- “I'll do anything to save humanity from evil.”
- ―Emperor Belos[src]
Emperor Belos is the main antagonist of the Disney Channel animated series The Owl House. He was the ruler of the Boiling Isles, and founder of the Coven system. He is later revealed to be Philip Wittebane, a 16th century witch hunter from Gravesfield, Connecticut during the Deadwardian Era (Which would be the mid 1600s in the human realm/world), who is hellbent on killing all of the witches on the Isles.
Background[]
Personality[]
Belos is described as omnipotent and a megalomaniac. He is shown to be a strict and commanding figure, impatient, and not tolerating failure from his subordinates. His authority is shown to be a powerful one that garners fear and respect. However, deep down, he is an insane and delusional individual who still clings to the 1600s idea of witches being evil, rejecting any proof of the contrary, and holds no actual regard for any life other than his, seeing others as tools to be disposed of once they are of no use to him, usually through murder.
Throughout the present and the past, he is clever, lying, selfish, deceiving, cunning, and slick in many ways when it comes to lying and tricking people to gain their trust and get exactly what he's after.
Belos is a very narcissistic man who refuses to see any fault in his actions. Arguably the biggest proof of that is his brother, whom he not only killed for loving a witch instead of hating them like he "is supposed to", but kept cloning in the form of Grimwalkers, wanting to create what he sees as a "better" version of Caleb, as in, more submissive to him. This narcissism also prevents him from realizing his own nature, as he sees himself as good and witches as evil in spite of all evidence to the contrary. He even believed and expected humanity would "reward" him for his atrocities.
He is a sociopath, refusing to realize he is wrong in his actions, like still believing witchkind is "evil" despite living with them for centuries, killed the previous Golden Guards, who are all Grimwalkers, when they defied him and attacked Luz when she points out he is in the wrong. He is also very immature in spite of his age, as his views about witchkind stem from the childhood games he played with his brother and tends to essentially lash out in murderous tantrums whenever things do not go his way or reality does not align with his view.
Further evidence of his immaturity is that Belos possesses a very black-and-white view of the world. In his eyes, humans are purely good, and witches are not. Due to this, he ironically grew into a very poor judge of character, as he believed Luz and Caleb's pure love for magic was a result of the Isles "corrupting" them instead of something of their own, and even believed the kind and good-hearted Luz would let innocents die if that meant saving herself and her friends merely because she is also a human, leaving him exposed to Luz' trap.
Another example of his immaturity is the fact that he is shameless enough to expect people to trust him and do him favors despite them knowing what he has done. The ultimate example of this is when he expected Luz to be his ally to the point where he expected her to help him in the modern Human Realm as his guide and trust him despite all the lying, manipulating, and backstabbing he had done by that point and the fact that she had already seen for herself that everyone who trusted him, especially those who did so enough to make a deal with him, got double-crossed every time.
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. And even though he claims his actions are for the good of mankind, he sees no issue with killing humans the second they disagree with him, even a young child like Luz.
All in all, Belos is Luz' polar opposite: a selfish, twisted, and evil man who never learned to let go of his fantasies and who won’t acknowledge when he’s in the wrong or take responsibility for his actions.
Physical appearance[]
Emperor Belos wears a mask with two long, upward-facing horns. His eyes are hollow through the mask, creating the appearance of having no eyeballs. He wears a large cape with white and brown, as well as gold trim. Under the mask, Belos is revealed to be an elderly man with fair skin, long, ash-blond hair, cornflower-blue eyes, wrinkly lips, and a notch on his left ear similar to Hunter's. Most prominently though, he has a large, greenish 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 his body.
After being affected by the draining spell from a coven sigil that Luz branded him with, he turns into monstrous form made of the Palisman souls he absorbed for centuries despite destroying them.
Role in the series[]
Backstory[]
He was born named Philip Wittebane and along with his older brother named Caleb Wittebane, they became orphans at some point and Caleb did his best to take care of his younger brother. The orphaned brothers arrived in Gravesfield in 1613 and they tried to fit in to their new town and its unsavory practices. They grew up to become witch hunters. One day they encounter a witch named Evelyn from another world. Caleb was spirited away by her, dazzled by magic and entered a portal to the Demon Realm. Philip followed to save his brother and bring the witch to justice. But neither of them was ever seen again.
Early backstory of Emperor Belos, when he was still Philip Wittebane, and his brother Caleb.
