Temeluchus (also Temelouchus and Temlakos) is an angel described in various early Christian texts. He first appears in the 2nd century Apocalypse of Peter as a care-taking angel who looks after children who died to infanticide, and the phrase may well have literally simply meant "care-taking one" as a description without meaning it was a name. Nevertheless, later works refer to an angel by that name, whether from the Apocalypse of Peter or perhaps the Greek "Telémakhos" (literally, "far-away fighter"). He prominently appears in the Apocalypse of Paul, which was popular and influential for centuries in the medieval era. There, he largely tortures souls in hell. Temeluchus may have been loosely based on the Greek god Poseidon, as he is depicted as wielding a "great fork" (a trident?) in the Apocalypse of Paul.[1] He and an angel named Tatirokos ("keeper of Tartarus") may have been a matched pair, or even two titles for the same angel. Some later sources refer to him as the leader of the tartaruchi, the angels of torment (probably satan himself).[2]
In the Apocalypse of Peter, an angel looks after dead children slain by their parents. While "Temlakos" probably just meant "care-taking" originally, it is later interpreted as a name:
In the Apocalypse of Paul, he is mentioned in chapter 15 and chapter 18 as God is rendering judgment on sinners:
In chapter 34, he is seen torturing the soul of a gluttonous and lustful priest:
In chapter 40, he is seen tormenting men and women who committed abortion and infanticide:
His mention in chapter 40 of the Apocalypse of Paul is potentially a callback to the earlier Apocalypse of Peter, although the Apocalypse of Peter attributes this line to Tatirokos, the keeper of Tartarus (potentially seen as another title for the same angel):
Temeluchus' name is sometimes rendered as Aftemelouchos, Aftemeloukhos, Tartaruchus, Temelouchos, and T'ilimyakos.
He appears in 2 Meqabyan 12:13 (considered canonical in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church), just as the evil king Tsirutsaydan is proclaiming his own immortality:
In the animated series , Temeluchus, voiced by Alex Brightman, is a royal demon who spends much of the show possessing Pugsley, the pet pug of one of the main characters, granting him the ability to speak and other magical powers. He starts out as a power-hungry antagonist bent on taking over the human world, but becomes kinder and more sympathetic as he experiences Pugsley's love for humans.