Eidolon

* Rhaego (Alpha)

**Eidolon** (pl. **Eidola**) is a shapeshifting daimon who can transform into any living being. In modern media, they are also known by the names **Doppelgänger**, **Shapeshifters**, or **Skin-walkers**.

## Overview

The **Doppelgänger** is a being that can transform into any person it chooses. It is said that whosoever meets it will die within a few days, and much folklore stems from this creature. They had also been said to become physical incarnations of psychological ailments.

## Summary

Like many other demonic creatures, eidola were the creations of the original demons who used them to wreak havoc in the mortal world, especially on Earth, and bring misery upon mankind. They, in particular, were created by the original Belial and the Alpha Eidolon, Rhaego, was adopted into the Belial Clan by its first head, Taeyne Belial.

After the Great War ended, the majority of daemon joined the Extra Demons and left the Netherworld to create their own civilization away from the devils and their new government. And while the eidola decided to join the other daemon in the Inferno, Rhaego and his own family line decided to stay in the Belial Territory while the rest of his kind moved there, led by his grandchildren.

Sometime in the early 1940s, a group of eidola decided to rebel against the Belial Clan by stealing the identity of multiple important politicians and businessmen in the United States and using their influence to push back the Belial Clan's influence on Earth. Their plans of rebellion, however, were quickly squashed by Diehauser Belial in 1999 and all perpetrators behind it were promptly arrested. According to Simon, this was the "true history" behind the reptilian conspiracy in human news.

## Appearance

In their transformed state, it is impossible to separate eidola from the being they shapeshifted into, though for humans, due to them only "borrowing" the appearance of a pre-existing person, there will always be two versions of said person, possible even more if their appearance is taken by more than one eidolon.

In their true form, eidola are giant slug-like creatures covered in gray pockmarks and a glowing gold "brain" floating inside the dark slime, and there is a retinal flare that shows when they are filmed or when light rays across their eyes.

## Characteristics

Eidola are among the most common species of greater daemon, often being compared to imps due to their high number. They couldn't reproduce among themselves and could only give birth to new eidola by impregnating females of other species, typically humans, and the offspring born will almost always eidola with only a very small chance of them being born a warlock.

When they are born, they are originally slug-like creatures before changing into their base human form several minutes after birth. Afterward, their demonic powers will be temporarily sealed until they reawaken it later in their life, often in their teenage years or in their adulthood, by killing someone they consider a family, regardless if it's by choice or by blood.

Typically, their mother will die delivering due to demonic power poisoning them in most cases and their shapeshifting powers will be unlocked from birth. If they survive, however, there is a very high chance that they will never awaken their shapeshifting powers and would live as ordinary mundanes for their entire life.

Due to their shapeshifting powers, the ones who have unlocked their demonic powers from early on tend to simply cycle through various forms and appearances and never settle on one particular permanent appearance. Those who awaken their powers later on, however, tend to stick with their original human form, though many do make some change to their body so that they may appear more attractive.

Like many other greater daemon, they are semi-immortals and can potentially live for indefinitely. However, due to the humanity originated from their human parents, most of them are incapable of withstanding the weight of immortality, and in most cases, they will fade away after 100-300 years after the last connections they had with their original life disappeared. When an eidolon fades away, their body will become petrified before slowly crumble down into dust.

While they are capable of turning into different animals and the physical form of different monsters and lesser daemon, most of them refrain from doing so. This is because when an eidolon shapeshifts into a human, their mind will also partially become that of the person they're changing into, and the more they change into someone, the more of said person's personality and characteristics will be adopted by the eidolon. The same principle also applies to animals, and by changing into animals multiple times, they will begin to lose their humanity and will slowly become that animal in both body and mind.

## Sub-Species

### Du'sien

**Du'sien** (ヅシアン, *Dzushian*) is a sub-species of eidola whose true form is abstract and irregular, like a greenish-gray wisp of smoke with a glowing black core, who can transform into any being whose flesh they have consumed, humans, animals, and monsters alike. They can also slipping into someone's body through their mouth, ears, and nostrils and possess their body, though some experienced du'siens can even possess inanimate beings such as statues, automatons, and even electronic devices.

