Emperor Belos is the main antagonist of The Owl House. Originally a human named Philip Wittebane, he arrived in the Boiling Isles from Gravesfield, Connecticut during the Deadwardian Era (the mid-1600s in the Human Realm) in pursuit of his brother, Caleb, who was spirited away to the realm, keeping a written record of his experiences on the Boiling Isles as he endeavored to find a way to return to the Human Realm. Due to his inherent intense hatred of witches and magic, with which he gained additional resentment due to the Isles' prejudice against humans causing him to be alienated, Philip would eventually conspire to eliminate the Isles and its inhabitants as a whole in an attempt to save humanity from their supposed wickedness.
In order to carry through with this plot, Philip would take on a new identity as a witch named Belos. He claimed to the witches that he had the ability to speak to the isle, that they were misusing magic by mixing it, and that he was the only one who had the right to do so, convincing them and creating a system of covens to restrict the witches' use of magic and knowledge, and those who resisted were declared "wild witches" who would face great punishments. Sometime later he was named emperor of the islands, gaining the respect and devotion of all, unaware of his deception.
As emperor, he ruled the isles from his castle with the protection of his coven and his creation, the Golden Guard Hunter, where he would prepare for the Day of Unity, an event where he hoped to accomplish all his goals against the witches, while under the ruse it would bring a paradise to everyone on the isles. When a human named Luz Noceda happened upon the isles by fate, Belos sought her to claim the portal that brought her to the realm. Although only succeeding in obtaining the fragments of the portal, Belos started reconstructing it in secret and launched his campaign for the Day of Unity at the same time, ensuring the Demon Realm would perish by the time the portal returns him home. Belos' plot ultimately fails upon the release of the Collector, who destroys Belos' physical form, although Belos' remains make it through the portal at the last minute by latching onto Hunter during the escape.
With his return to the Human Realm leaving him in a weakened state, Belos bided his time before he could return to the Demon Realm and resume his plan to end all life there. His path led him to Hunter once more, whom he briefly possessed, and despite Luz and her friends' attempts to thwart him, Belos managed to travel back to the Demon Realm. However, as his monstrous form continued to fall apart, Belos was forced to possess a new host, Raine Whispers, to survive, allowing him to manipulate the Collector to his favor once more by first swaying him to get the trio into experiencing their worst nightmares and later to play games with them. He uses it as a distraction to get into the heart of the Titan, turning into a giant monster and nearly destroying the Boiling Isles. However, he was thwarted once again by a Titan-powered Luz and her friends. Rendered powerless, he tries to feign redemption to Luz, but the boiling rains cause him to dissolve and melt away as Eda, King, and Raine stomp on his remains, ending his reign of terror in the Boiling Isles for good.
Appearance
Body
In his younger human appearance, Philip is a lean, light-skinned man with a pointed nose and long, shoulder-length brown hair, kept in a ponytail, with several strands kept loose atop his scalp. He had a small chin and pale-blue eyes.
During his trip to Eclipse Lake, Philip sports several short bristles on his chin, and over time, his hair grows down to his back. Further into his stay in the Boiling Isles, his appearance becomes scruffier and unkempt, later growing a beard.
During the events of "Elsewhere and Elsewhen", Philip's nose is broken by Lilith Clawthorne, causing the nasal bridge to permanently become crooked and swollen. His arms are also shown to be carved with several glyph symbols.
In his later years, as Belos, he is an elderly man with a pale complexion, light-blue eyes, wrinkled lips, and long, rugged, ash-blond hair reaching past his shoulders. His ears are now pointed like a witch's ears, as a result of Philip physically cutting them into shape, with a notch on his left ear. Most prominently, he has a large basil-green scar, which was once the wound caused by Lilith, running across his face and down his neck, as a result of his prolonged consumption of palismen. The irises of Belos' eyes occasionally glow bright blue, which can remain visible through the shadowed eyeholes of his mask.[1]
Whenever the consumed palismen essence begins to act up, Belos' body heavily destabilizes into a brown-and-green sludge-like substance that turns him into a deformed, skeletal creature with disproportionately long limbs that constantly drip sludge, accompanied by various blue eyes covering his body, and two horns that resemble those of his mask. The only human features he retains are his hair and his blue eyes.
Following the events of "King's Tide", after Belos was defeated by the Collector, he is reduced to a small goop-like form and is forced to possess and consume creatures' flesh to stay alive and gain more mass over time. After returning to the Boiling Isles, Belos stayed in his monster form, albeit highly weakened, as his body gradually melted away. After Raine managed to force Belos out of their body, Belos was left as a torso, with his left humerus exposed, and missing his right forearm, and some of his teeth.
While possessing Hunter, Belos' goo takes over most parts of his body, including both arms, half of his neck, part of his face, and part of his right ear, along with forming a pair of horns similar to his monster form. Hunter's eyes also glow blue like Belos', and his arms are capable of turning into giant claws during combat.
While possessing Raine Whispers, who was under the Collector's Puppet Spell, Belos' goo covers parts of Raine's cheek and left ear, while also inhabiting the hollow wooden insides. Raine's eyes also become blue and glowing, and their hair becomes much messier compared to their previous puppet form.
After Raine breaks out from their puppet form, Belos' goo starts leaking out of Raine's eyes and mouth, while their eyes continue glowing blue.
After possessing the Titan's heart, while his infection takes over the Isles, Belos' goo grows around his castle into a gigantic monstrous form. Its chest is covered in holes, with five of them being glowing blue eyes. It possesses two gigantic arms with clawed hands, and a pair of bat-like wings on its back with holes on them. Its head features a protruding snout with sharp teeth, four glowing blue eyes, a pair of horns with two small prongs atop them, and long gray hair.
Clothing
Philip dressed in what appeared to be 17th-century English formal attire, consisting of a waistcoat, thigh-length overcoat, and breeches. The coat was dark blue in color, with an upward-facing collar and golden buttons. The town seal of Gravesfield was embroidered in gold on the left breast of the coat. His waistcoat was light gray, worn over white shirt with long cuffed sleeves. His neck was decorated with a frilled jabot or cravat. On his hands, he wore a pair of beige-colored gloves. His pants were a pair of orange breeches, tightly fastened around his calves. Finally, he wore a pair of white socks, severely covered in sweat stains from his time in the Demon Realm, under a pair of black leather shoes with buckles.
As Belos, he wears a golden mask with two long upward-facing horns. His eyes are hollow through the mask, creating the appearance of having empty eye sockets. He wears a large white and brown cape with gold trim over a baggy gray tunic and black pants tucked into both his golden gloves and brown boots.
Personality
Before becoming the emperor, Philip was initially shown to be an inquisitive and meek individual with a strong intellectual drive. He had a strong desire to return home, although he was harried by unfamiliar environments, such as the Boiling Isles, and struggled to cope in them. Despite this, he was shown to be a natural explorer, being very observant and resourceful in order to adapt to the Boiling Isles. He also learned glyphs by careful analysis of his surroundings, and the notes he made contributed to his developing plans on a portal back to Earth.
However, his soft-spoken personality belies a darker, ruthless character. In truth, Philip was deceptive and selfish in his desires, to the degree he is willing to manipulate the Boiling Isles' inhabitants and let them die in his service, while justifying this as a necessary sacrifice for his return home. This deceptiveness was particularly apparent when Luz accused him of betraying her and Lilith, while Philip casually stated it was because they were easy to trick. Philip even falsified reports about himself as gentle and caring and being unable to save his companions (which was proven to be dubious after his betraying of Luz and Lilith), suggesting at this time in his life, he was or had come to the point where he instinctively exaggerated or lied about his character. Due to his ambitions, Philip was apathetic to the lives of others but his own, which was most notable when he remarked that his only hope toward Luz and Lilith was that they would last long enough to distract the beast for him.
Philip vehemently opposed witches and magic, attributed to his early exposure to the beliefs and practices of witch-hunting as a child. Thus, he made it his purpose to protect humanity from the dangers of witchcraft in the name of justice. By the time he was an adult, his maladjustment to the Boiling Isles' magical atmosphere and residents only fueled his grudge and grew to despise them further after having his nose broken by Lilith. After becoming Belos, his hatred of witches and ambition for power grew more. His philosophy that witches were evil would soon evolve from prejudice into wanting genocide against them. Conversely, he developed a self-righteousness, almost savior complex, in which he argued that his actions were righteous and for the protection of humanity, and due to this belief, he was extremely ruthless, and would not hesitate to eliminate anyone who opposed him, no matter how cruel his actions were.
