Literature / Demon Squad

Life is never dull for the Devil's nephew.

Demon Squad is a Urban Fantasy series by Tim Marquitz. Half-devil and miles from anything resembling heroic, perpetual underdog Frank "Triggaltheron" Trigg is the last man standing against Armageddon.

As the favorite nephew of the Devil, Frank has led a troubled life, but he'd always had his uncle's influence to fall back on. Now, with God and Lucifer coming to terms and leaving existence to fend for itself, his once exalted status of Anti-Christ-to-be does little to endear him to the hordes of angels and demons running amok in the Godless world.With help from the members of DRAC, an organization of wizards, psychics, telepaths, and low-end supernatural beings, Frank must thwart the pro-Armageddon forces and rescue an angel in whose life rests the fate of humanity. Better luck next time, humanity.

There are a number of books which have been released in the series:

• Armageddon Bound
• Resurrection
• At the Gates
• Echoes of the Past
• Beyond the Veil
• The Best of Enemies
• Exit Wounds
• Aftermath

Also, the following novellas:

• From Hell
• Betrayal

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This series contains the following tropes:

The entire series

• Abnormal Ammo: What allows Frank's guns to kill demons.
• Action Girl: Scarlet is a warrior angel and shows it.
• Anti Anti Christ: Frank is the Devil's nephew and destined to be the Antichrist. Except, God and the Devil made peace, throwing away Armageddon.
• Bald of Evil: Subverted with Frank or played straight, depending on who you ask.
• Beauty Equals Goodness: Scarlet is drop-dead gorgeous and an angel. The two qualities are related.
• Betty and Veronica: Scarlet the angel and Veronica the succubus, no points for guessing which is which.
• Big Good: Rahim as the leader of DRAC is more this than any Angel now that God is gone.
• Cessation of Existence: The fate of demons killed now that Lucifer isn't there to resurrect them.
• Creature-Hunter Organization: DRAC serves as one of these despite the fact how woefully outclassed they are by just about everything they faced.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Frank talks a good game but seems more perverted than evil.
• Deadpan Snarker: Frank loves making fun of his relatives.
• Demon Lords and Archdevils: The only thing leftover in the world after Satan's disappearance.
• Didn't See That Coming: Every angel and demon's reaction to God and the Devil making peace.
• Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Frank is less than impressed by the archdemons, archangels, and godlike beings around him.
• Evil Versus Oblivion: Frank isn't a terribly nice guy but he's against Armageddon going ahead without God or the Devil.
• First-Person Smartass: Frank is a definite example of these.
• Functional Magic: About the only advantage DRAC has in the fight against demons (and angels).
• The Gunslinger: Frank is this. It's how he keeps up with more powerful demons.
• Good Is Not Nice: All angels are this, even the nicer ones. Scarlet, for instance, is introduced after leveling a few city blocks worth of a demon's arms trafficking business.
• The Good, the Bad, and the Evil: There's DRAC (the Good), the anti-Armageddon Demons (The Bad), and the pro-Armageddon Demons (The Evil).
• Guns Akimbo: Frank's way of dealing with monsters. Justified in that he's a demon and doesn't have to worry about recoil.
• Handsome Lech: Frank is a good-looking enough sort but tends to put people off with his personality.
• Have You Seen My God?: God and the Devil leave the universe, throwing the entire Armageddon business into the air.
• Healing Factor: About the only power Frank possesses, unlike his fellow demons.
• Kissing Cousins: Frank is cousins with a large number of angels and demons, many of which he'd like to bang.
• The Legions of Hell: Which are now out of work and looking for it on Earth.
• Meaningful Name: DRAC, of course, is a reference to Dracula.
• Noble Demon: A literal example in Frank's case. He's a nobleman, a demon, and better natured than most of his kind (though still a pervert).
• Our Angels Are Different: They're absent God's presence and more than a little crazy as a result. Most are good-intentioned, though.
• Our Demons Are Different: They're not so much evil-evil are just ill-tempered, unless they support Armageddon.
• The Paragon Always Rebels: Frank, ironically, was Lucifer's favorite because he was the only one of his relatives willing to stand up to him.
• Satanic Archetype: Plenty of demons adopt this in hopes of trying to take over their old boss' former position.
• Sean Connery Is A Bout To Shoot You: The front cover (pictured abvoe) has Frank shooting the readers.
• Too Spicy for Yog-Sothoth: Psychics often find themselves unable to deal with the amount of SMUT in Frank's brain.
• Van Helsing Hate Crimes: Surprisingly averted as the DRAC organization makes use of monsters and people despite many's hellish origins.
• Winged Humanoid: As to be expected in this reality of angels versus demons.
• Your Soul Is Mine!: The fate of demons when they're killed by other demons.

