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Legion (novel)
Encyclopedia
Legion is a 1983 horror novel by William Peter Blatty
, a sequel to The Exorcist
. It was made into the movie The Exorcist III
in 1990.
Like The Exorcist, it involves demonic possession
. The name is derived from The Bible, particularly The Gospel of Luke, which describes Jesus
traveling in the land of Gadarenes where he encounters a man possessed by Demons:
Or the more common quote on the incident, sometimes called the Gerasene Demoniac, from The Gospel of Mark:
who was shot by police (but whose body was never recovered) many years previously. The slayings have a blasphemous theme to them, such as a child crucified and a priest
decapitated. Kinderman's investigations lead him to a mental asylum where there are a number of suspects, including a psychiatrist
and one of his own patients. There, Kinderman begins to find links between the victims and events in the previous novel, the exorcism
of the twelve-year-old girl, Regan.
Kinderman entertains philosophical thoughts of his own, such as trying to work out how the concept of evil
(specifically relating to the murders) fits in with God
's plans for humanity. Kinderman frequently alludes to his favorite novel
, The Brothers Karamazov
, especially when he goes off on a philosophical tangent.
in San Francisco. A priest is later murdered in a confessional
, once again bearing the mutilations distinctive of the apparently deceased killer. The fingerprints at the two crime scenes differ, however. Further victims soon follow, including one of Kinderman's friends, another priest, who is slain in a hospital, his body drained of blood
before being decapitated. Yet again the Gemini Killer's mutilations are present.
Investigations lead Kinderman to the psychiatric wing of the hospital where his friend was slain. Here he finds a number of suspects:
In the end, the implication is that the Gemini Killer possessed the body of Damien Karras and spent many years trying to gain control of the body, during which time Karras was held in a mental hospital. He lacked any identification and was nicknamed Sunlight because he sat in the sun's rays as it passed through the window of his cell. Upon finally gaining control of Karras' body, the Gemini occasionally left it to possess the bodies of the patients suffering from senile dementia, and as they were in an open ward with access to the outside world, he could use them to go forth and commit murders. This is why the fingerprints of several senility patients were found at the crime scenes; their bodies carried out the murders but the Gemini Killer was in control of them.
The Gemini's motive originally was to shame his father, a preacher
, whom he hated. When his father died of natural causes the Gemini Killer felt his mission was over and he had no reason to remain in possession of Karras' body. Feeling compelled to explain everything to Kinderman, he summoned the detective, explains all of this, successfully demands that Kinderman tells him he believes that he (Sunlight) really is the Gemini Killer, and then effectively wills himself to die from heart failure.
Dr. Temple suffers a stroke
and ends up mentally disabled. Dr. Amfortas dies in an accident (although was terminally ill anyway, suffering from a disease he refused to treat so he could join his deceased wife).
The final chapter of the novel, an epilogue
, has Kinderman at a burger-bar with his faithful partner, Atkins. Kinderman explains to Atkins his thoughts and musings of the whole case and how it relates to his problem of the concept of evil. Kinderman ends by concluding that he believes the Big Bang
was Lucifer
falling from heaven, and that the entire Universe, including humanity, are the broken parts of Lucifer, and that evolution
is the process of Lucifer putting himself together back into an angel
.
, in 1990, directed by Blatty himself and starring George C. Scott
as Lieutenant Kinderman and Brad Dourif
and Jason Miller
alternating as Sunlight (although the name Sunlight is not actually given to the character in the movie; he is referred to as simply "the man in Cell 11" or "Patient X").
Both the novel and film jump past many of the events of the 1977 film Exorcist II: The Heretic
, a theatrical sequel with which Blatty had no involvement.
On 15 March 2010, WildClaw Theatre in Chicago premiered the theatrical version. It was directed by Anne Adams and adapted by Charley Sherman.
William Peter Blatty
William Peter Blatty is an American writer and filmmaker. The novel The Exorcist, written in 1971, is his magnum opus; he also penned the subsequent screenplay version of the film, for which he won an Academy Award....
, a sequel to The Exorcist
The Exorcist
The Exorcist is a novel of supernatural suspense by William Peter Blatty, published by Harper & Row in 1971. It was inspired by a 1949 case of demonic possession and exorcism that Blatty heard about while he was a student in the class of 1950 at Georgetown University, a Jesuit school...
