History Creator / AleisterCrowley

->''"Crowley had the first two down pat."''
-->-- '''Creator/AlanMoore''', on the above

Furthermore, Thelema does not draw the ordinary distinction between an individual and God: [[AGodIsYou "Every man and every woman is a star"]]. Therefore, love (when done under will) is the assimilation of experience in accordance with the intrinsically divine nature of an individual; the act of progressively becoming one with one's own divine star. In conclusion, while the man did like to portray himself as a [[DepravedBisexual libertine]] and an [[AnythingThatMoves "anything that moves"]] type (see also the note about [[SexMagic sex magic]] below), the most famous quote of his work is ''not'' indicative of that and represents him at his most sober and philosophical. [[MindScrew Probably]].[[/note]]

* MagicalSociety: The point of the Ordo Templi Orientis. Sex magic in particular, of course. Or wait: maybe they're just a BrotherhoodOfFunnyHats. Or, according to many a ConspiracyTheorist, a SecretCircleOfSecrets.

[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Aleister_Crowley_1310.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:310:The ''other'' Music/{{Weird Al|Yankovic}}.]]

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!!Media where Crowley plays an important role

[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]
* He is one of the most important and powerful characters in ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'', where he's the series antagonist and TheManBehindTheMan to all of Academy City, and is the number one heretic among the Magic Side. Aiwass is also his mentor.
* His Unicursal Hexagram is the main symbol for the Seal of Orichalcos in ''Franchise/YuGiOh''. In the dub, Amelda was changed to Alister in honor of the Hexagram.

[[AC:ComicBooks]]
* Often appears in the works of Creator/AlanMoore and Creator/GrantMorrison - notably ''ComicBook/{{Promethea}}'', ''ComicBook/FromHell'' and ''ComicBook/ArkhamAsylumASeriousHouseOnSeriousEarth''. ''ComicBook/VForVendetta'' has repeated allusions to Crowley and Thelema, all of which were dropped from the film version. Moore used a fictitious counterpart to Crowley (in the form of Oliver Haddo) to serve as the central antagonist for the plot of ''ComicBook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen Volume III: Century''. Haddo originated in W. Somerset Maugham's ''The Magician'', with Maugham basing Haddo upon Crowley; fittingly, Crowley later criticized the book using Haddo's name as a pseudonym.
* Is a [[HistoricalVillainUpgrade VERY evil]] vampire in ''ComicBook/RequiemVampireKnight'', namely the one calling himself [[spoiler:Black Sabbath]]. There are some clues as to his former mortal identity before TheReveal, though.
* The ''ComicBook/SpiderMan: Fever'' miniseries had "Albion Crawley", a turn of the century occultist whose journeys in to other dimensions led him and his assistant into a fateful contact with spider-demons called Arachnix.
* The subject of ''Elmer Crowley'' by Tom Bradley, where Crowley botches a reincarnation ritual during his last hours and comes back as WesternAnimation/ElmerFudd.
* The occultist Roderick Burgess from ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'' is [[NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed clearly based on Crowley]] -- however, an offhand line from Burgess [[ExpyCoexistence seems to establish that Crowley is a hated and more successful rival to Burgess]].

