Demons

"You're just spirits. Twisted, perverted, evil spirits. But, end of the day, you're nothing but ghosts with an ego."

- Bobby Singer, speaking to Crowley

Demons are malevolent spiritual entities created by Lucifer. Created from corrupted human souls after extensive torture in Hell, they're extremely evil. The species as a whole function as the series' primary antagonists and are the most recurring creatures in the series.

Story
Demons were once humans who were condemned to Hell. Their souls were corrupted and warped after spending hundreds of years in Hell being tortured and having all of their humanity burnt out of them. They are left as large black clouds that generate electromagnetic interference and leave behind a sulfurous residue. The first demon was Lilith. She was created by Lucifer, who resented humans for taking his place as the most beloved of God. Lucifer wanted to show how bad humans were, so he tortured a human into becoming a demonic monster. He proceeded to do the same to any human souls he could trick into joining him. However, Lucifer was locked away by his own brother, the Archangel Michael, and Lilith was imprisoned deep within Hell. Thousands of years later, after much searching, Azazel, Lucifer's demonic "son", was able to find the doorway to Lucifer's prison. Lucifer revealed that only Lilith can break the 66 seals keeping him imprisoned, and instructed Azazel to find him "a very special child". Azazel spent the following years feeding his own blood to babies—one being Sam Winchester—as they would then grow up developing demonic abilities, including the ability to kill Lilith and hence free him from his prison, and then be powerful enough to serve as his earthly vessel.

Although an ordinary demon is featured as a villain of the week in the fourth episode of the series, Phantom Traveler, demons do not become actively involved in the show until the introduction of Azazel's "daughter"—possessing a girl named Meg Masters—in the second half of the season. She follows Sam and Dean Winchester, and later unsuccessfully sets a trap for them using their father.

Characteristics
Demons are the result of souls going to Hell, being tortured until no humanity is left in them, thus turning into demons.

There are many ways of becoming a demon, from making a deal with a Crossroads Demon, to being a witch, and making a deal with another demon. They usually appear in the form of a long, slender clouds of black smoke. Their true form has not been shown onscreen, however Dean has seen their true forms, before he was taken to Hell. He says they look horrible even go as far as calling Ruby "One ugly broad."

When they possess humans, they usually enter through their mouths, Although on one occasion are observed entering via the eyes (as seen in the episode "Phantom Traveler"). Often possessed humans physically look exactly the same as they did before possession, but the only noticeable changes are the mentality of the possessed human. Often under possession the human begins speaking and acting like the demon would. Upon exorcism the human retains no memory of their time during possession (Unless they have been "awake" during possession, in which case the time of possession is a nightmare for them). Upon possession, the only noticeable change of the possessed human is their eyes, which range from deep black to yellow, to pale white and to red, depending on the type of demon possessing them. The possessed humans also gain the powers of whichever demon is possessing them. Unlike angels, whose possession of a human vessel has to be with the vessel's consent, demons forcibly possess humans without any deal at all. Whenever they use their powers, they leave a trace of sulfur in the form of yellow dust. People suffering from stress, fear or panic can be vulnerable to demonic possession. Demons abhor the name of God (which in Latin is Dio or Deus).

Low-Level Powers
These are possessed by most demons.


 * Electromagnetic Interference - Demons, like spirits, often disrupt nearby electronics with their presence.
 * Immortality - Demons have an indefinitely long lifespan and an arrested aging process.
 * Invulnerability - There are no conventional ways to kill a demon, however there a few mystical ways, such as the Colt.
 * Possession - Demons require a human vessel or "meat suit" to travel on Earth. Unlike Angels, they do not need a person's consent. It's easier to take control of people who are in states of heightened emotions or fear. This ability can be thwarted by Anti-possession tattoos. Also under some circumstances, the person being possessed can regain control if his or her will is strong enough.
 * Superhuman Stamina - Demons never tire, and do not require food, water, oxygen, or sleep to sustain themselves.
 * Superhuman Strength - Demons are capable of physically overpowering humans and most monsters.
 * Supernatural Perception - Demons are able to see hidden supernatural activity and beings, such as Reapers.
 * Telekinesis - Demons can impart kinetic energy on matter with their minds.
 * Telepathy - Demons can read the minds of humans, which they use to lie more effectively.

