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I will admit to knowing next to nothing about Nephilims. Why did I choose these mythical creatures for my fantasy squad I hear you ask, well, mainly because fellow blogger and critique partner, Patricia Lynne introduced me to Lake Divine who is part of the Path of Angels series. As you’ve probably guessed, Lake is a nephilim. You should check out his book (Michael) because I guarantee you’ll fall for Lake, and Michael too for that matter!

So, some myths have Nephilims as being the offspring of fallen angels, and that’s certainly true in Lake’s case. Of course I did a little research, but I won’t bore you with too many details (unless your really want to know and in which case I would refer you to Patricia!)

The Bible refers to a race of giants who roamed the Earth, prior to the flood. Some versions of The Bible refer to them as giants, while others call them Nephilim – revealing that they are the offspring of angels, and essentially demigods.Β As a result of the union between mortal and angel, the offspring were a hybrid – caught between the spiritual and physical realm. They have supernatural powers, obviously, though these differ depending on the source.

Luckily, there are plenty of references in media to choose from, which means I need to get my head out of the clouds (or at least my Greek mythology books) and take a look around once in a while!

The Nephilim by crazy5 - Fan Art / Traditional Art / Drawings / GamesΒ©2013-2015 crazy5
The Nephilim by crazy5 – Fan Art / Traditional Art / Drawings / GamesΒ©2013-2015 crazy5

The Nephilim in media

  • Various songs have Nephilim in the title (or a reference to them), bands include; Katatonia, Behemoth and Frank Black and the Catholics.
  • A fallen angel appears in Hunted (part of the House of Night series) by P.C. and Kirsten Cast.
  • In Lauren Kate’s Fallen series, a Nephilim is basically any being with angel DNA.
  • Cassandra ClareΒ includes Nephilims in Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices.
  • In The Fallen series (and mini series based on the books), Thomas Sniegoski depicts Nephilim as the children of fallen angels.
  • In Gospel of Lucifer by Tom Egeland, Nephilims are extraterrestrials who came to earth 5000 years ago.
  • The Nephilim were a race of aliens in the Warhammer 40k universe.
  • In Rise of the Nephilim, and independent comic series, the Nephilim were evil spirits on earth.
  • Dana Scully attempted to save three Nephilim in All Souls – Season 5 of the X Files.
  • A Nephilim named Jane is introduced in Clip Show – Season 8 of Supernatural.
  • The Nephilim were depicted as angels sent to protect Adam and Eve in the film Noah – they fell when they disobeyed God and became stone giants (Watchers).
  • In Devil’s Tomb, Nephilims are corrupt fallen angels.
  • Nephilims appear in a number of video games, including; Champions Online, Darksiders, Assassin’s Creed, Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, and Exile.

The list goes on, but it’s safe to say, angels, in any form, are a popular choice. Do you have a favourite? Do you agree that the Nephilim is worthy of being part of the squad? What are your thoughts? I’d like to hear from you.

Thanks for stopping by. Until next time.

Mel

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39 responses to “A to Z Blogging Challenge – Day 16: Fantasy Squad – Nephilim”

  1. Natasha Duncan-Drake Avatar

    I think you can’t go wrong with the children of angels because they are seriously going to kick ass πŸ™‚ You just have to hope there will be no divine intervention at any point, because that could put a damper on the squad. πŸ˜‰
    Tasha
    Tasha’s Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)

    1. mbarkersimpson Avatar

      Yes, that would be complicated! Could be fun though πŸ˜‰

  2. Charles Yallowitz Avatar

    I think most of my knowledge of angels comes from Supernatural. So I expect most of them to be jerks. πŸ™‚

    1. mbarkersimpson Avatar

      lol – Castiel isn’t so bad! I find the angels in supernatural amusing, and their arrogance is somehow part of their charm! It’s the demons I find the most entertaining – especially Crowley. But this isn’t about Supernatural – I could talk about Supernatural for days. It’s one of my favourite shows!

      1. Charles Yallowitz Avatar

        Castiel seems to be the exception. Gabriel too, but I liked him more as the Trickster. I think the writers put a lot more variety into the demon personalities, which makes sense. Most of them were human at some point while the angels were never anything else.

      2. mbarkersimpson Avatar

        I agree. The writers clearly have fun with their job too – which is one of my favourite things. The humour πŸ™‚

      3. Charles Yallowitz Avatar

        Though it wasn’t supposed to go beyond Season 5, so it’s interesting to see them keep going. Working very slowly through Season 8 and I kind of miss the non-angel/demon monsters. Ghosts are a rarity now.

      4. mbarkersimpson Avatar

        I suppose the whole angels falling from Heaven took over in season 9, but they’ll get back to the other supernatural creatures, I’m sure. I’m thankful for every extra season we get!

      5. Charles Yallowitz Avatar

        I haven’t actually gotten that far yet. Working off the DVD’s and timing has become an issue the last few months. They’re working on closing the gates.

      6. mbarkersimpson Avatar

        Oops…sorry about that. Me and my big mouth!

    2. mbarkersimpson Avatar

      By the way…how did the event go yesterday? I haven’t been on the computer in a few days. I’m trying to catch up. I have hundreds of emails and only about an hour before the birthday celebrations continue!!

      1. Charles Yallowitz Avatar

        It went rather slowly. 3 people joined in overall. One person is still a mystery because every time I tried to respond directly, my browser would lock up. I’m thinking that a midday chat isn’t going to work very well.

