Rev 13 1-10 The Anti Messiah

John sees a huge beast rising out of the sea and, boy, is this sucker ugly. It has seven heads and ten horns with a crown on each one. It looks kind of like a leopard, but has feet like a bear, and a mouth like a lion. It also loves to say terrible and blasphemous things about God. So, it's all-around awful.
The Dragon gives the Sea Beast its power and, naturally, everyone on Earth is totally amazed by it. They all worship the Sea Beast and the Dragon and don't think there's anyone in the world who can beat them. (Spoiler alert: there is.)
John tells us that the Sea Beast loves to attack Christians and make them into martyrs. Not a good idea, Sea Beast.
He knows that the Sea Beast can be seductive at times (after all, those ten horns do look fetching), but John reminds Christians they'd be better off dead than worshipping the Sea Beast. He means this literally, of course.