Cult of the Absolute The Sharrans Shadow Druids Vampires Others | ||