Abzu

"A Mesopotamian god of the deep waters. Apsu existed since the birth of time and is depicted as a freshwater sea. He is the source of knowledge and made the lands fertile. His fresh water mixed with that of Tiamat, the deification of the chaotic salt waters, and from there the main gods were born."

- Myths about Abzû Abzû, also known as Apsu and Engur, was one of the Progenitor Gods of the Mesopotamian Pantheon. He was the God of Knowledge, Wisdom, Life, Fertility, and the Freshwater Oceans. In mythology, he was slain by the younger gods to take control over the pantheon.

He was resurrected by the Archdaemon as a Cardinal Demon and is now currently working as the personal butler of the original Leviathan.

Summary
In Babylonian and Akkadian myth, Apsu, also known as Abzu or Apzu, is the primordial deity of the watery abyss and the deification of the vast primordial fresh water beneath the earth that serves as the source of all lakes, rivers, springs, streams and wells. He is the source of knowledge and was the lover of Tiamat, the primal goddess of the salt water, and together they created the gods in Mesopotamian mythology. His Sumerian counterpart is known as Engur.

In the Babylonian creation epic, the Enûma Elish, he was a primal being made of fresh water and a lover to Tiamat, a creature of salt water. Abzu could not quell the noise of the younger gods or their children. He colluded with his vizier Mummu to silence the gods and allow Tiamat to rest, after Tiamat rejected the idea. This resulted in the birth of the younger gods, who later murder Apsu in order to usurp his lordship of the universe.

He is also the name for fresh water from underground aquifers which was given a religious fertilizing quality in Sumerian and Akkadian mythology. Lakes, springs, rivers, wells and other sources of fresh water were thought to draw their water from the abzu.

Appearance
Abzû appears a tall and thin man in his early 30s, with a constant psychotic grin on his face. His long, black hair is tied into a neat ponytail, leaving two long strands loose in the front. He is also described to have piercing light-blue eyes.

He wears an all-white three-piece suit with a matching fedora and purple tie, as well as a white overcoat.

When he first appeared, he wore a see-through fishnet shirt underneath a black leather jacket, ripped jeans with a net dress tied around his waist which gave him a bell-like silhouette, and a pair of leather boots. He also wore a golden crown in the shapes of flowers, corals, water monsters, and humans being eaten alive.

In his demonic form, Abzu appeared as a giant Eastern Dragon, almost in the shape of a sea serpent, with a scaly underside, large wings, and a long pointed nose. He has blazing blue eyes with tribal-like design around them, with two large horns on top of his head.

Personality
Abzû first appears a polite and gentlemanly person. He is extremely charismatic, being able to easily charm someone at the first meeting. According to Issei, there is a friendly and welcoming aura about him that attract people toward him.

Despite the rumors about his sadistic nature, he stands as an inquisitive, almost apathetic, observer most of the time, assessing people and situations while throwing out morality and the concept of neutrality as mere afterthoughts. He is a believer of "survival of the fittest" and "to the victor go the spoils", as well as having a great respect toward powerful fighters. However, he absolutely despises those who fight unfairly and use under-handed tricks, which is the main reason for his hatred toward his descendants - the Mesopotamian gods.

He has shown to be a very calculating and manipulative man, able to seemingly perceive any and all matters at hand and use this information to better manipulate the situation, making him a dangerous opponent to face. He's capable of pulling strings and planning out events to benefit his mistress and their cause regardless of the casuality.

He appears to have little to no regard to humanity, seeing them as nothing more than specks of dust undeserving of his attention. In the past, when he was still ruling the Mesopotamian Pantheon, it was because of his disregarding of mankind that caused his descendants to overthrow him and take over.

It has been noted that Abzû holds a special place in his heart for his deceased wife, children, and grandchildren, though any of his family beyond that are deemed as beneath garbages in his eyes.

History
Abzû was among the progenitor gods created by Mother Shakti eons ago at the beginning of the universe, and like the other gods, he was tasked with the duty of guarding the mortal beings on Earth and maintaining the natural order.

Millions of years later, he fell in love with a progenitor goddess named Tiamat and the two soon became wedded. Together, they sired the twins Lakhmu and Lakhamu, who were the gods of the constellations and celestial bodies above. The twins soon saw each other as potential partners and sired two younger gods, Abzu and Tiamat's granchildren, the Mother Earth Kishar and the Father Sky Anshar, and from the two, new generations of younger gods soon came to be.

At some point, he created the divine spirit Mummu out of ivory and gave them a part of his divine authority over wisdom. They then acted as Abzu and Tiamat's youngest child, as well as their adviser in maintaining the authority of the Mesopotamian Pantheon.