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* In ''Film/StayTuned'', one of the demon executives is named Crowley. He is betrayed by his superior and ends up siding with the humans.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* W. Somerset Maugham based Oliver Haddo, the villain of his novel ''The Magician'', on Crowley.
** [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation Crowley retaliated]] by publishing [[http://books.google.com/books?id=vsCaKTmz8AsC&pg=PA44&lpg=PA44&dq=crowley+maugham++How+to+Write+a+Novel!&source=bl&ots=c7e-LqAZXp&sig=sZJ0tYZTnE6OGIvGbKoky4L4EMA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=HdMIUOGAM4fv0gHX4-jNAw&sqi=2&ved=0CFAQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=crowley%20maugham%20%20How%20to%20Write%20a%20Novel!&f=false an article]] in which he claimed that all the characters in ''The Magician'' were thinly-disguised caricatures of his and Maugham's acquaintances and the whole plot had been plagiarized from various other works.
* Also seems to be the inspiration for Dr. Trelawney in ''Literature/ADanceToTheMusicOfTime''. Here, he's a cult leader who ''might'' just be a SeeminglyProfoundFool.
* He was the major source of inspiration for the villain of Creator/DennisWheatley's book ''Literature/TheDevilRidesOut''. Officially the two of them met and got on surprisingly well. There are rumours and good grounds for believing that Wheatley was an initiate of the Golden Dawn or the O.T.O. and directly studied with Crowley. As Wheatley became more socially respectable, he tried to deny the association. He is mentioned directly in ''To the Devil A Daughter'' where what is apparently Wheatley's version of the "Paris Working" is ascribed to "one of Crowley's young men".
* Literature/JamesBond writer Creator/IanFleming was said to have based ''Literature/CasinoRoyale'' villain Le Chiffre on Crowley. In fact, Fleming's publisher was afraid Crowley would sue, until Fleming pointed out that he could hardly sue them for creating a fictional character who did things Crowley had publically bragged about doing.
* In the ''Literature/ElementalMasters'' series, he is a disgraced Magician turned con man. The Elemental Masters positively loathe him, but consider him to be a useful idiot for keeping up TheMasquerade; as long as people associate Magick with him and his crowd of drug addicts, they'll be less likely to see it as real.
* He turns up intermittently throughout the ''Rhapsody of Blood'' novel series by Roz Kaveney, as the character who Mara is [[FramingDevice telling her sections of the story]] to. [[spoiler:He turns out to be a lot cleverer and more dangerous than she assumes.]]
* He appears in "Literature/AngelDownSussex", where he becomes a dangerous influence on a [[ChangelingTale changeling]] who shifts to suit what others want her to be - and he wants her to be his Anti-Christine. Edwin Winthrop realises that part of his power is that he appears completely ridiculous, right up until [[BewareTheSillyOnes he doesn't]].
* While the man himself doesn't actually make an appearance, the character of Anthony J. Crowley in ''Literature/GoodOmens'' is named in his honour, and seems to be more than a bit influenced by his philosophy in life. The full name of Pepper (Pippin Galadriel Moonchild) may also contain a tribute to one of his works, though it may also be a reference to ''Literature/TheNeverendingStory'' (her first two names, of course, come from ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'').
* Crowley crops up a lot in the writings of ''Literature/{{Illuminatus}}'' co-creator Creator/RobertAntonWilson. Wilson himself may have at one point studied with an occult group using Crowley's teachings.

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* Two of the more powerful and important demons in ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' are named Alastair and Crowley, though they never interact with each other. The former was the head TortureTechnician of Hell, the latter was the boss of Hell's DealWithTheDevil division ([[spoiler:and currently the King of Hell]]). It's revealed that when Crowley was human, he sold his soul for a bigger dick. Make of that what you will.
-->'''Crowley:''' Just trying to hit double digits.
* He ended at #73 in ''Series/OneHundredGreatestBritons'' as one of the more controversial people in the list.
* He appears in ''Series/{{Pennyworth}}'', played by Jonjo O'Neill. He's still alive in the 1960s, as the series is very much AlternateHistory, and Martha Kane ([[Franchise/{{Batman}} Bruce Wayne]]'s future mother) is brought to a ''very'' strange party of his. He also looks ''much'' younger than he should by this point in time.
* He appears as a VillainOfTheWeek in the ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'' episode "[[Recap/LegendsOfTomorrowS6E5TheSatanistsApprentice The Satanist's Apprentice]]" - he's played by Creator/MattRyan, since he possesses the body of ComicBook/JohnConstantine.

[[AC: Magazines and Print Works]]
* ''Magazine/ForteanTimes'' devotes a lot of column inches to the life of Crowley and the ripples he is still leaving in the world, seventy-two years (in 2021) after his passing. Some readers LampShade this by referring, affectionately, to the Crowleyan Times, hinting FT might just be giving dosproportionate editorial space to a charlatan.

