History Main / DemonOfHumanOrigin

** LawfulEvil souls in Hell are tortured over centuries into becoming mindless masses of cancerous flesh called lemures. The most evil souls may get promoted into more powerful forms, but all they go through the mindless stage first.

** "Daemon Prince" is the title awarded by the Chaos Gods to servants that have most pleased them, as they "ascend" them from mortaldom to immortal daemonhood. It is the ultimate goal of most Chaos worshipers, particularly leaders. However, they're apparently still lower than Greater Daemons in the hierarchy, and a worshiper can [[OriginalPositionFallacy just as easily]] be turned into a [[BodyHorror Chaos]] [[WasOnceAMan Spawn]], [[BlueAndOrangeMorality sometimes for the same feat]].

*** Many of the Primarchs of the Traitor Legions, after fleeing into the Eye of Terror (Hell on Earth... InSpace), were "promoted" to Daemon Primarchs, even more powerful than ordinary daemon princes.%%

** Most daemons are formed from the ''emotions'' of mortal or material races congealing into monsters, and the most pure and concentrated "mass" of emotional energy forms into deities. For example, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacre_at_Beziers the Massacre of Béziers]] -- where the phrase "kill them all and let God sort them out" was ([[BeamMeUpScotty allegedly]]) coined -- formed a particularly powerful daemon of [[WarGod Khorne]] named the [[https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Ragged_Knight Ragged Knight]]. Some lesser daemons are also described as being formed from the souls of those who devoted themselves to a deity and were impressive enough to earn some kind of reward but not enough to be elevated to a Daemon Prince. For example:
*** Bloodletters, the lesser daemons of [[WarGod Khorne]], are described in ''Fantasy'' as being created from the souls of Khornate warriors who pleased their god through causing great slaughter and dying suitably impressive deaths.
*** Plaguebearers are lesser daemons of the [[{{Plaguemaster}} Plague God Nurgle]] created from the souls of those who die from his favorite diseases, particularly [[MysticalPlague Nurgle's Rot]]. The power of the Plaguebearer is determined by how long the victim endured the disease before perishing, with those who survive the longest often rising to become Daemon Heralds who act as the commanders of Nurgle's [[TheLegionsOfHell Plague Legions]]. While the plaguebearer was at one time explicitly stated to be the souls of those who died by Nurgle's Rot, it may now be the case that Plaguebearers are created from their suffering instead. [[FlipFlopOfGod It's not entirely clear how it all works]], perhaps deliberately [[MindScrew due to the nature of the Warp and the Winds of Magic]]. Bubonicus, a Daemon World in ''40,000'', is also described as having a horizon-encircling chain of human dancers who gradually transform into Plaguebearers before being replaced by fresh mortal dancers.
*** Furies, lesser daemons of Chaos Undivided, are said to be formed from the souls of mortals who avoided making pacts with any god and instead chose to use Chaos for their own ends.
** ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'':
*** Many of the Primarchs of the Traitor Legions, after fleeing into the Eye of Terror (Hell on Earth... InSpace), were "promoted" to Daemon Primarchs, even more powerful than ordinary daemon princes.
*** Doombreed, [[WarGod Khorne's]] first human Daemon Prince, is heavily hinted to have been none other than UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan in life.
** ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'': While they're never outright called daemons, the Beastmen (initially created when millions of humans were mutated by Chaos when the polar gates collapsed) basically fit the bill as horned, hoofed, fanged, tailed, clawed, magically-corrupted [[AlwaysChaoticEvil monsters]] who make up much of the rank-and-file of TheLegionsOfHell. Per ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasyRoleplay: The Old World Bestiary'', "there is no absolute dividing line between Mutant and Beastman, or between Beastman and Daemon; rather, there is a spectrum of taint."

*** Plaguebearers are lesser daemons of the [[{{Plaguemaster}} Plague God Nurgle]] created from the souls of those who die from his favorite diseases, particularly [[MysticalPlague Nurgle's Rot]]. The power of the Plaguebearer is determined by how long the victim endured the disease before perishing, with those who survive the longest often rising to become Daemon Heralds who act as the commanders of Nurgle's [[TheLegionsOfHell Plague Legions]]. While the plaguebearer was at one time explicitly stated to be the souls of those who died by Nurgle's Rot, it may now be the case that Plaguebearers are created from their suffering instead. [[FlipFlopOfGod It's not entirely clear how it all works]], perhaps deliberately [[MindScrew due to the nature of the Warp and the Winds of Magic]].

