Emperor Belos

"Those barbarians! Those, those… WITCHES! It doesn't matter. I just need to live long enough to see this through. And you're going to help me, Collector." - Emperor Belos to the Collector

Emperor Belos, also known as Philip Wittebane, is the main antagonist of the Disney Channel animated series The Owl House.

He was a 17th century human witch hunter from the Demon Realm who traveled to the Connecticut Colony during the Deadwardian Era (which would be the mid-1600s in the human realm/world) in order to find his older brother, Caleb Wittebane. While studying the Boiling Isles' nature and working on a portal back to the Human Realm, Philip discovered that Caleb fell in love with a witch named Evelyn and killed him for this, before deciding to eliminate all life on the Isles so he would be rewarded and hailed as a hero back in the Human Realm.

With help from the Collector, Philip assumed the new identity of Belos and became the Emperor of the Isles, lying to his subjects that he can speak to the Titan and thus knows how to cast magic properly, while hiding the fact his Coven System was created to kill them all with the Draining Spell. He is also the arch-nemesis of both Luz Noceda and his creation Hunter, and the former master of Lilith Clawthorne, Kikimora, the Coven Heads and numerous others.

Appearance

“	Gus: You know, I think he does it 'cause he's shy. He's just evil and shy. It happens!Willow: I heard there's just a mirror underneath. The real emperor was society all along.Gus: Maybe he's so handsome, people have a hard time focusing on what he says. I get it! I can relate. Luz, you've seen Belos up close! What's he like under... all that?Luz: Oh, I never got a good look...Amity: I heard he's scarred from wild magic!	„
	~ Gus, Willow, Luz, and Amity discussing the then-publicly unrevealed appearance of Belos.

Belos is an elderly human with a fair complexion, cornflower-blue eyes and long, rough-looking, ash-blond hair reaching past his shoulders. He has wrinkly lips and a notch on his left ear similar to his nephew Hunter. Most prominently though, he has a large, basil-green scar, running across his face and down his neck with holes that seem to be eroding it, an indication of how severely his unknown illness is affecting him. "Hollow Mind" implies that he sliced his own ears so they could resemble ears that belonged to a witch.

He wears a mask with two long upward-facing horns. His eyes are hollow through the mask, thus creating the appearance of empty eye sockets. He wears a large white and brown cape with gold trim. His eyes can glow light blue, as shown when Luz Noceda cracks the right side of his mask and exposes one of them. Under his cape, he wears a gray imperial jacket with puffy sleeves, a dark gray belt or sash across his waist, black pants, and high-heeled brown boots. As a preacher, he wore a wooden version of his signature mask, and a robe similar to his present-day one, but with more black on the sleeves and bottom. His hair is also loose.

Back when he was still Philip, his hair was light brown and held back in a ponytail with several strands loose on his scalp, with a matching beard gained during his time in the Demon Realm. He wore a dark blue, long-sleeved coat with an upward-facing collar and studded tail, beige-colored gloves, a white frilly undershirt, brown breaches, and short, brown boots with high heels. In the present day, when he planned to resume his real identity, he dons this outfit once more, along with the boots he wore as "Emperor."

As revealed in the episode "Hollow Mind", his beast form is that of a skeletal figure made out of green sludge with dark patches. His eyes are sunken in and glow blue, his nose is nothing but a hole, and his mouth is shaped in a toothy gape and often glows blue. Two horns resembling those on his mask are attached to his head, as is a long mane of completely grey hair. All over his body are at least eight blue eyes with light irises. He can also briefly morph his face into his normal one. Seeing as he never assumes a human form again until his death, it’s implied that Belos’s beast form is how he truly looks like and is a result of withdrawal from Palisman magic.

Personality

“	You assume Belos' goal comes from a genuine place. But that man doesn't care about anything but his need to be the hero in his own delusion. And because of that, he fears what he can't control.	„
	~ Papa Titan explaining to Luz how she differs from Belos, while highlighting his true nature as a delusional narcissist.

As the ruling body of the Boiling Isles, Belos initially appears to be a calm and collected man but is intolerant of failure as evidenced by Lilith's consistent failures at capturing the Owl Lady. He also threatens her with harsh punishment, reminding her about what happens to witches who were without a coven. As a demonstration of his authority, Belos petrified several witches and demons. Belos is a charismatic manipulator who ingratiates himself to the populace, presenting himself as a grandfatherly and wise leader who is deeply caring for his subjects, causing many to be swayed by his lies as he frequently touts messages of salvation and prosperity. This effectively allows him to manipulate and control the thoughts of his people as he pleases, encouraging absolute devotion to him without even considering why.

