Imp Imps ( also known as fel sprites ) are small , cackling demons - evil immortals who feed upon life and magic . They delight in inflicting suffering , spreading corruption , and , of course , destroying all that is good . Most demons were once mortal . Not all demons are sentient : various animals have been transformed into demons , for instance . In order to become a demon , a creature must be infused with fel energy . As the existence of non - sentient demons suggests , a creature ' s wishes are irrelevant to the process . Willing or not , a creature can be changed into a demon . Such a transformation alters the affected creature on a fundamental level and typically leaves little or nothing of that creature ' s original personality . Background . An Impish Dimension . Unstable energies coalesced into an astral dimension known as the Twisting Nether and the creatures that emerged from this realm were known as demons . Demons came in many forms , their appearance constantly twisting by the Twisting Nether itself . One such form demons come in is the imp mother . It is said that imp mothers , through a mini - portal in their stomach , barf imps into creation . Professions of the Cosmos . Warlocks . In the face of demonic power , most heroes see death . Warlocks see only opportunity . Dominance is their aim , and they have found a path to it in the dark arts . These voracious spellcasters summon demonic minions to fight beside them . At first , they command only the service of imps . Types of imp . An imp is an imp yet not all imps are the same . It is important to note though that one imp described as , let ' s state , a fel sprite is extremely similar to a hellish imp in the sense that they are both fel sprites and hellish . Speculation . Are imps astral spirits . Unstable energies coalesced into the astral dimension known as the Twisting Nether . Because the Twisting Nether is just an astral coalition of astral , unstable energies that is separate from the physical universe , the Twisting Nether has no physical borders or boundaries . It is a non - physical place that transcends all realities and is , essentially , not real . As such , imps — entities that transcend all realities because they ' re from the Twisting Nether — are not physically existent and are , therefore , not " real " . They are non - physical beings — disembodied spirits that warlocks can give constructed shells to — if they ' re from the Twisting Nether and claiming that the physical can exist inside the non - physical is akin to claiming that a rock can exist inside a ghost . Despite that fact , the Blizzard writer Matt Burns stated that he thinks there are physical stuff in the Twisting Nether after he was asked if demons are disembodied spirits that warlocks can give physical shells to . Truth be told , he can ' t honestly believe that because the non - physical is separate from the physical . If the physical can exist inside the non - physical , it stands to reason that a physical being can possess a spirit as if it ' s a spirit . Are imps constructs ? Warlock magics are demonic powers of entropy and destruction , a process that would involve demons as imps because warlock magics are demonic . Imps are constructs if they can be destroyed ( death is for the living while destruction is for constructs ) because destruction is the process of destroying structures , breaking them down into the parts that they ' re constructed of . If imps are constructs , which are not living things , perhaps the study and use of magic to raise and control these beings is necromancy - the study and use of magic to raise and / or control the dead . Imps , as a side note , resemble homonculi , demons that can be constructed . Are demons such as imps Fel Fire ' s source ? Fel flame is flame born from demonic magic - the magic of demons such as imps . Despite that fact , Blizzard ' s Historian Sean Copeland stated that demons aren ' t the source of fel magic , stating that the nature of this magic is created from destroying something else . If Sean was telling the truth when he claimed that demons aren ' t the source of fel magic but contain fel magic , imps were infused with fel magic - a process that would make their skin crack until they explode into smithereens . After he was asked how demons can be alive since fel magic is destructive , Sean Copeland stated that it ' s magic . Unfortunately , he deleted his twitter account before someone could take a picture of this seemingly foolish claim . Are imps former grell ? Grell are forest spirits that resemble imps and are therefore demonic - of , from , or resembling , demons . It could be possible that the grell infused with the evil , fel powers of the fel moss became demons .