Asag character sheet for my collab comic ‘NINURTA‘!
Asag belongs to Denta-san. All images in this post were drawn by her and posted here with her permission.
Asag Character Sheet
Bio
Asag is a demon or evil spirit from the ancient Mesopotamian mythology. He features prominently in the myth ‘Lugal-e’, in which he leads a troop of stone warriors born from the mountains to destroy cities and the Earth. An embodiment of evil and chaos, Asag only wants destruction. He poisons rivers and causes sickness wherever he goes.
Not wanting to let the people suffer, Ninurta immediately grabs his talking mace Sharur and goes to stop Asag. But the stone warriors protect Asag and overpower Ninurta, so he’s forced to flee.
Sharur urges Ninurta not to give up and brings back advice from his father Enlil. On his second try, Ninurta successfully defeats Asag. He then befriends Asag’s defeated stone warriors. They rebuild mountains and rearrange the rivers together. When Ninurta’s mother Ninmah comes to congratulate his victory, Ninurta dedicates the mountains to her. The people are thankful to Ninurta’s deed and celebrates him as a hero.
In ‘NINURTA’, Asag is a reminder of Ninurta’s past successes. The humans still sing praises for him and thank him for saving them in the past. Defeating Asag helps Ninurta gain confidence in his abilities, especially when he feels like he can’t handle the problem at hand. The battle with Asag is also an event that got him closer to his parents and his people, so Ninurta has fond memories of it.
Details
Trivia
- Asag is based on the ancient Mesopotamian demon Asag.
- Asag’s name means ‘Disorder’.
- In the myth ‘Lugal-e’, Asag led a troop of stone warriors born from the mountains to destroy cities and the Earth. Ninurta went and fought him with Sharur, eventually defeating him with Enlil’s advice.
- Lugal-e means ‘king’. The myth is also known as ‘Ninurta’s Exploits’.
