Azazello is a key member of Woland’s entourage. He is described as a short, fat, and broad-shouldered man whose mouth shows a single fang. His hair is flaming red and he often wears a bowler hat. He is an extremely good shot, as he proves by shooting a playing card beneath a pillow with the gun behind his back. While demonstrating a relish for violence, he is also entrusted by Woland to fetch Margarita and convince her to join them for the ball. In the Bible, “Azazel” is a fallen angel annoyed by God’s creation of mankind. His true form is revealed at the end to be “the demon of the waterless desert, the killer-demon.”
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Azazello Character Timeline in The Master and Margarita
The timeline below shows where the character Azazello appears in The Master and Margarita. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 7. A Naughty Apartment
...much and abusing his position in aid of “liaisons with women.” A fourth character appears: a short, broad-shouldered man , “with a bowler hat on his head and a fang sticking out of his...
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Chapter 10. News from Yalta
...accosted by a “cat-like fat man” and a man with red hair and a fang (Azazello). They beat him up, pointing out that he had been warned over the telephone not...
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Chapter 18. Hapless Visitors
...looks at the passport, insults Poplavsky and rescinds his invitation to Berlioz’s funeral. He summons Azazello, the red-headed man with the yellow fang, and asks him to “see off” Poplavsky. Azazello...
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...brought impossibly quickly by a nurse with “a man’s mouth,” dead eyes, and a “single fang”—Azazello. Later, a mustachioed doctor friend of his comes to reassure him that what happened was...
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Chapter 19. Margarita
...her side, who informs her that the deceased is Berlioz, chairman of Massolit. This man (Azazello) is short, red-haired, and has a fang. Berlioz’s head was stolen from the coffin as...
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Margarita, assuming there to be many writers among the mourners, asks the Azazello if “Latunsky” is one of them. He points Latunsky out, noticing Margarita’s hatred for the...
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Azazello admits that he is there to speak to Margarita about some “business.” He explains that...
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Margarita demands to know the redheaded man’s identity; he reluctantly explains that his name is Azazello. She implores him to tell her if the master if his alive, which Azazello confirms....
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Azazello gives Margarita a golden box containing an ointment, instructing her to cover herself with it...
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Chapter 20. Azazello’s Cream
...sits in the bedroom, waiting for it turn half past nine, staring at the box Azazello gave her. When the time finally comes, she rubs the “rich, yellowish cream,” which smells...
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...tells Natasha to keep all of her clothes for herself. Margarita impassionedly cries out that Azazello is about to call, and that “the foreigner’s not dangerous, yes, I understand now that...
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...and gets out with his briefcase. She shouts at him, calling him “boring.” Just then, Azazello calls and tells her it’s time to “take off”; “when you fly over the gate,...
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Chapter 22. By Candlelight
...happiness.” The car soon arrives in Moscow and Margarita is dropped in a deserted cemetery. Azazello appears, wearing a black cloak.
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Margarita, on her broom, and Azazello, on a rapier, fly to the apartment on Sadovaya Street. The authorities have placed men...
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Margarita and Azazello go in and climb an impossibly long staircase in darkness. Koroviev meets them at the...
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...a candelabrum “with sockets in the form of bird’s claws” and an “artful” chess board. Azazello is there, dressed in tailcoats. The naked Hella sits on the floor, stirring a pot...
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Woland introduces Margarita to his retinue: Behemoth, Azazello, Koroviev, and Hella, who is rubbing his knee with ointment. Behemoth analyses his position on...
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Chapter 23. The Great Ball at Satan’s
...plays “unbearably loud.” Margarita takes position at the top of a huge, carpeted staircase, with Azazello, Koroviev and Behemoth beside her. Margarita notices an “enormous fireplace” in the distance.
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...sword, joins her as the crowd falls silent and a clock seems to strike midnight. Azazello holds a decapitated head on a platter—it’s Berlioz’s head, seemingly still living.
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...“stool-pigeon and a spy.” Abaddon takes his glasses off and looks at the baron; simultaneously, Azazello shoots him. As blood spurts from the baron’s chest, Azazello fills the cup (Berlioz’s head)....
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Chapter 24. The Extraction of the Master
Margarita, feeling revived, asks whether Azazello shot Baron Meigel. He did, he replies, and boasts about his shooting skills. To show...
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Azazello makes Aloisy Mogarych, the current occupier of the master and Margarita’s old flat, suddenly appear....
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With Nikolai gone, Varenukha appears. He requests to no longer be a vampire, which Azazello grants. Woland instructs his entourage to leave him alone with the master and Margarita. The...
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...the master happiness and bids them goodbye. They leave with a suitcase containing the novel. Azazello summons the car with the rook to drive them home.
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Azazello tells Margarita and the master to wait for a moment. He finds Annushka and snatches...
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Chapter 27. The End of Apartment no. 50
...on apartment no. 50 in large number. As they come up the stairs, Koroviev and Azazello calmly drink coffee and cognac, fully aware of what’s happening.
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...investigators. Behemoth relishes the excitement; despite many shots being fired, miraculously no-one is hurt. Koroviev, Azazello, and Woland complain about the commotion from another room. Koroviev says: “Messire! It’s Saturday. Then...
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Chapter 29. The Fate of the Master and Margarita is Decided
It’s now sunset—Azazello and Woland sit on a stone terrace overlooking Moscow. Woland ask “such an interesting city,...
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...to Margarita too; Woland agrees to this as well. As Matthew Levi disappears, Woland instructs Azazello to “fly to them and arrange it all.”
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Chapter 30. It’s Time! It’s Time!
Just then, Azazello arrives, greeting the master and Margarita with “peace be unto you.” Margarita is delighted to...
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Azazello gifts the couple a bottle of wine from Woland, which he says is the same...
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As the master and Margarita lie poisoned on the floor, Azazello transports himself to Margarita’s old house. Amazingly, Margarita is there too, waiting gloomily for her...
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Azazello returns to the master and Margarita’s basement flat, where he revives Margarita with a few...
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The master realizes that he and Margarita are dead, calling it in “intelligent” and “timely.” Azazello says they’re not dead, and asks if it’s “necessary, in order to consider yourself alive,...
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...bring his novel with them. He says there is no need—he knows it by heart. Azazello sets fire to the apartment. Three black horses await the group outside.
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The master, Margarita, and Azazello soar over Moscow on horseback as the storm gets going. The master shouts to Azazello...
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The master and Margarita go into the clinic while Azazello waits outside. They find Ivan’s room and go in; Ivan greets the master excitedly. The...
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Chapter 31. On Sparrow Hills
...swept away without a trace and a rainbow appears over Moscow. The master, Margarita, and Azazello join up with Woland, Koroviev, and Behemoth, who are also sitting on black horses.
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Chapter 32. Forgiveness and Eternal Refuge
...is that of “a slim youth […] the best jester the world has ever seen.” Azazello is “the demon of the waterless desert, the killer-demon.” Even the master has changed: his...
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