As Emperor Belos, he is described as "omnipotent and megalomaniacal",[2] a strict and commanding figure who is often impatient and intolerant of failure from his subordinates. Despite his intolerance of failure, Belos can be quite lenient towards servants that he values highly enough, such as the case with Lilith and her constant failures to capture her sister, but even that lenience has limits. His authority is shown to be a powerful one that garners fear and respect. If Belos had any weaknesses, it would be his arrogance, poor judgment, and inability to understand loyalty and compassion. He assumed Lilith would continue to serve him after his true plans for her sister, Eda, were revealed, simply shrugging off her betrayal and intended for her to be petrified along with her sister.[1] Furthermore, although Belos was quick to learn new things, his lack of true understanding of the nature of the Boiling Isles meant that he was only interested in what he believed would benefit his plans. An example of this was when Belos dismissed King as completely insignificant and saw the Titans as a method to spread his propaganda. His surprised reaction when the Collector told him that "the dog" was a Titan further indicates the thought had never crossed his mind to question the Titans, unaware of the fact both King and the Titan's heart had represented the means to carry out his genocide all along. Despite this, Belos is not without fear, as shown when he was terrified by the Collector after he was released and tried to make up an excuse for betraying him, only to be destroyed by the Collector.[3]
Another trait of Belos was his charisma and cunning, as he managed to easily cheat witches about their misuse of magic and his ability to talk to the island, gaining their trust so much to make him emperor of the isles. To maintain this facade, Belos took care to protect his image of strength and power to discourage others from questioning his authority or rebelling against his laws, as he was incensed when Luz managed to damage his mask and fool him. He retained his treacherous nature as Philip and is not above lying, having made a promise to Lilith he had no intention of keeping.[1] He also lies to the populace, having engineered propaganda that he can speak to the Titan that forms the Boiling Isles, and later claimed the Titan had told him to spare the Owl Lady's life but would remain in her cursed state as an example to those who question Belos' laws and power, all in order to preserve his seemingly infallible image when the fact otherwise is plain to see.[1]
After becoming Belos, his ambitions and apathy were more prominent, as Belos had no emotional care or attachments to anyone, regarding them as expendable once they no longer served a purpose to him. A minor exception to this was shown with his attachment to his "nephew", Hunter, whom he acted more gentle and calm toward. However, the genuineness of this attachment was primarily a one-sided ruse in order to keep Hunter from rising against him as all the previous Golden Guards did. Belos was also shown to be dismissive and physically abusive towards Hunter. This was particularly true whenever Hunter brought up the subject of wild magic.[4] He was also not above emotionally manipulating Hunter's insecurities to instill faith and loyalty in him, going as far as to foster Hunter's false sense of purpose that painted Hunter as being important in the Titan's plans.[5][6] However, after Hunter learned of Belos' murders of the previous Golden Guards, he immediately dropped his caring facade and remorselessly attempted to kill and replace his "nephew" with another grimwalker, callously disregarding him as another "failure" and abandoning any genuineness their bond shared.
On rare occasions, Belos expressed wistfulness for his home and his old life. He was greatly driven by his wish to return to the Human Realm and protect humanity from the self-perceived horrors he saw in witches. This was shown with his plan to retrieve the portal as a means to return to the life he once had. Belos would allude to his life as Philip, as he describes his past in the Human Realm longingly to Hunter.[5] He was similarly willing to bargain with Luz, and somewhat sympathetic to her situation as a human who was trapped in a strange place like he was, expecting her to understand his wish to go back to the Human Realm.
However, he was so obsessed about his beliefs and desire to have everything to be the way he saw fit, that he came to fear things that were out of his control. This meant Belos was prompted to do what he could to maintain whatever did not fall in line with his desires or challenged his beliefs. As such, he was highly hypocritical, as he viewed humans who did not share his vision as corrupt or irredeemable, making his sympathy quite limited. This applied with Luz when he deemed her crazy and therefore unreasonable, and attempted to kill her without hesitation or remorse as soon as she argued against his ambitions of genocide,[6][3] as well as murdering his own brother, Caleb, when the latter made peace with the witches and fell in love with one.[7]
Belos' desire to be humanity's savior blinded him to the possibility that he was in the wrong, using his self-proclaimed justice as a defense for his more atrocious actions. His delusion was so severe that Lilith punching him in the face reinforced his hatred for witches, rather than acknowledging it was his own deception that had enraged her. As a consequence of his delusion, he was shown to be bigoted and hypocritical, claiming that witches were "conniving, evil, and unforgivable", qualities he himself exhibited. He also claimed that he was better than witches solely because he was human, even though his actions to prolong his life reduced him to something that was barely human anymore. When an apparition of Caleb confronted Belos for murdering him, Belos denied any responsibility and defended everything he did by saying it was for the greater good, deflecting the blame to Caleb for refusing to let Belos "save his soul" from the Demon Realm.[7] Even the Titan proclaimed Belos had no excuse for his viciousness, citing that his want to protect to humanity didn't come from a genuine place, but from his desire to be the "hero in his own delusion".[8]
To the very end, Belos was manipulative and remorseless, killing anyone who didn't share his views without mercy, whether it was a child like Luz or his own brother, both of whom were humans. Despite claiming that he's doing everything to save humanity from evil, Belos made it very clear to Luz that once he returned to Earth, he wanted to be known by the title of "Witch Hunter General", demonstrating that he wanted fame and recognition for his actions and that just "saving" humanity wasn't enough to satisfy him, showing evident egocentrism and selfishness behind his self-proclaimed noble actions.
Belos is also shown to be not above pleading with his enemies, such as by trying to save himself by claiming he had released the Collector like he promised after he callously threw them off a cliff earlier, and later tried treacherously blasting them when their back was turned, being unmoved by the child's innocent attempt to redeem and forgive him like Luz had taught them. Additionally, when on the verge of death, he desperately tried to fool Luz into thinking everything he had done had been under the influence of a curse. When Luz wasn't fooled by his lies, he spitefully tried to sway her by stating that by allowing him to die would make her as bad as the "witches", again blaming them instead of taking responsibility for his own misdeeds, and stating that him and Luz were better than them as humans, once again showing his refusal to accept that everything that had happened to him was his own fault.[8]
Background
Early life
A recreation of Philip arriving with Caleb in Gravesfield.
Philip Wittebane was born in the Human Realm sometime between the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. By unknown circumstances, he was left orphaned at a relatively young age, leaving him to be cared for by his older brother, Caleb, who did his best to look after Philip in their parents' absence. In 1613, the brothers journeyed to the town of Gravesfield in colonial Connecticut. After their arrival, the brothers would become witch hunters, a practice common in Gravesfield at the time, as a means of acclimating into the village's society. Sometime prior to or after their arrival in Gravesfield, Caleb also carved Philip a special horned mask, which he would often wear when they played together or participating in witch hunts with the villagers.[6]
A memory portrait of Philip and Caleb during their time as witch hunters.
The brothers' career as witch hunters would remain into adulthood, in which they worked together as partners. This changed, however, when the two encountered a witch from the Demon Realm named Evelyn. Caleb was captivated by Evelyn's magic and soon, he left the Human Realm to follow her back to the Demon Realm. Philip, believing his brother was led astray by Evelyn's intentions, followed in pursuit to bring her to justice.[9]
Arriving in the Demon Realm
An enraged Philip (reflection) shortly after murdering his brother.
Philip arrived in the Demon Realm through Eclipse Lake, the water of which had been contaminated with Titan's Blood, creating a gateway between the two planes. Philip was initially thunderstruck by the Demon Realm, but after some amount of time, he managed to locate Caleb. Although the exact specifics of their reunion are unknown, Philip's memories show that he discovered Caleb had fallen in love with Evelyn, and that she had become pregnant.[10] This enraged Philip, seeing it as a personal betrayal to both himself and their mission as witch hunters, and eventually, he confronted Caleb. Even though Caleb was compassionate towards his brother, things escalated until there was a knife-duel between the two siblings, ending with the murder of Caleb at Philip's hand. This led to Evelyn immediately attacking Philip with her magic in revenge, although he managed to escape.[6]
After killing his brother, Philip's hatred towards the witches of the Isles continued to grow, even more so thanks to the witches' mockery of him. Considering them a danger to humanity, Philip began plotting to kill all the witches and demons in the Boiling Isles, in order to "save" humanity from them. He also aspired to create a portal back to the Human Realm and began searching the Isles for components to make it. During his travels through the Isles, Philip recorded his adventures in a personal journal, though many of the accounts he wrote contained falsified or edited versions of his exploits in order to be viewed in a more heroic light by future readers.[11]
Philip carving glyphs into his arm.
Through his expeditions of the Boiling Isles, Philip began to observe the settings' unique phenomena of hidden glyphs, the foundation behind magic itself, and by connecting them, realized he could summon spells of his own. During this time, Philip found at least three of the core glyphs, but only after an extensive period of research. At some point, Philip carved the glyphs into his right arm, presumably in an attempt to control his magic directly.[6] Unfortunately for Philip, this backfired terribly, as the glyphs caused his body to violently contort and morph when they tried to activate. The only way to alleviate the pain was by absorbing the magical essence of palismen, and thus Philip sought out the palismen of other witches and demons to survive.[11] To make this easier for him, Philip recruited witches into his search for portal parts, tricking them into doing all the hard work, before leading them into traps and killing them, thus leaving him unscathed and in possession of their palismen.
Five years later, Philip's ambitions led him back to Eclipse Lake with hopes of acquiring Titan's Blood. To aid himself with this task, Philip employed the service of local residents of the Boiling Isles, a quest which only resulted in unearthing a similar substance known as "Fool's Blood", the presence of which signified a decaying and unstable vein. After acquiring the Titan's Blood, which he later rationed, the vein which Philip and his traveling companions were traversing collapsed, resulting in said companions perishing within, possibly as the result of Philip's interference.[5]
As time went on, Philip came to learn about the powerful god-like being known as the Collector, whom he sought out to help him in his goal of killing the residents of the Boiling Isles. One of the items needed to find them, however, was a mysterious tablet kept inside of the skull of the Titan. As it was guarded by a closed door with a Stonesleeper behind it, Philip embarked on an expedition to the Titan's skull with the aid of a demon named Blue Fang; but in truth, Philip intended to use Blue Fang as a distraction while he tried to locate the artifact himself. However, even with Blue Fang's sacrifice, Philip was still unsuccessful, thus he returned to Bonesborough in search for another sacrifice to unwittingly aid him in his scheme.[11]
An unusual encounter
Luz defending Philip from the demons.
