Demons

Taydeus, the first Upper-Level demon in the series.

**Demons** (or **Inferi**) are cruel, power-hungry and vicious magical beings who commonly prey on other magical creatures and innocents. Almost all demons are immortal, though some require additional powers or rituals to sustain their immortality. They are the mortal enemies of witches, with their feuding going back for thousands of years.

Most demons seem to keep the appearance of an ordinary human, either by nature or with magical help. It is also common for certain upper-level demons to possess a primordial form rather than a physical form that requires forcefully taking control of the body of a living person to manifest on Earth.

Due to their extremely individualistic values, the demon world is built on fear and violence, thus they are heavily divided. However, as Parker Caine described it, the demon world is very much like the mafia, showing great respect for family and leadership. They also have a peculiar moral code and sense of togetherness on some level.

The death of a demon is *generally* referred to as "vanquishing the demon." Some demons require a specific spell, sometimes needing to be blessed by the Power of Three. While most vanquishes are usually instantaneous, there are cases in which the entire process can take time if the demon is upper-level (such as when Taydeus took a few seconds to explode after he died or when the spell to vanquish Lainey, the queen of the Cicada Demons, was slow causing Macy Vaughn to have to crush her with a control panel).

Demons also have developed a language called "Illevaihcam". Some older dialects can only be translated by certain demons.

## Demon Classification

### *By Hierarchy*

#### Rulers of the Underworld

These are the most powerful demons at the top of the demon hierarchy:

* The Source of All Evil
* The Demon Overlord

Aside from the Source, demons are categorized as the following: "Vagrants", "Malignants", "Carnals", and "Primordials".

#### Upper-Level Demons

Upper-level demons are very powerful demons with high status. These demons usually require the Power of Three to vanquish, and some of them are also impervious, or at least resilient, to physical harm. Despite his power, the Harbinger of Hell was vulnerable to sugar due to his physiology having a high concentration of sulphuric acid, which reacts violently with sugar. Some examples of these demons are:

* Caine Family
	+ Alastor †
	+ Hunter Caine †
* Taydeus †
* The Harbinger of Hell †
* The Maestro †
* Viralis †
* Zagan the Great †
* Godric
* Demon Boss
* Fenric the Vile

#### Lower-Level Demons

Low-level demons are demons with basic powers. They are easier to vanquish and don't usually require the Power of Three. Some of them don't even require magical means. For example, Possessor Demons have an acid-based composition and are easily destroyed by sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), an alkali substance that neutralizes acid. Rat Demons are also vulnerable to standard rat poison. Some examples of these demons are:

* Unnamed Possessor Demon †
* Unnamed Imposter Demon †
* Skeleton Demon (manifestation) †
* Lainey †
* Chip †
* Wes †
* Unnamed Abiku †
* First Rat Demon †
* Second Rat Demon †
* Third Rat Demon
* Callum †
* Earl †

### *By Type*

* Possessor Demons
* Demon Dogs
* Imposter Demons
* Shadow Demons
* Shapeshifters
* Succubus
* Cicada Demons
* Gorgons
* Abiku Demons
* Banshees
* Vampire
* Rat Demons
* Bee Demons
* Pyroniks
* Shokravus Demons (extinct)
* Kadal Demons
* Demon Mammon (only mentioned)

## Demonic Conversion

Demonic conversion is a process in which mortals and other beings are transformed into demons. A conversion may cause physical changes, as seen with Medusa, who was transformed into a gorgon by the goddess Athena. Demonic conversions can also take place through the usage of blood magic. In exchange for immortality, the Necromancer, Knansie, made a deal with an upper-level demon to use demon blood in her resurrections. The use of demon blood caused a transmutation in the resurrected individuals, eventually making them become demonic. This eventually led to Macy Vaughn, a witch and a previous Charmed One, resurrected when she was a baby, to develop demonic powers. The witch, Cyd, hunted Knansie for many years after she had the Necromancer resurrect her lover, only for him to subsequently turn demonic and she was forced to vanquish him.

