The portrayal of demons in fantasy stories

[OP1000]

Hello!!!!
Does anyone on this site have a preference in the way demons should be portrayed in fantasy novels?

Note: If you think that there are other ways that demons can be portrayed in fantasy novels/the options that I have given in the poll choice are not accurate enough, please let me know. Thank you.

 

[RaizarP]

As a cute mascot

 

[Domoviye]

However they best fit the story.

Demons should not be stuck in a box, make them fit the story you want to write.
Demons appear in two of my stories.
In one of them they're very similar to gods, needing prayers for power, so they get followers in much the same way by setting up churches and temples. But they focus on things like murder (committing And avoiding it), drugs, greed, parties, wild sex, etc. They also keep the world running, because without the world they don't have any followers or anywhere to keep their stuff.
In the other, they're a horde of monsters that seem intent on conquering the world and eating everyone.
They both work for the type of stories I'm writing.

 

[LilRora]

My personal favorite way (I think) is just like the 2nd option, but without "absolute evil".

What I mean is that demons are not evil, but simply different from humans or other races, making them often misunderstood or taken as evil. For instance, demons would not be particularly opposed to killing humans, which doesn't make them outright evil, despite what many people would assume knowing or seeing that characteristic.

Though generally, as long as demons are portrayed believably and reasonably, they can be just about anything. I personally like to differentiate them into three kinds: demons as described earlier, Mazoku, basically the generic japanese light novel type (something like your 1st and 4th point), and miasmatic beings or something along those lines, which unlike the previous two are associated in corruption in more literal sense and can actually be called absolutely evil.

 

[NotOriginal]

I would prefer if Demon were not always depict as just evil beings that kill other races because they are powerful. I would like more demon's who are more interested in making deals and contracts with people. Like every demon is just purely neutral and it is their contractor that makes them do evil acts.

Probably the best of examples of these types of demons are the ones from Interspecies Reviewers who are a species who straight up love contracts to the point of being fetishistic. The smallest of details can completely change how the demon will act upon the contract.

 

[YuukeiRorogan]

I prefer them as evil. Demons are supposed and are meant to be evil. That's their role. It kinda ruins my image of demons if they're good, since they're not the demons I know at all. Demons are not GOOD because they are DEMONS. What's the point of making them demons if they'll be good or even just neutral? Just make them human or whatever.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

Bones are evil. You endoskelal creatures and your bones. Flanting your mouth bones. Disgusting. If you want to stretch out,just leave your local gravity well like the rest of us..

Now carapace, that's a new thing. I'm not a big fan, but at least those kids can be respectful. But you? DISGUSTING.

Exterminate the lot of you, I say.

So...

Am I evil?

 

[BenJepheneT]

I believe I'm speaking the truth when i say this little title from Steam singlehandedly skyrocketed the Demon public image across every genre under the sun since its inception

 

[Cipiteca396]

I believe I'm speaking the truth when i say this little title from Steam singlehandedly skyrocketed the Demon public image across every genre under the sun since its inception

Don't make me feel old... Or like a hipster. "I liked demons before it was cool, pissant."

---

Hello!!!!
Does anyone on this site have a preference in the way demons should be portrayed in fantasy novels?

Note: If you think that there are other ways that demons can be portrayed in fantasy novels/the options that I have given in the poll choice are not accurate enough, please let me know. Thank you.

I don't like 'absolute evil' beings. It's too pitiful. I don't mind as much if they're mostly evil but capable of change. Still pitiful but...

I prefer a logical setup when other people have demons. A demon is 'evil' because that's part of how it exists and continues to exist. The typical soul eating variant can't go around murdering everyone because it needs living people around to survive. (I also don't like things that are evil for reasons outside their control though, so that variant is also less than appealing to me.)

My demons are summonable, live in a place that's effectively hell, but can also coexist with people. They feed on negative emotions like fear and hatred, but not every negative emotion leads to evil results. Some are evil, some are neutral, and some can be quite good.

Either way, contracts are a plus. If they need contracts to appear in the mortal realm, or if they can choose to make contracts in exchange for something special, I like it a lot.

 

[TotallyHuman]

There are demons in two of my stories and in both cases they are natural phenomena brought about by spiritual disturbances. In one they are an absolute evil that exists to destroy, in another they are basically posthumans - beings that will take over after humans exhaust their potential

 

[StrongArm]

THIS is the only true way to portray demons

 

[TotallyHuman]

THIS is the only true way to portray demons

View attachment 16110

I am sorry, we cannot be together. It isn't because you're a demon, but because you're red

 

[StrongArm]

I am sorry, we cannot be together. It isn't because you're a demon, but because you're red

Demon girls are the best BECAUSE they are red


also horny... get it?

...

...

*crickets chirping*

 

[Corty]

THIS is the only true way to portray demons

What is the catch with her? There is one, I know. We are talking about demons here. And I am not asking about selling my soul, I did that to get the tattoo I wanted from the bubblegum when I was 8.

 

[BenJepheneT]

I am sorry, we cannot be together. It isn't because you're a demon, but because you're red

The colour-blind demon now breaks down in the middle of the candle lit dinner, her perception of the world shattered by your sudden revelation.

"I... I wasn't blue, d-da bu dee da bu da?"

 

[K5Rakitan]

A parasite that requires human energy for survival. If it gets enough, it can breed more and transfer its offspring to another host. Multiple demons can live in a person, as they all feed on different types of energy, kinda like this but more complex:

 

[Chaos_Sinner777]

I'd say the first is my favorite, but, having them be different in different stories is best. They're flexible like that.

 

[TotallyHuman]

I don't like 'absolute evil' beings. It's too pitiful. I don't mind as much if they're mostly evil but capable of change. Still pitiful but...

That is assuming that demons are intelligent in the same way that humans are, or if they are even creatures. In xianxia there are things like heart demons and such...

 

[CheertheSecond]

For me, demons are desire manifestation (not a race). This means they can be both evil and good. There are demons that feed on the sufferings of other beings, and there are demons that live on the happiness of others. These demons of different objectives and goals fight viciously against anything that would endanger their interest. A group of unrelated demons even united and formed the band know as protectors of children. They would seek out abandoned children and give them shelter and love.

 

[GodlyKamui]

In my novel's world, Demons are a race that was created by the gods in order to become a more perfect version of the other races (eg. humans, dwarves, elves, beastmen, etc). The first person that became a demon was so overwhelmingly powerful that he turned many others into demons during his mindless rampage after tragedy had struck him, so all of them together burned an entire continent to the ground, rendering it devoid of life (not gonna get fully into it since it is a bit of a long story).

Well, time passed and the first demon who was now the King of the Demons (thus a True Demon) regained his sanity and decided that genocide and killing things wasn't his thing anymore, moved to another continent with his subjects, had a family, tragedy strikes again, and the Demon King literally split this new continent in half after a thousand years of war with the races of this continent.

Long story short, the demons in my novel's world were defeated and driven out of the continent, so it is needless to say that they are pursued and hated.