The Image of The Beast
The image is a little hard to see, but this is meant to be Lu's 'Beast' form. In my series Sins of the Father, my version of Lucifer (the current ruler of the Inferno) has the ability to transform into this monstrous dragon-like creature meant to ravage everything in his path. There's not much to see in the image so allow me to describe my sketch. Picture a large bipedal creature that has the characteristics of a Tyrannosaurus Rex and Godzilla, complete with long bone spikes along his body, two giant horns above his brow, a mouth full of dagger-like teeth, a long spiked tail, and the number 666 etched into his hide. And yes, if you're seeing it correctly, there is a second mouth on his cheek. The Beast does have a pair of secondary mouths, one on each side of his skull. This is in reference to how Dante described Lucifer in Dante's Inferno, stating that he had three faces with three mouths, each one devouring three of the history's greatest traitors. Inside one of his clawed hands are his human stepdaughters Rosemary and Regan Gravely, thus giving you an idea of how large he's meant to be.
My inspiration behind the Beast came from when I went to Sunday School when I was younger, back when I used to believe in all that Bible stuff. I think I asked somebody, either another kid or the pastor, what the devil looked like, and they described looking like some sort of dragon. Now being a young kind obsessed with dinosaurs and dragons, I thought that sounded really badass. It honestly made me less afraid of the devil and more afraid.
The backstory behind 'The Beast' is that after Lu was sent to Hell, he lost his angelic powers and soul, soon to be dying. The demons took him in under orders of their king Baracrus, Lu's mentor and predecessor. Lu was then converted into a pureblood demon with new abilities, but also a big side effect, The Beast. Lu can transform into this hulking monster through will and can wreck havoc as such. But the problem is that the Beast is driven by blind rage, so he has trouble controlling his other half. When he was sent by his dark master Baracrus to eliminate an enemy fortress, Lu would take the form of his other form and kill everyone on site, leaving no survivors. When the angels came across the aftermath, they said that destruction was so macabre that only a beast could have committed this. And thus 'The Beast' was named.
He was first referenced in the story 'Bully of the Beast', but did not make his first appearance until the story 'Keep to the Road', which also features the first appearance of my series' recurring antagonists the Scavengers.
Stories featuring 'The Beast':
https://theprose.com/post/82315/bully-of-the-beast
https://theprose.com/post/115675/keep-to-the-road-complete
https://theprose.com/post/144269/god-s-little-princess-complete
https://theprose.com/post/189027/the-greatest-trick-or-treat-the-devil-ever-pulled
https://theprose.com/post/214368/beauty-and-the-beast-complete