## Power and Abilities

*Standard Demonic Powers*
* **Demonic Translation:** Due their demonic nature, they have the power to interpret demonic written language and possibly spoken too. Demonic languages may vary and not all demons are aware of all of them.
* **Enhanced Durability:** The power to withstand physical attacks and in some cases invulnerability to pain.
* **Immortality:** Many or all demons have forms of immortality, which allows them to live, presumably eternal lives. In some demons, their immortality may depend on them casting specific rituals.
* **Immunity:** Demons are immune to some magical effects. Some demons may be immune to certain magical effects or powers, while others may not. It has been stated that all are immune to the effects of pixie dust.
* **Limited Shapeshifting:** Demons have shown the ability to manifest their demonic traits, such as colored glowing eyes or even full demon forms. Some other demons have forms specific to their species, which may be based on animals or animal-like creatures.
	+ **Voice Manipulation:** In addition to making their eyes shift or manifesting a full demonic form, a demon's voice will deepen and sound more threatening, and often will be accompanied by echoes.

*Other Powers*
* **Spell Casting:** Some demons have the ability to perform rituals and spells to achieve certain magical effects.
* **Individual Powers:** Demons possess magical abilities that can vary from demon to demon. The nature of these abilities may come from the demon's heritage, but they may also be personal powers, based on their own skills and/or characteristics. Some species of demons are identified by their powers.

## Weaknesses

* **Death of Magic:** All demons without exception are tied to the Black Amber Tree. If the tree dies, all magic dies with it, along with them all.
* **Demonic Power Stripping Ritual:** Despite being immortal, their immortality could be stripped, along with all other demonic traits, effectively becoming mortals, leaving them defenseless and killable.
* **Weapons lined with salt:** Stabbing lower-level demons with weapons mixed with salt will desiccate and ultimately vanquish them.
* **The Power of Three:** The combined might of the Charmed Ones through the Power of Three is capable of destroying almost any demon.

## Trivia

* When vanquished, demonic corpses tend to explode/vanish to prevent demonic existence from being discovered by mortals.
* From the second to the fourth seasons, it was shown that smoking and smoky attributes are common among demons.
* Most of the more powerful demons have a certain degree of enhanced durability, thereby can survive attacks that normally would be lethal. According to Harry Greenwood in "*Touched by a Demon*", the common characteristics of most demons include thickened skin with fraying nerves, which contributes to the dulling of their pain receptors.
	+ This was demonstrated in "*Keep Calm and Harry On*", when the demon Alastor showed absolutely no pain after he was stabbed by a knife in his forehead, but he also used it to cut his own face to reveal his demonic form without showing any sign of pain.
	+ However, it seems that some demons can still feel pain, as Hunter Caine was visibly in pain after he was attacked by the Sarcana's crows in "*Jingle Hell*". Alastor also showed a flash of pain from the dagger thrown in his side by Parker Caine in "*Red Rain*". However, this could be because the attacks were magical in nature.
* It was revealed in "*Things to Do in Seattle When You're Dead*" that demons have at least four different classes, particularly known as "Vagrants", "Malignants", "Carnals", and "Primordials". All of them had been at war against each other and witches for centuries.
* In "*The Rules of Engagement*", Parker claimed that demons honor the family like the mafia. In "*Unveiled*", this was demonstrated in a perverse way when Earl was obsessed with wanting Ruby and Patricia Malone back because he considered them his family.
* According to Harry in "*Careful What You Witch For*", salt is able to speed up the desiccation of certain demons.
* According to Joey Falco, "demons are not capable of human morality, discerning right and wrong", even though Macy Vaughn believed that "the entire concept of demons, good and evil, is wrong" and "you are defined by your actions, not your nature."
	+ However, with Macy being only part demon, it is her human half that allows her to choose good over evil.
* It has never been directly stated how demons get their powers. However, even though they seem to inherit some abilities from their demonic parents, it appears that their powers may come from their own personalities, similarly to witches. An example of this would be the Caine Family. Even though all of Alastor's children are stated to have inherited his Mind Melding power, it seems that their own powers are unique to them - with Alastor himself being some sort of pyrokinetic demon, while Hunter was a Shapeshifter and Parker was a Shadow Demon.

## See Also

* Half-Demons
* Demon-Witches
* Demon Overlord
* Demonic Translation
* The Underworld

## References

1. ↑ *Jingle Hell*
2. ↑ As seen in *Pilot*
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 *Bug a Boo*
4. ↑ *Search Party*
5. ↑ *You're Dead to Me*
6. ↑ *Switches & Stones*
7. ↑ *The Replacement*