As revealed in "Hollow Mind", Belos staged attacks on villages to manipulate the witches and demons to join his coven systems, uncaring that it could have led to dozens of deaths. Despite him being a controlling force who ruled the Isles with an iron fist, it at first appeared that Belos had a soft spot for his nephew Hunter, the current Golden Guard. However, as the series would progress, it is revealed that Belos actually sees him as nothing more than a useful tool that he had kept in line by claiming the Titan had big plans for him. He is also known to be quite deceptive, as he wrote lies in his diary about what happened to those who helped him during his missions to make himself look better, and also falsely promised the coven heads and Odalia Blight they would be spared from the draining spell and become royalty in his new "paradise", but in reality, he was actually going to leave them behind to die with everyone else.

From the events displayed in "Hollow Mind", Belos killed his own brother when he fell in love with a witch in a fit of rage. As such, it can be speculated that he created a series of Grimwalkers in his likeness as a way of getting him back. However, Belos' "love" can be seen as toxic, since he was completely repulsed by his brother's likeness to witches and his own beliefs and killed him when Belos was unable to control him, who likely opposed his plans. Whenever a Grimwalker had expressed signs of rebellion, he would kill them and nonchalantly create another one, while having had no intention of keeping them alive during the Day of Unity. The Collector himself takes note of this and accuses Belos of taking enjoyment out of creating Grimwalkers only to destroy them. Belos initially denies it, but his brief grin explicitly affirms the Collector's suspicions. And in "For the Future", Belos shows explicit hatred against the real deal when confronted by a hallucination of Caleb as he buries all guilt and rationalizes it as just "saving his soul", even telling him to "shut up" to keep his own self-delusions as a hero.

His most defining trait by far is his narcissism and messiah complex. When he was Philip Wittebane, he was a witch hunter who was the byproduct of an overly zealous society during the Colonial Era. As such, Belos has a holier-than-thou mentality and is fully convinced that his genocidal crusade against witches is a righteous task that would free humanity from evil. It could also be the reason as to why he murdered his brother: when his brother fell for a witch, Belos disavowed him as a sibling and had no qualms about killing him in a violent rage. Because of his narcissism, he can never perceive that his actions could be monstrous, best exemplified when he blows off Luz calling him "evil" by retorting that he couldn't reason with crazy. His prejudicial view of witches, seeing them as creatures incapable of independent thought or feelings and being around them for centuries, has likely warped him into a psychopath, thinking that the beings around him are beneath him.

Based on the events of "Thanks to Them", it seems that Belos' hatred toward magic and witches has blinded him to the fact that humanity has changed their views of witches and magic seeing as how even after his time back on Earth, he still fails to realize that modern humans now have great fascination toward magic and even dress as demons and witches during Halloween instead of prosecuting them like back in his time. Consequently, this fact shows that Belos is unable to comprehend that his genocidal goal had become pointless by now, ironically much like how the Collector warned him that humanity might have changed since he left centuries ago in the episode "Clouds on the Horizon". His messiah complex reaches its peak when he possesses the Titan's heart, posing in a way that makes him look crucified, showing he is completely deluded and genuinely believes himself to be the savior of humanity on par with Jesus himself.

Belos is also a hypocrite. In spite of deeming magic as evil, he used magic to keep himself alive for centuries, which he learned through studies and pacts with the Collector, making him a pitch-perfect example of what a witch was seen as in the 1600s. Even though he claims his actions are for the good of humanity, he sees no issue with killing humans the second they disagree with him, whether that be his own brother for falling in love with a witch and abandoning his witch hunter views or even a young child like Luz, who openly called out Belos for his hypocrisy and also criticized him for his lack of humanity and/or remorse for his depraved actions.

Despite his immense power, Belos is not incapable of fear, as he was genuinely scared of the Collector's power and didn't want him to be free to share his knowledge with anybody else when his plan was finished. After the Day of Unity begins, he betrays the Collector by dropping him down a pit. When King frees him, Belos was shocked by this and absurdly tries to tell him that he kept his word on freeing him, only for the Collector to destroy his physical body. This is all taken to further extremes after he is separated from the Titan's heart in the finale and his plan to destroy the Boiling Isles is thwarted, after which he pretends to have been "controlled by a dark curse" in a last-ditch effort to claim innocence, and begs Luz for her mercy, and when she refuses, he begins to rant about how they are human and "better than this" compared to the evil witches, showing how powerless and pathetic he really was in the end.