After returning to Bonesborough, Philip got into a quarrel with the brothers of Blue Fang, who wanted to know what happened to their brother. Philip feigned ignorance until the demons threaten to burn his diary. However, a young girl named Luz, who had traveled back in time to meet Philip along with a woman named Lilith, intervened and scared off the demons. In an attempt to prevent Philip from knowing who they were, Luz introduced herself and Lilith as "Luzura the Crab Maiden" and her aunt "Dirtrude" respectively and explained that they were looking for him for information about the Collector. Even though he did not believe their story and initially tried to leave them behind, Philip took advantage of Luz's assistance when she offered to him find the Collector. Philip took the duo to a cave, wherein he sees Luz using a light glyph. Philip sketched the glyph while mentioning he also studied glyph magic, or "picto-glyphs" as he called them, on the Boiling Isles, but had spent a long time finding them, prompting him to laud Luz's skills. At the end of the cave, Philip drew out a larger glyph combination that transported the three to the inside of the Titan's skull, where the door to the artifact was. Proclaiming that the Collector lay behind the door, he convinced Lilith to unlock the door herself.
Philip's true colors are revealed.
While Lilith was busy trying to unlock the door, Philip proceeded to write a false account in his diary about how he "defeated" the beast, and of his companions perishing. Unfortunately for Philip, Luz caught him in the act and learned of Philip's deception, but before she could press for an answer, Lilith finished unlocking the door and the Stonesleeper ambushed her. Philip revealed his true intention was to use the two as bait while he uncovered the tablet for himself. As Luz immediately rushed in to save Lilith from the beast, Philip dug up the tablet in the room, casually giving a pitiless remark about how he knew they were lying about their identities before proceeding to teleport away from the scene, leaving Luz and Lilith behind to deal with the beast.
Philip after getting punched in the nose by Lilith.
Shortly after abandoning the two, outside the cave, Philip was heading back with the tablet when he was confronted by Luz and Lilith, who had tamed the Stonesleeper. Luz demanded Philip to tell her how the tablet was going to help him build the portal to the Human Realm, only for Philip to admit it was for something else. He then attempted to lure Luz in with an offer for more information from him, as he needed another person for a sacrifice. Before he could carry on, Lilith punched him right in the face, breaking his nose and leaving him with a scar, before the two rode off with the Stonesleeper.[11]
Assuming a new identity
Philip summons the Collector for the first time.
However, Philip's hatred of witches began to increase after Lilith's punch, cursing Lilith and the rest of the witches for all his suffering. Upon returning to his encampment in a great deal of pain from the punch after the encounter, the glyph carvings on his arm swelled up again, prompting Philip to rush to a pile of palisman bodies, absorbing the essence from one of them, which caused the scar on his nose to expand. Philip then wiped his hand on the tablet, which projected the emblem of the Collector, whereupon he asked the Collector for help in eradicating all life in the Demon Realm.[11]
Luz finds out that most of Philip's diary has been consumed by an echo mouse.
Philip's bargain with the Collector involved him teaching Philip about magic and a Draining Spell, which would suck all the magic out of every being on the isles and kill them. In exchange, Philip promised the Collector's freedom from the In Between Realm.[3] After this, Philip subsequently donated his diary to the Bonesborough Library, where it was placed within the Forbidden Stacks. Centuries later, his diary would be sought by Luz. By this time, however, much of its contents had been destroyed due to being consumed by an echo mouse. The remaining pages only recounted how he got to the Boiling Isles, parts of his journeys, and some instructions to make the portal.[12]
Philip, now under the identity of Belos introduces the Coven System.
Eventually, Philip's strategy of tricking witches into traps gained him too much infamy among the people of the Isles. To remedy this, Philip acquired a new identity of a witch named "Belos" and tricked the witches by telling them that he had the ability to talk to the Titan. He would then claim that the Titan told him that the witches were misusing magic by mixing it, hiding his face behind an updated version of his childhood mask. To achieve this, he used unknown methods to artificially prolong his life and even went as far as cutting off large parts of his ears to acquire a shape more similar to that of the witches.[6] Under the Collector's tutelage, Belos mastered all magic,[3] in addition to an enigmatic form known as "artificial magic" that was exclusive to him, eventually learning how to divide magic into nine different types.
Rise to power
Emperor Belos enlightens the witches.
Belos' plan was a success, managing to deceive and convince the witches of "their misuse of magic" and to use only one type of magic.[6] Belos' deceptions would lead to the formation of the Coven System, where those who were inducted received a coven sigil that sealed away all magic except for the type of their coven. Secretly, these sigils were meant to drain the witches during the Day of Unity once the Draining Spell was cast.[3] According to The Unauthorized Boiling Isles History, many were willing to follow him, due to the rumor that the Savage Ages were a destructive time; though it is revealed that Belos himself orchestrated the wanton destruction that would define the time period as a fear mongering tactic to gain more followers.
Belos has one of his Golden Guards administer the Coven sigils.
At some point, during the early days of his new persona, Belos, through unknown means, discovered how to engineer a series of artificial witch-like clones called grimwalkers, all of which he based on Caleb in an attempt to make him "better". Created one at a time, these clones were meant to serve as his accomplice in his grand deception to win over the isles, during which they aided him in his fear mongering tactics and testing the sigils on the populace. Following his takeover of the Isles, while in Belos' court, these clones served as his right hand known under the illustrious title of the "Golden Guard".[6] However, each grimwalker apparently met a horrific end, many of which were implied to have eventually turned against Belos and his genocidal ambitions, resulting in Belos eliminating them one after another, before having their corpses disposed of inside the catacombs of the Titan's skull.[3] By the time of Belos' 50th year of rule, the latest grimwalker he created was a boy named Hunter. To ensure Hunter remained completely loyal to him, Belos took Hunter under his wing, claiming to be his uncle, hiding the truth about his artificial origins and fabricating a backstory that their family, the previous Golden Guards, died from the use of wild magic, and that the Titan had big plans for him.[4]
During his rule, Belos never revealed his face to the people of the Isles, causing many to speculate about his true appearance. However, because of his prolonged suppressing of the carved glyphs, and need to continuously consume palismen, Belos' physical state degraded over the years. The wound on his face continued to grow until it became a hideous scar that covered most of his face and neck. More prominently though, the souls of the palismen he consumed continued to exist inside him and would rebel against him to the point that he occasionally transformed into a grotesque, raging sludge-like monster.[13] As his reign continued, Belos' hatred towards wild magic grew, and he sought to eradicate it, to the point where he would saw to executions of multiple witches and demons who refused to join his coven system, often by means of petrification, and would often react violently at the mere mention of it.[4]
Belos and a few coven guards looking for the basilisks who have escaped.
At some point, Belos revived the basilisk race from extinction and experimented on them, hoping to understand their abilities to extract magic. However, a few of them, including Vee, escaped and went into hiding.[14]
Promise with Lilith
Emperor Belos is displeased with Lilith.
A few years before the start of the series, the Emperor ordered for the capture of Eda Clawthorne, but she managed to elude every attempt at capture. When the prodigious Lilith Clawthorne joined the Emperor's Coven and rose through its ranks, Belos offered to heal her sister Eda from the curse Lilith cast upon her. In exchange, Lilith was assigned to capture Eda so Belos could induct the rogue witch into a coven. However, Eda proves to be nearly impossible to capture, forcing Lilith to return to the Emperor empty-handed each time. One month after assigning Eda's capture to Lilith, Belos' patience grows thin, and he gives her an ultimatum; should she fail to capture her sister by twilight, she would be expelled from the Emperor's Coven, be labeled a criminal, and possibly executed.[15] Lilith does succeed in capturing Eda, but he breaks his promise to heal her. Belos takes her away to another room, stating that Eda must be dealt with - petrified - instead of healed. He also expresses his desire of capturing "the human girl", as he needs the magic door that leads to the human world. The Emperor sentences Eda to execution by petrification, gives Lilith the Owl Staff, and requests for her to destroy it.[1]
Rebuilding the portal
Emperor Belos oversees the construction of a new portal.
However, Lilith disobeys the Emperor's orders and teams up with Luz and King in order to save her sister from execution. Belos is already at the Conformatorium where the execution is taking place, and he has Lilith and King thrown into the same cage as Eda to be petrified as well. In fury, Luz attacks the Emperor by using a combination of the Owl Staff and glyph magic, but Belos retaliates with his own magic and easily overpowers Luz by restraining her with arm-like tendrils. Luz manages to catch Belos off guard by using an ice spell to chip off a piece of his mask. Amused by the human's spirit, the Emperor gives out a deal: if Luz wants to save Eda, she must give him the portal. Though Belos assured that the Titan's will did not involve invading the human world, Luz does not trust him. In order to save Eda, Luz reluctantly gives him the portal, but not before secretly sticking some fire glyphs on it as she hands it to the Emperor. With a tap of the Owl Staff, Luz triggers the fire glyphs and destroys the portal, angering Belos. To make matters worse, Luz also frees Eda, Lilith, and King, forcing Belos to claim that the Titan willed them to be spared in order to save face. Despite the portal's apparent destruction, the Emperor is able to salvage its remains to create a larger portal for the Day of Unity. Though Kikimora worries about the criminals still at large, Emperor Belos assigns the Golden Guard, Hunter, to keep an eye on the Owl House residents.[1] He also appoints the Golden Guard as the new leader of the Emperor's Coven and places a large bounty on the peaceful selkidomus to collect its scales.[16]
Belos transforming into his monster form in front of Hunter.
