High Demons: Devils, Fiends, Goblins, Imps, Ogres, Trolls
Low Demons: Gacks, Gargoyles, Hellhounds

Demons

Infernum is the homeworld of the demons. Arriving from a nearby planet that we have historically called Hell, demons are vile and evil creatures intent on conquering the Earth and enslaving humanity.

All demons are vicious carnivorous predators and will attack, kill, and eat both people and animals. Except for goblins, they have no subcutaneous fat and very little visceral fat so that they are always hungry and must eat every day or risk starving.

Hideous and terrifying to look on, the primary physical characteristic of all demons is that they are covered with a transparent skin that does nothing to hide their underlying dark-red muscles, their purple blood vessels, and their white horns, bones, teeth, tendons, and ligaments. Although their skin is transparent, it is extremely tough and difficult to cut or pierce. Demons have no external sexual organs secondary sexual characteristics. Male demons are larger and more robust than females.

Native to a planet with higher gravity than Earth, they are hyper-muscular (especially male demons), and their bones are stronger than those of terrestrial animals.

Demons do not have external ears. Demons have multiple rows of triangular, shark-like teeth. With horizontal goat-like pupils, their yellow eyes are reflective, making them appear to glow like crimson coals in the dark. Their breath and blood have the unmistakable stench of sulfur. All demons are tailless.

A demon’s large, dark purple veins and arteries carry blood the color and consistency of crude oil. It is black because of its trillions of medical nanobots. For all practical purposes, these microscopic robots make demons impervious to fire and able to heal most injuries nearly instantaneously. Thus, demons are extremely tough to kill, and the best ways are to shoot them in the head, decapitate them, or cause injuries so extensive that they overwhelm the nanobots’ regenerative powers.

High Demons

High Demons are a genus of intelligent humanoid demons classified into the following species: devils, fiends, goblins, imps, ogres, and trolls (a.k.a., giants). They are bipedal, walking upright on cloven hooves. Their four-fingered hands have long, retractable claws. All male high demons have two horns of various shapes and sizes, while female high demons and their young children do not. Their mouths contain double rows of triangular, shark-like teeth, and their wide, semicircular jaws can open nearly 180 degrees, enabling them to bite off large, hemispherical chunks of meat. Being impervious to both extreme heat and cold, high demons do not wear clothes. Demons have neither external sex organs nor secondary sexual characteristics (e.g., breasts); the only way to tell male and females apart is by size and strength (males are taller and more muscular than females).

High Demons are the rulers of Hell. Psychologically, they are malicious, devious, and evil creatures that are intent on conquering other planets and enslaving their intelligent species, both as slaves and as food. Because they have four fingers on each hand and cloven hooves, demons count in base 12 (4+4+2+2) instead of base 10 as we do.

Devils

Devils are roughly the same size as people. Highly intelligent and cunning, devils are the apex demon predator and the most dangerous of all demons. Devil horns are long and swept back. Their wide mouths have multiple rows of sharp shark-like teeth, and their four-fingered hands have retractable claws.

Each devil has a devilstone embedded in the base of its skull. Looking like a ruby-colored crystal disk, it is an advanced alien technology that provides devils with what appear to be paranormal powers. They can be extremely difficult to identify because they can glamour people so that they appear to be human. Members of the Tutores Contra Infernum use devilstones to make their amulets.

Fiends

Fiends are often confused with devils due to their similar size. However, a fiend has shorter horns and is less muscular than devils. Fiends also have long fangs. Less intelligent than devils, fiends are even more driven than devils by their compulsion to torture their victims before eating them because of their addiction to fear hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol. Fiends also lack devilstones and thus lack the associated paranormal powers.

Goblins

Goblins are high demons roughly midway in height between devils and imps. They are unique among demons because they store a large reservoir of fat in a large specialized organ within their very distended abdomens. This ability enables goblins to survive for weeks without eating, whereas other demons must eat daily to avoid risking starvation. Viewing this fat reserve as a weakness, other high demons look down on and ridicule goblins, while they see their ability to store fat as a strength.

Imps

Imps are a species of high demon that only stand roughly two and a half feet high. They have grotesquely small skulls, short horns, ugly flat faces, unnaturally long arms, and stubby legs. They are about as intelligent as a six-year-old child, if that child were a hyperactive, self-centered psychopath who would rather torture and eat small puppies than pet them. Armed with simple swords, spiked maces, and spears, they travel in large, disorganized troops led by a devil. The occasionally are seen riding gargoyles and hellhounds.

Ogres

Ogres are roughly eleven feet high but walk with a prominent stoop so that the hands on the ends of their very long arms nearly brush the floor. Ogres have medium size horns, fangs on their lower jaws, and low foreheads leaving little room for their small brains. Their muscles are massive muscles, and their cloven hooves are unusually large. Ogres particularly like to feast on infants and small children rather than adults.

Dull-witted and even less intelligent than imps, ogres are subject to extreme rage when provoked. Incredibly strong and very hard to kill, male ogres are the heavy soldiers of the warrior class. Ogres are primarily used in battles where brawn is more important than brains. Sightings of ogres formed the basis of legends of Viking berserkers as ordinary wounds merely drive them into a rage. Their favorite weapon is a heavy club.

Trolls

Trolls (also known as giants) are enormous, from twelve to twenty feet tall. Slender with unusually long arms and massive thighs, devils primarily use trolls to pull wagons, carry heavy loads, and power demon machinery. Their long, curved horns extend sideways like those of cattle. Like ogres, trolls have short fangs on their lower jaws. Although humanoid and therefore high demons, troll brains are so small that their intelligence is not much more than that of gargoyles and hellhounds.

Low Demons

Low demons are the bestial demons of Infernum. Devils can control certain low demons, such as gargoyles and demons, that have roughly the intelligence of a dog. Gacks are uncontrollable and about as smart as a rat.

Gacks

Gacks are about twice the size of a large cat and look a little like miniature gargoyles without the batlike wings. Gacks are feral and hunt in packs of a dozen or more.

Gargoyles

Gargoyles look like a nightmarish cross between a small, skinned, black panther and an enormous bat. They have long fangs and talon-like claws on both front and back paws. nearly three times as long as their tailless bodies, they can fly and even carry an imp rider for short distances. Somewhat clumsy on the ground due to their large wings, they prefer to attack from the air.

With leathery wings , they can fly and even carry an imp rider for short distances. Somewhat clumsy on the ground due to their large wings, they prefer to attack from the air.

Hellhounds

Hellhounds look somewhat like hyper-muscular, tail-less wolves that have been skinned alive. They are gigantic, with alpha males weighing up to 300 pounds. Outwardly, males and females appear nearly identical, with the males being slightly more robust in terms of shoulder muscles and having slightly longer muzzles. Since the sexual organs of both male and female hellhounds are internal, the only way to know for sure is by dissection.

When standing on all four legs, their shoulders reach up to a person’s chest, enabling them to look people directly in the eye. They have long fangs that reach down past the jaws of their massive heads, and their venom includes highly-lethal neurotoxins. The long, razor-sharp claws on their huge paws are retractable like those of a cat. Without external ears, they have relatively poor hearing and therefore hunt by sight and smell.