#41. Zariel

Lore

The Celestial

“A Seraphim warrior in the Host of Paladium is a pure, perfect weapon of holy justice. Zariel will not be tainted by Odin’s rabble.” 

—Tauriel, Gatekeeper of Elysium


“Mortal or angel, male or female - I am above such primitive distinctions. However, this quiz will tell me what kind of bread I am. Rye, I’m hoping.” 

—Zariel, hanging out with Ada and learning about ‘the internet.’

As the story goes...

Zariel is on a mission from God - specifically the god Paladium, the warrior deity of Holy Justice who abides in blessed Elysium. In Elysium too, Zariel resided, a saintly soldier in Paladium’s perfect celestial army that stands ready to fight the demon hordes that will one day be released from Gehenna.

Ages ago, Elysium was visited by the leader of another pantheon - Odin the All-Father. The Viking God was impressed by Paladium’s mighty host - and jealous. Returning to asgard, Odin sent out his valkyries to raise his own army for the end-times. Naturally, Paladium scoffed - no boorish viking horde could ever match his most excellent and holy host.

But recently, Paladium has heard rumors that the valkyries’ intense rivalry to bring back the best warriors has borne fruit. And he’s heard whispers that through the chaos and nonsense of the Grand Tournament of Valhalla, Odin’s ragtag army of the afterlife has forged itself into a formidable force. Paladium has sent Zariel to investigate.

In Valhalla, Zariel entered the tournament to take the measure of this motley crew. However, the battles of the Grand Tournament hold an allure for any warrior, and Zariel’s emotionless participation is starting to give way to fun.

Connections

• (No mentions of Zariel in other legends' lore pages has yet been found)

Context

Zariel is, as aforementioned, the celestial. Since it is confirmed that Zariel is genderless ("I am above such primitive distinctions."), I will use the pronoun "they" to refer to Zariel.

Some sources say name "Zariel" means "lion princess," but this site explains why that can't be the case. Interestingly, Zariel comes up as the name of a powerful fallen angel-turned-archdevil, particularly in Dungeons & Dragons (or in other settings for the game). This fallen character was probably inspired by Azrael (sometimes spelled Azriel), identified often as the angel of destruction and renewal. Another possible inspiration for Zariel's name, as pointed out to me by fellow lore nerd Zestiest, is an angel named Sariel from the Judaic tradition.

Zariel's design, and the concepts of Elysium and Paladium, in Brawlhalla seems to be inspired by the Christian "angelology" that originated from classic Roman Catholicism. There was a time when it was believed that heaven was inhabited by three spheres (or orders) of angels, with each divided into three categories of beings to form the angelic hierarchy. Different versions exist, of course, with the most famous one coming from Dante's The Divine Comedy, specifically, the final part of it, called Paradiso. Although Judaism and Islam also has angels in their theology, I am going forward with Christianity as the main influence because the name Paladium specifically has Greek and Roman/Latin roots. Of course, we don't know for certain whether Paladium's Elysium is actually organized like this, but it's fun to speculate based on what seemed to inspire Zariel's design and lore.

So, do we know what kind of celestial being Zariel could be, exactly? If we go with the Christian angelic hierarchy, then Zariel could be a Dominion, the highest being of the middle of the three angelic orders. I say this because the Dominions are said to be led by a being called Zadkiel. Coincidence? Maybe. I don't see any other significant similarities besides the names.

Why gauntlets and bow for weapons? Angels are often shown with bows, shooting arrows of light. There's also the obvious cupid reference. What about gauntlets? Surely it would be better to give Zariel a sword, right? Well first, we already have Koji. Second...well...ever heard of that one time Jacob wrestled with an angel? Apart from that, the only other justification I can think of for gauntlets is the symbolism of Zariel acting on behalf of their god, the hand of God, or Paladium, as it were.