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Religion: Ba'al worship (Canaanite religion) 
Name: Followers of Ba'al
Other Names: Baalists; Vampires
Classification:
villains
group
Publisher(s): 
First Appearance: Wolverine (vol. 2) #11 (Early Sep. 1989): "Brother's Keeper"
Creators: Peter David, John Buscema, Bill Sienkiewicz
Super? (Has Super Powers/Special Abilities/Technology): Yes
Number of Appearances: 6
Enemy of: Wolverine
Worked for: Ba'al
The Followers of Ba'al were originally inhabitants of Gehenna in ancient (Old Testament) times. Ba'al (or "Baal") is a demon, but not simply any demon. He is the Ba'al described in the Old Testament, the principle god worshiped by the Canaanites, in opposition to the Abrahamic God of Israel. "Ba'al" is sometimes identified as the Devil himself, or Satan, and Ba'al has sometimes identified himself as the principle Devil. For this reason, the Followers of Ba'al are classified as Satanists, not simply demonolaters.
Ba'al was a central deity in the polytheistic Canaanite religion. The ancient Ba'al worshipers portrayed in this multi-issue Wolverine story were ancient Canaanites. Their descendants clearly sought to revive their god and the power of their religion, which most people thought had long since died out.
Modern-day Followers of Ba'al were the descendents of Ba'al worshipers from earlier times. Modern-day Followers of Ba'al reincarnated Ba'al using the Gehenna Stone and came into conflict with Wolverine and his allies. Through the power of the Gehenna Stone (which channeled the power of Ba'al), the Followers of Ba'al became like vampires. Once the stone was completely assembled, the Followers of Ba'al had even more vampire-like power. But they lost all power when Wolverine destroyed the stone. The Followers of Ba'al were not true vampires in the Dracula tradition.
Canaanite was influenced by but distinct from Mesopotamian religion.
Wolverine (vol. 2) #11 (Early Sep. 1989): "Brother's Keeper"
Suggested links for further research about this character and the character's religious affiliation:
- http://www.marvunapp.com/master/foafoq.htm
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaanite_religion
- http://www.crivoice.org/baal.html
- http://comicbookdb.com/character.php?ID=6840
- https://www.comics.org/issue/83204/
- https://www.comics.org/issue/83205/
- https://www.comics.org/issue/83206/
- https://www.comics.org/issue/83207/
- https://www.comics.org/issue/83208/
- https://www.comics.org/issue/83209/
- http://comicbookdb.com/issue.php?ID=13366