Demons

* Eyes
* Eye colors
* Smoke form

5, 6, 7, 8, 9

**Demons** are malevolent spiritual entities that are the direct opposites to angels. They are created from human souls that have endured extensive torture in Hell by Alastair and other demons. In this process, they become corrupted, extremely evil, and also very powerful. Similar to Angels, they require a vessel to walk the Earth, though they are able to roam in their smoke form. The species as a whole functions as the series' primary antagonists and are the most recurring supernatural creatures in the series.

## Characteristics

Demons are the result of human souls going to Hell and being tortured until no humanity is left in them, thus turning into demons - dark, malicious spirits that revel in pain, chaos, and death. According to Ruby, most demons forget what it means to be human. Some have even forgotten that they were once human. In general, demons engage in torture and destruction because it is fun or to avoid being tortured themselves. Some demons, however, are true believers in Lucifer's agenda to "cleanse" Earth, and actually consider themselves morally superior to humans.

There are many ways of becoming a demon, from making a deal with a Crossroad Demon, to being a witch, and making a deal with another demon. They manifest on Earth in the form of a long, slender cloud of black smoke. Crowley appears as the only exception, appearing as a blood-red cloud. Their true forms have not been shown onscreen, however Dean has seen their true forms, before he was taken to Hell. He says they look horrible even going as far to call Ruby "one ugly broad."

Once a soul becomes a demon, it gains the basic demonic powers (possession, superhuman strength, etc.) and from there, it can work its way up the ladder to positions of greater authority and power within Hell. Often when a demon has used its powers, they leave a trace of sulfur in the nearby space, or if on a person, around the victim. This can give away the demon's presence, indicating to hunters that they are hunting a demon. Very powerful demons leave much more sulfur than average, as evidenced when Azazel kidnapped Sam. Some demons are sent back to Earth to accomplish certain tasks, such as causing disasters, spreading diseases, assassinating hunters, or manipulating people into committing crimes that will get them sent to Hell. To do this, they have to take a vessel or "meatsuit" in order to physically exist. While nearly all demons desire to escape Hell any chance they get, some demons actually prefer Hell, like Alastair, and even have never left Hell after becoming a demon like Belphegor.

When they possess humans, they usually enter through their mouths. On one occasion, a demon entered a human via the eyes (as seen in the episode *Phantom Traveler*). Possessed humans often look exactly the same as they did before possession, the only noticeable change being that their eyes will sometimes change color (black, red, white, grey, or yellow depending on the demon possessing them). Demon possession also causes a chemical change in the circulatory system of the host; demon blood is known to be a unique serum and has certain attributes when ingested. Whenever they use their powers, they leave a trace of sulfur in the form of yellow dust. Angels and other supernatural beings can see the true faces of demons underneath their vessels.

Often under possession the human begins speaking and acting like the demon would. Upon exorcism, the human—if they survived—retains no memory of their time during possession (unless they have been "awake" during possession, in which case the time of possession is a nightmare for them, literally). The possessed humans also gain the powers of whichever demon is possessing them. Unlike angels, whose possession of a human vessel has to be with the vessel's consent, demons forcibly possess humans. People suffering from stress, fear or panic can be vulnerable to demonic possession. Demons abhor the name of God (*Christo*), and will flinch and reveal the vessels black eyes if it hears the word.

Demons apparently cannot leave a host body if they are gagged by an encrypted gag; Sam and Dean make use of this tactic against the *Phantom Traveler* via blindsiding it and taping its mouth shut, while both Meg and Ruby have been gagged while undergoing torture to prevent them from fleeing their hosts.

Demons have no quarrel with killing or torturing their own kind to achieve their goals. Tom, for example, tested the fake Colt by shooting his demonic "sister" Meg. When pitted against other demons due to their individual goals, Ruby, Crowley, and Meg herself have killed their own kind without pause or remorse. High-ranking demons will casually sacrifice their underlings without hesitation. At the same time, though, some demons forge bonds with their siblings. Azazel, for example, referred to Meg and Tom as his "children" and was angered when Sam and Dean exorcised Meg and killed Tom (*Devil's Trap*).

It is revealed that demons, although being tortured and twisted human souls, can be cured. Father Max Thompson, a member of Men of Letters, tried to find this cure, having made several experiments, but always ending with the demons' escape. Finally, he found that it is necessary to perform it on sacred ground and use purified blood to heal a demon. He injected his own purified blood into the demon hourly eight times and after the eighth he recited the exorcism achieving the cure. Sam later used this cure successfully on Dean.

Like angels, demons tend to dress in formal wear while possessing a human, wearing dark suits in contrast to the lighter colored suits worn by angels. Some demons prefer whatever outfit the human was wearing. A notable exception is Crowley, who despises anything other than a well-tailored, dry-cleaned suit. However, demons such as Meg, Ruby and Duke prefer leather jackets. Certain crossroads demons, especially ones in female vessels, wear appealing outfits to appease their clients.

