Mythology & Religion Power Ranking TOP100
This article introduces Rank 25: Azi Dahaka from the “Mythology & Religion Power Ranking TOP100”, which ranks the gods, monsters, and heroes of world mythology, religion, and legend in order of strength.
If you want to see the full TOP100 list and the criteria behind the rankings, check out the overview article below.
Rank 25: Azi Dahaka (Zoroastrianism / Persian Mythology)
Overview
Azi Dahaka is a massive dragon or serpent-like monster appearing in Zoroastrianism and ancient Persian mythology, possessing three heads and six eyes. It is the most powerful being created by Angra Mainyu — the absolute evil who opposes the supreme god Ahura Mazda — a creature capable of destroying the world.
Its wingspan is large enough to blot out the sky, and its body houses thousands of evil spirits and diseases. The mere existence of Azi Dahaka is said to cause the earth to wither and illness to spread.
Deities such as the fire god Atar fought it, and while they were able to drive it away with sacred flames, Azi Dahaka is fundamentally considered an entity that even gods cannot defeat.
Ordinary weapons cannot wound Azi Dahaka at all — only the weapons of the gods can even begin to pose a threat. Furthermore, even if wounds are inflicted, all that happens is that evil creatures pour out from the injuries.
Crushing its heads or heart does not kill it, and if Azi Dahaka were actually killed, the evil spirits sealed within its body would be released and destroy the world. This means it cannot be killed either.
Although it is an entirely destructive existence for the world, Azi Dahaka is also capable of disguising itself as a human. Under the identity of a human tyrant (Zahhak), it ruled the world for a thousand years.
However, the human hero Fereydun (Thraetaona) received divine blessings from the gods and fought Azi Dahaka (Zahhak), ultimately defeating it. But since killing it would destroy the world, it could not be fully slain — the only option was to seal it away.
And it is prophesied that when the end of the world arrives, Azi Dahaka will be released from its seal and attempt to destroy the world once more. However, at that time the savior Saoshyant (or Garshasp) will appear and completely destroy Azi Dahaka.
Ranking Reason
A body so large it blots out the sky, power said to be capable of destroying the world, a body so durable that only divine weapons can affect it, versatility in commanding a thousand sorceries, the ability to endlessly generate followers even when wounded, the lethal consequence of its death being the destruction of the world, and above all — the fact that not even the gods could completely defeat it. Weighing all of these factors, there is no question this being possesses destroyer-class power.
Its weakness is that it was sealed away by the human hero Fereydun — but since his mythological background is too sparse to draw firm conclusions about, the only explanation for a human sealing a being that even gods could not defeat is that he had effectively become something beyond divine through his accumulated blessings.
Azi Dahaka and Zahhak are treated as the same being in modern understanding, but their origins are in separate mythological traditions (Zoroastrianism and Persian mythology respectively), and Thraetaona who sealed Azi Dahaka and Fereydun who sealed Zahhak are also technically different individuals. However, since these have been fully syncretized in the modern understanding, the combined portrayal contains numerous inconsistencies. In its original intended role, Azi Dahaka is not the kind of being that can be defeated as easily as Zahhak was.
If Azi Dahaka were able to operate at its full power, it is almost certain that the gods across all world mythologies who could defeat it would be in the overwhelming minority.
About the Book
I wrote a book that compiles this entire ranking! The reasoning behind each placement is grounded in the actual lore and episodes from each mythology, so I think it makes for a fairly convincing read.
The book also contains many columns and extras not published on this blog, so if you are interested, please check it out below.
📚 Series: Mythology Power Ranking (Individual Characters) (76/100)
