History Main / MesopotamianMonstrosity

* In ''Manga/TheDemonGirlNextDoor'', Lilith (who, while most famous for [[Myth/{{Lilith}} her role in Abrahamic religions]], may have actually originated in Akkadian mythology) and her full-demon and half-demon descendants play an important role, although they resemble [[HornedHumanoid Horned Humanoids]]. It is stated that they originally resembled [[BigRedDevil Big Red Devils]], but centuries of having their powers progressively sealed away by the Light Clan caused them to take a more humanoid appearance.

* In ''Manga/TheDemonGirlNextDoor'', Lilith (who, while most famous for [[Myth/{{Lilith}} her role in Abrahamic religions]], may have actually originated in Akkadian mythology]]) and her full-demon and half-demon descendants play an important role, although they resemble [[HornedHumanoid Horned Humanoids]]. It is stated that they originally resembled [[BigRedDevil Big Red Devils]], but centuries of having their powers progressively sealed away by the Light Clan caused them to take a more humanoid appearance.

* In ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'', the BigBad of two of the routes is Gilgamesh, the Babylonian hero. His end goal is to use the Holy Grail to burn the world and rule over the survivors.

* In ''Manga/TheDemonGirlNextDoor'', Lilith (who, while most famous for her role in Abrahamic religions, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilu_(mythology) may have actually originated in Akkadian mythology]]) and her full-demon and half-demon descendants play an important role, although they resemble [[HornedHumanoid Horned Humanoids]]. It is stated that they originally resembled [[BigRedDevil Big Red Devils]], but centuries of having their powers progressively sealed away by the Light Clan caused them to take a more humanoid appearance.

* A number of {{superhero}} comics have featured the Mesopotamian gods (or at least beings using their names) as gods, demons, gods degenerated into demons, or AncientAstronauts. Their resemblance to their depictions in the original myths varies. For example:

* ''TabletopGame/TheMadnessDossier'': The monstrous, mind-controlling “Anunnakku“, the antagonists in this horror setting for ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'', appear to be lodged in the human racial memory as the gods and monsters of Sumeria, and "monstrosity" is the word. The book draws a lot of terminology from Sumerian archeology.

Mesopotamian mythology has remained relatively obscure, but the relative lack of knowledge about it has actually worked in its favor in modern pop culture, allowing it to serve as a ripe opportunity for an original GeniusBonus or FramingDevice, in contrast to the more frequently-used and so over-familiar references to Classical and Egyptian mythologies. It is especially common to have demons or other supernatural beings have an origin from this civilization; the sheer archaic weirdness of their original descriptions makes them suitably uncanny for the purpose. Such uses serve as a modern alternative to the use of [[CurseOfThePharaoh Egyptian spirits]] or demons, which was extremely common in the early 20th century.

Mesopotamian mythology has remained relatively obscure, but the relative lack of knowledge about it has actually worked in its favor in modern pop culture, allowing it to serve as a ripe opportunity for an original GeniusBonus or FramingDevice, in contrast to the more frequently-used and so over-familiar references to Classical and Egyptian mythologies. It is especially common to have demons or other supernatural beings have an origin from this civilization. Such uses serve as a modern alternative to the use of [[CurseOfThePharaoh Egyptian spirits]] or demons, which was extremely common in the early 20th century.

-->– '''Enuma Elish'''

* In "Literature/TheShadowOverInnsmouth" by Creator/HPLovecraft, the deity worshiped by the monstrous FishPeople is referred to by the name of Dagon, a Mesopotamian deity sometimes interpreted as being a merperson or otherwise related to fish. Various other writers in the Franchise/CthulhuMythos have expanded on this reference.

* ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}'': The demon Nergal, a recurring antagonist, has the name of a Mesopotamian deity. It’s implied that he passed himself off as a god, back in the day.

* Myth/{{Lilith}}: It has been suggested that the Jewish/Christian myth of Lilith originated in the demonic ''lilim'' of Mesopotamian legend. If so (and this isn’t certain), this is an unusual medieval instance of the trope.

* In one ''ComicBook/{{Sandman}}'' story, Morpheus (who frequently gets to deal with deities, who after all originate in his realm of dreams) has brief dealings with the Babylonian goddess Ishtar, who has been reduced to dancing in a modern strip club. Where else could a rather dark sex-goddess find mass worship?

