| “ | Greater Demons are members of the Original Fallen Angels that fell from Heaven with Lucifer himself. The first and highest-ranking choir of fallen angels. Greater Demons, sometimes called Archdemons, are the lieutenants of Hell's Army and are among the original fallen. They are the oldest demons in all of creation, the first generation. They have existed since...oh, since before the Atlantas sunk to the bottom of the ocean. | „ |
| — Oracle, about the Greater Demons | ||
Greater Demons, also known as Demon Lords, Archdemons, and The Princes of Hell, are an extremely powerful group of demons, known for being the oldest and strongest generation of demons in all of Hell. Originally angels, they became Fallen Angels that fell from Heaven and were cast into Hell with Lucifer himself. They represented the highest demon rank of authority in Hell. They were of such strength that while they could not kill angels with their own power, they could overpower them with ease. They instilled great panic in other demons, as almost all other demons were terrified of them.
Because they are described as the leaders of demonic hosts, just as archangels lead choirs of angels, the Greater Demons were originally generals of his demonic armies, but have since become separated from Hell, opting instead to hide out on Earth. The one known exceptions to this were Lilith, Aloastair, Abbaddon, Belial, Azazel, Astraroth, and Naberius, all of whom remained loyal to Lucifer until their deaths. After Lucifer retired from Hell, Dagon briefly tried to gain control over Hell from Satan. Following the deaths of Lilith, Azazel, Abbaddon, Aloastair, Belial, Naberius, Astorotah, Ramiel, Dagon, Mephistopheles, and Asmodeus, the Princes of Hell are now extinct.
History[]
Creation[]
Originally angels of the Lord, the Greater Demons followed Lucifer in his rebellion against Heaven and God. However, when Lucifer was defeated, the Greater Demons were cast out of Heaven and into Hell with him. Since then, the Greater Demons have served under Lucifer, ruling over the demonic order.
Characteristics[]
Greater Demons are terrifyingly powerful and rank the highest in the hierarchy of Hell, just under Lucifer himself. They inspire fear in their subordinates as all other demons seemed to be terrified of them. Being as powerful as they are, they were resistant to many demonic weaknesses and are even capable of holding their own against regular angels.
Powers and Abilities[]
As the first demons ever created, the Greater Demons are the oldest and most powerful demons ever to live and to appear in the series, representing the highest authority in Hell, after Lucifer himself. Greater Demons encountered by Team Balance display many powerful and sometimes rare abilities. It is noteworthy that while they are all considered the same class of demons and share some powers in common, they also appear to each possess their own different abilities. Lilith, as well as Aloastair, were rather unafraid as they faced regular angels, Amenadiel was unable to smite Aloastair and could not withstand against him. Despite their superiority against regular angels, the Greater Demons knew how tremendously powerful the Higher Angels are and preferred to flee when confronted by one of them since they wouldn't stand a chance against them.
- Immortality: Greater Demons have the potential to live forever indefinitely, having existed for many millennia, making them the oldest demons to ever live. In fact, Lilith was the very first and eldest demon, predating the Malebranche and even Cain himself. Lilith was tens of thousands of years old. Although his exact age was not revealed, Aloastair considered Maze, who was over thousands of years old, to be a young demon.
- Immunity: Greater Demons couldn't be killed by smiting from a lower-level angel, showed immunity to iron and were able to enter and walk on hallowed ground. Furthermore, they were not vulnerable to holy water. Aloastair was also extremely resistant to Ruby's Knife as it only caused him mild pain rather than the agony most Demons feel, and it was not deadly to him when stabbed in the stomach and upper chest. Azazel was immune to several demonic weaknesses: he was immune to holy water, salt and was able to walk on holy ground. Ramiel was immune to devil's trap bullets. Lilith proved to be the most resilient to John’s excorsim powers of all the demons he used them on, even with him at the peak of his power and her powers useless against him. After he and Rayne combined their strength enough to incapacitate and kill Alastair with them, their powers merely stirred Lilith's hair. When they finally succeeded, it required (in addition to all the blood Rayne already had) immense effort from them, and Lilith intentionally provoking them to anger, nearly transforming Rayne into a monster in the process (to the point where he briefly became a demon).The effort of killing Lilith also exhausted Rayne and John’s powers completely.
- Invulnerability: Greater Demons cannot be harmed or killed by normal conventional means. The only weapons known to be able to kill them are the Winchester, Archangel Blades, Death's Scythe, the Lance of Michael, Lim ‘E Light, and GodSpear. Aloastair withstood would-be fatal injuries such as numerous stabbings and prolonged torture with little reaction. Ramiel was immune to Rayne’s blades and angel blades, however the blades and angel blade caused him a slight amount of pain. When Dagon was shot several times, she was not only unharmed, but it appeared to cause her no pain. Annael states that Dagon is extremely hard to kill, at one point.
- Extreme Power: As the very first, oldest, and most powerful demons in all of Creation, the Greater Demons possess extreme levels of tremendous power, enough to to pose a challenge to the Higher Angels.