In conclusion, Emperor Belos can best be defined as a cunning, ruthless, extremely manipulative, narcissistic, hypocritical, essentially heartless, sadistic and genocidal individual who will stop at nothing to accomplish his goals and get what he wants, even if that means killing fellow humans such as his own brother or Luz. Despite always claiming that what he does is for the greater good and protection of the human race and always justifying what he does as such, he is truly a delusional, deceitful monster who refuses to let go of his own hate and prejudice against witch and demon kind, in spite of living among them and personally viewing their true nature and similarities to humanity, and chooses to only see the darker side of magical creatures as he has no true understanding or comprehension of the demon realm. All he does is for his own selfish desire to be seen as and praised as a heroic "Witch Hunter General". While he once loved his brother in the past and perhaps had good qualities prior to the show's beginning, by the time it begins, all such positive or redemptive qualities have vanished, leaving only a cruel, loathsome zealot who ultimately becomes so much worse than the "monsters" he wished to exterminate.

Powers and Abilities

“	Luz: So, Willow... would you say this Belos guy is, like, powerful?Willow: (giggles) No offense to Eda, but the Emperor is the most skilled witch that's ever lived. He can even talk to the Titan.	„
	~ Luz and Willow discussing Belos's strength and abilities.

Prior to becoming Belos, Philip was just a normal human being with no supernatural powers. However, he learned to sketch and design glyphs from his natural environment. These glyphs are likewise inscribed on his right arm. However, this had a negative impact on his physiology, causing his arm to pulsate and swell whenever the glyphs attempted to activate, exacerbating his physical problems. He learned glyph magic with the Collector's assistance, executing intricate spells without the aid of a palisman.

He started using artificial magic after he adopted the persona of Belos. Belos uses an instrument, such as his mechanical staff or other tools, to conduct magic instead of using simple spells like the spell circle. Despite this, Belos has mastered the craft and is regarded as the most powerful and talented witch that has ever lived due to his immense knowledge, strength, and proficiency with artificial magic. Luz's cloak, which is made of witch's wool and is said to be able to block all magic, doesn't seem to have any effect on this magic, which suggests artificial magic is distinct from the kind created by glyphs or witches. His proficiency with magic was so great that during his second battle with Luz, he claimed it would take decades of learning magic for someone to defeat him.

Because of his palisman-based ailment, he transformed into sludge or a sludge-like creature. In his first appearance, he was fatigued, indicating that the conditions were affecting his health. More severe consequences were seen early on in Season 2, with him deforming into a hideous monstrosity, although palisman essence assisted him in maintaining his normal form. In the final season, it was revealed that he could influence another living being by infusing his sludge-like essence into other creatures and induce hallucinations that lead his victim to see and hear him as if he is present. If enough time has elapsed, Belos can take control of the host and have them display his sludge forms traits onto their bodies. The different corpses and bones left in the sludge's trail, as well as the scars left on Hunter and Raine when Belos possessed them, suggest that the organism is eaten by the essence while they are possessed. He still feels agony from the physical distortions his body experiences, but his viscous body can heal and reshape itself from any physical harm he suffers. The precise degree of Belos' regeneration is unclear, but after the Collector threw him into a wall, enough of him survived to pursue Luz and her companions into the Human Realm. Hunter and numerous animals would later fall victim to it, and as it grew more powerful, Belos eventually recovered his corporeal form.

He obtained a draconic form and the power to breathe a volatile flame-like gas that could infect and spread his mold to everything it touched after connecting himself to the Titan's heart. This allows him to swiftly spread himself over the Isles, assisting in his efforts to terraform it into a dead wasteland. It may also demolish any living creature that comes into contact with the flames, causing them to become overwhelmed by the sludgy growths and evaporate into light, as shown with Luz.

His intellect proved to be more dangerous than the powers he gained from learning artificial magic or his sludge form. The greatest example of this is how he was able to fool everyone on the Boiling Isles into thinking he was a witch despite not being able to perform magic in the same manner as them. He also deceived everyone into thinking he could talk to the Titan with no one being able to disprove it, having claimed to be a "humble messenger for the Titan". He was a master of deception having tricked everyone, whether they were his ally or enemy, with his charm, through fear-mongering, or by manipulating them into doing exactly what he wanted them to do. He also managed to come up with a contingency plan for dealing with the BATT's plan to prevent the Draining Spell from happening.

