If you’ve spent any time watching the show Lucifer or flipping through Neil Gaiman's The Sandman comics, you know Mazikeen. She’s the fierce, blade-wielding, half-faced demon who stays loyal to the Morning Star. Naturally, after a few episodes, most people start wondering about the "real" story. They head straight to Google to find out who is Mazikeen in the bible, assuming she’s tucked away in the Book of Revelation or somewhere near the Garden of Eden.
The truth? You won't find her there. Not even in the footnotes.
It’s a bit of a shocker for fans, but the character of Mazikeen is actually a brilliant piece of modern fiction rooted in ancient Jewish folklore rather than Christian scripture. She isn't a biblical figure in the sense of being mentioned in the Old or New Testament. Instead, her name comes from a specific class of invisible, pesky spirits found in the Talmud and Jewish demonology.
The Jewish Roots of the Mazikeen
To understand where the writers got the name, we have to look at the Hebrew word mazziqin (מַזִּיקִין). It literally translates to "those who do harm" or "damagers." In the Talmudic tradition, these aren't necessarily the soul-devouring monsters Hollywood loves. They’re more like invisible, supernatural nuisances.
Think of them as the reason you stub your toe or why things go missing in your house.
Early Jewish scholars, like those who compiled the Gemara, treated these entities as a daily reality. There’s a fascinating passage in Berakhot 6a that basically describes the world as being crowded with them. If you could see them, you wouldn't be able to survive the sheer overwhelming number of spirits pressing in on you. The text even gives a "recipe" for how to see them using ashes and cat placenta, though I wouldn't recommend trying that at home.
This is the "real" Mazikeen. It’s not a single person or a specific demon woman. It’s a category. It’s a plural noun.
📖 Related: Hairstyles for women over 50 with round faces: What your stylist isn't telling you
Where did the "Demon Girl" version come from?
Neil Gaiman is a master of taking obscure mythological crumbs and baking a whole cake. When he created Mazikeen for The Sandman #22 in 1991, he personified the entire concept of the mazziqin into a single character. He gave her a unique look—half her face was beautiful, and the other half was a decayed, skeletal mess. This was a nod to the idea that these spirits were partially formed or lived between worlds.
In the comics, she isn't just a servant. She’s one of the Lilim.
According to various Jewish mystical texts (specifically the Alphabet of Sirach), Lilith was Adam’s first wife who left Eden and supposedly gave birth to thousands of demon children. These children are often referred to as the Lilim. Gaiman tied the concept of the "Mazikeen" to the "Lilim," creating a backstory that feels ancient even though that specific character arc is relatively new.
Why Everyone Thinks She's Biblical
Pop culture is a powerful thing. Because Lucifer deals with the Devil, Cain, Eve, and Amenadiel (who is also not in the Bible, by the way), people naturally assume the entire supporting cast is pulled from Sunday School lessons.
You’ve probably seen TikToks or "fun fact" lists claiming she’s a fallen angel. She isn't. You might have read that she guarded the gates of Hell in the Book of Job. She didn't.
Common Misconceptions
People often get her confused with a few actual biblical or apocryphal figures. Here are the most common mix-ups:
👉 See also: How to Sign Someone Up for Scientology: What Actually Happens and What You Need to Know
- Lilith: People see Mazikeen’s loyalty to Lucifer and assume she's the original "rebel woman" of the Bible. But Lilith herself isn't even in most versions of the Bible (though some point to a mention of a "screech owl" or "night monster" in Isaiah 34:14 as a reference).
- The Nephilim: Some think she’s a giant or a hybrid mentioned in Genesis 6. She’s not. The Nephilim were the "sons of God" and daughters of men, whereas Mazikeen’s lore is purely demonic/spirit-based.
- The Whore of Babylon: Because of her violent and sexualized portrayal in the TV show, she’s occasionally misidentified with the figure from Revelation. No connection there either.
Honestly, the "real" Mazikeen of the Talmud is much more interesting because it reflects how ancient people explained the chaos of life. If you got sick or a crop died, a mazziq did it. It was a way to put a name on bad luck.
What the Talmud Actually Says About These Spirits
If we dig into the primary sources like the Zohar or the Midrash, we find that the Mazikeen were created during the twilight of the sixth day of creation. God was finishing up the world and started making these spirits, but then the Sabbath began. Since God rested, these creatures were left "unfinished."
They have souls, but no bodies.
This "unfinished" nature is why they are often depicted as being jealous of humans. They want what we have—physicality. In some traditions, they have wings and can fly to the edges of heaven to overhear secrets about the future, which is why people used to consult "demons" for divination.
It’s a far cry from the leather-clad bounty hunter played by Lesley-Ann Brandt, but you can see the threads of the idea. The show’s version of Maze is someone searching for a soul, which perfectly mirrors the folkloric Mazikeen being "incomplete" beings.
Do they appear in the New Testament?
If you're looking for the Greek equivalent, you’d be looking at daimonion. When Jesus is casting out demons in the Gospels, the Jewish audience of that time would have almost certainly categorized those spirits as mazziqin.
✨ Don't miss: Wire brush for cleaning: What most people get wrong about choosing the right bristles
So, while the name Mazikeen doesn't appear in the King James Bible, the concept of those spirits is all over the place. Every time a "possessing spirit" or an "unclean spirit" shows up in the New Testament, that’s essentially a Mazikeen in the eyes of a first-century Jew.
Making Sense of the Mythology
It’s easy to get lost in the weeds with this stuff. Mythology isn't a straight line; it's a messy web of stories that change every time someone tells them.
The character we love today is a 20th-century invention using 2,000-year-old vocabulary. If you tell a theologian you're looking for Mazikeen in the Bible, they’ll probably give you a blank stare. But if you ask a scholar of Jewish mysticism, they’ll talk your ear off about the invisible spirits that live in the shadows of houses and abandoned buildings.
Basically, the TV show took a plural noun and turned it into a badass woman.
Actionable Takeaways for Mythology Buffs
If you want to explore the "real" history behind these characters without getting fooled by TV scripts, here is how you should actually research it:
- Check the Source: If a character is described as "biblical," check if they appear in the Masoretic Text (Hebrew Bible) or the Greek New Testament. If they only appear in the Book of Enoch or the Life of Adam and Eve, they are "pseudepigrapha" or "apocrypha"—basically ancient fan fiction.
- Look for the Root: Many demon names in pop culture are just Hebrew words. "Abaddon" means "destruction." "Beelzebub" comes from "Baal-Zebub," or "Lord of the Flies." Understanding the translation tells you more than the character's outfit.
- Read the Talmud: If you’re brave, look up Tractate Berakhot. It’s the primary source for how the ancient world viewed these spirits. It’s dense, but it's the only place you'll find the "original" Mazikeen.
- Distinguish between Literature and Religion: Recognize that The Sandman and Lucifer are incredible works of fiction, but they are not religious documents. They mix Persian, Christian, Jewish, and even Norse myths into a blender.
The next time someone asks you about Mazikeen's role in the Bible, you can confidently tell them she’s not there. She’s a ghost of a word, an ancient Hebrew term for the things that go bump in the night, reborn as a modern icon of strength and identity.
Whether she's an invisible spirit in a dusty old book or a demon with a crisis of conscience on Netflix, the core idea remains: Mazikeen represents the parts of our world—and ourselves—that feel unfinished, hidden, and a little bit dangerous.
Stop looking for her in the Book of Genesis. Start looking for her in the margins of the Talmud and the wild imagination of modern storytellers. That’s where she actually lives.