Armageddon Bound

• A Lighter Shade of Black: Frank is this to the rest of Hell, Baalth is this to Asmoday. Arguably, all of them are better than Gabriel. At least in this book.
• Artifact of Doom: A relatively mild example in Lucifer's blood.
• Big Bad: Asmoday is the most powerful demon in the service of the Pro-Armageddon faction and, formerly, Lucifer's number 2.
• Evil Versus Evil: Asmoday and Baalth with the latter the better choice but still not a friend to our heroes. Baalth wins.
• Face–Heel Turn: Gabriel of all angels, ends up joining the Pro-Armageddon side.
• Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Everyone has this reaction to Gabriel's plan, given he's about third only to God himself.
• Duel of Seduction: Frank and Veronica try this on each other. Frank wins.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: Veronica will be on whichever side benefits her the most at any given time.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: Asmoday does this to Baalth when he realizes he's now hopelessly underpowered.
• Lovable Traitor: Veronica would not get away with half of what she does if she wasn't the hottest woman in the universe.
• The Man Behind the Man: Gabriel is clearly pulling the strings.
• Mêlée à Trois: Baalth vs. Frank and Drac vs. Asmoday vs. Gabriel. Baalth wins.
• Omnicidal Maniac: Gabriel becomes one of these due to God's absence. He believes destroying the world will cause God to return.
• We Can Rule Together: Asmoday makes this offer several times to Frank over the course of the book.
• Xanatos Gambit: Gabriel and Asmoday plan to harvest the power of imprisoned angels to give the latter the strength to kickstart Armageddon. Frank plays the Spanner in the Works by knowing people on both sides of the fence.
  • Baalth manages to pull a victory from everyone's clutches and become the new Satan as a result.
• Yandere: Veronica comes off as this until we find out she has excellent reasons for wanting Frank did. He banished her to hell after she cheated on him with the cable guy.
• You're Insane!: Scarlet's reaction to Gabriel's plans.

