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Lucifer

Lucifer · Bearer of Light — Fallen Archangel, Prince of Pride

The most famous fallen angel in Christian tradition. The name is Latin for 'Light-bearer' (Lux-fer). Once God's most glorious archangel, his pride (superbia) — seeking to place himself equal to God — cast him down from heaven to become king of Hell. Dante's Inferno depicts him frozen at Hell's deepest pit, three-faced, eternally chewing the gravest sinners.

Origin

Isaiah 14's satire of a Babylonian king — 'how art thou fallen, O Day Star, son of the Dawn (Helel ben Shahar)' — was reinterpreted by later Christianity as the myth of Satan's fall. Milton's Paradise Lost crystallized him as the most tragic and grandiose figure, symbol of free will and pride.

Features

Vestiges of the once most beautiful archangel
Wings of bats or vast dark feathers
Star on the brow — remnant of the Morning Star
In Dante: a three-faced, six-winged giant

Usage

Invoked in literature and art as the symbol of pride, rebellion, free will, and the Enlightenment. Theologically the prince of Pride among the Seven Deadly Sins. Since the Renaissance and Romanticism, recast as a tragic noble rebel — the standard anti-hero template of modern fantasy.