Demon
Creatures of pure darkness, considered by some cultures to be evil and others to simply be mischievous.
Capable of catching glimpses of the future as well as possessing other creatures, their negative reputation is unfortunately not entirely undeserved. Some consider them nothing more than nuisances, while others hate and fear them for their powers and often cryptic behavior. Regardless of where individuals fall, they can and do often feel the sting of other species' mistrust.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Often said to resemble bipedal horned cats, their anatomy does tend towards the feline. They have sharp teeth well suited for tearing apart meat, front-facing eyes adapted to night vision, and large, very mobile pointed ears. They possess opposable thumbs and fairly dextrous fingers, as well as retractable claws that they can use to either defend themselves or take down prey.
Genetics and Reproduction
Demons experience an estrous cycle, with a yearly mating period lasting from approximately mid-fall to the start of winter. Their gestation period lasts anywhere from 238 to 262 days, with the average being roughly 250 days. They give birth to about one to three kittens at a time, which are born unable to see, hear, or regulate their own body temperature. Mother demons tend to provide the bulk of childcare for the first year of the litter's lives, though how much a father otherwise contributes depends more on the demons' native culture and the individual demon's personality rather than innate instincts. Plenty of demon fathers are loving and devoted parents.
Growth Rate & Stages
Demons age at roughly the same rate as humans, though they can live much longer. Some tales claim individuals have lived for two centuries, though such claims are difficult to verify. Some demons have been known to avoid the natural limits of their bodies by simply permanently possessing other beings, enabling them to live on effectively borrowed time for many centuries by hopping from body to body. Whether this counts as properly extending their lifespan is hotly debated.
Newborn demons are fairly helpless, incapable of seeing, hearing, or maintaining their own body temperature, much like newborn kittens. They also can't pee or poop on their own and require external stimulation. Thankfully, demons no longer use their tongues to do this, having devised other, more sanitary means of achieving the same effect.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Demons are mostly obligate carnivores, much like cats, though they have evolved to eat certain types of plants that cats can't, particularly seeds like grains, beans, and nuts, and cooked leafy greens (such as spinach). They still vastly prefer meat to anything else, which lead to the domestication of their prefered prey animals at the same time they developed agriculture.
Their preferred prey consists of rodents, birds, fish, and lizards. They will also eat deer, goats, and cows, though those are much more likely to be domesticated species rather than wild.
Historically, demons have preyed upon angels, leading to a certain level of instinctual animosity between the two species. They are gradually learning to coexist, but natural instincts can sometimes work against them. It is not unheard of for an angel to kill a demon that was attempting to eat them, or for a demon to successfully kill and eat an angel.
Behaviour
Many of their innate behaviors mimic those seen in cats. Their ears and tails move in accordance with their emotions, they hiss and puff up when they feel threatened, flop on their side or back when relaxed, and lick or groom others to show affection. Kneading, however, is seen as childish and as such full grown demons tend to avoid engaging in it.
On the whole, demons tend to be optmistic nihilists thanks to their precognitive abilities. In a demon's eyes, nothing really matters in the grand scheme of things, so why not have fun with your life? This leads some demons to pulling pranks and other bits of mischief, much to the chagrin of other species. This is not, however, inherently malicious on their parts.
Additional Information
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
A demon's horns are believed to increase their hearing range and possibly aid in spacial awareness, as they are sensitive to vibrations. As such, damage to their ears does not necessarily render them deaf, but can and does seriously impact their ability to hear. The horns are attuned to lower frequencies, while their ears are more attuned to higher frequencies. It's thought that their reputation for predicting natural disasters may be just as much a result of their ability to detect infrasound as it is their precognitive abilities.
They see about as well as the average cat, which means that they are generally nearsighted and can see close objects much better than far away ones. They have excellent night vision, but their color vision is skewed towards the blue-violet and ultraviolet ends of the spectrum in daylight.
They have a very strong sense of smell, with an ability to pick up on scents that some other species might not notice, such as various pheromones.
Civilization and Culture
History
The origin of demons as a species is shrouded in mystery compared to others. It's difficult to find evolutionary ancestors of demons due to their ability to possess other creatures. There may be remains that strongly resemble an ancestor of demonkind, but it is impossible to determine when most demonic traits came into existence from remains alone.
There is one theory that demons were originally denizens of the Realm of the Dead who crossed over to the realm of the living and possessed certain creatures, creating the fey as they are known today. This origin, however, is strongly debated as demons are the only known fey capable of possessing other beings, and crossbreeding with other types of fey do not simply create more demons. Though the theory of demons specifically being tied to the Realm of the Dead is not entirely without merit, due to their precognitive abilities and the fact that time does not always flow linearly in the Realm.
Genetic Ancestor(s)
Average Height
4 - 5.5 ft (1.22 - 1.68 m)
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
Much like their domestic cat counterparts, demons come in a variety of coat patterns and colors, and seem to follow much of the same genetic rules.
Related Organizations
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