Gargoyle's Quest 2 Mythological refrences

[Arkhon Arkhozh]

(PEOPLE)

KING MOROCK
Name was probably inspired by the evil god Moloch the eater of children. Although they have nothing in common personality wise. Moloch also meant king, and in this case, King Morock is the first king you meet who is a good guy.

SAMUEL
(Samuel)
Is an important leader of ancient Israel. His story is told in the Hebrew Bible in the Books of Samuel. Most likely given the nature of the game the name is based on Samael.
(Samael)
Is a figure who is accuser, seducer, and destroyer. Legends mentioning Satan refer equally to him, such that Samael is often taken to be the true or angelic name of the Devil.

HECATE
Hecate, Hekate (Hekátē), or Hekat was originally a goddess of the wilderness and childbirth originating from Thrace, or among the Carians of Anatolia [1]. Popular cults venerating her as a mother goddess integrated her persona into Greek culture as 'Εκατη. In Ptolemaic Alexandria she ultimately achieved her connotations as a goddess of sorcery and her role as the 'Queen of Ghosts', in which guise she was transmitted to post-Renaissance culture. Today she is often seen as a goddess of witchcraft.

KING LETHE
In Greek mythology, Lethe is one of the several rivers of Hades. Drinking from the river Lethe ("forgetfulness" or "oblivion") caused complete forgetfulness. Some ancient Greeks believed that souls were made to drink from the river before being reincarnated, so they would not remember their past lives.

DAGON
(Real Dagon)
Dagon was a major northwest Semitic god, reportedly a god of grain and agriculture, worshipped by the early Amorites, by the people of Ebla and Ugarit, and a major god, perhaps the chief god, of the Biblical Philistines, demonized by Christians.
(Famous fictional Dagon)
Dagon is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft. Dagon is in the mythology of a pantheon of fictitious, undersea gods known as the Deep Ones. While this story is the first to physically reveal the existence of Dagon, the Deep Ones’ legacy is more comprehensively explained in Lovecraft’s short story "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" Dagon and the Deep Ones are both part of what is known as the Cthulhu Mythos. This story was inspired in part by a dream that Lovecraft experienced.
The Deep Ones are a race of frog-like, ocean-dwelling creatures with an affinity for mating with humans. Numerous mythos elements are associated with the Deep Ones, including the legendary town of Innsmouth, the undersea city of Y'ha-nthlei, the Esoteric Order of Dagon, and the beings known as Father Dagon and Mother Hydra. After their debut in Lovecraft's tale, the sea-dwelling creatures resurfaced in the works of other authors, especially August Derleth.

KING RUSHIFELL
Rushifell means nothing as far as I can tell. He looks exactly like Loki in the Sega Ghouls and Ghosts who was really Lucifer in the Japanese version as a bad guy. Rushifell was also in Gargoyle's quest one, and in there looked exactly like Loki or Lucifer. Both GQ1 and GQ2 show him as a good guy.

QUEEN VERONA
Verona is an ancient town, episcopal see(office of cheif bishop) and province in the Veneto, Northern Italy. The ancient town, and the centre of the modern city, are in a loop of the Adige River near Lake Garda.

DEMOGORGAN
(False myth)
"Demogorgon, although often ascribed to Greek mythology, is actually an invention of Christian scholars, imagined as the name of a pagan god or demon, associated with the underworld and envisaged as a powerful primordial being, whose very name had been taboo."
(Potential real creature.)
There was no real god or demon named Demogorgon that was believed in, before Christian scholars made him up, but its clearly the combination of the word demon and gorgon but their definition for him means something else then either of those two terms. I think if its supposed to represent a powerful primordial being then the early christians must of saw it as one of the ancient Chaos Dragons. Such as Tiamat, Apep, Leviathan, Ahriman/Azi Dahaka and Jormungand. Some seem to be evil, others just chaotic or netural. Tiamat and Ahriman/Azi Dahaka seem to be all evil. Tiamat not as much but she wasn't so good.Jormungand seemed to be chaotic or netural. Leviathan's and Apep's alighnement don't seem to be very clear. For the sake of the game, Ill say its Apep which I have reasons to believe isn't evil and makes a lot of sense. But all represent the idea of a very powerful primordial dragon. Bunch of Dalgrens and Strabos really. Like from Paladin's Quest which as you know from Gabnid's machine the dragons can go good or evil.

