Supernatural's Interpretation of the Leviathan Myth

Fans of Supernatural have followed Dean and Sam Winchester on their mission to save the world from creatures large and small, all the while dealing with their own fractured family dynamics. What started out as a show about two brothers, fighting monsters while on a mission to find their father, has raised the stakes to even more dangerous levels. The Winchesters have taken on urban legends, demonology, religious hierarchy, and even the apocalypse. Each year, the show seeks to explore myths that are larger than the year before, as well as focus its arcs on a “bad guy” figure that is seemingly impossible to defeat. This year, the emerging “bad guys” appear to be the Leviathan, who have been separated from one entity into many.

LEVIATHAN IN MYTH
The Leviathan is often described as a sea monster with seven heads, and there are references to it in Ancient Middle East mythology, Jewish writings, Christianity, and even Demonology. Sumerian mythology (ETCSL lines 55-63) details Ninutra's eventual defeat of a seven-headed serpent, which has been associated with a possible reference to the Leviathan creature. The Book of Enoch places its origin as female, a companion to the desert creature Behemoth (1 Enoch 60:7-8), though Christian mythology uses the male phrasing when describing the Leviathan. Job 41:1-34 goes into extensive detail in reference to the creature. The Leviathan is described as having a mouth full of “fearsome teeth” and his back covered with “rows of shields tightly sealed together.” He can breathe fire and is seemingly impossible to defeat, with the normal elements of iron, bronze, arrows, and stone tossed aside as not being harmful. “Nothing on earth is his equal—a creature without fear” (Job 41:33 NIV). In Satanism, the symbol for the church includes the name Leviathan written in Hebrew around its circle and the creature is said to be one of the four crown princes of Hell who guard the Hellmouth (Church of Satan XL A.S. and LaVey 1969).

SUPERNATURAL'S NEW “BIG BAD”
Supernatural's writers have decided to utilize the richness of the Leviathan myth to create a “Big Bad” of the season. Unlike the mythological assertion that it is one beast to slay, the show has broken the Leviathan into countless beings that are making the Earth their playground. The Leviathans of Supernatural were the reason Purgatory was created in the first place, according to Death (Supernatural 7.1), and it was meant to be their prison for all eternity. When Castiel opened the door and took in all the souls of Purgatory, he drank in the Leviathans as well. The plan to return all the escaped souls back to Purgatory did not go as expected. The Leviathans hung on to Castiel's vessel and took it over in order to plan their larger escape (Supernatural 7.1). When the vessel could not contain them, they essentially disintegrated Castiel and dispersed themselves within the town's water system. This then allowed them to take over the vessels of anyone who drank the water or got the tainted liquid into their bodies in some manner (Supernatural 7.2). The audience has seen a few of the Leviathans so far. They've taken over the bodies of a little girl, a man, two high school students, a doctor, and a credit card operator. They all report to a higher boss, which the audience later discovered was Richard Roman (Supernatural 7.6).

COMBINING MYTH AND MEDIA
The show has taken certain elements of Leviathan appearance from mythology and is utilizing it to bring the beings up to date for current media. They visually have the fearsome teeth that are described from Job 41:14, as the audience has seen them unhinge their jaw and flash them prior to eating their victims. Their strength, referenced in Job 41:12, is mirrored on the show, as they can toss aside humans with a flick of the hand (Supernatural 7.1). And like in Job 41:26-29, they are also unable to be killed at present. The audience has seen evidence of their supposed immortality in the conclusion of Episode 7.2 when the car being dropped on Edgar (the head minion) made him bleed out and then he revived himself once Sam and Dean had departed the area. Though it is unclear how many Leviathans actually exist on Earth, once they were able to take over human vessels, it's possible that there are seven entities, which would parallel the fact that the Leviathan is a seven-headed creature.

However, the show has also taken some creative license to build upon the old myth and re-imagine it for the current audience by adding new elements. When the Leviathans are without a vessel, they are represented by black goo on the show. And when they are injured, they bleed out this substance. They are able to possess any human they come into contact with, first through the water system and then by actually touching another person and taking on their form. They are then able to access any memories the original vessel had, mirroring the abilities of the Shapeshifter featured on Supernatural prior (SupernaturalWiki 2011). Currently, the Winchesters have found that sodium borate (Borax) can harm the creatures and that cutting off their head will temporarily stop them (Supernatural 7.6), but it's yet to be seen if this is the ultimate answer in taking down the Leviathans.

FUTURE LEVIATHAN EXPLORATION
The further abilities of these creatures have yet to be seen, but there is room for even more creative license as Leviathan myth becomes media on Supernatural. Will there be tentacles in the audience's future? Can all the people who surround the Winchesters be trusted or might some of them be Leviathans in disguise? And who or what will be able to slay the beasts eventually? Will God return to do the deed, as stated in Isaiah 27:1, or will the Winchesters be able to find a kilbit to deal with the otherwise-immortal creatures? That is what the audience will have to wait and find out. For now, these ancient creatures are having their time in the spotlight when old legends become new again.

References
Book of Enoch. Book of Noah-A Fragment LX 7-8. Accessed October 8, 2011. http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/boe/boe063.htm

Church of Satan. XL A.S. “The History of the Origin of the Sigil of Baphomet and its Use in the Church of Satan.” Accessed October 8, 2011. http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/BaphometSigil.html

Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature. “Ninurta's Return to Nibru.” Lines 55-63. Accessed October 8, 2011. http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.1.6.1#

LaVey, Anton. 1969. The Satanic Bible. New York: Avon Books, Inc.

New International Version. Isaiah 27:1. Accessed October 8, 2011.http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=isaiah%2027&version=NIV

New International Version. Job 41:1-34. Accessed October 8, 2011. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job+41&version=NIV

Supernatural Episode No. 7.1, First broadcast September 23, 2011 by CW Network. Directed by Phil Sgriccia and written by Sera Gamble.

Supernatural Episode No. 7.2, First broadcast September 30, 2011 by CW Network. Directed by Guy Bee and written by Ben Edlund.

Supernatural Episode No. 7.6, First broadcast October 28, 2011 by CW Network. Directed by John Showalter and written by Robbie Thompson.

SupernaturalWiki. Last updated June 2011. “Shapeshifters.” Accessed October 8, 2011. http://www.supernaturalwiki.com/index.php?title=Shapeshifter