. It was made into the movie The Exorcist III
The Exorcist III
The Exorcist III is a 1990 American supernatural thriller written and directed by William Peter Blatty. It is the second sequel of The Exorcist series and a film adaptation of Blatty's novel, Legion . The film stars George C. Scott, Brad Dourif, Ed Flanders, and Nicol Williamson...
in 1990.
Like The Exorcist, it involves demonic possession
Demonic possession
Demonic possession is held by many belief systems to be the control of an individual by a malevolent supernatural being. Descriptions of demonic possessions often include erased memories or personalities, convulsions, “fits” and fainting as if one were dying...
. The name is derived from The Bible, particularly The Gospel of Luke, which describes Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
traveling in the land of Gadarenes where he encounters a man possessed by Demons:
Or the more common quote on the incident, sometimes called the Gerasene Demoniac, from The Gospel of Mark:
Plot introduction
The storyline is a mix of horror and whodunnit, with a police detective, Lieutenant Kinderman, investigating a series of murders that have all the hallmarks of a serial killerSerial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
who was shot by police (but whose body was never recovered) many years previously. The slayings have a blasphemous theme to them, such as a child crucified and a priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
decapitated. Kinderman's investigations lead him to a mental asylum where there are a number of suspects, including a psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
and one of his own patients. There, Kinderman begins to find links between the victims and events in the previous novel, the exorcism
Exorcism
Exorcism is the religious practice of evicting demons or other spiritual entities from a person or place which they are believed to have possessed...
of the twelve-year-old girl, Regan.
Kinderman entertains philosophical thoughts of his own, such as trying to work out how the concept of evil
Evil
Evil is the violation of, or intent to violate, some moral code. Evil is usually seen as the dualistic opposite of good. Definitions of evil vary along with analysis of its root motive causes, however general actions commonly considered evil include: conscious and deliberate wrongdoing,...
(specifically relating to the murders) fits in with God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
's plans for humanity. Kinderman frequently alludes to his favorite novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
, The Brothers Karamazov
The Brothers Karamazov
The Brothers Karamazov is the final novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Dostoyevsky spent nearly two years writing The Brothers Karamazov, which was published as a serial in The Russian Messenger and completed in November 1880...
, especially when he goes off on a philosophical tangent.
Plot summary
The story opens with the discovery of a twelve-year-old boy who has been murdered and crucified on a pair of rowing oars. Kinderman already sees that the boy is mutilated in a way identical to the victims of a serial killer known as the Gemini Killer, who was apparently shot to death by police twelve years previously while climbing the Golden Gate BridgeGolden Gate Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. As part of both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1, the structure links the city of San Francisco, on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, to...
in San Francisco. A priest is later murdered in a confessional
Confessional
A confessional is a small, enclosed booth used for the Sacrament of Penance, often called confession, or Reconciliation. It is the usual venue for the sacrament in the Roman Catholic Church, but similar structures are also used in Anglican churches of an Anglo-Catholic orientation, and also in the...
, once again bearing the mutilations distinctive of the apparently deceased killer. The fingerprints at the two crime scenes differ, however. Further victims soon follow, including one of Kinderman's friends, another priest, who is slain in a hospital, his body drained of blood
Blood
Blood is a specialized bodily fluid in animals that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells....
before being decapitated. Yet again the Gemini Killer's mutilations are present.
Investigations lead Kinderman to the psychiatric wing of the hospital where his friend was slain. Here he finds a number of suspects:
- Dr. Freeman Temple - a psychiatristPsychiatristA psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
who has a dismissive and even contemptuous attitude towards his patients. - Dr. Vincent Amfortas - another doctor at the hospital. He is very mysterious and not very talkative, and is seemingly apathetic towards everything since the recent death of his wife.
- Patients - there are a number of elderly people at the hospital suffering from senile dementia. The fingerprints of different senile patients are found at murder scenes, but interviews with the patients make it clear they are seemingly incapable of carrying out the elaborate killings and mutilations.
- Tommy Sunlight - a mysterious patient, found wandering aimlessly eleven-years ago dressed as a priest, who brags of being the Gemini Killer reincarnated and who claims to have carried out the recent murders, even though he logically could not have done so, being secured in a locked cell in a straitjacketStraitjacketA straitjacket is a garment shaped like a jacket with overlong sleeves and is typically used to restrain a person who may otherwise cause harm to themselves or others. Once the arms are inserted into the straitjacket's sleeves, they are then crossed across the chest...
