History TabletopGame / DemonTheFallen

* AndIMustScream: Imprisonment in the Abyss. By the way: Every single player character has lived through it for several thousand years.

** The overriding feeling is more God Is Apathetic. Given the fact that the World of Darkness is such a [[WorldHalfEmpty crapsack world]], perhaps He just gave up on the whole thing. Not to mention that a free and sapient humanity managed to ''create'' the CrapsackWorld, even without the presence of the Earthbound: After all, even many of the supernatural threats were once human.
* GodsNeedPrayerBadly: Evocations are powered by Faith, which is a rare thing to find in the World of Darkness.

* LittleMissAlmighty: It is implied that the (old) World Of Darkness's God is female; the folks pushing this are [[ConsummateLiar Devils]], so take from that what you will.

* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: Apocalyptic forms of demons not only automatically grow more powerful with accumulation of Torment, but also can be powered up temporarily by accepting more Torment. Moreover, [[AlwaysChaoticEvil the Earthbound]] are considerably more powerful (although much fewer in number) than normal Fallen.

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: All demons initially are this. Only by merging with the body and mind of a human, like all protagonist demons do, can they hope to break free from their all-consuming hatred. The Earthbound demons, who inhabit inanimate objects instead, embody this trope without exception.

* HeWhoFightsMonsters: The Fallen became ''profoundly'' less sympathetic as the war against heaven raged on, as the the millennia long conflict became more brutal and vicious and the rebels became much more [[JadeColoredGlasses jaded]] and bitter. Some of them even began to turn on ''humanity'', as misunderstanding and frustration turned to outright rancor and distain.

* HolyGround: PlayedWith; The Fallen (a.k.a. demons) can walk upon holy ground (such as old churches)—but only if their [[SanityMeter Torment]] is low. Otherwise, stepping onto a holy ground kills their host bodies quickly and efficiently.
* HornedHumanoid: In certain Apocalyptic Forms.

* HumanityEnsues: To stay on Earth, demons need to take a human host. For some demons (e.g. [=PCs=]) possession can shock them out of their Torment, as they experience human memories for the first time; for others, however, it has little effect.

* KarmaMeter: Torment, which is unusual in that it goes ''up''. At 10, you fall so deeply into hatred and revenge that you can never come back. Conversely, reaching zero torment would hypothetically redeem the fallen back into their angelic self. However, this is impossible through normal mechanics, but with proper roleplay...

* LittleMissAlmighty: It is implied that the (old) World Of Darkness' God is female; the folks pushing this are [[ConsummateLiar Devils]], so take from that what you will.
** Of course, given that God is said to exist on multiple levels of reality at once, this is likely to be true. God is female, and male, and both, and neither, and a third gender that doesn't exist in life on earth, and, and...

* MadScientist: A number of the Malefactors fall into this category, as do a few of the Devourers. One of them is directly responsible for the demons losing the war against heaven thanks to her experiments.
* {{Mana}}: Faith, harvested from mortals, either willingly or, erm, less willingly...
* MindRape: The side effect of reaping Faith from an unwilling mortal. The Earthbound-exclusive Lore of Violation's second rank power is called "Mind Rape." Both kinds cause physical damage as well as psychological.

* OmnicidalManiac: The Raveners, who want to kill every living thing and destroy everything that isn't living; the idea is to spite God by destroying Creation. Some of the Earthbound also qualify.

* TransformationOfThePossessed: Elohim with the proper lore can do this to their host.

* OurSoulsAreDifferent: Angels/Demons don't actually ''have'' souls. They're the celestial equivalent of software, and they can be deleted or made into hand puppets if someone discovers their true name. Demonically possessing a human (even an EmptyShell) gives them direct access to a human soul, which lets them experience (among other, less pleasant things) real love for the first time. This is part of what frees them from Torment after leaving the Abyss.

The final game in White Wolf's TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness.

In the beginning, God made the angels, who forged reality out of the void of non-existence. The pinnacle of this act of creation was mankind, destined to be a reflection of all the greatest traits of God and Angels and beyond. Except it didn't happen. Everyone waited and humans were still focused entirely on humping and eating anything they saw. The angels tried to ask God what was wrong with them, but anybody who went to see him didn't come back, with the best case scenario being that God assimilated them and worst case unmade them. Impatient and feeling abandoned, half of the angels decided to just give humans the blessings of civilization themselves, and going against God's command caused an angelic war. The vanquished were sealed in a featureless abyss.

Millennia later, the Abyss cracked open and the fallen angels began escaping, with the weakest demons slipping through the cracks first. Weakened, they had to possess the bodies of dying or [[ConvenientComa comatose]] humans to survive. There's no sign of any angels or God's influence left in the world, which is instead filled with jaded humans and unfamiliar supernatural creatures. During their time in the Pit, the demons had fractured into five factions, which came to color their philosophies now that they were free: those who wish to destroy all of creation to spite an absent God (Raveners), those who see Lucifer as the Messiah of both mankind and angels (Luciferians), those who want to fashion mankind into a weapon to destroy God (Faustians), those who seek redemption and repentance (Reconcilers), and those who have come to the sinking realization that all of this was probably what God wanted to happen (Cryptics), so what the hell can you do?

* {{Animorphism}}: Devourers, the Demons of the Wild.

* AxCrazy: The Raveners embrace their [[AxCrazy AxCrazyness]] and really high-Torment demons in general qualify for this trope almost by definition.

*** Depends on the type of Demon. Nicer Slayers still look like dark angels, just, you know, pretty ones.

* {{Glamour}}: The Lore Of Radiance.