- Advanced Telekinesis: Greater Demons have the ability to move objects with their mind. Lilith broke a grown man's neck with a click of her fingers without touching it, and later used telekinesis to fling Rayne and Mia across the room, holding Rayne immobilized to a wall at the same time she did the same to Mia to a table. Aloastair used hand gestures to drag and throw people over large distances without physically touching them. During his first appearance, he also blasted apart a door without noticeable use of gestures. Azazel could move people and objects using only his mind. He was very skilled with this ability, able to use it on multiple targets at once, restraining them so they couldn't even cry out for help, and throwing grown men considerable distances, by flicking his wrist. He was able to keep Mary pinned to the ceiling, without even being in the room. Dagon was similarly able to fling around several hunters effortlessly. Ramiel was telekinetic as well as seen with him closing the doors of his house with a wave of his hand, but appeared to prefer physical combat to using telekinesis to fling his enemies around. Asmodeus was able to casually pull a demon to him with just a hand gesture.
- Biokinesis: Alastair directed a psychic attack on Rayne and Mia simultaneously by raising his hand at them; causing them to grip their chests and fall down, implying that he was attacking their hearts, or lungs. Azazel demonstrated the ability to physically injure humans, even inducing fatal internal bleeding with a mere glare. One of the omens of Azazel's arrival also included mass cattle deaths. Asmodeus was able to make the Team and a Prophet choke with a hand gesture. When Asmodeus clenched his fist, the demons that he smote started gasping for air before the smiting took place.
- Demonic Possession: As demons, the Greater Demons require a vessel to walk the Earth and can possess humans as vessels voluntarily or involuntarily, which allows them to manifest on Earth. Unlike most other demons, who usually enter and exit humans' bodies in a rush of fiery-like smoke as the humans scream, Greater Demons apparently can also do this without humans noticing as Lilith was able to leave her first vessel without the latter's mother noticing.
- Demonic White Light: Although only demonstrated by Lilith, by raising their hands, Greater Demons can generate blast rays of blinding white light from usually their vessel's hand palms that apparently destroys just about anything they want it to. For example, Lilith blew apart an entire police station without killing the people inside, and later performed the reverse by concentrating it solely on Sam so that it did not affect the house she was in at the time.
- Dream Walking: Azazel could enter others' dreams, he used this ability to enter the dreams of his special children when they were asleep in "All Hell Breaks Loose - Part 1" and "All Hell Breaks Loose - Part 2". He was mentioned as having done so in "Simon Said" and "Hunted".
- Electrokinesis: Dagon was capable of generating electricity strong enough to cause severe pain to an angel as a form of torture.
- Electromagnetic Interference: Azazel's mere presence caused lights to flicker, electronic devices to go haywire, and clocks to stop. He could also do this at his will.
- Flight: When in their disembodied smoke state/form, Greater Demons are able to fly. Additionally, with aid from their wing, they can still fly as well.
- Healing (by deals): Azazel restored a comatose, dying Mia to full health in "In My Time of Dying" and repaired John's broken neck in "In the Beginning" though in both cases he had to make a deal to do so.
- Localization: Greater Demons can localize any human not protected by hex-bags. Shortly after Mia destroyed his and Rayne’s hex bags, Lilith appeared.
- Memory Manipulation: Azazel could erase memories as seen when he erased Dean's memories of his near-death experience and John's memories of Azazel killing him.
- Mind Control: Dagon was able to compel Dr. Turner to tell Kelly Kline "everything is a-okay."
- Molecular Combustion: Simply by touching an angel, Dagon was able to make them combust into dust. When she does this, the palm of her hand glows red in a circle that she presses against the angel in question. Asmodeus also displayed a version of this ability, turning a man to dust with just a wave of his hand.
- Photokinesis: When Asmodeus arrived at Needham Asylum, his presence emitted a strong white light.
- Pyrokinesis: Azazel could generate and manipulate fire. His power over fire was extensive enough that he could render entire buildings ablaze in minutes or even seconds.
- Reality Warping (by deals): Azazel could alter the world around him in the context of a demonic deal. Unlike all other demons, he did not require a soul to power the deals he made. However, he still had to obey the rules of the demonic soul deals. As he said in reference to Sam's resurrection at the end of Season 2, "You see, demons can't resurrect people unless a deal is made. I know, red tape--it'll make you nuts."
- Resurrection (by deals): Azazel was able to resurrect dying or dead humans, though he had to first make a deal with a living human, he explicitly stated that he couldn't resurrect people unless a deal was made, dismissing it as "red tape".
- Shapeshifting: Asmodeus was able to transform into the shape of others in a manner similar to the Alpha Shapeshifter.
- Smiting: With just a wave of his hand, Asmodeus was able to smite several demons at once in a similar manner to angels and Sam when drinking demon blood.
- Spell Casting: As Greater Demons are the first demons in existence, they knew a wide variety of spells. Lilith used spells and rituals to break the 66 Seals and Aloastair even knew an exorcism that worked on angels. Azazel was able to perform a ritual, by sacrificing a group of nuns, which allowed Lucifer to speak to him while he was still in the Cage.
- Super Senses: Azazel was able to tell Sidney was a pure spirit, simply by smelling his neck. Ramiel also could sense Gadreel's "smell".