. At one point he claims the doctors and nurses let him out to kill. He also looks identical to Damien Karras, a priest who supposedly died in The Exorcist by falling down a flight of stairs. - James Vennamun - the actual Gemini Killer himself. His body was never found, suggesting he may have survived and is resuming his crimes.
In the end, the implication is that the Gemini Killer possessed the body of Damien Karras and spent many years trying to gain control of the body, during which time Karras was held in a mental hospital. He lacked any identification and was nicknamed Sunlight because he sat in the sun's rays as it passed through the window of his cell. Upon finally gaining control of Karras' body, the Gemini occasionally left it to possess the bodies of the patients suffering from senile dementia, and as they were in an open ward with access to the outside world, he could use them to go forth and commit murders. This is why the fingerprints of several senility patients were found at the crime scenes; their bodies carried out the murders but the Gemini Killer was in control of them.
The Gemini's motive originally was to shame his father, a preacher
Preacher
Preacher is a term for someone who preaches sermons or gives homilies. A preacher is distinct from a theologian by focusing on the communication rather than the development of doctrine. Others see preaching and theology as being intertwined...
, whom he hated. When his father died of natural causes the Gemini Killer felt his mission was over and he had no reason to remain in possession of Karras' body. Feeling compelled to explain everything to Kinderman, he summoned the detective, explains all of this, successfully demands that Kinderman tells him he believes that he (Sunlight) really is the Gemini Killer, and then effectively wills himself to die from heart failure.
Dr. Temple suffers a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
and ends up mentally disabled. Dr. Amfortas dies in an accident (although was terminally ill anyway, suffering from a disease he refused to treat so he could join his deceased wife).
The final chapter of the novel, an epilogue
Epilogue
An epilogue, epilog or afterword is a piece of writing at the end of a work of literature or drama, usually used to bring closure to the work...
, has Kinderman at a burger-bar with his faithful partner, Atkins. Kinderman explains to Atkins his thoughts and musings of the whole case and how it relates to his problem of the concept of evil. Kinderman ends by concluding that he believes the Big Bang
Big Bang
The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological model that explains the early development of the Universe. According to the Big Bang theory, the Universe was once in an extremely hot and dense state which expanded rapidly. This rapid expansion caused the young Universe to cool and resulted in...
was Lucifer
Lucifer
Traditionally, Lucifer is a name that in English generally refers to the devil or Satan before being cast from Heaven, although this is not the original meaning of the term. In Latin, from which the English word is derived, Lucifer means "light-bearer"...
falling from heaven, and that the entire Universe, including humanity, are the broken parts of Lucifer, and that evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
is the process of Lucifer putting himself together back into an angel
Angel
Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...
.
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
It was made into a movie, The Exorcist IIIThe Exorcist III
The Exorcist III is a 1990 American supernatural thriller written and directed by William Peter Blatty. It is the second sequel of The Exorcist series and a film adaptation of Blatty's novel, Legion . The film stars George C. Scott, Brad Dourif, Ed Flanders, and Nicol Williamson...
, in 1990, directed by Blatty himself and starring George C. Scott
George C. Scott
George Campbell Scott was an American stage and film actor, director and producer. He was best known for his stage work, as well as his portrayal of General George S. Patton in the film Patton, and as General Buck Turgidson in Stanley Kubrick's Dr...
as Lieutenant Kinderman and Brad Dourif
Brad Dourif
Bradford Claude "Brad" Dourif is an American film and television actor who gained early fame for his portrayal of Billy Bibbit in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and has since appeared in a number of memorable roles, including the voice of Chucky in the Child's Play franchise, Younger Brother in...
and Jason Miller
Jason Miller (playwright)
Jason Miller was an American actor and playwright. He received the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play That Championship Season, and was widely recognized for his role as Father Damien Karras in the 1973 horror film The Exorcist...
alternating as Sunlight (although the name Sunlight is not actually given to the character in the movie; he is referred to as simply "the man in Cell 11" or "Patient X").
Both the novel and film jump past many of the events of the 1977 film Exorcist II: The Heretic
Exorcist II: The Heretic
Exorcist II: The Heretic is a 1977 American horror film and the sequel to The Exorcist , directed by John Boorman from a screenplay by William Goodhart and starring Linda Blair, Richard Burton, Louise Fletcher, Max von Sydow, James Earl Jones, Ned Beatty and Kitty Winn...
, a theatrical sequel with which Blatty had no involvement.
On 15 March 2010, WildClaw Theatre in Chicago premiered the theatrical version. It was directed by Anne Adams and adapted by Charley Sherman.