Daddy, Where Do Baby Demons Come From?

Okay so I've been pondering something. Succubi or Demons in Felarya. Where do they come from? I mean we've seen examples of them being able to breed but how does that happen? Do a mommy demon and daddy demon really, really love each other and do it the old fashioned way? Or are they produced from concentrations of magic and just pop into existence in hell?

Demons are creatures from a completely different plane of existence and are, in fact, creatures comprised of negative energy, rather than matter like we are. Their physiology and their reproductive system most likely cannot be understood using our own understanding of life. That's part of the reason they're called demons. If they had a solidly understood biology, reproductive system, etc. then they wouldn't be very supernatural, now would they?

While true on one hand, Shady, a big part of me has to think, in a world like Felarya, can anything really be considered 'supernatural'? Think about everything that is possible in this world, and everything that people have an understanding of already. Surely figuring out how demons reproduce couldn't hurt, could it? I'm not saying it should be something that's understood by or available knowledge for every Joe Shmoe in Felarya, but it'd be nice if we, the authors, had an idea or two about how they went about perpetuating their species.

Besides, aren't you typically in favour of defining as many details as possible about a subject? ;D

That would be true... if demons were from Felarya. They are not from Felarya. They are from Hell.

But I'm not sure of any interpretation of Hell that is quite like Felarya's (that said, my knowledge of different interpretations of Hell is extremely limited). I feel like, since Hell has its own description with regards to the setting, there's really no reason to go about handwaving things about it or it's inhabitants as 'mysterious' or 'supernatural' when we could instead have a discussion on at least how it might work, even if nothing gets set in stone. Who knows, maybe this could even lead to another one of your revised entries into the wiki. ;D

I personally think, like with a lot of things, it might depend on the individual demon or type of demon. For example, complex and powerful demons like succubi or incubi might have more complex means of reproduction than "negative energy packs together, boom: demon", which might suit weaker and lower-level beings of hell. That said, there's nothing saying it necessarily has to be sexual. In fact, that might even be averted intentionally, since sex is part of their day jobs! XD Or, it could just as easily be played straight since, y'know, sex is wonderful (I guess? I've never done it XD), so why not have it be part of their reproduction, too?

To quote Girl Genius, "Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science."  In other words, once something is explained to the point where it's well understood, that its effects, its limits, and all that jazz become easily explainable, then it's no longer magical or supernatural, it's just another science.

Furthermore, here's a definition of supernatural: of, pertaining to, or being above or beyond what is natural; unexplainable by natural law or phenomena; abnormal.

The fact that little is understood about demons, about their nature, how they reproduce, is part of their charm. If all was known about them and you could make detailed essays about them, then they would be no different from a human, an elf or a neko. Plus, the mystery about a demon's true nature make sense given the setting. In this setting, demons that appear in Felarya aren't their true form, just a form they're borrowing to interact with the material world. To get a good understanding of them, you'd have to travel to Hell. But since Hell is such a dangerous place for plane travelers, it would be near impossible to unravel the mysteries about them. This mystery is what give them charm, as does many things in the setting.

Shady and obscurantism? I thought I'd never see the day.

To be fair, the canon does say demons have families, but I don't think it means what we'd think it means. Canon also says they have age, so there's gotta be one point at which they start existing as such. If you include Karbo's first and only fic in the canon, then people can become demons. Or try to, unless they're eaten by Menny instead :B who couldn't possibly have ever been anything else.
We don't know if their families are actually related by blood (ectoplasm?); for all we know, their families are 100% corporate slang or adoptive (and considering Arale and Menny, the two cousins we know, are from different species, it's not that long a shot) and demons actually come into being by spontaneous generation (for as long as there is evil!).
Then there's the thing about some physical beings that are half demon, so we know they are capable of breeding (Maybe they're like Ditto and you can't just breed two demons together? Maybe you can?).

Still, I prefer Shady's way. We're not sure why they insist in grouping themselves in families, we dunno where they come from, and that's just the way they like it. For all we know, every single demon came to be in a completely different way.


If you wish to codify and yet preserve the mystery, give people a reason to doubt the information. Write it as a rumor, or make a page that quotes contradicting snippets, or make a single snippet but render it unreliable, by, say, making it come out of the mouth of someone known as "the princess of lies", or throw in a few obvious (maybe not-so-obvious) lies, or place an obvious conflict of interests in the act of releasing the information.

I guess I see what you mean. And come to think of it, I agree wholeheartedly even before you and Stabs explained it, Shady. I'm all for leaving things up to the interpretation of the writers who wish to try to explain how these things (might) happen in their stories, and to keep mysteries mysterious. That said, I still don't think that's any reason not to at least talk about the possibilities like Stabs did. It might help Jedi write something later, too. You clinging so vehemently to keeping these facts unknown gives the sense that you really don't want to come up with any ideas of your own.

Maybe, but you can't deny that having such a little understood physiology due to their nature is pertinent information.

Well in most faiths demons are the dark side of the natural and supernatural world, either made by God at the very beginning (in Christianity's case) or came into existance when the world did (in pretty much other religions)

Being born is for mortals

Shady wrote:

"To quote Girl Genius,"

O.o Finaly somebody besides me makes a web comic referance!

Shady wrote:

"Furthermore, here's a definition of supernatural: of, pertaining to, or being above or beyond what is natural; unexplainable by natural law or phenomena; abnormal."

I can see that, but tell me do you think the same can, or should, be said of Vampires and other supernatural creatures? I mean there's many rules sets there, outside of Felarya especially, but we pretty much know all there is to know about them so they should get the Pluto treatment and be booted out of the supernatural club just cause of a technicality?

Stabby wrote:

"for all we know, their families are 100% corporate slang or adoptive (and considering Arale and Menny, the two cousins we know, are from different species, it's not that long a shot)"

This could be possible. In fact highly probable since succubi are all known to call each other "sisters" no mater who they are or even if they only just met them. Ofcourse I think whoever added that in was using it to add dramatic and funny effect, but still evidence. There's the mater of Nobles to think on though. Are they all elective or are they the product of a union of two arch demons or something? Furthermore why only have one method of reproduction? That's something we humans think of, since we mostly can only reproduce one way effectively, but a superior supernatural being who weilds magic like it's breathing air? Possibly I could see that they'd atleast experiment with new ways to create demons since thqat gives them an edge on mortals and angels.

Stabby wrote:

"If you wish to codify and yet preserve the mystery, give people a reason to doubt the information. Write it as a rumor, or make a page that quotes contradicting snippets, or make a single snippet but render it unreliable, by, say, making it come out of the mouth of someone known as "the princess of lies", or throw in a few obvious (maybe not-so-obvious) lies, or place an obvious conflict of interests in the act of releasing the information."

Annnd now I KNOW Stabs is really a uncover agent sent here to throw us off the real story behind Felarya. XD But no he's got a point there.Rumors are a great way to add "canon" bits people will use without cementing any real fact. Look how many people take the tale of Kris-Mas literally. Or Jas-Alamar.

That depends of the character in question is meant to be supernatural, basically, a case of Our X Is Different. Supernatural can mean a state beyond natural. For example, vampires, depending on how you choose to characterize them in a setting of course, can be just humans that suffered a transformation, in which case, they're supernatural, cause humans are not born that way.

Really, my point is that since demons are so alien to humans, detailing how they reproduce would make them far less alien, which would remove some of their charm IMO.