Dagon in popular culture

The Semitic god Dagon has appeared in many works of popular culture.

Literature

• Dagon appears in John Milton's epic poems Samson Agonistes and Paradise Lost as one of the deities the Philistines worship.
• Dagon appears in the work of H. P. Lovecraft as a sea monster worshipped as a god; two most notable appearances being in "Dagon" and "The Shadow Over Innsmouth". These are probably the locus classicus for most subsequent cultural references. The latter short story formed the foundation for the 2001 film Dagon, although the setting was moved from Massachusetts to Galicia.^[1]
• Dagon is referenced in Middlemarch by George Eliot on page 196 (1994 Penguin Classics).
• In Malachi Martin's historical novel King of Kings: a Novel of the Life of David.^[2] Dagon is the main deity of the Philistines, orchestrating a great war against the Hebrews and their God, Adonai.
• Dagon is referenced at the beginning of Chapter 10 in Saul Bellow's The Adventures of Augie March.
• Abe Sapien, one of the main characters of the comic book series B.P.R.D. by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi, has been referred to as "Son of Dagon".
• The slogan "DAGON SHALL RETURN" is a recurring theme within Simon R. Green's novels, often appearing as graffiti in places such as the Nightside and Haven

Games

Dagon is the name of a demon lord in the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, first mentioned (but not described) in the 1983 first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons sourcebook Monster Manual II, he is said to rules a liquid layer of the Abyss dominated by marine dretch, hezrou, kraken, and horrible fish-monsters.^[3] He was fully described years later, in the game's third edition in Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss.^[4] Dagon's realm is described on Wizards of the Coast's website.^[5] He was described as a colossal-sized eel with the leering fanged face of a deep-underwater fish. Numerous suckered tentacles cover his body, two of which ends in finger-like digits tipped with long sharp talons, and his symbol is six spiraling tentacles arranged around a fanged mouth.^[6]

An alternate Dagon appeared in First Edition D & D, an exiled devil of the same name, who dwells on Avernus, first layer of Baator. Originally known as Jaqon, Asmodeus forcibly changed Jaqon's name to Dagon to thwart attempts to summon the offender. The original, in turn, took this as a grave insult.^[7]

• In the video game ""Castlevania: Portrait Of Ruin", Dagon is an underwater boss, depicted as a two-bodied frog/lizard/tadpole amalgamation, that can suck up an entire room filled with water and shoot it as a weapon. The upper head lizard-like head is the vulnerable one.
• In the game Lost Magic, the Dagon is the greater form of the Hydra, a nautilus-like monster, only fire-type.
• In the video-game The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, the main antagonist, the Daedric Prince of Destruction, Change, Revolution, Energy, and Ambition is named Mehrunes Dagon. Mehrunes Dagon also featured in several of the earlier Elder Scrolls games.
• In the MMORPG RF Online, Dagon appears as an incredibly powerful Boss. Two others are named Dagan and Dagnu.
• Dagon was featured as a cult god in the game Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth.
• In the video-game The Witcher, Dagon is a deity that lives on the bottom of a lake. With him follows destruction, and he cannot be killed.
• In the MMORPG RuneScape, Dagannoths are large amphibious beings.
• In Devil May Cry 4, Dagon is a boss character, resembling a giant toad, that is fought by Nero and Dante.
• The main antagonist in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon is named Daegon.
• Dagon is the first of Rahab's three forms in The Ocean Hunter, shown as a humanoid walking on all fours
• In the Fantasy Flight Games board game Arkham Horror, Dagon appears as one of the Great Old Ones the players try to prevent from arising. In the "Innsmouth Horror" expansion to Arkham Horror, Father Dagon is one of the two Heralds who act against the players by trying to arouse Cthulhu.
• The video game Culdcept features a card named Dagon, a rare and powerful creature that can be somewhat considered a "lord" of blue (Water element) creature cards.