Mid-Level Powers
Used by some, but not all, black-eyed demons.


 * Biokinesis - Some demons can manipulate the biology of other beings. Azazel, for example, was able to torture Dean by causing him to hemorrhage.  Meg was also able to cause Crowley to cough up blood in a similar manner.
 * Invisibility - Some Demons can become invisible to humans.
 * Magic - Some Demons can practice witchcraft, much like witches, like altering the range/space they occupy.
 * Pyrokinesis - Some Demons can generate and manipulate fire.
 * Teleportation - Some Demons can travel from one place to another instantly, without occupying the space in between.

High-Level Powers
Monocoloured, white-eyed demons, and Azazel are the only ones to use these powers. They also possess all the previous abilities at highly advanced levels.


 * Dream Walking - Displayed by Azazel only. He could enter and control the dreams of others.
 * Immunity - As a general rule, the more powerful the demon, the more immune they are to common anti-demon methods such as salt and Holy Water. High ranking demons like Alastair are immune to even Angelic powers.
 * White Light - Used by Lilith ("Jus In Bello", "No Rest for the Wicked") and Samhain ("It's the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester"). Demons can use this to generate massive amounts of destructive energy that can obliterate large areas.
 * Weather Manipulation - Displayed by Azazel only. He caused lightning storms, and sudden gusts of wind with his mere presence.
 * Mind control- Displayed by Samhain. He could summon and control, monsters, ghosts, Zombies and Lesser demons than him. The Seven Deadly Sins also possessed mind control, but to a much lesser level, and could only control a person through the sin they represented.

Special Powers
These power can only be accessed in the context of a Faustian Deal, however whoever is the King of Hell, can resurrect and warp reality without these.


 * Reality Warping - Crossroads demons, and a few other Demons can grant humans a wish in exchange for their souls. It is worth noting that Azazel did not need to take souls, and could grant wishes of his own power, which he did in exchange for permission to enter the homes of special children, on their 6-month birthday.
 * Resurrection- One of the wishes demons can grant is the resurrection of a loved one. Crowley claims that, since he is now the king of Hell, he is strong enough to resurrect anybody in his care without a deal. Azazel also displayed resurrecting, the young John Winchester after he killed him, he couldn't however resurrect Dean (possibly because he hadn't crossed over yet)- instead, he possessed a reaper, who he used to do it for him.
 * Healing- In the context of a deal, crossroads demons can heal others of any wound. Azazel and Alastair could also do this.