Resurrection

• Action Girl: Karra can kick everyone's ass.
  • So can Veronica, it seems.
• Antichrist: Longinus was the first of these. Unlike Frank, he also took to the job with gusto.
• Back from the Dead: A plot to resurrect the first Anti-Christ is the heart of this book.
• Big Bad Ensemble: Lilith, Karra, and Daartan.
• Big Good: The Metatron. Uriel is the leader of the Loyalist faction of Heaven for awhile. Forcalor is this for demons.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: Lucifer didn't mind Lilith sleeping around but he resented her falling in love.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Baalth levels Old Town when two of his men are taken.
• The Dragon: Mc Connel has assumed this role for Baalth, who is basically the Devil now.
  • Revan, it turns out, is actually The Dragon for Karra.
• Establishing Character Moment: Frank attempting to have sex with an unattractive stripper he's paid for sex in a parking lot before getting distracted by zombies attacking people.
• Evil Versus Evil: With the exception of DRAC, everyone involved in this story is completely evil. With Frank, a decided antihero, being the most decent.
• Foe Romance Subtext: Frank is very much still in love with Karra.
• Friendly Enemy: Karra turns out to be this for Frank.
• Gambit Pileup: There's quite a lot of these.
• Gratuitous Spanish: The conversation with the gravediggers has quite a bit of this.
• Human Sacrifice: Lilith's death is required to resurrect Longinus. She did not know this.
• Knight Templar: Daartan is a crazy assassin for Heaven, still fighting a war which is already over.
• Love Makes You Stupid: Frank does some genuinely bone-headed things like letting Longinus get resurrected out of love for Karra. This leads to The Villain Wins (see below).
• New Old Flame: Karra, it turns out was Frank's first love.
• Our Zombies Are Different: They maintain a fraction of their intelligence and are mostly the tools of necromancers.
• The Man Behind the Man: Karra is the power behind Revan.
• Mrs. Robinson: Lilith plays this role with Frank, being far older and more powerful. She's also his ex-wife's mother.
• Next Tier Power-Up: Frank undergoes one of these and becomes more of a threat to the archdemons and devils above him.
• Put on a Bus: Scarlet is absent from this novel despite being a main character in the previous book. The Bus Came Back in the final page.
• Rip Van Winkle: Longinus is quite confused to wake up in a world where Lucifer and God have not only made peace but left the world, ending the war between Heaven and Hell.
• The Spear of Longinus: The Spear is a component to his resurrection.
• Spanner in the Works: Frank wrecks the majority of these plots.
• Stacy's Mom: Frank can't help but get VERY visibly aroused whenever he's around Lilith, who is the MOTHER of his ex-wife.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Lilith has this to Veronica.
• Wham Line: "I need your help, Heaven has fallen."
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Any scenes between Frank and Mc Connel.
• Took a Level in Badass: Frank takes one after he gets a fraction of Baalth's power.
  • Veronica is implied to have done so since their marriage too.
• The Unintelligible: Chatterbox is this, being a zombie who can only speak in slurred random gibberish.
• The Villain Wins: Becoming a series staple, Karra successfully resurrects Longinus.
• Zombie Apocalypse: A very mild one, limited to a few hundred zombies.

At the Gates

• Action Girl: Scarlett is the most dangerous warrior in Heaven who isn't an Archangel.
• Adventurer Archaeologist: Frank briefly becomes this in his quest to find the Key to Heaven.
• Apocalypse How: A class three, resulting in massive numbers of human deaths with a potential for the death of the universe. Civilization, however, survives.
• Archnemesis Dad: We find out that while he adored his uncle (Lucifer), Frank hated his father with a blinding fury and believes he killed him in revenge for murdering his mother. according to Azrael, he didn't.
• Badass Abnormal: Scarlett really goes on to prove her chops this time around.
• Batman Gambit: Frank shows why he is THE best candidate to be the Anti-Christ by not only defeating an Archangel through cunning but also awakening the Metatron by thinking Lucifer has returned.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: Gabriel and Michael become a pair of these to Heaven. It's revealed to be a Big Bad Ensemble when Azrael is revealed to be one of these but acts as The Dragon to both.
• Big Bad Wannabe: This is the second time Gabriel has been completely spanked by a force outside of his control.
  • Given Azrael had plans of becoming the new God, the causal way the Metatron disposes of him highlights how outclassed he was.
• Break the Cutie: Scarlett was on the verge of this after Gabriel's betrayal and fully becomes this after Heaven becomes a warzone.
• Curbstomp Battle: The Armageddonist Angels massacre the Loyalist Angels in a surprise attack.
  • The Metatron casually hands Azrael, Gabriel, and Michael their asses before imprisoning them.
• The Dragon: Azrael to Michael and Gabriel.
  • Dragon Ascendant: Azrael's plans once the Tree of Life is destroyed.
• Face–Heel Turn: Michael. No, not Frank's friend. The Archangel Michael. Ditto Azrael.
• Fantastic Racism: The angels practice it against Scarlett because of her demonic blood. This, despite the fact demons are angels themselves.
• Eldritch Abomination: As the Archangel of Death, Azrael has mutated into something different which has the potential to become almost as powerful as God. He, instead, is utterly owned by both Frank as well as the Metatron.
• Half-Human Hybrids: The Nephilim play a bigger role in this book. Having been promised a section of Heaven by Gabriel. See, Too Dumb to Live.
• Heel–Face Turn: Duke Forcalor is implied to have completely reconciled with Heaven and been redeemed. Heaven's archangels don't take this well.
• Heroic BSoD: The Metatron suffered one of these when God left the universe. He's still suffering it at the start of the Heaven Civil War. He wakes up when Frank tricks him into believing Lucifer has invaded Heaven.
• Kick the Dog: Azrael killing the entire world will make him as powerful as God used to be or so close it doesn't matter. However, that's no excuse for taunting Frank about the rape and murder of his mother. That's just Evil Is Petty sadism. It has led some fans to speculate Azrael is Frank's father too given the intimate knowledge of it Azrael seems to possess.
• Killed Off for Real: Quite a few longstanding characters.
• Official Couple: Frank and Karra become this in this volume.
• Omnicidal Maniac: Azrael is a Justified example of this as Heaven will still exist and he'll be elevated to the power of God if the physical world is destroyed.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: What happens after Frank gets taunted about his mother's rape and murder by Azrael one too many times. "You like rape, huh?" before sending an army of werewolves to do unmentionable things to him.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Uriel is about the only Archangel who seems uninterested in murdering the world in a pointless war. Subverted by the Metatron who smacks down all of the rebellious archangels. Duke Forcalor is also this.
• Smug Snake: Both Gabriel and Azrael are possessed of the powers of gods yet absolutely suck at planning.
• Spanner in the Works: Really, Gabriel needs to realize any plans he makes are going to fail spectacularly as long as Frank is around.
• The Starscream: Azrael knows the war is going to end up destroying the immortality of angels and demons if it continues. Also, the world. This will only benefit him.
• Too Dumb to Live: Gabriel's faction is made of Knight Templar The Fundamentalist fanatics who practice Fantastic Racism against people with even the slightest bit of demon blood. Guess which faction the half-human half-angel hybrids side with?