In order to mask his true intentions from the Boiling Isles, Belos fabricated a plan to unite the Demon Realm and the Human Realm, claiming it would bring about the end of wild magic in the process. To do this, the Emperor requires the head witches of each coven to recruit as many witches as possible. He reveals his plans to the nine Coven Heads, promising them "Utopia free of wild magic." However, a coughing fit overtakes the Emperor, and he is escorted off by Hunter. Upon entering his throne room, Belos transforms into a monstrous form and punches a nearby pillar. Once the Emperor comes to his senses, he takes a palisman from Hunter and demands for more. However, with palistrom wood becoming an increasingly rare resource, palismen are becoming much more difficult to come by, and while Hunter suggests a method of using wild magic, Belos refuses to entertain that notion. Instead, he orders Hunter to find more.
The Emperor is displeased with Hunter.
Unfortunately for the Emperor, Hunter returns empty-handed. He informs Belos that he was attacked and the palismen got away. Belos is disappointed with him, and when Hunter suggests that he tells him how wild magic did this to him, he lashes out and summons a tendril that just barely misses his nephew's face. He forgives Hunter for his actions, as he knows he can do better.[4]
An unmasked Belos reminisces about the Human Realm.
Though the Emperor was able to salvage and reconstruct the portal, he is not able to replicate the key without Titan's Blood. He originally intends to send Hunter to Eclipse Lake to retrieve it, but later replaces his nephew with Kikimora. While testing an artificial key on the portal, Belos catches Hunter eavesdropping on him. Hunter asks about the Human Realm, and the Emperor reveals that he has been there before and wishes to go there once more; Belos adds that the rain does not boil in the Human Realm, the trees are green, and the nights are quiet. Hunter then asks his uncle why he was replaced with Kikimora, but he cryptically responds that the Titan has big plans for Hunter, and the best thing he can do now is stay safe.[5] As he is speaking with the Collector and working on the portal, Hunter runs in with the damaged key and Belos sternly tells him to leave. The Collector then asks if he was planning on killing Hunter like the others, to which he replies it pains him to kill them whenever they betray him.
Oncoming eclipse and the Day of Unity
Belos unmasks himself in front of his subjects.
With the Day of Unity only one month away, Belos personally makes an announcement to all subjects in the Boiling Isles. When the tide is at its lowest and a solar eclipse occurs, everyone must travel to the head of the Titan. Before ending his speech, the Emperor admits to his subjects that he hid his face out of fear, but this year, due to the overwhelming support of his alleged people, the Emperor publicly unmasks himself and thanks the Boiling Isles. This action is met with cheers from the crowd.
Shortly after, he leaves the palace for business and places Hunter in charge of the meeting with the Coven Heads, sending two coven guards to deliver the message to his nephew.
Belos revealing his true identity to Luz, much to her horror and disbelief.
About a week before the Day of Unity, Belos finds Luz and Hunter in his mind. Under the guise of a child, Inner Belos manipulates Luz and Hunter into luring the monstrous palismen souls into the trap. Along the way, Inner Belos lures the duo through the Emperor's memories that detail his rise to power. After he uses them to trap the palismen souls, Belos reveals to a distraught Hunter that he is a grimwalker and that everything the Golden Guard once knew was a lie. Belos then banishes Hunter to the deepest parts of his mind, before toying with Luz by revealing his true identity and gloating that she was the one responsible for helping a witch hunter rise to power. However, Hunter manages to come back up using Luz's glyphs, and the duo escape to the Owl House thanks to the teleportation spell prepared by Eda. When Hunter goes on the run, Belos has the Coven Scouts keep a lookout for him, assuming the façade of a worried uncle.
Shortly after, he issues a decree that all young witches must be placed in a coven before the Day of Unity and sent Adrian Graye Vernworth to carry this out at Hexside. However, he fails miserably after he and his team are defeated by the students and teachers of Hexside.
Belos with the Coven Heads.
As the Day of Unity is about to unfold, he speaks with the Collector as he puts the finishing touches on the portal. As the ceremony is about to start, aware that Eda has taken the place of Raine, he has "Raine" stand between Adrian Graye Vernworth and Terra Snapdragon rather than Darius Deamonne and Eberwolf. As the Draining Spell takes effect, he tosses the mirror he used to contact the Collector to the deepest parts of the skull.
Belos telling Kikimora to go find a hole to wither away in.
When Kikimora arrives with who she believes to be Hunter, she asks to be his new right hand, to which Belos cruelly rejects her and tells her to find a spot to die. He then faces Luz, who masked herself as Hunter, as she tries to get him to stop the Draining Spell. He tries to convince her that he is looking out for her as a fellow human, but Luz does not believe him, even calling him out on his hypocrisy. When he starts to petrify her, she convinces him to let her be his guide in the modern human world so that people would believe him. After stopping the petrification, he and Luz shake on it, only for her to brand him with a hidden branding glove. She begs Belos to stop the Draining Spell as he slowly loses his human form and attacks the girl. However, Willow Park, Amity Blight, Gus Porter, and Hunter arrive and help Luz. Belos tries to convince Hunter to help him, but flies into a rage upon seeing Flapjack, as he had been connected to Caleb at some point.
The Collector mere moments from flicking Belos into a wall.
As he is about to finish off the teenagers, Belos is stopped by the Collector, who had been freed by King. He tries to convince the Collector he kept his promise, but the Collector smashes him against the wall. As the teenagers are fleeing through the portal to the Human Realm, a piece of Belos falls onto Hunter's shoulder.
Time on Earth
Belos possessing a rabbit.
After returning to the Human Realm, Belos had to possess animals to sustain his form and continued to lurk in the area surrounding the Noceda Residence. However his vessels would slowly be eaten by his essence. Shortly before Halloween, he possesses Hunter, who has knowledge of the location of Titan's Blood. Hunter would see visions of Belos before taking full control of his body. Belos finds the blood and, when Luz's mother and friends arrive, he reveals she helped him meet the Collector.
Belos, possessing Hunter, grabbing Flapjack.
As Hunter's friends fight to free him from Belos' control, he fends them off with ease and, as Flapjack tries to fight, he grabs the palismen and nearly crushes him, only stopping when Hunter regains control. After Hunter stands up to him, his former lieutenant tosses the blood into a nearby lake and Belos dives after it. Belos grabs it, but both him and Hunter lose consciousness. Camila Noceda pulls Hunter out and he leaves Hunter's body, calling him Caleb and screaming how Hunter betrayed him. As Belos opens a portal, he says he is doing what he is doing for the good of their souls and goes through the portal.[9]
Return to the Demon Realm
Belos seeing Caleb and the past golden guards.
Upon returning to the Demon Realm, Belos' body starts to fall apart. As he crawls to his old hideout, he sees a hallucination of Caleb with the dagger he killed him with above his head. Belos angrily blames him for everything before continuing upon his way. Upon arriving, Belos crawls through the graveyard of Golden Guards, but continues seeing Caleb, along with the former Golden Guards he killed. Upon going to the room he used to create grimwalkers, Belos finds one and attempts to possess it. However, it is not ready yet, with only its top half formed and the rest still a skeleton, and it falls apart.
Belos, possessing Raine, speaking with the Collector.
Belos makes his way to the Archive House where he possesses the puppet of Raine Whispers and, pretending that the Collector's love brought the puppet to life, tries to convince him that King will betray him and tells him Luz has returned. After the Collector sees King plotting to take care of him permanently, but unaware that King is trying to get him to see the error of his ways, the Collector believes Belos and he takes him to see Luz, further cementing his grip on the Collector.[7]
Final attempt at victory
Belos possessing the Titan's Heart.
After Belos discovers that the Titan is still alive and can counter the magic of the Collector, he persuades the Collector to engage with Luz, Eda, and King while he heads to the castle. On their journey, Raine regains control and breaks the spell. However, Belos still possesses them, and they continue towards the castle. Upon arrival, Raine expels Belos from their body, and he proceeds to the heart. Realizing he intends to possess the Titan, Raine follows Belos to the throne room. As Belos claws his way to the heart, Raine tries to create a shield to protect it. However, a fragment of Belos manages to attach itself to the heart, and he taunts Raine for their failure as his curse spreads across the Isles.
Belos, taking the form of a dragon, using the power of the Titan to destroy the Boiling Isles.
As he gains control of the Titan, the Collector, now appreciating the value of friendship and forgiveness, attempts to make Belos realize his mistakes. Although Belos is baffled by this, he decides that the Collector needs to be out of the picture and tries to contain him in his mold. However, Luz ends up saving them at the last second, but she ends up getting infected and evaporates into several orbs of light. Driven by rage and grief, Eda and King transform into more monstrous versions of themselves and attack Belos. And yet, despite their best efforts and newly found strength, it still isn't enough.
An enraged Luz ripping Belos from the Titan's Heart.
