Cacodemon

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A cacodemon (or cacodaemon) is an evil spirit or (in the modern sense of the word) a demon. The opposite of a cacodemon is an agathodaemon or eudaemon, a good spirit or angel. The word cacodemon comes through Latin from the Ancient Greek κακοδαίμων (kakodaimōn) meaning an evil spirit, whereas daimon would be a neutral spirit in Greek.

In psychology, cacodemonia (or cacodemomania) is a form of insanity in which the patient believes that they are possessed by an evil spirit.

The first known occurrence of the word cacodemon dates to 1398.

[edit] In games

• In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Cacodaemon is a powerful Yugoloth (daemon), much like the Baatezu (devils) and the Tanar'ri (demons).
  • In the first edition of the fantasy role-playing game Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, "Cacodemon" is a seventh level magic-user spell. It was used to summon a type IV, V, or VI demon to the player character's location in the game world. The spell was omitted from the early versions of the second edition of the game, and was later revised in the Planescape product line, in which it could summon a variety of powerful tanar'ri or baatezu. The spell was eventually phased out in the third edition of the Dungeons & Dragons game in favor of a more comprehensive creature-summoning spell.
  • In fantasy video game Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, the Bioware Infinity Engine equivalent of the "Cacodemon" spell is known as "Cacofiend".
  • In third edition Dungeons & Dragons, the (in)famous name-sake beast itself ("Cacodaemon") was later revised into the "Cacoloth" class of Yugoloth, whose sole purpose is to act as bodyguards and servants for the "Oinoloth" and the "Ultraloths."
• Cacodemons are also an enemy in the Doom series of computer games developed by id software.
• In Final Fantasy XI, the Terrestrial Avatar Diabolos uses a special attack called "Cacodemonia."
• Kelley Armstrong's Otherworld novels feature cacodemons and eudemons, some of whom have produced semi-human-like progeny; in this context eudemons are not so much "good" as "non-chaotic".
  • "Eudemons & Cacodemons". Demonology 101. Kelley Armstrong.

[edit] In popular culture

• Pom Pom dressed up as a Doom-style Cacodemon in the 2007 Homestar Runner Halloween special.
• Also in Homestar, Strong Bad commented that he bet a machine he made that created portals to alternate dimensions could "release some serious cacodemons". (Strong Bad email 150)
• In the popular online game, Anarchy Online, a pet that one of the professions can summon is the Cacodemon.
• Deicide's second album, Legion, contains a song called "Satan Spawn, The Caco-Daemon".
• The Mega-level Digimon Daemon of the Seven Great Demon Lords is based on the Cacodemon in both name and design.

[edit] External links

• Enochian Temples: Invoking the cacodemons with the Temple by Benjamin Rowe