Origin

At first sight, I thought he’s a copy of Mukuro in terms of looks and personality, save for his dedication for Vongola. Then, once the story entered the Inheritance Ceremony Arc, during the majority of the arc, he could be described as an exemplary mafia: heartless, cruel, merciless, and ruthless.

Even Mukuro went as far as saying that Demon was the type of mafia that he hated the most. This coming from Mukuro of all people was quite surprising. Pretty ironic since they had a lot of similarities. But as we reached the end, we learned more about him, and he was not the kind of person we initially thought he was.

Demon was originally an aristocrat. His exact rank was never stated, but if he was allowed to be in relationship with Elena, who was the daughter of a duke, his rank should be at least on the equal rank of marquis or above.

For a guy who induced an air of arrogance, Demon unexpectedly was the kind of noble who followed noblesse oblige*. Demon didn’t indulge himself in the luxury that came from his privilege like the majority of high-ranked people were. Instead, he believed that as people with higher social standing, nobles, should carry out their responsibilities in becoming the backbone of society.

Though it was mentioned he joined Vongola under his lover’s suggestion, the fact that Demon still willingly joined Vongola that consisted of people with various backgrounds spoke that Demon was not the type of noble who discriminated against commoners, which was extremely rare during the era he lived in back then.

It was never shown in detail how Demon was before he changed, but it was clear at that time Demon wholeheartedly worked as a Vongola Guardian for the sake of bringing peace to society in mind. In fact, as he continued working for the Family, Demon found that Vongola was everything he had ever hoped for, an organization with people whom he shared the same goal with: fighting against corruption and protecting people. What initially a simple suggestion from his lover soon turned into genuine love and passion for the Vongola Family.

The Drama CD further showed that prior to his betrayal, Demon actually had an amicable relationship with Giotto and the other Guardians, though he had a penchant to rile them up for his own amusement, this was still to a friendly degree. While he still prioritized his work, he didn’t mind hanging out with them as he accepted Giotto's dinner invitation (his jab towards G near the end was my favorite part).

Obsession with power & relationship with Elena

When Demon appeared in episode 186, my first impression was that Demon was the type of mafia who was driven by hunger for power in the effort to maintain the glory of the Vongola that he served. However, one question also popped out with it:

Why was Demon so dedicated to the Vongola?

If he was solely hungry for power, then there were other means to gain power other than raising Vongola to the apex. But no, he was very focused on gaining power not for himself, but rather for the sake of Vongola. It doesn’t matter who, as long as they can make Vongola the strongest organization who’d take down any enemies by any means necessary, then he’d be more than happy to entrust the Vongola to them. 

In episode 187, During Demon's trial, Knuckle did mention that Demon had a different way of thinking since the beginning, but the fact that Demon didn’t betray them until later made me suspect that there was another unspoken reason.

It can be assumed that Demon already had the belief that power was necessary to maintain peace when he first joined the Vongola, but it has yet to reach a dangerous level as they didn't seem to have a problem with him despite his teasing in the drama cd.

When Giotto decided to disband their military force out of fear that the Vongola would grow to fight for self-interest, Demon was opposed to the idea, arguing that the only reason they could continue guarding the peace was because of the power Vongola had back then. Perhaps, this was a hint of what Knuckle meant by Demon having a different way of thinking, but it was still to a reasonable degree.

I finally got the answer to my question once chapter 345 came out. Elena, who was Demon’s lover, was his main driving force behind all of his actions. Elena was the one who introduced Demon to Giotto and the one who suggested he join the Vongola.

Demon mentioned that he and Elena shared the same ideal. This implied that Elena also believed that nobles should be the backbone of society, and she herself also expressed the desire to protect the weak. In the midst of corruption within nobility, Demon and Elena were kindred spirits, which united them together, and their shared passion for the Vongola made their love for each other stronger.

Demon himself genuinely loved the Vongola Family, but before the Vongola, Elena was still the most precious to him. That’s why her death greatly devastated him, filling him with immense guilt that he carried until near the end of his life. 

Elena’s death, unfortunately, changed his belief into an unhealthy obsession. To Demon, losing the person he loved the most was his wake-up call. Never mind protecting the weak citizens, without power, nobody could protect even the one person they loved.

Demon was not wrong. Everyone needs power to protect their loved ones, be it either physical power, authority, or other forms of power that was necessary for the said protection. You can’t even protect yourself if you’re weak. That’s an undeniable fact in the reality we’re living in. However, Demon took his devotion too far. 