However, Luz comes back to life, infused with the Titan's magic, and she, Eda, and King head to the throne room. Belos tries everything he can to stop them, but they reach him. As Eda, King, and Raine fight off his influence, an enraged Luz confronts him and, despite his best efforts, he is torn out of the heart.
King, Eda, and Raine finishing off Belos as the boiling rain dissolves what is left of him.
As the castle collapses, Philip regains human form and feigns remorse, blaming his actions on a curse he was affected with a long time ago. He then realizes that Luz isn't buying it and once again tries to put aside their differences. It soon starts to rain boiling water, and his body dissolves as he pleads for Luz's help, but she remains silent and coldly watches him suffer. Enraged by her apathy and contempt towards him, Belos tells Luz that by letting a fellow human die, she too will become just as horrible as the monsters they fight. Luz responds by backing up and letting Eda, King, and Raine give the fallen tyrant a piece of their minds as they ruthlessly stomp on him and end his reign of terror for good.
The Coven System that Belos started centuries ago is later abolished as a method of removing the coven brands is discovered.
Relationships
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Caleb Wittebane
A vision of Caleb seen by Belos.
During their youth, Belos possessed a loving relationship with his older brother, Caleb, with the two often playing together as children. When the two were left orphaned at a young age, Caleb took it upon himself to be Philip's caretaker, essentially raising him in the absence of their parents. It was during this time that the brothers moved to Gravesfield where they became witch hunters as a means of assimilating into the village's society, with their relationship continuing to be close into adulthood as they worked together as partners in witch-hunting. In addition, it is implied that during their time together, Philip admired Caleb for his role as a witch hunter, and sought to emulate his sibling.
Sadly, however, whatever bond Philip and Caleb shared came to an end following their encounter with the witch Evelyn. Initially, Philip suspected his brother was taken by Evelyn, and thus set off to the Boiling Isles to save him. However, upon discovering that Caleb and Evelyn had instead fallen in love, Philip was disgusted and enraged at his brother, seeing his union with Evelyn as a betrayal to both himself and everything they stood for as witch hunters. This dispute quickly escalated, to the point where Philip ended up killing his brother in a muderous rage.
Over the centuries, Caleb would continue to hold a powerful influence over Philip. After assuming the identity of Belos, he would create several grimwalkers in Caleb's image to act as his right hand in his plot to eradicate witch and demon-kind and enforce his rule over the isles. In "Hollow Mind", Belos' inner self claims that his creation of the grimwalkers was also motivated out of a desire to create what he deemed to be a "better version" of his late brother, implying that he sought to restore the image of Caleb that he admired in his youth, one that depicted him as a witch hunter that shared his vision. Despite this, Belos has been shown to remain resentful towards Caleb for his "betrayal" centuries prior. This can be seen in his harsh treatment of the grimwalkers, with him having callously killed and replaced every one that turned against him up until Hunter, with Belos perceiving each guard's rebellion as Caleb "betraying" him every time.
However, based on his choice of words about having to kill the grimwalkers, it is implied that Belos did not enjoy killing Caleb, but is disappointed that the grimwalkers, and in extension Caleb, refused to follow their roles as witch hunters. When Belos sees Flapjack again, he immediately screamed his brother's name; prior to that, Gus Porter used his illusion device to incapacitate Belos in "King's Tide", it is shown the memory that terrified Belos was the murder of his brother. In "For the Future", after returning to the Demon Realm, upon encountering a hallucination of Caleb as his body began to fall apart, Belos refused to show any remorse for killing his sibling. Rather than taking responsibility for his actions, Belos bitterly blamed his brother for the misfortunes that had befallen him over the years, before furiously attempting to attack the specter. This suggests that while Belos did not enjoy killing his brother, he did not regret it as he viewed his brother as a traitor, and came to hate the person Caleb truly was.
Hunter
Emperor Belos with Hunter.
Hunter is the most recent grimwalker Belos created in the image of his late brother, Caleb. At first, Belos showed that he cared for Hunter, seeing him as a replacement for his older brother and calling him the one who looks like Caleb the most. However, Belos would also manipulate Hunter in an attempt to control him, which was successful for the most part. He would task Hunter with important tasks and chastise him if he failed. It is implied in "Hunting Palismen" and "Eclipse Lake" that Belos would physically abuse Hunter should he ever fail his missions. During the events of "Hollow Mind" it is revealed that Hunter was not the first grimwalker Belos created, and judging from the conversation with the Collector, Belos would destroy the grimwalker whenever they started questioning his actions, even going so far as the claim that their "betrayal" hurts him every time. When Hunter learns the truth about Belos after getting sent into his mind, he decides to destroy him too and make another grimwalker, though Hunter flees at that point. Following this, Belos sent Coven Scouts to look for and retrieve Hunter in order to dispose of him.
During the Day of Unity, Belos and Hunter would clash with each other at the Head of the Titan, during which Belos would try one last time to manipulate him to his side but to no avail. During the battle, however, Belos expressed deep rage upon seeing Flapjack, a palisman connected to Caleb, at Hunter's side, angrily crying out Caleb's name in front of the frightened grimwalker and attacked both him and the palisman.
After following Hunter into the Human Realm, Belos, in an addled state, began to stalk Hunter in an attempt to find Titan's Blood. Upon possessing him, Belos admitted he initially saw Hunter as a "lost cause" like the other grimwalkers, before stating Hunter's only useful trait was serving as his host. As Belos' essence slowly ate away at his body, thus slowly killing Hunter, Belos forced him to fight against his friends and fatally injure Flapjack, while Hunter could only plead internally not to harm him. Belos responded by claiming he does not care at all what Hunter wants.
This, however, culminated in Hunter standing up to and hatefully disowning Belos, and permanently make sure Belos would never harm anyone again, before forcibly expelling him from his body. This causes Belos to call him as Caleb and accuses his "brother" of betraying him again, before going through the portal, apparently coming to believe Hunter was Caleb. Following this, Belos and Hunter shared a mutual hatred of each other, with the former abandoning any interest in bringing the latter to his side.
Luz Noceda
Belos trying to convince Luz he has her best interest as a human at heart.
Belos antagonizes Luz for most of her time in the Boiling Isles, sarcastically insulting her during their fight in "Young Blood, Old Souls" and blackmailing her by threatening Eda's life. He praises her "spirit", but regularly demeans her fighting skills and intuition, claiming she is still "decades away" from defeating him in a one-on-one duel. However, this causes him to underestimate her and he witnesses her destroying the portal right after he claimed it.
Later, it is revealed that Luz was a large pawn in his plan to kill the witches of the Boiling Isles, manipulating her as his true identity, Philip Wittebane, in order to meet the Collector, thereby indirectly helping him cause the Day of Unity. He later mocks her for this, sarcastically praising her for her misled help.
Despite his antagonism, Belos is shown to have a somewhat fond connection to Luz for being a human, hoping to convince her to drop her affection for witches and the Demon Realm, and return to Earth with him. He goes so far as to tell Luz to refer to him as "Philip", implying she is the only one worthy of using his actual name. He nonetheless attempts to kill her in an attempt of "mercy", seeing her as too far gone to be "helped". Despite this, he spares her life, as Luz convinces him he will be labeled as insane on Earth if he mentions the Demon Realm, promising to spare her friends if she advocates for him on Earth only to be tricked again when Luz brands him with a sigil, forcing Belos to suffer under the Draining Spell's effects. After that, he does not hesitate to harm her violently, acknowledging her as a thorn in his side.
In the Human Realm, Belos possesses Hunter's body and once again tricks Luz into helping him locate the Titan's Blood on Earth so he can return to the Boiling Isles to finish his genocide. Once back in the Demon Realm, Belos ends up obliterating Luz when she tries to protect the Collector, but she returns to the living world courtesy of the Titan, who bestows upon her his power that allows her, Eda, King, and Raine to separate Belos from the Titan's heart, thereby saving the Demon Realm. Afterwards, Belos morphs himself to look like his old self and tries to once again trick Luz into thinking he had seen the error of his ways, but the ruse wears off when it starts raining, which starts dissolving him. He begins pleading for her to help him, trying to appeal to her morals, but she only gives him an indifferent expression, knowing Belos is beyond redemption and too sick with his own hatred and hubris to be saved. Dropping the act, he tells her that the both of them are human and are better than the "evil" witches, but she just steps away coldly and lets Eda, King, and Raine Whispers shut him up by stomping on him.
Eda Clawthorne
Belos talking to Eda.
With Eda being a wild witch and refusing to join a coven, Emperor Belos has a negative view on Eda and constantly sends guards, Lilith, and Hunter, to capture her. He seems to have little to no regard for Eda's life, as he claimed her life was inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. Also, despite his promise to Lilith, he planned for Eda's petrification, instead of healing her curse. His interest in her mainly stemmed from the portal she had access to, which ended after it was destroyed.
In "Watching and Dreaming", Belos sends Eda into a fury when he obliterates Luz when she tries to protect the Collector. She calms down when Luz returns courtesy of the Titan, and together with Luz and King, they manage to separate Belos from the Titan's heart. When the boiling rain starts dissolving him, Eda tells him they really aren't better than what he claims and proceeds to squish him.
Lilith Clawthorne
Philip compliments Lilith in order to put her guard down.