- Super Stamina: Greater Demons don't require food, sleep, water or air to sustain themselves. They have an incredibly high pain threshold, withstanding hours of extreme torture from Rayne, Mia and even Uriel (an archangel) without giving up any information. When he got free, he showed no signs of weakness or exhaustion despite multiple injuries to his vessel. Azazel did not require food, water, oxygen, or sleep to sustain himself.
- Super Strength: As the first and most powerful demons, Greater Demons possess extraordinary levels of superhuman strength that far surpasses that of most demons and angels alike, therefore making incredibly strong, more so than humans, ghosts, monsters, reapers, demons and even Malakhim and Powers. While they can't kill angels using their own power, they can overpower them. Even while possessing the body of a little girl, Lilith slaughtered grown men with her bare hands. When Lilith got involved in a physical struggle with Mia, she quickly overpowered the Slayer, despite her having the advantage of position. Alastair lifted and strangled Rayne with one hand without any signs of strain. He also lifted Orion and placed him on a hook, despite being weakened by hours of torture and just being stabbed with the demon killing knife. Even without a vessel, he was strong enough to overpower and capture a Reaper. Azazel enhanced his host's physical strength to a superhuman level, to an even greater extent than most other demons do. Azazel was able to casually snap John's neck and could overpower humans, demons, and even ghosts. Ramiel was strong enough to effortlessly throw around Satan, a powerful demon in his own right, with enough force to instantly knock him out and easily defeat Gadreel, a weakened Cherub. Dagon effortlessly defeated Annael and the Team in combat, casually breaking Mia’s arm at one point and lifting Annael off the ground with one hand as well as throwing Sidney through the air with immense force.
- Supernatural Perception: Greater Demons could perceive beings that are invisible to humans such as ghosts, demons and reapers.
- Teleportation: As the oldest demons, Greater Demons can instantaneously disappear and reappear anywhere from one place to another instantly at will, including travel between Hell and Earth. Azazel could travel instantly from one place to another including Hell and Earth without occupying the space in between, he was quick enough to use this to avoid bullets. He was able to move fast enough to kidnap Sam and remove him in seconds. Dagon was able to use this ability to quickly dodge attacks, using it in a similar manner to super speed. Asmodeus teleported away from Oracle after he became enraged.
- Thermokinesis: Greater Demons can emit extreme heat through their host's body. Lilith could control the intensity of this power. In one instance she was able to scald Mia’s lips as she forcefully kissed her and in another instance she was able to burn through a Devil's Trap by merely touching it. However, Dagon tried to heat up the Winchester, but it backfired and caused her severe pain.
- Torturing: Both Lilith and Aloastair were especially skilled torturers. Aloastair was the chief torturer of Hell and even managed to break Mia Salvatore, as she agreed to torture others.
- Weather Manipulation: As great masses of demons can, Azazel's presence alone could cause thunderstorms, massive temperature fluctuations, and sudden gusts of wind. When Dagon teleported to where the Team were with Mick Davies and Renny Rawlings, her mere travel caused high gusts of wind and lightning strikes.
- Voice Mimicry: Asmodeus was able to mimic Castiel's voice on a phone call to trick the Winchesters.
Weaknesses[]
As the most powerful demons to appear, Greater Demons have very few true weaknesses and are immune to most of the standard demonic weaknesses, as they are the strongest and most durable demons ever to exist. So much so that it would take a lot of power strong enough to kill them. Despite this, they possessed a few weaknesses.
Harming, Misleading or Trapping[]
- Holy Water: Although highly resilient to it, it still causes them pain. However, holy water is not enough to stop or seriously bother them.
- Salt: Although resilient to, it still causes them pain.
- Hex Bags: Like all demons, Greater Demons cannot locate someone if they are concealed by hex bags.
- Heavenly Host: Multiple Angels acting collectively could capture Greater Demons.
- Devil's Trap: Like all demons, Greater Demons have the standard demonic weaknesses to devil’s traps and are rendered powerless within a devil's trap. However, Alastair’s resilience and endurance remain present. Lilith stopped short of the devil's trap Sam had set up to catch her and made a point of breaking it, implying that she would have been susceptible to it had it stayed intact.
- Rayne's Twin Blades: Compared to other demons, ArchDemons are extremely resistant to these blades, since it did not cause Aloastair as much pain as it did other demons, and it was not deadly when stabbed in the stomach or upper chest. However, when stabbed in the heart with both of them, these blades can kill Greater Demons.
Banishing and Killing[]
- Higher-Tier Entities: Archangels could effectively destroy Greater Demons. When Raphael began descending upon Lilith to protect Chuck, she elected to flee. It was implied that Turok-Hans could destroy them as well. However, regular angels are unable to smite, or even defeat them. The projection of Ariel's true form obliterated Alastair's vessel and even cause fatal damage to the demon himself. the Primordial Beings and Oracle could effortlessly kill, obliterate, and destroy any and all Greater Demons.
- Death's Scythe: As this weapon is capable of killing all beings, even Death itself according to rumors, with ease, this weapon can kill Greater Demons.
- Angel Blades: As angel blades can kill all demons, it can even kill Greater Demons.