Beldr is a major antagonist in the 2009 tactical role-playing video game Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor and its 2011 remaster Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked, as well as a summonable demon in other Megami Tensei games.

He is one of the contenders for the King of Bel, trying to prevent the main protagonist from taking the title.

Biography[]

Beldr is derived from the Norse mythological figure Baldr. In one legend, Baldr had and his mother both had a dream depicting Baldr's death. As dreams were usually prophetic, this depressed him, so his mother Frigg made every object on Earth vow never to hurt Baldr. All objects made this vow except for mistletoe. Frigg had either thought it too unimportant and nonthreatening to bother asking, or too young to swear an oath.

When Loki, the mischief-maker, heard of this, he made a magical spear from this plant (in some later versions, an arrow). He hurried to the place where the gods were indulging in their new pastime of hurling objects at Baldr, which would bounce off without harming him. Loki gave the spear to Baldr's brother, the blind god Höðr, who then inadvertently killed his brother with it.

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor[]

Beldr is one of the most infamous boss battles in the whole Shin Megami Tensei franchise because of his immortality power. He first appears on Day 3. Although being hinted to appear at 18:00 in the Cemetery numerous times, he appears much earlier at the city square, catching the player off guard if not careful. First, the player and the party fight a horde of demons to save Keisuke and Midori, successfully saving them. Just when they think they're safe and begin to feel at ease, Beldr suddenly appears. Everyone is surprised since the Laplace Mail never said anything about Beldr appearing that early and at the city square. The party is already exhausted from the previous battle but Beldr still attacks. The party must attack Beldr first, though they quickly realize that their attacks are useless no matter what kind of spells they use. Then, they have to escape the battlefield as they're not yet ready to defeat Beldr. This part of the battle might be dangerous, as there are other demons nearby, and Beldr's attack known as Vampiric Mist damages every party member regardless of their positions in the battlefield. Even if only one party member dies, it's game over, so the player must be really careful.

When they successfully escape, the party gets the information on how to defeat Beldr from Loki, brother of Beldr. The only way to damage Beldr is using the Devil's Fuge, the mistletoe plant, because every object in the world vowed not to harm Beldr except for the mistletoe. They have to acquire Devil's Fuge by 18:00 and reach the Cemetery in time to prevent Beldr from slaughtering countless of people, including the party. The main battle is at the Cemetery.

When they reach the Cemetery, Beldr appears just like it was hinted at by the Laplace Mail. The party consisting of Kazuya, Yuzu, Atsuro, and Keisuke must defeat him, though the only one who can damage Beldr is Kazuya. Because of that, if Kazuya is defeated, the battle is lost. Things are much more difficult than the previous battle because of the other demons appearing everywhere. Other members must prevent other demons from reaching Kazuya and Kazuya must reach Beldr and use the Devil's Fuge to defeat him quickly. The other demons, although able to be defeated, will reappear again after a certain time, so being quick in this battle is essential. After defeating Beldr using the Devil's Fuge, Beldr realizes that Loki is the reason Kazuya possesses the Devil's Fuge, meaning Kazuya has now involuntarily become a part of the Battle for the Throne of Bel.

If Naoya or Amane's route is chosen at the Final Day, Babel will summon all the Bel demons for Kazuya to conquer one final time. Therefore, Beldr will appear again and the party must defeat him once more using the same tactics. Kazuya is again the only one that can damage him.

In Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked, Beldr appears one last time on the 8th Day of Naoya's route. After Metatron is defeated and the player removes every threat in his way to become the only one ruling both Japan and the world, Metatron attempts to call 4 Archangels to help him. The player immediately summons 2 demons, one of them being Beldr, and defeats Metatron for good. This is the last time Beldr appears in game.