Daemon AU

Daemon AU is a type of Alternate Universe fanwork that incorporates daemons, the fictional creature that appears in His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman. Not to be confused with demon AU, an unrelated horror trope. Daemon AU works may also be a fusion with His Dark Materials, incorporating the events of the series into the world of the fic, or they may use the daemons and nothing else from HDM's world building.
In the book series, daemons are the external physical manifestation of a person's 'inner-self' that takes the form of an animal. Daemons have human intelligence, are capable of human speech—regardless of the form they take—and usually behave as though they are independent of their humans, although they cannot travel far away from their humans. Daemons frequently interact with each in other in ways that mirror the behavior of their humans, such as fighting one another when their humans are fighting, or nuzzling one another when their humans embrace, and such contact between daemons is unremarkable; in contrast, humans touching other people's daemons is taboo. When one's daemon dies, so does the human and vice versa.
In the books, the spelling used is always "dæmon." However, "daemon" is used more frequently in fandom because it is typed more easily.
Similar to the debate over how to sort characters in Hogwarts AUs, (or the forms of their Animagus or Patronus), different fic writers can have different ideas about what animal their character would have as a daemon. The daemon represents an important piece of characterization in daemon AUs.
Meanwhile, ship fic often expands upon the implied suggestion in the books that contact with another person's daemon contact feels sexual, or at least extremely intimate. 
In the books, it is typical for the daemon's gender/pronouns to be that of the opposite sex of their human. In many fanworks, the daemon's sex is an indicator of a character's sexuality, with same-sex daemons implying homosexuality. However, this trope has also been criticized as overly simplistic and dualistic, as well as unhelpful for ace, bi, trans or genderfluid characters. . Accessed 11. November 2021
Pullman has stated that the concept of daemons was inspired by several classic paintings of humans and their pets that he felt shared a "psychological link": da Vinci's Lady with an Ermine (c. 1489–1491), Holbein's Portrait of a Lady with a Squirrel and a Starling (c. 1526–1528), and Tiepolo's Young Woman with a Macaw (c.1758-1760).Robert Butler, "An Interview with Philip Pullman", Intelligent Life, 3 December 2007
==Example Fanworks==
* American Idol: sings the song without the words by astolat. Kris wants Adam to touch his dæmon. April 2010.
*Animorphs: Daemorphing by Poetry. 2011 - present. 
* Arrow: Monsters in the Dark by somethingelseornothingatall, Oliver/Felicity, Felicity has the ability to see guardians, spirits that protect the majority of people. Some guardians talk, others don't. Oliver Queen's is a sassy, chatty beast. She starts helping Oliver, forming Team Arrow, and getting drawn into the pull that is Hurricane Oliver. (Fantasy AU that rewrites S1; called "guardians" here). January 2015. 
* Bandom: read me like no one else (we'll make them so jealous) by foxxcub. Panic! at the Disco with dæmons. October 2007.
* Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Honest Souls by trinityofone. There was something wrong with Spike’s dæmon. October 2004, making it the earliest-known HDM fusion.
* Hawkeye: my heart beats so that i can hardly speak by weatheredlaw, Clint/Kate, The night they kissed, Clint tore himself away, eyes blown wide and mouth hot and red. Maggie was up his leg and cradling herself in his palm in a second. Kate reached out a hand for Sebastian and that was it. January 2013. 
* His Dark Materials: His Delicious Materials by sousverre. DunMeshi crossover. July 2024
* Inception: The Kind You Could Sing by foxxcub. Eames's dæmon does something that upsets Arthur. August 2010.
*Lord of the Rings: A Few Notes in the Song of Creation by kathkin. Series exploring the relationship between the members of the Fellowship and their daemons (or lack thereof, in the case of Gandalf, Gimli, and Legolas). May 2018- July 2019.
* Merlin: A Study in Natural Philosophy by mad_maudlin. Merlin hides his dæmon. February 2010.
* Percy Jackson & the Olympians: Four Times Percy Saw a Daemon Settle (and One That Didn't) by antistar_e. It was just a part of having ADHD, Percy's mom said, that his daemon has as short an attention span as he does, and changes shape as often as he looks at her. He shouldn't worry about it. April 2010.
* Sherlock: Asteroidea by etothepii. Mycroft has an unusual relationship with his dæmon. September 2010.
* SGA: Dæmonology by trinityofone. John's dæmon's form reflects self-sabotage. October 2005.
*Star Trek: TOS: Ni'Var by WerewolvesAreReal. July 2013. 
*Star Wars Expanded Universe: Luminous Creatures by celinamarnis. "Luke is the last of his friends to have his dæmon settle." May 2020. 
* SGA: Animus, Animalia, Familiae by tzzzz, written for the team challenge on sga_flashfic. To touch another's daemon is to touch another's soul. November 2008.
*South Park: Another Crossover Thing by Saboteuse. "The South Park characters have daemons, as in His Dark Materials. Basically, they have externalized souls in the forms of animals that best reflect them..." December 2004.
*Terminator: The Subtle Gate] by Tyellas. "Sarah throws ice over Grace in Terminator: Dark Fate - and what happens next is watched over by three daemons. As Dani goes out for chips and an important decision, two daemons make a connection." January 2020. 
* Thor Movieverse: The Insectivore by antistar_e. Two years before Jane hit a space alien with the Mystery Machine in the middle of the New Mexico desert, Darcy took a class on how to profile people's daemons. December 2012.
* Welcome to Night Vale: He Says He Is An Experimental Theologian by ErinPtah. November 2013 – April 2014. 
* Daemons Photography and the Male Gaze by Alicorn is a series of blog posts written in-character as an original character in a world with daemons and doing a version of media analysis. December 2013 – September 2017.
* The Daemon Chronicles by Kathryn of Sirria. An original story with influences from Tortall and daemons hosted on The Realm of Tortall. November 1999 – January 2000.
==Explanations from Fans==
==Links & Resources==
* Alternate Universe - Daemons tag at AO3
* Recs tagged Daemons at Fancake
==References==
Category:His Dark Materials
Category:Daemon AUCategory:Fusion AU