Defeating a demon

J.S.F. · Apr 4, 2012

Okay, I know this has probably been asked before but in my desperation, I'd greatly appreciate the input of those who enjoy gutting demons, delivering us from all evil.

My latest 'opus' has an 'Elementalist' who can control the four elements at will. He is up against a demon who can be hurt but not killed. Said demon is a shape-shifting, soul-sucking scumbag who deserves to get iced but for some reason, the ol' gray cells can't figure out how to get rid of this devil-thingie. Any suggestions?

totopink · Apr 4, 2012

Some sort of situation where he is not dead but is permanently locked up never to harm anyone. Perhaps he's been disabled somehow? That's usually how undefeatable foe's usually get defeated.

Stiger05 · Apr 4, 2012

If you separate his body, do the parts grow back or spawn new demons? If not, the MC could chop off his arms, legs, head, etc, and put them in different places. Maybe burn them perpetually or freeze them and hide them.

Dagrami · Apr 4, 2012

Hero and demon could become best friends and live together, happily ever after!

Orrr... said demon could be banished to another dimension/plane? I take it he comes from somewhere other than Earth? He could be sent back from whence he came.

Kriven · Apr 4, 2012

Lock the demon into some kind of pact?

alicereckless · Apr 4, 2012

If he (or his vessel) needs blood like we do, our MC could always draw every spec of blood out of his system and then store him in a freezer or the Sahara desert (if your setting is contemporary).

If not, maybe he could just cut out his heart and then send it to the bottom of the deepest ocean/lake.

I think it really all depends on your book's mythos.

Ashes Oh Ashes · Apr 4, 2012

Go all 1001 Nights on it and trick it into locking itself away in something! That's actually what came to mind when you said it couldn't die. =p

twright · Apr 4, 2012

J.S.F. said:
Okay, I know this has probably been asked before but in my desperation, I'd greatly appreciate the input of those who enjoy gutting demons, delivering us from all evil.

My latest 'opus' has an 'Elementalist' who can control the four elements at will. He is up against a demon who can be hurt but not killed. Said demon is a shape-shifting, soul-sucking scumbag who deserves to get iced but for some reason, the ol' gray cells can't figure out how to get rid of this devil-thingie. Any suggestions?

Well, I would think there has to be some "achilles heel" to this critter, or it would be a god, not a demon.

Identify that weakness and I would think it will lead you to the means of it's downfall. That would probably be your story arc, if this is the main conflict.

If, on the other hand, you're wondering what that weakness would be, you would have to look at your worldbuilding. It doesn't have to be tied directly to the hero's skills, but perhaps something that can be manipulated or activated by those skills.

SBibb · Apr 4, 2012

If it is shapeshifting, perhaps there can be a weakness there. Is it weak in the process of the shift? What happens if it is harmed while shifting? What if something is placed inside it's skin during the shift?

I agree with twright. Look at your worldbuilding, then identify its weakness. If it can't be killed, it can't be killed. But there may be other ways to defeat it... if only temporarily.

GingerGunlock · Apr 4, 2012

I guess you have to define "demon"

Does it have its own body? Is it possessing somebody? Are we talking "demon" in the "I need an old priest and a young priest" sense, or in the D&D "demons are chaotic and from X and devils are lawful and from Y" sense?

J.S.F. · Apr 4, 2012

Lots of helpful stuff here and thanks to everyone.

The setting is contemporary America. The 'demon' is a being conjured up (inadvertently, of course) from another dimension and it can assume any shape it desires in order to trick others. It can be hurt by the various elements i.e. water turned to ice, earth turned to hard pellets, etc.

Right now, I'm only up to the fifth chapter (out of roughly twelve) so still in the process of figuring out the world I'm going to build, but it wil be a contemporary setting and no 'off-world' doings.

Again, my thanks. I have to think this through.

Mharvey · Apr 4, 2012

If he can't be killed, probably imprisonment is the way to go - can your MC find a relic/artifact that can do the trick?

If not, a ritual could work. Does the MC know any friends who can perform it while he has to fight the demon and keep it busy for X amount of time?

Banishment to another dimension is also fun. Or you can always go the Angel (Buffy Angel, that is) route - the demon is cursed into having a soul and forever repents its actions.

Lots of good ideas have been mentioned as well.

Happy Demon Hunting.