Relationships

Friends/allies (all formerly)

• Emperor's Coven
  • Lilith Clawthorne
  • Hunter (creation, host and former right-hand)
  • Previous Golden Guards
  • Kikimora
  • Warden Wrath
  • Coven Captains
  • Coven Guards
  • Coven Scouts
    • Steve
    • Severine
  • Flora D'splora
• Coven Heads
  • Raine Whispers
  • Darius Deamonne
  • Eberwolf
  • Terra Snapdragon
  • Adrian Graye Vernworth
  • Hettie Cutburn
  • Osran
  • Vitimir
  • Mason
• Abomatons
• Odalia Blight
• Luz Noceda
• Caleb Wittebane (brother)
• The Collector (former benefactor)
• Blue Fang
• Numerous unnamed "companions"

Enemies

• The Owl House
  • Luz Noceda (arch-nemesis, temporary victim and co-killer)
    • Stringbean
  • Eda Clawthorne (co-killer)
    • Owl Beast
  • King Clawthorne (co-killer)
  • Hooty
  • Lilith Clawthorne
  • Owlbert
• Willow Park
  • Emmiline
• Gus Porter
  • Clover
• Amity Blight
  • Ghost
• Hunter
  • Flapjack (victim)
  • Waffles
• Previous Golden Guards (victims)
• Caleb Wittebane (victim)
• Evelyn
• Basilisks
  • Vee
• Covens Against the Throne
  • Raine Whispers (former host and co-killer)
  • Amber
  • Katya
  • Derwin
  • Darius Deamonne
  • Eberwolf
  • Steve
• Alador Blight
• The Collector
• Kikimora
• Coven Heads
• Members of the Emperor's Coven
• Odalia Blight
• Dozens of unnamed Palismen (victims)
• Everyone else on the Boiling Isles
• Camila Noceda
• The Titan (second arch-nemesis, former host, indirect victim and indirect killer)

Victims

Direct

• Caleb Wittebane - Stabbed in the chest with a dagger.
• At least 33 Grimwalkers of Caleb - All killed in different ways like being blasted, petrified, burned alive, etc.
• 9 unnamed witches - Froze to death in the Knee after being weakened by the prototype Draining Spell.
• At least 94 Palismen - Souls absorbed, before destroying them in his mindscape.
• At least 3 Human Realm animals - Flesh absorbed while possessing them.
• Flapjack - Fatally stabbed with his claws, later sacrificed his life to heal Hunter.
• Luz Noceda (later resurrected) - Disintegrated into light after being consumed by mold from his blast.

Indirect

• Unknown number of witches and demons - Some sacrificed during his expeditions, others petrified on his orders.
  • Blue Fang - Implied to have been killed during his attempt to meet the Collector.
• The Titan - Corpse possessed through a still-beating heart, later passed away after giving the last of his power to help Luz defeat Belos.

