Lore How do demons work in lore?

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

Like can a bloodletter fight enough to become greater demon or demon prince?

can a burgling fight enough to become a great unclean one?

Are demons skits created by their specific gods in their class/role?

do demons grow only through the direct blessings of their patron god?

[Scribe]

Its going to depend on your source, the given daemon, and essentially be 'yes/no'.

The creation of a Plague Bearer, is noted as being the soul of someone who dies of Nurgles Rot.

A Bloodletter, just is.

A Rot Fly, comes from a rejected (killed) Beast of Nurgle.

I dont believe there is a clean answer, as Daemons are part of their God's essence made manifest, and they can be as varied in their origin, as it gets.

[gaurdian31]

I think only mortals can become demon princes, Ku-Gath was a nurgling before drinking one of Nurgle's brews and becoming a Great Unclean One so it is possible it seems for them to ascend so to speak. Not sure on Bloodletters, but wouldn't be surprised if that could happen. Lesser and Greater demons are manifestations/parts of the gods themselves so the gods do to a certain extent give them their kit/role. Same for growth.

[Karhedron]

Daemons can grow and advance. For example, the lore of the Great Unclean One Ku'Gath Plaguefather is that it was once a Nurgling that fell into the great cauldron Nurgle uses to brew up new plagues. Drinking all the toxic contents, the diminutive Nurgling swelled into a greater daemon and became one of Nurgle's favourites.

Now the Warp is a place of myths and metaphors rather than facts and history but this does indicate that the gods can elevate their minions (either accidentally or by design). The only daemon for which we have evidence of them successfully gathering power on their own is Belakor. Other daemons that try to challenge their patrons seem to end up getting swatted like Skarbrand.

[Scribe]

2 minutes ago, Karhedron said:

The only daemon for which we have evidence of them successfully gathering power on their own is Belakor. Other daemons that try to challenge their patrons seem to end up getting swatted like Skarbrand.

Note. Echoes of Eternity Spoiler.

Spoiler

Ka'Bandha seems to demonstrate a power loss/gain, in Echoes of Eternity after he return's to Khorne in defeat, and then goes out to essentially rebuild himself before the battle at the Eternity Gate.

 

[Closet Skeleton]

Ku'gath is a special case since Nurglings and Great Unclean ones are basically the same 'species', just a matter of size.

In 2nd edition there was a Lord of Change who became a Daemon Prince but that's really old lore.

Bloodthirsters and Bloodletters can definitely change rank through duels but don't seem to change species. Skulltaker has to defend his position in duels with other heralds but doesn't seem to be able to become a Bloodthirster. Bloodthisters have 8 different ranks.

[Xenith]

I think it's whatever you want it to be - Daemon princes are generally elevated mortals, however they can be formed due to very specific phenomena, like Samus, the Daemon price of the ruinstorm, was formed from the misery that caused - likewise the Nurgle on, whose name I forget - utterblight? The Black Legion novels I believe jave a khorne daemon prince that was birthed by a particularly bloody battle in medieval times - found it - The Ragged Knight. Actually a greater Daemon. 

Old lore was that Daemons apart from daemon princes were essentially fragments of their gods will and power, and thus were subservient to them - the god could make or break them as they saw fit. Darmon princes were a bit more independant and free thinking, and were variously worshipped as gods in their own right.

Edited September 26, 2022 by Xenith

[Jolemai]

On 9/22/2022 at 10:00 PM, Karhedron said:

Daemons can grow and advance. For example, the lore of the Great Unclean One Ku'Gath Plaguefather is that it was once a Nurgling that fell into the great cauldron Nurgle uses to brew up new plagues. Drinking all the toxic contents, the diminutive Nurgling swelled into a greater daemon and became one of Nurgle's favourites.

 

He fell into a magic potion as a baby? Now where have I heard that tale before... 

[Special Officer Doofy]

9 hours ago, Jolemai said:

He fell into a magic potion as a baby? Now where have I heard that tale before... 

 

[Cheex]

I don't think there's a hard-and-fast rule in the lore. My headcanon is that all Daemons are just slivers of a Chaos god's power; there's no reason that god couldn't empower that Daemon more, or effectively dissolve that Daemon's essence and create a new one with the same consciousness. Whether the gods would bother micromanaging on that level is another question.