## Weaknesses

* **Physical Damage**: Like the majority of supernatural species, eidola can still be killed through normal means if they receive a large amount of physical damage or fatal injuries that their regenerative power cannot heal them in time.
* **Animal (Dog)**: While they're not lesser daemon, the presence of eidola can be identified by dogs. The mere scent of one makes the dogs go entirely crazy, violent, and blood-thirsty, and they will immediately jump to attack the eidolon once they come into their view of visions. A single dog bite is enough to revert an eidolon back into their true form.
* **Light Element**: As dark creatures, eidola are vulnerable against the Light element. Sunlight will easily drain them of their stamina, not to mention exposure for an extended amount of time would cause immense burns ranging from third to fourth-degree. And as such, intense light, such as the one generated through Light Magic or used in the light constructs of angels and fallen angels are extremely deadly weapons against daemon like eidola.
* **Holy Attribute**: The bane of all demonic creatures. Religious symbols, scriptures, and prayers are extremely effective when defending oneself against an eidolon's demonic powers, and items imbued with the holy attribute such as holy water or consecrated oil are the typical items used when fighting against them. However, depending on the amount of demonic power an eidolon possesses, the holy attribute's effects have upon them may differ, as the greater the amount of one's demonic power, the less effective the attribute will be upon them, and vice versa.
	+ **Reciting Scriptures**: Eidola consider hearing recited texts from the Bible, the Tanakh, the Quran, or any religious scriptures within theAbrahamic religions to be torturous for them. They will suffer from intense headaches from hearing the reciting texts alone, and if they are exposed to them for an extended amount of time, they suffer from traumatic brain injuries that can potentially kill them.
	+ **Holy Ground**: Eidola are physically incapable of entering religious grounds, such as churches, synagogues, mosques, or other hallowed grounds associated with the Abrahamic religions. When entering pagan temples and shrines, they will suffer headaches that will increase by every minute they spend on the ground.
	+ **Holy Weapons**: Eidola can be wounded or killed by weapons imbued with the holy attribute, such as holy swords or Sacred Gears with divine properties, such as Blade Blacksmith or Twilight Healing.
		- **Heavenly Weapons**: Weapons of heavenly origins can easily kill them.
* **Celestial Metals**: Weapons made out of sacred metals can be used against the majority of supernatural beings, eidola included.
* **Primordial Regalia**: Weapons and artifacts belonging to the primordial entities can be used to permanently and absolutely destroy every and any being in existence, aside from other primordial entities, and erase their existence completely so that they can never be reborn or resurrected without the involvement of God.

## Population

The majority of adult eidola can either be found in the Belial Territory within the Netherworld, or in the Inferno with the Extra Demons and the majority of other daemon. Other than that, there are also some eidola who live on Earth among humans for their own reasons, neutral and nefarious reasons alike, and in big cities like New York City or Los Angeles, a community of eidola can be found in their downworld.

According to Magnus, due to the fact that many eidola never awaken their demonic powers, they still continue their life as ordinary humans among the mundanes and after a couple of generations, around the line of their great-grandchildren or later, the eidolon genes will disappear from their bloodline.

## Trivia

* The name, *eidolon*, means "image", "idol", "double", "apparition", "phantom" or "ghost".
	+ "Doppelgänger" is German for "double-wakers".
	+ In ancient Greek literature, eidolon is a spirit-image of a living or dead person; a shade or phantom look-alike of the human form and is associated with the idea of *kleos*. Both Homer and Euripides believed that Helen of Troy was never taken to Troy but an eidolon was sent in her stead.
		- In Theosophy, the astral double or perispirit or kamarupa after death, before its disintegration, is identified with the *eidolon*.
* In the Underworld, they mainly inhabit the Circle of Sloth among other specter daemon.
* It's considered bad luck to see an eidolon mid-transformation.
	+ It's a well-known bad omen to see an eidolon transformed into yourself.
* Their skin can secrate a type of slime-like sweat which can transform into any clothing they want.
* They can only breed with human women and the offspring is almost always another eidolon.
	+ It is unknown if an eidolon can breed with a human man, though it's implied to be possible.
	+ An eidolon named Charles Douglas had a human twin brother, suggesting that in such cases, not all children will be born eidola or warlocks, and some might even be born humans.
* Unlike other supernatural creatures, they are incapable of noticing others of their own kind.
* Despite popular belief, they are neither ghosts or undeads.
* While they are known as "skin-walkers", they don't seem to have any similarity with the monster of the same name from Najavo mythology, other than the shared power of shapeshifting.