Demonic Gods in Literature/Mythology

Name beings in books and/or mythology that are technically demons, but are also classified as gods.

Define "demon" and "god". Because, technically, most named demons were once pre-Judaic, pre-Christian, or pre-Islamic gods. In fact, most demons in most religions were once revered gods. So, define your terms.

Technically, the only "demons" are those from Christian literature.

One man's "god" is another bigotted xenophobe's "demon".

"Demon" comes from Latin "daemon", from Greek "daimon", from Proto-Indo-European "divider/provider (of fortunes/destinies)". Christianity has no monopoly on the concept of demons or even on the word "demon".

Still, since Christianity has a track record of vilifying pagan deities AS demons, the social connotations of the word are way different than its original meaning.

edited 17th Oct '15 11:06:57 AM by Sharysa

You could pretty much take any god from any religion and cast them in a "demonic" light, regardless of the fact that they once were the much loved/feared deities of some particular culture.

Their track records in their respective religions are "patchy" to say the least and it'd be easy to pick up on their "shadier" actions and call them "demons".

edited 15th Oct '15 12:27:14 PM by Wolf1066

As nekomoon says, originally "demon" referred to lesser spirits in Greek mythology. It was only after being used to refer to a Fallen Angel in the Greek books of The Bible that it gained its negative connotations.

I'll provide an example. In the Dictionnaire Infernal, "Cali" is a misrepresentation of the Hindu goddess Kali, who is actually the destroyer of demons (not a demon herself, despite her representations in most "western" works). She is actually the ferocious aspect of Durga, a mother goddess and the consort of Siva, who is ALSO demonized in western media despite the fact that WHAT he destroys (as the Destroyer of the Trimurti) is the dregs of rotten universes. So, here we have TWO gods who are often regarded as demons by people who choose not to understand their true natures.

So, what do YOU mean when you say "demon" and "god". After you tell me that, I can maybe come up with some examples that fit your concepts of those words. But you must first define your terms.

How about the Great Old Ones and Outer Gods?

In prechristian slavic mythology a demon is closer to an untamed force of nature than evil. Any inhuman too weak to be a god was a demon. A few of them where considered a minor deity in one region and a powerful demon in another (Simargld.) Some of them where consider benevolent such as wood maidens (lesne panny), or simply unpredictable and outside of human morality as the Leshy and other types of wild folk.

After the conversion of east Europe some deities connected to darker aspects Veles especially became identified with the devil. Oddly enough a few types of female demons where toned down. The Vila in older tale were dangerous, occasionally vamp like figures. These days the term invokes a image of a gentle delicate beauty.

edited 16th Oct '15 1:58:56 AM by manicnightmarepixie

Loki and the jotun (giants) are the closest I can think of. Especially the fire giants. Still not entirely accurate though.

The concept of a Hell god isn't very common in mythology. Since by definition a god is a being that is worshipped. Worshipping a being that you believe to be an evil demon is a new concept brought on by teenagers and teenagers that never quite grew up and those who try to make bank on both demographics.

Even Satan doesn't have ultimate evil powers. The idea of him ruling Hell is Word of Dante (except even Dante got it right, so idk where this concept came from). Satan is going to Hell to be pubished like everybody else. He doesn't rule it.

"Evil" is subjective, tho, so if a god of Cold-Blooded Torture is making the rules of conduct for your society, then you wouldn't consider them "evil" for causing pain and causing pain most likely wouldn't be considered a "sin" either. I look at many Mayan and Aztec deities as "evil", but that doesn't mean they ARE evil and even if they are THAT doesn't mean the people who worship/ed them don't/didn't derive some benefit from it. So...now should we define "evil"?

EDIT:

I'm really working under the assumption that the OP means "destructive spirit" or something along those lines, but I want that to be stated before I start pointing out examples. What do we mean (in the context of this conversation) when we say "demonic gods"?

edited 16th Oct '15 10:47:32 PM by nekomoon14

Bump.

Again, can Cthulhu Mythos deities count as demonic gods?

That depends on what you mean by "demonic gods". They're not demonic if you mean "evil" (because they're Above Good and Evil by their very nature). But if you mean "destructive" then they CAN be. They aren't gods if you mean "anthropomorphic personifications" but they may be if you mean "worshiped". So again, define your terms.

Ok, let recature: demonic being are mostly a christian thing which some writer use in more generic evil monster(even orcs get heroic, demons? fuck them) but there is also a diferent between them and god of evil like ahriman or a least being reaaaally unpleasent, apophis for example was some sort of ultimate evil in egyptian mythology to the point set was more of jerk than something else.

Cthulhu mythos and other elderich abomination dosent play on morality, he just dosent even care about them, the work can blow off and they wont bat and eye(if they have one) so...nope

Wrong. Demons are not "mostly a Christian thing", even if we mean "evil entities" when we speak of them. Every religion on the planet has evil entities, many of them strikingly similar in their characteristics. Try again.

It's also worth noting that the idea of God and the Devil as duelling forces has less to do with the Scripture in its origins and more to do with pre-Christian religious traditions, particularly Zoroastrianism—which, if you define your question as "what gods are also seen as demonic in the religions they are a part of?" provides a great answer in Angra Mainyu, the lord of darkness and chaos.

Now, if you are defining "demon" more narrowly, the line gets pretty blurry in Shinto thought: Gods are everywhere and embody concepts, natural forces, and the spirits of places and objects. Some of these gods are quite fearsome and dangerous, and a few are even said to have been bound to places or objects by stronger benevolent gods to prevent them from doing violence to the world at large. I can think of one who is said to be imprisoned within a sacred rock in a well-known shrine, but the region escapes me.

Okay, are we then going with the "traditional" view of demons as evil spirits or something? And how are we defining godhood? In myth and legend, there's sort of a thin and blurry line between gods and other "non-human people".

The Jotnar, for example, were worshiped alongside the Aesir/Vanir, who were worshiped alongside the Alfar, who are not what one would usually classify as gods. So, will someone please be so kind as to make that line bold and clear?

If we're talking about "evil gods", then there are plenty of examples, but if we're talking about something more specific than that, it would be nice if someone would state it.

Despite the questions being posed numerous times already, neither those nor a decent definition of what behaviour/attributes constitutes "demonic" or "evil" has been forthcoming.