Damien Thorn
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Damien Thorn is the main fictional character in The Omen series (The Omen, Omen II, Omen III, The Omen 2006 remake). He has been portrayed by Harvey Stephens, Jonathan Scott-Taylor, Sam Neill and Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick.
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[edit] Character
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In the film Damien was born in Rome at 6:00 a.m. on June 6, 1966 (2001 in the most recent remake). Supposedly his birthday (the sixth hour of the sixth day of the sixth month) constitutes the number 666. The number also appears on his body as a birthmark, and it is discovered in the novelization of the first film that he has no fingerprints. Though he is originally unaware of his parentage, he gradually comes to understand and accept his identity as the Antichrist as he grows older.
[edit] Through the series
[edit] The Omen
In the first film, Damien is adopted by American consul Robert Thorn and wife Katherine at their hospital after they lose their new son in what Robert believes is stillbirth, while his wife Katherine is unaware of the replacement. At the age of five, Damien's nanny is hypnotized by a demonic dog and mysteriously hangs herself at his birthday party, claiming to have done it for him.
In the film, a priest from Italy, Father Brennan, who was at Damien's birth, warns Robert about his son and quoting an old prophecy about the Antichrist that Damien allegedly fills, but Robert will have none of it. Damien's new nanny Ms. Baylock, a servant of the devil, helps to guard him. Soon, things begin to come together; Damien begins to tremble with terror when his parents attempt to take him to a wedding in a church.
As Katherine is pregnant with another child, Damien knocks her off a balcony with his tricycle and the unborn baby is killed. Katherine and her husband are now aware of what their son may be; with the help of photojournalist Keith Jennings, who is eventually killed in a freak accident, Robert investigates Brennan's own mysterious death and accepts that Damien is the Antichrist. An exorcist in Megiddo named Bugenhagen gives Robert some ancient daggers he had inherited that could kill the Antichrist; Thorn brings Damien to a church to lower his influence, but police ambush him and he's killed before Damien is harmed. Damien's enemies are dead and he's left in the company of the President.
Damien was portrayed by Harvey Stephens in the original film and by Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick in the remake.
[edit] Damien: Omen II
In the film, Damien is now in his early teens and living with his uncle Richard Thorn (a wealthy industrialist), his uncle's second wife Ann, and Richard's son from his first marriage, Mark.
The young Damien doesn't understand his true potential, but others begin to suspect that he is not the sweet young boy that he appears to be. Within his life there are many people working to help him ascend to his rightful place as the Anti-Christ, but at the same time, lone journalists, doctors, scientists and friends all try to stop him and warn his foster parents. Mark sees (and hears) things he shouldn't, and although Damien has fond feelings for his cousin, nothing can stand in his way, so he kills him.
After this, Richard starts to believe the rumors of Damien and tries to kill him with the Daggers of Meggido, but Ann refuses to let harm come to him, instead killing Richard with them before Damien sets the both of them on fire.
Damien was portrayed by Jonathan Scott-Taylor on this film.
[edit] Omen III: The Final Conflict
In the film, Damien is appointed Ambassador to the Court of St. James's, the same position his adoptive father held in the first film. Unlike the two incarnations of Damien portrayed in previous Omen films, the adult Damien is entirely aware of his unholy lineage, and his destiny.
An alignment of the stars in the Cassiopeia region of the night sky (the traditional location of the stellar signal of the Second Coming) causes the creation of a super "star", described in the film as a second Star of Bethlehem. Damien realizes it is a sign of the Second Coming of Christ and he orders all male children in England born on the morning of March 24, 1981 (the morning when, in the story, the Cassiopeia alignment occurred) to be killed in order to prevent the Christ-child's return to power, as predicted in the Book of Revelation (see Massacre of the Innocents).
Thorn has also become involved with journalist Kate Reynolds, who interviews him for the BBC. In the interview, Damien's personal brilliance is backed when it is revealed that Damien attended Yale University, and was a Rhodes Scholar, captaining the Oxford Polo and Rugby teams -- a complex relationship which undermines his plans to dominate the world. Damien also focuses his attention on her pre-teenaged son Peter whom he takes as a disciple. Ultimately, the relationship is his undoing.
Meanwhile, Father DeCarlo and six other priests armed with the ancient daggers, hunt Thorn in the hope of killing him before he can destroy the "Christ child." However, one by one all the priests die until only DeCarlo survives.
Finally, in spite of Thorn's efforts, DeCarlo informs Reynolds that the Christ-child is "out of his reach" but that nonetheless, the task still remains to destroy Damien. In a final act of evil, Damien uses Reynold's son--now slavishly devoted to Damien--as a human shield against DeCarlo's dagger. As Peter lies dying, Damien tries to strangle Father DeCarlo to death. In a desperate bid to salvage his waning power, Damien calls out for Christ to appear before him. As he does this, Kate Reynolds sneaks behind Damien, stabbing him in the back with the dagger. Christ appears in a flash before a dying Damien and peace reigns over the Earth.
[edit] The name "Damien"
The name "Damien" sounds vaguely like the English "demon," but is not at all etymologically related[1]. It is interesting that since the original Omen movie came out, Damien has become a name with powerful evil connotations, despite the fact that historically it is associated with many saintly figures. Damien is the French form of the English name Damian (Latin Damianus), popular as the name of a martyred Christian saint of the third century (see Saints Cosmas and Damian). Another prominent Damien was Father Damien of Hawaii, who died while establishing leper colonies there. Damien is also the first name of Father Karras in The Exorcist.
[edit] Trivia
- Damien Thorn appeared as a character in the South Park episode "Damien", and had a cameo in "Professor Chaos". Also, the episode Tsst ends in a similar fashion to the film.
- "Damien" is a song written by the American metal band Iced Earth off of their 2001 Horror Show album. The lyrics of the song include references and direct quotations from the Omen series.
- The popular British sitcom Only Fools & Horses features a recurring joke in which Rodney Trotter fears that his nephew is the Antichrist (because he is 'Son of Del'). The boy's name is Damian, and Omen-like music (usually the Carmina Burana) often plays whenever Rodney sees him.
- Rapper DMX has a song titled Damien on his debut album "It's Dark and Hell is Hot". On his second album "Flesh of my Flesh, Blood of my Blood" he has a track titled "The Omen" which features the controversial artist Marilyn Manson. The final in the series of songs is on his album "The Great Depression" with the song titled Damien III.
- Domnul Damian (Mr. Damian) is the mysterious character in Romanian's writer and poet - Ion Minulescu - novel De vorba cu necuratul ("Chattig with the Unholy One"). This novel is written between WW1 and WW2 and tells about an encounter with a strange character (Domnul Damian) who has supernatural powers and the ability to control people. Domnul Damian turns out to be the devil himself.
- An American study of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) carried out by the Duke University School of Medicine in the 1990s reported that boys called Damien were six times more likely to suffer from the disorder than average.[citation needed]
| The Omen Series |
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Original Films |
| Iconic Horror Characters in Cinema | |
|---|---|
| Classic: | Creature from the Black Lagoon | Count Dracula | The Fly | Frankenstein's monster | The Invisible Man | The Mummy | Count Orlok | The Phantom | The Wolf Man |
| Modern: | The Alien | Norman Bates | Chucky | Ghostface | Jigsaw | Freddy Krueger | Leatherface | Hannibal Lecter | The Living Dead | Regan MacNeil | Michael Myers | Pinhead | Kayako Saeki | Damien Thorn | Jason Voorhees | Samara Morgan/Sadako Yamamura |