Because Elena died due to Vongola weakening, Demon came to hate how weak Vongola had become, so he took it upon himself to wipe out any form of weakness within the Vongola while raising the famiglia into the top of power. If he made the Vongola into the strongest and most fearsome organization, then nobody would dare to attack them again because they were too afraid to do so. And with no one dare opposing them, then nobody would experience the pain of losing their loved ones like Demon did.

Ever since he lost Elena, it was easy to imagine that his state of mind was wrecked. The guilt he had for his inability to save Elena warped his sense of justice. Losing her hurt him a lot. Unlike people in general though, Demon didn’t fall into depression, he instead developed a single-minded focus on fulfilling her dying wish.

Demon’s obsessive commitment to the Vongola might as well be his way of coping. Demon hated the weak Vongola, but what he truly hated the most was himself. He cursed his helpless and powerless self who couldn’t save his lover. He believed that fulfilling her last wish was the only thing he could do to make up for his failure in protecting her.

The tricky thing about self-blame is that, even though it hurts intensely, it also protected him from a greater pain. In blaming himself, he nurture the illusion that he has some control over life. This came in the form of desire to strengthen the Vongola further.

It wasn’t hunger for power that drove Demon’s entire actions, but it was his guilt coupled with a twisted sense of justice, which was actually contradictory or maybe even hypocritical with his actions. Demon successfully made Vongola into a powerful mafia family, but in the process to reach that goal, Demon had sacrificed a lot, dirtying his own hands with blood of both enemies and innocent people alike.

He made Vongola into the strongest to protect the weak and to prevent the same tragedy he experienced from happening again, yet he disregarded the feelings of the said weak people and even killed many people who also had family and friends whom they loved and vice versa. He was just repeating the very tragedy he had experienced to others.

And for a note, I used the original Japanese page for the second pic because Mangastream made a mistranslation.

Hidden pain and true wish

Befitting of the Vongola Mist Guardian’s duty, Demon did well when it comes to deceiving people. What he didn’t realize though, perhaps he actually had been deceiving himself the whole time. 

Demon belittled Tsuna and his friends for letting Giotto and Cozzato, whom he dismissed as mere dead people, influenced them. But perhaps, that was Demon’s attempt to convince himself into thinking that he wasn’t hurting for what happened in the past.

He tried hard to deeply bury his pain until he didn’t feel it anymore, because he thought that holding onto that pain of loss was a weakness and would be in the way of fulfilling Elena’s wish. And that’s what pushed him to continue living for generations. Otherwise, he would’ve fallen into despair.

What Demon failed to realize, turning away from that pain instead of facing them had chained him down. Demon’s time had been stopped at that moment. He was still living in the past, unable to let go, something that he refused to admit.

Demon’s true wish was never about making Vongola the strongest. His wish has always been much simpler: he longed for forgiveness from the person that he loved the most. But precisely because of his perceived failure, he didn’t even dare to wish, let alone asking for that forgiveness, especially when the person he sought forgiveness from was no more.

For all those years he had lived, Demon had been suffering in silence. On top of his guilt, he piled up more and more sins on his back through the crimes he committed and all the lives he had ruined. In a way, it could be said that Demon unknowingly was punishing himself. He was suffering inside, but he ignored it and acted like it never bothered him.

He was fortunate that Tsuna’s endless kindness extended even to him despite everything he had done. Tsuna helped him find peace by letting him hear the words that he had longed to hear, allowing him to come to terms with his past regret.

Demon was fully aware that Tsuna was lying to him, but that lie helped Demon to finally acknowledge the pain he had long buried, and in return that made him realize what his true wish was. Demon wanted - needed someone to give him an affirmation that it was okay to feel what he felt, and what happened was something he couldn't control.

Tragedies all too often occur beyond our control. It is more devastating to realize how it came unexpected – and how unexpected they will continue to be – than it is to believe that we failed.

Relationship with Giotto

One of the things about Demon that I am interested most, aside from his relationship with Elena, was his relationship with Giotto a.k.a Vongola Primo.

When watching the Primo Family Arc in the anime, I wasn’t surprised that Giotto and Demon were not in a good relationship. Since it was already mentioned in the manga that Demon was a traitor before the episode aired, I could guess that Demon was up to no good, and Giotto, being noted to have similarities in personality with Tsuna, I could guess that Giotto would be the type who still cherish Demon as a Guardian and a friend despite his betrayal. And my guess was right. 

While it was clear that Giotto still treasured Demon, what about Demon?

