Legion (Character)

Legion

CHARACTER» Gerasenes Demon

The one who is many. Consists of a nucleus surrounded by a multitude of bodies.

Overview

In the New Testament, Legion appears as a demon who has possessed a man from Gerasa. According to Mark 5:9, Jesus approaches the demon-possessed man and asks him:

"What is thy name?" And [the demon] answered, saying, "My name is Legion: for we are many."

Multiple demons have entered into the man, but they act as a single force. The spirits ask Jesus to be spared from returning to Hell (Location), and Jesus complies by expelling them from the man and into a herd of pigs.

In games

Castlevania

Legion in Aria of Sorrow.

Legion's most iconic appearance is in the Castlevania (Franchise) series, where he first appeared in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night as a huge spherical mass of naked bodies surrounding a strange, tentacled nucleus that could shoot lasers. In Symphony it was called Granfalloon in reference to the Kurt Vonnegut novel Cat's Cradle. This image of a sphere of bodies would define and characterize all of Legion's subsequent appearances in the series, which include Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (which has multiple Legion types), Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, Castlevania: Curse of Darkness, and Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin. According to data ripped from the game's files, Legion is set to appear in Castlevania: Harmony of Despair as well.

Shin Megami Tensei

Legion's artwork from Shin Megami Tensei II.

Legion also makes frequent appearances in the Shin Megami Tensei (Franchise) series, with a similar design of a floating ball consisting of painfully contorting faces and tentacles. In the Devil Summoner: Raidou subseries, Legion's faces appear as skulls instead.

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