* HiveMind: Lore of the Firmament can allow a Scourge to remotely control his or her thralls and sense what they sense.

* HornedHumanoid: In Apocalyptic Form.

* KarmaMeter: Torment, which is unusual in that it goes ''up''. At 10, you fall so deeply into hatred and revenge that you can never come back. Conversely, reaching zero torment would hypothetically redeem the fallen back into their angelic self. However this is impossible through normal mechanics, but with proper roleplay...

* OneWingedAngel: Every demon has an "Apocalyptic Form," a reflection of the angelic House they embody the most. They can take on this form for extra power, as well as to reap Faith from mortals. Low-torment demons generally have a beautiful apocalyptic form, but even they can go one-wing if the fight turns against them and they need to tap into their SuperpoweredEvilSide.

* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: The secondary goal of the Reconcilers, if contact with god is not possible
* ShoutOut: Earthbound Belial, one of Lucifer's five most powerful subordinates before the imprisonment, looks a lot like Cthulhu. Or at least the reliquary inhabited by his spirit does, as his manifestation is said to be so horrible that it defies description.

* SpiderLimbs: The Neberu when in high torment form.

This [=RPG=] provides examples of:

** In the tie-in novels, the ''Trilogy of the Fallen'', one demon happens upon a [[VampireTheMasquerade vampire]], to which he immediately reacts, "Caine? Is that you?"

* ShoutOut: Earthbound Belial, one of Lucifer's five most powerful subordinates before the imprisonment looks a lot like Cthulhu. Or, at least, the reliquary inhabited by his spirit does, as his manifestation is said to be so horrible that it defies description.

** Or it is. The more evil the demon is the more like a demon he looks. Truly benevolent ones look angelic.

Millenia later, the Abyss cracked open and the fallen angels began escaping, with the weakest demons slipping through the cracks first. Weakened, they had to possess the bodies of dying or [[ConvenientComa comatose]] humans to survive. There's no sign of any angels or God's influence left in the world, which is instead filled with jaded humans and unfamiliar supernatural creatures. During their time in the Pit, the demons had fractured into five factions, which came to color their philosophies now that they were free: those who wish to destroy all of creation to spite an absent God (Raveners), those who see Lucifer as the Messiah of both mankind and angels (Luciferians), those who want to fashion mankind into a weapon to destroy God (Faustians), those who seek redemption and repentance (Reconcilers), and those who have come to the sinking realization that all of this was probably what God wanted to happen (Cryptics), so what the hell can you do?

Millenia later, the Abyss cracked open and the fallen angels began escaping, with the weakest demons slipping through the cracks first. Weakened, they had to posses the bodies of dying or [[ConvenientComa comatose]] humans to survive. There's no sign of any angels or God's influence left in the world, which is instead filled with jaded humans and unfamiliar supernatural creatures. During their time in the Pit, the demons had fractured into five factions, which came to color their philosophies now that they were free: those who wish to destroy all of creation to spite an absent God (Raveners), those who see Lucifer as the Messiah of both mankind and angels (Luciferians), those who want to fashion mankind into a weapon to destroy God (Faustians), those who seek redemption and repentance (Reconcilers), and those who have come to the sinking realization that all of this was probably what God wanted to happen (Cryptics), so what the hell can you do?

** In the tie-in novels, the ''Trilogy of the Fallen'', one demon happens upon a [[VampireTheMasquerade vampire]], to which he immediately reacts, "Cain? Is that you?"

In the beginning, God made the angels, who forged reality out of the void of non-existence. The pinnacle of this act of creation was mankind, destined to be a reflection of all the greatest traits of God and Angels and beyond. Except it didn't happen. Everyone waited and humans were still focused entirely on humping and eating anything they saw. The angels tried to ask God what was wrong with them, but anybody who went to see him didn't come back with the best case scenario being that God assimilated them and worst case unmade them. Impatient and feeling abandoned, half of the angels decided to just give humans the blessings of civilization themselves, and going against God's command caused an angelic war. The vanquished were sealed in a featureless abyss.

** The overriding feeling is more God Is Apathetic. Given the fact that the World of Darkness is such a [[WorldHalfEmpty crapsack world]], perhaps He just gave up on the whole thing.
*** In the closing fiction of Time of Judgement, Lucifer claims that he decided to rebel simply because God asked him to. Which, in summation, means that God basically destroyed paradise and damned a third of his servants to a pit of nothingness, suffering and madness, because they DID WHAT HE ASKED THEM TO!

The final game in White Wolf's Old WorldOfDarkness.

** Or is it? The demons are described as existing several dimensions above humanities ability to comprehend, while modern day Earth is a single plane of existence. The Abyss is ''nothing'', leaving the demons with only their rage, pain, and each other for millennia, able to see/feel the World of Darkness. Which isn't pleasant, seeing as how it's a CrapsackWorld.

*** In the closing fiction of Time of Judgement, Lucifer claims that he decided to rebel simply because God asked him to. Which, in summation, means that God basically destroyed paradise and damned a third of his servants to a pit of nothingness, suffering and madness, because they DID WHAT HE ASKED THEM TO! That, my friends, is what we call a dick move.
**** Although it should be noted that said fiction has bugger all to do with any of the three potential Demon apocalypse scenarios presented in the book itself.
***** In Mage The Ascension final scenario (even if I know that the games are not entirely compatible in terms of cosmology) it is strongly implied that the divine presence in the universe (the One - or God if you prefer) shattered into "portions" of it (avatars) when man committed the first sin (the slaying of a brother - again). Keeping this version of the story, God is absent since he does not exist anymore in any coherent form. Again, that was mage but can be an interesting option.