Demon

Version 0.32: This article is up to date for the latest stable release of Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup.

Demons are unholy monsters from the infernal planes of Hell, Pandemonium, and the Abyss. They range in difficulty from minor nuisances like the crimson imp to the mighty Greater Demons, and have a wide variety of powers. They can be brought into the world by summoning them, and they also appear in later levels of the Dungeon, especially the aforementioned infernal branches.

All demons are considered evil, and take additional damage from holy wrath-branded weapons and Holy Word. Many gods award piety for destroying them. Some gods may grant demonic servants to their worshipers.

In the ASCII version of Crawl, tiered demons are represented by a numeral representing their tier level (1-5). More powerful demons are represented by an ampersand (&).

Demon List

Tier-5 Demons

Tier-5 Demons are the weakest class of demons. They're common in the early dungeon, and are often summoned in droves by stronger creatures. Only fresh adventurers should have trouble dealing with these.

• 5 Crimson imp- A pesky little beast that blinks often and regenerates. Very difficult to pin down and kill, but otherwise fairly harmless.
• 5 White imp- Frosty little demons that have Throw Frost and a cold-flavoured melee attack.
• 5 Shadow imp- Minor demonic torturers that can cast Pain.
• 5 Iron imp- Metallic imps that are slow, but have more HP and melee power than other imps.
• 5 Ufetubus- Fast and can slip behind you with their attacks. Summoned in droves by the tier-3 ynoxinul.
• 5 Quasit- Small demons with decent HP and dexterity-draining melee attacks.
• 5 Lemure- Cursed souls bound into service to interdimensional slavers. Kill their master, and they will go free.
• 5 Cerulean imp- Imps called to service through the casting of Call Imp. They wield a spear whose quality depends on spell power.

Tier-4 Demons

Tier-4 Demons are more powerful than tier-5 demons, but are still among some of the weakest demons in the game. None are capable of inflicting damage at long range, although a few possess other special abilities. They are occasionally granted as allies by Makhleb's Infernal Servant invocation.

• 4 Red devil- Flying devils that coat their tridents with barbs. Vulnerable to cold.
• 4 Ice devil- Spell-less demons that nonetheless have powerful cold attacks, though they dislike fire.
• 4 Rust devil- Metallic demons with multiple resistances and corrosive attacks.
• 4 Hellwing- Skeletal demons that can soar over intervening creatures to attack their targets from behind.
• 4 Orange demon- Demons with venomous stinger tails that can reach out and inflict weakness.
• 4 Chaos spawn- Ever-shifting creatures that move swiftly and have chaos-branded melee attacks. They degenerate into clouds of raw chaos when killed.

Tier-3 Demons

Tier-3 Demons are demons of average power that display an assortment of capabilities. Some are notably more dangerous than others.

• 3 Neqoxec- It will gladly malmutate you and drain your magic.
• 3 Sixfirhy- An electrical imp that moves in bursts of blinding speed. Relatively weak, but very painful if you are not resistant to electricity.
• 3 Smoke demon- Demons of living smoke that are dangerous at range with Pyre Arrow, Steam Ball, and Smite.
• 3 Soul eater- Durable demons that can Drain Life out of nearby foes.
• 3 Sun demon- Speedy fire demons that have powerful, fiery attacks but are vulnerable to cold.
• 3 Ynoxinul- A summoner of ufetubi which can also cast weak Iron Shots.

Tier-2 Demons

Tier-2 Demons are challenging combatants due to a wide range of abilities. They are the second most powerful tier of standard demon. Additionally, a worshipper of Makhleb may summon some of them using the Infernal Servant ability, but only if they have enough Invocations skill.

• 2 Balrug- Huge, fast demons that wield branded demon whips, cast powerful fire magic, and smite their foes.
• 2 Blizzard demon- Demons that are capable of casting powerful Air and Ice Magic spells.
• 2 Cacodemon- A dangerous, debilitating demon that can malmutate, vitrify, and devastate. They can also dig through walls.
• 2 Green death- Demons that attack you with all manner of dangerous toxins.
• 2 Sin beast- Dangerous melee demons that can trample foes out of position and have an antimagic bite. The Horn of Geryon can call in hordes of them.
• 2 Hellion- Demons that specialize in pelting you with smite-targeted damnation.
• 2 Reaper- The archetypal Grim Reapers. They wield branded scythes and can deal heavy melee damage.
• 2 Shadow demon- Demonic summoners which can quickly flood their surroundings with Shadow Creatures.
• 2 Tormentor- A quick demon that casts Torment.

Tier-1 Demons

Tier-1 Demons (also known as Greater Demons) are among the deadliest opponents in Dungeon Crawl. All tier-1 demons can see invisible, and all Fiends are capable of inflicting Torment. Fighting or even being in sight of multiple tier-1 demons is not recommended. Only a follower of Makhleb who has the Mark of the Tyrant and enough Invocations skill may summon the first four of them.

