[Welcome to the sixth entry in my ‘Introducing’ series, where we take an in-depth sneak peek at the main characters of Celestial. No need to worry. No plot spoilers here!]
Okay. Who is Elazar exactly?
He’s a bit tricky to discuss without delving into spoilers. Demons are just as present in our world as angels, but in Celestial, you’re going to find that demons aren’t simply angry slobbering monsters. What’s the scariest thing about them? It’s how personal they can get, and my book’s main villain is no exception.
So what can you tell us about him?
Where to start without exposing too much is the real question. Our planet has 6,000 years of history under its belt, and so does he. Elazar’s name you may never have heard before, but if any of you are hardcore historians or mythologists, you’ve already heard of him—if by another name.
Wait. What?
You don’t honestly think those fantasy creatures and strange beings from the ancient past were the pure invention of tribal men do you? If you carefully consider the similarities between what we know and what used to be, then put it all under a Biblical microscope, you’ll discover that myth oftentimes (not always but oftentimes) stemmed from something or someone that existed. That includes historical lore of the vicious sort.
What about Satan? Isn’t he the main badguy?
Technically, yes. I guess you could say that in a universal way, but how clichéd and overdone is that in an angel story? Besides, I figured that unless I was doing an ‘End Times’ story, I wouldn’t be able to get much closure out of the Devil. He enticed a third of the angelic population to follow him anyway. I think there’s no shortage of antagonist potentials to carry the main crux for the conflict.
Okay. So is Elazar like some second in command or something?
Nope. Not by a long shot. In fact, Elazar hates Lucifer as much as he hates God.
Now how does that work? I thought all demons serve Satan!
True, we all assumed so, but that’s just the thing. We assumed all demons follow Satan. However, look closer at Scripture, and you’ll find there’s no confirmation of that. Thus, it’s absolutely possible that ‘rogue’ demons exist. Think about it. If God imbued every angel with his own unique personality (like He did with all of us), it implies a strong possibility that each demon rejected God alongside Satan for different personal reasons. Maybe most of them were convinced by Satan in way or another. But who’s to say a few of them could have been disenchanted with their new ‘leader’ afterwards? Or maybe some demons decided to reject God on their own accord and determined not to align with anyone but themselves and their interests? It’s certainly food for thought.
So what inspired you to make Elazar an independent anyway?
Well, there’s actually four reasons. (#1) I felt like this was a take on a demon that no one’s tried before. (#2) An independent villain is a bit more flexible to work with, since he’s a soloist who acts according to his moral code. (#3.) With the rise in ‘grey morality’ heroes and villains lately, I feel the need to use this kind of character to combat the idea that simply claiming to neither be a goodguy or badguy doesn’t make you any less a badguy. If you’re not with God, you’re against God. Plain and simple. (#4.) Since most people aren’t Satanists, I’m betting a lot more people can emotionally connect with a villain who also is not a Satan worshiper. In fact, I suspect some readers might even see a lot of themselves in Elazar.
Us? Like a demon? Are you serious?
Yes. I am. True, some people aren’t as aggressively vicious or violent as a demon. Still, recall that Elazar has a personal moral code. He’s not committing evil acts because they’re evil. Sure, he seems like the typical ‘revenge obsessed’ baddie, but boil him down and under the surface lies complicated emotions. It’s very much the same way with us. We crave personal satisfaction. However, our idea of justice is a far-cry from God’s, and misconstrued justice that’s fed by conflicted desires is an utterly terrifying thing when left unchecked. Just hope and pray you’re not in his line of sight.
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