Although Lilith was head of the Emperor's coven, in "Wing it Like Witches", it is implied that Emperor Belos put a lot of pressure on her when it came to capturing her sister Eda. In "Agony of a Witch" it is revealed that Belos does not value Lilith since he effortlessly threatened to banish her from his coven and suggested casting her out of the Emperor's Coven as a criminal and possibly executing her if she didn't bring Eda in. Despite this treatment, Lilith did not question his words, nor did she fight back. After Belos reveals that he will not remove Eda's curse, she finally realizes that she had been lied to and rebels against him to rescue her sister.
When Lilith was caught by Belos trying to rescue her sister, he has Lilith and King thrown into the same cage as Eda to be petrified with her. However, Luz manages to defeat Belos and rescue them and flee. Enraged that Lilith betrayed him and the Coven and her rescue by Luz, he appoints the Golden Guard as the new leader of the Emperor's Coven, expelling Lilith (in-absentia) from the coven in the process.
As it turns out, Lilith met Belos back when he was Philip and out of righteous fury over his attempt to sacrifice herself and Luz, punched Philip in the face and broke his nose. Whether this meant that Belos recognized Lilith in present day and gave her the position in his coven just to keep her close is unclear but strongly implied.
Kikimora
Belos sadistically insulting Kikimora as he casts her aside.
During his reign over the Boiling Isles, Kikimora served as Belos' personal assistant in the Emperor's Coven, and was one of his most loyal followers. She was deeply devoted to him and carried out his orders without question in the hopes of earning his praise and becoming his right hand, though she was often willing to go behind his back and spy on him if it suited her needs of acquiring his favor. Despite her loyalty, however, Belos held utterly no gratitude for Kikimora's years of service and devotion towards him, regarding her with the same hatred he possessed for all the Isles' inhabitants. In truth, Belos regarded Kikimora as incompetent and useless, having demoted her several times for her constant failures, and is unimpressed by her numerous attempts to please him. During Coven Day, he even ordered Terra Snapdragon to assassinate her if she chose to desert him during the holiday parade and gave her no reward when she proved her dedication to him, only permitting her to live a little longer in his service.
Following this, during the Day of Unity, Belos made his contempt for Kikimora known to her when she delivered Luz to him under the belief that she was Hunter, whom he had been searching for. Rather than commend her as she had hoped, Belos coldly expressed his disdain for her and sadistically taunted her to "wither away in a hole", before casting her aside and leaving her to die from the draining along with the rest of the Isles' populace, much to Kikimora's heartbreak. Ultimately, Belos' cruelty towards Kikimora would cost him dearly, as it was she who introduced King to the Collector in revenge for his callous treatment of her. This resulted in the Collector being freed from his prison and foiling Belos' genocidal plans, while also reducing his body to a severely weakened, glob-like state.
Evelyn
A memory portrait depicting Philip being chased off by an enraged Evelyn.
Evelyn was a mysterious witch from the Boiling Isles that Philip and his brother Caleb encountered during their time as witch hunters in Gravesfield, with her presumably being the first real witch they had ever encountered. Unlike Caleb, who came to befriend Evelyn, Philip despised her due to his status as a witch hunter, with his hatred for her growing after his brother followed her to the Demon Realm. After Caleb vanished, Philip saw her as an abductor and set off to both save his brother and vanquish Evelyn. Upon finding them and learning of the two's romantic relationship, Philip developed a powerful grudge against Evelyn, believing that she had corrupted Caleb into betraying their mission as witch hunters and turning his back on him personally. Ultimately, the anger Philip felt over Caleb's relationship with Evelyn is what led to Philip murdering his older brother. This resulted in a confrontation between Philip and Evelyn, during which she used her magic to attack Philip in a fit of rage, though he managed to escape.
Over the centuries, Philip, now known as Belos, would retain his hatred for Evelyn for supposedly spiriting Caleb away, believing that she had turned his older brother against him. It is also implied that Belos' experience with Evelyn solidified his hatred of the people of the Boiling Isles, with her "corruption" of his brother being a prime motivator for his plot of genocide against witch-kind. In addition, Belos' hatred for Evelyn also extended to anything that reminded him of her. This was shown in "Thanks to Them", when he addressed Flapjack, who was implied to be connected to Caleb and Evelyn, by the latter's name before fatally injuring him, seeing the palisman as only an annoyance to him.
The Collector
Belos and the Collector discussing the usage of the Golden Guards
At some point during his time on the Boiling Isles, Belos found out about the existence of the Collector. He was able to find and communicate with him, manipulating him into helping him destroy all life in the Demon Realm by promising to free him from his prison with Titan's Blood.
When the time came on the Day of Unity, Belos betrayed the Collector by using the last bit of Titan's Blood in his possession to power the portal back to the Human Realm and casting the Collector into an abyss. When King ended up freeing him, the Collector took his revenge on Belos for betraying him by splattering him with his powers.
Despite this, Belos survived and after reforming his body, he possessed the transformed body of Raine Whispers, entering the Collector's room and trying to possess him when asleep. When that failed, Belos used his new body to manipulate the Collector once again into destroying the Demon Realm for him. When the Collector fails to keep Luz, Eda, and King trapped in a dream, he accidentally reminds him of the Titan's beating heart, which persuades Belos to possess the entire Titan in order to destroy the witches of the Demon Realm himself. Some time later, the Collector misguidedly tries to befriend and forgive him. All he ends up doing is confusing him with utter bafflement, but later Belos decides they are too dangerous to live and tries to take the child out. Luz shields the Collector and becomes infected instead, dying in the process. Unmoved, Belos still tries to destroy the Collector several times, failing only because of the newly revived Luz's intervention.
Odalia Blight
Belos makes his presence known to Odalia in their brief encounter.
While the extent of their relationship is unknown, Belos was able to gain her trust by not only purchasing and funding her Abomatons, but also lying to her that he would spare her family if they did what they were told to do. And while Odalia did support the Day of Unity, it was only because of the false belief the Blights would be able to survive. Given his prejudice against witches, Belos likely only saw Odalia as nothing more than a pawn like the rest of his allies.
Eventually, Belos stumbles upon her within the Collector's archives and states that someone in the room is indeed useful to him. Odalia fearfully believes that he is referring to her, but he is actually talking about Raine. He then proceeds to possess them much to Odalia's horror.
Flapjack
Belos becoming irritated with Flapjack pestering him.
Though the exact relationship between these two is unknown, it is suggested that Flapjack knew Belos back in Evelyn and Caleb's time. Upon seeing Flapjack in "King's Tide", Belos recognized him and angrily yelled his brother's name. In "Thanks to Them", Belos killed him by grabbing a hold of Flapjack and impaling him while calling him by Evelyn's name, implying he was connected to her.
King
Belos holding King hostage when he learns of Lilith's betrayal.
Belos and King barely interact with each other. But when they do, it is very much antagonistic. He does not consider King much of a threat, since he considers him more like a pest than anything else. This is best shown when he ensnares him without paying too much attention, before sending him away to be petrified along with Eda.
Basically, Belos seemed to regard King as completely insignificant to the point that he hardly took any notice of him and didn't even consider him in his plans at all. When the Collector finally revealed King's true nature in "Watching and Dreaming", Belos, while able to maintain his composure, was visibly surprised that "the dog" was not only immune to the Collector's power, but that he was also a Titan. However, Belos still showed no real interest in King as he was more focused on his new plan to take control of the Titan's heart.
Camila Noceda
Belos encountering Camila in the Human Realm after being expelled from Hunter's body.
Belos first encountered Camila at the Old Gravesfield cemetery during his possession of Hunter while attempting to obtain the hidden vial of Titan's Blood in order to return to the Demon Realm. During his battle with Luz, Vee, Willow, Gus, and Amity, however, Belos took little notice of Camila's presence, with neither directly addressing the other during their brief encounter, although he briefly saw Camila was part of Luz and the witch children's group before returning to the Demon Realm. Despite their limited interaction, Camila, having been made aware of Belos' background from Luz, despised Belos for all he had done to hurt her daughter and for all of the atrocities he committed in the Demon Realm.
The Titan
Though Belos claims the Titan had chosen him to be its prophet, Belos never actually talks to the Titan, as the Titan only sees him as a threat to the Boiling Isles. The Titan is against Belos, and purposely made it difficult for him to discover the glyphs and their combinations for as long as possible. Belos correctly figured out that the Titan was actively trying to keep the glyph magic away from him.
Powers and abilities
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- Glyph Magic: Philip could draw and create glyphs after learning it from his natural surroundings. He has also had these glyphs etched on his right arm. However, this had malignant side effects on his body, resulting in his arm pulsating and swelling whenever the glyphs try to activate, thus intensifying the physical injuries he sustains. With help from the Collector, he mastered control of glyph magic, performing complex spells without the use of a palisman.[3]
- Plant Glyph: By drawing this glyph, Philip can grow plants.
- Ice Glyph: By drawing this glyph, Philip can generate ice.
- Fire Glyph: By drawing this glyph, Philip can conjure fire.
- Light Glyph: By drawing this glyph, Philip can create small orbs of light.
- Portal creation: By etching a tetrameric set of glyph combinations on the ground, Philip could conjure a large portal to transport himself and anything standing on it to where he wished.
- Artificial magic: After assuming the identity of Belos, he became a practitioner of artificial magic, along with the Golden Guard. Belos does not perform basic spells like the spell circle and achieves magic through an apparatus, such as use of his mechanical staff or other devices. In spite of this, Belos is an adept in the practice, achieving a vast amount of skill, power, and knowledge with artificial magic that he is described as the most skilled and powerful Witch to ever live. Interestingly, this magic seems unaffected by Luz's cape made of Witch's Wool supposedly capable of deflecting all magic, implying artificial magic is a different brand altogether.