Although demons are born from twisted and tortured souls and are notorious for their vicious nature, demons under Crowley tend to act much like regular humans in that they operate in a business-like fashion and rarely exhibit unrestrained behavior. One demon explained that "You can be damned and a conscientious worker." A majority of the demons do not recall their time as a human.

Some demons also emit demonic omens in their presence. They can range from electronic failure to cattle deaths.

It is revealed by The Shadow in the Season 13 episode "The Big Empty" that all demons go to a dimension called The Empty when they die. Once there, they slumber for eternity along with angels who are also sent to the dimension.

It is also revealed that demons of separate genders tend to behave differently than the other. For example, male demons like Crowley and Azazel act in a serious business manner showing superior professionalism and use fear to get what they want. Meanwhile female demons, especially Ruby, Meg and Lilith use smooth talking and sex to manipulate people into doing what they want. They are extremely sexually inclined throwing pick-up lines into their conversations, and attempting to seduce virtually any man they meet, whether it’s to make a deal or just to satisfy their sexual pleasure.

### The Military Hierarchy of Demons

* White-eyed Demons - These are Lucifer's second-in-the-command in terms of military, because they are the Hell's demon chiefs of staff.
* Yellow-eyed Demons - These are the demon army generals.
* Red-eyed Demons - These are the demon deal-makers.
* **Black-eyed Demons** - These are the masses of mindless drones, because they are just soldiers, thugs, henchmen and minions.
	+ Knights of Hell - The Knights of Hell are as said by Cain "soldiers", since they are also black-eyed demons.  The fact that they are powerful despite low authority, making the Knights to the elite demon soldiers.

### The Royal Hierarchy of Demons

* Ruler of Hell - The King of Hell is the position and top title authority in Hell.
* Princes of Hell - They are said to be the next at the throne of Hell, a claim matched only by one other demon, Lilith.
* Ruler of the Crossroads - The King of crossroads is the position which is the Leader of all crossroads demons.

## Types of Demons

* White-eyed Demons
* Princes of Hell/Yellow-eyed Demons
* Knights of Hell
* Crossroads Demons
* Black-eyed Demons
* Others

White-eyed demons are ancient demons, Lilith being the oldest of the demon kind. They're terrifyingly powerful and they rank the highest in the hierarchy of Hell acting as the demonic chiefs of staff of some sorts according to the writers. They inspire fear in their subordinates as all other demons seem to be terrified of them. Being as powerful as they are, they were resistant to many demonic weaknesses. They were even capable of holding their own against regular angels. So far, the only known demons of this type are Lilith and Alastair.

The yellow-eyed demons are the Princes of Hell, the first generation of demons created after Lilith and the rightful rulers of Hell. The four Princes are Azazel, Ramiel, Asmodeus and Dagon. Besides having a unique durability threshold and advanced telekinesis, Azazel could manipulate fire, control dreams, make electrical devices go haywire, and could even possess reapers. The initial leader of the demon army, Azazel was the designer of the master plan to free Lucifer from Hell. He was impervious to holy water and most other conventional defenses against demons, but was finally killed by the Colt. Ramiel proved impervious to the demon-killing knife and an angel blade and only showed vulnerability to the Lance of Michael. Dagon had the ability to kill angels with her bare hands. Castiel killed Dagon with the help of the Nephilim Jack. Asmodeus was described to be the weakest of the Princes. However, with the help of stolen archangel grace, he was able to boost himself into acquiring abilities like shapeshifting. Asmodeus was later killed by the archangel Gabriel, leaving the Princes of Hell extinct.

In the Non-Canon Supernatural: The Animation is Azazel a fallen Angel and becoming to the only known Yellow-eyed Demon and the leader of the entire of the demon race.

Knights of Hell are very powerful demons, said to be some of the first demons; handpicked by Lucifer himself, they were trained by Cain, the Father of Murder and himself the first Knight. Legend among Men of Letters had it that the archangels have destroyed all but one, but in truth Cain himself killed them. Knights possess a number of abilities not seen from other types of demons. They are also nearly invulnerable, being resilient to many defenses against demons, including exorcism rites and even the demon-killing knife. The only weapon that can kill one is the First Blade. With Abaddon's death and Dean being cured, Cain was the only Knight left until Dean ended him after Cain began killing again and leaving the Knights of Hell extinct.

Red-eyed demons, more called Crossroads Demons, are one level higher than black-eyed demons, and have more powerful abilities, such as teleportation and deal making. Since red-eyed demons have the ability to teleport, they are usually stationed as crossroad demons, so they can teleport to the crossroads without having to be forcefully summoned. As crossroads demons, they make deals with humans, granting them one wish in exchange for their soul. In a period of time, normally ten years, a hellhound will be sent after the deal maker and drag them to Hell, where they will become a demon. While stationed as crossroad demons, red-eyed demons generally possess attractive females, presumably to attract men to make a deal. If favored by the Ruler of Hell, or another higher demon, red-eyed demons can be promoted from a crossroads demon to a higher position.
The most common and standard class of demons on the show, black-eyed demons possess only basic powers, such as possession, super strength and telekinesis. Effective defenses against these demons include holy water, salt, iron, a Devil's Trap, etc. Stronger black-eyed demons, such as Meg or the Seven Deadly Sins, have more resistance such as not being barred from entering hallowed ground and one demon, Astaroth, is shown to have the ability of causing internal bleeding and extensive magical knowledge, such as when she recites a ritual to exorcise Ruby from her body. Astaroth was also able to stop a bullet shot from the Colt in mid-air. Although the Knights of Hell are black eyed demons, they are far more powerful and possess much greater abilities.

