Esdeath

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Member Back to Top Post by Esdeath on Know Your Units on everyone's favorite cat-eared storm queen, Ba'al!



Mythological Information

Ba'al was a storm god worshipped in Canaan. Like many polytheistic religions, one god came to stand above the rest as the leader of the bunch. Ba'al took that role over once the tale of him killing the god of death Mot began to circulate. Before that, his father El was considered to be the king of the gods. Before that, his primary functionality was controlling storms. Worship of Ba'al spread from Canaan to much of the North Africa/Middle Eastern area. Most Ba'alian (totes a real word) tales were derived from the Ba'al Cycle found in the Ras Shamra tablets. Ba'al is often seen as the opposition to the Jewish way of life in the Old Testament. In it, the prophets of Ba'al and Ba'al's worshipers were up to no good, trying to permeate and overthrow Jewish culture. When a God-fearing king took power (such as in the case of King Josiah), they would begin taking back Israel from the worshipers of Ba'al.



Becoming the King



Ba'al's journey to become the king of the gods wasn't a walk in the park. It began with contention between him and his father El. Instead of choosing his son, El chose Yam the sea god to be his successor. Obviously, this angered Ba'al. It didn't help that Yam was a tyrant. Ba'al received magic weaponry from Kothar-wa-Khasis and used it to beat Yam. In soap opera fashion, Mot shortly thereafter "killed" Ba'al, but he didn't kill him dead. Ba'al's sister Anat butcher's Mot's body but forgets to kill him dead, too. Over time, both Ba'al and Mot come back (remember, soap opera fashion) and fight again. There was no clear winner, but Mot surrendered since Ba'al was already treated as the king.



Worship of Ba'al

Ba'al worship is like that scene from the Temple of Doom mixed with Children of the Corn. Worshippers would have orgies while babies were sacrificed with fire. Scary stuff, fam.



In some demonology, Ba'al is seen as one of the seven princes of Hell. This Ba'al is known as the King of the East. This demon was also sometimes depicted as a cat. He is more powerful in October than any other time.





In-Game Description



Original

Ba'al, ruler of the lords of lightning and grain, was not pleased. Some fool dared to awaken her dead arch-nemesis. Though once defeated, she strikes again at Ba'al, who feels both insuppressible rage - and joy.



With the original Ba'al's description, we get a brief introduction to the rivalry between Ba'al and Mot. The Ishtarian Ba'al, like the Ba'al of legend, is a bloodthirsty psychopath. The opportunity to kill someone that she already hates is the greatest thrill she can get.



Noteworthy Quote:

"Ah, Mot. So nice to see you again. This time you'll STAY dead!"

"There will be nothing left to raise when I am through."



Silicon Studios confirmed the implications of the description by putting Mot's name on the card. It also hints at how Ba'al killed Mot and cut the corpse into pieces. I guess I'd be mad too if my work kept getting undone.



Halloween

I should've known... Like I ever stood a chance against her. Look at her, she didn't even need to get up from her throne. Oh no... What's she going to do now? And why is she smiling like that? Twisting her lips in joy, she whispers "Play time is over..."



This is a continuation of the original Ba'al's description from Mot's perspective. It must have ended like most Ronda Rowsey fights since Ba'al didn't break a sweat or even stand up. Mot is as good as dead at this point. Unlike the legends, Mot didn't concede.



Noteworthy Quote:

"So it's been a year, huh.

Time to show'em my real power."



On some characters (especially the more recent ones), the quotes really aren't all that interesting or useful; just a bunch of "Knight~Senpai I love you!" nonsense. Some of the characters that have been around for a while have some depth to their character. Ba'al is one of those superior units that SS spent some time planning. As we saw earlier, the demon known as Ba'al is most powerful in October (Halloween time). Quite a bit of research went into developing this character, and I think I prefer quality over quantity anytime.



"Yagurushi... Maimul...

Release your power to me!"



When Ba'al received the clubs he would use to kill Mot, he gave them magical names. These are derived spellings of those names. There's a different spelling of the same names in the active skill of Swimsuit Ba'al.