Echoes of the Past

• Angels, Devils and Squid: God's "first creations" arrive and serve as a new threat to both angels as well as demons. Frank just refers to them as aliens.
• Awesome Moment of Crowning: Frank gets one of these when he ascends to the throne of Hell.
• Damsel in Distress: Scarlett is kidnapped again by the bad guys. It turns out it was just a ruse.
• Dimension Lord: Frank becomes this when he ascends to the throne of Hell. He doesn't become the Devil, though, because he doesn't have any ambitions about ruling humanity.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Heaven is less than grateful to Frank for his ending their civil war, in part because he's the Devil's nephew except, not really and also because he made them look like enormous fools.
• Fate Worse than Death: Azrael thinks of eternal imprisonment in Limbo as this. He Takes a Third Option by convincing Frank to kill him.
• God Is Flawed: Confirmed here as God weakened himself to the point of being less than omnipotent by sharing his power with his creations.
• Godzilla Threshold: How bad are the Aliens? GOD AND SATAN put aside their differences to fight them.
• Have You Seen My God?: A question no one expected answered is. God and the Devil have been fighting off the Aliens elsewhere.
• Killed Off for Real: Azrael.
• Love Triangle: Charlotte, Aroll, and Lucifer.
• Luke, I Am Your Father: Frank discovers Lucifer is his actual dad.
• Misblamed: The US government believes Frank may be responsible for the events of At the Gates.
• Put on a Bus: To avoid being Killed Off for Real, Baalth is sent to another dimension.
• Reality Warper: This appears to be a power of the Aliens. They seem restricted to bringing to life creatures from fiction written by someone other than themselves, though.
• The Reveal: Frank is actually the Devil's son rather than his nephew.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: Lucifer thought the alien who came to Earth was bad enough to warrant this.
• Team Rocket: It's hard not to consider the US government this given Frank regularly deals with Archangels, Archdemons, and worse.
• Too Dumb to Live: The US government has no real idea what they're messing with when they start to persecute Frank who has the entirety of the universe's cosmic powers on speed-dial.

