Fiend
| Fiend | |
|---|---|
| Alignment | Always evil |
| Home | Lower Planes |
Fiend is a catch-all term for negative entities native to the evil Outer Planes. The most well-known types are demons and devils.
Fiends are cruel and sadistic. They view mortals as obstacles or tools at best and prey at worst. Not all fiends are alike, however. Some, such as devils, seek to corrupt mortals through guile and temptation; others, like succubi, prefer seduction; and others, such as demons, seek to ravage and devour.
The positive counterparts to fiends are celestials.
Types
How many types of fiends there are is a matter of debate. According to Abn-Azer, there are at least four types:
- Demodands (Neutral Evil): The jailers (and prisoners) of Carceri, the Red Prison.
- Demons (CE)
- Devils (LE)
- Yugoloths (NE): Cynical mercenaries of the Lower Planes.
Scholars disagree about where to put kytons, imps, nupperibos, succubi/incubi, and rakshasas. Many will simply put them under under the category of devil, while others argue they are in fact distinct races. Some scholars put yugoloths under the category of demon. Some occultists and heretical devils claim the current dominant race of devils in the Nine Hells are not, in fact, the original inhabitants of the plane. Moreover, there are other, elder races whispered to exist in the dark corners of the Lower Planes, whose existences are not settled but who are believed to be races distinct from the aforementioned major ones; such beings are rumored to be survivors of earlier multiverses and/or the creators of one or more of the major fiendish races.