Demogorgon

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Demogorgon
Alignment Chaotic Evil
Divine Rank Demon Lord, Eternal Immortal
Pantheon Demonic, Mystaran (Entropy)
Portfolio Enervation, Madness, Reptiles, Aberrations
Domains 3E: Corruption, Demonic, Chaos, Evil
Home Plane Gaping Maw (Abyss)
Worshippers Kopru, Ixitxachitl, Mad beings, Demons, Deformed


Demogorgon is the most famous, or at least infamous, Demon Lord in Dungeons & Dragons. Having been around in every single edition since the game was created, he is THE Prince of Demons - the closest thing the Abyss has to a singular, all-powerful ruler, with only Orcus and Graz'zt really having any chance of challenging his might.

Demogorgon is infamous for taking the somewhat mix'n'match appearance of early D&D demons and really turning it to his advantage. For the most part, Demogorgon resembles something almost dinosaurian; a giant, bipedal, predatory reptile. Except he's got two heads, resembling the heads of baboons (although the artists often give him the heads of mandrills, either because mandrills look cooler, or they just don't know the difference, and 5th edition artists just give him generic scary demon heads, maybe because they thought monkey heads were too silly; the 3E Book of Vile Darkness infamously fucked up and gave him wolf heads!), and each arm splits into two tentacles.

Perhaps the greatest limitation that Demogorgon faces is that he is legitimately insane; each head has its own unique personality, and so he's constantly fighting himself to determine which persona gets to be top dog. His left head is called Aameul and has a silver tongue that can charm any creature, while the right head, Hethradiah, can cause insanity. They seek to dominate or kill one another, just as their combined self seeks to slay or overpower all life. Demogorgon is a fearsome foe in battle, capable of rotting flesh from bones with but a caress of his tentacles and draining the energy of anyone slapped by his tail.

Demogorgon has few followers amongst the humanoid races, but he has many amongst the more monstrous people. Yuan-ti, troglodytes, ixitxachitl and hosts of demons worship Demogorgon as their lord. These cults are depraved and engage in all manner of horrific rituals and sacrifices to their lord. Humanoids rarely worship him as cults, but individuals dedicated to the Prince of Demons tend to be just as dangerous, given that they are quite often high-ranking members of society, and his influence is thought to be the source of many monstrous versions of natural creatures, like ettins and merrow.

Demogorgon's layer of The Gaping Maw is the 88th of the Abyss. While it's a tropical realm with plenty of water it is not a hospitable plane, with many different kinds of demons roving the surface and the ocean looking for things to devour. Demogorgon runs the great city of Lemoriax, which is one of the premier slave markets in the Great Wheel. He frequently stalks through his city to whip his followers into a frenzy. His layer is linked to the next layer, Dagon's home of Shadowsea. The two are allied, which effectively means they stay off of each other's backs.

Demogorgon fancies himself a lab monkey and to that end has created a number of horrible things, starting with (in Fiend Folio) the Retriever. He also cooked up a race of Lizardfolk called the Khaastas. In a rare moment of generosity, he decided to set them free after his generals started complaining that they were difficult to command and not as effective in battle as true demons, since they had served him loyally for so long. 5e expands on Demogorgon's creations, crediting him with the accidental creation of ettins, due to orcs being exposed to his sigil and developing, like Demogorgon, a second head, or the merrow being the result of merfolk mutated by his dark influence. And he is also now the creator of the first Chimeras, which he made from some local wildlife when he got summoned, because he thought they were unimpressive.

Demogorgon is in a long-term relationship with Malcanthet and has had several children with her. He genuinely cares for her and their children, so much that Malcanthet betraying him or anybody killing his children can emotionally hurt him enough to lower his challenge rating.

The monster from the first season of Stranger Things was named after him by the kid protagonists, due to him being the monster they were fighting in their campaign before it took their friend.

Gallery[edit]

The Demon Lords of Dungeons & Dragons
Tanar'ri Baphomet - Demogorgon - Doresain - Eltab - Fraz-Urb'luu - Graz'zt - Juiblex - Kostchtchie - Lolth - Malcanthet - Miska the Wolf-Spider - Orcus - Sess'innek - Shaktari - Turaglas - Yeenoghu - Zuggtmoy
Obyrith Dagon - Obox-ob - Pale Night - Pazuzu - The Queen of Chaos - Sertrous