Sage · Apr 4, 2012

One demon lore thing I've heard is that a demon can't cross running water. Since your MC is an elementalist, perhaps this can be used some way.

lolchemist · Apr 4, 2012

How about a spell that wipes it's memory so that it can't remember wanting to destroy the world/kill the mc/eat kittens/whatever.

Edit: Oops, I forgot about the 'Elementalist' thing.

How to "defeat" a shape-shifting immortal being using only the elements of earth, fire, air and water?

I think you have to figure out where it's *consciousness* is located. Is it a part of the bodies it inhabits or can it survive without a body? Can it just be a bunch of random molecules, invisible to the naked eye? Must it always transform into a living creature or can it transform into anything?

If the consciousness can survive without a living body, no matter how many times you trap it's physical form it can just transform itself into like a freaking photon and escape.

I think in a situation like that, physical attacks would be pointless.

KalenO · Apr 4, 2012

Your MC could feasibly entomb the demon in solid rock.

J.S.F. · Apr 4, 2012

Actually, I was thinking of going all 'The Blob' on it and entombing it in ice, then dropping the damn thing in the Antarctic somewhere. Nice suggestion and a rep to the person who suggested it.

Zoombie · Apr 5, 2012

Let me check Lex Demonica Imperialus...

Uh...

It says here: Fire. Lots of fire. If that fails, more fire. Preferably fire fired from flamethrowers blessed by the Ecclesiarchy, wielded by fearsome battle nuns.

If you do not have fearsome battle nuns, then I'd suggest using your elemental powers to open up a crack in the earth (somewhere volcanically active) and dump it into lava.

And if you can contrive for it to be blessed lava, all the better!

wormglow · Apr 5, 2012

I think it's down to you to work out the actual logistics of it as you know and understand the world you've created best.

As a general kind of thing, though, one approach I enjoy is having the "rules" or "laws" behind the bad guy's invincibility/invulnerability very rigidly and clearly established, and then having the MC find some tricky little loophole or flaw within the set of rules which when manipulated allows the MC to kill them. I think the "A-ha!" moment when the MC stumbles upon the correct "method" really fun. Quite hard to do convincingly, though.

twright · Apr 5, 2012

J.S.F. said:
Lots of helpful stuff here and thanks to everyone.

The setting is contemporary America. The 'demon' is a being conjured up (inadvertently, of course) from another dimension and it can assume any shape it desires in order to trick others. It can be hurt by the various elements i.e. water turned to ice, earth turned to hard pellets, etc.

Right now, I'm only up to the fifth chapter (out of roughly twelve) so still in the process of figuring out the world I'm going to build, but it wil be a contemporary setting and no 'off-world' doings.

Again, my thanks. I have to think this through.

Well, the obvious thing is that the hero simply causes the demon to return to the place from whence it came. But that would be too bovious I would think.

However, what if it has to maintain some sort of connection to that place? And the hero only learns this by accident, and then has to find some way to destroy or damage that connection? And what happens then? Maybe it's a less powerful critter, but REALLY pissed off?

Just some ideas.

J.S.F. · Apr 5, 2012

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I...must...reevaluate....

Mandiloo322 · Apr 5, 2012

Just a stab in the dark, but I've read that sometimes salt is involved in summoning/banishing demons, and that's a sort of mineral/rock element...perhaps you could work that in? If you decide to go with the ritual idea this might work.

Have fun! Sounds like you have an interesting problem to figure out.

5398cane · Apr 5, 2012

Something "not of this world" ?

Diana_Rajchel · Apr 6, 2012

I favor trapping. In Goetia, it's common(ish) to make a devil's trap that is a triangle with a circle around it. Just don't make it in sand.

scribbledoutname · Apr 6, 2012

The most obvious way to defeat it would be to destroy its physical body, and state that its consciousness is in another world. If your MC is anywhere near the person who summoned it they can destroy whatever books or tools were used to summon it to ensure that it stays where ever the hell (badum-ch) it came from. Another option is to seal it somehow. If your MC can use four elements, then maybe (and this is kind of cliche, but what the heck) maybe they're also able to access a fifth element, which is spirit or whatever other thing you want to call it. This may allow them to tear the demon's own soul out (or whatever it has) and trap it in a container or, as some other people suggested, in another plane. Another option is to incorporate the power of true names. If your MC overhears the demon's name, maybe he can control it?

shiva777 · Apr 6, 2012

Insane

How about making the demon go insane or otherwise lose their mind and so their ability to do harm?

Defeating a demon

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