Astaroth

Astaroth is the Archdemon who sired the Astaroth Clan and holds the rank of Great Duchess in the infernal hierarchy. She is one of the 72 Demons who forged a contract with King Solomon as recorded in the famed grimoire, Lemegeton.

She was also worshipped by the Ancient Near Easterns as the pagan goddess Astarte.

Astaroth
"One of the 72 demons of the Goetia. A beautiful fallen angel said to be a duke of Hell. He appears in the form of a prince riding a dragon and leads an army of 40 evil spirits. He can also travel trough time. Originally he was the goddess Astarte in Phoenicia, but became warped into his current form by the Judeo-Christian God. In Christianity, he is a fallen Throne that lures men into leading indolent lives."

- Myths about Astaroth

Astaroth is the twenty-ninth demonic spirit listed in the Ars Goetia, according to the writings in The Lesser Key of Solomon. He is an exceptionally powerful Duke of Hell assisted by four demons: Amon, Barbatos, Rashaverak and Pruslas.

He is depicted as a naked man with a dragon's hands, feet and wings, a secondary pair of angel's wings, wearing a crown, holding a serpent and riding a wolf. He can seduce men through laziness and vanity, make men wise in mathematical sciences and handicrafts, reveal hidden treasures, make men invisible and give them power over serpents. He is sometimes referred to as the prince of accusers and inquisitors, with powers to rival that of the great demons Bael and Beelzebub.

His name is derived from the Canaanite goddess Ashtoreth (or Astarte in Greek).

Astarte
"A Middle Eastern goddess of fertilty. Many scriptures note her folklore, and there is even a mention of her as the "Queen of Heaven" in the Bible."

- Myths about Astarte

Astarte, also as Athtart or Ashtart, is a goddess worshiped under many names throughout the Mediterranean, she is a goddess (primordial in some depictions) associated with fertility, conflict, sex, love and war, along with being the deification of Venus. In Greece, she is known as Aphrodite and was worshiped as a goddess of love. In Egypt, Astarte was a warrior goddess paired with Anath. In Phoenicia, she is a sister of Asherah and Ba'alat Gebal who are married to their brother El by order of their father Epigeius.

Astarte is usually shown as a beautiful, naked woman. Her symbols were the lion, the horse, the sphinx, the dove, and a star within a circle indicating the planet Venus. She has been known as the deified morning and/or evening star.

Often, she wears a set of bull horns on her head, a sign of dominance and power. Many depictions also show her with a set, or even two sets, of wings. It’s common for Astarte to be shown with overly round hips, which is associated with motherhood and fertility. Sometimes her body is shown as androgynous, which simply means that it looks neither male nor female. Astarte can also be shown wearing a crown. Because she is considered the mistress of horses by Egyptians, many depictions of her show the goddess on horseback or otherwise in the company of horses.

In Abrahamic lore, she is known as Ashtoreth and is seen by them as a Canaanite fertility goddess as well as a productive power of nature itself. Statues of her would be found throughout Israel, with her symbol the crescent moon horns. She is sometimes mistaken for Asherah, but both Ashtoreth and Asherah are different deities even though the two do share the title of Queen of Heaven. She was eventually demonized into the demon Astaroth. She is a counterpart deity to Ishtar/Inanna and the two are often associated with the other. She was also identified as Ariadne, Cybele, Aphrodite, Venus, Freya, Sekhmet, Hathor, Isis and Atargatis.

In the Baʿal Epic of Ugarit, Athirat, the consort of the god El, plays a role. She is clearly distinguished from Ashtart in the Ugaritic documents, although in non-Ugaritic sources from later periods the distinction between the two goddesses can be blurred; either as a result of scribal error or through possible syncretism.

In the Contest Between Horus and Set, these two goddesses appear as daughters of Ra and are given as allies to the god Set, here identified with the Semitic name Baal Hadad. Astarte’s father was either the sun god Ra, or Ptah, the god of craftsmen. Her consort was Set, who is a god of war. He is also god of winds, storms, evil, chaos and darkness. Astarte also had a son, according to the Canaanites, by the name of Hauron.

Appearance
Astaroth has the appearance of a beautiful young woman, whose beauty is greatly revered by both humans and Devils alike. She has jewel-like crimson eyes, and long white hair that is described as making fresh snow seems dirty in comparison.

Like all Angels, Fallen Angels, and Archdaemon in their corporeal form, she has large feathered-wings with a 12-feet wingspan. In her case, she possesses a total of ten black-and-gold wings that resemble that of an eagle. Numerous eyes are also placed throughout her wings, which eerily glow a blood-red light.

