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Demons are otherworldly beings with varying shapes, appearances, and degrees of intelligence which are summoned by powerful wizards. They typically wield some combination of supernatural speed, strength, and deadliness in combat. Some, like Toadkiller Dog and Soulcatcher's Overlook demon, are bestial in appearance and seem to maintain some minimum size despite a protean nature. Others, like the snake imp and Soulcatcher's Palace demon, were more vaporous in nature and were capable of passing through minuscule openings. Still others, like Tracker and the castle creatures, were humanoids.

See Category:Demons (real) for a list of non-mythological demons.

Their places of origin – referred to as "the demon realms" in Port of Shadows and "the demon worlds" in Dreams of Steel – are not explained in any detail in the Annals. The term "demon" does not refer to all supernatural entities by default; it is instead restricted to those with otherworldly origins. For example, the forvalaka and the shadows, despite being supernatural, are of terrestrial origin.

Books of the North[]

Demons did not feature heavily in Croaker's Annals for the events of The Black Company. He did encounter two dragonfly demons commanded by the Lady, and, other demons were known to have participated in the climactic Battle of Charm.

Demons became increasingly important in the next two Books of the North. In Shadows Linger, the freakish humanoids called castle creatures were the agents of the Dominator; they were the primary enemy combatants during the Battle of Juniper. Also, the Limper was mentioned to have summoned a huge demon at the port of Meadenvil which consumed a grown man (the brother of the Meadenvil country innkeeper) whole.

In The White Rose, the hound-like Toadkiller Dog and his humanoid companion Tracker were the shape-shifting demon servants of the Dominator. Old Father Tree – a key ally of the New White Rose Rebellion – was himself a prehistoric demon of godlike power who begat a son, the Sapling, upon Croaker's request. Additionally, a whole horde of Domination-era demons in service to the Dominator was systematically exterminated during the Battle of the Barrowland. The Barrowland dragon (a towering demon in service to the original White Rose) was slain by Bomanz during that battle.

Books of the South[]

In The Silver Spike, the ferocious Toadkiller Dog returned to be the Limper's indispensable ally until he was betrayed. The Limper also summoned the demon known as the fire-eater during a violent confrontation outside the Temple of Travellers' Repose. A bizarre demon was conjured by Bomanz to chase Toadkiller Dog when it fled the Temple, described by Case as follows: "a shimmery something that looked like an elephant with a nest of tentacles for a head".

The Books of the South introduced two imps, which were a class of demon. Frogface was Soulcatcher's most prominent servant throughout both Shadow Games and Dreams of Steel. A different imp, the snake imp, made a brief appearance in Taglios.

In Dreams of Steel, Soulcatcher would conjure up at least two demons. One, the smoke-based Palace demon, mauled the wizard Smoke and nearly killed him. Later, she summoned a more substantial, larger monster at Overlook, a beastly creature which aided her escape from Longshadow's garrison.

Books of Glittering Stone[]

Demons were not prominent during the first three Books of Glittering Stone. Instead, shadows (entities of human, not otherworldly, origin) were most often utilized by wizards during this time period. However, two key demons came to the forefront in Soldiers Live. The first was the Khadidas, a demon of Kina, and the second was Shivetya, a mysterious golem and ally of the Black Company.

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