There’s a shortage of visual representations of Ahriman so I went with the next best thing – Chaos Space Marine Ahriman from 40K, depicted as character feature image in the fan wiki (left). And on the right, Asmodeus as depicted as the supreme devil in Dungeons and Dragons 1st edition Monster Manual. Looking suave…

(14) AHRIMAN & ASMODEUS

Yes – it’s another alliterative pairing of mythological villains.

Ahriman is drawn from the Persian mythology and religion of Zoroastrianism – “also known as Angra Mainyu…the deity of evil, darkness, and destruction in Zoroastrianism, acting as the primary adversary of the creator god, Ahura Mazda”, although ironically the latter seems more phonetically the origin of the name Ahriman.

Ahriman is essentially the devil of Zoroastrianism, although an entity that was more evenly matched with God in that dualistic religion. His resemblance to the devil is not coincidental – “representing chaos and falsehood, Ahriman is believed to have inspired later concepts of the devil and plays a central role in cosmic dualism”.

Asmodeus on the other hand is a demon originating in Biblical mythology, indeed in the Bible itself – albeit the apocryphal Book of Tobit. He rises to prominence above his apocryphal origin due to embodying the sin of lust in folklore and I’m always here for anyone embodying the sin of lust. That gave him a prominence and name recognition in popular culture, not least in Dungeons and Dragons or Pathfinder – indeed as the supreme ruler of Hell (or the Nine Hells) or effectively the Devil of Dungeons and Dragons in game lore.

RATING:

A-TIER (TOP TIER)