Music

• On the album The Chthonic Chronicles by the "British Cosmic War Metal" band Bal-Sagoth, there is reference to Dagon in the sixth track, "Shackled To The Trilithon Of Kutulu".
• In The Showdown's album A Chorus of Obliteration, the sixth track is named "Dagon Undone - The Reckoning"; it speaks of Israel's fight against Dagon and the Philistines who worshiped him.
• The 9th track on Therion's album Sirius B is titled "Call of Dagon".
• Dagon is the name of the lead guitarist and lead vocalist for the black metal band Inquisition, originally from Colombia but now residing in Washington.
• American Egyptian-themed Technical Death Metal band Nile have a song titled "4th Arra of Dagon" on their newest release Those Whom the Gods Detest (2009).
• The song "Dagon" released by Galician punk band Shit Pony in 2010. Inspired by The Shadow Over Innsmouth, it speaks about girl's desire to have sex with "a sea-monster called Dagon".
• Orion Rigel Dommisse's song "Alice and Sarah" features Dagon as a theremin player.
• The song The Lake by "King Diamond" references a girl praying to Dagon.

Movies and Television

• In the movie Blade: Trinity, Hannibal King asserts that Dracula was once known as Dagon.
• In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Order of Dagon were the protectors of the Key. The Dagon Sphere was an orb that weakened the god Glory.
• In the Pinky & The Brain episode "A Little off the Top", a Philistine soldier orders Samson to "bow before Dagon, our giant papier-mâché weasel god."
• In the anime series The Big O, the robot in episode 7 is named Dagon and went by the nickname "Sea Titan". Dagon was easily destroyed by Big O's Sudden Impact.
• In the anime series Demonbane, Dagon was an old evil god brought back to life using the R'lyeh Text, it was easily destroyed by Demonbane but not without a long battle.
• The movie Dagon [1] is adapted from two H.P. Lovecraft stories about Dagon, primarily The Shadow Over Innsmouth.
• In the Japanese series Mahou Sentai Magiranger, the ruthless leader of the Hades Gods (and he who seeks to finish the Divine Punishment to make sure that N Ma would return to his former power) is named Hades Wise God Dagon.
• In the film The Evil Dead, Dagan is one of the five Kandarian demons, and apparently their leader. He is manifested into physical form at the end of Evil Dead II and sent back through time, where he later combines with Ash's dark side to become Evil Ash in Army of Darkness, and is destroyed by Ash at the end.
• The demon of note in the film Devil's Harvest starring Brian Blessed is referred to as Dagan.
• In the animated series Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, a cult named "The Flame-keeper's Circle" worship and await the return of a squid-like alien 'knowledge-bringer' named "Dagon."

Comics

• In Number 868 of the webcomic Questionable Content, Faye abandons a game of Battleship with Pintsize. Pintsize responds by shouting that the admiral has surrendered, and that all survivors of the "Faye Flotilla are sacrificed to Dagon!"
• In the comic book Team Titans, written by Marv Wolfman and starting September 1992, one member of the Team Titans superhero group is a vampire described as "a" (as opposed to "the") Dagon. He is named Nightrider, but often just called Dagon as well.
• In Alex Ross' Project Superpowers series, Dagon appears in present-day California and terrorizes the locals in order to draw out the hero Samson and test his faith in the Judeo-Christian God.
• In the BPRD comics, the merman-like character Abe Sapien is often referred to as 'son of Dagon'.

References

1. ^ Smith, Don G. (2005). H.P. Lovecraft in Popular Culture. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. pp. 116-€“20. ISBN 0-7864-2091-X. 
2. ^ Martin, Malachi, King of Kings: a Novel of the Life of David, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1980 ISBN 0671247077
3. ^ Gygax, Gary. Monster Manual II (TSR, 1983)
4. ^ Jacobs, James, Erik Mona, and Ed Stark. Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss (Wizards of the Coast, 2006)
5. ^ Jacobs, James, Erik Mona, and Ed Stark. Fiendish Codex I: The Lost Annals (Wizards of the Coast, 2006)
6. ^ Jacobs, James. "The Demonomicon of Iggwilv: Dagon." Dragon #349 (Paizo Publishing, 2006).
7. ^ Greenwood, Ed. "Nine Hells Revisited." Dragon #91 (TSR, 1984)