Trivia

• The Emperor's name is misspelled as "Bellows" in the closed captioning.
• The name "Belos" is derived from Belus in Latin, which is typically a royal title or the name of a deity.
  • "Belos" also means "beautiful" in several Iberian and Mediterranean languages, such as Portuguese, Galician, and Corsican. This is considered ironic, given his true face is revealed to be disfigured with an eroding scar running across his face. This could refer to his delusional and self-righteous personality as he believes his genocide of magical creatures is a good thing, possibly even considered beautiful.
  • This name could also be a reference to how Belos lied to the witches that the Day of Unity would be a beautiful and momentous occasion, fitting as Belos is an alias Philip used to manipulate the citizens of the Boiling Isles.
• In "Agony of a Witch", it's revealed that whenever members of the Emperor's Coven don't succeed in things, they get expelled from the coven and possibly killed or petrified, as seen when he is talking to Lilith about Eda.
• Despite his evil nature, his voice actor Matthew Rhys considers him to just be misunderstood.
  • Though there is also a chance he might've been making a sarcastic joke, given the laconic wording of the post.
  • That said, Matthew Rhys' claim foreshadowed the revelation of what shaped Philip Wittebane into the person he eventually became as Emperor Belos; his prejudice toward witches was the byproduct of the mindset of people during the era he lived in prior to his and Caleb's fateful departure to Boiling Isles. Unlike his more open-minded brother who was able to see witches of Boiling Isles in positive light however, Philip let his prejudice consume his humanity.
• Before the events of "Elsewhere and Elsewhen", it was heavily theorized that Belos is actually a human who first came to the Boiling Isles, most commonly being theorized to either be Philip Wittebane or his brother.
  • The strong element to support this is that his staff lacks a palisman. In the Season 2 episode "Keeping Up A-fear-ances", Gwendolyn Clawthorne relays a story to Luz about how there was a human that appeared in the Boiling Isles and left, leaving information behind about a substance called Titan's Blood. From there, it could be explained that the human in question was Belos.
  • In the episode "Through the Looking Glass Ruins", it is highly theorized that Philip Wittebane, the human that first came to the Boiling Isles and creator of the portal to the Human Realm and Belos are the same person.
  • When his face is finally revealed in the episode "Eclipse Lake", his ears appear to be much rounder than a normal witch's, and they seem to resemble human ears to some extent. The common counterpoint to that comparison is the fact that his ears are smaller and less pronounced than other witches' ears, the implication being that Belos likely modified his ears to further blend in with the Boiling Isles. Much like Hunter, according to this theory, it would mean that he is incapable of performing natural magic. This is also strengthened by the fact that Belos's staff is very much like Hunter's artificial magic staff.
  • In the episode "Yesterday's Lie", it is possible that Belos is also one of the brothers that found Gravesfield, Luz's hometown. Belos' face resembles the statue of Philip while the statue of Philip's brother resembles Hunter.
  • Philip and Belos share a lot in common: both have the goals of wanting to return to the human realm, both have similar faces, both have similar voice accents, and because Philip is a human, he could not perform magic and Belos has only been seen performing magic with the help of his staff and hasn't yet used a spell circle.
  • As of "Elsewhere and Elsewhen", this theory was seemingly confirmed with Philip being seen draining palismen quite similarly to how Belos does, not to mention he also seems to be cursed much like the emperor. It is also worth noting that Belos's voice begins to overlap Philip's at the end of the episode.
  • The episode "Hollow Mind" officially confirms this theory.
• It's revealed in "Elsewhere and Elsewhen" that the Boiling Isles was a far more pleasant and friendlier place when Belos first arrived, implying that his manipulative and deceitful nature is what turned the isles into the Social Darwinist and more callous society it is today.
  • It's also probable that he established anti-wild magic propaganda to make people believe that wild magic is bad so he could become emperor and created the Coven System to control the species he loathes so much. This fact is confirmed in the episode "Hollow Mind", but it is also revealed that the Coven System has far more sinister intentions as it's also a means for Belos to conduct a draining spell, which would eventually drain all magic from the entire Boiling Isles, killing all witches and demons in the process.
  • According to the pictures in the background of his mind, it is highly hinted that he and his brother eventually come to blows over their different ideology regarding witches, to the point that Philip killed his own brother.
• In "Hollow Mind", there are a series of paintings within the background of Belos's mindscape that show glimpses of his past as Philip. In it, he was close with another boy who greatly resembles Hunter (implied to be his brother) and was given a hand carved mask that resembles his current one. The two were eventually brought to the Demon Realm by another witch after the boy showed an interest in magic. Despite being born in the 17th century where witchcraft and anything that closely resembled it was greatly hated and persecuted, the brother greatly adapted to the Demon Realm, whereas Philip had a hard time adjusting. It shows that the brother eventually fell in love with another witch and possibly impregnated her, much to Philip's disapproval and scorn. At some point, Philip began to mutate into his monstrous state and was still accepted by his brother. Philip and his brother ended up fighting for a yet unknown reason and Philip ends up killing his brother in cold blood, leading to Philip being cursed by the witch after attempting to flee.
