Demon



Demons are magical beings motivated by evil. These beings are the main antagonists during the series that the Charmed Ones have had to fight and vanquish since they seek out to kill innocents and spread evil.

Most demons live out in the Underworld, although straggler demons live amongst mortals. They mostly appear to be vaguely humanoid, some demons resembling actual humans ie. Zankou, while some appear to be nothing like them (eg. Manticores, Abraxas, etc...). Almost all demons possess some kind of teleportation power, notably shimmering, and an active offensive power such as Energy balls.

Demons are unable to feel human emotions (Prue vanquished Vinceres by forcing him to feel the world's emotions), and do not have souls. However, demons are not always inherently evil, although they are susceptible to it. Notable demons who have been good include Cole (for a time), the Manticore baby, Kira and Drake.

The Demonic Hierarchy
There is a demonic hierachy set out in the Underworld, with the Source Of All Evil and The Triad at the top of it.

Low-Level Demons
Next to nothing in the hierachy are low level demons. Also called base-level demons, these are demons with basic powers and often little intelligence, which make them easy to be vanquished. These demons often are minions of Upper-Level demons or hired assassins such as Scather Demons, the Imp Master and his Imps, etc... . Though there are Low-Level demons who prefer to act alone, such as the Water Demon.

There are only a few Low-Level demons who have an entry in the Book of Shadows of the Charmed Ones.

Upper-Level Demons
Also called high-level demons, are demons who possess a great amount of power. They often hire Low-Level demons to do their dirty work and are often affiliated to The Source of All Evil or The Triad. Some of these demons are the Seer, Belthazor, Litvack, Raynor, and other Upper-Level Demons that only owe allegiance to themselves, for example, Zankou.

Most Upper-Level demons have an entry in the Charmed Ones' Book of Shadows, including information of their origin, specific motivation, and a complicated method of vanquishing them, which usually requires a potion made from their own flesh to work or a Power of Three spell.

Ordo Malorum
The Ordo Malorum were upper-level said to be the generals who lead the war against evil. One of them was Litvack. And other one of these demons once was in possession of Jinny, an upper level cursed to be a Genie.

The Tribunal
Next to the evil leaders at the top of the demonic hierarchy are two demons who are part of The Tribunal. They have power over all demons but must act neutrally.

Banished Demons
At the bottom of the demonic hierachy are banished demons who have been exiled from the Underworld unable to leave such as Vampires, Kurzon and Xar. Though some of them are Upper-Level or Low-Level, they are the vermin of the underworld for failed coup d'état. They are considered to be the 'untouchables' of the demonic realm.

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are demonic beings who are empowered directly by the Source. No spell or potion can destroy them as they are invincible. The only being who can destroy them is the Source if they fail to start the apocalypse. They are then replaced by another set of Horsemen.

Demons who are half human
There are a few upper-level demons who have a human half. The only ones demons to have shown this are Hecate, Belthazor and Sykes. They have a human half since they come from one demonic parent and one human parent. They possess souls due to being half human, and therefore they're more susceptible to becoming good, the most notable examples being the manticore baby and Cole. Demons can get rid of their human half by killing all of their blood relatives, like how Sirk unsuccessfully tried to do.

Powers and Abilities
Lower level demons have basic demonic powers whilst upper level demons have more powerful abilities such as Flaming instead of basic Shimmering, Fire Balls instead of Energy Balls. The more powerful a demon is, the more powers they have. (Zankou was imprisoned by the Source, because he posed a threat to him).

Some demons have unique powers; Tempus could manipulate time, Shax and the Water Demon were both elemental demons (Wind and Water respectively), Chameleon demons can shapeshift, Oracles and demonic Seers can foresee the future, as well as the past, so on and so forth.

Appendices



 * (Book of Shadows text:)

Demons

 * Observations upon the
 * Nature, the Number, and the
 * Operations of the Devils.

Vanquishing
Low-level demons are vulnerable to almost all spells and potions, and can be easily vanquished by offensive active powers but Upper-Level demons are harder to vanquish. Sometimes there is a specific Power of Three spell but if often requires a specific potion. Depending on the demons power, they can also be vanquished by powers such as Molecular Combustion.

Trivia

 * The Demon entry in the Book of Shadows is an actual quote out a book about witchcraft from the 17th century. Although this quote was used for demons, it was actually a description of a witch.