Papa Legba (American Horror Story)

This article’s content is marked as Mature
The page contains mature content that may include coarse language, sexual references, and/or graphic violent images which may be disturbing to some. Mature pages are recommended for those who are 18 years of age and older.

If you are 18 years or older or are comfortable with graphic material, you are free to view this page. Otherwise, you should close this page and view another page.

Evil-doer

Full Name

Papa Legba

Alias

None

Origin

American Horror Story: Coven

Occupation

Spirit of the Dead

Gatekeeper of the Spirit World
Voodoo deity

Powers / Skills

Vast supernatural powers

Telepathy
Teleportation
Brainwashing
Illusions

Hobby

Making unfair deals with mortals,

Collecting souls.

Goals

Collect as many souls as possible.

Crimes

Soul enslavement

Torture

Type of Villain

Sadistic Deity

“

Everybody pays, everybody suffers.

„

~ Papa Legba

Papa Legba is the gatekeeper of the spirit world, as well as the god of travel, opportunity and luck. He is a supporting antagonist in American Horror Story: Coven and American Horror Story: Apocalypse.

He was portrayed by the late Lance Reddick, who also portrayed Jack Bernard in Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

Role and Powers

Papa Legba’s role in American Horror Story is mainly to acquire as many souls as he can. He is based off of the character from Haitian Voodoo, who is also called Papa Legba.

He shows several uses of powers in the show:

• He can detect whether or not a person has a soul, this is shown when he revokes the deal with Fiona Goode claiming she has no soul.
• He seems to be able to teleport wherever he wants, shown when he is summoned and in Queenie’s hell when he appeared in the restaurant.
• He is show to control minds when Marie Laveau refuses to torture in Hell, yet she is apparently brainwashed into doing it anyway.

Personality

Being the gatekeeper of the spirit world, Papa Legba seems to be always interested in acquiring souls, regardless of who they’re from. He was willing to make a deal with Fiona Goode for her soul despite her being vain and murderous, but revoked the deal when he found that she, ‘had no soul’. Yet once he successfully makes a deal for someone’s soul, Papa Legba delights in tormenting his victims into sacrificing innocent souls for him.

Despite his often antagonistic and somewhat sadistic personality; Papa Legba is an honest individual. He explained clearly and honestly his terms of granting immortality to Fiona when she asked for details. Furthermore he meticulously explained the dynamics of Marie and Delphine’s immortality to Queenie while also praising her for her sharp mind and powerful magic in being able to enter and exit the spirit world successfully.

Gallery

Trivia

• This adaptation of Papa Legba seems to be roughly based on the crossroads demon from popular urban legends:
  • Both request the souls of children.
  • Both grant diabolical favors to the bargainer.
  • Both request their souls in exchange.
  • Both tales end with the bargainer being damned for eternity.

Navigation