Moloch in popular culture

see also Moloch (disambiguation)

The god Moloch of the Ancient Near East, to whom children were sacrificed as recorded in the Hebrew Bible, is reflected in popular culture in various forms - with more, less or no reference to the origin of the name.^[1]

Most references are simply the use of the name "Moloch" with no direct reference to the god. Others draw upon high literary references to Moloch in literature, such as the allegorical Moloch in John Milton's Paradise Lost, where Moloch is one of the greatest warriors of the rebel angels, vengeful and militant. Fewer draw on sociological comparisons to Moloch in the Old Testament — a god that demands sacrifice of children. Examples include the philosopher Bertrand Russell in 1903 using Moloch to describe oppressive religion, or Winston Churchill using Moloch as a metaphor for Adolf Hitler's cult of personality in his 1948 history The Gathering Storm.

Poetry

In Allen Ginsberg's 1955 poem Howl, Moloch is used as a metaphor for the American city, thus aligning McCarthy-era America with the demon. The word is repeated many times throughout Part II of the poem, and begins (as an exclamation of "Moloch!") in all but the first and last five stanzas of the section.

Fiction

• In Dan Brown's novel, The Lost Symbol, the principal villain's backstory reveals that he renamed himself Mal'akh after the angel Moloch in Paradise Lost. As well as naming himself after Mal'akh, the villain performs a black magic ritual to allow the angel to descend and possess him, as he gains extra powers after the ritual is complete.
• Moloch is one of the names given to Corky Laputa in Dean Koontz's novel The Face.
• In Robert A. Heinlein's novel Job: A Comedy of Justice the main characters join a church pastored by "Reverend Dr. M. O. Loch."
• Moloch played an important role in Jeff Lindsey's novel Dexter in the Dark. In the novel, Dexter Morgan researches Moloch when pursuing a cult that worships the deity. The novel also implies that Dexter's "Dark Passenger" — the name he gives to his homicidal urges — is one of Moloch's offspring.
• Moloch is a character in the Felix Castor novels written by Mike Carey.
• In the dystopian novel The Secret of the League by Ernest Bramah, Moloch is the name of a prototype flying-machine that goes off course and is eventually lost.
• In JRR Tolkien's Silmarillion, the antagonist Melkor shares many similarities with the fallen angel Milcom. Both names can be shortened to MLK (the original Hebrew abbreviation for Molech), both deities were associated with fire, and both were worshipped by human sacrifice cults.
• In Walter Moers's The 131⁄2 Lives of Captain Bluebear the great ship is called the Moloch.
• In Derek Landy's Skulduggery Pleasant, Moloch is the name of a vampire living in Ballymun.

Comics and anime

• Alan Moore's Watchmen features a retired underworld crime boss who once adopted the name Moloch the Mystic (real name Edgar William Jacobi) and wore the robes of a magician.
• Moloch von Zinzer is a supporting character in the webcomic Girl Genius.^[2]
• The cartoonist Paul Mavrides depicts a serious/comical Moloch in Anarchy Comics #1, in a piece entitled "Some Straight Talk about ANARCHY".^[3]
• In Marvel Comics, Moloch was the antagonist of Marvel Fanfare #52, in which a cult of "hill-people" attempt to sacrifice the Black Knight to him.

Film and TV

• In Giovanni Pastrone's silent epic film Cabiria (1913), the heroine is saved from being sacrificed to the idol Molech. The portal to the temple is a gigantic mouth with shark-like fangs depicting a merciless, pre-Christian god requiring endless human sacrifice.^[4]

• In Fritz Lang's silent film Metropolis (1927), Moloch is a vision of a demonic machine. His face overlays machinery, and the hero, Freder, has a vision of workers being dragged by chains into the fires inside Moloch's mouth.

• Moloch is a character in Stargate SG-1. In this portrayal he demands all female children be burnt alive at birth.

• Moloch the Corrupter is the name of a character in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "I, Robot... You, Jane".

• "Moloch", an episode of the BBC television series Blake's 7.

• Moloch is characterized as a "war machine" in the television series Spellbinder: Land of the Dragon Lord.

• Moloch (depicted as a horned demon) is the primary antagonist in the 2013 TV series Sleepy Hollow.

• Moloch is a central character in the 2013 film Lord of Tears.

• In the 2008 film AM1200, the financial firm Sam Larson and Harry Jones work for is called Molech/Milcom.

Video games

• Moloch "the Bull" is one of the antagonists killed in Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines.

• Moloch (Dungeons & Dragons), an archdevil in the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game

• Moloch is a demon who was "rejected both in Heaven and Hell" in 1999 PC game Nocturne, who helps the main character in the last act.

• Moloch is the primary antagonist in the game NetHack.

• Moloch is featured as a summon-able character in the Game Boy Advance game Golden Sun: The Lost Age and its sequel Golden Sun: Dark Dawn for the Nintendo DS.

• In the PC game Disciples 2: Dark Prophecy, Moloch is a unit on the Legion of the Damned faction.

• Moloch appears in the video game Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance as a three-eyed oni creature.

• Moloch is an Epic Creature character in the MMORTS game Lord of Ultima.

• The video game character "Molag Bal" in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is based upon Moloch. The pseudo-deity "Malacath" is also known by the name "Mauloch".

• Moloch appears as a sometimes-recruitable demon in several games of the Megami Tensei franchise.

• One type of enemy Shivan warship in the game Freespace 2 is known as the Moloch-class corvette.

• Players fight a creature called "Winged Molok" in Diablo III

• Moloch is a boss in the iPad tower defense game Kingdom Rush: Frontiers.

Music

Bands

• The British sludge metal band Moloch took their name from the Moloch song by American Powerviolence band Man Is the Bastard.
• The Memphis blues rock band Moloch, formed in the 1968.

Songs & lyrics

• The American powerviolence band Man Is the Bastard made a song called "Moloch", using the words from the Ginsberg's Howl as lyrics.
• Appears in the song "Molochwalker" off the album Noctourniquet, performed by the The Mars Volta.
• "Good Morning, Great Moloch" by Current 93
• Moloch is mentioned in the song, "The Child Must Die" by the black metal band, Watain.
• "Mr. Shiny Cadilackness" by Clutch
• Singer-songwriter Jude refers to Moloch in his song "You Mama You".

See also

Moloch horridus is the scientific name of a kind of horned lizard also known as a Thorny Devil

References