Demogorgon (3.5e Monster)

Information About Demogorgon
Alternative Names and Titles: Aameul, Hethrediah, The Flesheater

Symbol: A demonic face split down the middle, one side the darkest crimson and the other ashen grey.

Portfolio: Change, conflict (particularly between tanar'ri and obyrith), demons, madness.

Domains Granted: Chaos, Corrupt, Evil, Insanity, Vivisection

Favoured Weapon: Three Section Staff

Demogorgon's Statistics Block
"We are everyone. And we are no one. We are Demogorgon."

''At first glance, the gigantic figure before you resembles a baboon of extraordinary size, with a pair of lengthy tentacles in place of each hand and protruding from the back of his midsection. Atop his form rests a pair of ferocious heads, each possessing unusually long, sabre-like canines. Brown fur is splotched with areas of sickly green scales, and each pair of eyes burn with a hatred that epitomizes the conflict and loathing between tanar’ri and obyrith.''

The entity that is Demogorgon represents all things demonic: conflict, hatred (particular between tanar’ri and obyrith), and pure evil unrestrained by the bindings of order and procedure.

Demogorgon is actually two beings fused into one, each making up one of his two heads. The left head is Aameul, the tanar’ri that incited the rebellion against the Queen of Chaos and slew her with the assistance of Orcus and Fraz-Urb’luu. The second is Hethrediah, an obyrith created from the Queen‘s body when it was absorbed into Aameul. Together, the pair create the half-tanar’ri, half-obyrith monstrosity that is known to all others as Demogorgon.

Given that he is now the Prince of Demons, Aameul’s beginnings were humble; eons ago during the reign of the Queen, he was a lowly mane and appeared to be nothing destined for greatness. But behind the pathetic visage of his form lurked a sinister and malicious presence, cunning unusual for his kind. Realizing the potential that lay within absorbing the power of other demons, he began to cannibalize other manes, his power swelling with each of the similarly pathetic demons that he added to his bloated form.

The usefulness of the manes swiftly came to an end as Aameul realized he could no longer gain become stronger by absorbing such weak demonspawn. What followed this epiphany was a swift rise through the ranks of the tanar’ri; within the span of only a few short years, Aameul the Flesheater had become a demon beyond the ranks of anything the obyrith had dared create. His physical form warped by the essences and desires if the thousands of absorbed souls, Aameul became the first balor.

These numerous souls, all assimilated into a single body, began to fill Aameul with knowledge, more than he ever could have imagined. But the malice of these souls seeped into his being and filled him with limitless conflicting desires, corrupting him far beyond the level of even other demons. In his long attempts to sort these goals, Aameul came to the conclusion that the demons that made up his form all wanted the same thing, even if only as a means towards a more ultimate aim.

They wanted power. Not only power personally, but superiority as a race. The kind of might that could only be obtained by toppling the obyrith and their Un-Being progenitor. Aameul, whose hatred for the Queen already ran deep for cursing him as a mane, was eager to take on the ambition of the her destruction. First forming an alliance with Orcus and later with Fraz-Urb’luu, he led the tanar’ri in their crusade against the Queen of Chaos. Long had the tanar’ri possessed sufficient numbers to topple the obyrith, but no individual creature possessed the ability to rally them to this cause as did Aameul. Never before or since has such an impossibly large force ever been assembled, with mutinies breaking out across every layer of the Abyss. Tanar’ri murdering their masters in spades, opportunistic obyrith betraying their kin to save themselves from the impending slaughter.

Such was the first and (to date) last march of the unstoppable, limitless tanar’ri horde, which chilled the blood of the gods themselves and, more urgently, the Queen of Chaos. To make matters worse for the Queen, the tanar’ri rebels were supported by yugoloth mercenaries, undead slaves, and the avian demons of the traitorous obyrith lord Pazuzu, each group the agents of one of the four lords rallied against her. Once the obyrith were on the back foot, they met the rebels in a final contest in which the Queen of Chaos herself was present.

Recognizing the opportunity to slay the most hated foe of their race, Aameul and Orcus left the field of battle with Fraz-Urb’luu, leaving command of their forces to Pazuzu. The trio fought their way through the obyrith to the Queen’s sanctum and engaged her in three-to-one combat. Upon her defeat, the three demons agreed to divide her essence amongst themselves in order to seal her power as well as strengthen their own.