* ''ComicBook/HowardTheDuck'': Inverted; Pazuzu is the patron god of the Doucheblade. Played straight with the other Mesopotamian gods, whose followers were the enemies of the Doucheblade's original bearer.
* In ''ComicBook/ProjectSuperpowers'', Samson's nemesis is the Mesopotamian god Dagon, here presented as a massive kaiju-like merman.

* ''TabletopGame/TheMadnessDossier'': The monstrous, mind-controlling “Anunnakku“, the antagonists in this horror setting for ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'', appear to be lodged in the human racial memory as the gods and monsters of Sumeria, and "Monstrosity" is the word. The book draws a lot of terminology from Sumerian archeology.

* Manga/AnatoliaStory is all about a girl named Yuri who is summoned from modern-day Japan to the Hittite Empire of the past in order to be used as a sacrifice by a sorceress queen, but the prince of the empire saves her by declaring her to be the war goddess Ishtar. Almost the whole story takes place in either the Hittite Empire or in Egypt, with Yuri's struggle in adapting to the culture being only part of her troubles.

* While not an actual character, the comet Tiamat in ''Anime/YourName'' is named after the ancient Mesopotamian deity and has a major influence on the plot, [[spoiler:destroying Mitsuha's town]].

* Inverted in ''ComicBook/HowardTheDuck'', where Pazuzu is the patron god of the Doucheblade. Played straight with the other Mesopotamian gods, whose followers were the enemies of the Doucheblade's original bearer.

* Pazuzu, the main antagonist from ''Film/TheExorcist'' franchise, is a Mesopotamian demon who possesses the protagonist Regan. A statue of the demon also briefly appears.
* Gozer from ''Film/{{Ghostbusters|1984}}'' is an interdimensional being who was worshiped by the Sumerians (not Babylonians) as a god when it and its minions first appeared on Earth.

* In Creator/DanielPinkwater's ''Literature/SlavesOfSpiegel'', Sargon the Magnificent, alien overlord, conqueror of galaxies, and supreme judge of the Spiegelian intergalactic cooking competition, is named after Sargon, the founder of the Akkadian empire. He's implied to be a very nasty character, although he doesn't do anything too terrible in the book.

* In one episode of ''Series/StargateSG1'' an alien captures Daniel Jackson, convinced that Daniel knows something about his mate. After some risky memory probing, Daniel finally recalls reading that she was a minor Babylonian hero who died fighting the Goa'uld.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': Numerous [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Demon Lords]] take their names from Mesopotamian Mythology, such as [[SeaMonster Dagon]], [[FeatheredFiend Pazuzu]], [[RiddlingSphinx Areshkagal]], [[MonsterProgenitor Lamashtu]], [[WarIsHell Nergal]] and [[TheArchmage Abraxas]].
* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': The Chaos god of disease Nurgle is implied to have been worshiped as the Mesopotamian god of plague (and war) Nergal.

* In the Babylonia chapter of ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'', Tiamat, the Primordial Goddess of Creation, is revealed to be BigBad of the chapter and the first Beast fought. [[spoiler:She caused nearly everything to cease to exist and it took a lot to defeat her, up to and including the Grand Assassin Hassan forcing the concept of mortality upon her]].

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': The goddess Tiamat is portrayed as a five-headed dragon and is one of the main members of the universe's pantheon of gods.

The Mesopotamian civilization (including the Sumerians, Babylonians, and Hittites) is one of the oldest known major civilizations in the history of mankind, and had a [[Myth/MesopotamianMythology mythology]] as grand as any other, including the oldest of all surviving heroic epics, ''Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh''. However, unlike with many other ancient civilizations, knowledge about Mesopotamia's culture almost completely died out until its rediscovery by archaeologists the mid-19th century. This gap meant led to many centuries of Mesopotamian mythology having far less cultural impact than its later contemporaries, such as [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Classical]] and Myth/EgyptianMythology.