Philip first arrived on the Isles somewhere around the 1600s and lived among the witches, until he was run out of all the towns. During his time on the Isles, he endeavored to learn how to master the magic of the isles in the hopes of finding a way to return to the human realm. This would eventually lead up to him creating the portal door, (which would end up in Eda's possession centuries later) combining human tech and magic based components. In five year's time, he discovered the key ingredient for his portal. A rare substance known as Titan's Blood, which can cause breaches between realms. Philip journeyed back to Eclipse Lake, which was where Titan's Blood was found and how he came to the Isles. His search was successful and treacherous.
He kept a record of his life on the isles and his quest to find a way home in a diary, which was donated to the Bonesborough Public Library before he was run out of all the towns. For the next 400 years, he extended his lifespan by the consumption of palismen.
Fifty years before the series began, Philip returned under the name of Belos. He declared that he alone could speak to the island, and convinced the witches of the isles that their usage of magic was wrong. His teachings came into place, his strength grew, and became Emperor of the Boiling Isles. He taught that mixing magic was wrong, and only he had that right. He created the coven system to restrict the use and knowledge of magic, and those who resisted were declared wild witches who would face harsh punishments.
Season One[]
For the majority of the season, Belos remained sequestered in his castle while Lilith hunted Eda on his behalf. Apparently, the Emperor had promised to heal Eda's curse if Lilith succeeded in capturing her. Eventually, in "Agony of a Witch", he had grown tired of her repetitive failures and gave her one last chance to capture Eda on pain of banishment from the Emperor's Coven. He later observed from the battlements as Lilith summoned Eda to a witches' duel that ultimately saw the latter permanently transforming into her cursed form.
Belos overseeing the reconstruction of the Portal to the Human Realm.
In "Young Blood, Old Souls", Belos briefly suppressed the Owl Beast to speak with Eda, revealing his interest in the Portal to the Human Realm. When she refused to cooperate, he sentenced her to a public petrification, claiming to a devastated Lilith that it was the Titan's will that all wild witches be eliminated before the "Day of Unity". This caused Lilith to betray him by aiding Luz and King free Eda, but Belos caught them in the act and threw Lilith and King into Eda's cell. Luz tried to fight him, but the Emperor ultimately overpowered and proposed she trade the Portal for Eda's life; he assured that the Titan wasn't plotting an invasion of the Human Realm. But just after the trade was made, Luz spitefully destroyed the Portal with fire glyphs, leaving Belos furiously glaring at her. Following Luz and her friends' escape, Belos appeared before the people of the Isles, proclaiming that the Titan had decided to spare the Owl Lady and that her curse would strip her of her magic so she would stand as an example of the dangers of wild magics. Later, Belos has his scouts work on reassembling the Portal while assigning the Golden Guard to maintain surveillance on the Owl House.
Season Two[]
In his years of power, Belos retreated into his castle where he spent his time planning and preparing for what he calls the "Day of Unity", which is a day that will bring the end of wild magic and create a modern utopia. As revealed in "Hunting Palismen", he is Hunter's "uncle" that took him in after claiming their family was destroyed by wild magic. At an unknown point in time, Belos gained a curse similar to the Owl Beast Curse via the use of wild magic, causing him to transform into a wild monster that can only be suppressed by devouring Palismen. However, his constant need for Palismen had exhausted the supply in the Boiling Isles, compelling Hunter to try and steal Palismen from Hexside, but due to the interference of Luz and Kikimora, he ended up returning to Belos empty-handed. When Hunter asked for permission to research wild magic, Belos nearly lashed out at him. Acknowledging his outbursts were painful, Belos assured his nephew he could do better.
In "Eclipse Lake", Belos attempted to use a facsimile key on the rebuilt Portal only for it to immediately disintegrate once inserted. Sensing Hunter spying on him, he called out his nephew. He claims that he has once been to the Human Realm and was looking forward to seeing it again. He then guessed that Hunter had come with another purpose, and when asked why he was swapped out with Kikimora on leading an expedition to the Knee for Titan's Blood. Belos claimed that the Titan had big plans for Hunter, which required him to remain safe in the castle, though Hunter believed he was being punished for failing his last mission. Hunter ended up defying him and later returned with the Portal key.
In "Follies at the Coven Day Parade", he appears to the public at the end of Coven Day Parade, reveals to them about the Day of Unity in a month, and it will end all wild magic. He also reveals his face for the first to the public. Luz and everyone else wonder what Belos is really planning and why he had Terra Snapdragon give Luz a message about looking forward to meeting her, which was confusing to Amity, as Luz had already met Belos.
A young Belos encountering Luz and Lilith in the past.
