Leviathan Floods
The embodiment of chaos, destined for annihilation after threatening the damned.
Leviathan is a giant sea serpent noted in theology and mythology, referenced across the Hebrew Bible as a metaphor for powerful enemies like Babylon. Found in Psalms, Job, Isaiah, and Enoch, this creature embodies chaos, threatening to consume the damned before its eventual annihilation. Christian theologians later identified it with the deadly sin of envy, while Ophite Diagrams depict it encapsulating the material world. In Gnosticism, Leviathan encircles existence like a sphere, trapping souls too attached to matter from reaching God's fullness.
- Status
- Deceased (Killed during battle against Scion)
Lore & Background
In the Book of Job, Leviathan reflects the older Canaanite Lotan, a primeval monster defeated by Baal Hadad. Parallels exist with Sumerian Tiamat, defeated by Marduk, and other dragon narratives like Indra slaying Vritra or Thor slaying Jörmungandr. Some 19th-century scholars pragmatically interpreted it as large aquatic creatures such as crocodiles. In Jewish midrash, God created male and female leviathans but slew the female to prevent world destruction, reserving her flesh for a future banquet of the righteous. Rashi's commentary on Genesis 1:21 confirms this tradition, noting the female was salted away.
In Their Own Story
The Talmud Baba Bathra 75 recounts that Leviathan will be slain and its flesh served as a feast to the righteous in the time to come, with its skin covering the banquet tent. The remaining skin spreads onto Jerusalem's walls, illuminating the world. Rabbi Johanan bar Nappaha described seeing a three-hundred-mile-long fish enter Leviathan's jaws. When hungry, Leviathan emits heat boiling the deep's waters; his eyes shine like morning eyelids per Job 41:18. Yet despite this strength, he fears a small worm called 'kilbit' that clings to large fish gills.
Reader's Guide
Leviathan appears six times in the Tanakh, with Job 41:1–34 detailing his fire-breathing ability and impenetrable scales. Isaiah 27:1 calls him the 'tortuous serpent' killed at time's end. The Book of Enoch (60:7–9) describes a female dwelling in the watery abyss, while Behemoth lives east of Eden. In Akdamut, God slaughters Leviathan, described as having 'mighty fins,' serving it to all righteous in heaven. The Zohar treats this as a metaphor for enlightenment, associating Leviathan with the tzaddik and the sefira of Yesod.
Did You Know?
- Leviathan is sometimes interpreted by 19th-century scholars as referring to crocodiles or great whales.
- Jewish tradition states God slew the female Leviathan to prevent the species from destroying the world.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Leviathan in Worm?
Leviathan is one of the three Endbringers, a colossal water-affinity entity that functions as a recurring apocalyptic threat in the Worm universe. It is distinct from the other two Endbringers (Behemoth and Scion) primarily in its elemental nature and its specific targeting patterns.
What are Leviathan's powers and what does it target?
Leviathan wields overwhelming hydrokinetic force, summoning and shaping enormous volumes of water into devastating attacks. It consistently seeks out coastal cities and major waterways, unleashing catastrophic inundations capable of erasing entire metropolitan areas in a single engagement.
How does Leviathan's story end?
Leviathan is ultimately destroyed during the Endbringer War, the climactic conflict that closes the central narrative of Worm. Its defeat reshapes the geopolitical and heroic landscape of the world in the series' aftermath.
Why is Leviathan important to the story?
As one of only three Endbringers, Leviathan represents a civilization-ending threat that no individual hero or small team can neutralize. Its periodic appearances generate much of the strategic, political, and emotional tension that drives the series forward.
What does the 'Floods' descriptor refer to?
It describes the signature destructive pattern of Leviathan's assaults—massive, city-level inundations of water that submerge coastal infrastructure and drown entire populations. The term captures the hydrokinetic methodology that defines how this Endbringer expresses its chaos.
More in Lore & History
Elsewhere in the Worm universe
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