      2. mbarkersimpson Avatar

        That’s odd, and frustrating. I’m sure you’ll figure out the balance – timing can be difficult. But it will be worth it πŸ™‚

      3. Charles Yallowitz Avatar

        Night time seems easier, so we’ll see how that goes. Might have to do weekends since weekdays require getting the kid to bed early.

      4. mbarkersimpson Avatar

        Sounds like a plan πŸ˜€

  3. callummclaughlin Avatar

    I didn’t know a lot about nephilims either so this was really interesting to read πŸ™‚

    1. mbarkersimpson Avatar

      Thanks, Callum πŸ™‚ I was worried it would feel a little rushed. Because of the craziness this week, I had to schedule all my posts (will wonders never cease – I planned ahead)!

      1. callummclaughlin Avatar

        Now I’m even more impressed πŸ˜‰

  4. S. R. Carrillo Avatar
    S. R. Carrillo

    I have such a complicated relationship with nephilim (which, by the way, is the plural form of the word – nephil is the singular ;]). I love what they are and what they represent, but the way they’ve been romanticized has stripped them of everything that was unique and intriguing about them in the first place.

    1. mbarkersimpson Avatar

      That’s intriguing – how do you see them? Like I said – I don’t know all thay much πŸ˜‰

      1. S. R. Carrillo Avatar
        S. R. Carrillo

        They’re villains. Everyone wants to see nephilim as “fallen angels” and like, I dunno, “tortured souls” and I’m just over here like *flail.* It’s a remnant from my high school days when I was righteous and indignant and angry and assholeish about everything, but it’s still pretty funny to see how nephilim are portrayed as heroes – like genuine heroes. Then again, this is biblical canon I’m going by. As we all know, fantasy is amenable to all sorts of takes, twists and turns.

        I feel the same about vampires, though. Vampires as good guys, with good intentions and all, make me laugh – and then roll my eyes.

        Then again, I love a good antihero.

        I’m full of contradictions today.

        Feel free to ignore this comment. My tone is jovial throughout, I promise. :]

      2. mbarkersimpson Avatar

        I’m full of contradictions most days! And you can rant any time πŸ˜‰ I’m not sure if I should tell you that the vampires in my new book were inspired by a really old myth that they were actually the protectors of humans! Cue eye roll πŸ˜€ I think you’d like my witch though, so she might make up for it!

      3. S. R. Carrillo Avatar
        S. R. Carrillo

        Now, that actually sounds pretty interesting! I will reserve judgment – I have every faith it’s handled well in your hands, and I think that’s the part that matters most: execution.

      4. mbarkersimpson Avatar

        What a lovely compliment πŸ™‚ Thank you. It’s not easy taking on something so iconic and changing it up. But you know all about that. What you did with Ero was incredible.

      5. S. R. Carrillo Avatar
        S. R. Carrillo

        Hahah okay, now that we’ve both complimented each other, we can get outta here. ;]

      6. mbarkersimpson Avatar

        lol – a job well done πŸ˜‰

  5. Patricia Lynne (@plynne_writes) Avatar

    Yes, it’s hard not to love Lake. =)
    I just read a series that did an interesting twist on Nephilims. They don’t have angel parents, but are given abilities by angels, and at one point, there are even giants.

    1. mbarkersimpson Avatar

      Ooh, that sounds like fun! You’ll have to let me know what it’s called. I’ll check it out πŸ™‚

  6. Jacqui Murray Avatar

    Fascinating. Some part of my brain thinks of them as fallen angels. This clarifies a lot.

    1. mbarkersimpson Avatar

      Yes, some part of my mind thinks that too! They are complicated creatures – I’m looking forward to exploring them more.

  7. CompGeekDavid Avatar

    You got one of the two references I was getting ready to drop – Noah from last year. That use was a lot of fun, and let me know of the Biblical origins of this term!

    The other main use I think of with the Nephilim is the Diablo series of video games, especially in Diablo 3 where it is very clear that your player character is a Nephilim. Which makes you the one person who can save the world! Which, you know, is generally the case, right? πŸ˜‰

    1. mbarkersimpson Avatar

      Indeed! And yes, I particularly enjoyed the Noah reference – especially the stone Giants πŸ˜€

      1. CompGeekDavid Avatar

        Yeah. It was the addition of the Nephilim that took that from story-people-know to something new. I really liked it!

  8. Alex Hurst Avatar
    Alex Hurst

    I’m curious about the giants bit… does that mean angels are gigantic? At least in this iteration…. cool fantasy being. πŸ™‚ (and sorry I fell behind on your posts!)

    1. mbarkersimpson Avatar

      Nothing to be sorry about, I’m totally behind too! It’s a busy month πŸ™‚ And I think the giant reference relates to some translations of the word – that its root meaning is giant. But the views on that are conflicted, as are the references! Still, like you said, they are a cool fantasy being πŸ™‚

  9. Hannah G Avatar

    Very cool. I’d love to see more nephilim in stories, but I think people aren’t sure what to make of them, or sometimes just use it as a synonym for “angel…”

    1. mbarkersimpson Avatar

      I agree. It was interesting to delve more into the history – I actually learnt quite a lot researching for this post! πŸ˜€

I’d love to hear from you.

I’m Melissa

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