The Acheri are a type of demon that can materialize their own form without the need of the use of a vessel, generally, if not always, taking the form of little girls. They can be summoned and controlled.

Cambions are demon/human hybrids, which are created when a demon reproduces with a female human virgin, by using said human as a vessel. Jesse Turner is the only known cambion. Their powers far exceed that of any demon and grow to much greater levels when Lucifer is out of his cage.

The Daeva are a type of demon, that can materialize their own form to that of a shadow which can be summoned and employed by other demons similar to hellhound.

Tempter Demons were a type of demon that existed in an alternate universe. They had horns and sharp teeth. God destroyed their whole universe with them in it, and thus extinguishing the whole species.
### Special Demons

* The multicolored-eyed demon, Samhain, the origin of Halloween, who can be summoned through three blood sacrifices every 600 years.
* The Seven Deadly Sins, the physical embodiments of the eponymous sins.
* The daeva, Zoroastrian shadow demons, who are sometimes used by other demons to attack targets, but are difficult to control, and can turn on the demon controlling them. They do not seem to require a host.
* Disaster Demons, a demon that causes disasters, a rare type, each causes a specific type of disasters, both natural or man made as on the episode *Phantom Traveler* (causing airplane crashes). They are also quite unique, as their form on Earth resembles insects more than smoke, they enter their victims through the eyes, and only the irises turn black when possessing a victim. They can also possess inanimate objects such as cars and planes.
* The Acheri, demons that appear as young girls with feline features. They do not seem to require a host.
* Dever/Reshef (theorized) - Demon of plague and pestilence and the creator of the Croatoan Virus. May be one of the demons that causes disasters. "Dever" and "Reshef" are ancient Hebrew words for "plague", metioned in the Old Testament.*Croatoan*
* The cambion Jesse Turner, a boy born from a human woman while possessed by a demon, was meant to become the Antichrist, destined to help Lucifer not only destroy humanity, but also destroy the Host of Heaven. Lucifer's presence on Earth increased his powers tremendously. Even though he was still a child, he was powerful enough to turn Castiel into a toy figure. However, thanks to Sam and Dean's encouragement, Jesse rejected his destiny and went into hiding.
* Tempter Demons were a type of demon that existed in an alternate universe. They are the only known type of demon to possess horns. God destroyed their whole universe with them in it, and thus extinguishing the whole species.
	+ The demon crowned Prince of Hell from a non-canon novel, Belial was described as having a goat like appearance, so it's possible he had horns as well.
* Green-eyed Demons, demons that were only mentioned one time, but never seen.
* Orange-eyed Demons (non-canon), a rare type of demon mentioned in Bobby Singer's Guide to Hunting, Bobby compared the behavior of these demons with those of the demon who possessed his wife, Karen.
* Moa'ah (non-canon), is a unique demonic breed of creature which is commonly found in Southern America. It's commonly found on land which supported massive carnage. According to Castiel, it was very common to be found on The Civil War battlefields where both sides (Union and Confederate) spilled their blood on fierce battles, but they somehow wiped out to the point it was no longer detected, even by the angels. It's very presence on a land is a signal of the Apocalypse.
* Belphegor was a demon whose eye color is neither black or red. It is important to note that this demon possessed a host whose eyes were burnt out, which prevented it from displaying its eye-color.

## Powers and Abilities

After their spiritual decay is complete, demons develop supernatural abilities. It is unknown how demons' powers increase. However, it seems they do not gain it purely from age as Crowley is far more powerful than Meg and Ruby, despite being hundreds of years younger than them. Additionally, Belphegor, who was presumably thousands of years old, only appeared to have the regular low-level powers of a demon, being weaker than other demons, the Seraphim Castiel and even the Woman in White Constance Welch.

### Low-Level Powers

These abilities are possessed by all demons.