[Arkhon Arkhozh]

(PLACES)

ETRURIA
Etruria - usually referred to in Greek and Latin source texts as Tyrrhenia - was an ancient country in Central Italy, located in an area that covered part of what now are Tuscany, Latium and Umbria. It was one of the most important city/states on the Italian peninsula before falling to the Roman Republic in the 3rd century BC. Etruria became dominant in the Italian peninsula after 650 BCE. Their expansion included the Po River Valley and Latium and continued south until they came in contact with the Greek colonies in Southern Italy.Etruscan kings most notably conquered and ruled Rome for 100 years until 509 BCE when the last Etruscan king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus was removed from power and the Roman Republic was established. The Etruscans are credited with changing Rome from a farming village into a large city. They are also responsible for building the first road on the main street of Rome, the Via Sacra, and also temples, housing, markets, etc.
The Etruscan civilization (q.v.) was responsible for much of the Greek culture imported into republican Rome, including the twelve Olympian gods, and the growing of olives and grapes; and the Latin alphabet (adapted from the Greek alphabet).

GIBEA
Gibea in the Bible, name of Caleb's grandson occurring in a list of Judahite towns. It is possibly the same as Gibeah. Gibeah: In the Bible, home town and capital of Saul; the present-day Tell el-Ful, the West Bank, 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Jerusalem. A fortress that may have been Saul’s residence was excavated there. In the Book of Joshua, town, south of ancient Palestine, somewhere south of Hebron. The Gibeah of Second Chronicles may be the same as either of these or a different place.

SIDON
Sidon, Zidon or Saida a city in Lebanon. It is on the Mediterranean coast, about 25 miles north of Tyre and 30 miles south of the capital Beirut. Its name means a fishery.It was one of the most important Phoenician cities, and may have been the oldest. From here, and other ports, a great Mediterranean commercial empire was founded. Homer praised the skill of its craftsmen in producing glass and purple dyes. It was also from here that a colonising party went to found the city of Tyre. Its name comes up several times in the bible and Jesus and Paul were said to of visited it.

GAZA VALLEY
Gaza is the largest city within the Gaza Strip, part of the Palestinian Territories. The city, is frequently termed "Gaza City" in order to distinguish it from the larger Gaza Strip. Strategically located on the Mediterranean coastal route, ancient Gaza was a prosperous trade center and a stop on the caravan route between Egypt and Syria. The Gaza strip is the subject of a lot of political problems in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

DESERT OF SITTEM
Couldn't find anything. In the game you go to a castle in the Desert of Sittem that has an Egpytian like setting. And I dug up a few links which include the word Africa, but couldn't find an actual definition of Sittem. Seems to have something to do with Egpyt or Africa.

MT. IMAUS
Imaus. A mountain in the Himalayan range.

TOPETE
As far as I can tell just a last name of a famous Spanish admiral.

NAGAS PATH
(Naga path)
a book by Ursula Graham Bower about South Asian people, of Manipur, North Cachar, and adjoining areas.
(Nagas)
The nagas ("snake") are an ancient race of snake-humanoid beings first depicted in ancient Vedic Hindu mythology and oral folklore from at least 5000 B.C. Stories involving the Nagas are still very much a part of contemporary cultural traditions in predominantly Hindu (India, Nepal, and the island of Bali) and Buddhist (Sri-Lanka and South-East Asia) regions of Asia. A female naga is known as a nagini.

ARNON/RIVER OF FLAMES
A river and wadi of eastern Palestine, known in modern times in Arabic as Wadi al-Mawjib. The Hebrew name means perhaps "noisy," a term which well-describes the latter part of the course of the river. Its length is about 45 miles, from its rise in the desert to its entrance into the Dead Sea. It spreads out to a breadth of 100 feet here and there, but for the most part is narrow; and though low in summer, in the rainy winter season it is in places 8 or 10 feet deep. It runs at first northwesterly, but afterward its course becomes westerly. Its striking feature is the steepness and narrowness of the ravine through which it passes shortly before it empties into the Dead Sea, opposite Ein Gedi. Between the lofty limestone hills, which cause this precipitous descent, and the sea, the river expands into a shallow estuary nearly 100 feet wide.
(In Rabbinical literature)

The Haggadah tells the following story of a miracle witnessed at the Arnon, which seems to be alluded to in the Bible (Num. 21:14, 15). The mountains bordering on the Arnon consist of two lofty ranges, with a valley, seven miles wide, between them. When on the way to the promised land, the Israelites, after having crossed the first range, prepared to cross the second, the Amorites hid in the caves, intending to attack the unsuspecting travelers. But the Ark of the Covenant, which preceded the Israelites, caused the heights to sink and the valley to rise, with the result that the concealed Amorites were crushed in the caves. The miracle would have been unnoticed by the Israelites, had not God caused the well which accompanied them to throw up portions of the corpses. Then it was that all Israel sang the Song of the Well (Num. 21:17 ff.). In commemoration of this miracle, the Rabbis decided that a special benediction should be uttered upon seeing the Arnon (Ber. 54a ff. Num. R. 19:25; Tan., Ḥuḳḳat., 20.)

