Nebuchadnezzar II

"Look, Israelite. Look at my city. Why should I become an animal? The gardens, the marketplaces, the courts! I built Babylon!"

- Nebuchadnezzar II

Nebuchadnezzar II was the King of Babylon who conquered Jerusalem. He took hundreds of captive Israelites with him and had the Israelite princes Daniel, Arioch and Hananiah trained as Magi by his his chief eunuch, Ashpenaz. When they impressed him with their progress, Nebuchadnezzar gave them meat from the temple to eat and promoted the princes to full Magi, much to the irritation of the Chief Magus.

After having a terrible dream, Nebuchadnezzar began to prefer Daniel, as he was the only Magus who could tell Nebuchadnezzar what he had dreamt, though the King dismissed his interpretation as riduculous. Some years later, Nebuchadnezzar scoffed at Daniel that he had not become an animal as Daniel had prophesised. At that moment, he transformed into a wolf/bear-like creature, and his crown was taken away by the Prince Royal, Belshazzar. Though he eventually returns to human form with Daniel's help, he never becomes King again.

Trivia

 * He was portrayed by Steve Hodson. Hodson appeared in the BBC Radio adaptation of Sherlock Holmes, in which Holmes was played by Clive Merrison (Darius the Mede).
 * The son of King Nabopolassar, he was the most famous historical King of Babylon. He was succeeded in real-life by Amel-Marduk, with four other monarchs taking up the throne before the unrelated Belshazzar.