Demon lord (Dungeons & Dragons)

In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, demon lords (also known as Abyssal lords in 2E AD&D) are demons who have gained great power and established a position of preeminence among demonkind.

Each demon lord has a unique appearance and set of abilities. Most control at least one layer of the Abyss. A demon lord, when slain in a plane other than the Abyss, is banished to the Abyss for 100 years, whereas "ordinary" demons, including the mightiest balors and mariliths, risk being reborn into a lesser form (or not at all). The most powerful demon lords are demon princes. "Demon lord" and "demon prince" are self-proclaimed titles; unlike the archdevils, the chaotic evil demon lords do not have a rigid hierarchy.  However, first edition AD&D did claim a demon can only be called a prince if he or she rules an entire plane of the Abyss, thus Orcus implied by his title to rule at least one plane of existence, while lesser lords did not.

Demon lords wage eternal war with each other, often seeking ways to expand their holdings into other layers and at the same time defend their personal domains from rival lords and scheming underlings. Demogorgon has for many years been the most powerful demon lord, and he proclaims himself Prince of Demons. Orcus and Graz'zt contest his title, as does the obyrith Obox-ob, who once held that title.

Most demon lords have secretive mortal cults who seek to elevate their lords to godhood through prayer and sacrifice. Book of Vile Darkness details a number of prestige classes for mortal disciples of demon lords, as does the "Demonomicon of Iggwilv" feature currently running in Dragon magazine.

Differences in editions of D&D
The distinctions between demon lords and demon princes vary between editions of Dungeons & Dragons.
 In AD&D, demon lords may not have complete sovereignty over a layer of the Abyss, whereas all demon princes rule one or more layers.  However, both Lords and Princes were assigned the status of lesser gods.
In 2E AD&D, both demon lords and demon princes are known as Abyssal lords.
In 3E D&D, almost all demon lords control a layer of the Abyss, and many have a scattering of mortal worshippers, whereas all demon princes control at least one layer of the Abyss, and all have mortal worshippers.

Demon lords

Known demon lords
The most common and canonical demon lords in the 3.5 Edition (and generally most of the earlier editions) are Baphomet, Dagon, Demogorgon, Fraz-Urb'luu, Graz'zt, Juiblex, Kostchtchie, Lolth, Malcanthet, Obox-ob, Orcus, Pale Night, Pazuzu, Sess'Innek, Yeenoghu, and Zuggtmoy. However, in addition to these, countless other minor demons have appeared in earlier editions, supplement books and Dragon Magazine, spinoffs from D&D, and other sources. Beneath is a large list detailing all known Demon Lords, both the major ones listed above and minor ones.

The majority of these demon lords below appear as listed in Appendix I in Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss.  (f) indicates a female demon lord, (o) indicates an obyrith, (l) indicates a loumara, and (d) indicates a lord that is presumed dead.

Note that any demon lord who was mentioned by name only in the Monster Manual II (1983), on page 35, is noted as "*MM2".

Non-canonical demon lords
Paizo Publishing released Book of the Damned, Vol. 2: Lords of Chaos for the Pathfinder campaign setting in 2010. Written by Fiendish Codex I co-author James Jacobs, it took obvious inspiration from both Armies of the Abyss and Fiendish Codex I, though some details were different, and new demon lords took the place of lords with copyrighted names. The following demon lords were described in this volume:

Lords of Chaos also details a number of dead demon lords and nascent demon lords.

Green Ronin published a D&D d20 supplement entitled Armies of the Abyss (2002, reprinted in 2003 as part of the Book of Fiends compilation) that provides information on 21 demon lords. Demon lords that share their names with D&D demon lords are listed in bold. As this book was written by Erik Mona, who would later be publisher of Dragon Magazine and co-author of Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss, later demonic works by Mona and by fellow Paizo staffer and Fiendish Codex I co-author James Jacobs would seek to remain essentially compatible with it.

A number of minor lords were also detailed in Armies of the Abyss:
Cresil the Impure (may or may not be equated with Gresil).
Eurynomous the Corpse Eater
Malohin the Strangler
Merihim
Philotanus the Seducer
Rahu the Tormentor
Shiggarebb, Lady of the Qlippoths

Gary Gygax, in his Gord novels: "The Sea of Death", "Come Endless Darkness" and "Dance of Demons", mentioned many other demon lords. These include:

Necromancer Games, in their Tome of Horrors I and II listed alternate statistics of official demon lords Baphomet, Dagon, Fraz-Urb'luu, The Faceless Lord (aka Juiblex), Kostchtchie, Orcus, and Pazuzu. They also include:
 Beluiri, a demoness consort of Baphomet.
 Maphistal (not to be confused with Mastiphal), a lieutenant of Orcus.
 Sonechard, a general of Orcus.
 Tsathogga, the "Demon Frog God".
 Caizel the Seductress.
 Vepar, a vassal of Dagon.

Mongoose Publishing's "The Slayer's Guide to Demons" include the following:
 Iyaviht the Dark Whisper, Patroness of the Jartaska.
 The Gatekeeper, an exiled prince on the first layer of the Abyss

The book also introduced several so-called "Nameless Ones", ancient and powerful demon lords said to be the first demons:
 The Dancer in Darkness
 He Who Dreams
 The Demon Mother
 The Foundation
 The Silence at the end of Eternity

Malhavoc Press's module Demon God's Fane introduces a new demon lord:
 Ochremeshk the Demon Prince

Notes

References
Baur, Wolfgang, and Lester W. Smith. Planes of Chaos (TSR, 1994).
Cook, Monte. Book of Vile Darkness (Wizards of the Coast, 2001).
Cook, Monte. Book of Vile Darkness web enhancement. (Wizards of the Coast, 2002). Available online: 
Grubb, Jeff. Manual of the Planes (TSR, 1987).
Grubb, Jeff, Bruce R Cordell, and David Noonan. Manual of the Planes (Wizards of the Coast, 2001).
Gygax, Gary. Monster Manual (TSR, 1977).
Gygax, Gary. Monster Manual II (TSR, 1983).
Jacobs, James, Erik Mona, and Ed Stark.  Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss (Wizards of the Coast, 2006).
Kuntz, Robert J. and Gary Gygax. Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure (TSR, 1984).
Kuntz, Robert J., Erik Mona, James Jacobs & Gary Gygax. "Maure Castle."  Dungeon #112 (Paizo Publishing, 2004).
McComb, Colin. Faces of Evil: The Fiends. (TSR, 1997).
McComb, Colin. Hellbound: The Blood War (TSR, 1996).
McComb, Colin. On Hallowed Ground. (TSR, 1996).
Mona, Erik. Armies of the Abyss. (Green Ronin Publishing, 2002).
Mona, Erik. Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting.(Paizo, 2008).

Category:Dungeons & Dragons fiends
Category:Fictional titles and ranks