Beyond the Veil

• Adaptational Badass: Jesus is described as very similar to Clint Eastwood and kickas a ridiculous amount of ass.
• Ambiguously Evil: God is this in the Demon Squad universe. All of Frank's associates warn him against trusting him but, well, they're demons.
• Badass in Distress: Karra has been kidnapped. She's in no condition to fight due to being pregnant.
• Berserk Button: Longinus and Frank both have this regarding Kara.
• Big Bad: Gorath or so it appears.
• Broken Pedestal: Lucifer becomes this for Frank after he reveals that he killed Frank's mother. Frank's mother becomes this when he discovers the circumstances around it.
• Character Death: Baalth, Longinus, Gorath.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Frank delivers one to Gorath after he's absorbed Longinus' powers.
• Didn't See That Coming: Frank killing Longinus and absorbing his power in order to deny Gorath the same.
• Distracted Bythe Sexy: Even looking for his longtime love, Frank debates the possibilities inherent to sex with the local aliens.
• Green-Skinned Space Babe: The Felurian people include several women who Frank finds very attractive. Justified as they're just human women with a light coating of striped fur.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: God and Jesus on Felurian are known only as the guys wrecking the place to get at the Eidolons.
• Humanoid Aliens: The Felurians. Justified as all beings in the Multiverse were created by God.
• Outgrown Such Silly Superstitions: Subverted. The reason the Felurians don't believe in God is because he never bothered to reveal himself to them.
• Papa Wolf: Frank turns out to be this for Karra's baby. Longinus is certainly one for his daughter. Subverted with Lucifer.
• Pyrrhic Victory: Frank rescues Karra and his unborn child but permanently drives her away by killing her father.
• Took a Level in Badass: Frank does this when he absorbs Longinus' power. He's now powerful enough to rule Hell.
• Villain with Good Publicity: Gorath is trying to cultivate this on Felurian.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Frank is finally, well, and truly cured of trying to please Lucifer after the events of this book.
• Women Are Wiser: Subverted with Frank's mother.
• You Killed My Father: Frank discovers, straight from Lucifer's mouth, that it was Lucifer who killed his mother.

The Best of Enemies

• Back from the Dead: Azrael turns out to be not so dead after all.
• Blood Knight: Frank becomes one of these as he decides the only way to get over his depression is murder some people who have offended him.
• Beta Couple: Scarlett and Katon become this.
• The Bus Came Back: After disappearing for a number of books, Scarlett and Veronica return to become major players in the series.
• Cliffhanger: Frank and a number of his friends as well as enemies get dumped into a prison dimension which no one has escaped.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Virtually every encounter Frank has with his Antichrist powers. Until Azrael takes them all away.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Frank starts murdering the mercenaries patrolling Old Town because they're making everyone have a rotten time. He's also looking for an excuse to vent his anger.
• Drowning My Sorrows: A particularly bizarre example as Frank does this by putting on plays in Hell with Dead Fiends.
• Grand Theft Me: Frank suffers this when he discovers Azrael is inside of him.
• Immodest Orgasm: Veronica gives one of these while using her powers to interrogate Frank's enemies.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Frank is an enormous jerk to all of his friends here, which is a clue he's suffering from serious depression. It's also a sign he's secretly possessed by Azrael.
• Private Military Contractors: The mercenaries who have taken over Old Town.
• Relationship Upgrade: Scarlett and Katon.
• Shut Up, Kirk!: Frank's reaction to every hero who attempts to get him to shape up. He's not at all in the mood for lectures.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Frank gets these from his friends for his behavior, only to promptly receive them from Frank in turn.
• Women Prefer Strong Men: Veronica is much-much more attracted to Frank now that he's the Antichrist.

