Demon

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Demon
Information
Japanese	悪魔
Rōmaji	Akuma
Habitat	Alternate dimension; dungeons
First Appearance
Manga Debut	Chapter 38 (Flashback) Chapter 62
Anime Debut	Episode 17 (Flashback)
Navigation
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Next →	Phoenix

Demons (悪魔, Akuma^?) are interdimensional beings summoned in the past by Elves and Dwarves into the world of Delicious in Dungeon. The Demon proper is a singular entity, but different parts of its body manifest in separate forms, notably the Winged Lion and the Goat, all of which share memories, albeit not personality.

Anatomy and Appearance

Demons are creatures from an alternate dimension where infinite energy exists. They became able to access the dimension of Delicious in Dungeon via a gate opened by ancient people in search of this infinite energy. To prevent them from freely passing through the gate, these ancient people created dungeons so they could not easily access to the surface.

Demons are shown in legend to have widely varied appearances. The only known demon is the one that consumed almost all the desires of the elf Mithrun. It initially appeared as a young goat, which grew horns and became larger as it fed on his desires. It eventually grew so large that its head was bigger than Mithrun's body, with its once hoofed feet becoming human-like hands with ridged nails. In addition, it is shown that once a demon has consumed enough desires and becomes strong enough to break through to the surface, it is grotesque in form and colossal in size, dwarfing the landscape around it.

Gallery

Speck form.

Worm form.

Nut form.

Pig form.

Sheep form.

Goat form.

Winged Lion form.

Laios form.

Behavior and Weaknesses

Demons start off initially powerless, but are able to become more powerful through feasting on people's desires by granting them. They are unable to be filled by common desires such as wealth or fame thus prefer and consume those that are more uncommon and complex. Those who have their desires consumed will wither away and eventually die. If they consume enough desires, they become strong enough to break free of the dungeon and wreak havoc upon the surface world.

Demons lure people (and their desires) to their dungeons by using various different methods, including gold. They choose those with strong desires to become dungeon lords, as granting their wishes encourages more desires to come forth.

Demons lack traditional weaknesses: as they are not living, it is impossible to defeat them. The separate forms which the Demon can manifest into may be eaten or killed, but this has no effect on the Demon as a whole. Ironically, the only way to defeat demons, is by doing what demons do best: remove desires. As demons wreak havoc in order to consume as many desires as possible, if their desire to consume desires is removed, they cease being a dangerous force as they no longer have motivation to wreak havoc. Laios Touden successfully vanquishes demons from the world after he tricks the Winged Lion into transforming him into the Ultimate Strongest Monster. This transformation would grant Laios the ability to consume desires, allowing him to eat the Winged Lion's desire to consume desires - and by extension, the desire of the singular Demon as a whole.

Trivia

• When Mithrun explains what desires are preferred by demons, an upside-down pyramid is shown in the background depicting from top to bottom the more common to rare desires. This resembles an upside-down version of Maslow's hierarchy of needs.