* **Demonic Possession** - Like angels, most demons (only known exceptions are Acheri and Daeva) require a human vessel or "meatsuit" to travel on Earth. Unlike angels, they do not need a person's consent. Also unlike angels, demons can possess corpses. It is easier to take control of people who are in states of heightened emotions or fear. When possessing a human, the Demon invades their muscles, bones and brains and can also access their host's memories while possessing them (even if it is a brief possession). This ability can be thwarted by Anti-possession tattoos. Also under certain circumstances, the person being possessed can regain control if his or her will is strong enough. They can also possess humans who are already possessed by an angel (and probably by another demon), but the only problem is the angel can neutralize it, because angels are naturally stronger than demons. In many cases, the demon will ride the host hard for fun and once they vacate, the host will die. Some demons appear to have preferences when possessing someone, Lilith likes to possess young girls, the Seven Deadly Sins appeared to prefer vessels guilty of the sins they embodied, and disaster demons to possess people who were in a mentally weakened state caused by fear.
* **Electromagnetic Interference** - Demons, like spirits, often disrupt nearby electronics with their presence. Large numbers of demons can cause thunder storms.
* **Flight** - Only when in their smoke forms.
* **Immortality** - Demons have an indefinitely long lifespan and an arrested aging process. They are also immune to diseases. Likewise, their vessels will never die nor age while possessed.
* **Invulnerability** - Injuries that would be fatal to humans, such as broken necks or gunshot wounds, have very little - if any - effect on demons. They can only be killed by special weapons or rituals. Unlike angels, they don't always heal their vessels. If the "meatsuit" receives too much damage, they may simply find another human to possess, leaving their former vessel to die.

* **Super Stamina** - Demons never tire, and do not require food, water, oxygen, or sleep to sustain themselves. Sam states that they also do not get hot or cold and Dean states they do not need to urinate.
* **Super Strength** - Demons possess superior physical strength much superior to humans ; capable of physically overpowering them. Demons can also overpower most monsters. Once, a demon ripped open an airplane hatch with over 2 tons of pressure at over 1,000 feet above the ground easily. Even lower demons can overpower hives of vampires and even killed a wendigo without the use of fire. Also lower demons can slaughter small armies of humans and rip humans to pieces with ease. The higher ranking the demon, the stronger it is. The highest ranking demons can overpower most types of angels, short of archangels.
* **Astral Perception** - Demons are able to see hidden supernatural activity and beings, such as reapers, ghosts, and hellhounds. The King of Hell at the time Asmodeus believed he could detect Jack's presence, however, since Jack was cloaked, he could not.
* **Super Senses** - Demons have an enhanced sense of smell and taste, demonstrated as Crowley could identify Castiel was in Dean's Impala and that he and Raphael had been using dog's blood.

### Mid-Level Powers

Used by some (mostly upper and some mid-tier), but not all, black-eyed demons, as well as higher-ranking demons.

* **Biokinesis** - Some demons can manipulate the biology of other beings. Azazel, for example, was able to torture Dean by causing him to hemorrhage. Meg was also able to cause Crowley to cough up blood in a similar manner. Astaroth stopped Elizabeth Higgins' heart with a wave of her hand and Abaddon caused people to bleed from their eyes. Crowley was even able to cause a girl to explode by snapping his fingers.
* **Electrokinesis** - Displayed by Azazel and Crowley. They could manipulate electronic equipment to their will. Also the higher demon possessing Isaac's corpse was able to switch on an old radio.
* **Invisibility** - Some demons can become invisible to humans.
* **Pyrokinesis** - Some demons can generate and manipulate fire. Azazel and (probably) Brady have demonstrated this ability. Crowley can also manipulate fire; he has lit a fireplace by raising his hand, extinguished a Holy Fire circle by snapping his fingers, and also pretended to set himself on fire.
	+ **Thermokinesis** - Certain demons such as Lilith and Crowley can emit great heat through their skin resulting in severe burns to whatever they touch. Lilith used this power to scald Sam when forcefully kissing him and later to burn through a Devil's Trap. Crowley once caused Ruby's knife to burn red hot by merely snapping his fingers, forcing Dean to drop it.
* **Telepathy** - Dean mentions that some demons can read minds. Envy used this ability to gain intimate knowledge about Tamara's past without ever encountering her before or possessing her.
* **Soul Reading** - Some demons, particularly Crossroad Demons, can assess the condition of one's soul. An unnamed black-eyed demon possessing a waitress claimed she could "smell" Sam's soul.
* **Spell Casting** - Some demons can practice witchcraft, much like witches, like altering the range/space they occupy. Other demons are adept in Enochian magic which they use to protect themselves from Angels. Alastair knew of a spell that could allow him to banish an angel back to Heaven. Meg and Casey knew of spells that they could use while inside a Devil's Trap, allowing them to break free. Astaroth was extremely skilled in magic and used it to kill witches, almost kill Dean and severely hurt Ruby. Belphegor was able to cast a spell to expel souls from corpses that they were possessing and another to create a barrier a mile-wide that trapped all souls within its radius inside. It also looks like all demons can use the Goblet of Blood to communicate with each other.
* **Teleportation** - White-eyed Demons, Princes of Hell, Knights of Hell, Crossroad Demons, and powerful Black-eyed Demons are able to teleport from one place to another, without occupying the space in between.
* **Terrakinesis** - Some demons can create small earthquakes. This was once used to destroy a Devil's Trap drawn by Kevin Tran. Abaddon was also able to create an earthquake with her presence that broke a Devil's Trap restraining Crowley. Lilith also created an earthquake as she removed a devil's trap bullet from inside her vessel using telekinesis.
* **Voice Mimicry** - Crowley was able to mimic his original hosts voice while possessing Mrs. Tran in order to taunt the Winchesters.
* **Weather Manipulation** - Some demons such as Meg and Father Gil are able to alter the weather to a limited extent such as creating sudden gusts of wind. More powerful demons like Azazel can create stronger winds and Abaddon could trigger thunder and lightning merely by screaming.
* **Regeneration** - At least some demons can heal their hosts from any physical injury they sustain. Meg was able to heal several broken bones after falling from a window. Crowley, Meg and Ruby have all been shot on several occasions and show no signs of injury following the incident. Crowley has also healed his vessel after being severely burned by an angels white light and being stabbed through the shoulder by an angel blade. However, after leaving their host, any injuries the body has sustain reappear and the host dies. Oddly, while Crowley has vacated his vessel several times, many of his injuries did not reappear on his host.
* **Telekinesis** - Demons can move or suspend objects and other beings with their minds. Higher ranking demons can use this ability to pin their victims to walls or kill people by snapping their necks.