But in order to truly weaken the Queen, Aameul decided to rob her of her physical form. Fusing his body with hers granted him tremendous power, but the Queen’s spirit would not be suppressed so easily. Instead of being cowed completely by Aameul, the fusion became incomplete and created an entirely new creature, a male manifestation of the Queen’s power called Hethrediah. Together, they have been known by the moniker of Demogorgon. The conflict between the pair has only served to further fracture Demogorgon’s minds, allowing the consumed egos of all his victims to surface and attempt to seize control. Wracked by countless personalities tussling for control, Demogorgon is secluded in flying citadel that continually travels the Abyss, unfit for leadership of the realm that should be its to rule. Content that Demogorgon is out of the way, other demon princes leave it alone and continue about their business, remaining forever wary of the strength of the Prince of Demons.

Combat
The physical entity that is Demogorgon has no anatomical sex that can be determined, and as a result the creature and all it personalities are collectively referred to as ‘it’. That said, Aameul identifies as being a male, and being a fragment of the Queen of Chaos Hethrediah is considered female, hence the pronoun shift in sections that refer to one of those specifically.

By sheer might, Demogorgon easily eclipses all other demons, but its combat effectiveness is severely limited by his insanity. Each of Demogorgon’s two heads has multiple personas within, but none can individually control more than a single head, making total control over the body impossible. A uniquely half-tanar’ri, half-obyrith specimen, each of Demogorgon’s two heads has a separate gaze attack that is capable of devastating enemies. When they combine their strength, their power becomes even more overwhelming; this combination of both tanar’ri and obyrith abilities gives Demogorgon the power to be justifiably feared as the Prince of Demons.

Demogorgon never suffers penalties to attack rolls when making a full attack with all of its natural weapons. Once per round, it can also add the effect of either Aameul's glare or Hethrediah's gaze to a successful melee attack.

Aameul
 (Su): Demogorgon is a living mood ring, the very color of its skin changing hue every round. These colors progress in the same numerical order as the prismatic wall spell, granting Demogorgon the appropriate protective enchantment(s) based on his current color. In addition, Aameul’s gaze delivers the effect of whatever color he has currently assumed, except that all elemental damage effects instead deal 240 points of damage instead of their normal value. All saving throws against this effect are Constitution-based and have a DC of 35.

Hethrediah
 (Su): As the interloper to the body of Aameul and a fragment of the Queen of Chaos, Hethrediah's gaze creates an alternate personality in the opponent. If the target of this gaze fails a Will save (DC 35), they gain a new personality that is chaotic evil in alignment and ultimately loyal to Demogorgon which assumes control at the beginning of the character's next turn. If the target is a caster, the alternate personality may also gain a new spell list as per the effect of Sasha's separate psyche. This save DC is Constitution-based.

Sustaining a wound in combat (an attack or effect that deals at least one tenth the character's hit points in lethal damage, none of that weak stuff now) forces the target to make another Will save (using the same DC) or switch personalities at the beginning of the character's next turn. Only one such personality change can occur each round.

Demogorgon
The following abilities are common to the whole form of Demogorgon, not exclusive to either Aameul or Hethrediah.

 (Sp): Demogorgon has the ability to advance his portfolio. This is considered identical to the wish spell, but may only be used to produce effects appropriate to Demogorgon's portfolio or goals. Demogorgon may only use this ability once per minute.

 (Ex): Because of the many personalities struggling for control of the main body, Demogorgon becomes capable of acting more efficiently than other beings, allowing it an additional standard action and immediate action each round in addition to all normal actions it can take.

In addition, Demogorgon can attack with either both of its bite attacks or all four tentacles (but not both sets of weapons) as a standard action.

 (Ex): Perhaps Demogorgon’s most fearsome power is literally and wholly consuming its foes by forcibly melding their bodies to its own, taking not only their flesh but also their minds and vitality in a last ditch effort to save itself. When it dies, Demogorgon attempts to consume any surrounding creatures within Medium Range (340 feet), which usually includes its killers. All targets must make a Fortitude save (DC 35) or be drawn into Demogorgon and fully assimilated into its body. Doing so permanently imprisons the creature’s soul and destroys their body, and in so doing heals Demogorgon by a number of hit points equal to the number of hit points the assimilated creature has left over. Use of this ability renders Demogorgon unconscious for 24 hours, assuming it survives its use.

