Bedeviled Concept
Bedeviled follows a 26-year old college student named Ezekiel who is a solitary man marked by a life of dark rituals and forbidden knowledge. He unknowingly becomes the vessel that houses nine demons, each embodying a potent human emotion. Over time, these demons root themselves within him, turning his body into a living prison—a twisted version of Dante’s Inferno, where flesh and spirit serve as the nine circles of hell.
In this poster, the enthroned character is the demon of Chaos. The character on the right is the demon of torment and the character on the left is the demon of despair. Chaos is releasing them both into Ezekiel’s mind to aid in bringing about his demise. This was intended to be key art for this concept.
This second poster presents the concept with greater clarity. In the foreground, Ezekiel appears drained and tormented, his expression reflecting the psychological toll of housing nine inner demons. The cracked glass symbolizes his fractured mind, with the central rupture revealing the demons’ breach into the physical world. Now surrounding him, they foreshadow his inevitable end.
This is Ezekiel, the protagonist of the story. This portrait reveals his tormented and drained expression. The right eye glows with the fire from the hell that torments him inside.
This is Chaos, the primary antagonist of the story and the most powerful, corruptive demon of all. He resides deep within Ezekiel’s psyche, embodying raw, unrestrained malevolence.
Character Triptych
These upcoming process videos highlight the steps I took in painting each character. Most designs began as sketches in my sketchbook before being brought into Procreate for further development and refinement.
Meet the Characters
This close-up portrait features the demon embodying Peace and Order. Equal in power, this entity is responsible for Chaos’s imprisonment, serving as a force of balance and restraint within the narrative.
This demon embodies the manifestation of Love, specifically its darkest and most manipulative aspects. His appearance is a fusion of influences from Hindu, Greek, and Aztec mythology, creating a figure both captivating and unsettling. The crown of peacock feathers encircling his head symbolizes love’s seductive facade. Each feather hides an eye, evoking the power to mesmerize, deceive, and control. The figure’s nudity serves as a symbolic reference to Eve, tracing back to the origins of temptation and the vulnerability rooted in desire.
This demon represents Lust, and his design intentionally mirrors that of Love to show how closely the two are intertwined. He’s inspired by the ancient Egyptian goddess Hathor, who embodies beauty, pleasure, and seduction. His hypnotic gaze pulls the viewer in, offering what seems like irresistible passion, a trap that leads to something much darker.
This is the embodiment of Desire—a demon profoundly influenced by Lust, with whom he shares an eternal, insatiable longing. He is both angelic and demonic in nature, a deeply conflicted being whose inner turmoil fuels immense power.
The embodiment of despair takes a dark and haunting form. At the center of his skull burns a faint blue flame—never bright, but always burning with a silent power. His face is marked by deep sorrow. His only mission is to snuff out the flicker of hope inside Ezekiel’s mind. The jagged, branch-like horns stretch from his head, like twisted reminders of the pain he is created to cause.
This demon is the embodiment of Greed. He is a thin, jagged monster with a twisted face, draped in pearls, chains, and coin-like trinkets. The sharp, uneven horns and bony fingers represent an insatiable hunger for more. He is inspired by ancient Egyptian mummies, echoing the way pharaohs were buried with endless treasures, jewels, and goods to take into the afterlife.
This demon is the embodiment of Deception. Heavy inspiration was drawn from Western religion. At first glance the figure appears holy but it wears the language of divinity to disguise its monstrous corruption underneath. The faces are calm but unsettling, they are unpredictable. Beneath the pure and saintly surface is a manipulative dark entity ready to strike and kill. This demon bends and twists reality within Ezekiel's mind.
This demon is the embodiment of torment—a shadowy, smoke-like figure that stirs Ezekiel’s most dangerous emotion: rage. She’s fierce, untamed, and strong enough to overpower the other demons if she is left unchecked. But despite all that strength, Chaos is the only one who can snuff her out, since she was born from his own power.
Chaos is the most powerful demon in the ennead—the origin of all corruption and the root of Ezekiel’s unraveling. His appearance draws from classic Christian depictions of the devil. He is towering, horned, and commanding, with a terrifying presence. Though unmatched in power, he’s eventually imprisoned by Peace, the only other character strong enough to oppose him in this series. Even while chained, Chaos remains as an ancient force waiting for the right moment to rise again.