Beautiful

Philip Wittebane, better known as Emperor Belos was the main antagonist of The Owl House. Originally a human named Philip Wittebane, he came to the Boiling Isles from Gravesfield during the Muerwardian Era in hopes of rescuing his brother, Caleb, who was brought to the kingdom, keeping a written record of his experiences in the Boiling Isles as he strived to find a way to return to the Human Kingdom. However, Philip began to harbor hatred and resentment towards witches and magic due to his inability to adapt to the environment of the Demon Realm, which ended with him wanting to end it.

To fulfill his purpose, he acquired a new identity, a witch named Belos. He claimed to the witches that he had the ability to speak to the island, that they were misusing magic by mixing it and that he was the only one who had the right to do so, convincing them and creating a system of covens to restrict the use of magic. magic and knowledge by witches, and those who resisted were declared "savage witches" who would face great punishments. Some time later he was named emperor of the islands, earning the respect and devotion of everyone, without knowing all the deception that he has done to them.

As emperor, he ruled the islands from his castle with the protection of his coven and his creation, the Golden Guard Hunter, where he prepared for Unity Day, an event in which he hoped to achieve all his goals against the witches, while under The deception would bring a paradise for everyone on the islands. When a human named Luz Noceda stumbled upon the islands because of her destiny, Belos sought her out to claim the portal that brought him to her realm. Although he only managed to obtain the fragments of the portal, Belos began to secretly rebuild it and at the same time launched her campaign for the Day of Unity, ensuring that the Demon Realm perishes by the time the portal returns him home.

In his true human appearance, Philip is a thin, pale-skinned man with a downturned nose and long, shoulder-length ash brown hair, tied back in a ponytail, with several strands loose on his scalp and others. three larger ones. strands forming bangs just above his forehead. He had a small chin and blue eyes.

During his trip to Eclipse Lake, he sported several short bristles on his chin and, over time, his hair grew down to his back. Furthermore, during his stay in the Boiling Isles, his appearance became more disheveled and unkempt, and he had grown a beard and mustache.

During the events of "Another Time and Another Place", Lilith Clawthorne breaks Philip's nose, causing the bridge of his nose to become permanently twisted and swollen. She is also shown that her arms are carved with various glyph symbols.

In his later years, like Belos, he is an old man with a pale complexion, light blue eyes, wrinkled lips, and long, coarse, ash-blonde hair that reaches to his shoulders. His ears are now pointed like a witch's ears, a result of Philip physically cutting them into shape, with a notch in his left ear. Most notably, he has a large basil-green scar running across his face and neck, as a result of his prolonged consumption of palismanes. The irises of Belos' eyes occasionally glow a bright blue, which can remain visible through the shaded eyeholes of his mask.

Whenever the consumed palismen essence begins to act, Belos's body is heavily destabilized into a brown and green sludge-like substance that turns him into a deformed skeletal creature with disproportionately long limbs that constantly drip sludge, accompanied by several eyes. blue that cover his body, and two horns that resemble those on his mask.

Philip dressed in what appeared to be 17th century English formal attire, consisting of a waistcoat, thigh-length coat, and breeches. The coat was dark blue, with an upturned collar and gold buttons. The Gravesfield town seal was embroidered in gold on the left breast of the coat. His vest was light gray, worn over a white shirt with long, cuffed sleeves. His neck was decorated with a ruffled jabot or tie. On his hands, he was wearing a pair of beige gloves. His pants were a pair of orange boxers, pulled tightly around his calves. Finally, he wore a pair of white socks, severely covered with sweat stains from his time in the Demon Realm, under a pair of black leather shoes with buckles.

Like Belos, he wears a golden mask with two long horns that point upwards. His eyes are hollow through the mask, creating the appearance of having empty sockets. He wears a large white and brown cape with gold trim over a loose gray tunic and black pants tucked into his gold gloves and brown boots.

Like Emperor Belos, he is described as "omnipotent and megalomaniac",[1] a strict and domineering figure who is often impatient and intolerant of the failure of his subordinates. Despite his intolerance of his failure, Belos can be quite lenient toward servants he values ​​enough, such as Lilith and her constant failures to capture her sister, but even that leniency has boundaries. His authority is shown to be powerful and commands fear and respect. If Belos had any weakness, it would be his arrogance, lack of judgment, and his inability to understand his loyalty and compassion. He assumed that Lilith would continue to serve him after her true plans for her sister, Eda, were revealed, and simply shrugged at her betrayal and intended for her to be petrified along with her sister. Despite this, Belos is not without fear, as shown when the Collector terrorized him after he was freed and tried to make up an excuse to betray him, only to be destroyed by the Collector.

Another trait of Belos was his charisma and cunning, as he managed to easily deceive the witches about his misuse of magic and his ability to talk to the island, gaining their trust so much that they made him emperor of the islands. To maintain this facade, Belos was careful to protect his image of strength and power to discourage others from questioning his authority or rebelling against his laws, as he was outraged when Luz managed to damage his mask and cheat him. He kept up the treacherous nature of him as Philip and is not above lying, as he made a promise to Lilith that he had no intention of keeping.

He also lies to the population, since he designed propaganda with which he can speak. the Titan who forms the Boiling Isles, and then claimed that the Titan had told him to spare the Owl Lady's life, but that she would remain in her cursed state as an example to those who seek the laws and power of ion Belos, all in order to preserve his seemingly infallible image when the fact to the contrary is evident.

After becoming Belos, his ambitions and apathy were more prominent, as Belos had no emotional care or attachment for anyone, considering them expendable once they were no longer of use to him. A slight exception to this was shown with his attachment to his "nephew", Hunter, with whom he acted more gently and calmly. However, the authenticity of this attachment was mainly a one-sided ruse to prevent Hunter from rising against him like the previous Golden Guards did. Belos was also shown to be dismissive and physically abusive towards Hunter. This was particularly true whenever Hunter brought out wild magic.[2] He was not above emotionally manipulating Hunter's insecurities to instill faith and loyalty in him, going so far as to foster Hunter's false sense of purpose that he painted Hunter with. as important in the titan's plans. On rare occasions, Belos expressed nostalgia for his home and his old life. He was largely driven by his desire to return to the Human Kingdom and protect humanity from the self-perceived horrors he saw in witches.

Another testament to his hypocritical nature was Belos's unwillingness to take responsibility for his own actions. Belos would use his self-proclaimed righteousness as a defense for his most heinous actions while still claiming that he was above the "unforgivable and conspiring witches"; When an apparition of Caleb confronted him about the consequences of murdering his brother, Belos denied his responsibility and defended that everything he did was for the greater good. He then deflected the blame onto Caleb for refusing to let Belos "save his soul" from the Demon Realm. Even the Titan proclaimed that Belos had no excuse for his cruelty, citing that his desire to protect humanity comes not from caring about anyone but of his own desire to be the "hero of his own delusions."

To the end, Belos was manipulative and ruthless, trying to trick Luz into thinking that everything he had done had been under the influence of a curse. When Luz was not fooled, he spitefully tried to influence her by telling her that allowing her to die would make her as bad as the "witches", again blaming the witches rather than taking responsibility for her own misdeeds, and claiming that they (he and Luz) are human and better than them.