It can grant spells to clerics, and gives access to the Chaos, Corrupt, Evil, Insanity, and Vivisection domains. Its favoured weapon is the three section staff, and its portfolio is cannibalism, conflict, demons, and madness.

Additionally, Demogorgon is immune to any attack that changes its form, mind-affecting effects, ability damage, ability drain and energy drain, unless such an effect comes from a creature that has a caster level or character level (or CR, for monsters) over 20.

Lastly, Demogorgon can burn off some of its essence to stop magic dead in its tracks. As a free action that can be used outside of its turn, Demogorgon can lose 55 hit points to counter any spell, supernatural ability or spell-like ability in Medium range, as if by greater dispel magic (although it can counter supernatural and spell-like abilities as if they were spells). This ignores temporary hit points, and can be used any number of times. For any ability with an ongoing or permanent duration, this merely suppresses it for 6 rounds.

 : As the Prince of Demons possessing the power of the former Queen of Chaos in addition to its own, Demogorgon’s power is capable of matching anything in the Abyss. It receives a +8 enhancement bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls, a +8 resistance bonus to all saves and a +6 deflection bonus to AC. Demogorgon also has maximum hit points per hit die.

 (Sp): As a full-round action, Demogorgon may bestow its ravage on a creature eligible to gain a level. That creature gains its first level in the ravaged by Demogorgon racial paragon class. If Demogorgon attempts to ravage an unwilling creature, it receives a DC 35 Will save to resist (Cha-based).

If Demogorgon wishes, he can attempt to share the senses of a creature that has at least one level in ravaged by Demogorgon. This works identically to a scrying spell, except it must be centered on the creature in question. In addition, Demogorgon maintains a constant telepathic bond (which reaches across any distance and plane) with any creature with at least one level in ravaged by Demogorgon. The creature doesn't get any say in the matter. Demogorgon may use either of these abilities at will, with a caster level of 24th.

Additionally, if any creature with at least one level in ravaged by Demogorgon attempts to affect Demogorgon or the area within 20 miles of him with any ability, Demogorgon may choose to use dominate monster on that creature as a free action that he can use even outside of his turn. The creature receives a DC 35 save as normal. This has a caster level of 24th, and the DC is Charisma-based.

As the Prince of Demons and the greatest of all demonkind, Demogorgon can also create retrievers. The process is identical to applying his normal ravage, but is subject to the usual restrictions of becoming a retriever.



 : Demogorgon’s tentacles aren’t just for show; as a standard action, it can bore into the ground with all four of its tentacles, rooting itself to the spot. Doing so makes Demogorgon nearly impossible to move from his current position, granting him a +20 circumstance bonus to Strength checks and saving throws to resist being moved.

In addition, Demogorgon’s tentacles may reemerge from the ground at any unoccupied point within Close range of it; each appendage is sessile, but takes up a single 5x5 square and has 10 feet of reach. A tentacle may attack and grapple as a casting of Holt’s clenched fist (caster level 24th), but unlike the spell each has hit points equal to a quarter of Demogorgon’s maximum hit points (139 hit points by default). Destroying the tentacle does not harm Demogorgon directly, and the tentacles regrow automatically two rounds later.

Demogorgon's Worshipers
Most people who follow Demogorgon are, in a word, crazy, but that description is pretty apt for most demonic cultists. It's not that inconceivable to worship the greatest of all demonkind, though, so it gets his fair share of worshipers almost wholly from that aspect of its portfolio rather than being an archfiend of insanity, etc. Many of these sects are reviled for what they believe to be practices that will make them more in tune with Demogorgon's will, which usually includes cannibalism or similarly nasty rituals.

Demons all know Demogorgon, and while many hate it for Aameul's treatment of the Queen of Chaos (to whom all demons owe patronage regardless of origin) they fear Demogorgon's power all the more. Many would rather die than follow it directly, though, and it was to compensate for this lack of demonic followers that Demogorgon created retrievers, mindless sentinels that do his bidding and guard his fortress without thought to loyalties and disputes between archfiends.