Daemon (Pathfinder)

If looking for the fiends of Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000, see Daemon

If looking for the Neutral Evil fiends of Dungeons & Dragons, see Yugoloth

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Derghodaemon

Although not bound to the Great Wheel as Dungeons & Dragons is, Paizo's Pathfinder still figured it should have an iconic race of Neutral Evil fiends, and they hadn't thought up divs yet. Going back to the oldest forms of D&D lore, as they tend to do, they drew upon both the original name (which became the Yugoloths over there) and the early definition of Neutral Evil. Paizo also just outright stole the dergho and the hydro.

Paizodaemons, by that old-school definition, represent nihilism: daemons despise life itself and everything that lives. Born from the energies of death, with each different form of death creating a different kind of daemon, they are in many ways the most evil of the three major fiends (Devils/Daemons/Demons), to the point that Devils and Demons have been known to team up against them, even to the point of joining Celestials - they have their differences, but both races agree that they like living and they like having mortals to torment, so the Daemonic plan of annihilating all life throughout the multiverse, then committing mass suicide in order to extinguish life forever, and in the meantime destroying and devouring as many souls as possible from the river of souls, leaving nothing left to even reincarnate or form a new planar being... well, they're not exactly on board with that. Pretty much all the planar exemplars, or at least those who have any interest in mortals, will team up to fight the Daemons and guard the River of Souls, regardless of alignment or other hatreds between them.

On top of that, Daemons were the ones responsible for the creation of Demons in their attempts to find new ways to cause mass death across the universe. They tried merging an evil soul with an abyssal larva and created the first demon, and in the process taught the Abyss how to make more. They regard this as a mistake due to the Demon's desires to corrupt and turn souls into more demons rather than extinguishing and obliterating them as Daemons will, but this doesn't make the rest of the planes any happier about it.

The god-like rulers of the daemons are the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse; Famine, War, Pestilence and Death. There used to be a single leader above all, the Oinodaemon, the First Daemon, but the original Four betrayed, bound, and devoured its power, and they're still known to feed on it occasionally.

As nihilists these daemons overlap the obyrithqlippoth. As emissaries of Sheol they encroach upon (what Mystarans call) the sphere of Death and its apostles, especially the Nightshades. Well at least Paizo tried.

Examples of Daemons

Acrididaemon

Acrididaemons are servants of Trelmarixian who are not connected to any cause of death. Outside of Abaddon, they ravage the land and devour all that they can. They tend to destroy settlements, but leave one survivor who they keep captive and force to watch their destruction.

Agradaemon

Agradaemons are created by Szuriel, the Horseman of War. The forges she uses to create weapons also create foul daemons, and the mighty agradaemons are among them. They are not directly connected to death.

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Astradaemon

Astradaemons are shadowy tentacled predators which hunt and devour souls in the Astral Plane. They represent death caused by negative energy.

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Bibliodaemon

Bibliodaemons represent deaths caused by 'paperwork', such as ordered executions, clerical error, and bureaucratic stonewalls. They resemble judges, but have four arms with clawed hands and the heads of weasels.

Cacodaemon

Cacodaemons look exactly like Doom's cacodemons, but they're the size of a cat and can eat souls and spit out black soul gems. They represent death by the hands of a daemon.

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Cuestodaemon

Cuestodaemons are hulking apes with hooves and curved ram-like horns. They get summoned by mortals more than any other kind of daemon, and spend their brief time in the mortal world wishing they could murder the person who summoned them. They represent death by suicide.

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Crucidaemon

Crucidaemons appear as a female figure made of iron, with chained blades attached to the wrists. They take great pride in constructing horrifically creative Saw-style traps, and become incensed if anyone escapes them, swearing to catch the escapee in a fiendish trap even they can’t escape. They represent death by torture and traps.

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Derghodaemon

Derghodaemons look like insectoid nightmares of Ginsu blades which would vivisect you before you could even scream. They represent death at the hands of someone who is insane.

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Erodaemon

Erodaemons are Pathfinder's daemonic analogs to succubi; an erodaemon in its true form has horns, pale blue skin, and a third eye. They represent death from a broken heart.