### High-Level Powers

Knights of Hell, Princes of Hell, White-eyed Demons, Samhain and Crowley as the King of Hell are some examples of demons capable to use these powers. They also possess all the previous abilities at enhanced levels and are incredibly strong. Lilith and Alastair are known to be powerful enough to fight and even overpower most angels on the celestial chain of command. They will still flee when confronted by Archangels.

* **Biokinesis** - Azazel was able to cause internal bleeding by merely looking at someone. Alastair is able to make humans grip their chests and fall down. Abaddon is able to cause permanent blindness and Asmodeus is able to choke both demons and humans with a wave of his hand.
* **Clairsentience** - The Prince of Hell Asmodeus was able to sense Lucifer's return.
* **Teleportation** - High ranking demons such as Azazel, Alastair, and Crowley can easily teleport themselves back and forth between Earth and Hell, without the need for any complex summoning ritual or assistance.
* **Animal Communication** - Crowley displayed the ability to understand Olivette when she was communicating with him in the form of a hamster.
* **Dream Walking** - Displayed by Azazel only on the special children. He could enter and control the dreams of his targets. In a deleted scene for *Brother's Keeper* on the season 10 DVD, Crowley displayed the ability to visit Dean in his dreams.
* **Mental Manipulation** - Displayed by Crowley only, he was able to grant his illiterate son the ability to read simply by touching his head.
* **Immunity** - As a general rule, the more powerful the demon, the more resistant they are to harm and common anti-demon methods such as salt and holy water. Azazel proved immune to holy water and Lilith was also said to share that ability. Alastair proves to be immune to smiting by angels empowered by the Power of Heaven. Alastair has high resistance to Ruby's knife and the multicolor-eyed demon Samhain is said to be unable to be killed by the knife. Samhain, like Alastiar is completely immune to Iron. The White-eyed Demon Alastair is the only demon, who proves immune to the smiting of angels. The Knights of Hell could only be killed by the First Blade and Cain, the original Knight, is so immune to the knife, it doesn't even hurt him. Abaddon, on the other hand, did feel acute pain at being stabbed with it, but she could not be killed with it. On the other hand, she's the only demon known so far to be immune to exorcism rites. Ramiel was also wholly impervious to the demon-killing knife; in addition, he's the only demon known to be immune both to the angel blade and to devil's traps. Lilith and Cain had partial immunity to devil's traps: they retained some of their abilities when trapped, and Lilith specifically was capable of expelling a devil's trap bullet from her vessel using just her powers. Finally, Crowley has high resilience to demon-killing magic created by human witches.
* **Memory Manipulation** - Displayed by Crowley and Azazel. Crowley stated that he "scrubbed" Kevin's short term memory and Azazel was able to erase Dean's memory of his conversation with Tessa.
	+ **Memory Extraction** - By inserting part of her essence into her victim, Abaddon could access their memories (even their subconscious memories) and gain information about what they had seen and heard.
* **Exorcism** - Displayed by Abaddon and (possibly) Lilith. She forced a demon out of its host and back to Hell by choking its vessel. Lilith also claimed that she sent Ruby to Hell and then possessed her vessel.
* **Smiting** - Cain, one of the first and the most powerful demons, displayed the power to smite other demons similar to angels, but with a red glow rather than a white one. The Prince of Hell Asmodeus was able to smite demons in an identical manner to angels just by clenching his fist.
* **Molecular Combustion** - Simply by touching an angel, Dagon was able to make them combust into dust. Asmodeus was able to turn a man to dust with just a wave of his hand.
* **Sedation** - Crowley was able to render an entire diner full of people unconscious in the blink of an eye. Lilith also made Dean sleep by batting her eyes at him.
* **Shapeshifting** - The Prince of Hell Asmodeus was able to seamlessly change his shape into those of other people.
* **Photokinesis** - Used by Lilith (*Jus In Bello*, *No Rest for the Wicked*), Samhain (*It's the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester*) and Asmodeus *(The Rising Son)*. High ranking demons can use this to generate massive amounts of destructive energy that can obliterate large areas. This ability is extremely rare and are otherwise present only by angelic beings.