- Telekinesis: He frequently uses telekinesis to move objects and people without touching them, signified by his gloves glowing red.
- Flesh Magic: Similar to Jean-Luc's ability to polymorph, Belos is able to create and command fleshy tendrils to bend and form claws.
- Teleportation: He is shown to be capable of disappearing by melting into the floor to avoid attacks.
- Earth Magic: He is able to raise sharp spikes of rock up from the ground.
- Petrification: He can take this a step further, as he is also able to turn anyone into stone simply by touching them.
- Beast Summoning: Belos was shown to be able to summon and control a large monster during his fight with Luz.
- Mind magic: When Lilith presented her sister Eda in her cursed Owl Beast form, Belos hit Eda with some kind of spell from his staff which made Eda regain consciousness (but didn't make her transform back into her regular humanoid form).
- Glamour: Belos can cosmetically alter his appearance, which he did to hide the scar on his face.[13]
- Residence omniscience: Belos is aware of all that happens inside his castle, as he knew Luz, Willow, and Gus were trying to steal the Healing Hat.
- Telepathy: Luz, Willow, and Gus heard his reprimanding voice when they were in the castle's artifact display.
- Enhanced longevity: Belos is known to have been quite long-lived, having arrived on the Boiling Isles during the early 17th century, and meeting his end during the 21st. As such, he appears to only be about 60 or 70 years old during the events of the series, although his exact age, nor the means by which he accomplished this, has not been disclosed.
- Sludge form: Belos' palisman-based condition causes him to transform into sludge or a sludge-like monstrosity. The conditions were shown to affect his health when he first appeared in "Agony of a Witch", as he was hunched over and heavily breathing. He then cut open an offered palisman and poured magic essence from within the palisman onto his mask, which was absorbed through the eye sockets and briefly made his eyes glow green, after which his condition was alleviated, and he started to feel better. More acute effects were witnessed in "Hunting Palismen" with him deforming into a monstrous creature, while palisman essence helped him maintain his regular form.
- Sludge manipulation: While Belos' ailment twists and impairs his physical structure, his fluid body grants him some degree of control of it, altering and adjusting his body to better fit his needs. This includes elongating his distended arms to reach targets, or reform them into weapons like sharp blades and spikes.
- Shapeshifting: Belos demonstrated a limited ability to adjust his appearance so that he looks more human-like, or change parts of himself to sludge and back. He even used it to transform into his younger self at one point. However, his forms can vary depending on how much of his sludge is available. For instance, when melting away by the effects of his state, he lost more of himself, leaving him unable to maintain his regular form. Also, as implied by the Collector, the more Belos consumes palismen essence, the harder it becomes to return to his human form.
- Possession: By transferring his sludge-like essence into another living being, Belos can influence them and induce hallucinations that cause his victim to see and hear him as if he is present. If enough time has passed, Belos can gain control of the host, as well as cause Belos' twisted features to appear on them. Belos' essence has used animals as temporary hosts; the various carcasses and bones left in the sludge's wake, as well as the scars that were left on Hunter after Belos possessed him, reveal that the organism is consumed by the essence during the possession. This ability also works with partially organic beings or those who are alive to some extent, being able to possess an incomplete grimwalker (albeit briefly) and Raine Whispers despite the latter being a puppet at the time. He is even able to possess the Titan's heart and began to "cleanse" the Boiling Isles.
- Regeneration: Belos' viscous body can mend and reform itself from any physical injury he sustains, though he still feels pain from the physical distortions his body undergoes. The full extent of his regeneration is unknown, but after he was violently thrown to a wall by the Collector, a vestige of Belos remained active enough to follow Luz and her friends into the Human Realm. It would go on to possess Hunter and several animals, gaining more energy until Belos regained his physical form once more. He can regenerate seemingly indefinitely, as long as his head remains intact.
- Sludge manipulation: While Belos' ailment twists and impairs his physical structure, his fluid body grants him some degree of control of it, altering and adjusting his body to better fit his needs. This includes elongating his distended arms to reach targets, or reform them into weapons like sharp blades and spikes.
- Mold Breath: When in his new gained draconic form, Belos has the newly acquired ability to breathe a volatile flame-like gas which can infect and spread his mold anything it touches. This allows him to spread himself quickly over the Isles, to help in his aid to terraform it into a lifeless wasteland. It can also annihilate any living thing that is bathed in the flames, causing them to be overwhelmed by the sludgy growths, and evaporate into light.
Sightings
| Season 1 | ||||||||||||
| The Owl House Main Theme: | Absent | |||||||||||
| The Owl House Credits Theme: | Absent | |||||||||||
| 1. "A Lying Witch and a Warden": | Absent | 10. "Escape of the Palisman": | Absent | |||||||||
| 2. "Witches Before Wizards": | Absent | 11. "Sense and Insensitivity": | Mentioned | |||||||||
| 3. "I Was a Teenage Abomination": | Absent | 12. "Adventures in the Elements": | Absent | |||||||||
| 4. "The Intruder": | Absent | 13. "The First Day": | Mentioned | |||||||||
| 5. "Covention": | Mentioned | 14. "Really Small Problems": | Mentioned | |||||||||
| 6. "Hooty's Moving Hassle": | Mentioned | 15. "Understanding Willow": | Absent | |||||||||
| 7. "Lost in Language": | Absent | 16. "Enchanting Grom Fright": | Absent | |||||||||
| 8. "Once Upon a Swap": | Mentioned | 17. "Wing It Like Witches": | Mentioned | |||||||||
| 9. "Something Ventured, Someone Framed": | Mentioned | 18. "Agony of a Witch": | Debut | |||||||||
| 19. "Young Blood, Old Souls": | Appears | |||||||||||
| Season 2 | ||||||||||||
| The Owl House Main Theme: | Appears | |||||||||||
| The Owl House Credits Theme: | Appears | |||||||||||
| 1. "Separate Tides": | Appears | 11. "Follies at the Coven Day Parade": | Video | |||||||||
| 2. "Escaping Expulsion": | Mentioned | 12. "Elsewhere and Elsewhen": | Appears | |||||||||
| 3. "Echoes of the Past": | Mentioned | 13. "Any Sport in a Storm": | Flashback | |||||||||
| 4. "Keeping up A-fear-ances": | Mentioned | 14. "Reaching Out": | Pictured & Mentioned | |||||||||
| 5. "Through the Looking Glass Ruins": | Video | 15. "Them's the Breaks, Kid": | Mentioned | |||||||||
| 6. "Hunting Palismen": | Appears | 16. "Hollow Mind": | Appears | |||||||||
| 7. "Eda's Requiem": | Mentioned | 17. "Edge of the World": | Flashback | |||||||||
| 8. "Knock, Knock, Knockin' on Hooty's Door": | Video | 18. "Labyrinth Runners": | Mentioned | |||||||||
| 9. "Eclipse Lake": | Appears | 19. "O Titan, Where Art Thou": | Pictured & Mentioned | |||||||||
| 10. "Yesterday's Lie": | Flashback | 20. "Clouds on the Horizon": | Appears | |||||||||
| 21. "King's Tide": | Appears | |||||||||||
| Season 3 | ||||||||||||
| The Owl House Main Theme: | Appears | |||||||||||
| The Owl House Credits Theme: | Appears | |||||||||||
| 1. "Thanks to Them": | Appears | 2. "For the Future": | Appears | |||||||||
| 3. "Watching and Dreaming": | Appears | |||||||||||
Behind the scenes
Early development
During a charity livestream, Dana Terrace mentioned Belos had a different name during development. This can be seen in some early concept art, his original name being "Obron".[17][18]
Additionally, Belos was not initially conceived as being emperor of the Boiling Isles during development. Instead, he would have been an advisor to an insect-like emperor named "Pupa". In this scenario, Emperor Pupa would still be a cocoon, secretly prevented from hatching by Belos, who claims to be able to communicate with the cocoon.[19]
Name and basis
Philip is a common European name, stemming from the Greek name Φίλιππος (Philippos) meaning "friend of horses". It was popular among kings of Greece, France, and Spain, but was used more regularly in England during the Middle Ages. Philip's surname, Wittebane, is a conjunction of "witte", a Dutch surname meaning "white", and the word "bane", a term that refers to a scourge or tormentor, from Old English bana. The name "witte" may be a rendition of ƿiċċe, the Old English noun for "female witch", which could be a hint at his intense hatred of witches.
The word "belos" means "beautiful" in several Iberian and Mediterranean languages such as Portuguese, Galician and Corsican. "Belos" (Βῆλος) is also the Greek spelling of Bel, a title meaning "lord" that was used in ancient Mesopotamia for several of their gods.
Belos' name during the series' development, "Obron", is potentially based on a variant spelling of "Oberon", the folkloric King of the Faeries in medieval and renaissance literature, known most well from his portrayal in William Shakespeare's 1596 play A Midsummer Night's Dream.[20]
Voice
Emperor Belos is voiced by Matthew Rhys.
In his initial identity as Philip, he is voiced by Alex Lawther. Lawther was announced as a guest star in the second season on May 17, 2021.[21]
Debut
Initially mentioned in "Covention", Emperor Belos made his first on-screen debut in the episode "Agony of a Witch".
