Guide on Novels and Games - FANTASY - MONSTERS - DEMONS

APPEARANCE:

Given that there is a very large quantity of type of demons is not really possible make a realistic list of them but in that case I'll have to make a list of more of 50 pages so I'll avoid that work but I think I can make a little list about their appearance:

* Humanoid, they appear like human but have physical features that make them different like horns, wings, tail, skin of a different color, etc.
* Beast, certain demons appear like animals or humanoid animals.
* Item, certain demons appear like items naturally while others possess items taking as their appearance the one of the item, for example a demon that possess a book will take the appearance of that book.
* Monsters, in this category fall all the demons that don't match the previous listed types.

Please note that is possible that some demons have naturally multiple appearance, in some cases they have them because they use magic while in others is because they hide their demon features for example a succubus can hide her tail and wings and for this reason appear like a normal human.

BIOLOGY:

Demons are difficult to place when we talk about biology thanks to their variety (see back the appearance section), but normally they all have the common trait of being weak against holy and puryfing powers and this come from their energy that is naturally "negative" and for this reason when their energy clash with positive/holy one, a disgregating/corrosive reaction take action damaging the demon.

In a story I know demons are energy based beings that originate into another plane of existence and that gain a physical body only when they arrive in our world and in this case is difficult to line their biology.

LIFESPAN:

The lifespan of demon monsters vary from monster to monster even because in certain stories demons don't really die but simply lost their physical bodies and go back in the their original plane of existence.

Personally I remember a story where there was a race that can live for some years, something like max 5 years, and compensate that to their high reproduction ability... don't really remember anything else so don't ask.

REPRODUCTION:

There are various ways that a demon as monster can use for reproduce and they are:

* Corruption, the demon "infect" a victim with a virus or a curse that corrupt the target and convert it into a member of its species. Example, a demon beast attack a human but fail to kill while instead scratch its arm, that to that the human begin to corrupt and start to change into the same type of demon beast that hurted it before.
* Normal reproduction, the demon found a partner and make a new monster the classical way, obviously the "way" change depending on the demon.
* Possesion, in certain ways is similar to the corruption way but while in the corruption the target is changed into a demon, in the possession case the demon or a part of a demon eat the mind and soul of the target taking their place and then changing the body. A variation of the possession happen when the demon or the part of a demon enter an item, in that case there are three possible results:
	+ The demon/part lost itself converting the item into a cursed one that influence the one that interact with it.
	+ The demon/part convert the item into its own body becoming a item-like demon.
	+ The demon/part fail to convert the item but don't lost itself becoming a cursed/demon item that eat away the user while changing it into a demon

VARIATION:

There are various type of demon monster but here I'll try to list the most famous one.

The first distinction that I have to do is based on how smart they are, only because they are monster don't mean that they are smart like a shoe:

* Brainless, in this category fall all the demons that lost themself and are now just empty shells with a power core.
* Instinct, the lowest level possible, they are moved just by instinct and can't talk.
* Low mind, they are smart enough for talk but sometimes talk with them is like see an adult talk with the character of a kid tv programm... in other words, they are stupid
* Smart, ... I'll go straight, they have a brain that works and are smart like humans or even more but this don't mean that they are sane

After lined this list I think that I can start with the list of variation:

* Undead, certain authors and people consider "undead" a type of demons while others consider them a type on their own... I believe that the reason for such thing come from the fact that necromancy is a dark art that is mostly considered a demonic type of magic, can make undead then undead are a type of demons... the moral is that anyone can consider undead an indipendent type, a type of demon or something that place itself between the two types, personally I opt for undeads as a class on their own and at the same time demons.
* Vampires, they are sometimes classified as undead because it's said that for become one you need to be drained dry by one of them... for me they are demons not undeads.
* Orc/Ogres/Oni, they are a type of demon physically oriented and this mean that instead hit you with a spell they use a giant mace.
* Fallen beings, this is a general "class" where I place holy beings and gods/goddesses that fall from their status and become corrupted becoming demons.
* Classes, said like this can create confusion so let me explain it better, sometimes in stories we can found monsters and demons that don't have a real name but the name of a class that sometimes are combined with a personal name... for example a class demon can be "witch of the sea", I remember I saw a demon monster with this name in a RPG but don't remember which one... anyway this simple example show how the name of a job can be used for name a race of demon like monster.
* Goblins/Imps, they originate from the european folklore but their traits change depending on the country... personally I consider them some kind of demon and their trait for being greedy, especially for gold and jewelry, make them bank owners and merchants. In a game that I play there is a goblin obsessed by weapons, so their trait can be used for various things.

This are just some type of demons and like I said before, the list is too long so I'll stop to this, after all is always better make reserch and based your own creation on the result that you can found instead found something somewhere that will always be changed in a way or another.