Apep forms part of a complex cosmic system resulting from the identification of Ra as the Naer'Dorei's sovereign deity. Since Ra is the solar deity, Bringer of Light, and thus the upholder of Ma'at, Apep was viewed as the greatest enemy of Ra, and thus was given the title Enemy of Ra, Master Deciever, and Bringer of the killing Blackness.
As the personification of all that was evil, Apep was seen as a giant winged serpent, or in later years, in a few cases, as a dragon, leading to titles such as Serpent from the Void, and Wings of Evil. Some elaborations even said that he stretched 16 yards in length and had a head made of flint. Apep's name much later came to be falsely connected etymologically in Egyptian with a different root meaning (he who was) spat out.