  • It's also implied that while he was a good kid and close with his brother, spending centuries with his prejudice against witches and demons and living a life being surrounded by them, along with the "betrayal" of his brother, has gradually developed the sociopathic narcissistic behavior he has today.
  • It would be eventually confirmed that the boy really is Philip's older brother, Caleb, who was brought into the Demon Realm by a witch called Evelyn and killed by Philip for falling in love with her. Philip would then proceed to make Grimwalkers of Caleb, with Hunter being the latest one.
• Ironically, while fans originally speculated Luz would end up possessed by the Collector, Hunter would become possessed by Belos.
  • The Belos-possessed Hunter would gain the nicknames "Helos" (a mix of Hunter and Belos) and "Witch Hunter" (a pun based on Belos' profession). Belos would also be paired up with Bill Cipher and the Core from Gravity Falls and Amphibia respectively, because all three are the main villains of a Disney Channel show that possess one of the main characters (Bill possessed Dipper Pines and became "Bipper", the Core possessed Marcy Wu and became "Darcy", and Belos possessed Hunter).
• Belos was seemingly aware of the time-loop that happened in "Elsewhere and Elsewhen" and that's why he spared the heroes in "Young Blood, Old Souls", as he still needed Luz to go back in time to teach him the light glyph and help him meet the Collector.
  • This also may explain why Terra said to Luz in "Follies at the Coven Day Parade" that he looked forward to meeting her.
  • This may also explain too why he chose Lilith to lead her coven and let her keep her palisman, as he recognized her as "Aunt Dirtrude".
    • It is possible that this is why, at the beginning of the episode, he sent Flora D'splora to taunt Lilith, prompting her and Luz to look out for the time pools.
      • This part of the theory was seemingly confirmed after one of the show's artists, Rebeca Rose, tweeted high-quality versions of the paintings from "Hollow Mind", including one in which Belos is seen whispering something to a sinister-looking Flora.
  • One of Dana Terrace's art depicts Belos swapping Lilith's patrol shifts to the morning after seeing her gaining muscle mass from morning boxing classes, implying that he knew she would punch his younger self later on and thus forced her to cancel the classes so as to prevent further injury to his past self. However, the art's comedic nature leaves its canonicity uncertain.
• His self-proclaimed title of "Witch Hunter General" might be inspired by a title of the real-life witch hunter Matthew Hopkins who was known as the "Witchfinder General", being also a self-proclaimed title.
• Belos/Philip Wittebane acts as a dark reflection of Luz. Both were humans who were exposed to skewed views on magic as children, ended up in the Boiling Isles by accident, received mistreatment from its residents, unable to return home and began studying magic in order to make a gateway back to their dimension. But while Luz was exposed to a book portraying witches and magic in a positive way, Philip was exposed to a barbaric moral panic causing him to believe that witches and magic were inherently evil and had no good qualities. Luz also loves the Boiling Isles more than she does Earth and forms strong relationships with those living there and throughout her time there, matures significantly and becomes better to fit into the Human Realm. Belos, meanwhile, hates the Boiling Isles and its residents so much that he killed his own brother for falling in love with a witch, and his goal is to facilitate the genocide of all witches without ever showing remorse for his actions or changing his views on witchkind and magic. If Luz saw magic in a negative light, hated the Boiling Isles, refused to ever take responsibility for her actions and letting her mistreatment on both Gravesfield and Boiling Isles consumed her, she would've ended up just like Belos.
• Belos/Philip Wittebane also serves as a dark reflection to Eda. Both got along well with their older siblings and wanted to work alongside side them before their relationships with them became strained, which led to them getting into violent confrontations with their siblings. They also suffered from magical afflictions causing their bodies to transform uncontrollably. While Eda’s transformation into the Owl Beast was the result of her sister cursing her, Belos’ was the result of him absorbing the souls of palismans into his body. They also served as parental figures (Belos acting as Hunter’s nephew and Eda serving as King’s adopted mother) who deceived the children they were raising, leading them to believe they were important in some way. While King chose to forgive Eda for lying to him, Hunter cut ties with Belos. Overall, Belos serves as an example of what Eda would have become had she not mended her relationship with Lilith, continued to view the Owl Beast as the cause of all the problems in her life, and continued to be dishonest with King about his true heritage.