Weaknesses

 * Salt - Demons are unable to cross a line of salt and can do very little to damage the line at all. They can't even open doors lined with salt if opening it would break the line. Salt can also be used to torture demons by making them ingest it or by injecting them with salt-water. It can also be put into shotgun rounds to hurt and knock back demons. Azazel is immune to this weakness.
 * Holy Water - Holy Water burns demons that come into contact with it, like acid. It proved ineffective against high-tier demons like Azazel or Lilith, and Ruby practically laughed when Sam was about use it against Alastair because it would barely slow him down.
 * Iron - A demon can't touch iron without its skin burning or cross it if it's used to erect a barrier, much like salt. Samhain is immune to this weakness.
 * Ruby's Knife - The knife originally belonged to Ruby. It will kill a demon that is within a host if the wound dealt is a fatal one. Upper level demons are immune to the killing effects of the knife, the only definitive example being Alastair.
 * The Colt - Much like Ruby's Knife, it will kill any demon that is shot while within a host if the shot is a fatal one. It's more powerful, however, as it affects upper level demons as well, even when the knife does not.
 * Bones - If the bones belonging to the demon are burned, the demon will be killed much like a vengeful spirit. This can also be used to torture demons. This until recently was believed to be merely a rumor, however Bobby tested this method against a Demon resulting in her death. Crowley may have been aware of this method as he tried to convince Bobby it was "A myth". This tack is very difficult to use because it requires knowing the demon's human name from before it died and where they were buried, and many demons themselves can no longer remember they were ever human at all, let alone what their names were. Devils_Trap_by_Pandora_Gold.jpg
 * Exorcism - Will pull the demon out of its host and send them to hell. Hosts may not survive.
 * Devil Trap - A Devil's Trap will hold a demon in place and prevent its escape. The Trap will also prevent low-level demons from using their powers, though Castiel's Enochian circle was able to completely bind even Alastair's abilities. It also locks a demon inside its host unless it is exorcized. For some reason, a demon inside a trap is usually unable to do anything to damage the integrity of the circle, which would allow its escape.
 * Angel's Touch - An angel can kill a demon by touching them on the forehead with their hand. This power will not work if the demon is too powerful or if the angel is cut off from Heaven. The host is also killed as a result.
 * Special Children - Sam Winchester developed special abilities almost especially tailored to hurt or kill demons. Due to training from Ruby and ingestion of demon blood, he first developed the power to pull demons out of humans. Later the powers advanced to killing demons outright, much like the knife or the colt. Although unknown, it is assumed the other special children would have also been able to do this as well, had they survived, trained, and ingested demon blood.
 * Palo Santo - Basically a wooden, hybridized version of salt and holy water. When a demon is stabbed with it, it causes the wound to smoke and painfully pins the demon to a single spot, immobilizing them long enough to perform an exorcism. Palo Santo isn't commonly used by many hunters due to the fact that it damages the hosts the demons are possessing.
 * Flesh Sigil - By carving a particular sigil into a demon's possessed flesh, it's possible to lock the demon within its host and disable its powers, the most important one being teleportation. However, demons with these sigils are not bound to a single place and can roam around freely if not restrained by some other means.
 * Hallowed Ground - Some demons (lower-level ones) are unable to enter hallowed ground. It's unclear if this includes cemeteries as well as churches.
 * "Christo" - In Phantom Traveler, Sam explained that simply saying Jesus's name—Christo (pronounced "KREE-stow")—would cause a demon to flinch, turning its eyes black and revealing its nature. This particular aspect of demon lore was dropped for the rest of the series with the intent of making it more difficult to discover if a character was possessed, thus upping the surprises and scares.

Yellow-Eyed Demon

 * Main article: Azazel

Azazel is the only yellow-eyed demon in existence (thus far) and is incredibly powerful. Besides having a unique durability threshold, advanced telekinesis, he can manipulate fire, control dreams, make electrical devices go haywire, and can even possess Reapers. The leader of the demon army, Azazel is the designer of the master plan. He is impervious to Holy Water and most other conventional defenses against demons.

White-Eyed Demons
The most powerful class of demons, white-eyed demons possess numerous powers, the most deadly of which being white light emanation. They are highly dangerous and they rank very highly in the hierarchy of Hell, just under Lucifer. They seem to inspire fear in their subordinates as all other demons seem to be terrified of them. The only known demons of this type are Lilith and Alastair.

Special
Throughout the course of Supernatural, the Winchester brothers have battled demons that are unique in some way. Examples of these demons include:


 * Monocoloured-Eyed Demons, such as Samhain, the origin of Halloween who is summoned through three blood sacrifices;
 * The Seven Deadly Sins, the physical embodiments of the Seven Cardinal Vices;
 * The Daeva, Zoroastrian shadow demons, who are sometimes used by other demons to attack targets, but are difficult to control, and can turn on the demon controling them.
 * The demons that cause natural disaster as on the episode Phantom Traveler - Season 1 (causing airplane crashes)
 * And the Acheri, demons from Indian mythology that can spread disease, appearing as young girls with felinistic features

Elite Demons
Only appearing at Lucifer's side in "Swan Song", these two demons were extremely strong.