### Special Powers

These powers can generally only be accessed in the context of a Deal or performed in Hell.

* **Healing (by deals)** - In the context of a deal, crossroads demons can heal themselves and others of any wound as demonstrated by Azazel and Crowley.
* **Reality Warping (by deals)** - Crossroads demons, and a few other Demons can grant humans a wish in exchange for their souls. It is worth noting that Azazel did not need to take souls, and could grant wishes from his own power, which he did in exchange for permission to enter the homes of special children, on their 6-month birthday. Lilith also claimed she could make deals without taking a soul but this was never confirmed. While in Hell, demons can alter reality to torture people in ways that are beyond human imagination. One of the reasons Alastair despises being on Earth is because reality is "too concrete" and there are too few resources for torturing people efficiently.
* **Resurrection (by deals)** - One of the wishes demons can grant is the resurrection of a loved one. Crowley claims that, since he is now the King of Hell, he is strong enough to resurrect anybody in his care without a deal. Azazel also displayed resurrecting, the young John Winchester after he killed him, in the context of a deal. He couldn't however resurrect Dean and instead, he possessed a Reaper, who he used to do it for him. When Luther Shrike managed to leverage him with his bones, Barthamus was forced to resurrect him after dragging Luther's soul to Hell.
* **Shapeshifting** - Besides Asmodeus, weaker demons can take any form they wish while in Hell. Several demons were able to take the appearance of Sam and Dean while torturing Bobby Singer in Hell.
* **Mind Control** - The Seven Deadly Sins each possess the ability to force humans to carry out lethal actions based around the sin they represent. For example, Envy forced a woman to kill another to obtain a pair of shoes, Sloth forced a family to remain seated so they would dehydrate and starve to death and Gluttony forced Isaac to drink drain cleaner. This ability appears to be unique to the Seven Deadly Sins.
* **Necromancy** - Samhain was able to summon and control ghosts, zombies and other supernatural creatures. He is the only demon known to possess this ability.
* **Procreation** - Through unknown means, Julia Wright's demon was able to impregnate a human. It's unknown why this act was never repeated.
* **Power Granting** - Through deals, demons are able to turn humans into witches that harness demonic power. After Luther blackmailed him with his bones, Barthamus was forced to resurrect him and grant Luther immortality, particularly on his property where Luther couldn't be killed.

## Weaknesses

### Banishing, Harming, Misleading or Trapping

* **Devil's Traps** - These can bind, imprison and depower demons.
	+ **Devil's Trap Bags** - Once forcedly used on Brady's head to make it easier to kidnap him.
	+ **Devil's Trap Bullets** - A faster/more practical way to trap and overpower most demons.
	+ **Supernatural Handcuffs** - A faster/more practical way to trap and overpower demons without harming or killing their vessel.
	+ **Fifth Pentacle of Mars** - Max Banes reveals that he prefers this version of a devil's trap because it has more "character", although Sam says he uses and standard pentagram, "nothing fancy".
* **Holy Water** - Holy water burns most demons that come into contact with it.
* **The Word "Christo"** - The pronunciation of the name of God in latin makes nearby demons flinch and reveal their demonic eyes.
* **Exorcism** - Demons can be exorcised and sent back to Hell using many forms of this ritual.
	+ **Reverse Exorcism** - It can prevent a demon from leaving a vessel if they try to escape torture, interrogation, etc.
* **Jim Murphy's Knife** - Even a higher black-eyed demon avoided being hit by this knife, which implies that it can at least harm or maybe even kill some demons.
* **Anti-Possession Sigil** - It can prevent a demon from possessing someone; usually used as a tattoo by hunters.
* **Anti-Exorcism Sigil** - By carving a particular sigil into a demon's possessed flesh, it is possible to lock the demon within its vessel; this can prevent a demon from escaping torture or interrogation, but also can be used by the demon to prevent themselves from being exorcised.
* **Ghosts** - Ghosts can pull demons from their vessels as shown when John's spirit grabs the powerful Prince of Hell Azazel.
* **Hallowed Ground** - Low level demons are unable to enter hallowed ground.
* **Hex Bags** - Hex bags can be used to hide people from demons. A variant also could harm and kill demons.
* **Holy Fire** - Holy fire could destroy a demon's vessel and is capable of killing some of them.
* **Iron** - Most demons are vulnerable to iron and contact with it burns their skin.
* **Palo Santo** - Holy Wood that effects demons in the same way as holy water. It is capable of harming and immobilizing even higher level black-eyed demons like the Seven Deadly Sins, while also making it easier for them to be exorcised.
* **Demon Cure** - A demon could become a human again by being subjected to this ritual as seen with Peter Kent's demon and even the Knight of Hell Dean Winchester. Unknown early versions of this ritual failed and ended up killing at least one, and presumably all 18 previous demon subjects. When left unfinished, this ritual can leave the demon with human emotions and addiction to human blood for a while as seen with Crowley. This ritual has been proved to cure Black-eyed demons, high-tier Crossroad Demons, even Knights of Hell and as Sam Winchester states, "the lore doesn’t say anything about exceptions to the cure".
	+ **Purified Blood** - Main substance for curing demons, it is also capable of harming them.
* **Salt** - Most demons are unable to cross a line of salt and could be harmed and tortured by it.
	+ **Ingestion of Salt** - Under some circumstances, the ingestion of large quantities of salt can force a demon to vacate its host.
* **Hyperbolic Pulse Generators** - This device emits a force that can effectively exorcise a demon or an angel from their vessel.
* **Enochian Puzzle Box** - A puzzle box capable of trapping a demon within in the demon's smoke form.
* **Lilith's Crook** - A horn created by Lilith to recall Hell's souls and demons back should they ever fall out of her control. Can absorb the souls, allowing the user to use them as a source of power.
* **Werewolf bite/Venom** - Venom from a werewolf can hurt a mid and high tier but can kill a low tier demon.

