What demon from Assyrian and Babylonian mythology is battled by Father Damien Karras in "The Exorcist" film series?
Lankester Merrin Merrin, an elderly priest and paleontologist on an archeological dig in Iraq, finds images of the demon Pazuzu and subsequently experiences other unusual phenomena. He had previously faced the demon many years ago during an exorcism in Africa. The find sparks a premonition that he will battle the demon again in a distant land. Merrin does not appear again until much later in the novel, when he joins the protagonist, Father Damien Karras, in Washington, D.C. to exorcise the demon from the body of a young girl. Merrin, who has a heart condition for which he takes nitroglycerin, dies during the ritual, leaving the inexperienced Karras to complete the exorcism himself.
Šulak In the Babylonian magico-medical tradition, Šulak is the Lurker of the bathroom or the demon of the privy. Šulak appears in the Babylonian "Diagnostic Handbook" (Tablet XXVII), in which various diseases are described and attributed to the "hand" of a god, goddess, or spirit. A "Lurker" is a type of demon who lies in wait in places where a potential victim is likely to be alone. When a man attends to excretory functions or elimination, he is exposed and hence vulnerable: "Šulak will hit him!" The "hit" may be a type of "stroke" ("mišittu"). The demon referred to as "The Hitter" or "Striker" elsewhere in the handbook may be Šulak identified by an epithet. A much earlier reference to this demon is found in a Hittite diagnostic text.