She wears a white-and-gold dress, with white stockings and gold high-heeled shoes. She also wears a gold necklace in the shape of a serpent biting its own tail and ruby eyes.

In ancient times, she wore an intricate robe made out of white silk and woven with golden threads, with a form-fitting blood-red bodysuit underneath. She decorated herself with countless jewellery, and wore a horn-like golden crown on her head. Her hair was braided around her head and was covered by a white veil with gold linings. Her wings were also exposed in this era.

In her true form, Astaroth appears as a colossal monster with bronze snake-like Dragons for hair and eyes gleaming with hellfire. Her upper body vaguely resembles that of a naked woman with hundreds of boobs with eyes in place of her areolas and magic runes running across her scaly body, while her bottom half is that of an infernal Dragon. Behind her back are a total of ten bronze-feathered wings that are always set on a black fire. Her face is a giant black sun with a giant pair of cow horns protruding from the sides. She has a long and bloody tounge, which resembles a giant serpent with horns running across his body and poison dripping from its teeth. From her mouth, gusts of dark-green poisous gas come out that can instantly disintegrate anything it touches.

Personality
Astaroth is an exceptionally cruel and sadistic Archdemon who is known as the Great Duchess of Hell and one of the devils representing one of the unholy Qlifot, which, in her case, is the Qlifah Gamchicoth. She is a greatly feared figure to even those in her own clan, who are raised hearing about her vile and sinfulness since they were young children.

She is active and extrovert, who lives according to her own whims without being a slave to her own fixed position, all while having high intelligence and pride. She loves beautiful things and despises those she deems ugly, and the things she desires are the things she absolutely takes hold of in her own hands, regardless of the consequences. However, while she's smart, she is impulsive and ostentatious, and is someone who will invite chaos whenever she goes, and leaves with an unthinkable reckless abandon.

She is extremely charismatic, capable of charming others and gaining their trust with minimum efforts, though many suspect that it is her body that does the most work. Her voice is described as being "as sweet as honey and as enchanting as the siren" but is also "as deadly as the venom of Hydra".

She is known as a great hostess and hates bad behaviors from her guests, though she's more lenient toward her fellow Archdaemon. According to Phenex, she had a terrible habit of killing and devouring guests she considered bad-mannered, though not necessary in that order.

She is known as the embodiment of lust and depravity due to her sexual desire, which had led to the Ancient Near Easterns to call her a Fertility Goddess. Despite her loving appearance, she is a very cold-hearted individual who sees everyone as pawns and handsome men as sex slaves for her own pleasure. Before the Abrahamic Underworld was sealed, she would often go down to the mortal world and unleased her lustful desires over humanity, kidnapping attractive men and dragged them into her personal realm to turn them into Devils and add them to her own harem.

Like many Devils, she is a battle maniac and enjoy toying with her opponents like a young girl playing with her food, though many can argue that she's torturing them instead. She will also expresses anger if her opponent isn't as strong as she wants them to be.

According to Kushiel, because of her arrogance and sadistic nature, Astaroth can be compared to a rich and spoiled psychopathic kid who stands above a moutain of corpses of her own creation.

History
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Abilities
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Powers
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Equipment
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Weaknesses
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Quotes
"I am Astaroth the Tyrant. All will bow before me, and you will rule as overlord supreme."

- Astaroth

"I just felt like meeting him. I was curious about what happened to him and his lineage. I never thought that one of his descendants would be such a pathetic sorcerer."

- Astaroth to Shlomo al-Thamen

Trivia

 * Astaroth's appearance is based on Ishtar from Fate/strange Fake.
 * She is the patron demon of the month of August.
 * She is associated with accusers, inquisitors, lawyers, and the misuse of the law.
 * Her favorite prey are those who are grieving.
 * She often seduce mortals to sin by means of laziness, self-doubt, and rationalized philosophies.
 * A summoner can be protected from her deadly miasma if they approach her with a blessed silver ring bearing the Seal of Solomon.
 * While she is capable of seeing fragments of the future, she often reject doing it for her summoner, saying that doing so will traumatize them beyond salvation, though in reality, she's too lazy.
 * Despite being worshipped as a pagan goddess, she deeply hated pagans and pagan gods and enjoys killing them whenever she possible can.
 * Everytime her name is invoked in a spell or prayer, regardless of whether the spellcaster using her demonic name or her godly name, several days are removed from their lifespan.