Demons

Demons
	; The Temptation of St. Anthony by Martin Schongauer; Anthony is depicted being attacked by demons
Notable Members	Lucifer, Beelzebub, Satan, Abaddon, Mammon, Belphegor, Asmodeus, Leviathan
First Appearance	Abrahamic Theology
Created by	Abrahamic Theology

Origin[]

A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Belief in demons probably goes back to the Paleolithic age, stemming from humanity's fear of the unknown, the strange and the horrific. In ancient Near Eastern religions and in the Abrahamic religions, including early Judaism and ancient-medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered a harmful spiritual entity that may cause demonic possession, calling for an exorcism.

Demons may or may not also be considered to be devils: minions of the Devil. In many traditions, demons are independent operators, with different demons causing different types of evils (destructive natural phenomena, specific diseases, etc.). In religions featuring a principal Devil (e.g. Satan) locked in an eternal struggle with God, demons are often also thought to be subordinates of the principal Devil. As lesser spirits doing the Devil's work, they have additional duties— causing humans to have sinful thoughts and tempting humans to commit sinful actions.

Through the New Testament, demons appear 55 times, and 46 times in reference to demonic possession or exorcisms. Some old English Bible translations such as King James Version do not have the word 'demon' in their vocabulary and translate it as 'devil'. As adversaries of Jesus, demons are not morally ambivalent spirits, but evil; causes of misery, suffering, and death. They are not tempters, but the cause of pain, suffering, and maladies, both physical and mental. Temptation is reserved for the devil only. Unlike spirits in pagan beliefs, demons are not intermediary spirits who must be sacrificed for the appeasement of a deity. Possession also shows no trace of positivity, contrary to some pagan depictions of spirit possession. They are explicitly said to be ruled by the Devil or Beelzebub. Their origin is unclear, the texts take the existence of demons for granted. Many early Christians, like Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, and Lactantius assumed demons were ghosts of the Nephilim, known from Intertestamental writings. Because of references to Satan as the lord of demons and evil angels of Satan throughout the New Testament, other scholars identified fallen angels with demons. Demons as entirely evil entities, who have been born evil, may not fit the proposed origin of evil in free will, taught in alternate or opposing theologies.

Demons are generally considered sexless as they have no physical bodies, but different kinds are generally associated with one sex or another. Many theologians agreed that demons acted first as succubi to collect reproductive material from men and then as incubi to impregnate a woman.

In Christianity, exorcism involves the practice of casting out one or more demons from a person whom they are believed to have possessed. The person performing the exorcism, known as an exorcist, is often a member of the Christian Church, or an individual thought to be graced with special powers or skills. The exorcist may use prayers and religious material, such as set formulas, gestures, symbols, icons, or amulets. The exorcist often invokes God, Jesus, angels and archangels, and various saints to aid with the exorcism. Christian exorcists most commonly cast out demons in Jesus' name.

Public Domain Appearances[]

All published appearances of demons from before January 1, 1929 are public domain in the US.

Notable appearances are listed here and below:

Public Domain Literary Appearances[]

The Bible
Paradise Lost (1667)
The Divine Comedy
The Pilgrim's Progress (1678)
Little Women (1868-69)
Paradise Regained (1671)
Der Messias (1748–73)
The Lesser Key of Solomon
Dictionnaire Infernal (1818)
Sartor Resartus (1833–34)
The Worship of the Generative Powers (1865)
Dogme (1854)
Rituel (1856)
The Lanterne of Light (1409-1410)
Treatise on Confessions by Evildoers and Witches Beelzebub (1589)
Admirable History (1612)
The Pilgrim's Progress (1678)
Of Beelzebub and his Plot (1693)
Alphabet of Ben Sira
Midrash A.B.K.I.R.
Treatise on the Left Emanation
Sun of the Great Knowledge
Faust: The First Part of the Tragedy
Lilith (1886)
Body's Beauty (1881)
The House of Life
Adam, Lilith, and Eve (1883)
Lilith (1895)
Poems: 1913
Lilith: A Dramatic Poem (1919)
Faustbuch (1587)
Praxis Magia Faustiana (1527)
The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus (1616)
Mephistopheles, or Faust and Marguerite (1855)
Mefistofele (1868)
The Merry Wives of Windsor
Goethe's Faust

Public Domain Film Appearances[]

Dante's Inferno (1911)
Häxan (1922)
Faust (1926)
The Student of Prague (1926)
Santa Claus (1959)
Carnival of Souls (1962)