His real identity, Philip, debuted in "Through the Looking Glass Ruins". Prior to his debut, he was alluded to in "Keeping up A-fear-ances".
Foreign voice actors
| Language version | Actors | Notes |
|---|---|---|
 Spanish (Latin America)
|
Facundo Reyes(1st voice) Matías Carossia (2nd voice) |
Reyes voiced Belos and Philip in "Watching and Dreaming", and Carossia voiced Philip in Season 2. |
 Portuguese (Brazil)
|
Wellington Lima (as Belos) Márcio Marconatto (as Philip; Season 2) |
Notably, Marconatto is also the Brazillian voice actor of Alador Blight. |
 Chinese
|
Liang Hsing-Chang/Matthew Liang (梁興昌) (Philip) | |
 German
|
Philipp Moog (Belos) Sebastian Kempf (Philip) |
|
 Danish
|
Caspar Phillipson | |
 French
|
Alexandre Crepet | |
 Hungarian
|
Háda János | |
 Indonesian
|
Solihin Sukabumi | |
 Italian
|
Andrea Lavagnino | |
 Japanese
|
Kosuke Okamoto (幸輔 岡本) | |
 Korean
|
Shin Yong-woo (신용우) | |
 Polish
|
Krzysztof Cybiński (Belos) Piotr Tołoczko (Philip) |
|
 Romanian
|
Mihai Munteniță | |
 Swedish
|
Joakim Jennefors | |
 Turkish
|
Erdem Çalişkan |
Quotes
 |
| Click here to see Emperor Belos's quotes. |
Gallery
Click here to view the gallery.
To view the various designs of Emperor Belos, click here.
Trivia
- When first taking on the role, Matthew Rhys, Belos' voice actor, said that he considered Belos to be misunderstood rather than evil.[22]
- It is possible that Belos' full backstory was not yet revealed to Rhys when he first took on the role, therefore it is unknown if he still retains this mindset.
- His identity as Philip Wittebane was not confirmed until the episode "Hollow Mind". However, before that there were details suggesting that Belos and Philip were the same person, or related:
- They had similar accents.
- Philip consumes palisman essence in "Elsewhere and Elsewhen" in order to alleviate his pain, as does Belos.
- Emperor Belos is listed within the credits of "Elsewhere and Elsewhen", despite not appearing anywhere within the episode. However, when Philip uses the magic to summon the Collector, Belos' voice can be heard over Philip's.
- They also share likeness in appearance, both having blue eyes and a strikingly similar crooked nose after Lilith had broken Philip's.
- One of Philip's unfinished glyph combos summons the hand of a mud-like monster, which is similar in appearance to Belos' flesh magic shown in "Young Blood, Old Souls".
- Philip, and by extension Caleb, originally being from Gravesfield was hinted in "Yesterday's Lie", as the statues near Robin's Roast Café strongly resembled the brothers before it was officially confirmed they were indeed the brothers. Jacob Hopkins also explained to Camila that there were two brothers who were lured from Gravesfield by a witch. Furthermore, Philip had a small drawing inside his diary of him and his brother that bore a likeness to these statues.[11]
- The Emperor's name has occasionally been misspelled as "Bellows" in closed captioning. Terrace confirmed the true spelling of his name on Twitter.[23]
- In the pages of the unauthorized Boiling Isles history book, it provides a passage on Belos: "Before he ascended to the throne, Emperor Belos gained prominence as a crusader for unity during the Savage Ages. He believes that chaos comes from "wild text obscured" and seeks to bring peace by controlling such magic in his coven system. He rules by fear and an iron fist, and his past remains largely unknown. Nevertheless, the Savage Ages caused such devastation that many people have proved willing to follow him".
- Luz initially suspects that Philip arrived at the Isles in the 1600s, which is eventually proven to be the case. This time period was known on the Isles as the "Deadwardian Era".
- During the retelling of the Wittebanes' history in "Thanks to Them", Caleb Wittebane is depicted wearing a dark blue overcoat that closely resembles the one worn by Philip in "Elsewhere and Elsewhen" and "King's Tide". This suggests that the coat worn by Philip in these episodes may have originally belonged to his older brother.
- Although the Collector confirms he was the one who taught Belos magic, it is not disclosed how. However, the carved glyphs he made on his arm are notably absent on Belos, though similar glyphs did manifest on his other arm when he was petrifying Luz in "King's Tide".[3]
- When asked about Belos' connection to Flapjack, Dana felt that Belos saw Flapjack as the culmination of the corruption in Caleb and led to his "betrayal", as Flapjack was the first introduction to magic to Caleb.[24]
- Belos' monstrous form bears some similarities to the Wendigo, a Mythological creature from Native American folklore, sometimes depicted as a hideous horned creature with human-like characteristics.
- Belos is the fourth and final character in the series to die onscreen, the first three being Adegast, Flapjack, and the Titan.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Dana Terrace, Rachel Vine (writers) and Stephen Sandoval (director) (August 29, 2020). "Young Blood, Old Souls". The Owl House. Season 1. Episode 19. Disney Channel.
- ↑ Disney Branded TV PR [@DisneyBrandedTVPR] (August 20, 2020). "#BREAKING: @MatthewRhys on #TheOwlHouse guest appearance: "It's rare that the part of an omnipotent, megalomaniac emperor comes along, so I jumped at the chance of voicing Belos. Almost frightening how comfortable I felt in his shoes." Episode premieres 8/22 on #DisneyChannel." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Zach Marcus, Dana Terrace (writers) and Bridget Underwood (director) (May 28, 2022). "King's Tide". The Owl House. Season 2. Episode 21. Disney Channel.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Dana Terrace (writer) and Bridget Underwood (director) (July 17, 2021). "Hunting Palismen". The Owl House. Season 2. Episode 6. Disney Channel.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Dana Terrace (writer) and Bridget Underwood (director) (August 7, 2021). "Eclipse Lake". The Owl House. Season 2. Episode 9. Disney Channel.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 Madeleine Hernandez, John Bailey Owen (writers) and Amelia Lorenz (director) (April 23, 2022). "Hollow Mind". The Owl House. Season 2. Episode 16. Disney Channel.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Mikki Crisostomo, Madeleine Hernandez, Zach Marcus, John Bailey Owen (writers) and Amelia Lorenz, Bridget Underwood (directors) (January 21, 2023). "For the Future". The Owl House. Season 3. Episode 2. Disney Channel.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Dana Terrace, John Bailey Owen (writers) and Bosook "Bo" Coburn, Bridget Underwood (directors) (April 8, 2023). "Watching and Dreaming". The Owl House. Season 3. Episode 3. Disney Channel.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Emmy Cicierega, Mikki Crisostomo, Madeleine Hernandez, Zach Marcus, John Bailey Owen (writers) and Amelia Lorenz, Bosook "Bo" Coburn (directors) (October 15, 2022). "Thanks to Them". The Owl House. Season 3. Episode 1. Disney Channel.
- ↑ Cissy Jones (April 28, 2023). "The "watching and dreaming" PostHoot with the one and only Dana Terrace! (29:29)". Instagram.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 Zach Marcus (writer) and Bridget Underwood (director) (March 26, 2022). "Elsewhere and Elsewhen". The Owl House. Season 2. Episode 12. Disney Channel.
- ↑ Dana Terrace, Molly Ostertag (writers) and Bo Coburn (director) (July 10, 2021). "Through the Looking Glass Ruins". The Owl House. Season 2. Episode 5. Disney Channel.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Cissy Jones (June 4, 2022). "PostHoot Season 2 Finale (11:21)". Instagram.
- ↑ Dana Terrace, Molly Ostertag (writers) and Bo Coburn (director) (August 14, 2021). "Yesterday's Lie". The Owl House. Season 2. Episode 10. Disney Channel.
- ↑ John Bailey Owen (writer) and Aminder Dhaliwal (director) (August 22, 2020). "Agony of a Witch". The Owl House. Season 1. Episode 18. Disney Channel.
- ↑ Zach Marcus (writer) and Amelia Lorenz (director) (June 12, 2021). "Separate Tides". The Owl House. Season 2. Episode 1. Disney Channel.
- ↑ Drawing Cartoons to Save Democracy (September 16, 2020). Archived from the original on September 17, 2020.
- ↑ gigi 🌈🐸🦉 [@clovariia] (July 17, 2022). "Screenshot from 'DisneyNow Watch & Play: The Owl House - Follies at the Coven Day Parade'" (Tweet). Archived from the original on July 17, 2022 – via Twitter.
- ↑ "Owl House Fan Celebration and Exhibition" Twitch Stream (October 29, 2022). Archived from the original on October 29, 2022.
- ↑ "Oberon: Fairy King and Familiar Spirit". Writing in Margins (February 3, 2020).
- ↑ "'The Owl House' Renewed For Season 3 By Disney Channel Ahead Of Season 2 Premiere". Deadline (May 17, 2021).
- ↑ "#BREAKING: @MatthewRhys on #TheOwlHouse guest appearance". Instagram (August 20, 2020).
- ↑ Terrace, Dana (July 8. 2020). Oh yeah haha, and just to clear it up. It's spelled "Emperor Belos". Not "bellows". (Tweet). Twitter. Archived from the original on July 8, 2020.
- ↑ Cissy Jones (April 28, 2023). "The "watching and dreaming" PostHoot with the one and only Dana Terrace! (27:24)". Instagram.