Desire Demon (Dragon Age)

Desire Demon
Dragon Age character
Desire Demon from the Dragon Age role playing game by Bioware
First appearance	Dragon Age: Origins Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening Dragon Age II Heroes of Dragon Age
First game	Dragon Age: Origins
Fictional profile
Dealers of any desire that humans can possess

For other uses of the word Succubus, see Succubus (disambiguation).

Dragon Age: Origins (formerly Dragon Age) is a computer role-playing game developed by BioWare as an "epic tale of violence, lust, and betrayal." In this game the Desire Demon is a class of demon found wihch has a great deal of Succubus-like qualities and attributes.

Description

Of all the threats from beyond the Veil, few are more insidious and deceptively deadly than the desire demon. Far more intelligent than the bestial hunger and rage demons, more ambitious than the demons of sloth, these spirits are among the most skilled at tempting mages into possession.

Desire demons use the yearnings of the victims – lust, wealth, power – to their advantage. Their abilities to affect the mind allow them to assume disguises and even alter the environment to their purposes. As a result, many who become their prey never realize it. While desire demons may resort to an outright mind control, they seem to take greater pleasure in more subtle deceit.

If overpowered, a desire demon will most likely attempt to bargain its way to freedom. These deals usually end with the demon gaining an upper hand, even when the Mage believes otherwise.

Basic Statistics

Desire Demon concept artwork from the Dragon Age role playing game produced by Bioware

• Affiliation: Demon
• Rank: Lieutenant
• Class: Mage
• Appearances: Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age II

Skills

In-game image of a Desire Demon from the Dragon Age role playing game produced by Bioware.

• Cone of Cold: The caster's hands erupt with a cone of frost, freezing targets solid unless they pass a physical resistance check, and slowing their movement otherwise. Targets frozen solid by Cone of Cold can be shattered with a critical hit. Friendly fire possible.

• Cursed Dance: The desire demon inflicts a curse on all nearby enemies. Females are knocked down and take penalties to all resistances. Males cannot heal for a time. Enemies also take spirit damage for a time and fall asleep unless they pass a mental resistance check.

• Horror: The caster forces a target to cower in fear, unable to move, unless it passes a mental resistance check. Targets already asleep when the spell is cast cannot resist its effect and take massive spirit damage.

• Scream: Desire Demon inflicts spirit damage and stuns all targets.

• Weakness: The caster drains a target of energy, inflicting penalties to attack and defense, as well as reducing its movement speed unless it passes a physical resistance check.

• Winter's Grasp: The caster envelops the target in frost, freezing lower-level targets solid. Those that resist suffer a penalty to movement speed.

Resistances

• Cold: Normal
• Fire: Normal
• Electricity: Low
• Nature: Low
• Spirit: Normal (Immune on Nightmare)

In Game Locations

Dragon Age: Origins

In-game image of a Desire Demon from the Dragon Age role playing game by Bioware

• Great Hall, Fade, Templar Quarters, The Fade: Concerning Connor, Blackmarsh

See the following entries at the DragonAge Wikia:

• For info about the Desire Demon in Wilhelm's Cellar, see Kitty.
• For info about the Desire Demon in the Circle Tower, see Great Hall.
• For info about the Desire Demon possessing Connor see Arl of Redcliffe quest.

Dragon Age II

• Abandoned Thaig, Harimann Estate, The Fade

• Allure – A desire demon in the Underground Passage encountered during Repentance in The Exiled Prince DLC.
• Caress – a desire demon encountered during Night Terrors in Feynriel's dream world.
• Hanker – a desire demon encountered during Kind of Want.
• Unnamed desire demon, bound in a chamber in the Grey Warden prison, can be fought during Malcolm's Will in the Legacy DLC.

Codex Entry 10: Desire Demon

In-game image of a Desire Demon from the Dragon Age role playing game by Bioware

"In all my studies, I must say that the most intriguing was my interview with the desire demon. That the creature was willing to speak with me was a sign that this was no mere monster, mindlessly driven by its nature, but rather a rational being as interested in me as I was in it. It took a form that I would call female, though I had no doubt that it could appear otherwise. I wondered if it appeared as it did because I wanted it to or because I expected it to. She... and, indeed, I could only think of her as such now... smiled warmly at me and laughed a musical sound that seemed to thrill my old heart.
So frightened was I of this creature's legendary abilities to twist the hearts of men, and so relieved was I when I looked across the table into her dark eyes. This was a fearsome creature of the Fade, but as I spoke with her I slowly came to realize that this demon was merely as misunderstood as we mages are, ourselves."

From the journal of former Senior Enchanter Maleus, once of the Circle of Rivain, declared apostate in 9:20 Dragon.

Of all the threats from beyond the Veil, few are more insidious and deceptively deadly than the desire demon, In folklore, such demons are characterized as peddlers of lust, luring their prey into a sexual encounter only to be slain at the culmination. While a desire demon can indeed deal in pleasure, in truth they deal with any manner of desire that humans can possess: wealth, power, and beauty, to name a few.

Far more intelligent than the bestial hunger and rage demons, and more ambitious than the demons of sloth, these dark spirits are among the most skilled at tempting mages into possession. Many who serve the whims of a desire demon never realize it. They are manipulated by illusions and deceit if not outright mind control, although these demons are reluctant to resort to such crude measures. Instead, they seem to take great pleasure in corruption. The greater the deceit, the greater their victory.

Only demons of pride prove more fearsome opponents when roused. Their abilities to affect the mind allow them to assume disguises and even alter the environment to their purposes, not to mention the great strength and speed they possess if they should have to resort to more physical means. Most often a desire demon will attempt to bargain its way to freedom if overpowered—many stories exist that depict mages defeating desire demons to the point where a wish can be wrested from them. It should be noted that in such stories the demon almost always gets the upper hand even when the mage thinks his wish has been granted.

External Links

• The official Dragon Age Website
• Dragon Age at Wikipedia
• Desire Demons at the Dragon Age Wikia
• Desire Demons at the official Dragon Age website - No Longer Available
• A YouTube video of the Desire Demon scene and the fight afterwards