#### Special Weaknesses

Some peculiar demons have weaknesses different than those seen in any other demon.

* **Partial Blindness (Samhain)** - Unusually for a demon, specially a high-tier one like Samhain, his eyesight is impaired, causing him to see the world blurred.
* **Postpartum Stress (Julia Wright's demon)** - After giving birth to Jesse Turner, the fathering demon was weakened and tired due to the stress and pain of childbirth, this demon even "passed out", weakening his possession over Julia Wright briefly, she was then able control her body again and expel the demon by ingesting salt.

### Killing

#### Entities

Possessing the Mark of Cain is an exception to many of the beings that can kill Demons. It has been shown that only the first blade when used by a being marked with the Mark of Cain can kill another so marked. Even Death said he could not do so unless Dean passed on the Mark first.

* **Angels** - Angels are capable of overpowering and smiting most demons. Higher ones can kill even the oldest demons. It is unknown if regular Angels can kill Knights or Princes, although this seems unlikely, as angels have been overpowered in many confrontations with them. At least Alastair possessed immunity to the smiting of angels.
* **Hellhounds** - Hellhounds could overpower and kill demons.
* **High-tier Demons** - Stronger demons can overpower or even smite lower demons.
* **Special Children** - Demons are vulnerable to a special child's powers and could be controlled and killed by them. Sam Winchester was able to kill even the powerful White-eyed Demons Alastair and Lilith.
* **Cambions** - A cambion, who is destined to be anti-Christ, is able to immobilize, silence, exorcise and control low-to-mid level demons. It is unknown how they would fare against more powerful demons.
* **Nephilim** - While empowering the Seraphim Castiel, Jack was able to grant him the power to easily overpower, render powerless and kill the Prince of Hell Dagon, one of the most powerful demons to ever live. Additionally, when Jack became angry, the Prince of Hell Asmodeus fled rather than face Jack in battle.
* **Upgraded Original Hybrid** - Marcus with his bite and strength can kill all tiers of demons but some will take more power and some less.
* **Primordial Entities** - Primordial beings such as God, Amara, Death, and Archangels can easily smite any demon, including the Princes of Hell.
	+ **God** - God destroyed the Apocalypse World and all Tempter Demons within it and the mere pronunciation of God's name in latin (Christo) is enough to make demons flinch and reveal their demonic eyes while possessing someone.
* **Famine** - Besides Death, another horseman that has power over demons is Famine, since he can exorcise and eat demons as seen in *My Bloody Valentine*.

#### Weapons, Rituals and Spells

* **Angel Blades** - Angel blades are capable of killing most demons. Princes have shown to be immune to Angel Blades. It is unknown if they can harm the Knights and/or White-eyed Demons.
	+ **Angel-Killing Bullets** - Bullets forged from melted-down angel blades are capable of killing demons.
	+ **Archangel Blades** - Archangel blades are capable of killing regular demons even in the hands of regular humans.
* **Burning their Human Remains** - Burning a demon's original human bones is capable of killing them, causing both the demon in question and their vessel to burn to ash.
* **Death's Scythe** - This scythe is capable of killing demons.
* **Failed Demon Curing Rituals** - Unknown early versions of this ritual failed and ended up killing at least one, and presumably all 18 previous demon subjects.
* **Demon Bombs** - This spell could kill demons.
* **Blood Draining** - Sam and Ruby were able to kill a demon by draining all of her blood for Sam to use to fuel his powers. While under Famine's influence, Sam drained and drank the blood of two demons because of his thirst for demon blood, killing them in the process.
* **Hands of God** - The power of the Hand of God is capable of reducing a demon into dust as seen when Crowley killed Simmons with the Rod of Aaron.
	+ **Rod of Aaron (formely)** - Simmons saved Lucifer by jumping in front of Lucifer when Crowley trier to kill him with the staff, thus reducing her to dust. The rod then became powerless/useless.
* **Magic** - Demons could be restrained and harmed by magic, and at least two spells - one invented by the witch Rowena and the other contained in the Demon Tablet - have the proven ability to kill them.
* **Demon-Killing Knife** - This knife could injure and kill most demons. Princes and Knights have shown to be immune. The White-eyed Demon Alastair demonstrated a high resistance and durability to the ancient demon-killing knife of the Kurds and the demon of Halloween Samhain is implied to be too powerful for Ruby's knife to kill him.
* **The Colt** - Since this gun can kill anything but Lucifer and other four beings in the existence, it's capable of killing demons including the Princes of Hell.
* **The First Blade** - The First Blade, combined with power from the Mark of Cain, is capable of killing demons.
* **Lucifer's Spear** - Lucifer briefly threatened Crowley with it, forcing the blade of the spear against his neck while taunting him.
* **Lance of Michael** - Angelic weapon created by the archangel Michael to slowly and painfully kill Lucifer. Will kill any demon stabbed with it causing them to explode into dust. It was able to kill the very powerful Prince of Hell Ramiel.
* **Virgin Sacrifice Spell (possibly)** - Ruby claimed to know a spell that would destroy any demon within a one-mile radius.
* **Monster Box** - Capable of sucking demons in and destroying them.

