Why is Haarlep so different from Raphael - a theory
Hello! Welcome to another theory of mine.
"I am Haarlep. Raphael's personal incubus. Glamoured and transfigured to look like him. I'm a perfect copy(...)"
Hold your horses, sir Wait, they are nonbinary: Hold your horses, noble.
Haarlep states that they are a perfect copy, however there are some major differences in their appearance that could not be caused simply by the visual age difference.*
Haarlep's face has a few major differences:
Lack of darkened skin around the facial hair area (they appear a lot smoother).
The nose is straight and while the tip is shaped similarly, there is no bump across the bridge. They don't even have the cute-angry wrinkles in between the eyes! (Female form has them wrinkles, but the bump is softer)
Maybe it's just me but I was thinking that the upper lip appears to be a bit plumpier.
The face is shorter and because of that, the cheekbones are a lot sharper, Haarlep looks like they had some botox done 💀
The ears appear to be less sharp and shorter (aging hits ears quite hard, but they usually sag and the difference here is with the tip.
Archduchess form does have the roman nose, however the lips are plumpier.
See for yourself below:
And in comparison to Raphael (even to his EA model that has the famous bald spot):
But where is this leading, you may ask?
Well, I am proposing two different perspectives on that:
Haarlep's 'tweaks' point to Raphael's insecurities (a version of theory that my friend @shutexco proposed)
Raphael's devil form resembles MEPHISTOPHELES and he can't stand looking at the actual accurate depiction of his cambion form. Also, if that's the case, take a moment to consider how F-ed up it really is to have Haarlep gifted to him if his father was completely aware of the resemblence. But it would make sense, wouldn't it? Raphael left Cania at some point, but his father made sure he will haunt him all the time.
Have you noticed how Raphael has two portraits of himself that also don't look like him at all?
The second portrait has two horns, so it could be made during the EA, but there is no other similarity.
The first portrait looks like it's wearing some kind of variation of the Helldusk Armor, you can spot the 'Teeth' across the chest, but apart from that and 4 horns, it doesn't look like Raphael at all.
To sum up: the portraits are some kind of a 'vision' of Raphael. For a narcissist he really seems to be avoiding an actual perfect (as in 1to1 accurate) copy of himself.
Also, a few fun facts/smaller theories I'd like to include!
I think he made his own portraits. There are two easels in House of Hope. One behind the Archive (with brushes and cup at the ready and some paint stain spilled below them) and second is on the right hand side of the bed in the boudoir.
Now, the paintings on both easels can be found across Faerun, but the devil portraits are exclusive to HoH and I believe (please fact-check me if you know) that the painting inside Raphael's safe, right above the hoarded treasure, is also exclusive. Raphael is very talented. His diaries are like poetry, full of symbolism, bro is literally a composer, so why not an artist as well? I wouldn't put it past him. And because HoH was made by the head of Mason's Guild, then I guess he had the major influence on the design and I've heard someone say that it's Italian baroque and it's just beautiful.
Here's the Magic the Gathering card of Raphael (I think it was issued in 2022??). It looks more similar to the Statues at House of Hope than the portraits or Haarlep. Oh, btw, I've seen many people saying (mainly on YT and tiktok) that House of Hope is full of Raphael's statues. Not true, those are just cambions
Statues are present not just in HoH but inside Devil's Fee (yes, with both the belt and kneepads)
That's it! Thank you for reading all the way over here, appreciate it so much <3 <3
*Some aging research, specifically for bone structure changes:
"As we age we all lose some bone which means that our cheeks flatten, our jaw bone shrinks and our eye sockets get larger. The structure of the face changes so the tissues above the bones will sit differently and so look different."
Source
"Facial bone loss can lead to retraction of the jawline, which emphasizes jowls and an unstructured neck. Widening eye sockets give your eyes a more sunken appearance and make you look tired. The angle of the bones beneath the eyebrows decreases, which contributes to frown lines on the forehead, droopy eyelids and crow’s feet at the corner of the eyes."
Source
So as we can see, Raphael doesn't really suffer from any of those, besides the crow's feet that are imo so gorgeous that I lose my shit, AHFAIHFAJDSKSHA
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I mean look at his silly little happy face. He was so in love with creation and the world and everything that was in it. He was being as he was created to be.
Crowley’s fall is just so devastating. He was not evil and he did nothing wrong, and yet he still falls.
He legitimately cared SO MUCH for the universe and for creation and he just wanted to know why god would create everything just to turn around and destroy it in essentially the blink of an eye.
Six thousand years is NOTHING to Celestials or in the grand scheme of things and he just wanted to know why all these beautiful and awesome and perfect things were just going to be used and then cast aside sound like someone we know??
That opening scene for season 2 was perfect because it showed us that even since BEFORE the beginning of everything, Crowley was there trying to prevent armageddon. He was trying to save and protect it. Literally what he was created to do. He was there fighting for every star and nebula and every piece of humanity because he cared SO MUCH for it.
He was trying to do what he was created for and he was cast out because of it and god I can’t stand it but it’s literally just so phenomenally beautiful and devastating.
seeing people like "discover" the raphael theory after watching good omens season 2 is actually so funny cause like i was writing fic about that theory in 2019 before i even had an ao3 account.
Ok so if Crowley was once Raphael and Aziraphale means "after Raphael" or something and that they were once a unique soul that was split up.....does it mean that that's why they are able to switch bodies? Because they are from the same source????
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So...the Raphael theory. I love it - absolutely love it. Crowley is/would make an amazing Raphael and I adore all of the theories I have read so far and I totally support that idea; however -
HEAR ME OUT. HUMOR ME.
Take the name Aziraphale. Break it down - A-zi-RA-PHAEL. Put "Ra" and "Phale" together and you get "Raphale" or another possible pronunciation would be "Raphael".
Raphael was a healer. The actual translation and meaning behind the name Raphael is "God Heals," "God Please Heal," or "It is God who Heals."
In Good Omens, Aziraphale brings the dove back to life at Warlock's birthday party, as well as heals Anathema's broken wrist after Crowley hits her with his car. He also "heals" her bike, hence the whole "Oh Lord, heal this bike" bit. In addition, he even makes a comment to Crowley that he's never killed anything before and doesn't think he can.
It is very possible that Aziraphale is Raphael, or the idea of him was heavily influenced by said angel.
I’m struggling to explain the Crowley was Raphael theory to a friend, and trying to find a post that explains it well. I can’t for the life of me find the one that introduced me to the theory. If you happen to know a good one, please @ me with it?
