Darklings

## Darkling

Bringers of madness

Archdemons (Cousins)

Demons (Cousins)

Shedim (Cousins)

Pagans (Cousins)

Riders of the Apocalypse (Cousins)

Reapers (Cousins)

Elementals (Cousins)

Chronologistes (Cousins)

Protosses (Cousins)

Abaddon (Uncle)

Shelob (Aunt)

Magna (Aunt)

Chronos (Uncle)

Ouros (Uncle)

Amon (Uncle)

Maveth (Aunt)

Freeing the Outer Gods

Serving the Great Old Ones

Dark Dimension (Homeworld)

### Powers

Mental powers capable to make people crazy and capable to cause chaos and mayhem with their mere presence.

## Production

### Appearences

Tribes of EastSeven Seals

Apocalypse

### Portrayed By

Various

> " Born in the Dark Dimension, these creatures are even worst than Demons, because Shelob made them herself, while Demons were spawned directly from Hell" - Differences between Demons and Darklings.
>
>

The Darklings are the descendants of the Outer Gods, cosmic abominations created by Shelob, the Primordial Being of Darkness. Seen as extremely powerful and savages, these creatures and their children, the Zerg, are considered by many one of the most dangerous and powerful species that has ever existed.

The Darklings are responsible for the *Dark War* and they guided multiple invasions on the Universe, trying to expand the Dark Dimension, hoping to free Shelob and release her powers on the entire cosmos.

## History

### Outer Gods

When Shelob was exiled in the Dark Dimension and trapped in the Mark of Shelob, she discovered that she still could create creatures and sent them away to continue her job. Seeing that the Demons were unfit to continue the Primordial War, Shelob created the Outer Gods, hoping to create more powerful and dangerous creatures.

To do so, Shelob first created Azatoth and then, when his powers proved too much for his body and physical form, she separated him from a portion of himself, which she used to create the other four Outer Gods: Nyarlathotep, Magnum Innominadum, Shub Niggurath and Yog Sothot. After this, she trained them to see if they were up to what she had created them for.

The Outer Gods were considered by Shelob a success, since they were much more powerful than the Archdemons and they proved also more skilled and dangerous with heir powers. In particular, Azatoth's powers were so great that Shelob believed he could easily outclass and destroy all the Archangels, with only Lucifer capable to hold his own for a short amount of time.

### Forming an army

After leaving the Dark Dimension, the Outer Gods continued to generate extreme material on themselves, creating the Great Old Ones, powerful creatures capable to become their generals, but being linked to the mind of the Outer Gods, just like them were linked to Azatoth, the original form of themselves.

As time passed, other weaker dark creatures were generated and spawned, giving birth to the Darkling species. This army was guided by the hive minds and everyone was forced to obey to their superiors, making this army united under one front.

As such, this army was soon unleashed on the Universe and they started to consume everything and turning it into the Dark Dimension, empowering themselves in the process.

### The Dark War

However, all this got the attention of the Angels and they soon started to wage war against these dark creatures, starting the *Dark War*. This war waged for centuries and more than once, the Darklings managed to turn the tides in their favor, forcing the Angels to back away to save themselves.

However, Lucifer managed to construct a plan to defeat the Outer Gods and their children by banishing their leader in the Dark Dimension, while the Great Old Ones were trapped inside the Earth, since they had managed to put enough of themselves there so that it was impossible for the Angels to kill them without destroying the entire planet in the process. By doing so, the Darkling would lose their unity and they would tear at each other and as such they would have destroyed their army, ending their treat to the Universe.

### Banishment

The plan proved a great success, since the Angels managed to defeat the Darklings, but the price would change the entire Universe forever: in fact, many Angels started to question why their father had never intervened during these conflict and why he had never chose to warn them of the danger to come. Even more, Lucifer started to change, becoming more violent and aggressive to his younger siblings, starting to isolate himself from all of them.

Even if destroyed, the Darklings were still capable to infect certain worlds and although they became savages with no mind to keep them in check, they continued to corrupt many worlds, especially those that they had already conquered.

### Corruption of Humanity

Moreover, the Great Old Ones were not completely isolated, but they had managed to open a passage in their prisons, allowing them to reach humanity and starting to convince humans to join their side in exchange for power. By doing so, Dark Druids and Dark Shamans were born and as such more danger for the world was yer to come.

## Characteristics

Born in the darkness, the Darklings are described as chaotic and monstrous creatures, capable to bring corruption and mayhem wherever they go: the Darklings are far more feared than Demons and Shedim, since they are capable to constantly change, making them nearly unpredictable, because there is little that someone can do to see them.

Due to their powers and aura, Darklings are the creatures that can hide less, especially the Outer Gods. Even a mortal can feel their presence and recognize it, since these creatures mere presence is more than enough to cause things around them to grow sick and to rot. When a Darkling is near his victim, the victim will feel uncomfortable and he will also feel a deep cold around them. Even the Archangels feel uncomfortable near the Darklings, as it has been indicated by how they reacted near them: Lucifer was corrupted by Azatoth, Michael'srage and paranoia were greately enchanted and Samael was always serious and dark near the Darklings.

In their true visage, their appearances can be physically impossible to tolerate as they can appear humanoid or animalistic which include natural traits of those like tentacles, internal organs that are place in the exterior state, genitalia, or celestial bodies. Mortals can grotesquely die from looking at their true visage as it would cause their eyes to bleed or scratch them, even regurgitating their entire organs of being unable to stand them. Suicide is also an option mortals would commit to stop their painful agony. Most Darklings don't cause their victims to die through mere physical appearance as this may be the case with one of their powers to cause such a horrific phenomenon.