• Emperor Belos has numerous parallels to the Archivists. Both are horrible siblings (Belos killing Caleb, the Archivists trying to get rid of the Collector) who followed their siblings into the Demon Realm, before trying to wipe out all life on it due to being scared of its citizens, despite claiming it's for the good (Belos thinking he's saving humanity from evil, the Archivists thinking they're just doing what's needed to continue preserving life). The main difference is that the Archivists were the ones who sent the Collector into the Demon Realm, succeeded in their genocide and presumably weren't punished, even if that's not confirmed. By comparison, Belos didn't want Caleb to be in the Demon Realm, failed in his witch genocide and died for his crimes.
• It's heavily implied Evelyn was a Clawthorne and thus an ancestor of Eda and Lilith, meaning Belos has been trying to kill his own nieces of several generations. It's unknown if either side was aware of this.
  • This was eventually confirmed by series creator Dana Terrace. Hunter and the Clawthornes are unaware of their relation, but it was never specified if Belos was.
• Ironically, Belos bears many similarities to Satan, the Antichrist, and the Beast as depicted in the Book of Revelation of the Christian Bible. Through signs, Belos deceived the whole Boiling Isles into serving him as a false prophet (Rev. 16:13-14). He then made everyone wear a "mark of the beast" in the form of Coven Sigils that would mark them as doomed (Rev. 13:16-18; 14:11) on the Day of Unity. Lastly, he assumed the form of a giant dragon (Rev. 12:9) during his final battle with the heroes. This further displays how despite believing himself to be a force of good, Belos was simply a delusional, wicked man who became worse than anyone he had opposed before.
  • This is a polar opposite to Luz as she dies protecting the Collector and allowing him to see the error of his ways but ends up resurrected by the Titan, possibly paralleling how Jesus in the Christian Bible dies to redeem humanity and comes back to life after 3 days. This further displays how despite how much Belos believed he was a hero to mankind, even posing like a crucified Jesus when he possesses the Titan, it was ultimately Luz who was a true paragon of justice, proving herself the antithesis of Belos's hateful beliefs as she brings him to justice.
• While Belos undeniably started out human, it is heavily implied that he is no longer one during the events of the series. In the Collector's wording, his human form constantly falling apart and him being fully stuck in his monster form in Season 3 imply that he, both literally and figuratively, is no longer human, but a monster.
  • This further enhances the irony of his last words as while Luz at least bears some resemblance to a human despite being half-titan at this time, Belos has completely transformed into a disgusting sludge-like beast that bears almost no resemblance to his human self, making his claim that they're both human a futile plea.
• One of the pages of Belos's diary shows a series of complicated diagrams and equations relating to quantum theory and relativity. As this page was likely written sometime in the 1600s, 3 centuries before said fields of physics would be discovered in the human realm (and a century before symbols used in said equations would exist), it's unknown how Belos knows about these types of physics though it's possible that the Collector taught him or that researchers in the Boiling Isles independently created these theories before humans did.
  • Alternatively, a book on such physics could have entered a time pool and been transported to Philip's time, where he read it and learnt quantum theory and relativity.
• Belos's ability to spread, assimilate and feed off others may be representative of cancer, with him latching onto the Titan's heart causing him to resemble a tumor as well. This, coupled with the fact that Luz's late father Manny encouraged her weird and quirky aspects and is presumed to have died of cancer, provides a direct contrast to Belos as the latter is an oppressive tyrant who forces those under him to adopt cold and rigid personas while also being parasitic and disease-like himself.
  • Furthermore, Belos's parasitic behaviour could represent his tendency of manipulating others into helping him while hardly putting in any work himself, essentially feeding off the effort of others.
• According to the Pitch Pilot and Bible, Emperor Belos was originally named Councilor Obron, the leader of the council and the one responsible for Emperor Pupa trapped in his cocoon. Like Belos, he's actually a human who is hundreds of years old and created the Coven System to control witches and demons of the Isles. However, Obron planned to take over the Human realm by possessing the Titan's corpse itself by sacrificing a human soul.
• As the Conformatorium’s barrier only allows humans in, it’s possible that Belos personally created the barrier for only him to use. How Eda figured out that it would only allow humans in is unknown however.
• Belos and Caleb are referenced in the newly released Gravity Falls book The Book of Bill, where one of the secret codes in the chapter “Witchcraft” reads “CURSE WITTEBANE”, possibly implying that Bill has visited the Owl House’s universe or the Demon Realm, making a deal with Belos along the way. This could make it possible that Bill gave Belos the instructions for a portal to the Nightmare Realm which he repurposed to lead back to Earth.
  • Furthermore, a password with his last name titled "CURSE WITTEBANE" can be used as a code in https://thisisnotawebsitedotcom.com/, producing a Bill-themed ouija board and planchette. This could imply that Bill was summoned by Belos using said ouija board in the past, though his strict Puritan philosophy makes this unlikely despite his hypocritical actions.
  • This makes him the first The Owl House villain to appear in Gravity Falls' The Book of Bill as a mentioned/crossover character, with all other crossover characters being heroic such as Hooty, Eda and the Titan.