The Book of Azrael: Liam (Samkiel)

Liam (Samkiel), the World Ender

Quick Facts

Role: Male protagonist; last living god; King of Rashearim; prophesied World Ender
Alias: Samkiel
First reappearance: Chapter 8
POV: Primary point-of-view character
Central conflicts: Kaden’s hunt for the Book of Azrael; the aftermath of the Gods War; control of his destructive power
Major themes: Grief and Trauma, Power and Corruption, Love and Sacrifice

Who They Are

At his core, Liam (Samkiel) is a survivor of extinction carrying godlike power he no longer trusts. The last of his kind and the King of Rashearim, he lives in self-imposed exile until Zekiel’s death wrenches him back into the Etherworld and into conflict with Kaden’s pursuit of the Book of Azrael. He embodies both ruin and restraint: the “World Ender” whose own world ended, and a guardian struggling against the pull of monstrosity—a tension central to Identity and Monstrosity.

His physical reintroduction mirrors his isolation—an “overlong beard” and a “thick, dark mass of hair” to the middle of his back (Chapter 8). Once he cleans up, the god emerges: towering, muscular, with tanned skin, eyes that flare “pure silver,” and silver tracery etched along his skin that pulses with power. Dianna’s barbed compliments—“annoyingly perfect,” “ridiculously beautiful”—underline the gap between his terrifying reputation and the man who, despite himself, craves connection.

Personality & Traits

Liam’s severity is a shell forged by grief. He commands like a king and fights like a god, but his restraint—especially around Dianna—reveals a conscience terrified of becoming the monster others expect. His arc tests whether duty and love can anchor a force capable of ending worlds.

Burdened and traumatized: Night terrors from the Gods War leave him volatile and self-isolated. When a nightmare makes him lash out at Dianna (Chapter 26), the scene exposes both his lack of control and the shame that keeps him apart from others.
Powerful and authoritative: He heals, teleports, summons weapons (including the Oblivion blade), and expects obedience. This innate command repeatedly clashes with Dianna’s defiance, forcing him to reexamine power that, in the wrong hands, corrupts.
Stoic and emotionally closed-off: Centuries of loss have hardened him into a cold, gruff figure who uses distance as armor—until Dianna’s persistence cracks it.
Protective: Beneath the severity is a guardian’s instinct. His choices—training Dianna, shielding her, ultimately breaking divine law for her—show protection as his truest expression of love.
Lonely: Exile has hollowed him out. Memories of camaraderie with the Hand and his reluctant dependence on Dianna reveal a hunger for belonging he barely admits.
Honorable: Unir’s legacy binds him to duty. Even when he wants to flee responsibility, he acts as king and protector—his honor the compass that keeps his power from consuming him.

Character Journey

Liam begins as a myth in retreat: a self-banished god defined by nightmares and guilt. Zekiel’s death forces him back into the Etherworld, where Dianna’s refusal to cower turns interrogation into a reckoning. Their blood pact to safeguard her sister binds them together, and training her draws him into the world he swore off. The first time his night terrors endanger her, she chooses compassion over fear, and he, in turn, chooses trust—confiding the truth of Rashearim and Unir’s death. What begins as captor and captive becomes allies, then lovers. The culmination of his arc—resurrecting Dianna after her sacrifice—recasts “World Ender” as “world-forger”: a king who breaks godly law not for conquest, but to protect a future he’d stopped believing he deserved.

Key Relationships

Dianna: Their dynamic runs on friction and honesty. She refuses his authority, disarms him with compassion, and steadies his night terrors; he teaches her, shields her, and risks everything to keep her alive. Loving her is both his strength and his vulnerability, culminating in sacrificing the Book and breaking divine law to bring her back.
The Hand (Logan, Vincent, Neverra): Old bonds strain under centuries of absence. Vincent resents Liam’s abdication; Logan, the oldest friend, becomes the first confidant as Liam begins to name his fears again. With them, Liam relearns leadership as service, not decree—restoring brotherhood to a lonely king.
Unir: The dead father still rules the living son. In blooddreams and memory, Unir’s high expectations and evident love forge Liam’s code. The trauma of witnessing Unir’s end explains both Liam’s relentless duty and his terror of his own power.
Kaden: Liam’s foil—ambition without honor—brutalizes Dianna and treats power as entitlement. Their conflict is ideological as much as physical: whether gods exist to dominate or to protect, and who gets to decide the fate of the realms—and of Dianna’s soul.

Defining Moments

These scenes showcase Liam’s terrifying capacity and the choices that keep him human.

Return to the Etherworld (Chapter 8): After centuries, he arrives in a storm of power triggered by Zekiel’s death, announcing both his return and the stakes if he loses control. The spectacle reasserts his myth while hinting at the grief underneath it.
The Interrogation of Dianna (Chapter 10): He plays the ruthless god, she refuses to yield. Her defiance plants the first seed of respect—and the possibility that someone can see past the legend.
The Blood Deal (Chapter 17): Binding himself to protect Gabby in exchange for Dianna’s help turns necessity into intimacy. The magical pact literalizes their reluctant alliance and foreshadows deeper loyalty.
The First Nightmare (Chapter 26): His terror erupts against the person he’s trying to protect. Dianna’s response—care, not condemnation—becomes the hinge on which he begins to trust himself again.
Resurrecting Dianna (Chapter 45) (Chapter 45): Faced with her self-sacrifice, he shatters godly law—restoring her heart, feeding her his blood. The act fuses love and transgression, redefining “World Ender” as a god willing to end anything, even his own codes, to save her.

Essential Quotes

"I am a destroyer. The World Ender in every aspect. I am everything you should fear. I mean that with every ounce of my being and not in the egotistical way Dianna assumes. I have burnt worlds to their core, and slain beasts large enough to devour this very castle." — Liam to Drake (Chapter 33)

This is Liam unmasking the myth rather than posturing. He names his power as a warning to protect others from him, not to glorify himself—revealing fear of his own capacity for ruin. The candor to Drake underscores how isolation has made confession safer than connection.

"You gave me no choice. No choice. You let Tobias rip your heart out. He grabbed the book, and I flew through the collapsing temple with the remains of you. There's your recap." — Liam to Dianna (Chapter 45)

Raw, defensive, and grieving, this outburst compresses action into accusation because he can’t admit the terror beneath it. The repetition of “no choice” shows a god rationalizing the unforgivable—breaking divine law—while the image of him carrying her “remains” lays bare the depth of his love.

"To me you are worth it, and that makes me the most selfish bastard and the most dangerous god to ever exist. I did it in a second, without thinking or worrying about the consequences, and I would do it again and again. What I feel for you is overwhelming and I cannot stop it." — Liam to Dianna (Chapter 49)

Here Liam reframes danger: the threat isn’t only what he can destroy, but what he will sacrifice for love. The confession entwines selfishness and devotion, acknowledging that love—once his restraint—can also unleash his most perilous choices. It’s the emotional thesis of his arc.

"I’d never abandon you." — Liam to Dianna (Chapter 41)

A simple vow that answers centuries of withdrawal. After abandoning his realm and his friends, Liam defines his new kingship not as ruling but as staying—choosing presence over exile, responsibility over retreat.

Liam (Samkiel)