Raphael Lore Question

[Siragatatu]

is raphael like the king of hell or he just some high rank devil ?

[victorvnv]

He’s a high rank devil. If he was the king he wouldn’t have needed your help

[LArc7thHeaven]

He's son of mephistopheles and high rank devil, but still not enough to prevent you to kill him in his own house

[DrZann]

I haven't kept up with DnD lore since 2nd edition. Is Asmodeus still the guy in charge?

[I'm A Distraction!]

Originally posted by DrZann:

I haven't kept up with DnD lore since 2nd edition. Is Asmodeus still the guy in charge?

Believe so.

As far as I can tell, he's a high rank devil (since only the highest ranking devils have unique forms rather than the standard devil types). But he's not a duke of hell, since he appears to serve under Zariel in Avernus. Or at least, his little fiefdom of hell is in Avernus. I suppose the logical simile would be thinking of him as a Count of Hell, with Zariel as a Duke, and Asmodeus as the "King".

[MrCrowBard]

No but he's in an interesting position. In the Forgotten Realms, where BG3 is set, Hell (or the Hells) is ruled over by the Arch Devil Asmodeus. Hell is made up of 9 layers stacked on top of each other (mimicking Dantes Inforno) and Asmodeus resides at the bottom most inner layer. Each of these layers has an Arch Devil in charge (known as an Arch Duke) who directly reports to Asmodeus.

The top most layer of Hell is the only way in/out of Hell and is named Avernus. At the time of the game the Arch Duke and ruler of Avernus is Zariel who is an important character in Karlach and Wylls stories. This is where Raphael also resides in the House of Hope. So he's subservient to Zariel.

Raphael is a half fiend, or Cambion which would put him way towards the bottom of the pecking order. He's part Devil which should mean he's not really got much power at all, except that his father is Mephistopheles who is the Arch Devil of the eighth layer of Hell and second in power only to Asmodeus. So instead of being a nobody in Avernus, he appears to hold a level of power within Avernus. It's clear though he's still below Zariel as you claim to be her agent when entering the House of Hope and nobody dares question you.

So he's a far off lords bastard child living in the rough part of the local town but because of his father he's given some respect by the local government without having any real control.