#demon talk

I touched on this very briefly back when I was discussing the workings of Devil May Cry's demonic power and devil arms, where I mentioned the fact that strong demons cannot be 'killed', but merely defeated in such a way that they cannot return to the human world without being awakened by some kind of ritual.

Since the 'beauty of death's finality' post, I've been considering if the same holds true for the demons of the Black Butler universe, and I have come to the conclusion that yes, it does, meaning that Sebastian actually cannot die.

Early on we had these quotes from Sebastian:

Which suggests that even if he were somehow weakened enough to 'die' whilst bound by the contract and was therefore unable to continue with his ordinary duties, the 'him' that would 'disappear' would be his butler aesthetic form, but he would still be present in some other way (something that expends less energy - a more simple form like an animal or some less coporeal entity - or a case of possession, perhaps?), the liklihood of which is also confirmed by the fact that the contract cannot be terminated by O!Ciel by means of any order, which one would assume to include the order to 'die':

We also have this to go on, from the flashback of the initial contract:

But surely demons must generally able to freely travel from their realm to 'hunt' otherwise they wouldn't pose such an issue to Reapers, so we can now also assume that prior to the story taking place Sebastian didn't have the strength to manage this on his own (probably because of being weak from starving himself), making him essentially 'dead' and gone from our world until otherwise summoned with a suitable sacrifice, providing much needed nourishment in the form of a human soul in order to give the demon strength and boost the recovery process (the necessity of which was also sort of confirmed in the Campania bonus chapter 131.5 - That Butler, Resting - though it was never officially published in english).

Essentially, then, even if Sebastian was killed by the Undertaker's death scythe and harmed in such a way that he absolutely could not continue to take form here and was made to forfeit the contract, he would still exist within his own realm. He may be severely weakened and in need of time to recuperate, or perhaps even put into some dormant state until summoned again, but he would still be 'alive'.

Whoops. I went on break right after I got this ask. I’ve been thinking a lot of how to answer it. And, I’ve thought a lot about demons over the years. Creating different lore for different characters for different scenarios. Out of all the different kinds of demons that can exist in a story, I don’t have a favorite iteration as I enjoy vibing with whatever comes to play.

A demon that spawned from an abyss of black with an animal skull for a face is a fun an enjoyable design. I think I’m a bit more biased towards the colorful and flesh faced designs. Just because I wanna kiss something with lips lol.

This ask is kicking up my old Hell hyperfixation. I grew up catholic and with learning disabilities so I spent a lot of my time thinking through different ways hell worked and, nowadays, how I can work it into a story.

I drew you a demon, but realized after I finished that I did the wrong skull. Hope you can still like it:

I guess you see yourself as that kinda human?🙃😁

Okay so I’ll assume that human would be a demon slayer they’re up against:

It really depends on the demon’s personality I think, some won’t be bothered with explanations since they intend to kill the human anyway, others may be a bit more talkative and answer some questions for the heck of it.

As for the questions you mentioned:

Obviously, demons also have their preferences as to what they eat and what not, but in general I’d say they can eat and digest each and every part of the human body. Though that might be influenced by the demon’s abilities as well (best example: Douma).

Here, have some more Demon Summon-y, Shin Megoomi Tensei-y goodness~! Hot off the presses!

If anything, the less biased Japanese influence of understanding Kami as spiritual driving forces of nature, and Yōkai as creatures who can both help and hinder, has helped to keep an open mind of the subject and write 'demons' in the way they used to be before the rise of modern Christianity's concept of Hell, and most certainly before the appearance of cinema and wider media influence - to primordial driving forces, mischievous and cunning in nature, but not necessarily with any definitive moral alignment.

And this grey ambiguity as a detached but driving force is also how I view the creatures.

In the Victorian Era in which our story is set, even in the very Christian Great Britain, the Devil was perceived as a very different creature. And though there is clearly some kind of Heaven > Purgatory > Hell judgement system for souls in the Black Butler narrative - what with becoming a Reaper being a purgatorial punishment of sorts, with the possibility of attonement, and Sebastian himself commenting on the necessity for a soul to await judgement upon death - it certainly seems to stem from the concepts of classical literature far more than the actual Bible. (Which still, actually, does not paint Lucifer or Satan in quite the way we always are lead to think)

When I speak of the idea of 'Devils' and their 'Sins' in relation to Kuro (as these forces would more likely be understood in its Western setting), I do not do so through the Christian lense of assuming these things to be 'evil' and sought to be punished. In contrast, I do so with the idea that these things are a natural part of human nature, necessities that all people seek but cannot always fulfill, whether it be because the social environment of the time will not allow it, because others have taken away what they should rightfully have, or because they have been taught by man's own, misguided take on Religion to surpress it. Demons are 'sinful' because they 'fulfill sins', not because the word denotes any type of morality, and they come as a so-called 'corruptive' force to entice those who they may be most able to sway - those most wanting for these basic aspects of our nature - and provide for them the things that they want but do not find possible to have; the alignment of the demon in question speaks only to determine what they are best able to provide, or in what way they may seek to provide it.

The irony of 'sin' is that it is the suppression and denial of it - and the consequential depths to which a person will go to seek these things in secrecy - that causes Humans to revile and trample over each other, whilst it is the demons who are more reasonable as they can freely accept these basics as a part of their nature and see to their fulfillment in moderation.