Demon

Version 0.19: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

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 damage from holy wrath branded weapons and Holy Word. Many gods award piety for destroying them. Makhleb and Xom 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 starting characters should have trouble dealing with these. The imps can be summoned by using Call Imp.

5 Crimson imp- A pesky little beast that blinks often and regenerates. Very difficult to pin down and kill, but otherwise fairly harmless.

5 Iron imp- Metallic imps that have more HP and melee power, but slower speed, than other imps.

5 Quasit- Small demons with decent HP and dexterity-draining melee attacks.

5 Shadow imp- Demonic necromancers that cast Pain.

5 Ufetubus- Fast with decent EV, but is otherwise weak. Summoned in droves by the tier-3 ynoxinul.

5 White imp- Frosty little demons that have Throw Frost and a cold-flavoured melee attack.

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 Lesser Servant invocation.

4 Chaos spawn- Ever-shifting creatures that move swiftly and have chaos-branded melee attacks. They degenerate into clouds of raw chaos when killed.

4 Hellwing- Skeletal demons that can soar over intervening creatures to attack their targets from behind.

4 Ice devil- Spell-less demons that nonetheless have powerful cold attacks, though they dislike fire.

4 Orange demon- Demons with venomous stinger tails that can reach out and inflict weakness.

4 Red devil- Flying devils that make good use of their tridents or demon tridents by hopping backwards to jab at foes from afar. Vulnerable to cold.

4 Rust devil- Metallic demons with multiple resistances and corrosive attacks. Watch your equipment!

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, drain your intelligence, or summon imps to attack you.

3 Sixfirhy- An electrical imp that moves in bursts of blinding speed. Relatively weak, but electric attacks do a lot of damage if you are not resistant to electricity.

3 Smoke demon- Slow-moving demons that are nonetheless dangerous at range with Sticky Flame, Steam Ball, and Smite.

3 Soul eater- Moderately powerful demons with ranged draining attacks.

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 iron shot.

Tier-2 Demons

Tier-2 Demons are challenging combatants due to a wide range of abilities. They are the second most powerful tier of demon. All of them can open doors. Additionally, a worshipper of Makhleb may summon some of them using the Greater Servant ability.

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 cast Malmutate, Slow, and Confuse. They can also dig through walls or pelt you with energy bolts.

2 Green death- Quick demons that attack you with all manner of dangerous toxins.

2 Hell beast- Dangerous melee demons with two attacks that can trample foes. Their abilities are somewhat randomized.

2 Hellion- Demons that specialize in pelting you with smite-targeted damnation.

2 Lorocyproca- Invisible demons that resist all elements and sap your MP with their attacks.

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 summoned demons and Shadow Creatures.

2 Tormentor- A demon that casts Pain and Torment and is faster than you.

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.

1 Brimstone fiend- Fiends that specialize in damnation as well as torment. Vulnerable to cold.

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.

1 Hell sentinel- A demonic construct with excellent defenses, painful spines, and both Damnation and Iron Shot.

1 Ice fiend- Fiends that have torment and Bolt of Cold, but are most dangerous in melee with their powerful cold attacks. Vulnerable to fire.

1 Tzitzimitl- Terrifying divinities that can damage both the living and the undead with an assortment of cold and negative energy spells.

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 runes of Zot.

& Geryon- The gatekeeper of Hell, Geryon stands between adventurers and the entrances to the four hells. His horn can call in endless waves of hell beasts.

& Asmodeus- Lord of Gehenna and unparalleled master of Fire Magic, Asmodeus guards the obsidian rune of Zot.

& 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.

& 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 his minions will malmutate the crap out of anyone who challenges them... if they don't eat your brains first.

& 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 wizards.

& Cerebov- Guardian of the fiery rune of Zot, Cerebov's sword allows him to burn even those with full 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.

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 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 that allow them into close combat.

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

5 Midge- Tiny, flying imps that were little more than minor nuisances at best.

4 Hairy devil- Boring and weak demonic melee fighters.

4 Iron devil- Upgraded iron imps with good AC and a variety of resistances. Replaced with rust devils.

1 Pit fiend- Huge winged demons that could cast both hellfire and torment. Were removed in favor of hell sentinels.

5 Lemure- A vaguely humanoid blob with almost no HP or other redeeming qualities, save poison resistance.

4 Rotting devil- Shambling demons that inflicted rot with their fetid touch and trailed clouds of miasma wherever they went.

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.