## Trivia

* In Jewish beliefs, such as Kabbalistic, Talmudic, and Zohar, that the souls of evil people become a class of demons called *Mazzikin* which roam around and torment unfortunate victims that displease them.
	+ In Kabbalistic Judaism, demons are also believed to be created from human sin *(Qliphoth).* After they are created, they assume an existence on their own. Demons would attach themselves to the sinner and start to multiply as an act of self-preservation.
	+ While in Christianity, Bishop Gregory of Nyssa, in the 4th century, wrote about the existence of male and female demons and mentioned that demons procreated with other demons.

* As mentioned in *The Essential Supernatural*, White-eyed Demons serve as Lucifer's demon chiefs of staff and yellow-eyed demons as demon army generals. However, Azazel, Alastair and Lilith died before Lucifer could break out of the cage. And the Princes of Hell, like the Knights of Hell, were long thought dead, and lost their interest in hell and their belief in Lucifer. In the same book, it is stated that the white-eyed demons are also the first of their kind.
* Belphegor is the only known eyeless demon whose eye color was not revealed. Besides Cain, he is one of the two major demons whose eye color remains unknown.
* Of all the demons that appeared in the series, Belphegor is the only low-tier demon that is neither a Black-eyed or Red-eyed Demon.
* The first demon ever to properly appear (a disaster demon in *Phantom Traveler*) was notably different from the other demons that would later appear. This was the result of several retcons by the writer as they developed the demon lore.
* Crowley's true form took on a reddish smoke, as opposed to the usual black color.
* In *Bobby Singer's Guide to Hunting*, Samhain was described as a blue-eyed demon (which is partly true, since his irises are very light blue).
	+ It also states that Orange-eyed Demons exist and that the White-eyed Demons aren't extinct and implied that they are immune to exorcism.
* Demons are the main antagonists of the show, and the most recurring one. Up to date four main villains have been demons, specifically Azazel, Lilith, Crowley and Abaddon. Likewise three secondary villains have also been demons, specifically Meg, Alastair and Ruby.
* In *Frontierland*, Samuel Colt kills two demons who, upon death, flash blue opposed to the regular red-orange. It is never explained how the demons differed from others. Azazel's demonic son, Tom, also shared this trait when he was killed by the Colt.
* In *Taxi Driver*, it is implied that demons do not need vessels to appear human while in Hell, as one on-screen demon (and many more off-screen) were able to appear as Sam without possessing him.
* It appears that the King of Hell can turn demons to dust with just a snap of his fingers, as Crowley did to the Wingman Demon. Whether this destroys the demon or merely banishes it back to Hell is unknown but it appears similar to Molecular Combustion which Lucifer uses to turn demons to dust. However, Crowley always relied on weapons to kill demons both before and after this.
* In the episode *The Chitters*, it was revealed that Green-eyed Demons exist.
* Samhain and Ramiel are the only high-tier demons that appeared in just one episode.
* It has been shown on several occasions that most, if not all, monsters too are aware of the existence of demons; the relationship between the two factions otherwise appears to be one of strong mutual loathing and hostility and while the vast majority of monsters seem to fear demons greatly, the higher-tier monsters apparently do not and consider demons to be filth.
* Initially, it was thought that demons cannot be resurrected. Azazel was seemingly resurrected at the beginning of Season 6, but this was just an illusion created by a Djinn. In *The Big Empty*, its revealed that both demons and angels go to the Empty where they eternally sleep, a place that at the time only Castiel had ever returned from. However, in *Proverbs 17:3,* God resurrested Lilith, proving that demons can be resurrected.
* Demons, along with ghosts are the only characters in the online flash game *Supernatural: Devil's Gate* (besides the unseen protagonist), with demons being the most recurring ones.
	+ Curiously enough, both species are only background characters unable to be interacted with.