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| “ | Joan: Hail! Paimon! Cult members: Hail Paimon! Hail Paimon! HAIL!!! |
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| ~ Joan and cult members praying to King Paimon. |
King Paimon (simply known as Paimon) is the main antagonist of 2018 psychological/supernatural horror film Hereditary. He is a powerful demon who is one of the great kings of Hell. His worshippers want him to manifest in the mortal world, so he can make them wealthy and knowledgeable.
King Paimon's hosts were portrayed by Milly Shapiro, Toni Collette, and Alex Wolff. Collette also played Missi Jenkins in Tammy and Jane Marke in XXX: Return of Xander Cage, as Wolf also played Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in Patriots Day.
Personality[]
While inhabiting the body of Charlie, King Paimon is shown to be confused and disconnected from reality. Though he has a cult of devout, lifelong followers, he himself is not shown to seek a life on Earth. In actuality, he is perpetually out-of-place and scared from what he is witnessing through Charlie's eyes. According to Alex Wolff, who portrays Peter, Paimon's mortal ineptitude is interpreted as mental illness by the world.
After the incantation to summon him is uttered by Annie, Paimon is shown to be an extremely unrelenting opponent, in both his manipulation and hostility towards the Graham family. He maliciously inflicts severe psychological, physical and spiritual torment upon his victims, including reconstruction of traumatic events, as well as horrifying visions and nightmares.
Appearance[]
According to texts, in his own form, King Paimon is said to be a human-looking entity who wears a great crown and rides a dromedary. He is preceded by a whole host of ghouls playing trumpets and demons roaring, heralding his arrival. His face is feminine, while his body and persona is masculine. As such, he has a strong preference for inhabiting male bodies, which is why Ellen's cult's main objective is to "correct" his form by finding a male host within her bloodline.
History[]
An illustration of King Paimon, featured in Ellen's texts.
Ellen Leigh, nicknamed "Queen Leigh", is the matriarch of a secret cult that worships Paimon, one of the eight Kings of Hell. Following texts, Ellen and her followers desire a male body within her bloodline that could play host to Paimon. Ellen has two children, including Annie and a son. Ellen fanatically seeks to have her son possessed by Paimon, which causes him to have detrimental psychological damage, misdiagnosed as schizophrenia. Her son eventually commits suicide at the age of sixteen, driving an emotional wedge between Ellen and Annie.
Annie marries Steve Graham, with whom she becomes pregnant with and gives birth to a son, Peter. Fearful of her mother's influence replicating itself, Annie prevents Ellen from fostering a close relationship with Peter. With the birth of Annie's second child - a daughter, Charlie - Ellen is able to get close and establish an intimate connection immediately. This female body plays host to Paimon, which Ellen begrudgingly concedes as a temporary form, due to the King of Hell's preference for a male figure. During his time in the female body, Paimon, (or "Charlie"), is perpetually confused and uncomfortable—an outcast unaware of his true nature. While growing up, Charlie is frequently told by Ellen that she wishes that she were a male. When Charlie is an adolescent, Ellen dies, confusing the young girl.
One night, Peter wants to go to a supposedly innocent party, prompting Annie to insist that Charlie accompany him to it. At the party, featuring drugs and alcohol, Peter leaves Charlie unattended while he attempts to woo a girl with cannabis. With Peter's back turned, Charlie eats chocolate cake laced with nuts, causing an anaphylactic reaction. While under the influence, Peter attempts to drive Charlie to the hospital. Charlie tries to get fresh air by sticking her head out the window. Meanwhile, a deceased deer appears in the road, prompting Peter to veer right, towards a telephone pole - bearing the sigil of Paimon - decapitating Charlie in the process.
Following Charlie's funeral, Annie attempts to attend her weekly support group—with more grief than ever. Before she can leave, a woman called Joan, who is secretly a member of the cult, approaches the car and befriends her as one who has lost family members of her own. Annie encounters Joan soon after, bearing a story about a séance that allows for the living to communicate with the dead. With hesitation, Annie relents and participates in the séance through her daughter's coloring book, where what is apparently Charlie's soul, answers. Fascinated, Annie repeats the process at home, with Steve and Peter present, which allows Paimon to momentarily possess her, horrifying the men in her family.
Paimon becomes increasingly aggressive and hostile, tormenting Annie and Peter with terrifying nightmares and visions. Annie figures that the coloring book is the conduit between Paimon and the mortal world, so she attempts to burn it, but it causes her arm to catch on fire. Joan tells Peter to leave his body, after which he has a nervous meltdown at school, causing the confused Steve to despair. Annie rummages through Ellen's belongings and discovers that not only was Joan a close friend of her mother's, but that they collectively worshiped King Paimon, who desires a male host to manifest in the mortal world. Annie goes up to the attic to discover her mother's headless and decomposing corpse, lying beneath the sigil of Paimon. Steve brings the unconscious Peter home, where Annie ushers him up to the attic, where he witnesses the body. Having been notified by the authorities that Ellen's grave has been ransacked, Steve is convinced that Annie has suffered a mental breakdown and was responsible for exhuming the body. Annie declares that they must burn Charlie's coloring book, which she figures will immolate her, as well. To her horror, burning the book only succeeds in burning Steve to death.
Peter awakens in his bed, with Annie, now possessed by Paimon, stalking him around the house. Naked cultists appear at the house, before Annie makes her presence known as she chases Peter up to the attic. Locked in, Peter witnesses Annie hovering in the rafters, decapitating herself with razor wire, as more naked cultists close in around him. Terrified, Peter runs and jumps through the window, falling two stories down to the ground.
While lying on the ground, a white, unearthly light enters Peter's body, as he is possessed by Paimon. Annie's decapitated body floats its way over the yard and into Charlie's tree house, as Paimon awakens in Peter's body and confusedly observes. Cultists watch as Paimon walks across the lawn and enters the tree house, to see the brunt of the cult - and the headless corpses of Ellen and Annie - kneeling before a statue with Charlie's severed, rotting and crowned head affixed. Joan takes the crown from Charlie's head and places it on Paimon's head. Joan lovingly says "Oh, hey, hey! It's alright. Charlie? You're alright now. You... are Paimon, one of the eight Kings of Hell. We have looked to the Northwest and called you in. We've corrected your first female body and give you now this healthy male host. We reject the Trinity and pray devoutly to you, great Paimon. Give us your knowledge of all secret things. Bring us honor, wealth and good familiars. Bind all men to our will, as we have bound ourselves for now - and ever - to yours. Hail, Paimon! Hail, Paimon! Hail!".
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Trivia[]
- While based on demon lore, Paimon is incorrectly referred to as one of the eight leaders of Hell while traditionally, there are nine.
- The final song from the Hereditary soundtrack, which plays during Paimon's manifestation, features fine strings interlaced with demonic roars, as well as shrill trumpets. This correlates to scripture from Lesser Key of Solomon, from Ars Goetia, which details how Paimon is heralded by demons roaring and ghouls playing trumpets, before he arrives, riding a camel and wearing a crown.
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 Villains
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Hereditary Midsommar Beau is Afraid See Also | ||
 Villains
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Cult of Paimon See Also | ||