Exit Wounds

• Abusive Precursors: God is revealed to have been one of these to the prison dimension's inhabitants.
• Brought Down to Badass: Frank has lost all of his Antichrist powers due to Azrael stealing his body but possesses the power of a vampire as a consolation prize.
• Grand Theft Me: Frank is still dealing with the fact he's missing his body.
• Green-Skinned Space Babe: The inhabitants of the prison dimension are sexy Nubile Savage types with green skin.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Everyone in Heaven assumes Frank (actually Azrael) has finally snapped and started murdering people. Scarlett, who should really know better, thinks she might be able to reach him, though.
• Lost World: The prison dimension Frank and company find themselves in.
• Miscarriage of Justice: The prison dimension is full of people God sentenced for their crimes (or simply being "mistakes") but also their descendants.
• Nubile Savage: What the locals look like to the ever-horny Frank.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Azrael ends up imprisoned in a goat in the prison-dimension—after stealing Frank's body and locking him one.
• Our Dragons Are Different: They're the guardians of the prison-dimension and in charge of making sure no one escapes.
• Unexpected Character: Judas Iscariot is not someone you expect to suddenly show up in the middle of a Lost World story.
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: An apostle, the antichrist, demon hunters, the head of the government agency devoted to hunting the supernatural, a disembodied zombie head, and more.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Virtually everyone in Frank's group from Earth hates everyone else. They're all needed to escape the prison dimension, though.

Collateral Damage

• The Alcoholic: Frank becomes a combination of this and the Addict.
• Asshole Victim: No one cared when Veronica was killed by Frank after she was willing to give his baby daughter over to be killed by the Trinity.
• Character Death: Kara, Veronica.
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: Kara is killed in the opening chapter of the book.
• Face–Heel Turn: Veronica has never been particularly good but this book proves she's completely irredeemable.
• Fate Worse than Death: Frank buries the immortal Judas Iscariot alive in cement as punishment for attempting to kill his baby daughter as well as successfully killing Kara.
• Good Shepherd: Surprising in this series. Frank gets advice from one which helps him deal with his pain.
• Looks Like Jesus: Jesus looks like a small brown-skinned Clint Eastwood in the Demon Squad universe. Judas Iscariot looks like White European Jesus. This is exploited by the latter to manipulate the Trinity.
• Knight Templar: The Trinity are almost literal examples of this, being psychotic immortal crusaders with the power of God coursing through them.
• Papa Wolf: Frank, unsurprisingly, turns out to be one of these.
• Stuffed In A Fridge: Kara is unceremoniously killed off by the Trinity.
• Van Helsing Hate Crimes: The Trinity target Frank, Kara, and their baby for no other reason than their demonic heritages.
• Would Hurt a Child: Veronica turns out to be this and it seals her fate. Frank would forgive many things but not endangering his daughter.

Aftermath

• All Myths Are True: After being primarily Judeo-Christian morality for the series, it's revealed that there are many-many gods out there.
• Big Bad Wannabe: Marduk thinks he's going to become master of the world again. He ends up murdered by both Gabriel and Frank.
  • Gabriel is this as well as his plan to absorb Marduk's power turns out to have been impossible all along.
• Broken Ace: Frank has become one of these due to recent events. He gets better.
• Cardboard Prison: God's prison dimension becomes this as more and more of the inmates escape.
• Didn't See That Coming: Gabriel had this happen to him when Frank kills Marduk before he can absorb his power.
• Drowning My Sorrows: Frank does this for several months following Karra's death.
• Evil All Along: God turns out to have been this.
• Godhood Seeker: It is Gabriel's plan to absorb Marduk's power and become as powerful as Jehova.
• Parental Substitute: Scarlet and Katon are serving as this to Frank's daughter while he sorts through Karra's death.
• The Man Behind the Man: Gabriel is the person responsible for Marduk's freedom.
• Nuke 'em: The book opens with the town Frank has been staying being nuked. More get hit.
• The Reveal: God sealed away the other gods of the universe and is no stronger than anyone else.
  • Father Lance is Lancelot.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: The prison dimension is revealed to contain countless deities of Earth's past. Subverted by the fact they're probably not all evil or even as evil as God.
• The Starscream: Gabriel was planning to murder and absorb Marduk's power all along.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Shaw and Frank are, once more, forced to team up.

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