Public Domain Comic Appearances[]

The Beyond #21: Under the alias of "Mr. Abaddon", Satan lures a young ballerina into his pact. She gets twenty years of fame, he gets her soul and has her dance for the hordes of the dead. All her attempts to break the contract fail.
Psycho #3: In The Man Who Stole Eternity, A thief decides to strike it really big and knock over the Magic Museum, even though the theft earlier of some pearls led to a strange curse being placed upon him by a sorceress. She later demands that he steal a special elixir or be tormented by wicked spirits, one of which is named Abaddon, for the rest of his life. This he does, but the outcome is not what he expected!
Captain Marvel Jr. #4, 6
Ibis the Invincible #5: In the story titled The Devil's Ibistick, Beezlebub attempted to find the second Ibistick to defeat Ibis the Invincible. After using time travel magic to view when Ibis first received his powers, He discovered that the stick was in a mummy's sarcophagus. Ibis arrived to stop him and the to fight and the demon used the stick's magic to protect his devil minions from Ibis. However then the statue of the Egyptian god Thoth comes to life and punished Beelzebub for using the Ibistick for evil purposes.
This Magazine is Haunted #12: Countess Siroon was one of Dr. Death's most trusted servants, Siroon appears to hold a high position in The Beyond, ruling the kingdom in her master's absence and commanding demons with a word.
Mystery Men Comics #7:The Devil was villain who wore a costume consisting of trunks, gun holster, horns, and a mustache. He fought Wing Turner.
Blue Ribbon Comics #14-19:he Dictator was a demon who took on the guise of Adolf Hitler and claimed to be Satan. He fought against the heroic Mr. Justice on several occasions.
Horrific #8: Freddie Demon was one of the monstrous of narrators for the Horrific series of comics under the leadership of the Teller of Tales.
Forbidden Worlds #1: The demon known as Marzo was a spirit of destruction that terrorized Asia eons ago until it was conquered and imprisoned in a stone coffin hidden on a peak in Tibet.
Adventures into the Unknown #8, 14, 29:
- In issue 8, The Devil decides he is tired of losing power over mankind. To regain his lost control, he foments a plan to take over the body of a sculptor named Ted Harper. He goes to Earth. His Imps decide to follow and try to take over Ted for themselves.
Ribtickler #7 - Cosmo Cat deals with the Little Man in Black who works for Mephistopheles.
Web of Mystery #15 - Ralph Dana discovers a parallel universe behind a magic mirror, ruled by the Devil. Dana fabricates more of Mephisto's mirrors and lures his relatives into the mirror world, so he can dig up a family treasure alone. His plan fails miserably and he is caught in the mirror.
Illustrated Stories of the Operas: Faust
The Unseen #8 - Aspiring actor Larry Simms ends up as stooge for comedian Mac Horton. They both go to hell and have to perform the same routine for all eternity - in front of an audience incapable of laughter.
Jungle Comics #7 - Camilla and Caredodo brave the Cave of Sighs, the entrance to the supernatural underworld. They encounter Mephistopheles who brings them to his master Satan who captures Camilla. She carves a crosses that repulses the monster. The Angel of Faith rescues them and rewards Caredodo by transforming him from an ugly hunchback into a tall, handsome knight. Camilla dubs him "Sir Champion" and makes him her prime minister.
Prize Comics #27 - Green Lama battles Mephistopheles who sent the spirit of Benedict Arnold and a bat transformed into a woman named Dianatha to disrupt the Allies. After they are defeated after a painting of George Washington is brought to life by Green Lama, the hero then confronts Mephistopheles to save Jean Parker. The demon summons his champions Simon Girty, Dr. Bancroft, Aaron Burr, and Bluebeard to battle Green Lama who also summons his own champions Mad Anthony Wayne, Lighthorse Harry Lee, and Stephen Decatur. Mephistopheles tries to flee with Jean during the fight only to be punched out by Green Lama.
The Spirit (1941-03-30) - Satan has Mephistopholes call a council of his henchmen to discuss ways of doing away with Mr. Mystic. However, they are warned by The Shadowman of Death that Mr. Mystic is a friend of his.....and if the council attempts to do anything to him, then they will have to answer to the Shadowman.

Public Domain Comic Appearances Inspired by Demons[]

A list of devil themed characters on this wiki can be found here.

Notes[]

A list of demon characters on this wiki can be found here.