However, as time grew on, both Abzû and Tiamat had shown themselves to be unsuitable for the role of chieftain gods, being far to ruthless and disregard their human followers - the source of all gods' divinity and sacred authorities, which led to many groups of followers to leave their religion to join more "peaceful" ones, such as the Egyptian Pantheon or the Greek Pantheon. Seeing that their powers were becoming weaker and weaker, the younger gods decided that changes had to be made in their pantheon, even if it meant they had to eliminate their progenitors.

Thus, after they prayed and sacrificed to honor Mother Shakti and get her approval, the older gods - great-grandchildren of Abzû and Tiamat through their parents Anshar and Kishar - chained him down and slain him. His body was then sealed underneath the original template É-Abzu.

Millennia later, as more pantheons rose and more empires felt, when the Mesopotamian was nothing more than whispers and tales and history to even the gods, the Great War began. Billions of white-winged angels that cloaked the sky in heavenly light, millions of fallen angels that shadowed the earth in their blackened wings, and thousands of devils darkened the underworld with their wicked hearts. Near the end of the war, Abzû's corpse was excavated from the ruins of the É-Abzu and taken back to Litānu, the capital city of Levianta.

He was then resurrected by the original Leviathan to serve as her clan's butler and one of the guardians of her private estate. He also acted as a bodyguard for the Leviathan devils who didn't participate in the war and/or chose to be on the neutral side.

Powers & Abilities
Immense Strength: As one of the progenitor gods of the Mesopotamian Pantheon, Abzû is undoubtedly one of the most powerful primordial gods. When he was killed, it required the combined efforts of nearly all the younger gods and goddesses of his pantheon, as well as the support of several allied pantheons just to defeat him and sealed his corpse away. After his resurrection, his strength was greatly increased by his demonic power, to the point where his power can rival that of his older "siblings" such as Khaos or Shiva.

Cardinal Demon Physiology: Abzû possesses all the powers and traits of a Cardinal Demon.


 * Immense Demonic Power: He possesses an immense amount of demonic power on-par with Super Devils such as Sirzechs or Ajuka. Like other devils within Leviathan's legion, his demonic power can easily provoke the deep-seated envy or jealousy within the hearts of others, with his especially effective on those with divinity, such as gods, demigods, or divine spirits.
 * Demonic Energy Manipulation: He has shown to be very skilled at manipulating his demonic energy and is capable of doing all kinds of unholy things with it, such as creating energy blasts or summoning demonic beings. He can radiate a light-blue demonic aura that he can imbue into his attacks to turn them demonic in origins or fueled his weapons with it to give them an advantage against celestial beings such as gods and the angels.
 * Demonic Constructs: He can change his demonic power into tools, objects, weapons and other items, and create semi-living constructs of varying permanence.
 * Possession (所持, Shoji): He can take control of one's body and mind. Unlike regular Cardinal Demons whose effectiveness of their possession depends on the strength and stability of the victim's mental fortitude, he is capable of forcefully take control over them, albeit it would be a bit more difficult than the weak-willed or mentally unstable ones.

Equipment
Crown of Apsu : The crystalization of the myths and legends revolving around Abzû, the crown is a Chthonic Construct created by the famed Archdemon Mulciber that possesses immense control over the oceans. It can control the mind and body of sea-related deities and divine spirits, such as nereids or oceanids. It can also absorb the divine powers of those under his control to increase his own demonic energy, as well as granting him a protection against demigod offsprings of said gods above or sea monsters, such as merfolks or krakens.


 * Lotan Shroud : The Balance Breaker of the Crown of Apsu, it formed a bluish-black Scale Mail around his body that increases his powers to at least Jewel-ranked. It also increase his ocean manipulation to the point it was almost absolute, as well as granting him a near-absolute over all sea creatures, monsters, divine spirits, and gods.
 * Atlantica Smasher (アトランティカ・スマッシャー, Atorantika Sumasshā): Abzû concentrates his demonic energy before blasting it out from his chest in the form of a giant beam of demonic energy. In addition to its destructiveness, it also possesses the [Anti-Celestial] trait, thus making it extremely effective against celestial beings such as gods, angels, and fallen angels. It's extremely powerful and is estimated to be destructive enough to destroy half of the United States in a singular blow.
 * Devonian Evolution (デボニアン・イーボルーション, Debonian Īborūshon): Abzû releases all of the Scale Mail's restriction and gains an immense increase in his overall demonic power. His strength, endurance, and agility are all increased to Rainbow-ranked and he can even fight against Seraph-ranked angels in this form. He can maintain this form for 5 minutes and required a century-long interval befofre he can use this form against.

Weaknesses
TBA

Trivia

 * Abzû's appearance is based on "Solf J. Kimblee" from Fullmetal Alchemist.
 * His name "Abzû" is comprises of "Ab" (water) and "Zû" (to know), and can be roughly translated into "Ocean of Wisdom".
 * He hates being mistaken for Abyzou, a fellow Leviantan Devil of a similar name.