In "Elsewhere and Elsewhen", when Luz and Lilith travel back in time to the Deadwardian era, they unknowingly encountered Belos' younger self as Philip Wittebane. Philip ended up using them to distract a Stone Sleeper while he made off with a circular mirror contained within the Titan's head. He was then confronted by the duo after they tamed the Stone Sleeper, but when he refused to answer any questions about the mirror, Lilith punched him in the face, scarring him. Subsequently, when Philip returned to his dwelling, it is revealed that the mirror grants him the ability to communicate with the enigmatic Collector.
In "Any Sport in a Storm", coven guards pass Hunter a message from Belos, saying he was leaving the castle on business and that his nephew was responsible for managing the coven heads.
Belos revealing his true identity to Luz in his mind.
In "Hollow Mind", Luz and Hunter are accidentally transported into Belos' mind, where they encounter what appear to be two inner selves: Belos as a child and a shadow with multiple eyes. Narrowly escaping the latter out of a gallery composed of all the lies Belos tells into a decayed forest representing his true mind, they find Kid Belos. They follow Kid Belos while trying to evade his other self through the Emperor's memories, the first two revealing that Belos was aided by what appeared to be another Golden Guard into faking acts of destruction by wild magic to trick witches into branding themselves with coven sigils; the initial test only rendered the witches catatonic, much to Belos' disappointment.
In the third memory, which took place during the events of "Eclipse Lake", Belos is seen conversing with the Collector, who reveals the Emperor's ultimate plan to cast a Draining Spell that would wipe out all life in the Demon Realm on the Day of Unity. When Hunter returned with the Portal key, Belos snatched the key from him and ordered Hunter to leave. The Collector then emerged from hiding, remarking he expected Belos to fly into a rage. It is then revealed that Belos had lied to Hunter about the Titan having plans for him just to maintain his loyalty. Furthermore, Belos had created copies of Hunter in the past and begrudgingly eliminated every one that chose to betray him.
When they exit the memory, Kid Belos, using various items gather from his memories, creates a trap for the monster, revealed to be an amalgamation of Palisman souls the Emperor had devoured. Kid Belos then transformed into Emperor himself and thanked the two teens for helping him catch the Palismen, whom he had longed resented for their nagging voices, and yet reveled in their powers.
Hunter, whose faith had been shattered by the revelations he had discovered, tearfully confronted Belos on the fates of the previous Golden Guards. Belos responded that of all the Grimwalkers, Hunter bore the closest resemblance to an old friend of his, before dragging him into his subconscious. Outraged by his callousness, Luz threatened to expose his lies, to which he remarked that his charade had gone on longer than he anticipated. He then revealed himself as a witch hunter and his true identity as Philip Wittebane, much to Luz's horror. As he menaced Luz, he reminded that he once told her as Philip that they were destined to meet. Even as he declared his goal of saving humanity from "evil", Luz refuted that he was the one who was evil. Disappointed that she would not see his side of things, Belos attempted to attack her, only for Hunter to escape from the subconscious using Luz's glyphs, and the pair quickly escape Belos' mindscape.
In "Clouds on the Horizon", Belos had moved the Portal to the head of the Titan, in the same chamber where he found the Collector's mirror. He futilely attempted to attack the Collector's shadow form as his confidante teased him about how he might not fit in with the Human Realm after being gone for centuries and devouring countless Palismen. When the Collector suggested creating another Grimwalker for them to play with, Belos stated that he first had to deal with Hunter. In response to the Collector's desperate plea to be free from the In-Between Place, he declared that the Draining Spell would have to work as promised even as the people of the Isles assemble at the head.
As revealed during the C.A.T.s meeting, the Draining Spell would only target people with coven sigils, using the nine types of magic as ingredients focused through the coven heads, and Belos had taken extra precautions to ensure each coven heads as a replacement. Thus, Eda would brand herself and disguise herself as Raine Whispers, using her curse to corrupt the Draining Spell. However, when Luz and her friends were captured by Odalia, Kikimora boasted that Belos had eyes everywhere and thus was aware of their plan. It is also revealed that Odalia Blight somehow found out about the Day of Unity's true purpose, but went along with it due to thinking she and her family would be spared and will live as royalty in his new world, something Belos had no intention of doing.
In "King's Tide", Belos has to endure an increasingly impatient Collector and put him off, insisting on waiting until after the Draining Spell. With his plans reaching fruition, Belos appeared before his audience and proclaimed that under the eclipse, they would wipe out wild magic. As he assembled the coven heads, he spontaneously positioned "Raine Whispers", actually Eda disguised as Raine, between Terra and Adrian Graye, ensuring her exposure.
