Overview

Where Anu was singular and unified, Tathamet was multiplicitous and fragmented. Where Anu represented perfection, Tathamet embodied corruption. Tathamet cannot be understood as merely powerful or merely evil—Tathamet is evil in its purest, most primordial form. Every demon that exists, from the most minor imp to the greatest Prime Evil, carries within itself a fragment of Tathamet's essence.

The form Tathamet chose—or was forced to assume—was that of a dragon with seven distinct heads. This multiplicity of consciousness, each head representing a different aspect of evil, made Tathamet both powerful and fundamentally disunited. While Anu's unity was its strength, Tathamet's division would become both its weapon and its weakness.

"Tathamet is not a being to be understood, but a force to be resisted. It is the darkness that would consume all light, the chaos that would unmake order." — Tyrael's Warning

Emergence from Anu

Tathamet did not exist before Anu expelled it. In fact, Tathamet would not exist at all had Anu not recognized imperfection within itself and violently purged it. The act of expulsion—the moment of separation—birthed Tathamet fully formed, aware, and utterly hostile to its source. Tathamet emerged already cognizant of its fundamental opposition to Anu and driven by an inexplicable hatred toward the being that had cast it out.

The Dragon Form

The seven-headed dragon form represents the complexity of Tathamet's nature. Rather than a unified consciousness like Anu, Tathamet manifested as a being of internal conflict—seven distinct intelligences within a single form, each pursuing its own agenda while bound together by a common desire for destruction. This paradox of unity and multiplicity would define demonic nature forever.

The Seven Heads

Each of Tathamet's seven heads represented a distinct aspect of evil, a unique manifestation of corruption. When Tathamet was eventually destroyed, these seven aspects separated and evolved into independent entities—the Seven Great Evils of demonology. This division established the hierarchical structure of Hell itself:

• Head of Terror: Became Diablo, Lord of Terror and embodiment of fear
• Head of Destruction: Became Baal, Lord of Destruction and agent of annihilation
• Head of Hatred: Became Mephisto, Lord of Hatred and architect of suffering
• Head of Anguish: Became Andariel, Lesser Evil of Anguish
• Head of Lies: Became Belial, Lesser Evil of Deception
• Head of Sin: Became Azmodan, Lesser Evil of Sin
• Head of Pain: Became Duriel, Lesser Evil of Suffering

Eternal Battle with Anu

The moment Tathamet achieved consciousness, conflict was inevitable. Anu and Tathamet clashed in a battle that transcended time and space, that raged across dimensions yet to be created, that lasted for eons unmeasurable by mortal time. Neither being possessed advantage for long; neither could decisively overcome the other. The struggle was absolute, encompassing the total annihilation of everything each could bring to bear.

Mutual Destruction

In a final cataclysm more devastating than the creation of any cosmos, both Anu and Tathamet destroyed one another utterly. The mutual annihilation was so complete that neither could ever be reconstituted. From the wreckage of this battle came all subsequent creation. The High Heavens emerged from Anu's remains; the Burning Hells coalesced from Tathamet's corrupted corpse. The balance established by their mutual destruction ensures that neither good nor evil can achieve absolute dominion over existence.

Legacy in the Burning Hells

Though Tathamet itself was destroyed, the demon's essence could never be truly annihilated. The Burning Hells are quite literally constructed from Tathamet's corpse, every region infused with fragments of the primordial demon's power. Demons are not merely residents of Hell—they are expressions of Tathamet's nature, spawned continuously from the realm itself. The Burning Hells generate demons infinitely, ensuring that demonic threat to creation can never be permanently eliminated.

The Seven Great Evils that emerged from Tathamet's seven heads rule the various dimensions of Hell, each commanding legions of lesser demons. Their constant warfare and scheming drive the eternal conflict forward. As long as even one of the Seven Great Evils retains power, the threat of invasion into Sanctuary remains omnipresent.