Yaldabaoth is the denizen of Dirk Strider's Land of Tombs and Krypton and Caliborn's Land of Colours and Mayhem.
The “the self-proclaimed god of all monsters”, unlike denizens like Cetus, who tend to appear to Heroes of a particular aspect, Yaldabaoth “rarely appears in game sessions, and is usually designated for the most naturally gifted warriors.” As such, he is “notoriously inhospita8le” and gives notably extreme Choices.
Concept and creation[]
Like other denizens, Yaldabaoth lends his image to an internet browser, which is Dirk's browser of choice. As such, Yaldabaoth's head, which takes the shape of a stylised sun, is orange, matching Dirk's text color; his red tail could be seen as matching Dirk's auto responder's red text or Caliborn's red blood.
Though the etymology of the name Yaldabaoth is not totally clear, and has generally been thought to derive from Aramaic or Hebrew, also like the other denizens Yaldabaoth has his origins in Greek myth and philosophy. In various Gnostic schools of thought, Yaldabaoth is the name given to Plato's demiurge, a creator-being who maintains the physical universe while shutting humanity out of the true, spiritual universe. Yaldabaoth's malevolent and primordial nature makes him similar in role to Greek mythology's Titans, among whom Typheus and Echidna were often counted, and his "god of all monsters" title matches Echidna's as the “mother of all monsters.” As with many other denizens, Yaldabaoth has often been depicted in art as a serpent-bodied deity or a deity otherwise associated with serpents.
Dirk's chumhandle “timaeusTestifed” directly alludes to Yaldabaoth, with Plato's Timaeus being the dialogue to introduce the concept of the demiurge - making Yaldabaoth one whose existence was literally "testified by Timaeus". Yaldabaoth's role as demiurge is also reflected in his Heroes; while Caliborn ultimately goes on to become a demiurgic figure to Homestuck itself, Dirk is also connected to Lord English in various ways, with his personality - in the form of his auto responder - becoming one part of English's. Dirk's creation of his auto responder could in itself be seen as an act of creation, and his taking control of the narrative of Pony Pals is later expanded to a much more consequential scale in The Homestuck Epilogues.
On the Land of Tombs and Krypton[]
Not much is known about Dirk's interaction with Yaldabaoth. A statue or minion of Yaldabaoth, comparable to the Typheus minion in Jade's house, is seen in the Act 6 Act 4 Flash on the Land of Tombs and Krypton. Later the same statue of Yaldabaoth is found by Dirk and John, destroyed as a result of LOTAK crashing into LOMAX. Its face appears bronze and is no longer glowing.
On the Land of Colours and Mayhem[]
Yaldabaoth appears in the core of Earth C when Caliborn enters the Medium, becoming its denizen. Once Caliborn found and unlocked the door to his lair, Yaldabaoth gave Caliborn The Choice: either take a passive role, sacrificing his life for the power to stop a great force of evil, or gain immortality and unlimited power to cause destruction, after a series of difficult trials. Caliborn, of course, chooses the latter. Once he accepted these terms, Yaldabaoth initializes a long process which involves Caliborn conquering and destroying several planets. Once he had destroyed them all, Caliborn's true land would be unlocked, the dead Earth brought back to life. Earth at this point would be renamed to the "Land of Colors and Mayhem". Finally, Caliborn would have to face Yaldabaoth in combat, and if successful, would receive unconditional immortality and a limitless supply of destructive power. Aranea explains this in Act 6 Intermission 4.
Yaldabaoth's door is surrounded by various carvings. Above it are a pair of silhouettes similar in appearance to Echidna and a number of Time gears (because Caliborn is a Time Player). Even more curious is the shape of the carving around the door itself, which has the same silhouette as Doc Scratch's grandfather clock, and the rooks in Calliope's chess set. Furthermore, the pillars to the left and right of the door feature the same imagery as the lower half of the grandfather clock: female figures with twisted serpentine legs, a possible reference to Echidna (though she lacks arms).
In Act 6 Act 6 Act 5 it is revealed that at some point Caliborn successfully killed Yaldabaoth, or at least he did in whatever timeline we are observing in this act. The battle between Caliborn and Yaldabaoth is shown during Collide. A beastly face shows through the bright light on occasion during this battle, and upon being killed, the light of his head fades out, leaving an underlying Light symbol-shaped head visible.
Gallery[]