Demons Master Thread

History and Ideology

Rapture’s demonic presence has been outspoken since the 1930’s. The portal to hell opened in 1913, and the demons slowly integrated themselves into the local infrastructure. When they revealed they were demons, the US wanted to bomb the city…. Until several celebrities and political figures around the world also revealed themselves to be demons. Tense negotiations ensued, in which the demons explained their stance.

The demons are not here to destroy the earth or anything of the sort. They fight for human’s freedom of choice. Very few of them actually influence humans to do bad. Humans simply do bad things on their own, and the demons offer their assistance for such choices.

Once this stance was explained, demons were allowed to stay in relative peace. Despite discrimination from humans (which all supernatural beings encounter in the Rapture universe) demons have created a charitable presence in Rapture. They run the organized criminal underground, sure, but they also provide shelters, soup kitchens, and job placement programs. They make a point of doing their best to protect the general population from negative supernatural occurrences.

Earning the spot; The Demon Hierarchy

Demons that are on the surface (that aren’t born there) are from hell. They work incredibly hard to be trusted with the privilege of walking on the surface among humans. However, if they die on the surface unexpectedly, they will not respawn in hell - they will stop existing at all.

Minor Demons

Minor demons are the lackeys of the demon world. They often resemble the classic demon - horns of varying shapes and sizes, spaded tails, bat wings. Oftentimes, they don't have a nose and have red skin. They look like this because they have less control over the way they look, usually due to inexperience.

The traits are usually frowned upon unless the demon in question has fairly human features. The humanoid features are called Glamours, and are somewhat of a status symbol.

Midlevel Demons

Midlevel demons have a good hold on their Glamours and are considered higher up on the ladder than Minors, but not as high as High Demons. The general populace of Rapture is Midlevel Demons - they look human, but have demonic powers. Their presence is often given away by oddly colored eyes (red, yellow, purple) and, of course, using their powers or being a known worker of the casino.

High Demons

High Demons are the most powerful demons, in hell or otherwise. They're the big bosses. Many of them are Satan's own children, strategically bred for strong powers. The rest of them earned their place through feats of strength, power, or wit.

The Seven Deadly Sins

All demons have an alignment to a Deadly Sin. It is considered by demons to be their biggest flaws. It is in this that demons are connected to humans, rather than angels, who are above such troubles. Sometimes the Sin dominates the demon’s personality, but usually it is simply the biggest current problem in the demon’s personality. These alignments can change rather easily as a result.

Born demons tend to develop their alignment later in life, in their late teens and early twenties. Minor demons may also encounter this. 

Demons made in hell tend to have alignments that coincide with their circle, though there are exceptions.

Pride
Prideful demons are selfish, overly confident in themselves, and tend to brush off others. The problem worsens then they have evidence to back up their claims.

Envy
Envious demons are jealous, and viciously so. Demons who suffer the most from this stop at nothing to get what they want.

Gluttony
Gluttonous demons tend to be quite pleasant. They’re happiest with food and drink, but aren’t necessarily snobs about their tastes. Tend to be good cooks.

Lust
Lustful demons can be insatiable, always wanting to revel in physical pleasure. Considering humanity’s sexual revolutions, they are easily pleased in the modern world and use their sin to their advantage.

Wrath
Wrathful demons are passive-aggressive and snarky. Unfettered by the circle restriction,  demons with this alignment can be violent, and always have a hard time controlling their anger.

Greed
Greedy demons tend to be skilled in earning money or whatever their objects of interest are. They are often good business people, though the ones more consumed by their greed tend to be hoarders or overly wealthy (think the 1%).

Sloth
Sloth demons often aren’t around on the surface. They’re too lazy to put in the work required to earn a spot on the surface. Those that are born don’t do anything. They just live life as humans.

The Unholy Patrons
These are High Demons. They represent the Seven Deadly Sins, and all of them are children of Satan in some way or another. Some were crafted, some were born. Demons can ask for advice from the Patron of their sin alignment.

Aphensholtis Drnus Elhouse; Sloth
Belial Meretin Ascenthis; Lust
Mammon; Wrath
Hinsethim Konsequis Malatar; Pride/Vanity
Gildenhos Ararven Ostile; Greed
Elmira Kenton Briggs; Gluttony
Seviron Amis Carthul; Envy

Feral Demons

Sometimes demons will lost control of themselves and give in to their dark nature. They become creatures of darkness, animalistic and filled with rage. They take on a new form with white eyes made of shadows that drip off of their body like flames.

Some of the demons - usually minor - are unable to break from this form, and remain this way for eternity. Others are able to get a little bit of control over their feral forms encounter a problem similar to werewolves, where they can revert to their more human forms, but occasionally have problems with shifting. This is the most common.

The last level of control demons can have is when they can transform into their feral forms at will. The more powerful demons, at this point, are able to alter their feral forms into different creatures. They tend to stick with a single form, but occasionally a demon will choose to become several different creatures. There have also been reports of demons taking a fully human form as a feral, though these are often written off as hearsay.

The Seven Circles of Hell

Demons are either born or are humans that have been suffering in hell long enough to take on demonic properties. They will often mention coming from a certain circle of hell. There is no rank for which circles are “better” or produce more powerful demons. They are simply separated by certain sin archetypes.

First Circle; Limbo
This circle tends to not produce demons, as it is simply a purgatory for those who do not follow Christian faith. It is a sub-par version of heaven - at least, the populated areas are. This “circle” surrounds all the levels of hell as a massive cavern with humongous stalagmites and stalactites. It is referred to by most demons as The Crags, and is often devoid of life.

