Issue 94 - Baphomet

Capes On the Couch - Where Comics Get Counseling

We take our first trip to the world of the Wicked + the Divine to examine Baphomet! And it's so complex, we enlisted Jered from the Fantom Zone to help us! Does this role playing god find a name he's comfortable with? Listen now to find out!

SHOW NOTES:

• Intro
• • Thanks to guest Jered from Fantom Zone
  • Nominees for 100th episode award show + mailbag - nominations page
• Background (05:15)

• • Baphomet created by Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie, and Matthew Wilson in The Wicked + The Divine #2 (July 2014)
  • Makes his debut in the London Underground holding the Morrigan’s severed head, but was interrupted by the Morrigan herself - they fought until Laura intervened
  • Learns of the “Prometheus gambit”, where a god can extend their life by killing another god - initially targets Urdr but gets stopped by Morrigan, and focuses on Inanna instead
  • Later revealed that he didn’t kill Inanna, and they went to Laura - witnessed her transformation into Persephone, and after Ananke killed Inanna, Baphomet took Persephone to the Underground to hide
  • After sleeping with Persephone, he revealed that he’s actually Nergal, but changed his name because he was ashamed of the association with Warhammer 40K - before becoming a god, he was Cameron, a role-playing nerd in love with Marian - when Marian became the Morrigan, she convinced Ananke to turn him into a god, which he did not appreciate initially
  • After Persephone kills Ananke, he and Morrigan resume their relationship, which turns abusive towards him - Morrigan becomes very controlling and physically abusive
  • Later discovers that Morrigan wanted him to become a god so they could kill and resurrect each other forever
  • Permanently kills the Morrigan’s 3 alters to provide bodies for the disembodied heads of Lucifer, Inanna, and Tara
  • Sacrifices his brain to bring back Dionysus
• Issues (17:16)
  • Scared, insecure, and afraid of death
  • Postures as what he thinks masculinity should look like, as well as what he thinks Morrigan wants (24:20)
  • Domestic abuse from a male perspective (31:54)
  • Was an identity forced upon him, or did he refuse the identity gifted to him and make his own? (42:15)
• Break (55:48)
  • Plugs for Popcorn Psychology, Bedknobs & Broomflicks, and Jeremy Whitley
• Treatment (56:42)
  • In-universe - Need a fan to infiltrate the Pantheon and feed information to him
  • Out of universe
• Skit
• Ending (74:58)
  • Recommended reading: the entire Wicked + Divine series
  • Next episodes: Killer Croc, Black Adam, Stranger in a strange land
  • Plugs for social

References:

• Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Anthony (06:27)
• Warhammer 40K - Anthony (10:05)
• My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - Anthony (12:50)
• Spinal Tap/Goes to eleven - Doc (26:14)
• Hank Pym episode - Anthony (33:03)
• Personality Isn’t Permanent by Benjamin Hardy - Doc (49:05)
• Peppermint Patty - Anthony (64:54)
• "Didn’t I Blow Your Mind" - Anthony (75:40)

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