## Types of Darklings

### Outer Gods

The progenitors of the entire Darkling race, the Outer Gods are the strongest Primordial Species to have ever existed, with their leader, Azatoth, being capable to defeat even a Nephalem sired by an Archangel/Archdemon with ease, demostrating a tremedous level of power. The Outer Gods are seen by many as the ultimate example of corruption and as true abominations, being completely beyond any chance of redemption. Even the Archdemons are fearful of these creatures and Diablo dared to challenge Azatoth only when he became the Prime Evil.

### Great Old Ones

The Great Old Ones are the first generation of Darklings, spawned directly from the Outer Gods and they exist only to guide the armies of the Outer Gods. They are feared by everyone and they are capable to fight against even the Seraphim and defeat them with ease.

#### Elder Gods

The Elder Gods are very old Darklings generated directly from the Great Old Ones and they are two times stronger than the Second Sphere Angels, making them particularly powerful and dangerous opponents, capable to cause serious damage toward those near them. However, the Elder Gods lack the right mind and they can easily become victims of the worst parts of themselves, becoming quite bloodthirsty when they want to be.

### Ravagers

One the wickedest kinds of Darklings, the Ravagers are nearly bestial creatures with no mind or reason: they are guided by their most primal instincts and the only thing that prevents them to go truly insane is the hive mind that links them to those stronger than them.

### Abominations

The Abominations are the weakest kind of Darklings and they are described as being nearly shapeless and there is no being that can truly see their true form, since it constantly changes. However, they are seen as creatures that must be dealt with extreme attention, because they can easily kill their opponents when you less expect it.

## Powers and Abilities

* **Alien Mind -** Not only do they appear alien-like but their minds are uncomprehending as no telepathy can withstand the minds of a Darkling, let alone coming back sane as mind readers can become insane just by looking inside a Darkling.
* **Immortality -** The age or lifespan of a Darkling is unknown however those such as Azatoth is said to be the originating force of the universe, thus this makes him older than 13.8 billions of years, although he is an Outer God. The Darklings can possibly live forever.
* **Mental Manipulation -** The Darklings are highly skilled into manipulating the minds of their opponents, bringing them closer to madness. In fact, they had proved more than once that they can drive their opponents crazy with very little effort, shattering even the sanity of beings as powerful as Angels. The Outer Gods and the Great Old Ones showed that they are capable to influence and bring to madness even Archangels, although they can fight the corruption as best as they can.
	+ **Fatal Countenance:** Particular Darklings can cause beings to die just from looking at their true visage. This does not apply to all Darklings, but they are still capable to cause serious harm to anyone that sees their true appearence.
	+ **Parafrosynikinesis:** Darklings have been known to cause chaos and mayhem when they enter the human world as they can manipulate the human minds, causing them to lose all of their sanity.
* **Reality Warping:** The Darklings can distort space and reality to destroy all that is logical, causing disruption of the natural laws of the physical universe. This power is what allows them to create a crack through the parallel worlds, allowing them to enter into the human world. The Great Old Ones broke through their prison thanks to this power.

## Weaknesses

### Banishing, Harming, Misleading, and Trapping

#### Beings

* **Blessed Humans -** Blessed Humans can weaken the powers of Darklings and they are immune to their mind powers, however, they can only resist as long as they are not attacked by beings more powerful than their blessings and they can still be killed by these monstrosities.

#### Items

* **Hive Mind -** It is shown that higher beings such as Outer Gods or Great Old Ones have a hierarchy among their lowly soldiers and control them through what is known as a Hive Mind. Stronger Darklings can control weaker ones, making them obedient without question. stronger Lovecraftians can see, hear, or communicate through the mind control.
* **Poor Concealment -** Despite their power, unfortunately a Darkling's presence can be felt by any individual, even humans, which makes it impossible for them to conceal their presence and hide from certain individuals. This will let entities know of their incoming presence.

### Killing or Destroying

#### Beings

* **Angels -** The Angels are the nemesis of Darklings and as such they are capable to kill the Darklings with their holy light attribute powers.
* **Demons -** Some Demons are capable to kill Darklings, but only if they have enough magical power.
* **Chronologistes -** Chronologistes can kill Darklings, but it would not be an easy fight.
* **Cosmic Entities -** The fragment of a Primordial Being can kill any Darkling with ease.
* **Higher Half Breeds -** Powerful Half Breeds can kill any Darkling, however, the strongest of them can be defeated only by very powerful opponents.
* **Primordial Beings -** The child of a Primordial Being can kill any Darkling with ease.
* **Primordial Species Level Entities -** Beings like Archangels , Archdemons , Outer Gods, Grimm Reapers, Apocalypse Horsemen, Protogenoi, Elemetal Emperors, Chronologistes and Monarches are capable to defeat any Darkling except those that reach at least a level of Omnipotence.
* **Riders of the Apocalypse -** The Riders of the Apocalypse can use their unique powers to seriously harm the Darklings, but they are capable to heal fast from these injuries.

#### Items

* **Mark of Cain -** Darklings are very vulnerable to the blast of this mark, since it is made by a light attribute. Only the Outer Gods stand a chance to survive it.
* **Primordial Species Weapons -** Weapons of Primordial Species can kill any Darkling, with only the Outer Gods capable to survive it.
* **Primordial Weapons -** Weapons of the Primordial Beings can kill any Darkling with ease.
* **Vice of Cain -** This weapon, when empowered by all Marks, can kill anything.