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And how many of you have you killed since you persuaded us to wire up every house on the planet?
~ John Strange to Azal
NOT ENOUGH!
~ Azal

Azal is the main antagonist in the pilot episode of the TV series Strange. He is a demon which has electrical-based powers, having helped humans discover electricity to ease his nefarous activities. His non-corporeal form was a gigantic ball of glowing electricity while his human form was that of a handsome young man with black hair.

In the series, he is portrayed by the Scottish actor, Alastair Mackenzie.

Origins[]

Azal's origins go back thousands of years but little is known of his exact origin. It is revealed however that he is a close Lieutenant of the demon Asmoth. When doing his work he makes three separate appearances during each attack, with a trademark of burning his victims as if they were burned "in the very crucible of hellfire". A notable early attack attributed to him was in 13th Century Chartres, Northern France when craftsman, Thomas De Chatalaine who working late one night while applying gold leaf to a statue of the Archangel Michael on the gables during a raging thunderstorm, one where there was no rainfall. The body of the unfortunate craftsman was burned beyond recognition and the gold leaf had been torn from the statue and scattered 50 feet from the scene.

In the 19th Century, Azal worked with Michael Faraday to help make electricity usable for humans, working with him as his assistant. As a result of his work, this enabled Azal to used the electrical current to invade people's homes and kill them at will rather than inconveniently waiting for a lightning storm. As a consequence he used the advance in human technology to invade homes and incinarate his victims.

Sometime during the 1990s, he met a woman named Jude Atkins, a nurse, now living under the name of "Rich". They got together and she had a child by him, having successfully seduced her. This ensured that even if he died, he had a human child which would bear his powers. From here, he decided to bide his time.

In the series[]

Azal reappeared in 2002, having lived long term as "Rich" while working as a motorcycle courier. During this time, he met John Strange, a disgraced former priest and demonologist who while recieving a delivery from "Rich" recounted the details of his research work in a book he was delivering.

Azal sensed the demon Asmoth was returning, and so he decided to set out to appease his former master, killing in his name. Returnining to his evil deeds, attacking Reverend Arthur Rutt who was translating Latin texts for the benefits of Strange. He injured Rutt in his initial attack and causing the priest to have a stroke and unable to reliably recount his experience. While in hospital, Canon Black took advantage of the situation and destroyed much of Rutt's research. Rutt revealed his name Azal in scrabble pieces.  In an effort to silence him, he entered the hospital one night during a thunderstorm, incinerating Rutt entirely before vanishing. John Strange knows that something evil is at work and he and Jude investigate.

"Rich" called Strange, demanding to know what lunacy he has been telling Jude, with the front of a concerned and protective boyfriend. During his time with her, he also consistently discouraged the use of scientific instruments in his house, fearful that his secret would be uncovered - particularly since their son was researching electricity for school, voicing disinterest in Jude's gold leaf electroscope.

Strange stumbled on an old photo of Michael Faraday with his assistant - Azal. That wasn't to say that Jude hadn't noticed some unusual traits in "Rich", notably that he hadn't aged since they'd met. Jude realised because of Strange that there was a demon at work and noticing her electroscope that the demon uses electricity to kill humans. She turned off all the power in her house to protect her son Joey, but he'd already gone to the church basement to conduct a "science experiment" for his school project. Jude arrived but was too late as Joey was trapped behind a huge wall of electricity. Azal appeared in human form as Rich, but showing his demonic side with silver eyes and pointed teeth. He used the fuse box to transport himself to his "appointment" with John Strange, within a hospital elevator.

Strange mused on Azal and his work to discover electricity and how it made his evil powers and deeds easier. Strange stalled and taunted him before revealing Azal's idiocy; In forgetting Faraday's experiments he helped conduct, within a metal box such as the elevator, electrical power and therefore electrical charge, is nil, rendering him powerless and he needed to be on the ground to earth the electricity. Azal however used his residual charge to drop the elevator to earth and prepared to kill Strange.

However, before he could finish him off in his signature manner, Jude, in an attempt to rescue her son from behind the electricity wall in the church basement wired the electrical charge to earth, sucking Azal back to earth and away from the elevator, sending him back to Hell and his masters. 

Legacy[]

While Azal had gone, Jude wondered with growing concern that her son Joey had inherited her father's demonic nature and powers. Even so, he still haunted Jude's dreams and bought her a warning that the Demon Asmoth was awake and hungry.

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