D&D Deities, Demons and Devils that are "Open"

[Remathilis]

D&D has a long, illustrious career or ripping of... er, borrowing from myth and fiction. When it came time to fill out the planes (a long time ago) many names for demons, devils, and deities came from myth and legend.

Stands to reason those names aren't IP, right?

I'm trying to figure out which Demons, Devils, Celestials, Elemental Lords, and Deities are based on real myth and therefore not IP (as opposed to say, Pelor or Lolth).

So Far, I got

Bahamut
Tiamat
Asmodeus
Beezelbulb
Mephisopholies
Mammon
Moloch
Orcus
Pazuzu
Oberon
Titania

Now, I got plenty I'm not sure about:
Greyon, Belial, and Levistus (and any other dukes of hell)
Jubiliex, Demogorgon, Baphomet, (and most of the demon lords)
All the elemental lords (Imix, Yan-C-Bin, etc)
Any of the Celestial Lords (Domeril, etc)
Other Deities like Bahamut that have a real-world origin

I'm pretty good on the classic myths (Greek, Roman, Norse, Celtic, Egyptian) but I'd be interested in obscure uses as well.

Give me all you can!

Thanks

 

[Shroomy]

The names Demogorgon, Baphomet, and Belial all pre-date D&D.

 

[A Passing Maniac]

Of the demon lords, Baphomet, Dagon, and Demogorgon all predate D&D, although Baphomet and Demogorgon were not actual gods but invented by later authors as examples of demonic pagan deities. Additionally, D&D's Dagon is clearly inspired less by the Semitic grain god and more by H.P. Lovecraft's frog-fish monster, itself stemming from the erroneous belief that the Semitic Dagon was a sea deity.


Of the archdevils, Geryon was a Greek titan with three bodies but one head, Dispater was a Roman underworld god, Belial was a Judeo-Christian demon, Glasya is taken from the name of the demon Glasya-Labolas, and Bel was a Semitic word (identical to Ba'al/Baal) used as a title for deities and later turned into a generic name for demons.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I know Dispater would be another one, as would Pazuzu.

I wouldn't touch any of the elemental lords.

One way to go would be to pick up a 2nd hand book of mythology or check out wiki entries on pantheons.

 

[A Passing Maniac]

And a few more...

Of the seven archons who comprise the Celestial Hebdomad, Barachiel, Raziel, and Sealtiel (or Selatiel or Selaphiel) are the names of archangels in various bits of angelic lore, and Zaphkiel is probably taken from the angel names Zophiel or Zadkiel. Pistis Sophia isn't the name of an angel, but that of a very old Gnostic text.


While not an exact match, the eladrin Court of Stars' champion Gwynharwyf is a mangled version of Gwenwhyfar, the Welsh version of Queen Guinevere.


Most deities in the various settings are original in name if not in attributes, but some aren't, especially in FR. The multi-setting fire and frost giant gods Surtr and Thrym are present as giants in Norse myth, and the Forgotten Realms borrows several deities from real mythology, including Loviatar (Finnish), Mielikki (Finnish), Oghma (Celtic, though the original Ogma is very different), Silvanus (Roman), Tyr (Norse), and the entire Mulhorandi pantheon (Egyptian).

 

[doctorhook]

Now, I got plenty I'm not sure about:
Greyon, Belial, and Levistus (and any other dukes of hell)
Jubiliex, Demogorgon, Baphomet, (and most of the demon lords)
All the elemental lords (Imix, Yan-C-Bin, etc)
Any of the Celestial Lords (Domeril, etc)
Other Deities like Bahamut that have a real-world origin

You've already got Bahamut, but I'm pretty sure he shares an origin with Baphomet.

I know that "Bahamut" is linguistically related to the word "behemoth", given the way that some Middle-Eastern languages conjugate words by changing the vowel sounds within the word. Notice the similarity between BaHaMuT and BeHeMoTh; it seems to me that BapHoMeT follows the same pattern.

I'm just speculating here, but I thought I'd share.

 

[Shroomy]

You've already got Bahamut, but I'm pretty sure he shares an origin with Baphomet.

I know that "Bahamut" is linguistically related to the word "behemoth", given the way that some Middle-Eastern languages conjugate words by changing the vowel sounds within the word. Notice the similarity between BaHaMuT and BeHeMoTh; it seems to me that BapHoMeT follows the same pattern.

I'm just speculating here, but I thought I'd share.

Bahamut is from Arab mythology, Baphomet is from European medieval folklore (some think the name is derived from a corruption of Mohammad).

 

[doctorhook]

Bahamut is from Arab mythology, Baphomet is from European medieval folklore (some think the name is derived from a corruption of Mohammad).

I'm just going to toss out there that I consider the mutual Arabic origin of these words to be corroboration of my hypothesis. Remember that we're speaking of european transcriptions of Arabic words, so sounds mean a lot more than spelling does. At any rate, Wikipedia's article on Baphomet calls him "an imagined pagan or Islamic deity", which could easily be a description of Bahamut's role in Islam. (He's deific, but not a deity.)

 

[pawsplay]

Keep in mind that while the names may be fair game, specific representations might not be. Even saying something like "Orcus is a demon lord, who is chaotic and evil" might be similar enough to constitute infringement, whereas an Orcus who is part of a different style cosmology or who has a notably different appearance might not be as much of a problem.

 

[Wicht]

Orcus as the demon lord of undeath is acceptable if for no other reason than Necromancer has been getting away with it.