From episode 184 to episode 188, Demon had made it clear that he didn’t consider Giotto to be suitable to lead the Vongola. Episode 188 subtly explained that there was once a time that Demon accepted and dutifully followed Giotto, but then it ended with disappointment on Demon’s part because Giotto just couldn’t get rid of his kindness that he viewed as unnecessary naivety that would bring Vongola to its downfall.

However, at the same time in the episode, Demon was shown to still be keeping the pocket watch that Giotto personally ordered to be made and gifted to him and the rest of the Guardians. It wasn’t just an ordinary pocket watch, but the pocket watch signified their eternal friendship. This implied that despite his treachery, Demon himself couldn’t completely let go of the bond he had with his former friends, especially Giotto.

When Demon was revealed to be the main antagonist in Inheritance Ceremony Arc, you might think that the whole pocket watch that signifies their friendship was an anime-only thing. To make it even worse, Demon had on more than one occasion insulted his former boss, referring to him as nothing more than a dead person that had no place in interfering with the living. Whatever respect that he once had for his former boss seemed to have gone up in a smoke. There was only bitterness and resentment, that he extended to Giotto’s descendant, Tsuna.

But, was that really the case?

Chapter 344 and 345 revealed that Demon was still carrying the pocket watch given by Giotto. It was in fact his treasure, the only thing that he kept close to him for all those years even when he moved from one body to another.

Not only that, the pocket watch contained a photograph of Demon together not only with Elena, but also Giotto and the other Guardians. If he truly hated them, why did he still keep the pocket watch that was the proof of their friendship and even the photo of them together?

This was the answer that I reached: Demon might have hated the weak Vongola, but he never hated Giotto and the rest of the Guardians.

From how Demon admitted that Giotto was a great leader and how he initially dedicated himself to the Vongola that Giotto led, he was initially on friendly terms with Giotto even with their differences. Alas, their friendship started to break apart when Giotto decided to disband the Vongola’s military forces, which inadvertently led to Elena’s death.

One thing that needed to be paid attention to here, was that surprisingly, even though Giotto’s decision indirectly caused Elena’s death, Demon never blamed Giotto for it.

He could’ve blamed his boss for making a reckless decision without thinking through the consequence that comes with it. It should’ve been easy, convenient to pin all the blame on Giotto for making the decision. But no, rather than blaming Giotto, the one that Demon blamed was himself. He blamed himself alone for failing to change Giotto’s mind. 

One could attribute that Demon’s guilt was the reason why he blamed himself, but I believed that one of the reasons was that Demon didn’t want to blame Giotto. He didn’t want to blame the boss and the friend that he respected. Once he did so, he most likely would come to hate Giotto for it. He knew how kind Giotto was and his boss would no doubt feel responsible once the news of Elena’s death reached him.

And so, to stop himself from hating Giotto, the least that Demon could do was not to blame him. Sadly, because of this, coupled with his self-blame, it seemed like Demon never tried to reach out to Giotto when he was mourning. He kept his sadness all to himself rather than sharing it. If he had, I doubt that Demon's state of mind would be this worse. And as we all know, suppressing one’s own sadness actually heightens it and makes one feel worse.

However, at the same time, as in many cases, people who were in grief have a tendency to try blaming someone for their misfortune. Demon was still one of them. Since Demon didn’t want to blame Giotto, he sought someone else to play the “bad guy”, one that he could blame aside from himself. He sought excuses as to why Giotto made a decision that cost Elena’s life. The Simon Family, specifically Cozzato, became Demon’s unfortunate target.

Due to Simon Family’s growing power and Cozzato’s close friendship with Giotto, Demon was convinced that Cozzato was the one who instilled such weakness in Giotto. If it weren’t for Cozzato, then Giotto would never have considered disbanding their military forces, or so that’s what he convinced himself.

Before Demon decided to force Giotto to step down, I think Demon tried to pester Giotto to make them stronger. But after some time passed, Demon realized that would never happen. And he started to think he needed to do something on his own, in his own way, what HE thought was the best for Vongola. 

Even after he became disappointed in Giotto and forced the latter to step down from his position, Demon did nothing to Giotto afterwards, letting him live the life of retirement in peace. Usually, to prevent the worst to happen, it would’ve been safer to dispose of the previous boss. However, Demon never showed any indication that he tried to do so. Because despite his disappointment, deep down, Demon couldn’t bring himself to hate Giotto. He couldn’t completely cut off his bonds with his former comrades. 

Demon was in denial of this because, again, he considered this feeling as a weakness that would prevent him from fulfilling his promise to Elena. He badmouths Giotto in an attempt to drive away those feelings. A failed attempt for as long as he never let go of that pocket watch. Whether he admits it or not, he was still strongly attached to the memories he had, to the bonds he had, with Giotto and the other Guardians.

