Collage of the first edition D & D Monster Manual art for Orcus (left) and Demogorgon (right), the latter the model for the figurine in Stranger Things. In my opinion, Demogorgon definitely won out between them in art – but both benefited from the more refined art throughout subsequent editions

(9) ORCUS & DEMOGORGON

Yes – it’s another of my matched pair of villains, originating in classical mythology or literature (kind of) but raised in profile and matched as a pair by their adaptation as demon lords in Dungeons and Dragons.

Demogorgon has achieved particular pop culture status through adaptation as an extra-dimensional antagonist in the Stranger Things TV series, especially in the first season when it was a singular antagonist, the Demogorgon – although people forget that within the narrative of the first season, the characters called it the Demogorgon based on its visual resemblance to a figurine of the Dungeons and Dragons demon lord.

“Orcus was a god of the underworld, punisher of broken oaths in Etruscan and Roman mythology. As with Hades, the name of the god was also used for the underworld itself”. Ultimately, he was conflated with the primary god of the underworld (Hades or Pluto).

TV Tropes has a trope for Orcus on his throne, where an antagonist is powerful to the point of potential victory or “the potential to wipe out the forces of good” but seemingly sits around doing nothing. It’s a surprisingly prolific trope.

Ironically for his higher profile, Demogorgon is less clear in origin as a deity or demon associated with the underworld. “Although often ascribed to Greek mythology, the name probably arises from an unknown copyist’s misreading of a commentary by a fourth-century scholar…The concept itself can be traced back to the original misread term demiurge”.

Interestingly, John Milton paired Orcus with Demogorgon in Paradise Lost (among Demogorgon’s other surprisingly prolific references in literature or poetry) but it’s their pairing as demon lords in Dungeons and Dragons that earns them their entry here as a matched pair – particularly that they were famously antagonistic to each other in the game lore.

RATING:

A-TIER (TOP TIER)