After initiating the spell, Belos quickly returned to the Portal, where the Collector excitedly expected him to fulfill his end of their bargain. However, the Emperor quickly went back on his word, claiming there was only enough Titan's blood in the key to power the Portal, causing the Collector realized he lied about freeing him. As he discarded his robes and concealed his scar, revealing his Philip Wittebane clothing underneath, Belos covered the Collector's mirror with a cloth, silencing his tantrum.
Just then, Kikimora entered with a captive Hunter. In response to her desperate plea to be made his new right-hand, he callously declared he'd sooner cut off his own arm, revealing her loyalty to him meant nothing as he cast her out of the chamber. Afterwards, he returned his attention to the Collector, who reminded that he taught him magic more powerful than anyone's, including the Draining Spell, which he stated is the very reason he couldn't risk the Collector sharing that knowledge with anyone else, and tossed the mirror into the abyss.
Returning to "Hunter", Belos was unsurprised that Kikimora failed to realize she had brought him Luz, who proceeded to fight him. As they fought, Belos remarked that he wasn't aware that she was already combining glyphs, something that took him years to master, almost as if the Titan himself was purposely keeping that knowledge from him. Quickly restraining Luz, he insisted on being called by his real name and said that despite their differences, he was willing to send her home, cryptically claiming he didn't want to see another life destroyed in the Demon Realm. However, Luz labeled him a hypocrite; for all his talk about protecting humanity, all his sins have made him barely human himself; his scar reappeared as she said this. Disappointed, Belos stated that her friends had warped her sense of reality and slowly began to petrify her. In desperation, Luz reasoned that no one in the Human Realm would take him seriously if he started ranting on about the Demon Realm and the fact that his attire is anachronistic.
Belos reduced to a smudge by The Collector.
Tossing her against a table, he asked if she was offering to be his modern-day guide. Instead, she offered a deal in which she would return to the Human Realm while he spared her friends, as they would serve as proof that this world exists. Belos ultimately relented just before the petrification took hold, but this turned out to be a trick, as Luz used a branding glove concealed with an invisibility glyph on him. As he was being incapacitated by his own coven sigil just as the eclipse began, Luz demanded he stop the Draining Spell. Instead, he transformed into his monster form and attacked her in a mad rage. As their fight move out of the Portal chamber to the bridge outside, Belos snarled that neither of them belonged in the Demon Realm and attempted to attack her when she retorted they were nothing alike, only for her friends to arrive.
Midway through the fight, Gus attempted to magically calm Belos down, causing him to clutch his head as his memories rushed through him before he confronted Hunter. Briefly revealing his human face, he frantically asked his nephew why he was hurting him when he only wanted to help him, but his frightful nephew refused to believe him; spotting Hunter's Palisman, Belos snarled the name Caleb and resumed his attack. He battled his foes to the point of exhaustion and was about to deal the final blow, only for the Collector to intervene, having been freed by King. Surprised by his appearance, Belos nervously remarked that his former ally was finally free, just as he promised. Though the Collector held no ill will for his betrayal, he offered to play a game of tag and tapped Belos on the head, causing him to splatter. Following the Collector stopping the Draining Spell and began reshaping the Boiling Isles in his image, a drop of Belos' essence fell on Hunter's back as he and his friends escaped through the portal.
Season Three[]
In "Thanks to Them", after Belos manage to escape back to the Human Realm he survives by possessing animals one by one in months. Belos eventually secretly possessed Hunter. Luz and the gang learns his origins that he had an older brother named Caleb Wittebane and they were orphans, Philip and his brother encounter a witch named Evelyn from the Demon Realm and Caleb entered a portal which Philip followed to save him.
Belos returning to the Boiling Isles.
Following the Haunted Hayride, Belos begins to fully take control of Hunter and tricks Luz to find the titan blood. Upon following the stolen rebus to the local graveyard, Belos revealed himself when Luz finds a quivering Flapjack. Luz tries to fight Belos but he mocked her for purposely avoiding harming Hunter. As her mother and friends arrived, Belos mocked her desire to help others which led him to meeting the Collector. Belos fights Luz and the gang which they are beaten, Belos grabs Flapjack and says he doesn't care if their Palismen are harmed or not and begins to crush Flapjack to take his essence. This causes Hunter to fight back and stand up to him, fed up with Belos's toxic control and harming anyone and threw the titan blood in the water. In his outrage, Belos forced Hunter to dive in after it. After Hunter is rescued by Camila Noceda, Belos leaves his body and reformed his monster form. Addressing Hunter as Caleb, he accused his nephew of stabbing him in the back once again but Luz retorted that he did it to him first.
Belos uses the titan blood to open the portal back to the Demon Realm and enters, intending to finish his goal of destroying witchkind, but not before stating they would thank him later.
Belos possessing Raine Whispers.