And Giotto, for his part, didn't do anything to Demon after his betrayal. Yes, he did promise Cozzato to act like nothing happened because he believed that there’d be a lot of sacrifices if they confronted Demon directly, but we all knew that Giotto, in spite of what his Mist Guardian did, still considered Demon as both his Guardian and his friend.

During Demon's trial, Giotto didn't interfere with Demon's trial as he deemed it Demon's duty as Mist Guardian, and was the only one to express gratitude for fulfilling the said duty regardless of Demon's personal goal. And from my point of two, the exchange between them were more like old friends having a reunion.

The reason Giotto accepted to stand down from his position and let Secondo take over was partially because he didn’t want to hurt Demon. He didn’t want to fight and hurt or worse kill his own Mist Guardian with his own hands. Just as Demon couldn’t bring himself to hate him, Giotto couldn’t bring himself to hate Demon.

Giotto perhaps already knew the reason why Demon became the way he was, and Giotto thought he was at fault for making Demon that way. He felt he was responsible for Demon’s suffering that warped his mind. The guilty feeling he had towards Demon and Elena stopped him from taking actions against his Mist Guardian and instead chose to step down as Demon wished. It probably killed Giotto to be able to empathize with Demon since there's no way he could blame Demon for thinking Elena wanted Vongola to be deadly powerful.  

Interestingly, Giotto might have already realized Demon’s attachment to their bond. In episode 188, when Giotto approached Demon after the end of the trial and saw him still carrying the pocket watch, Giotto said (in Japanese),

“Sono kimochi wa kawatteinai.”

The subtitle translated it as “My feelings haven’t changed”, referring to Giotto’s own feelings.

But I’m actually skeptical of that translation. Because, as far as I remember and understand, in Japanese, “sono” is a demonstrative adjective meaning "that", which usually refers to something that is close to the listener but not to the speaker. Following this understanding, the translation should be,

“Those feelings haven’t changed” or “That feeling hasn’t changed”. 

In this case, Giotto was the speaker while Demon was the listener. So, when Giotto said “sono kimochi”, he didn’t actually refer to his own feelings, he was actually referring more to Demon’s feelings, implying that he knew Demon hadn’t let go of the friendship they shared in the past. 

When Demon made his betrayal clear, he bluntly told Giotto that he was no longer qualified to lead the Vongola. When he said it, he was only stating what he believed to be a fact. There was no malice or resentment in Demon's tone and behavior directed to Giotto.

The bond between Giotto and Demon was truly heart wrenching. They shared the same desire and wish, but along the way, their paths diverged because of the differences in the way they decided to fulfill them. They have a mutual feeling of resignation to the fact that things will never be the same again. And yet, despite falling apart, both still felt strongly attached to one another. Their bond might have been severed, but it was never completely broken.

Should Demon be given a second chance, perhaps he and Giotto could reconcile, even if they couldn’t go back to the way they were.

Verdict

To put it simply, I think of Demon as a pitiful soul. He used to be a more noble man, only to fall down to the dark path once he lost the person most precious to him. And that led to breaking his friendship with the friends that he once trusted and respected due to their differing ideals.

His heart was broken and never healed from it, perhaps slowly descending to madness, the type of madness where he could still make plans and look normal to people, but something in his psyche broke. His spirit lingered in the world, unable to rest for centuries while piling up more and more sins on his back.

By the end of it, I felt relieved for Demon, because his heart could finally find peace and his spirit was put to rest.

Knowing Demon’s past and his real motive, I just couldn’t bring myself to hate Demon anymore. I'm a sucker for tragic love stories like his. Plus, Demon was already more than punished with his death. Frankly speaking, I was impressed by Demon’s love for Elena. He had lived for so long, yet his heart always belonged to Elena alone. Not everyone could love someone as strongly as Demon did. 

I know in Demon’s case, it would’ve been better for him to move on, but I was still touched by his love for Elena. It shows that once Demon loves someone, he’s undoubtedly loyal to her alone and wouldn’t even think of having an eye on other women. He’d make a loyal devoted husband.

In volume 36's Vongola no Ajito, a section specifically for fan arts sent by fans, there's a fan art of Demon and Elena commented by Tsuna, Enma, and Adelheid. Here, even Adelheid had to admit that she wished Julie would emulate this aspect of Demon. lol

Although, I was bothered that the revelation about Elena was very last minute. Amano should’ve left some subtle clues about her in prior chapters before the revelation. That would make the eventual revelation more natural and didn’t come out of nowhere.