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Genthodaemon

Genthodaemons are demonic foot soldiers, borne of deaths through pointless or drawn-out wars, or through genocide. Their bodies have metal pieces, like armor plates, spikes, and barbed wire, embedded in them. There may be weapons embedded in their bodies, but they cannot make use of them.
While they are closely connected to Szuriel, they serve in the legions of all four Horsemen.

Hydrodaemon

Hydrodaemons are huge frog-like monsters that swim under the foul waters of the River Styx. When they leap, they can use flabs of their skin to glide like a flying squirrel. They represent death by drowning.

Lacridaemon

Lacridaemons are pathetic daemons who are created from deaths by exposure or neglect. They lead lonely existences, and are quick to lash out.

Lapsudaemon

Lapsudaemons are daemons borne of death by falling, and are constantly doing so in their daemonic existences - they control their movement only through changing what direction they perceive as down. They constantly scream in terror as they 'fall', and harm their opponents by falling in a way that collides with as many targets as possible.

Leukodaemon

Leukodaemons serve the Horseman of Pestilence directly. They are emaciated humanoids with rotted wings and pale skin infested with maggots. In place of a head, they have a stump where they usually mount a horse skull. Leukodaemons have a breath weapon in the form of clouds of biting flies, and they exude an aura that makes creatures more susceptible to disease. They represent death from illness.

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Meladaemon

Meladaemons are made in the image of the Horseman of Famine, who they serve. They resemble starved humanoids with the head of a jackal. They represent death by starvation.

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Nixudaemon

Nixudaemons are the result of those who die from being overworked. They make good slavedrivers, using a pair of arms that end in lashes to keep them in line. They absorb the energy spent by the workers they oversee and grow larger and stronger.

Obcisidaemon

Obcisidaemons are among the strongest and most heinous of daemonkind. Rather than being formed from a specific cause of death, the souls of those who commit acts of genocide or war crimes way become obcisidaemons if they can persist in Abaddon. They are mighty enough to destroy entire civilizations, and steal away the souls of its victims so that it may later subject them to annihilation.

Olethrodaemon

Olethrodaemons are among the strongest daemons, they are massive engines of annihilation that serve all of the Four Horsemen. They're the closest daemons have to pit fiends and balors. They represent death from natural disasters.

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Phasmadaemon

Phasmadaemons are created by, and cause, death by fear. They frighten their victims with illusory magic, which when casted by them have some root in reality not shared by illusions casted by other creatures. They are able to compress their bodies.

Piscodaemon

One of the numerous daemons lifted from D&D's catalogue, piscodaemons are created from death by poisoning.

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Purrodaemon

Purrodaemons are the deacons of Szuriel, and represent death by warfare. They stab weapons into their backs like quivers and they can throw them and have them return like thor's hammer.

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Sangudaemon

Sangudaemons are incarnations of blood loss, and their presence causes edged weapons to inflict more severe wounds. Mortals slain by a sangudaemon have their souls sent to Abaddon regardless of their alignment.

Sepsidaemon

Sepsidaemons are servants of Apollyon, and represent death by infection or necrosis. They consume the essences of creatures lost to the river Styx, and store them inside their bodies.

Sordesdaemon

Sordesdaemons are a recently discovered variety of daemon, originating from deaths as a result of pollution.

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Temerdaemon

Temerdaemons are borne by deaths from accidents and mishaps. They engineer the daemonic equivalent of Rube Goldberg contraptions - formulating complex plots and systems so that they can kill people en masse and make it truly look like an accident.

Thanadaemon

Thanadaemons are the deacons of Charon. Just as their lord, rather than representing an all-encompassing 'death', they are representatives of death from old age.

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Venedaemon

Venedaemons are the result of neutral evil souls slain by magic, and are themselves natural sorcerers.

Vulnudaemon

Vulnudaemons are incarnated from treacherous murders, the souls of those killed by their closest companions. They feel shock at having been betrayed in life, and seek to spread the panic they have been caused to other creatures. When summoned into the Material Plane, their summoners often leave them to their own devices, and they kill as they please.

See also

• Yugoloth

The Fiends of Pathfinder
Lawful:	Asuras - Devils - Rakshasas - Velstracs
Neutral:	Daemons - Divs - Sahkils
Chaotic:	Demodands - Demons - Lilus - Nindorus - Qlippoth
Any:	Oni
Lords:	Ahriman - Archdevils Demon Lords - Four Horsemen