Swimsuit

There's some strange magic brewing on Paradise Island. Even the Queen of the East can be seen (almost) letting her guard down. But when she gets excited something happens...Let's just say this island is about to see a lightning storm like no other.



Paradise Island is a magical place. It's seen all sorts of characters drop their guard to enjoy the beach. Apparently, Ba'al is one of these, and her powers get out of hand when she isn't consciously trying to control them. Bring the rain!



Festival

The Devils and demons, they were driven mad by Storm. Can you believe it's already the Knight's third summer since meeting the Queen? That Queen... proud as ever. So sure of herself, she didn't even ask before taking her date to the summer festival.



This is an interesting revelation on Storm. Up until this point, it was a vague magical aura/gas that infected the world and coerced its victims into a life of wanton destruction. Apparently, Storm isn't quite that unidimensional. Apparently, Storm amplifies the power of its victim, but insanity is only a side effect if your psyche isn't strong enough to handle the power. For anyone who dares to call himself a weeb, he'd recognize this as a similar tale to how a certain best waifu gained her supernatural abilities...





Ba'al is a wonderfully presumptuous gal, kidnapping the Knight for a "date" that would be better classified as torture. She assumes that what she's thinking is the truth, so she sees her ear-splitting singing as a service to the world and her involuntary dating style to be a service to whoever has the... good fortune.



Images



Original

is the most modest Ba'al there is, and as such was quickly abandoned. The basic framework is in place, but several features of Ba'al are finalized in her +2, and those carry over to her other cards. There's a lot of details, so let's get to it.

With a title like Queen of the East and a witch theme going on (staff, witch's hat, black cat, etc), I bet you were thinking they were going for a Wicked Witch of the (insert direction here), but nope, just a reference to demonic titles. Like many Halloween units (let's face it, even a Ba'al released in the summer is still a Halloween unit), Ba'al has an orange and black theme going on, especially when it comes to those stockings that seem to be everywhere in Ishtaria. There are a lot of jack-o-lanterns seen here. The one she's sitting on is her throne, while the other 2 are her trusty weapons Yagurushi and Maimul. The original lore calls them clubs, but Silicon Studios decided to go with jack-o-lanterns with sharp blades coming out of them. Tomato, tomahto.

Those are the major details, so let's get into the smaller yet more interesting details since this Ba'al has the most to be noted. First, both of her eyes are green here. This isn't the case in the other units. What we can assume is that these are her natural eyes. We'll get into what happened to them later. Next, notice that her staff looks like a clock, but there are odd symbols on it instead of numbers. Numerically, this clock is set at exactly 9:00. Strangely, this doesn't line up work with the Witching Hour (midnight) or the devil's hour (3AM). Thirdly, let's point out that she has her cat ears hidden in her hat. To a bystander, this could just be another costume with those fake ears for aesthetic purrposes. Just for funsies, let's point out that it's a full moon and the cat has the same eye color as Ba'al.

The



Halloween

took pieces from both the base and evolved form of the original and put them together. The witch outfit doesn't make an appearance here other than the orange stockings and boots. The sleeves on her arms combine the styles of sleeves that both forms wore. The body of her clothes is a slightly different in how the red and black and gold are distributed, and the shape of the outfit is less sinister than the previous version. The eye scar and tattoos remain, which makes sense since this is supposedly after the big beatdown that ended Mot's existence. These traits carry into the



Swimsuit

is the one that doesn't want to kill anyone since she's on vacation. Her physical features return from previous units, but more is revealed. Thanks to her needlessly skimpy bikini, we can see that her tattoos are also on her left cheek. We can see that she's embraced the island life by the evidence she's carrying around. The most obvious thing is the inner tube. More subtle are the flowers and leighs strewn about her body as if she just left a hula dancing party. Her sidekicks are getting in on the relaxation as well, evidenced by the sunglasses on one and the sunhat on the other. They aren't alone. Interestingly enough, you can see her sentient throne chilling in the ocean for who knows what reason.



