Astaroth

The Great Demon Lord Astaroth (大魔王アスタロト Dai Maou Asutaroto), and also known as The Devil in the NES port of Ghosts 'n Goblins or Great Satan in other English translations, is the main antagonist of the Ghosts 'n Goblins series. He is the ruler of the Demon Realm Village and Arthur's archnemesis, being the final boss from Ghosts 'n Goblins and reappearing as a boss near the end of Ghouls 'n Ghosts, Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts, Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins, and Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection. He is based on Astaroth (also Ashtaroth, Astarot and Asteroth), a Crowned Prince of Hell in demonology, who was in turn most likely named after the Mesopotamian goddess Astarte, which was done so Judaism could mock its ancient polytheistic competitors.

Powers and abilities[]

As a Demon Lord who apparently lived for thousands of years, Astaroth is well versed in the magical arts. Astaroth has a secondary face on his abdomen, and he can attack by firing a stream of fire from both mouths. He can either hail his enemies with small, deadly fireballs, scorch them with long fire lashes, or pierce them with his white-hot laser beam from his top mouth. In Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins, he uses magic to fly as well. In Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection, he has a much more bestial appearance, with more teeth, visible fur, and a vaguely reptilian secondary face.

Astaroth is also an expert deceiver. His illusions and mirages range from an identical clone of himself (both being the real one), to entire areas working as traps (like the infamous illusionary battle against him in the first game, although it was devised by Satan). As a demon, he can survive what seems like certain death for humans, being able to revive unless he is completely extinguished.

Other appearances[]

Astaroth is the fourth boss from Adventure Quiz: Capcom World.
If Akuma or Demitri defeat Red Arremer in SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos, they challenge Astaroth in their endings.
In Namco × Capcom, Astaroth was defeated by Arthur several years before the events of the game, but he revived and makes an alliance with the demon Druaga (although they were actually using each other) to take over the Demon World. At first, Astaroth seems a bit off from his former self, but when defeated by Arthur and his allies in the Demon Realm Village, Nebiroth appears and reveals that Astaroth is simply a marionette under his control, as Astaroth's soul was chopped in half when he was first defeated by Arthur, allowing Nebiroth to have two Astaroths (each with half of the soul) to appear to work for him. Both of them and Nebiroth are defeated, and without them the Demon Village collapses. Astaroth and Nebiroth are revived near the end of the game, and are killed again.
Astaroth also appears in Project X Zone. His attack is Devil Rage (魔王の怒り), where he punches the target upwards, releases a beam from his upper mouth, and unleashes flames from the lower mouth.
Astaroth has a cameo appearance in Sōki's ending from Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars.
In Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Astaroth appears in the background of the Demon Village stage. He also appears as a card in the Heroes and Heralds mode from Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.
Astaroth appeared in events from the mobile games Otoranger and Zombie Cafe.
Astaroth's main attire appeared as a crossover costume for M. Bison in Street Fighter V.

Other Media[]

Astaroth appears in the Volume 5 from Hisshō Technique Kan Peki-ban (1986).
Astaroth makes a cameo in the manga Warera Hobby's Famicom Seminar (1988).
Astaroth appears in the Archie Comics crossover Worlds Unite (2015).

Trivia[]

His initial name is King Gondias.^[9]
His feature of a face on his abdomen may be inspired by medieval Eastern European and Russian depictions of native anthropophagus tribes and the blemmyes, who in lore were feared as tribes of cannibals and warmongers, and upon Christianization of Europe, were believed to be the infernal tribes of Gog and Magog lead by the devil to lay waste upon mankind upon the end of the world.