| “ | Demons are beings that serve the Devil. | ” |
Demons are malevolent, inter-dimensional beings that travel between worlds, destroying everything in their path. They return to their home dimension, the Void, when they die. Religiously, they are defined as Hell's denizens and the servants of Satan.
Demons come in a large variety of species and forms, their numbers said to be infinite.
Description
The term demons is the generally accepted word used to refer to the creatures the Shadowhunters fight because of the varying terms and concepts among different belief systems and world cultures among mundanes, Shadowhunters, Downworlders, and even angels. It was also the term Jonathan Shadowhunter used based on his own religious history.
On the Earth dimension, demons take different forms, though whether it is their true form is a mystery. Demons are easily recognizable, unless they are shapeshifters. Demons always take on monstrous appearances on Earth, and can usually be discerned by the uncanny, nauseating feeling that bellows around them like a dark aura. In addition to their general hideousness, demons often carry with them a debilitating scent of death that can be very strong.
Demons' bodies are kept fresh by ichor. Their ichor, infused with demon energies, is black, with a slight green tint, and viscous, as opposed to the golden blood of angels, and is thinner than human blood but totally opaque. While ichor is not generally dangerous, it is somewhat toxic, and some are acidic and can burn what it touches. While the usual range of protective Marks protect from this, many demons are still poisonous, wherein the healing rune iratze is ineffective.
Demons are powered by a roiling demon energy, a vitalizing spark that maintains their form in the corporeal dimension, as opposed to souls of other beings.[1] When demons die, this energy is separated from its physical body and will return to its home dimension; others, particularly "Greater Demons", are shattered into pieces and scattered in between worlds, taking them centuries to reform.
To human eyes, their disappearance can take many forms, depending on the type of demon. Some explode or burst into dust, some fade from view, and some crumple into themselves. Some leave behind ashes or smoke, depending on the manner of its death. In all cases, however, no remnant of the demon's physical self remain in the corporeal world. Warlock rituals exist that can "preserve" demonic physicality in the corporeal world, allowing one to collect and keep such a thing as a vial of demon blood without its vanishing when its demon source is dispatched.[1] An example of a container for demons is the Pyxis.
Most common demons cannot speak human languages. A large number of types are, however, able to parrot human speech that they have heard. This is often a sign that a demon has been summoned rather than coming to Earth on its own. There are a number of demon languages that the Nephilim and warlocks have identified and learned, including Chthonic, Purgatic, Gehennic and Tartarian.[1]
Weaknesses
The most immediate weakness of demons is their vulnerability to angelic power and heavenly fire. However, like the Downworlders they brought into being, they cannot easily, or permanently, be harmed by normal earthly weapons, so most Shadowhunter weapons are Marked to strengthen them against demons.
In addition to being repelled by direct seraphic energy, seraph blades being the most used, most demons can be warded off with holy symbols of all kinds. While holy objects or places cause violent reactions or sometimes harm in ordinary demons, they only result in slight discomfort in very powerful demons. Like vampires, demons also cannot stand the direct force of sunlight, though they can stand artificial lights with no ill effects.
One great advantage that Shadowhunters have in their fight against demons is that, while demons are able to detect the presence of other demons and Downworlders, they are unable to perceive the difference between mundanes and Shadowhunters, and are unable to sense the workings of angelic magic. This enables Shadowhunters to hide from them using glamours.[1] Sensors can also detect the presence of demons, and most demons are distinguishable and easily detected because of their rotting garbage stench.
Demon Pox
Astriola, most commonly known as demon pox, is an infection contracted by Nephilim through inappropriate relations with a demon, or a person infected with the disease. If untreated, it will inevitably result in the apparent demonification of it's bearer. Mundanes are immune to the disease. Shadowhunters are presumably prone to it because of their angelic blood.[1]
Creation
Sammael and Lilith, as illustrated in The Shadowhunter's Codex.[1]
The true origin of demons are unknown, though common belief is that demons "serve the Devil." It is believed that the fallen archangel Lucifer created and rule demons and turned Lilith into the first demon. Lilith, in turn, created more demons; While the more mythological story is that she scattered drops of her blood on the ground in the land of Edom, according to sources made available to the Conclave, demons were created after the angelic fall first appeared on the Earth during the travels of Lilith and her partner Sammael. The demons were soon banished by Heaven, from Earth to the Void.
Known Demons
Greater Demons
"Greater Demons" are demons who are more powerful and have distinctive identities.
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Lesser Demons
"Lesser demons" is the term used to refer to the demons with no identity or intellect and are so common that they fall under a particular species or classification.
Kinds:
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Individuals:
Unnamed Demons
- A huge, humped and massive demon with an armored body, many limbs, each of its appendage ending in a spiked chitinous talon. It has huge and splayed elephant feet. It has the head of a giant mosquito, complete with insectile eyes and a dangling blood-red feeding tube. It screams like a human and is very, very strong.[6]
- A demon that resembles a huge, awkward bird. It is an ugly, flying creature that resembles a pterodactyl, with wide, leathery wings and a bony triangular head. Its mouth is full of row upon row of serrated shark teeth, and its claws glint like straight razors. It has no eyes, only indentations on each side of its skull. The wings end in blade-sharp ridges of bone.[6]
- A demon that looks like animated skeleton, with a bloodied hatchet clutched in its bony hand.[5]
- A massive scaled demon with a thick, lizard-like body. It has two mouths: one with of serrated teeth running along its forehead where its eyes should be, and another on the lower half of its face, fanged with dripping tusks. It made up for its blindness with its keen sense of smell. It has a narrow tail edged with razor-sharp lines of bone. It has talons, huge claws and a long, forked tongue with a bulb at the end of it like a scorpion's stinger. One was among the demons that invaded Alicante and had even tried to rape Aline Penhallow, who alter killed it herself.
- A scaled, lizard-looking demon with rodent teeth and black claws.[5]
- Several other demons at Benedict Lightwood's party.[2]