Festival

is a Ba'al that has to conform to societal standards during times of celebration, especially since the Japanese take their festivals very seriously. Therefore, she dons a traditional Yukuta. Her Yukuta isn't completely normal, though. The fabric used to make it is orange and has a pattern featuring pumpkins with bat wings. Her sash is black with a silver spiderweb pattern (more Halloween detail) to remind us that she is the embodiment of Halloween in AoI. This is the first Ba'al to have a tail, which is adorned with a bow. For some reason, the artist chose to make both of her eyes green like the original, but we can't confirm the color of her left eye in her

Skills

Yagrush & Ayamur- This is the only skill that really stands out prior to Festival Ba'al, as it is named after the two clubs that Ba'al used to brutally kill Mot.



Fierce Yet Friendly- This skill is a further explanation of the backstory of Ba'al that we received in A Date with Destiny. Ba'al tells us that she isn't quite sane but isn't insane either. We know that she's a total psychopath, but she has a sweet side (one that's tainted with her conceit).



Power Plays

There are 3 power plays for Ba'al, one of which is an unconfirmed artist power play. No lore-based ones, though. The other 2 are just event unit groupings.



Never Ending Summer: This is an attack-boosting power play featuring Ba'al (Swimsuit), Scathach (Swimsuit), Ara (Swimsuit), Jack (Swimsuit), Sachiel, Cycnus, Kraken (Swimsuit), Cthylla, Goemon (Swimsuit), Helena (Swimsuit), and Cthugua (Swimsuit).



Happy Halloween!: This power play gives a skill boost to Pephredo (Halloween), Ba'al (Halloween) and Agni (Halloween).



Artist Power Play: Ba'al (Halloween), Mammon (New Years), Revere, etc. all by the artist known as itiyann. This power play grants a health boost to all units involved.



Now, since you've all been so good and paid close attention, here's a bonus!



Lil Ba'al: the cute little rendition of the Ba'al original



Ever since I took care of THAT vermin I've had so much free time... Seems like a perfect to try on my new costume! You can never been TOO prepared! How boring... If only there was someone I could - Hey you! Yeah you! What do you think? Oh... Trick or Treat! No give me candy.



Clearly referring to her demolition of Mot, Ba'al is ready to relax and enjoy life... to a certain extent.