Second Circle; Lust
You’d think people would be punished in Hell, but it turns out putting several people with the same flaws into an enclosed space leads to several shenanigans. This is especially true in the Lust circle. Demons from the Second tend to be succubi, incubi, or at least overtly sexual.

Third Circle; Gluttony
The Third is surprisingly pleasant, with expansive farmlands and many restaurants. They have a never-ending supply of food, and they definitely know how to make it taste good. Nectar is produced here, a potion/substance that changes the flavor of food it is mixed in with. With savory foods, Nectar will make it taste like your favorite savory dish. With sweets, Nectar will make it taste like your favorite sweet. The demons from this circle tend to be a little chubby for obvious reasons, but they are also wonderful cooks.

Fourth Circle; Greed
This circle is a thriving metropolitan city amongst the Crags. It’s mostly a business center, though there are shopping districts. The demons from here tend to be the most human-looking, as they spend their eternity fighting for a chance to make deals with humans on the surface. They are mostly business people, all having some sort of position in a corporate structure.

Fifth Circle; Anger
The residents here are those who are Wrathful, but do not act out their wrath. Humans that end up here slowly become more and more beastly, with spikes, talons, and twisted horns. They will eventually become near-/feral demons, all snapping at each other and avoiding each other. Demons that escape from this circle and end up on the surface can be forgiven for their sins, but only if they learn to handle their anger in a more productive way than bottling it up inside and letting it out passive-aggressively.

Sixth Circle; Heresy
This circle is dark and lit by many hellfires. It is populated by cultists, mostly Satanic. They all don black cloaks with large hoods, none of them seeing each other’s faces, and will viciously sacrifice any human or creature that passes through that is not a demon. Once a human that is sent here is sacrificed, they are reborn with their own cloak, and join the chanting around the fire. Demons tend to not appear on the surface from here; they are too busy with their rituals. If they ever do, it is to start more cults, much to Satan’s dismay.

Seventh Circle; Violence
The Seventh circle is stuck in a never-ending war. Murderers and abusers end up here if their crime was especially vicious or uncalled for (self-defense is not counted, but aggressive assault is, for example). Blood soaks the ground, and weapons are often salvaged from corpses. Those who are killed in battle respawn behind the enemy lines to join that side, and have to fight their former allies. The overarching drive in this war is to become very good at combat so you won’t die. Demons from this circle, therefore, tend to be skilled fighters.

Glamoured and Non-Glamoured Forms

Glamours for demons are a human appearance illusion, as mentioned earlier. It is an inborn alignment for illusion magic that allows demons to cast this passive spell. This alignment does not affect their other magical alignments, and is considered more of an ability than magic.

As for what the appearances, most demons start in hell. When somebody dies and goes to hell, they are reborn as a minor demon with the classic traits red skin, no nose, small horns, and a spaded tail). After about a decade of divine punishment, they can slowly Sculpt their appearance to what they would prefer to look like. This is when individual horns are formed, skin colors change, and tails are morphed. Sometimes demons even decide to grow extra body parts.
Because this is an instinct, demons go through this process subconsciously based on what they want to look like. There is no clear method of sculpture (though horns are often thought to be Sculpted by running hands along the desired shape, there is no proof as to whether or not this helps at all). After 2-3 years, the demon is finished Sculpting and looks to be their desired form. This can be changed later on, but it takes much longer (about five years). This is the process for a demon's Non-Glamoured form.

For the Glamoured form, this also comes with time. Demons consider this a personal journey, and will not offer any more than one tip to their underlings; "you'll just know how to do it when you can." This is often a source of frustration for minors, but they find that it is the truth. Demons describe it almost like a click in one's chest, and you're suddenly entirely human in appearance. 

Most often the demons look like they did in human life, but this appearance can be Sculpted as well. Unlike with their Non-Glamoured forms, however, a demon's Glamour is often Sculpted by their experiences as a demon. They will have a mildly unnatural appearance, the most common appearance change being oddly colored eyes. Yellow and Red are the most common eye color changes, though there are occasionally purple, green, and orange eyes. Irises will often glow with heightened emotions, and a descent into animalistic rage is designated by scleras turning black. Other unnatural appearances can be hair color changes (white and completely black are common) and slight body/face changes towards the demon's perception of beauty.

Some demons will be unhappy with looking entirely human for personal reasons and opt for a "half-Glamoured" form. They will look human, but allow their horns, wings, and tails to show through when applicable. Demons that do this often want to set themselves apart from humans.

Insulting a demon

Common slurs;
"Hellspawn"; referring to minors, specifically those who have not earned their way out of hell yet.
"Hellion"; a catch-all derogatory term for demons, considered a major slur.

Random Facts

• Minor demons will often run on all fours across rooftops, and sometimes on the street. It looks somewhat like this, with a less intense expression, of course.
• Demons can never have feathered wings, even vestigially. This privilege is granted to angels only. They can have feathers everywhere but their wings, however.
• It's common for half-demons to die young, in their twenties and thirties. When half-demons die, they go to hell and come back to the surface much sooner than demons that develop in hell. This is because they're often working with the other demons already in their lifetime.
• Demons have been widely accepted as the globe's first defense against supernaturals since the 1950's. They're pretty much everywhere - they're ingrained into history education in schools, even. They're as normal a part of society as a suburban household. 
  • This also means that big names (Satan of course, but also Crimson and the Patrons) are widely known. It's hard not to know, like politics of world leaders. (If those people stuck around for the past 80 years.)