Bael - The Duke of Pain

Bael is my favorite character in Cryopod. Even on days when I think Beelzebub or Satan are my favorites, Bael eventually climbs back up to the top. I'm sure that at some point, a different character will be in the #1 position for a while... but I can't imagine anyone truly replacing him on a permanent basis.

I originally modeled Bael after Sokka from Avatar TLA, but I wanted Bael to be a little bit of a character swap.

I've always hated comedy relief characters, mostly for the reasons listed in this video. They don't contribute anything to the narrative, they kill tension, and a bunch of other reasons that amount to them always being super annoying. One thing I love about Sokka is that not only is he a funny character, but he's also very intelligent, accomplishes many feats, and does a lot of general badassery. His comedy chops do not come at the expense of his character, but instead boost the other characters.

Bael is similar, but the opposite. While Sokka does eventually become an adept swordmaster, for much of Avatar, he's a terrible fighter who instead relies on his intelligence to lead the Aang Gang. He usually gets his butt kicked, and it's almost always pretty funny.

However, there was one thing I didn't like about Sokka. You see, because he's portrayed as a smart character, when the comedy sometimes comes from him doing a dumb thing, especially when unintentional, it undermines his intelligence.

Bael, on the other hand, is a very powerful Demon Duke, a being at the upper echelons of demonkind. He's not smart, and the comedy comes from him being dumb. As a weakling, Sokka's comedy sometimes comes from getting his butt kicked because he's weak, but Bael's comedy aspects only ever come from his low intelligence.

Even then, Bael isn't as stupid as he seems. While he is certainly slow, and definitely not the brightest when it comes to anything requiring math skills, Bael is also an intuitive prodigy at the ways of battle. He grasps his opponent's weaknesses and uses those weaknesses to defeat them. Think of when he first became the Balrog and immediately bypassed Diablo's kinetic shielding, or when he worked with Mephisto to defeat the 'unkillable' Beelzebub.

Bael's character is much deeper than just being a goofy guy who also loves to fight. Not only is he a nigh-invincible warrior, but he serves several important roles in the story.

Bael is possibly powerful enough to defeat most of the Demon Emperors who have appeared throughout Refresh. Since almost nothing can hurt him, the only reason he doesn't rank up to an Emperor's level is because he is very lazy. He doesn't want to work hard. He likes to sit around, eat food, and play games of chance. To Bael, the very idea of leading others is repulsive. However, he genuinely cares about his fellow demons, and this is why his role of being the Kingmaker is so important.

Who becomes an Emperor? Only someone Bael vets. If he doesn't approve of them, they don't become the boss. Diablo was smart enough to be the boss, and had no ill intentions for demonkind. So was Satan, and so was Ose. Bael let all of them become Emperors.

But what if all the other leaders were to perish and nobody else were around to take up the mantle, or, what if none of the potential contestants were worthy in Bael's eyes?

Well, maybe at that point, he would step up. Maybe he wouldn't.

Bael's role as the Kingmaker is what defines his role in Refresh, even if it's not immediately apparent. It will become even more important later on, when certain events change the fabric of Refresh's story to levels exceeding Classic.

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The artwork at the top was made, as usual, by MWTX. If you like his artwork, support me on Patreon! I pay him $500 a month, and presently, all of my Patreon money goes to him, plus extra from my job.

The second artwork was made by Iskafiy, the original designer for Bael.

Thanks for reading! New part tomorrow, I hope!