In "For the Future", as Belos wandered through the Boiling Isles, he hallucinated his brother Caleb with a bloodied dagger hovering over his head. Belos furiously blamed his brother for his own actions, claiming he tried to save his soul. Soon realizing that his own body was deteriorating, Belos made his way back to the Titan's skull, where he accessed his laboratory. After ignoring the ghosts of Caleb and the countless Golden Guards, Belos possessed an incubating Grimwalker only to find it was an insufficient host.
Infiltrating the Collector's Archives, Belos possessed Raine's body and attempted to move onto the Collector while the star child was asleep only to be caught in the act. Belos managed to convince him that Raine, who had been turned into a puppet like the majority of the Boiling Isles denizens, had been brought to life by the Collector's kindness. He then began manipulating the Collector into thinking that King was plotting to betray him. When the Collector eavesdropped on a conversation between King, Eda and Lilith that confirmed his insinuations, Belos further added that Luz had returned, stoking the Collector's jealousy over King's friendship with the human. As Luz's party teleported into the Titan's skull, Belos had succeeded in manipulating the Collector into thinking that King and Luz were against them.
Belos fusing with the Titan's Heart.
In "Watching and Dreaming", at Belos' urging, the Collector threw Luz, Eda and King into nightmares in an effort to "teach them the error of their ways", only for Luz to bring them back to reality with the light glyph. Belos then suggested the Collector wipe them out but the star child was more concerned with making friends, letting slip that his magic doesn't work on Titans like King. Intrigued, Belos tricks the Collector to confront Luz, Eda and King while he goes to the Titan's heart to possess it. He comes closer to the heart but Raine manages to fight back, however Belos succeeds in reaching the heart. With the Titan's powers he proceeds to finish his goal of destroying witchkind and the Demon Realm, spreading a corrupting mold across the Isles. The Collector, who was taught the true meaning of friendship, approaches him and tries to make peace and friendship. But Belos is beyond complex and reason and tries to blast Collector. Luz saves him from the blast, but gets hit instead and dies. In rage and grieve for this, Eda and King give into their beast forms and attack Belos.
Luz, powered by the Titan's magic, rips Belos from the heart.
While Luz talks to King's father, the Titan, if they are as bad as Belos, since they all wanted to protect something and Belos wanted to save humanity. The Titan tells Luz that Belos' goal is not from genuine place. He does not care about humanity or anyone but his need to be a hero in his own delusions. Because of that, he is afraid of what he cannot control. The Titan revives Luz and gives her his powers to stop him once and for all.
Luz returns and together with Eda, King, and Raine they successfully defeat Belos, ripping him from the Titan's heart, destroying both it and the castle in the process. Belos then changed back to his original form as Philip Wittebane. Belos tries faking reformation and thanking Luz for saving him, saying all his actions were because of a curse. However, Luz does not fall for his lies and manipulation. The boiling rain comes down and it burns his body, no longer stable and unable to live. Belos begs Luz to save him and to make "peace" as he begins to melt. Luz looks away, feeling bad for the irredeemable but tragic villain. Belos continues his delusions until Luz backs away and Eda, King, and Raine stomp him, ending his reign of witch-hunting forever.
Belos' final moments before being stomped to death by Eda, King, and Raine.
Four years after his death, The Boiling Isles has rebuilt itself to function much as it has prior to Belos assuming control and implementing his laws. Belos's last grimwalker Hunter continues to live his own life and is doing what he wants, and all of Belos' accomplishments had been undone as Alador Blight, Raine, Darius, and others researchers have managed to discover a method of removing the coven sigils, allowing branded witches and demons to access their full magical potential. Belos's hatred for magic and witches is shattered when a university is founded where people can use magic freely for their creativity. Humankind and witchkind can now coexist as the two realms can visit each other thanks to the portal the Collector had created.
Other Appearances[]
Belos appears in the Chibiverse episode Chibi Villains Unite along with several other villains led by King Andrias.
He made a cameo appearance in the Broken Karaoke short "Evil as Can Be" having a game of toss with Dr. Drakken and using Ludo as a ball.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Belos' voice actor, Matthew Rhys, considers Belos to be "misunderstood" rather than actually evil.[1]
- The Emperor's name is misspelled as "Bellows" in the closed captioning.
- The word "belos" means "beautiful" in several Iberian and Mediterranean languages, such as Portuguese, Galician, and Corsican.
- Belos' monstrous appearance bares some similarities to the Wendigo, a legendary creature from Native American folklore, sometimes depicted as a hideous horned creature with human-like characteristics.
- Given his time period and his zealous beliefs, Belos was most likely of the Puritan faith.
References[]
External links[]
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