[[AC:{{Music}}]]
* He can be seen on the far left of the top of the crowd on the album cover of ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'' by Music/TheBeatles.
* Music/OzzyOsbourne's "Mr. Crowley". Despite arousing the wrath of MoralGuardians, it's actually a very ambivalent and slyly humorous song, based around the protagonist's bemusement about whether Crowley was a genuine spiritual adept, a trolling charlatan, or both.
* Current 93 turns out Thelema-linked music.
* Music/DavidBowie's "Station to Station" from [[Music/StationToStation the 1976 album of the same name]] is partly one giant allusion to the writings of Crowley; at one point, Bowie outright namedrops ''White Stains''. The other part is an allusion to the massive cocaine addiction Bowie was going through at the time. Crowley is also mentioned in Bowie's earlier song [[Music/HunkyDory "Quicksand"]], drawing connections with his occult writings and the song's themes about the blurriness of belief.
* Music/{{Can}}'s ''Tago Mago'' album was named after the Illa de Tagomago, which Crowley was said to have visited at one point. The side long "Aumgn" was supposedly based on one of his chants.
* Perhaps unsurprisingly, Crowley is a common influence on BlackMetal bands. French group Music/BlutAusNord have subtitled one of their albums ''The Destruction of Reason by Illumination'' after a quote from his writings and have titled a trilogy of albums ''777'' after one of his qabalistic writings. There's probably more as well but since they don't release most of their lyrics only the band is likely to know for certain.
* The rock band Choronzon and the Music/TangerineDream song "Choronzon" are named after a [[AlmightyIdiot babbling demon]] described in Crowley's writings. The Blackened Death Metal band Akercocke also named one of their albums after Choronzon.
* Music/ReverendBizarre's "Aleister" and "Cromwell" are both inspired by Crowley (the latter quotes the second half of Crowley's motto almost verbatim).
* The song "Elizium" by Music/FieldsOfTheNephilim'' had a recording of Aleister Crowley reading his poem "At the Gates of Silent Memory."
* "Great American Nude" by Music/{{dEUS}}, from their album ''Music/WorstCaseScenario'' namedrops Crowley:
--> ''She had this thing about Aleister Crowley''
* "The Pentagram" by Music/{{Tiamat}} has lyrics lifted from Crowley's poem of the same name.
* "Revelations" by Music/IronMaiden from "Piece Of Mind" references "Revelations" by Crowley.
* Music/JohnZorn: His albums "IAO" (2002) and "Moonchild: Songs Without Words" (2006) are inspired by Crowley's works.
* He's mentioned in "Out of Control" by ''Music/{{Edguy}}'', which is sung from the perspective of a follower of his.
* French band Music/JadWio has the songs "Aiwass" and "Magik 666" from the album ''Sex Magik - Histoire de Lilith Von Sirius''.
* [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ghost_impera_12x12_album_art.jpg The cover artwork]] for [[Music/GhostBand Ghost's]] album ''Impera'' features a partially-built effigy of Papa Emeritus IV imitating Crowley's pose in the page pic. Additionally, "Call Me Little Sunshine" refers to Crowley's remark about the Number of the Beast meaning "sunlight".

[[AC:{{Radio}}]]
* He has an occasional guest role in ''Radio/TheScarifyers'' as an advisor on the occult to the heroes. They themselves believe he is utterly insane. He's depicted as rather [[{{Camp}} camp]] and generally harmless.

[[AC:TabletopGames]]
* The Invoked from ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' are a fusion-based archetype based around Aleister the Invoker, who appears to be a member[[note]]Crowley, Origin of Prophecy[[/note]] of the Prophecy archetype. When he was younger, he was also a member of the Magistus archetype[[note]]Magistus Grimoire Crowley[[/note]].

[[AC:VideoGames]]
* He appears as a boss battle in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII'' with real magic powers and a OneWingedAngel form, as a horny, completely insane wizard who attempts to kill the heroes out of anger that he can' preform a wild demonic orgy. It's not made clear if it's really Crowley you see or if it's a demon assuming his form, and it's also not made clear if he dies or simply escapes after you win the battle with him.
* He's one of the playable characters in ''VideoGame/CuriousExpedition'', playing up the whole "mystic cult leader" angle up to eleven.
* The ouija board that transports the protagonists in ''VideoGame/SaintsRowGatOutOfHell'' is said to have belonged to Crowley.
* Two characters partially named after him appear in ''VideoGame/Fallout3''. First is a ghoul named Mr. Crowley, the second is a [[FantasticRacism ghoul hating]] aristocrat (allegedly based on UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump) named Alistair Tenpenny. Both characters are [[EvilVersusEvil have bad Karma and are enemies]].
* Much of the deeper and more arcane lore from the ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series in general and ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'' in particular (i.e., anything written by Creator/MichaelKirkbride) draws its inspiration from, among ''many'' other things, Crowley's writings and re-interpretations thereof. As [[PhysicalGod Vivec]] himself says in the first sermon of his [[http://www.newwhirlingschool.com/ [in]famously cryptic]] ''[[http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:The_36_Lessons_of_Vivec 36 Lessons]]'', "For I have crushed a world with my left hand, [but] in my right hand is how it could have won against me. Love is under my will only."
* Doesn't appear but is briefly mentioned in ''VisualNovel/DiesIraeInterviewWithKazikluBey'' as one of only three known true magicians still alive in the world at the time the story takes place in 1944.
* [[OurGhostsAreDifferent Ghost]]-[[SoulPower type]] Gym Leader Allister from ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'' is named after him.
* Appears as one of the characters you encounter in the third realm in ''VideoGame/DrownedGod'', where his voice projects through a jack-in-the-box to tear down the perceived character flaws of each of the nine numbers you can receive at the beginning of the game. You can find an ApocalypticLog from him where he details how he accidentally trapped himself within this realm during a ritual gone wrong, and now this version of him wanders Din forever.