Mesopotamian mythology has remained relatively obscure, but the relative lack of knowledge about it has actually worked in its favor in modern pop culture, allowing it to serve as a ripe opportunity for an original GeniusBonus or FramingDevice, in contrast to the more frequently-used And so over-familiar references to Classical and Egyptian mythologies. It is especially common to have demons or other supernatural beings have an origin from this civilization. Such uses serve as a modern alternative to the use of [[CurseOfThePharaoh Egyptian spirits]] or demons, which was extremely common in the early 20th century.

-->– ''Enuma Elish''

->They banded together, and went forth to battle to help Tiâmat.\\

They carried the Weapon which spared not, nor flinched from the battle.

Despite remaining relatively obscure, the relative lack of knowledge about Mesopotamian mythology has actually worked in its favor in modern pop culture, allowing it to serve as a ripe opportunity for an original GeniusBonus or FramingDevice, in contrast to the more frequently-used references to Classical and Egyptian mythologies. It is especially common to have demons or other supernatural beings as having an origin from this civilization. Such uses serve as a modern alternative to the use of [[CurseOfThePharaoh Egyptian spirits]] or demons, which was extremely common in the early 20th century.

* Inverted in ''ComicBook/HowardTheDuck'', where Pazuzu is the patron god of the Doucheblade. Played straight with the other Mesopotamian gods, whose followers were the enemies of the Doucheblade's original bearer.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'', numerous [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Demon Lords]] take their names from Mesopotamian Mythology, such as [[SeaMonster Dagon]], [[FeatheredFiend Pazuzu]], [[RiddlingSphinx Areshkagal]], [[MonsterProgenitor Lamashtu]], [[WarIsHell Nergal]] and [[TheArchmage Abraxas]].

She bedecked them with brightness, she fashioned them in exalted forms,\\ So that fright and horror might overcome him that looked upon them,\\

* In ''Manga/TheDemonGirlNextDoor'', Lilith (which, while most famous for her role in Abrahamic religions, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilu_(mythology) may have actually originated in Akkadian mythology]]) and her full-demon and half-demon descendants play an important role, although they resemble [[HornedHumanoid Horned Humanoids]]. It is stated that they originally resembles [[BigRedDevil Big Red Devils]], but centuries of having their powers progressively sealed away by the Light Clan caused them to take a more humanoid appearance.

The Mesopotamian civilization (including the Sumerians, Babylonians, and Hittites) is one of the oldest known major civilizations in the history of mankind, and had a [[Myth/MesopotamianMythology mythology]] as grand as any other, including the oldest of all surviving heroic epics, the ''Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh''. However, unlike with many other ancient civilizations, knowledge about Mesopotamia's culture almost completely died out until its rediscovery by archaeologists the mid-19th century. This gap meant led to many centuries of Mesopotamian mythology having far less cultural impact than its later contemporaries, such as [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Classical]] and Myth/EgyptianMythology.

* Pazuzu, the main antagonist from ''Film/TheExorcist'' franchise, is a Mesopotamian demon who possesses the main protagonist Regan. A statue of the demon also briefly appears.

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': The Chaos god of disease Nurgle is implied to have been worshiped as the Mesopotamian god of plague (and war) Nergal.
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'', numerous [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Demon Lords]] take their names from Mesopotamian Mythology, such as [[SeaMonster Dagon]], [[FeatheredFiend Pazuzu]], [[RiddlingSphinx Areshkagal]], [[MonsterProgenitor Lamashtu]], [[WarIsHell Nergal]] and [[TheArchmage Abraxas]].

* Gozer from ''Film/{{Ghostbusters|1984}}'' is an interdimensional being who was worshiped by the Sumerians as a god when it and its minions first appeared on Earth.

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* Gozer from ''Film/Ghostbusters1984'' is an interdimensional being who was worshipped by the Sumerians as a god when it and its minions first appeared on Earth.

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* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': The Chaos god of disease Nurgle is implied to have been worshipped as the Mesopotamian god of plague (and war) Nergal.

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* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', most of the gods of the Western Continent are named after Mesopotamian gods, a few examples being Tiamat and Nergal. The few we know about are GodsOfEvil, and it's implied that the whole pantheon might be as well, since the whole continent is a WretchedHive ruled by an EvilOverlord. The whole continent is also ArabianNightsDays-themed, so it fits the setting as well.