The god Dagon is first found in extant records as far back as 2500 BC. There were records of him found in Mari and Syria in ancient Mesopotamia. He is also seen in the inscriptions of Assyria and Babylonia where he is described as a protector god or warrior god. Expeditions have uncovered a temple of Dagon in the city of Ugarit an ancient port city in northern Syria.
Dagan is also seen in the 12th century B.C. Philistines (seen below), which we would know as Isreal today. The Canaanites who were Aegean people that settled on the southern coast of the area had a pagan god named Dagon. He was considered a fertility god who eventually became an important Semitic god.
In the Hebrew Semitic dialect dag, means fish, and Dagan or Dagon means little fish. Some linguists interpret the name as meaning grain in the ancient language of the Canaanites thus the references to both grain and fish he is often associated with. He might be the first instance of the merman as he is described as having a human head or torso and fish body.
Dagon was also known as a warring god though. He had orchestrated a great war against the Hebrews and their God, Adonai.
Dagon is often seen in horror movies and series. Also, notably covered by HP Lovecraft:
Horror Movies and Series featuring Dagon
In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Order of Dagon were the protectors of the Key.
In the film The Evil Dead, Dagan is one of the five Kandarian demons related to the Necronomicon.
He is again seen in Evil Dead II where he is sent through time via the portal that is opened.
He later combines with Ash to become “Evil Ash” in Army of Darkness.
In the Devil’s Harvest, the demon is referred to as Dagan.
In the film Blade Trinity, Babylonians refer to him as the Vampire God “Dagon”, the father of the vampire race.
In the Supernatural season 12 Dagon is referred to as a “Prince of Hell” and is a recurring demon throughout the season.
Books
Notably, Dagon also shows up in epic horror writer HP Lovecraft’s short story titled simply “Dagon” from July 1917
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