2017 art, one of my villain concepts. I'm currently reworking his backstory a bit, but basically, he's the Antichrist but also the Pope, a monster that has managed to snake his way into the church and uses his position of power and authority to manipulate the masses.

Known as Astorath, he's effectively the Pope if the Pope were secretly the Antichrist and the head of the Illuminati as it is depicted in pop culture and conspiracy theories. He's in the perfect position of power, able to claim a direct connection to the divine, and his influence as a religious leader means he can manipulate his followers to do virtually anything, claiming it to be the "will of god".

Of course, he's also ridiculously powerful magically and can just resort to "oh to hell with it, I'll just blow things up" but that would reveal him for what he is.

He is what is pulling the strings just about everywhere. And he's playing the long game, so I don't have to out him as a villain right away by having him do villainous things. He can take his time, play politics, pontificate from his cathedral, stir up strife which furthers his agenda of enslaving the entire world (or perhaps even the entire galaxy), and amass the wealth necessary to buy out those who don't buy into his religious approach.