• 1 Brimstone fiend- Fiends that specialize in damnation as well as torment. Vulnerable to cold.
• 1 Ice fiend- Fiends that have torment and Bolt of Cold, but are most dangerous in melee with their powerful freezing attacks. Vulnerable to fire.
• 1 Tzitzimitl- Terrifying divinities that can damage both the living and the undead with an assortment of negative energy spells.
• 1 Hell sentinel- A highly durable demonic construct with painful spines and both Damnation and Iron Shot.
• 1 Executioner- Moves twice as fast as normal and will cast Haste at the slightest provocation. With its speed and 3 melee attacks, it can tear lightly armoured characters to shreds.

Archdemons

The most powerful demons of them all, these beings are all unique creatures that are usually found as boss-type enemies. Many of them serve as guardians of various runes of Zot.

• & Pandemonium lord- Powerful demons that individually rule portions of Pandemonium. Their powers and appearances vary greatly.
• & Mnoleg- Guardian of the glowing rune of Zot, Mnoleg and its minions will malmutate you repeatedly while it summons huge waves of chaotic monsters.
• & Lom Lobon- Guardian of the magical rune of Zot, Lom Lobon possesses some of the strongest spells in the game and heads a cabal of wizardly monsters.
• & Cerebov- Guardian of the fiery rune of Zot, Cerebov can blast intruders with extremely powerful conjurations and summon powerful fire-related demons, while the Sword of Cerebov burns away your fire resistance.
• & Gloorx Vloq- Guardian of the dark rune of Zot, Gloorx Vloq is extremely fast and can seriously harm both the living and the undead.
• & Geryon- The gatekeeper of Hell, Geryon stands between adventurers and the entrances to the four hells. His horn can call in endless waves of sin beasts.
• & Asmodeus- Lord of Gehenna, Asmodeus guards the obsidian rune of Zot with his damnation and high level summons.
• & Dispater- Lord of the Iron City of Dis, Dispater commands powerful Earth Magic and legions of powerful demons. His vaults hold the iron rune of Zot.
• & Ereshkigal- Lady of Tartarus, she can paralyze, torment, and silence her foes. She was charged with protecting the bone rune of Zot.
• C Antaeus- A corrupted titan who rules over Cocytus. Antaeus fights foes with his massive strength augmented by powerful Ice and Air Magic. He watches over the icy rune of Zot.

Demonic creatures

While not considered standard demons in and of themselves, these creatures have demonic holiness, making them vulnerable to weapons of holy wrath.

• t Apocalypse crab- Abyssal crustaceans that spew clouds of pure chaos at their prey.
• x Small abomination- Horrible mockeries of life made from several corpses that have been mashed haphazardly together.
• X Large abomination- Unrecognizable combinations of body parts that are somewhat slower but far more powerful than their smaller brethren.
• s Demonic crawler- Swift, resilient demonic bugs that are often found in the Spider's Nest.
• h Doom hound- Demonic hounds that roam Tartarus. Their howls attract the attention of other residents of that deathly realm.
• R Efreet- Spirits of fire who wield flaming scimitars and powerful Fire Magic.
• h Hell hound- Fire-breathing canines that travel in packs.
• h Hell hog- Demonic swine that travel in small herds and breathe Fireballs.
• Y Hellephant- Enormous, hellish elephants that will roast you with their fire breath before trampling you to jelly.
• R Rakshasa- Demons that specialize in illusions. They hide themselves in a crowd of illusory copies.
• X Tentacled monstrosity- Enormous tentacled behemoths that roam the Realm of Zot and can swiftly crush the life out of those who allow them into close combat.
• R Wendigo- Demons that fire paralysing bolts of electricity and shatter simulacra into devastating explosions of icy fragments.

Unique demons

These beings aren't powerful enough to be archdemons but are strong enough to be particularly noteworthy.

• R Azrael- An efreet who has learned how to hurl damnation in addition to more more mundane types of fire. Travels with a pack of fiery underlings.
• 5 Grinder- A notoriously deadly shadow imp who appears dangerously early in the Dungeon.
• 1 Ignacio- An executioner who is even more deadly than usual, thanks in no small part to the executioner's axe he carries.
• R Mara- Master of illusions, Mara can force his foes to fight their double. His own magic isn't anything to sneeze at, either.
• Y Nellie- An unusually beefy hellephant that only appears in Dungeon Sprint.
• D Serpent of Hell - A three-headed demonic dragon that changes its appearance and abilities to match the Hell it resides in.

Retired demons

• 2 Lorocyproca- Permanently invisible tier-2 demons with a powerful antimagic attack. Removed in 0.32. Their antimagic attack was given to hell beasts, who became sin beasts.
• 4 Blue devil- Flying devils that resisted cold and poison, but were vulnerable to fire. They had no spells, but could swoop towards their targets from several tiles away. Removed in 0.18, with their swooping attack given to hellwings.
• 4 Iron devil- Upgraded iron imps with good AC and a variety of resistances. Replaced with rust devils in 0.16.
• 4 Rotting devil- Shambling demons that inflicted rot with their fetid touch and trailed clouds of miasma wherever they went. Removed in 0.14.
• 5 Midge- Tiny, flying imps that were little more than minor nuisances at best. Removed in 0.11.
• 4 Hairy devil- Boring and weak demonic melee fighters. Removed in 0.11.
• 1 Pit fiend- Huge winged demons that could cast both hellfire and torment. Were removed in favor of hell sentinels in 0.11.