HINOM FOREST
(Hinom turns out to be Hinnom valley or Gehenna the physical location of Hell on Earth.)
Valley Of Hinnom
The Hinnom Valley is a deep, narrow ravine located in Jerusalem, running south from the Jaffa Gate on the west side of the Old City, then eastward along the south side of Mount Zion (seen in the top of the photograph with the Hinnom Valley below it) until it meets the Kidron Valley which separates the Temple Mount from the Mount of Olives on the east side of the city. It is named from a certain "son of Hinnom" who apparently owned or had some significant association with the valley at a time prior to Joshua 15:8.
Valley Of Hinnom The Valley of Hinnom had a very horrendous history in ancient times. It was used as a place where the pagan worshipers did all sorts of vile and wicked things - including burning children alive as sacrifices to the idols Moloch and Baal. One section of the valley was called Tophet, or the "fire-stove," where the children were slaughtered (2 Kings 23:10). It was a place of tremendous evil for many years.

After their return from the Babylonian exile (see Why Babylon?), the Jews turned the Hinnom Valley into the city dump where garbage and anything deemed unclean (including the bodies of executed criminals) was incinerated. For that purpose, a fire was kept constantly burning there. Even though it was no longer used for evil worship, with all the filth and thick smoke it remained a very dark and dreary place.
The Hebrew name Hinnom when translated into Greek is gehenna, from which the word and concept of hell originated. By the time of Jesus Christ, the deep, constantly-burning Valley of Hinnom was also known as the Valley of Gehenna, or Hell, and had taken on a popular image as the place "down there" where the wicked would eventually be cast into the flames for destruction.

Fact Finder: Did Jesus Christ also refer to the fire of Gehenna?
Matthew 10:28 Note: Jesus used the original word Gehenna, which is translated hell, in the above Scripture, but He obviously wasn't referring to the fires of the Valley of Hinnom - He was talking about the future lake of fire that will be used to destroy the enemies of God (Revelation 19:20, 20:13-15).

[Arkhon Arkhozh]

In Ghosts 'n Goblins for nintendo Astaroth is the final boss. (Mistranslated as Satan in USA version.) His sprite was used in Gargoyle's Quest 1 as Barone Jark who aids you on your quest. In Gargoyle's Quest 2 his sprite was used as King Morock. Infact his name actually is Astaroth and it was a mistranslation. So King Morock has nothing to do with Moloch. Astaroth in the myths is a much nicer demon by comparison anyway. Look him up. Now admitably Astaroth isn't so nice in the games where he fights against King Arthur, but in Gargoyle's Quest 1&2 he is a good guy.

Astaroth (Original version as the final boss.)

gngseries.retrogames.com/gng1/gng1satan.jpg

Astaroth (Updated version as a regular boss on the snes.)

gngseries.retrogames.com/gng3/gng3satanillusion.jpg

In Ghouls 'n Ghosts for the Sega, Lucifer is the final boss. (Mistranslated as Loki in USA version. Also mistranslated as Rushifell in GQ1&2) His sprite was used in Gargoyle's Quest 1 as Rushifell, whom you first at fight to compete for the title of the Red Blaze but then become allies after you win. In Gargoyle's Quest 2 his identical sprite was back as Rushifell again to help you on your quest. Infact Rushifell is a mistranslation of Lucifer. So it is Lucifer you see within GQ1&2. Now admitably Lucifer isn't so nice in the game where he fights King Arthur, infact he looks down right evil in the sega game, but in Gargyole's Quest 1&2 he is a good guy.

Lucifer/Rushifell/Loki

gngseries.retrogames.com/gng2/gng2loki.jpg

In Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts for Super Nintendo, Nebiroth is the next to last boss, also known as the blue emperor. In Gargoyle's Quest 2 his sprite was used for Lethe who aided you in your quest.However it is not certain that Lethe is a mistranslation of Nebiroth, and may of really been intended to be called Lethe for Gargoyle's Quest 2. Regardless its the same sprite. Nebiroth doesn't seem to be based on any real being and is probably a play on the name Astaroth as he bears a physical resemblance.

Nebiroth/Lethe

www.geocities.com/theghoulrealm3/gng3astaroth.jpg