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

** Devils are [[{{Tulpa}} corporeal manifestations]] of specific human fears.
** Some devils become even ''more'' human by PossessingADeadBody to become a fiend or (much more rarely) becoming a dormant part of a human's body to let them [[HenshinHero transform into a Weapon Human]]. In rare cases of fiends possessing bodies with in-tact brains, the human's memories will remain and have a significant, even dominate, effect on the resulting personality.

* In ''WesternAnimation/HazbinHotel'', all sinners become demons when they arrive in Hell, their forms reflecting their sins; though what decides how human they look is unclear (it does not seem to be as simple as correlating to how bad their sins were). [[note]]However, not all demons in Hell are of human origin; imps and hellhounds are effectively mortal-demons (have families, can be shot with conventional weapons), [[AntiAntiChrist Charlie]] is the daughter of Lucifer, and Lucifer is a FallenAngel. Lilith (Charlie's mother) is currently unclear.[[/note]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/HazbinHotel'', all sinners become demons when they arrive in Hell, their forms reflecting their sins; the worse their sins are, the less human they look. [[note]]However, not all demons in Hell are of human origin; imps and hellhounds are effectively mortal-demons (have families, can be shot with conventional weapons), [[AntiAntiChrist Charlie]] is the daughter of Lucifer, and Lucifer is a FallenAngel. Lilith (Charlie's mother) is currently unclear.[[/note]]

** Some [[DealWithTheDevil contracts]] [[SuperEmpowering grant a human the devil's power]] by [[PowerUpgradingDeformation transforming them to resemble that devil]]. This change can be drastic and permanent, with some humans described as turning into devils outright.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': Mortal souls become Petitioners on one of the Outer Planes based on their alignment, but the process works differently for LawfulEvil souls sent to the Nine Hells of Baator or ChaoticEvil souls bound for the Abyss. Such souls join TheLegionsOfHell as the diabolic or demonic equivalent of conscripts -- meaning, in this context, highly expendable {{Mooks}} -- and may be promoted to more powerful types of Baatezu or Tanar'ri based on their performance -- even the mighty [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Orcus]] was once a lowly Dretch. In the devils' case, promotions (and demotions) follow a strict hierarchy, complete with "dead ends" or alternative advancement paths, while the demons are more unpredictable and may randomly transform into a more powerful fiend based perhaps on the [[GeniusLoci whims of the Abyss itself]]. Some mortals may join a devilish or demonic cult in hope that they'll get fast-tracked through this process to become a mighty Pit Fiend or the like, but even if this is possible there's no guarantee that they'll retain their identities -- becoming a devilish Lemure, for example, involves being subjected to unspeakable tortures until the Petitioner is a mindless blob of ruined flesh free of any traces of humanity. At the same time, it's zigzagged: LawfulEvil devils can only be created from petitioners, but NeutralEvil daemons (or yugoloths) are all created by other means. Demons can be created from petitioners, but most are simply spawned from the Abyss.

* This is played with in the ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' series, where if someone dies the darkness in someones heart gets converted into a Heartless, and how strong they are depends on how much darkness was in said person's heart, though the person themselves is never turned into one.

* In ''Literature/TheMasterAndMargarita'', the trickster demon Fagot is revealed to having once been a human knight cursed for a blasphemous joke. His awesome sense of humor is part of the curse, and he hates being a trickster, as his true form reveals.
* In ''Literature/NinthHouse'', the twist provides an example of this trope. [[spoiler:Darlington turned into a demon to survive.]]
* Creator/NeilGaiman's short story [[https://lukeblackmusic.com/neil-gaiman-other-people/ "Other People"]] (published in ''Fragile Things'') has a man being tortured by a demon. First the demon tortures the man physically, with 211 different intruments. Afterwards he strips the man of the lies he has told to himself and then the demon shows the man the consequences of his actions and how they affected other people. To the man it seems that the process takes several thousand years. At the end of the story the man isn't recognizable as a human any more. By the time the tortured man comes to his senses, he's alone in the chamber [[TemporalParadox and a very familiar man enters]]. The tortured man understands the cyclical nature of his position and starts torturing the newcomer just as he had been tortured.

** ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': In ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderMan2018''. Kindred is a mummified centipede-themed demon who says he was once human but was sent to Hell and became a demon, and has a potent grudge against ComicBook/SpiderMan. [[spoiler:''Amazing Spider-Man'' Vol. 5 #50 reveals that his true identity is Harry Osborn.]]