Crossroad Demons

 * Main article: Crossroad Demon

Crossroad demons have red eyes. Unlike normal demons, Crossroad Demons tend to be self-serving, often bargaining with desperate people, making deals in exchange for their souls after a certain amount of time (usually ten years). They can grant wishes, collect souls, teleport and be summoned by digging a hole in the center of a crossroads and burying a box with a picture of the summoner, some graveyard dirt, and a bone from a black cat. Gifted with immense power, these demons usually possess attractive women to lure men into making deals, although there are exceptions.

Black-Eyed Demons
The most common demons on the show, black-eyed demons possess little to no power, whether it be super-strength or telekinesis. Effective defenses against these demons include holy water, salt, iron, a devil's trap, etc. Stronger black-eyed demons, such as Meg Masters, are not barred in entering hallowed ground and one demon, Tammi, is shown to have the ability of causing internal bleeding and extensive magical knowledge, such as when she recites a ritual to exorcise Ruby from her body.

Apocalyptic Tools
During the course of the fifth season, though not really demons, numerous tools/instruments in service of Lucifer have been introduced:

Three of Lucifer's most highly-used instruments were Pestilence, War and Famine. Jesse Turner was intended to serve Lucifer, but chose not to, and the Whore of Babylon rose sometime after Lucifer did, damning all she could to Hell. Death, the oldest and most powerful Horseman, also served Lucifer, but did so unwillingly and resented being bound to a "bratty child throwing a temper tantrum." Death eventually met with Dean Winchester and gave him his ring which the Winchesters needed to re-imprison Lucifer.

Season 1

 * "Pilot" (as a silhouette (later revealed to be Azazel) )
 * "Phantom Traveler" (Introduced)
 * "Scarecrow" (Meg)
 * "Shadow"
 * "Salvation"
 * "Devil's Trap"

Season 2

 * "In My Time of Dying"
 * "Crossroad Blues"
 * "Croatoan"
 * "Born Under A Bad Sign" (Meg)
 * "All Hell Breaks Loose - Part 1"
 * "All Hell Breaks Loose - Part 2"

Season 3

 * "The Magnificent Seven"
 * "The Kids Are Alright" (Ruby)
 * "Sin City"
 * "Bedtime Stories"
 * "Malleus Maleficarum"
 * "Dream A Little Dream Of Me" (in one of Dean's dreams)
 * "Jus In Bello"
 * "Time Is On My Side"
 * "No Rest For The Wicked"

Season 4

 * "Lazarus Rising"
 * "Are You There, God? It's Me, Dean Winchester" (Ruby)
 * "In The Beginning"
 * "Metamorphosis"
 * "Yellow Fever" (as Dean's hallucination)
 * "It's the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester"
 * "I Know What You Did Last Summer"
 * "Heaven and Hell"
 * "Criss Angel Is A Douchebag" (Ruby)
 * "Sex and Violence" (Ruby's Voice)
 * "Death Takes A Holiday"
 * "On The Head Of A Pin"
 * "The Monster at the End of This Book"
 * "The Rapture"
 * "When the Levee Breaks"
 * "Lucifer Rising"

Season 5

 * "Sympathy for the Devil"
 * "Good God, Y'all" (as hallucinations created by War)
 * "I Believe The Children Are Our Future"
 * "Abandon All Hope..."
 * "Swap Meat"
 * "My Bloody Valentine"
 * "99 Problems"
 * "The Devil You Know"
 * "Two Minutes to Midnight"
 * "Swan Song"

Season 6

 * "Exile On Main Street" (as a hallucination created by the Djinn poison)
 * "Weekend At Bobby's"
 * "Family Matters"
 * "All Dogs Go To Heaven" (Crowley)
 * "Caged Heat"
 * "Mommy Dearest" (Crowley)
 * "The Man Who Would Be King"
 * "Let It Bleed"
 * "The Man Who Knew Too Much"

Season 7

 * "Meet The New Boss" (Crowley)
 * "Slash Fiction" (Crowley)
 * "Season Seven, Time For A Wedding"
 * "Repo Man"
 * "The Born-Again Identity"
 * "Reading Is Fundamental"
 * "There Will Be Blood" (Crowley)
 * "Survival of the Fittest"