[[AC:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/TimesLikeThis'': Matt goes back to 1946 and gives Aleister some lyrics to Ozzy's "Mr. Crowley", framed as [[http://timeslikethis.com/?id=666 a short questionnaire.]]

[[AC:WebOriginal]]
* ''Roleplay/ElfenHigh'': Where he appears as the sex-crazed wizard in charge of the school.
* Also a prominent character in the creatively named reboot ''Roleplay/ElfenHigh2'', though he is not the real Crowley here.
* Appears in the backstory of ''WebVideo/{{lonelygirl15}}'' as the founder of the Order of Denderah.

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'', Crowley is a founding member of the original [[WeirdTradeUnion Guild of Calamitous Intent]] (along with Col. Venture, [[LoinCloth Eugen Sandow]], Creator/OscarWilde, Creator/MarkTwain and Literature/{{Fantomas}}) sometime near the turn of the century (before Wilde's death).
* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'': Mandy quotes Aleister Crowley in one of her typical (very) cold openings: "To do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law".
* ''WesternAnimation/TheMidnightGospel'': In "Hunters Without a Home", Darryl educates Clancy about Thelema magick and Aleister Crowley during their sea adventures.

* Music/DavidBowie's "Station to Station" from [[Music/StationToStation the 1976 album of the same name]] is partly one giant allusion to the writings of Crowley; at one point, Bowie outright namedrops ''White Stains''. The other part is an allusion to the massive cocaine addiction Bowie was going through at the time.

* Music/DavidBowie references him in both "Quicksand" from ''Music/HunkyDory'' and ''Music/StationToStation''.

* He is one of the most important and powerful characters in ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', where he's the series antagonist and TheManBehindTheMan to all of Academy City, and is the number one heretic among the Magic Side. Aiwass is also his mentor.

* Much of the deeper and more arcane lore from the ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series in general and ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'' in particular (i.e., pretty much anything written by Creator/MichaelKirkbride) draws its inspiration from, among ''many'' other things, Crowley's writings and re-interpretations thereof. As [[PhysicalGod Vivec]] himself says in the first sermon of his [[http://www.newwhirlingschool.com/ [in]famously cryptic]] ''[[http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:The_36_Lessons_of_Vivec 36 Lessons]]'', "For I have crushed a world with my left hand, [but] in my right hand is how it could have won against me. Love is under my will only."

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'', Crowley is a founding member of the original [[WeirdTradeUnion Guild of Calamitous Intent]] (along with Col. Venture, [[LoinCloth Eugen Sandow]], Creator/OscarWilde, Creator/MarkTwain and even Literature/{{Fantomas}}) sometime near the turn of the century (before Wilde's death).

* He appears as a VillainOfTheWeek in the ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'' episode [[Recap/LegendsOfTomorrowS6E5TheSatanistsApprentice "The Satanist's Apprentice"]] - he's played by Creator/MattRyan, since he possesses the body of ComicBook/JohnConstantine.

* He appears as a VillainOfTheWeek in the ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'' episode [[Recap/LegendsOfTomorrowS6E5TheSatanistsApprentice "The Satanist's Apprentice"]].

* He appears as a VillainOfTheWeek in an episode of ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow''.

[[AC: {{FilmsLiveAction}}]]
* In ‘’Film/StayTuned’’, one of the demon executives is named Crowley. He is betrayed by his superior, and ends up siding with the humans.