There's a storm coming, Ishtaria! This storm is a category 5 tornado, and we're heading into it head-first! By popular demand, we'll be focusing this week's edition ofon everyone's favorite cat-eared storm queen, Ba'al!Ba'al was a storm god worshipped in Canaan. Like many polytheistic religions, one god came to stand above the rest as the leader of the bunch. Ba'al took that role over once the tale of him killing the god of death Mot began to circulate. Before that, his father El was considered to be the king of the gods. Before that, his primary functionality was controlling storms. Worship of Ba'al spread from Canaan to much of the North Africa/Middle Eastern area. Most Ba'alian (totes a real word) tales were derived from the Ba'al Cycle found in the Ras Shamra tablets. Ba'al is often seen as the opposition to the Jewish way of life in the Old Testament. In it, the prophets of Ba'al and Ba'al's worshipers were up to no good, trying to permeate and overthrow Jewish culture. When a God-fearing king took power (such as in the case of King Josiah), they would begin taking back Israel from the worshipers of Ba'al.Ba'al's journey to become the king of the gods wasn't a walk in the park. It began with contention between him and his father El. Instead of choosing his son, El chose Yam the sea god to be his successor. Obviously, this angered Ba'al. It didn't help that Yam was a tyrant. Ba'al received magic weaponry from Kothar-wa-Khasis and used it to beat Yam. In soap opera fashion, Mot shortly thereafter "killed" Ba'al, but he didn't kill him dead. Ba'al's sister Anat butcher's Mot's body but forgets to kill him dead, too. Over time, both Ba'al and Mot come back (remember, soap opera fashion) and fight again. There was no clear winner, but Mot surrendered since Ba'al was already treated as the king.Ba'al worship is like that scene from themixed withWorshippers would have orgies while babies were sacrificed with fire. Scary stuff, fam.In some demonology, Ba'al is seen as one of the seven princes of Hell. This Ba'al is known as the King of the East. This demon was also sometimes depicted as a cat. He is more powerful in October than any other time.With the original Ba'al's description, we get a brief introduction to the rivalry between Ba'al and Mot. The Ishtarian Ba'al, like the Ba'al of legend, is a bloodthirsty psychopath. The opportunity to kill someone that she already hates is the greatest thrill she can get.Noteworthy Quote:Silicon Studios confirmed the implications of the description by putting Mot's name on the card. It also hints at how Ba'al killed Mot and cut the corpse into pieces. I guess I'd be mad too if my work kept getting undone.This is a continuation of the original Ba'al's description from Mot's perspective. It must have ended like most Ronda Rowsey fights since Ba'al didn't break a sweat or even stand up. Mot is as good as dead at this point. Unlike the legends, Mot didn't concede.Noteworthy Quote:On some characters (especially the more recent ones), the quotes really aren't all that interesting or useful; just a bunch of "Knight~Senpai I love you!" nonsense. Some of the characters that have been around for a while have some depth to their character. Ba'al is one of those superior units that SS spent some time planning. As we saw earlier, the demon known as Ba'al is most powerful in October (Halloween time). Quite a bit of research went into developing this character, and I think I prefer quality over quantity anytime.When Ba'al received the clubs he would use to kill Mot, he gave them magical names. These are derived spellings of those names. There's a different spelling of the same names in the active skill of Swimsuit Ba'al.Paradise Island is a magical place. It's seen all sorts of characters drop their guard to enjoy the beach. Apparently, Ba'al is one of these, and her powers get out of hand when she isn't consciously trying to control them. Bring the rain!This is an interesting revelation on Storm. Up until this point, it was a vague magical aura/gas that infected the world and coerced its victims into a life of wanton destruction. Apparently, Storm isn't quite that unidimensional. Apparently, Storm amplifies the power of its victim, but insanity is only a side effect if your psyche isn't strong enough to handle the power. For anyone who dares to call himself a weeb, he'd recognize this as a similar tale to how a certain best waifu gained her supernatural abilities...Ba'al is a wonderfully presumptuous gal, kidnapping the Knight for a "date" that would be better classified as torture. She assumes that what she's thinking is the truth, so she sees her ear-splitting singing as a service to the world and her involuntary dating style to be a service to whoever has the... good fortune. Original Ba'al in base form is the most modest Ba'al there is, and as such was quickly abandoned. The basic framework is in place, but several features of Ba'al are finalized in her +2, and those carry over to her other cards. There's a lot of details, so let's get to it.With a title like Queen of the East and a witch theme going on (staff, witch's hat, black cat, etc), I bet you were thinking they were going for a Wicked Witch of the (insert direction here), but nope, just a reference to demonic titles. Like many Halloween units (let's face it, even a Ba'al released in the summer is still a Halloween unit), Ba'al has an orange and black theme going on, especially when it comes to those stockings that seem to be everywhere in Ishtaria. There are a lot of jack-o-lanterns seen here. The one she's sitting on is her throne, while the other 2 are her trusty weapons Yagurushi and Maimul. The original lore calls them clubs, but Silicon Studios decided to go with jack-o-lanterns with sharp blades coming out of them. Tomato, tomahto.Those are the major details, so let's get into the smaller yet more interesting details since this Ba'al has the most to be noted. First, both of her eyes are green here. This isn't the case in the other units. What we can assume is