Lord Asriel
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Lord Asriel is a major character in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series. Asriel is a member of the English aristocracy in a parallel universe dominated by an oppressive version of the Christian Church. Possessed of enormous determination and willpower, he is fierce in nature and commands great respect in both the political and academic spheres, being a military leader and a fellow of Jordan College in his world's version of Oxford.
His dæmon is Stelmaria, a snow leopard. Her name is a variant of Stella Maria, pseudo-Latin that approximates "star of the sea" (see also Stella Maris). (It could also be seen as Italian, in which case it would apparently mean "Star Mary", which raises associations with the Star of Bethlehem and the Nativity.) The name Asriel could be derived from the Hebrew 'Asra'el, who, in the Jewish and Muslim tradition is the Angel of Death, who separated the soul from the body upon death. Pullman has indicated that he would like actor Jason Isaacs to portray Asriel in the forthcoming film adaption of Northern Lights.
Though in the early part of the trilogy Lord Asriel is styled as Lyra Belacqua's uncle, it is later revealed that he is in fact her father, the child being the product of an illicit union between Asriel and Marisa Coulter.
At the end of Northern Lights, Asriel succeeds in opening a doorway into another world through the process of intercision in which he sacrifices an innocent child (the best friend of his daughter Lyra) and makes his way to an unpopulated Earth. Here, he gathers a huge army together at what becomes known as the Adamant Fortress in order to wage war on the Kingdom of Heaven and to replace its tyrannical rule with a new Republic. How he accomplishes this is somewhat vague; he is described as having a mystical ability to get what he wants simply by wishing for it. It may be speculated that, being in league with rebel angels and by extension Dust itself, Asriel draws his unusual power from the universal consciousness that the golden particles represent.
Ultimately, Lord Asriel must sacrifice himself in a struggle with the angel Metatron in order to save his daughter's life and to preserve the future well-being of the multiverse. Lord Asriel dies in his epic struggle against Metatron, and dies next to his lifelong lover.
Film adaptation
On 14 July 2006 it was reported that actor Paul Bettany is in final negotiations to play the role of Lord Asriel in the forthcoming film adaptation, , with Nicole Kidman joining him as Mrs. Coulter.[Nicole and Paul's dark materials] Daily Mail 14 July 2006 (Accessed 18 July 2006). Author Philip Pullman had previously indicated that he would like to see actor Jason Isaacs play the role, but he has no role in the casting procedure.[His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass (2007)] IMDb (Accessed 18 July 2006)References and notes
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