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The Marvel Comics universe hosts a number of demons, many of whom are at times at conflict with gods and angels. All possess varying degrees of mystical power, feed upon souls for self-sustenance, and are inclined towards dark or “black” magic - evil. ==Demonic Origins== During the era in which the first single-celled organism formed on Earth, Demiurge achieved consciousness after being formed and coalesced from the Earth's biosphere. As conditions on Earth began to support life, it became aware, and wanting to know itself, the Demiurge split itself into countless aspects, each of which wanted consciousness and to manifest into new entities. These entities later become known as the "Elder Gods". Most of the Elder Gods later degenerated into demons including: * Belathauzer * Chthon * Set * Gibborim However, certain demons, such as Lucifer, Kazann, and Asmodeus, have other origins, such as originally being angels having fallen from Heaven after a massive failed insurrection against the Judeo-Christian God long before the dawn of humanity, or hailing from other mystical dimensions adjacent to Earth. It's is also not uncommon for various gods worshipped throughout Earth's history to degenerate into demonic beings, though the distinction between gods who have degenerated into demons and gods who are merely malevolent is often unclear. For example, during the Fear Itself story arc, Cul Borson, elder brother of Odin, is the Asgardian God of Fear and uses the terror experienced by mortals to restore his youth and vitality, and to gain cosmic levels of power, but he isn't classified as a demon or having degenerated from godhood into a demonic existence. However, gods who typically use the life force of other beings, either through personal offerings or as some type of sacrifice, to sustain their powers are usually classified as having degenerated into demons. Aside from the various Elder Gods of the distant past, certain members of various modern pantheons have degenerated into demons. For instance, a large number of the Annunaki are now demonic including Ba'al, Nergal, Ningal and Dagon. Within Marvel's depictions, demons are often hindered by various and very specific rules, rules that not even entities as powerful as Mephisto or Satannish are able to break. While some of them, using Mephisto or Satannish as examples again, vast powers on a cosmic scale, they're unable to force sentient beings into serving them or making pacts with them; they can use trickery and lies to attain their means, but they can't physically or mentally force sentient beings into surrendering their souls or otherwise obeying them. They can also use other demons, generally minor underlings, as a means of intimidation or to force sentient beings into serving them. It's possible they can also use other humans to intimidate or force others into their service, counting on ignorance of their demonic limitations to serve them. However, this isn't often the case as demons are depicted as malevolent beings who derive great pleasure from tricking and outwitting sentient beings, especially humans, into surrendering their souls to them without threats of intimidation. If a being willingly enters into a bargain, the demonic beings must fulfil their part of the bargain, though the outcome is often not exactly as those offering their souls wanted; there are numerous loopholes that demonic beings exploit in order to get what they want while seemingly fulfilling their part of the deal. For instance, if a human offers his/her soul for immortality, demons can grant the request though the term itself may be open to broad interpretation; if a human being endures forever, then the demons can't collect that person's soul, though there are still ways around this. For instance, while they may become immortal, immortality doesn't necessarily mean the same as eternal youth; the bargainer may technically live forever though his/her body will continue to age to the point where the person is essentially trapped within a crippled, withered body. Even if the person still held on through the decades until their body was reduced to bone, their soul would still be bound to its earthly remains forever. In such an instance, a being could call out to the demon, or demons, and request the deal be undone, though their soul is forfeit since the demon fulfilled its end of the bargain. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「List of Marvel Comics demons」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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