that these are her natural eyes. We'll get into what happened to them later. Next, notice that her staff looks like a clock, but there are odd symbols on it instead of numbers. Numerically, this clock is set at exactly 9:00. Strangely, this doesn't line up work with the Witching Hour (midnight) or the devil's hour (3AM). Thirdly, let's point out that she has her cat ears hidden in her hat. To a bystander, this could just be another costume with those fake ears for aesthetic purrposes. Just for funsies, let's point out that it's a full moon and the cat has the same eye color as Ba'al.The evolved form of Ba'al is significantly different. She's ditched the act, no more costume for her. She's showing her true self now, brandishing her crown and throne. The only orange that's left is her beloved weapons, which now have crowns. Her ears can finally breathe since she's exposed them to the open air. As for her eyes, it's my theory that this is a hint at the first battle between Mot and Ba'al. That's definitely a scar on her left eye, and the eye is the same color as the scar. The battle left Ba'al wounded and desperate for power, so she became unstoppable, to Mot's dismay. An interesting detail is the sudden appearance of these purple tattoos on her leg, stomach, and breast. These must have come with the extra power she gained as a package deal. Finally, take a look at the throne and you'll see the bell that was on the cat's neck in the base unit. It's attached to something, so let's just follow the line to where it goes and OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS DOES THAT CHICK HAVE A CAT TAIL? Halloween Ba'al took pieces from both the base and evolved form of the original and put them together. The witch outfit doesn't make an appearance here other than the orange stockings and boots. The sleeves on her arms combine the styles of sleeves that both forms wore. The body of her clothes is a slightly different in how the red and black and gold are distributed, and the shape of the outfit is less sinister than the previous version. The eye scar and tattoos remain, which makes sense since this is supposedly after the big beatdown that ended Mot's existence. These traits carry into the evolved form of this unit, but her sleeves are now shredded. She has hip attachments that resemble pieces from her throne in the original's artwork with stones matching her natural eye color. She's ordering her throne and pumpkin buddies to attack, so "End the Violence" will only be achieved with this gal by making sure there's nobody alive to be violent with. Swimsuit Ba'al is the one that doesn't want to kill anyone since she's on vacation. Her physical features return from previous units, but more is revealed. Thanks to her needlessly skimpy bikini, we can see that her tattoos are also on her left cheek. We can see that she's embraced the island life by the evidence she's carrying around. The most obvious thing is the inner tube. More subtle are the flowers and leighs strewn about her body as if she just left a hula dancing party. Her sidekicks are getting in on the relaxation as well, evidenced by the sunglasses on one and the sunhat on the other. They aren't alone. Interestingly enough, you can see her sentient throne chilling in the ocean for who knows what reason. Festival Ba'al is a Ba'al that has to conform to societal standards during times of celebration, especially since the Japanese take their festivals very seriously. Therefore, she dons a traditional Yukuta. Her Yukuta isn't completely normal, though. The fabric used to make it is orange and has a pattern featuring pumpkins with bat wings. Her sash is black with a silver spiderweb pattern (more Halloween detail) to remind us that she is the embodiment of Halloween in AoI. This is the first Ba'al to have a tail, which is adorned with a bow. For some reason, the artist chose to make both of her eyes green like the original, but we can't confirm the color of her left eye in her evolved form due to it being closed. We can assume that it's green since her red eye comes with a scar. To make the scene more festive, her beloved Jack-O-Lanterns make a return as traditional festival lanterns. To go with the festive theme, she has a caramel apple in one hand and a candied banana in the other. Bells (often associated with cats) have been added to her outfit on her tail, her belt, and a new necklace about her neck. The patterns on her clothes remain the same, but now there is a fleecy lining that matches the color of the scar that would normally be present on her left eye. Because Ba'al doesn't know how to not be lewd, she added a garter to her outfit, serving zero functional purpose.Yagrush & Ayamur- This is the only skill that really stands out prior to Festival Ba'al, as it is named after the two clubs that Ba'al used to brutally kill Mot.Fierce Yet Friendly- This skill is a further explanation of the backstory of Ba'al that we received in. Ba'al tells us that she isn't quite sane but isn't insane either. We know that she's a total psychopath, but she has a sweet side (one that's tainted with her conceit).There are 3 power plays for Ba'al, one of which is an unconfirmed artist power play. No lore-based ones, though. The other 2 are just event unit groupings.Never Ending Summer: This is an attack-boosting power play featuring Ba'al (Swimsuit), Scathach (Swimsuit), Ara (Swimsuit), Jack (Swimsuit), Sachiel, Cycnus, Kraken (Swimsuit), Cthylla, Goemon (Swimsuit), Helena (Swimsuit), and Cthugua (Swimsuit).Happy Halloween!: This power play gives a skill boost to Pephredo (Halloween), Ba'al (Halloween) and Agni (Halloween).Artist Power Play: Ba'al (Halloween), Mammon (New Years), Revere, etc. all by the artist known as itiyann. This power play grants a health boost to all units involved.Now, since you've all been so good and paid close attention, here's a bonus!Lil Ba'al: the cute little rendition of the Ba'al originalClearly referring to her demolition of Mot, Ba'al is ready to relax and enjoy life... to a certain extent.